Sustainable development through the eyes of employees: Africa sample

As it is known, there are many environmental problems in the world such as global climate change, drought, famine and the decrease in living species. When the root of environmental problems is addressed, industrialism, which spread as a phenomenon in the world after the Industrial Revolution, and its negative effects are mentioned. Reasons such as changing production and consumption habits, industrial wastes, unconscious use of natural resources have created a very difficult negative effect on the flora and fauna of the world. As the environmental crises caused by these negative effects have become indispensable, environmental studies have increased and in this direction, the international level of sustainability approach and method has come to the fore. The sustainability approach has pioneered the increase in studies for sustainable development, which is a development model aimed at protecting the rights of future generations in the use of natural resources by changing the direction of development in the world. With this study, it is aimed to reveal the observations and experiences of people who contribute to sustainable development studies in Africa. In line with this basic purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 people, who contributed to sustainable development studies in Africa, with the semi-structured interview method. The findings, analysed by the researcher, are grouped under five themes. These themes are; "Improvement In Health Conditions", "Increasing Social Solidarity", "Economic Strength", "Increased Participation In Education" and "An Ecofeminist Transformation". During the interviews, it was observed that the environmental crises experienced due to global climate change by the people who contributed to the sustainable development studies in Africa negatively affect the lives of the people living in those regions. It has been revealed that, with the sustainable development studies carried out, positive changes have been observed and experienced in the lives of these people in matters such as health, hygiene, education, economy, access to healthy food and water, and gender equality.