People can be excluded from freedom and the good things in life by age, disability, poverty, unfair discrimination, crime or the fear of crime, and arrogant and unresponsive governments. This practical reference deals with all of these factors, and shows the links between them. In addition to several hundred shorter notes it includes over a thousand major entries, each of which comprises: a summary of relevant facts, incisive commentary to help readers cut through the fog of jargon and propaganda that confuses many of these issues and websites where the latest information may be found. It concludes with a detailed bibliography of around 500 useful references. The work will be found useful by professionals and managers in all walks of life; by central and local government officials and representatives, and by students in the social sciences. It devotes particular attention to the all-important Disability Discrimination Act, and numerous detailed entries, accompanied in many cases by elegant diagrams, suggest to architects and other designers, facilities managers, and personnel managers how the requirements of the Act may be met.

"Historians and Nature" considers five cutting-edge questions facing environmental historians today. How can we historicize nature? Is nature a historical actor? How have human beings interacted with nature and what patterns have emerged? How do we understand the ecology of urban spaces? What is the history of environmental diplomacy? Focusing on the United States and Germany, the book takes a comparative approach in examining environmental history. The authors draw on a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, including history, cultural studies, human geography, biology and ecology. Case studies include Native Americans and their relationship to the environment, the California Gold Rush and the Coal Fields of the Ruhr Basin in the nineteenth century, the controversial building of dikes in seventeenth-century Germany, cleaning up modern cities, and the Greenpeace movement and the development of international environmental activism in the 1970s.

Because of the dramatic changes that economic deregulation has caused in the electricity industry and the widespread social concern about nuclear power safety, Effects of Deregulation on Safety is extremely timely. Effects of Deregulation on Safety uses case studies of the effects of deregulation on the U.S. air and rail industries and the United Kingdom nuclear power industry, as a basis for identifying likely impacts of electricity deregulation on safety of the U.S. commercial nuclear power industry.

Effects of Deregulation on Safety provides a comprehensive overview of the safety experiences of these three case study industries and their implications for the U.S. nuclear power industry. The treatment of the subject is not highly technical, and hence is accessible to a wide range of readers with interests in the subject matter. The book draws on literature from roughly 250 references, ranging from brief news articles to book-length studies of deregulation in a particular industry, as well as original in-depth interviews with representatives of all three case study industries.

This wealth of empirical background information allows the book to go beyond mere speculation about the possible adverse safety consequences of deregulation, to identify situations in which particular adverse safety consequences actually occurred. The experience of the case study industries indicates that economic deregulation need not be incompatible with a reasonable safety record, especially in those aspects of safety that are positively related to productivity. But that safety also cannot be taken for granted after deregulation. Careful management attention is needed in order to avoid the types of safety problems that were associated with deregulation in the case study industries.

Plant Factory Basics, Applications, and Advances takes the reader from an overview of the need for and potential of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) in enhancing food production and security to the latest advances and benefits of this agriculture environment. Edited by leading experts Toyoki Kozai, Genhua Niu, and Joseph Masabni, this book aims to provide a platform of PFAL technology and science, including ideas on its extensive business and social applications towards the next-generation PFALs. The book is presented in four parts: Introduction, Basics, Applications, and Advanced Research. Part 1 covers why PFALs are necessary for urban areas, how they can contribute to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and a definition of PFAL in relation to the term "indoor vertical farm." Part 2 presents SI units and radiometric, photometric, and photonmetric quantities, types, components, and performance of LED luminaires, hydroponics and aquaponics, and plant responses to the growing environment in PFALs. Part 3 describes the indexes and definition of various productivity aspects of PFAL, provides comparisons of the productivity of the past and the present operation of any given PFALs, and compares PFALs with one another from the productivity standpoint by applying the common indexes. Part 4 describes the advances in lighting and their effects on plant growth, breeding of indoor and outdoor crops, production of fruiting vegetables and head vegetables, and concluding with a focus on a human-centered perspective of urban agriculture. Providing real-world insights and experience, Plant Factory Basics, Applications, and Advances is the ideal resource for those seeking to take the next step in understanding and applying PFAL concepts.

