Three Pillars 2D: A Sustainable Development Stock-Flow…

What the Three Pillars 2D Dashboard Is

The Three Pillars 2D dashboard is a sophisticated tool designed to illustrate the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic systems. It uses a stock-flow model to represent how resources are extracted, recycled, and invested in society over time.

By manipulating sliders for resource extraction rates, circular-economy recovery, and social investment, users can observe real-time changes in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) versus GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator), which measures the true quality of life.

Why It Matters

Understanding these interactions is crucial for policymakers and researchers aiming to achieve sustainable development. The dashboard allows users to experiment with different scenarios, helping them identify effective strategies for balancing economic growth with environmental protection and social well-being.

By visualizing the flow of resources and their impacts on stocks (accumulated values), the dashboard provides insights into how policy choices can lead to long-term sustainability or degradation.

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How It Works

The Three Pillars 2D model is based on a stock-flow approach, where stocks represent accumulated quantities (like wealth or pollution), and flows represent rates of change between these stocks. Users can adjust the rate at which resources are extracted from nature, how much waste is recycled back into the economy, and how much social investment is made in education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

The dashboard updates a real-time GDP-vs-GPI trend chart, showing the economic growth versus the genuine progress of society. This allows users to see the trade-offs between short-term economic gains and long-term sustainability.

Real-World Applications

The insights gained from the Three Pillars 2D dashboard can be applied in various contexts, such as urban planning, resource management, and policy formulation. It helps decision-makers understand the potential consequences of their actions on future generations.

Educational institutions and think tanks use this tool to teach students about sustainable development principles and encourage critical thinking about environmental and social policies.

Frequently asked questions

How does the GDP-vs-GPI trend chart work?

The GDP-vs-GPI trend chart shows how economic growth (GDP) relates to genuine progress in society. GPI takes into account factors like environmental quality, social well-being, and economic inequality, providing a more comprehensive measure of societal health.

What are the three pillars of sustainable development?

The three pillars of sustainable development are Environmental sustainability (protecting natural resources), Social sustainability (improving human well-being), and Economic sustainability (ensuring economic stability and growth).

Can I change the initial conditions in the model?

Yes, you can adjust the sliders to simulate different scenarios and observe how changes in resource extraction rates, circular-economy recovery, and social investment affect the stocks and flows within the system.

What is GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator)?

GPI is a measure that attempts to account for economic growth beyond GDP by including factors such as changes in income distribution, crime rates, pollution levels, and other indicators of social well-being and environmental health.

Try it live

Everything above runs in your browser — open Three Pillars 2D: A Sustainable Development Stock-Flow Dashboard and change the parameters while it is running. Nothing is installed, nothing is uploaded, the whole model lives in one tab.

▶ Open Three Pillars 2D: A Sustainable Development Stock-Flow Dashboard simulation