This book highlights a number of social sustainability issues at different stages of the supply chain, and demonstrates how these issues can be addressed by adopting social sustainability practices in the manufacturing supply chain. In the wake of emerging social issues in developing countries, research on social sustainability has gained importance for academics and practitioners alike. The three distinguishable social sustainability dimensions in manufacturing that emerge as a result of this research provide insights for supply chain managers and practitioners who might otherwise be unaware of what constitutes social sustainability. A better understanding allows supply chain managers to address these issues more appropriately to increase their supply chain competitiveness in the market. The book presents a social sustainability scale that can be used by practitioners to measure supply chain social sustainability to benchmark their supply chains globally. The research also helps academicians to gain an understanding of the social issues related to the manufacturing supply chain, while the social measures developed serve as reference material for policy-makers and sustainability experts in emerging economies.

This book investigates the new urban geographies of "smart" metropolitan regionalism across the Greater Seattle area and examines the relationship between smart growth planning strategies and spaces of work, home, and mobility. The book specifically explores Seattle within the wider space-economy and multi-scaled policy regime of the Puget Sound region as a whole, 'jumping up' from questions of city politics to concerns with what the book interprets as the "intercurrence" of city-regional "ordering." These theoretical terms capture the state-progressive effort to promote smarter forms of regional development but also the societal/institutional tensions and outright contradictions that such urban development invariably entails, particularly around problems of social equity. Key organizing themes in the text include: the historical path-dependencies of uneven economic and social development, particularly between Tacoma-Pierce County and Seattle-King County; current patterns of high-wage, medium-wage, and low-wage jobs; the emerging spatial and social structure of recent residential changes, especially with respect to class and race composition; and, finally, transit trends and new urban spaces associated with policy efforts to mitigate highway congestion and car-dependency. Greater Seattle, then, is mapped as a key US urban region inscribed spatially by the uneven search for a more sustainable order. Historically-sensitive, theoretically-informed and empirically topical, this book is of interest to scholars and students at all levels in regional planning, urban geography, political science, sustainability studies, urban sociology and public policy.

This book introduces readers to the concepts of sustainability and philosophy of slowness for the management of public entities such as cities or regions. While many urban communities face economic challenges that clearly show the limitations of growth and ever-increasing speed, this book explores an alternative, thought-provoking standpoint in five chapters. The first chapter explains the importance and essence of slowness, smallness and sustainability for public organizations, while the second addresses the concept of "slow life" in an emotional society. Chapter three examines the issue of "slow management" and presents arguments for the value of small businesses as the true foundation of the economy. Chapter four rounds out the coverage with a focus on agriculture. Finally, in chapter five, the authors discuss the overall benefits of a "slow and curvy" management style in order to provide happiness, economic and social sustainability.

This book, the second volume, highlights 7 out of a total of about 36 megacities in the World which by definition have 10 million inhabitants. The cities/chapters presented in this book are based on recent advance such as the wide use of ICT, IOT, e-Governance, e-Democracy, smart economy and flattening and acceleration of the world that is taking place in recent times as reported by 3 times Pulitzer Prize Winner Thomas Friedman. It therefor departs from other ideologies where only a certain megacity qualifies for the title of smart global megacities while in reality every megacity can, and presents how smart global megacities can be created.

Governments are setting challenging targets to increase the production of energy and transport fuel from sustainable sources. The emphasis is increasingly on renewable sources including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass based biofuel, photovoltaics or energy recovery from waste. What are the environmental consequences of adopting these other sources? How do these various sources compare to each other? Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy Sources tries to answer these questions based on the universally adopted method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This book introduces the concept and importance of LCA in the framework of renewable energy sources and discusses the key issues in conducting their LCA. This is followed by an in-depth discussion of LCA for some of the most common bioenergy sources such as agricultural production systems for biogas and bioethanol, biogas from grass, biodiesel from palm oil, biodiesel from used cooking oil and animal fat, Jatropha biodiesel, lignocellulosic bioethanol, ethanol from cassava and sugarcane molasses, residential photovoltaic systems, wind energy, microalgal biodiesel, biohydrogen and biomethane. Through real examples, the versatility of LCA is well emphasized. Written by experts all over the globe, the book is a cornucopia of information on LCA of bioenergy systems and provides a platform for stimulation of new ideas and thoughts. The book is targeted at practitioners of LCA and will become a useful tool for researchers working on different aspects of bioenergy.

A unique feature of this book is its strong practice-oriented nature: it contains a wide range of papers dealing with the social, economic and political aspects of climate change, exemplifying the diversity of approaches to climate change management taking place all over the world, in a way never seen before. In addition, the book describes a number of projects and other initiatives happening in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin American and the Australasian region, providing a profile of the diversity of works taking place today.

Alongside other factors, cultural values and identities help to explain different regulatory frameworks for genetically modified organisms. This book uses insights from environmental history and sociology to illuminate the cultural politics of regulation in the US and the EU, with particular attention to public opinion and anti-GMO activism.