This unique survey of the environmental history of the grasslands in the United States explores the ecological, social, and economic networks enmeshing humans in this biome over the last 10,000 years. "Treeless, level, and semi-arid." Walter Prescott Webb's famous description of the Great Plains is really only part of their story. From their creation at the end of the Ice Age to the ongoing problems of depopulation, soil erosion, polluted streams, and depleted groundwater aquifers, human interaction with the prairies has often been controversial. Part of ABC-CLIO's Nature and Human Societies series, The Grasslands of the United States: An Environmental History explores the historical and ecological dimensions of human interaction with North America's grasslands. Examining issues as diverse as whether the arrival of the Paleo-Indians led to the extinction of the mammoth and the consequences of industrialization and genetically modified crops, this invaluable reference synthesizes literature from a wide range of authoritative sources to provide a fascinating guide to the environment of this biome. 44 pages of original documents such as the Homestead Act (1862) and the Taylor Grazing Act (1934), Yellow Wolf's concerns with the disappearance of bison (1847), testimony of Kiowas as they sought to protect their reservation, to excerpts from Ron Arnold, one of the main advocates of the Wise Use Movement Each chapter and case study comes complete with corresponding illustrations, maps, charts, or tables

Today, tourism is an important component of development, not only in economic terms but also for knowledge and human welfare. Tourism today is an activity accessible to a growing number of people. The phenomenon has many more advantages than disadvantages. New forms of economic development and increasing wealth of human societies depend on tourism. Our knowledge of the world now includes a strong component due to tourism. Human welfare has physiological and psychological elements, which tourism promotes, both because of the enjoyment of knowing new territories and increasing contacts with near or far away societies and cultures. The tourism industry has nevertheless given rise to some serious concerns, including social costs and ecological impacts. Many ancient local cultures have practically lost their identity. Their societies have orientated their economy only to this industry. Both the natural and cultural – rural or urban - landscapes have also paid a high price for certain forms of tourism. These problems will persist if the economic benefit is the only target, leading to economic gains that eventually become ruinous. It is also important to consider that visitors nowadays are increasingly demanding in cultural and environmental terms. Never before have transport and communication links been so important as today. Natural ecosystems are now a rarity on the planet and ecologists talk today about ‘socio-ecosystems’. Given this, tourism and environmental education are facing a major challenge. The 9th International Conference on Sustainable Tourism had the aim of finding ways to protect the natural and cultural landscape through the development of new solutions which minimise the adverse effects of tourism. A selection of the papers presented at the meeting form this volume.

Bacteria in a test tube and humans on our planet follow the same population curve as time elapses. We on this earth, largely through control of disease, are rapidly ap proaching maximum population, and through energy demands are using up our resour ces and accumulating wastes. We have come to realize the danger of a maturing system but have made essential ly no impact in mitigating or preventing the problems we face. While we have been able to change the world we live in, most of our effects have been to degrade the planet. We have nibbled away at the quality of the atmosphere for centuries and the ac cumulated damage has resulted in changing the world's climate at an ever-increasing rate. We now face the possibility of higher average temperatures over most of our planet, changing patterns of rainfall, rising sea levels, aggravated storm systems and a myriad of social effects.

Previously published as a special issue of Environmental Education Research, this collection includes some of the most influential and important articles contributed to the field over the last decade. Drawing out the best articles from volumes one to ten, the editors highlight six major themes: EE and ESD: tension or transition? locating the environmental in environmental education research doing environmental education research environmental learning as process and outcome environmental education for ... developing environmental education research. For each theme, two papers published by the journal in the first ten years are re-printed and two researchers review the issues they raise, giving readers a broad and future-facing overview of the development of the field today.

Environmental applications have long been a core use of GIS. However, the effectiveness of GIS-based methods depends on the decision-making frameworks and contexts within which they are employed. GIS for Environmental Decision-Making takes an interdisciplinary look at the capacities of GIS to integrate, analyze, and display data on which decisions must be based. It provides a broad prospective on the current state of GIS for environmental decision-making and emphasizes the importance of matters related to data, analysis, and modeling tools, as well as stakeholder participation. The book is divided into three sections, which effectively relate to three key aspects of the decision-making process as supported by GIS: data required, tools being developed, and aspects of participation. The first section stresses the ability to integrate data from different sources as a defining characteristic of GIS and illustrates the benefits that this can bring in the context of deriving land-use and other information. The second section discusses a range of issues concerning the use of GIS for suitability mapping and strategic planning exercises, through illustrative examples. The last section of the book focuses on the use of GIS-based techniques to facilitate public participation in decision-making processes. In particular, it provides an overview of developments in this area, concentrating on how GIS, modeling, and 3D landscape visualization techniques are gradually achieving closer integration. Given the complex challenges presented by global environmental change, GIS for Environmental Decision-Making provides a clear illustration of how the use of GIS can make significant contributions totrans-disciplinary initiatives to address environmental problems.

