Sustainable Development is Innovation

The earliest innovation roots of development can be traced back to the use of stone tools and obsidian dyes as well as the development of social networks connecting members of our species in large numbers and over long distances dating back to 320,000. -500,000 years in East Africa (Brooks et al., Potts et al., Deino et al., Science; March 2018). The creation and maintenance of these networks required considerable technological, social and cognitive complexity that helped distinguish the early Homo sapiens from other hominid species.

What factors have stimulated this development? Studies show that the major change in early human behavior coincided with a massive change (~ 85%) in mammalian species and a prolonged period of strong climatic and geological changes characterized by pronounced instability of resources and episodes of scarcity. Incorporating various sources of environmental data, this research advances the idea that these upheavals have triggered evolutionary change by promoting technological innovation, travel over longer distances and greater connectivity between social groups as a means of adaptation to scarce and unpredictable resources and as an important survival tool.