This edited volume presents the proceedings of the AMAA 2015 conference, Berlin, Germany. The topical focus of the 2015 conference lies on smart systems for green and automated driving. The automobile of the future has to respond to two major trends, the electrification of the drivetrain, and the automation of the transportation system. These trends will not only lead to greener and safer driving but re-define the concept of the car completely, particularly if they interact with each other in a synergetic way as for autonomous parking and charging, self-driving shuttles or mobile robots. Key functionalities like environment perception are enabled by electronic components and systems, sensors and actuators, communication nodes, cognitive systems and smart systems integration. The book will be a valuable read for research experts and professionals in the automotive industry but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This critical review of sustainable tourism, from its beginnings in the late 1980s to the present, examines the pressing challenges posed by the effects of global warming and the persistence of deep poverty and social unrest in many regions. David Weaver explores the convergence of mass and 'alternative' tourism as a dominant theme. Originally perceived as two incompatible forms of tourism, they are positioned in this book through enlightened mass tourism as unified components of a single global 'tourisystem' with the power to achieve sustainable tourism. Key features include: a global systems perspective the presentation of enlightened mass tourism as an aspirational outcome discussion of climate change, resilience and smart tourism as major challenges for sustainable tourism. Offering a concise introduction to the topic, tourism students will appreciate the clear look into the benefits and challenges of sustainable tourism. This will also be an insightful read for destination managers and tourism officials responsible for implementing sustainable outcomes.

This book tells the story of one nation's sustained efforts to steer its economy toward low carbon technologies and to define national and global pathways for mitigating climate change. Drawing on a long career in Germany's energy sector, and on subsequent academic research, the book reveals the weaknesses of and critical trade-offs in Germany's bold energy transition plan the Energiewende and explores their causes. Its goal is to provide insights to help policymakers and energy managers keep some of the problems that have plagued the Energiewende at bay, and to instead explore avenues that are more likely to succeed. While such insights cannot solve the problem of socio-technical change overnight, they do reveal alternative transition pathways that keep climate goals clearly in sight, even if they are pursued with a bit less exuberance and a bit more humility. The book is addressed to academic, professional, and political readers alike.

The Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4 DegreesF over the past century, and computer models project that it will rise much more over the next hundred years, with significant impacts on weather, climate, and human society. Many climate scientists attribute these increases to the build up of greenhouse gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels and to the anthropogenic production of short-lived climate pollutants. Climate Change Modeling Methodologies: Selected Entries from the Encyclopaedia of Sustainability Science and Technology provides readers with an introduction to the tools and analysis techniques used by climate change scientists to interpret the role of these forcing agents on climate. Readers will also gain a deeper understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these models and how to test and assess them. The contributions include a glossary of key terms and a concise definition of the subject for each topic, as well as recommendations for sources of more detailed information.

This book charts the path toward high performance sustainable buildings and the smart dwellings of the future. The volume clearly explains the principles and practices of high performance design, the uses of building information modelling (BIM), and the materials and methods of smart construction. Power Systems, Architecture, Material Science, Civil Engineering and Information Systems are all given consideration, as interdisciplinary endeavours are at the heart of this green building revolution.

Global Overshoot is a multidisciplinary analysis (including history and pre-history) from an ecological and evolutionary perspective of the contemporary world system. This book compares and critiques attitudes held by people with different world views to the hypothetical prospect of large widespread falls in quality of life. It also draws insights from these two analyses to develop and suggest a philosophy of Ecohumanism to people of good will who want to think constructively about the world's converging problems, i.e. think altruistically and 'think like an evolving ecosystem.'

This volume gathers the latest advances, innovations and applications presented by leading international researchers and engineers at the International Conference on Sustainable Production and Use of Cement and Concrete (ICSPCC 2019), held in Villa Clara, Cuba on June 23-30, 2019. It covers highly diverse topics, including sustainable production of low-carbon cements, novelties in the development of supplementary cementitious materials, new techniques for the microstructural characterization of construction materials, Portland-based and alkaline-activated cementitious systems, development of additives and additions in the sustainable production of concrete, sustainable production of high-performance concrete, durable concrete produced with recycled aggregates, development of mortars for historical patrimony restoration, environmental and economic assessment of the production and use of cement. The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous, international peer-review process, highlight numerous exciting ideas that will inspire novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaboration between different specialists.

Case studies explore the Million Trees initiative in Los Angeles; the relationship of cap-and-trade policy, public health, greenhouse gas emissions and environmental justice in Southern California; Urbanization, vulnerability and environmental justice in the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Sao Paulo, and in Antofagasta, Greater Concepcion and Valparaiso in Chile; Sociospatial patterns of vulnerability in the American southwest; and Urban flood control and land use planning in Greater Taipei, Taiwan ROC.