Mark Hinshaw has a proposition for Americans: Come out of the bunker, throw open the gates, and meet the neighborhood. In this passionate appeal, he introduces those who have already done just that and explains what cities can do to make true urbanism possible. He rejoices in the growing number of people rejecting sterile, paint-by-numbers subdivisions in favor of vibrant and unpredictable urban neighborhoods. This vivid account of cities small and large emerging from the cobwebs of late 20th century development will show communities with lingering antiurban tendencies how to embrace density as destiny. A must-read urban design book for anyone who cares about cities.

This well-illustrated 'think piece' provides a much needed and topical philosophical introduction to the place of environmental design in architecture. The Environments of Architecture sets out a range of considerations necessary to produce appropriate internal environments in the context of a wider discussion on the effect of building decisions on the broader environment. The authors, from architecture and engineering, academia and practice, provide a rounded and well-balanced introduction to this important topic. Starting from a belief that the built environment can contribute more positively to the planet and the pleasure of places as well as answering the practical demands of comfort, they cover site planning, form, materials, construction and operation as well as looking at design on a city level. Presenting a thoughtful and stimulating approach to the built environment, this book forms an excellent guide for practitioners, students and academics concerned with our built environment.

This book examines the drivers for improved performance of the drinking water sector in Ghana by focussing on the role of the national macro-environment, water supply related organisations and institutions and the water service providers (urban and small towns). Political interference, which adversely affects the drinking water sector in both the urban and the small towns' water supply are described. The drinking water sector is gradually implementing aspects of the New Public Management (NPM) with the small towns' water sector ,ore advanced than the urban water sector. Water pricing in the dinking water sector is analysed and its particular implication on the urban poor is highlighted. The role of the policy, legal and regulatory environment in achieving universal service coverage in sustainable, effective, equitable and efficient manner is presented.

This book contains an edited version of the lectures and selected contributions presented during the Advanced Summer Institute on "Product Engineering: Eco-Design, Technologies and Green Energy" organized at the st Transilvania University of Brasov (Romania) in the period 14-21 of July 2004. The Advanced Summer Institute (ASI) was organized in the framework of the European FP5 funded project "ADEPT - Advanced computer aided Design of Ecological Products and Technologies integrating green energy sources" and was devoted to the Product Engineering field, with particular attention to the aspects related to the environmentally conscious design and green energy sources. The objective of the ASI was to create the framework for meeting of leading scientists with PhD holders and advanced PhD students carrying out research in the field of Eco-Design, CAD, Simulation technologies, Robotics, Manufacturing and green energy sources. The aim was to create conditions for high level training through a series of 15 invited lectures presented by world reputed scientists, as well as to give possibilities for young researchers to present their achievements and to establish professional contacts. The ASI was seen also as an opportunity for academics, practitioners and consultants from Europe and elsewhere who are involved in the study, management, development and implementation of product engineering principles in the learning and teaching sectors, as well as professionals to come together and share ideas on projects and examples of best practice.

An informative and entertaining look at why plants have been used in magic and what that tells us about people and plants in a post-magic world.

