This book focuses on territorial policies as instruments for local development in Europe's periphery. Using a multiple-case research design in three typical case studies in the context of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia (Italy), we empirically test the hypothesis that the institutionalisation of the governance system is an independent variable that is capable of influencing the quality of public policy, intended as a dependent variable. According to this hypothesis, the two above-mentioned variables tend to change according to a linear and direct correlation: upward variation of the degree of institutionalisation of the governance system tends to correspond to upward variation in the quality of the policy, and vice versa. In our conclusions, we discuss the descriptive and prescriptive implications of the empirical findings of the research for the local development of peripheral areas. Regarding the descriptive implications, we explain how territorial policy-making can be articulated, based on the degree of institutionalisation of the governance system and the quality of the territorial policies. Regarding the prescriptive implications, we identify the best practices for territorial governance in order to improve the chances of local development in Europe's periphery.

This book examines the long-term fate of invasive species by detailing examples of invaders from different zoological and botanical taxa from various places around the world. Readers will discover what happened, after a century or so, to 'classical' invaders like rabbits in Australia, house sparrows in North America, minks in Europe and water hyacinths in Africa and Asia. Chapters presented in the book focus on eighteen species in the form of in-depth case studies including: earthworms, zebra mussels, Canadian water weed, Himalayan balsam, house sparrows, rabbits, crayfish plague, Colorado beetles, water hyacinths, starlings, Argentine ant, Dutch elm disease, American mink, cane toad, raccoons, Canadian beavers, African killer bees and warty comb jelly. Invaded areas described are in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, Pacific islands, and South America. Readers will get some ideas about the likely future of current invaders from the fate of old ones. This book is intended for undergraduates studying environmental sciences, researchers and members of environmental NGO's.

This book argues that sustainable development, based on sustained growth, has led us to an impasse. In response, Agroecology brings back and utilises notions of eco-development and co-evolution with nature as a refreshing paradigm. It also proposes a further shift in mindset with the notion of being within, or looking at agroecology as a way to reconnect and rebuild relationships and movement within farming systems and beyond. Rather than linear technical fixes, it considers the critical nodes of tension, the inflection points, or acupoints, which can trigger a transition towards greater harmony and well-being. The book also draws from a concrete example of agroecology by examining a pilot project in Mozambique testing new approaches to investments and peasant farming that will inspire farming communities, researchers, policy makers and development organizations alike, to build greater autonomy and self-determination.

This research monograph answers the question how sustainability driven entrepreneurs (ecopreneurs) deliver their sustainability goals through their business practices. The research draws on data from 12 case studies set within the food industry. The analysis takes a firm level and a supply chain level perspective and provides insights to the interconnected nature of sustainability goals within and across firms. It provides theoretical propositions that show one approach of how to conduct business in a way that works for the planet and people in addition to shareholders. This presents an alternative understanding of organisational performance that builds the foundation for many avenues of future research into sustainable management. The research combines the remote areas of supply chain management and entrepreneurship at the intersection of sustainability. This novel approach and the insights from the business practice exploration, offer many avenues for further research beyond entrepreneurship and supply chain management. This book will be of interest to academics in management research and also to people with an academic background that work together with sustainability driven and/ or social entrepreneurs, who could benefit from the insights into how sustainability goals are delivered through business practices and the relevant trade-offs faced by ecopreneurs.

This book provides a multi-stakeholder perspective on sustainable HRM for the policymakers, managers and academics, addressing issues, approaches, research studies/frameworks and emerging patterns relating to the subject. It discusses various aspects of sustainability, such as making HR more responsible for ensuring sustainability focusing on the triple bottom line, characteristics of sustainable HRM, psychological contracts, emotional intelligence, and psychological capital. The book also explores organizational citizenship behavior, employment relations, employee engagement, sustainable leadership, disruptive HR practices, sustaining employee motivation, educational sustainability, sustainable career management, sustainable environment, employer and employee branding, sustainable organizations, organization culture, training for sustainability, sustainable employee performance, business sustainability and sustainable employability. It provides an update on the concept, processes, issues and emerging paradigms from multidimensional and cross-country perspectives to showcase sustainable HR practices, and appeals to the academics, practitioners and policymakers in the area of HRM.

