envision a sustainable world

verb phrase

1. To imagine or picture a future world in which people can meet their needs without harming the environment or using up resources for later generations.

   B2

   transitive; takes a direct object with no preposition, often a noun phrase or a clause with "where"

   • "The students were asked to envision a sustainable world and describe how people might live in it."B2
   • "City planners envision a sustainable world where clean buses replace most cars."B2
   • "We envision a sustainable world where everyone has clean water and energy."B1
   • "Her speech urged governments to envision a sustainable world in which economic growth no longer depends on fossil fuels."C1
   • "To envision a sustainable world is to consider how economic and social well-being can coexist with ecological limits."C1

2. To hold this picture as a goal and work towards making it real; used in mission statements, campaigns and policy writing.

   C1

   often in the passive or as a gerund: "envisioning a sustainable world"formal

   • "The report opens by envisioning a sustainable world with zero waste."B2
   • "We cannot build what we have never envisioned; envisioning a sustainable world is the first step."C1