How a community in Cairo, Egypt, has adapted the many systems required for clean water. Who is responsible for ensuring access to clean potable water? In an urbanizing planet beset by climate change, cities are facing increasingly arid conditions and a precarious water future. In Well Connected, anthropologist Tessa Farmer details how one community in Cairo, Egypt, has worked collaboratively to adapt the many systems required to facilitate clean water in their homes and neighborhoods. As a community that was originally not included in Cairo's municipal systems, the residents of Ezbet Khairallah built their own potable water and wastewater infrastructure. But when the city initiated a piped sewage removal system, local residents soon found themselves with little to no power over their own water supply or wastewater removal. Throughout this transition, residents worked together to collect water at the right times to drink, bathe, do laundry, cook, and clean homes. These everyday practices had deep implications for the health of community members, as they struggled to remain hydrated, rid their children of endemic intestinal worms, avoid consuming water contaminated with sewage, and mediate the impact of fluctuating water quality. Farmer examines how the people of Cairo interact with one another, with the government, and with social structures in order to navigate the water systems (and lack thereof) that affect their day-to-day lives. Farmer's extensive ethnographic fieldwork during the implementation of the Governorate of Cairo's septic system shines through in the compelling stories of community members. Well Connected taps into the inherent sociality of water through social contacts, moral ideology, interpersonal relationships, domestic rhythms, and the everyday labor of connecting.

* One of the first critiques of participatory design processes that are currently the fashion in design and business * highlights political, social and methodological obstacles when designers turn to design thinking, participation and "living labs" * uses global examples to introduce a more critical and post-colonial perspective on participation and social innovation throughout the book

From Angkor Wat to Agent Orange, Southeast Asia An Environmental History tells the story of some of the most dramatic effects humans have had on the natural and developed environment anywhere in the world and examines the ways in which environmental factors have helped shape the culture, politics, and societies of the region. Ever since the first humanlike creatures arrived some 80,000 years ago, Southeast Asia's varied and challenging environment has helped shape the course of human destiny. From the importance of its spices to 17th-century Europeans to the jungle canopies that sheltered Communist insurgents throughout much of the 20th century, the region's environment has often proven decisive in human affairs. Packed with key facts and analysis, Southeast Asia provides an expert guide to the complex interplay between human societies and the environment from Burma to the Philippines and from Vietnam to Indonesia. How has the environment helped shape politics, trade, and religion? What are the likely consequences of ongoing deforestation for Southeast Asia's people and animals? Part of ABC-CLIO's Nature and Human Societies series, this work charts the region's environmental history from prehistory to modern times and is essential reading for students and experts alike.

Proceedings of the ISPRA-Course Held at the Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy, October 21-25, 1985, in Collaboration with EuReDatA

If there is one area of business education that requires out-of-the-box, creative thinking it is sustainability. Business sustainability, because of its relative newness (and hence uncertainty), its dependence on interdisciplinary thinking, its need to work with different stakeholders and its non-traditional operating approaches, demands that we train our managers in wholly new ways. This need for new and non-traditional teaching approaches is reflected in this collection of unorthodox teaching pedagogies. The underlying philosophy behind them is that deep learning for sustainability needs ultimately to be experiential: that is, learning while doing rather than a passive absorption of facts and figures. While much of the underlying theory of sustainability may be taught using more traditional lecture and reading approaches, the implementation of true business sustainability requires students to experiment - to win and lose - while grappling with the myriad challenges and frustrations posed by sustainability: the same challenges and frustrations, one might add, that companies intent on implementing sustainability face on a daily basis in the world in which they operate. The aim is to create a learning environment where students themselves take control over their own learning. This book - a companion volume to Teaching Business Sustainability 1: From Theory to Practice (Greenleaf Publishing, 2004) - focuses on four main categories of experiential pedagogy: case studies, hands-on exercises, role-play simulations and active learning teaching exercises. It includes contributions from a range of experts in global sustainability education who provide their expertise with class-hardened teaching materials. Teaching Business Sustainability 2 will be an invaluable resource both for educators working in a wide range of academic disciplines, looking for inspiration and guidance on how to teach business sustainability, as well as for organisations looking to reinvigorate internal management education programmes to factor in corporate responsibility and sustainability issues.

