The average Sri Lankan, struggling with the challenges of survival today, has little time to reflect deeply on what happens tomorrow…and the day after. But people from all social, educational and cultural backgrounds share a common dream: they want a better tomorrow for themselves, their children and their country.

Sustainable development is not some utopian or technical ideal of environmental activists. It’s really about creating a liveable society here and today – where everyone has an acceptable quality of life, ample opportunities to learn and earn, and freedom to pursue their own dreams.

Sri Lanka has abundant land and ocean resources that can be used to build such a future – but faces many challenges in taking the right action at the right time.

So just how do we make the smart choices? They don’t just happen – it requires much study, thinking and discussion among concerned people in government, private sector, academia and civil society.

In a series of 10 TV debates on key sustainable development challenges faced by Sri Lanka, we hope to get a few such conversations started.

These are being produced by TVE Asia Pacific and MTV Channel (Private) Limited in partnership with IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

These 1-hour debates in Sinhala and English will be produced on an editorially independent basis, accommodating a broad spectrum of opinion.