The focus of this book is on the key water-related vulnerabilities to climate change in Africa, particularly in its most vulnerable areas, exploring potential management responses to such vulnerabilities. The African countries are particularly exposed and vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, with important impacts on water resources and hydrological systems, water availability, water resource management and sea level variations. Already, under various anthropogenic pressures, the status of water resources in Africa has been changing over the past decades, with decreasing water quality, falling groundwater levels, and variability in rainfall, both in terms of timing and intensity. Climate change will further accelerate the rate of change, affecting the ability of people and societies to respond in a timely manner. It is clear that there is no quick fix to the pressures imposed on water resources by climate change. Increasing the resilience of ecosystems and communities to extreme events such as flooding and drought, and integrating climate change risks and opportunities into development decision-making is indeed a key challenge, as much a technical climate-change one, as a political and developmental challenge. The book, in this regard, intends to contribute to the debate around climate change in relation to water resources management in Africa, and in particular inform policy decisions and actions that will improve governments' and communities' ability to manage the challenges of climate change and variability in relation to the aquatic ecosystems that they depend on. The knowledge collected in this book will benefit policy makers, researchers, as well as other stakeholders.

This volume of 18 chapters is the work of more than 30 authors, many of whom are natives of the Central Asian region or are researchers who have dedicated a large part of their working lives to studying the development dynamics in this vast and fascinating region. The work focuses on the 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. But it also traces the attitudes of land users to the land dating from before the late 19th century, when Russian conquest and colonization occurred, and through the upheavals caused by Soviet-style collectivization and sedentarization. The book is rich with new data presented in 68 easy to understand charts/graphs (many in color) and 50 Tables. Information was generated for this book by experts working in-country. It presents for the first time in English a digest of plethora of previously inaccessible Russian reports and scientific literature that will be invaluable for development agencies, including UN, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Bank as well as to students of this vast and fascinating region who seek up to date and authoritive information."

This edited volume presents research results of the PPP European Green Vehicle Initiative (EGVI), focusing on Electric Vehicle Systems Architecture and Standardization Needs. The objectives of energy efficiency and zero emissions in road transportation imply a paradigm shift in the concept of the automobile regarding design, materials, and propulsion technology. A redesign of the electric and electronic architecture provides in many aspects additional potential for reaching these goals. At the same time, standardization within a broad range of features, components and systems is a key enabling factor for a successful market entry of the electric vehicle (EV). It would lower production cost, increase interoperability and compatibilities, and sustain market penetration. Hence, novel architectures and testing concepts and standardization approaches for the EV have been the topic of an expert workshop of the European Green Vehicles Initiative PPP. This book contains the contributions of current European research projects on EV architecture and an expert view on the status of EV standardization. The target audience primarily comprises researchers and experts in the field.

Fertilizers have been used extensively around the globe since the Green Revolution, due to the high subsidies. However, extensive fertilizer use exacerbates soil degradation and causes yield stagnation, and as a result threatens food security and soil sustainability, especially in developing countries. This means that sustainable soil and environmental management are vital to provide food and nutritional security for present and future generations. This has led to the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) declaring 2015-2024 the International Decade of Soils. This book focuses on the impact of sustainable management of soil and environment on improving the functioning of soil-ecosystems and agronomic productivity, and also discusses food security, nutrient cycling, recent advances in INM technologies, eco-friendly cultivation, agricultural practices to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as conservation agriculture and its effects, and strategies for soil sustainability. Offering a comprehensive overview of management in the context of the sustainability of soil and the agroecosystems that it supports, it demonstrates the options available and provides insights into restoring soil health and matching soil nutrient supply with crop demand to ensure nutritional security in an eco-friendly environment.

This book assesses various intelligent-city evaluation systems around the globe, and subsequently combines that assessment with local-government and enterprise practices to create an evaluation index system for quantifying the Intelligent City concept. In addition, the book provides the results of the CityIQ indicator ranking of intelligent cities in China and worldwide, a system that focuses on three of the most crucial aspects of urban development: the development environment, future trends, and construction and operation. After data sorting, calculation and dimensionless treatment, a score system ranging from 0 to 100 is created for ranking and analyzing cities. Providing unique strategies for promoting an intelligent city evaluation system, the book offers a valuable reference guide for intelligent-city decision-makers, as well as leaders in public urban economy, social welfare and environmental authorities.

This book introduces the concept of Eco-civilization, highlights the construction and development of eco-cities in China, and assesses the achievements and shortcomings of China's eco-city construction projects. As both China and Western countries face an impending ecological crisis, responding to that crisis is a common challenge for all human beings. There is an overwhelming consensus among Chinese scholars that in order to successfully address the ecological crisis successfully we must establish an eco-civilization, and one important step toward accomplishing that goal is to plan and construct eco-cities.

Access to reliable and affordable energy, water, and services is an important determinant of the prosperity of cities along with effective mission sustainment at military installations. The idea for this book was conceived at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) in June 2012 in Hella, Iceland. The workshop was attended by 50 scientists, engineers, and policymakers representing 15 different nations and multiple fields of expertise, reflecting the global and interdisciplinary nature of climate change and sustainability research. The focus of the workshop was on ways in which military installations and small cities can integrate energy, water, and infrastructure sustainability strategies into city and installation management plans that account for climate change uncertainties. The organization of the book reflects major topic sessions and discussions during the workshop.