** Major new textbook on all aspects of environmental principles and policies by renowned author and lecturer Sharon Beder ** Critical and interdisciplinary approach to analysis of environmental problems, including social, equity and market-based perspectives, covering climate change, pollution, fisheries and water ** Ideal course text for environmental studies, politics, business and related fields, with comprehensive international coverage, boxed cases and further reading for each chapter-provides a challenging approach for students This textbook takes a holistic, interdisciplinary and analytical approach to the development, implementation and impact of environmental policies that govern our relationship with the environment. It provides comprehensive coverage and clear explanation of principles including sustainability, the precautionary principle, public participation, equity and polluters pays. It also covers how principles are applied in real life to a range of issues from persistent chemical pollution to climate change to fishing rights and watershed usage as well as full coverage of economic approaches--including cost-benefit analysis and emissions, pollution, and ecosystem services trading.Environmental Principles and Policies is easily accessible, using non-technical language throughout, and--in what sets it apart form others on environmental policy-making--it takes a critical and interdisciplinary approach. It does not set out policies in a descriptive or prescriptive way, but analyzes and evaluates policy options from a variety of perspectives. This enables readers to gain a thorough grasp of important principles and current policies, as well as demonstrating how principlescan be used to critical assess environmental policies.

After years of expeditions all over the world, adventurer Alastair Humphreys spends a year exploring the detailed local map around his home.

Can this unassuming landscape, marked by the glow of city lights and the hum of busy roads, hold any surprises for the world traveller or satisfy his wanderlust? Could a single map provide a lifetime of exploration? Discovering more about the natural world than in all his years in remote environments, he learns the value of truly getting to know his neighbourhood.

An ode to slowing down, Local is a celebration of curiosity and time spent outdoors, as well as a rallying cry to protect the wild places on our doorstep.

Increasingly used to represent climatic, biogeochemical, and ecological systems, computer modeling has become an important tool that should be in every environmental professional's toolbox. Environmental Modeling: A Practical Introduction is just what it purports to be, a practical introduction to the various methods, techniques, and skills required for computerized environmental modeling. Exploring the broad arena of environmental modeling, the book demonstrates how to represent an environmental problem in conceptual terms, formalize the conceptual model using mathematical expressions, convert the mathematical model into a program that can be run on a desktop or laptop computer, and examine the results produced by the computational model.

Equally important, the book imparts skills that allow you to develop, implement, and experiment with a range of computerized environmental models. The emphasis is on active engagement in the modeling process rather than on passive learning about a suite of well-established models. The author takes a practical approach throughout, one that does not get bogged down in the details of the underlying mathematics and that encourages learning through "hands on" experimentation. He provides a set of software tools and data sets that you can use to work through the various examples and exercises presented in each chapter, as well as presentational material and handouts for course tutors. Comprehensive and up-to-date, the book discusses how computational models can be used to represent environmental systems and illustrates how such models improve understanding of the ways in which environmental systems function.

An illuminating manifesto on ancient forests: how they adapt to climate change by passing their wisdom through generations, and why our future lies in protecting them.

In his beloved book The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben revealed astonishing discoveries about the social networks of trees and how they communicate. Now, in The Power of Trees, he turns to their future, with a searing critique of forestry management, tree planting and the exploitation of old growth forests.

As human-caused climate change devastates the planet, forests play a critical role in keeping it habitable. While politicians and business leaders would have us believe that cutting down forests can be offset by mass tree planting, Wohlleben offers a warning: many tree planting schemes lead to ecological disaster. Not only are these trees more susceptible to disease, flooding, fires and landslides, we need to understand that forests are more than simply a collection of trees. Instead, they are ecosystems that consist of thousands of species, from animals to fungi and bacteria. The way to save trees, and ourselves? Step aside and let forests – which are naturally better equipped to face environmental challenges – heal themselves.

With the warmth and wonder familiar to readers from his previous books, Wohlleben also shares emerging scientific research about how forests shape climates both locally and across continents; that trees adapt to changing environmental conditions through passing knowledge down to their offspring; and how old growth may in fact have the most survival strategies for climate change.

At the heart of The Power of Trees lies Wohlleben's passionate plea: that our survival is dependent on trusting ancient forests and allowing them to thrive.

There is a complex relationship between the environment and the development of tourism, which this book discusses in a thorough and informative manner. Specialists from several disciplines pay attention to the challenges of sustainable tourism, devoting their full attention to cultural, regional and policy issues. This is a revised edition that has been expanded to 22 contributions, with inclusion of the cultural element. All chapters have been updated to include new data and information added to the existing body of literature in the last 7 years. It includes new developments and new insights into the relationship between tourism and the environment. An invaluable sequel to the first edition.