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This book provides a synthesis of sustainable development, formulating and promoting a lifestyle that would facilitate the reasonable satisfaction of the needs of all people throughout the world, be environmental friendly, and not exceed the carrying capacity of ecosystems. It details the big picture of the human story, discussing cultural evolutions and current global issues, including the influence of humans on the environment. The text is, above all, a comprehensive and future-oriented study, mapping the potential opportunities and threats associated with development. It discusses phenomena that are both easily demonstrable and those which are harder to prove.
Resilience is a term that is gaining currency in conservation and sustainable development, though its meaning and value in this context is yet to be defined. Searching for Resilience in Sustainable Development examines ways in which resilience may be created within the web of ecological, socio-economic and cultural systems that make up the world in. The authors embark upon a learning journey exploring both robust and fragile systems and asking questions of groups and individuals actively involved in building or maintaining resilience. Through a series of wide ranging interviews the authors give voice to the many different approaches to thinking of and building resilience that may otherwise stay rooted in and confined by specific disciplinary, professional or spatial contexts. The book documents emerging trends, shifting tactics and future pathways for the conservation and sustainable development movement post Rio+20, arriving at a set of diverse but connected conclusions and questions in relation to the resilience of people and planet. This book is ideal for students and researchers working in the fields of conservation, sustainable development, education, systems thinking and development studies. It will also be of great interest to NGOs and government officers whose interests and responsibilities focus on conserving or reconstructing biodiversity and system resilience.
In 1989 the Dutch government published a National Environmental Policy Plan (Dutch abbreviation NMP). This NMP is based on the book Concern for Tomorrow. a national environmental survey by RIVM (the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection). A major conclusion of the RIVM study was that emissions of many pollutants had to be cut by 70 - 90 % in order to reach environmental quality goals. The government accepted the RIVM analysis and consequently ClUTent Dutch environmental policy aims at large reduction of pollutants. Another conclusion of the RIVM study was that such high reduction goals would not be easy to achieve by technological means alone, and that thus structural changes would be required. These changes could eventually lead to sustainable development, which now forms the major focus of Dutch government national environmental policy. This being so, the Dutch government requested that RIVM in subsequent issues of Concern for Tomorrow should investigate the options for sustainable development.
More Americans recycle than vote. And most do so to improve their communities and the environment. But do recycling programs advance social, economic, and environmental goals? To answer this, three sociologists with expertise in urban and environmental planning have conducted the first major study of urban recycling. They compare four types of programs in the Chicago metropolitan area: a community-based drop-off center, a municipal curbside program, a recycling industrial park, and a linkage program. Their conclusion, admirably elaborated, is that recycling can realize sustainable community development, but that current programs achieve few benefits for the communities in which they are located. The authors discover that the history of recycling mirrors many other urban reforms. What began in the 1960s as a sustainable community enterprise has become a commodity-based, profit-driven industry. Large private firms, using public dollars, have chased out smaller nonprofit and family-owned efforts. Perhaps most troubling is that this process was not born of economic necessity. Rather, as the authors show, socially oriented programs are actually more viable than profit-focused systems. This finding raises unsettling questions about the prospects for any sort of sustainable local development in the globalizing economy. Based on a decade of research, this is the first book to fully explore the range of impacts that recycling generates in our communities. It presents recycling as a tantalizing case study of the promises and pitfalls of community development. It also serves as a rich account of how the state and private interests linked to the global economy alter the terrain of local neighborhoods.
A global assessment of potential and anticipated impacts of efforts to achieve the SDGs on forests and related socio-economic systems. This title is available as Open Access via Cambridge Core.
Since the first international environment conference in Stockholm in 1972, there has been unprecedented public concern for the future of the planet and a growing awareness that future development has to be sustainable. The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has been at the heart of this growing agenda. In this volume, to mark the IIED's 30th anniversary, leading figures involved during this period draw on their accumulated experience to reflect on the lessons learned and to chart the path for future policy and practice. This covers the spectrum of policy areas from agriculture and resource management to energy, industry and institutional change. It offers an authoritative perspective on three decades of development and green debates, as well as a lively history of this unique institution.
Back Cover Copy Humans have exploited a huge diversity of materials throughout history. Today’s conflict between rising demands and dwindling resources raises searching questions about how optimally to meet humanity’s needs efficiently and safely, challenging common assumptions. Plastics support many facets of modern life yet raise associated problems, whilst ‘natural’ materials may be far from benign when inputs extending their longevity are considered. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a plastic with adaptable, durable and other properties used in diverse construction, medical, information technology, domestic and many applications besides. However, PVC has faced significant NGO pressure relating to its chlorine content and the range of additives conferring desirable properties. Yet, unlike organochlorine pesticides, PVC plastic is inert and recyclable after providing long service life. This book is not ‘pro-PVC’, but draws on lessons learned from how the PVC value chain, particularly across Europe, has engaged with problems and made further progress under voluntary commitments to sustainable development. The book advocates a ‘level playing field’ of common sustainability principles for assessment of the benefits and risks of the use of all materials in the context of their incorporation within whole product life cycles, from raw material extraction to beyond end-of-life. The use of every material raises specific challenges, but also shares common problems arising from society’s legacy of wasteful, linear resource use. Activities surrounding the PVC value chain have generated novel ideas, assessment techniques and reconsideration of regulatory approaches relevant to sustainability assessment of the use of all materials in the context of whole product life cycles on a common ‘level playing field’, which best supports the meeting of the diversity of human needs in the safest and most efficient manner. This book is aimed at industry, regulatory and NGO audiences and influence on wider media.
In 2005, The United Nations launched its Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, which recognises that education, including Higher Education is the key to the change in social attitudes that will be needed to protect the welfare of future generations. This involves helping learners to live as though the future matters and to achieve ecoliteracy. This includes the understanding that personal lifestyle decisions may have consequences, ranging from climate change, through loss of biodiversity, to pollution and resource depletion that may permit environmental degradation on a planetary scale. It also involves helping them to develop the skills needed to cope with such challenges. This international collection of research papers and position statements from special issues of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education and Applied Environmental Education and Communication, written by many of the leading practitioners in the field, aims to provide resources and practical guidance for all seeking to promote and engage in education for a sustainable future. Rabindranath Tagore encouraged each learner to make their actions demonstrate a harmonious union between education and environment. David Orr argued that the world needs people who live well in their places to make the world both habitable and humane and that the main challenge for education is to help learners make their minds fit for life on Earth. This book tries to chart a practical route towards these objectives. This book was previously published as special issues of the Journal of Geography in Higher Education and Applied Environmental Education and Communication
How can politics, economy and society become more sustainable and socially just? To this end, what kind of political course has to be set at national and international level? The volume "In Search of a Sustainable Future" has experts from five continents and different disciplines giving answers to these questions and presents solutions for a more sustainable future. Following a comprehensive approach to sustainability, the authors do not only consider the ecological aspects but also the economical and social ones while taking into account their interdependence. They describe the challenges for a global policy of sustainability and discuss the barriers such a development has to overcome.
Introduction to Sustainable Development is a component of Encyclopedia of Development and Economic Sciences in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on “Introduction to Sustainable Development implies processes of fundamental change in our social systems and institutions. The thrust of this change [entails] … addressing the … new global awareness that the earth is finite, and all of the planet's life support systems – including social and economic systems – are globally interconnected and interdependent.” This volume is aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.