With energy consumption rising and with it our dependence on crude oil from politically uncertain regions, and faced with the threat to the environment from polluting emissions, it is becoming ever more evident that fuels from renewable resources are an increasingly attractive option to fossil fuels. Edinger and Kaul, like a growing number of other experts, hold the mobility of populations--transportation, in other words--responsposible for the rise in the rate of greenhouse gas emissions, a condition that can only get worse as less developed regions of the world emerge with their own needs and demands for mobility. What to do? Edinger and Kaul outline in sharp detail the shortcomings of current vehicular technologies and dominant fossil fuels. They present a careful, authoritative examination of innovative technologies that in their opinion have the best chance of combating dangerous reliance on conventional means of power, not only for transportation but other purposes as well. And they focus on special forms of fuel cell drive systems, with their high efficiencies and reduced consumptions, and on other emerging renewable technologies and their innovative, sustainable power sources--such as fuels from biomass and renewable electricity, a particularly promising source of energy for newly growing economies. Wide ranging in coverage, forthright in style, the book is an important review of how things are today, why they could get worse, but perhaps most importantly, what we can do about it.

Documenting and understanding intricate ecological interactions involving insects is a central need in conservation, and the specialised and specific nature of many such associations is displayed in this book. Their importance is exemplified in a broad global overview of a major category of interactions, mutualisms, in which the interdependence of species is essential for their mutual wellbeing. The subtleties that sustain many mutualistic relationships are still poorly understood by ecologists and conservation managers alike. Examples from many parts of the world and ecological regimes demonstrate the variety of mutualisms between insect taxa, and between insects and plants, in particular, and their significance in planning and undertaking insect conservation - of both individual species and the wider contexts on which they depend. Several taxonomic groups, notably ants, lycaenid butterflies and sucking bugs, help to demonstrate the evolution and flexibility of mutualistic interactions, whilst fundamental processes such as pollination emphasise the central roles of, often, highly specific partnerships. This compilation brings together a wide range of relevant cases and contexts, with implications for practical insect conservation and increasing awareness of the roles of co-adaptations of behaviour and ecology as adjuncts to designing optimal conservation plans. The three major themes deal with the meanings and mechanisms of mutualisms, the classic mutualisms that involve insect partners, and the environmental and conservation lessons that flow from these and have potential to facilitate and improve insect conservation practice. The broader ecological perspective advances the transition from primary focus on single species toward consequently enhancing wider ecological contexts in which insect diversity can thrive.

The book is designed to be a textbook for university students (MSc-PhD level) and a reference for researchers and practitioners. It is an introduction to dynamic modelling of forest growth based on ecological theory but aiming for practical applications for forest management under environmental change. It is largely based on the work and research findings of the authors, but it also covers a wide range of literature relevant to process-based forest modelling in general. The models presented in the book also serve as tools for research and can be elaborated further as new research findings emerge. The material in the book is arranged such that the student starts from basic concepts and formulations, then moves towards more advanced theories and methods, finally learning about parameter estimation, model testing, and practical application. Exercises with solutions and hands-on R-code are provided to help the student digest the concepts and become proficient with the methods. The book should be useful for both forest ecologists who want to become modellers, and for applied mathematicians who want to learn about forest ecology. The basic concepts and theory are formulated in the first four chapters, including a review of traditional descriptive forest models, basic concepts of carbon balance modelling applied to trees, and theories and models of tree and forest structure. Chapter 5 provides a synthesis in the form of a core model which is further elaborated and applied in the subsequent chapters. The more advanced theories and methods in Chapters 6 and 7 comprise aspects of competition through tree interactions, and eco-evolutionary modelling, including optimisation and game theory, a topical and fast developing area of ecological modelling under climate change. Chapters 8 and 9 are devoted to parameter estimation and model calibration, showing how empirical and process-based methods and related data sources can be bridged to provide reliable predictions. Chapter 10 demonstrates some practical applications and possible future development paths of the approach. The approach in this book is unique in that the models presented are based on ecological theory and research findings, yet sufficiently simple in structure to lend themselves readily to practical application, such as regional estimates of harvest potential, or satellite-based monitoring of growth. The applicability is also related to the objective of bridging empirical and process-based approaches through data assimilation methods that combine research-based ecological measurements with standard forestry data. Importantly, the ecological basis means that it is possible to build on the existing models to advance the approach as new research findings become available.

Lakes in the Balkans are numerous, but few of them have been studied, and even fewer on a long-term basis. This work, looking at a lake of the Balkans, is a synthesis of present knowledge on the ecology and functioning of the lake and its resources, with an emphasis on its endemism and on the management needed to preserve its unique fauna and flora. It also contains original long-term studies on pelicans and fish. The target readership is lay people, conservationists (especially birdwatchers) and wetland scientists.

