The seven dimensions of sustainability are: environmental, economic, social, cultural, political, institutional and technical. A significant challenge of social and economic development is economic inequality. When resources, and opportunities are distributed unequally, the consequences are too often negative and persistent in that area. Those areas will tend to have low standards of living and poor social cohesion, with few options for access to healthcare or education and other costs and restrictions will be placed on them. Women, ethnic minorities and those with low incomes seem to be the most affected groups of all in this inequality (United Nations, 2021).
In addition to the above, I'm particularly interested in the more complicated issues related to social inclusion. Disadvantaged groups and genders, and people marginalized on the basis of gender, ethnicity and income status will often find it particularly difficult to be involved in the decision-making processes for the allocation of resources let alone, access to essential service such as healthcare and education. This can have a dampening effect of overall progress for communities and, social sustainability in total.
I'd like to factor in governance and institutional capacity, and how these impact areas of social and economic development. Governance with transparency and strong institutions leads to just policies, enforced fairly for all community, while weak governance will only feed inequality and exclusion (OECD, 2020). The right mix of dimensions of sustainability needs participation of local and global stakeholders that understand the cultural and social context of the communities involved.