EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING, FINANCE & BUSINESS Volume IX/2019 ISSN 2344-102X Issue (XIX) / February 2019 ISSN-L 2344-102X Assistant professor PhD. Cristina Gabriela COSMULESE Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 13 Universitatii Street, 720229, Romania gabriela.cosmulese@usm.ro Abstract The aim of this paper is to make a short incursion of the concept and importance of sustainable development in close connection with the sustainability of resources over time and to reflect on the ways of promotion throughout the society, of its awareness of this major problem that is threatening the 21st century. The basis of a sustainable development of the human society is given by the way in which its natural, current and future resources are managed, as well as the energetic, informational and material resources, against the objectives of the growth of the economic field and guaranteeing the quality of life and the environment. Most human entities claim to realize the development of the economy in order to secure the increase of the standard of living as well as to protect the environment that surrounds us, at present, as well as for the generations to come. These two notions represent the centre of the concept of sustainable development that is synthesized by "ecosystem-eco-efficiency dualism". Key words: sustainable development; principles and criteria; economic sustainability; social sustainability; environmental sustainability. JEL Classification: Q01, Q32, Q56. I. INTRODUCTION The roots of the concept of sustainable development originate in promoting the sustainable use of natural resources. Legal regimes aimed at the conservation of marine resources, wildlife, habitat protection, cultural and natural heritage protection, Antarctic area protection, etc. aim to protect the resources of the global environment and indicate a wide international acceptance of the sustainable use of natural resources (Bejan & Rusu, 2007: 23). Generally, sustainable development can be applied in almost all categories of activities, in order to meet the essential material needs or to improve the quality of life from the point of view of health and education. In order to develop economically, as in the case of any type of development, it is necessary to implement measures for the efficiency of human resources but also of other resources. Zaman and Gherasim (2007: 137) considered that "one of the major challenges of sustainable development is to find ways to encourage environmentally friendly economic activities and to discourage activities that cause environmental damage (air, water and soil pollution, and subsoil, respectively)". Therefore, the notion of sustainable development "has as its premise the finding that human civilization is a subsystem of the eco-sphere, dependent on the fluxes of matter and energy within it, on its stability and self- regulation capacity. The public policies which are being elaborated on this basis, such as the present National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Romania, aim to restore and maintain a rational, long-term balance between the economic development and the integrity of the natural environment in forms understood and accepted by the society” (see http: //www.mmediu.ro/beta/domenii/dezvoltare-durabila/strategia-nationala-a-romaniei- 2013-2020-2030/). In the economic vision, the sustainable development has the role to increase the performances of the organizations, because "the objectives regarding the sustainability of the businesses have acquired more and more importance for the companies, but also for the parties interested by the activity of the companies" (Gănescu, 2012: 93-109) . Sustainability can be at the same time an idea, a lifestyle, a way of producing. Huckle (1996) asserted that, as with freedom, justice and democracy, sustainability does not have a single recognized meaning, but it changes its meaning according to the different ideologies and the different programs promoted by different values, knowledge and philosophies. It is observed that sustainable development is not a constant state of harmony, but rather a process of changes in which the scale of exploitation of resources, the direction of capital investments, the orientation of technical development and institutional changes are in line with current and future needs. Sustainable development has become a ubiquitous development paradigm - "the chart for international aid agencies, the jargon of development planners, the theme of conferences and academic papers, and the slogan of environmental and development activists" (Ukaga, Maser & Reichenbach, 2011; Burciu, Bostan, Condrea & REFLECTIONS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND DURABILITY OF RESOURCES