This book provides a synthesis of research findings, in terms of strategic knowledge outcomes regarding emergence of recent regional climate signals, implications for impacts assessment, and mitigation and adaptation response, relevant in the Indian context. The first part discusses evidence of climate change and its underlying scientific processes across India, chiefly focusing on impacts that are already visible and attributable to anthropogenic activities. The latter part deals with the responses to climate change, highlighting the mitigation and adaptation strategies in various sectors and communities. The book presents a concise interpretation, distilling practical recommendations and policy prescriptions at national and sub-national levels. It serves as a reference point for understanding scientific advances and persisting uncertainty, future vulnerability and response capacity of interlinked human and natural systems, pertaining to India. It is an excellent resource for policy makers and industry watchers in addition to the research fraternity.

This book examines topical issues in global corporate social responsibility (CSR) from both scholarly and practical perspectives. It offers a variety of viewpoints and cases from countries around the globe and combines them with current academic knowledge. Intended for students, academics, and managers wishing to keep abreast of the challenges and opportunities for corporations operating in our ever-more-complex globalized world, this book provides fresh insights into responsible business conduct.

This book presents the main drivers of benthic structure and processes in estuaries from the 8,000 km-Brazilian coast, assesses the influence of natural and human disturbance, and discusses their ecological importance and management needs. Estuaries are unique coastal ecosystems often with low biodiversity that sustain and provide essential ecological services to mankind. These ecosystems include a variety of habitats with their own sediment and fauna dynamics, all of them globally altered or threatened by human activities. Mangroves, saltmarshes, tidal flats and other confined estuarine systems are under increasing stress by overfishing and other human activities leading to habitat and species loss. Combined changes in estuarine hydromorphology and in climate pose severe threats to estuarine ecosystems at a global scale.

This book discusses the concepts and technologies associated with the mitigation of urban heat islands (UHIs) that are applicable in hot and humid regions. It presents several city case studies on how UHIs can be reduced in various areas to provide readers, researchers, and policymakers with insights into the concepts and technologies that should be considered when planning and constructing urban centres and buildings. The rapid development of urban areas in hot and humid regions has led to an increase in urban temperatures, a decrease in ventilation in buildings, and a transformation of the once green outdoor environment into areas full of solar-energy-absorbing concrete and asphalt. This situation has increased the discomfort of people living in these areas regardless of whether they occupy concrete structures. This is because indoor and outdoor air quality have both suffered from urbanisation. The development of urban areas has also increased energy consumption so that the occupants of buildings can enjoy indoor thermal comfort and air quality that they need via air conditioning systems. This book offers solutions to the recent increase in the number of heat islands in hot and humid regions.

This book is devoted to Agroecological Crop Protection, which is the declension of the principles of agroecology to crop protection. It presents the concepts of this innovative approach, case studies and lessons and generic keys for agroecological transition. The book is intended for a wide audience, including scientists, experimenters, teachers, farmers, students. It represents a new tool, proposing concrete keys of action on the basis of feedbacks validated scientifically. Beyond the examples presented, it is therefore of general scope and proposes recommendations for all temperate and tropical cropping systems. It contributes to the training and teaching modules in this field and it is an updated information support for professionals and a teaching aid for students (agronomy, crop protection, biodiversity management, agroecology).

This book showcases vital lessons learned from research, field projects and best practice examples with regard to climate change adaptation in countries throughout the Pacific region, a part of the planet that is particularly vulnerable to and affected by climate change.The book's primary goals are to document the wealth of experiences in the region available today, to encourage cross-sector interactions among the various stakeholders in the region, and to help transfer results to other countries and regions. Accordingly, it gathers a set of papers presented at a symposium on climate change adaptation held in Fiji in July 2016, focusing on "Fostering Resilience and Improving the Quality of Life". In these contributions, local and international experts present a variety of initiatives showing how Pacific countries are coping with the many problems associated with climate change, including initiatives in education and awareness work taking place across the region, operational aspects and their implications for policy-making, and challenges in urban and rural areas.

This book reconstructs major paradigms in the history of economic ethics up to, and including, the present day. Asserting that ethics should be integral rather than marginal to economics and management education, Reframing Economic Ethics highlights the need for a paradigm change from mechanistic to humanistic management, and argues that the failures of markets and managers in recent years were paved by a misguided management education. The author shows how the reader can and must learn from the history of economic thinking in order to overcome the theoretical shortcomings and the practical failings of the present system.

This book presents modern Bayesian analysis in a format that is accessible to researchers in the fields of ecology, wildlife biology, and natural resource management. Bayesian analysis has undergone a remarkable transformation since the early 1990s. Widespread adoption of Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques has made the Bayesian paradigm the viable alternative to classical statistical procedures for scientific inference. The Bayesian approach has a number of desirable qualities, three chief ones being: i) the mathematical procedure is always the same, allowing the analyst to concentrate on the scientific aspects of the problem; ii) historical information is readily used, when appropriate; and iii) hierarchical models are readily accommodated. This monograph contains numerous worked examples and the requisite computer programs. The latter are easily modified to meet new situations. A primer on probability distributions is also included because these form the basis of Bayesian inference. Researchers and graduate students in Ecology and Natural Resource Management will find this book a valuable reference.

This edited volume provides a critical discussion of particular trends that are widely recognised to influence water management by comparing them with what is actually happening in the field. Among others, these trends include water security, adaptive or integrative management, and the water-energy-food nexus, which are often presented as essential means to reaching more sustainable and resilient water use. However, the extent to which these trends have managed to structure concrete practices in water management remains uncertain. Informed by empirically grounded research, each chapter of this work engages with a particular approach, concept or theory. Together, they provide a nuanced picture of trends in water management that require universal remedies and global norms.

This book is about the stories being told in the Anthropocene. Stories of irreparable damage being done to the global ecosystem, of sustainable growth, of dystopian collapse, of continued interspecies flourishing, of Gaia, and of accelerating capitalism's dynamics in order to discover its outside. Stories of change. Stories of hope. Against them all, this book seeks to braid together a particular thread of storying in order to speak to the emergence of the mall at the end of the world; a space where a new politics of "spectral capitalism" is played out. In doing so, we reflect that there never was any outside to Capital, that it can live forever, its performances and spectacles being preserved despite global ecological collapse. This book seeks to understand the nascence of the mall at the end of the world and the new people, thoughts, and dreams that come with it.

This book examines the democratic acceptance of spatial planning measures, using Switzerland as a case study. The currently inefficient land use in industrialised countries calls for new spatial planning policies. Yet governments have largely failed to implement innovative policy measures, which may be due to a lack of democratic acceptance. To date, little is known about the democratic acceptance of spatial planning measures. Switzerland offers a promising candidate because of its direct-democratic system, which allows citizens' preferences for specific policy measures to be directly measured. In this work, the democratic acceptance of spatial planning instruments is investigated from various perspectives in the form of original empirical studies, which are embedded in an innovative conceptual framework. It demonstrates that not only spatial planning instruments in general, but also incentive-based instruments in particular, generally enjoy high acceptance. This finding is remarkable, considering the fact that efficient land use instruments have only been marginally implemented. Addressing the needs of both academics and land use practitioners in the private and public sector, the book shows that in order to improve the democratic acceptance of spatial planning measures, attention must be paid to their context, content and the means by which that content is provided.

Biosocial Synchrony on Sumba: Multispecies Relationships and Environmental Variations in Indonesia examines biosocial change in the Austronesian community of the Kodi by examining multispecies interactions between select biota and abiota. Cynthia T. Fowler describes how the Kodi people coordinate their mundane and ritual practices with polychaetes and celestial bodies, and how this synchrony encourages and is encouraged by social and ecological variations. Fowler grounds her anthropogenic environmental research with information from geospatial science, marine ecology, astronomy, physics, and astrophysics.

Several textbooks and edited volumes are currently available on general soil fertility but' to date' none have been dedicated to the study of "Sustainable Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling in Soil." Yet this aspect is extremely important, considering the fact that the soil, as the 'epidermis of the Earth' (geodermis)' is a major component of the terrestrial biosphere. This book addresses virtually every aspect of C and N cycling, including: general concepts on the diversity of microorganisms and management practices for soil, the function of soil's structure-function-ecosystem, the evolving role of C and N, cutting-edge methods used in soil microbial ecological studies, rhizosphere microflora, the role of organic matter (OM) in agricultural productivity, C and N transformation in soil, biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and its genetics, plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs), PGPRs and their role in sustainable agriculture, organic agriculture, etc. The book's main objectives are: (1) to explain in detail the role of C and N cycling in sustaining agricultural productivity and its importance to sustainable soil management; (2) to show readers how to restore soil health with C and N; and (3) to help them understand the matching of C and N cycling rules from a climatic perspective. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for educators, researchers, and policymakers, as well as undergraduate and graduate students of soil science, soil microbiology, agronomy, ecology, and the environmental sciences. Gathering cutting-edge contributions from internationally respected researchers, it offers authoritative content on a broad range of topics, which is supplemented by a wealth of data, tables, figures, and photographs. Moreover, it provides a roadmap for sustainable approaches to food and nutritional security, and to soil sustainability in agricultural systems, based on C and N cycling in soil systems.