The difficulties in moving towards corporate sustainability raise the question of how environmental and social management can be integrated better with economic business goals. Over the last decade, the relationship between environmental and economic performance, and more recently the interaction between sustainability performance and business competitiveness, have received considerable attention in both theory and practice. However, to date, only partial aspects of the relationship between sustainability performance, competitiveness and economic performance have been studied from a theoretical as well as an empirical perspective. And, to date, no unique relationship has prevailed in empirical studies. A number of explanations have been put forward to explain this, including methodological reasons, such as the lack of statistical data, the low quality of that data, or the fact that such data is often available for short time periods only. Other theoretical explanations have been developed, such as the influence of different corporate strategies or the relatively small influence of environmental or sustainability issues as one factor among many on the economic or financial success of firms. So, how should the business case for sustainability be managed? This is the starting point for this book, which compiles insights on a large number of aspects of the link between sustainability performance, business competitiveness and economic success in an attempt to provide a comprehensive and structured view of this relationship. The book provides an unrivalled body of knowledge on the state of theory and practice in this field and identifies prospective future fields of work. The book includes: conceptual frameworks for the interaction of social, environmental and economic issues in business environments; case studies of companies that have successfully integrated social, environmental and economic issues; analyses of the causal and empirical relationship between environmental and/or social performance, business performance and firm-level competitiveness; concepts and tools useful for improving business value with proactive operational strategies; assessment of the factors influencing operational sustainability strategies and their economic impact; and comparisons of interactions between sustainability performance and firm competitiveness across industry sectors and countries. Managing the Business Case for Sustainability is the definitive work in its field: the most comprehensive book yet published on the theory and practice of managing sustainability performance, competitiveness, environmental, social and economic performance in an integrated way. It will be essential reading for managers, academics, consultants, fund managers, governments and government agencies, NGOs and international bodies who need a broad and comprehensive overview of the business case for sustainability.

It is crucial that engineers - from students to those already practising - have a deep understanding of the environmental threats facing the world, if they are to become part of the solution and not the problem. Is there a way to reconcile modern lifestyles with the compelling need for change? Could new improved technologies play a key role? If great leaps in the environmental efficiency of technologies are needed, can they be produced? Engineers are in a privileged and hugely influential position to innovate, design and build a sustainable future. But are they engaged or uninterested? Are they knowledgeable or ignorant? This book has been developed by a number of committed educators in European engineering departments under the leadership of Delft University of Technology and the Technical University of Catalunya to meet the perceived gap between what engineers know and what they should know in relation to sustainable development. The University of Delft decided as long ago as 1998 that all of its engineering graduates, working towards careers as designers, managers or researchers, should be prepared for the challenge of sustainable development and, as such, should leave university able to make sustainable development operational in their designs and daily practices. The huge amount of knowledge gathered on best-practice teaching for engineers is reflected in this book. The aim is to give engineering students a grounding in the challenge that sustainable development poses to the engineering profession, the contribution the engineer can make to attaining some of the societal and environmental goals of sustainability, and the barriers and pitfalls engineers will likely need to confront in their professional lives. Concise but comprehensive, the book examines the key tools, skills and techniques that can be used in engineering design and management to ensure that whole-life costs and impacts of engineering schemes are addressed at every stage of planning, implementation and disposal. The book also aims to demonstrate through real-life examples the tangible benefits that have already been achieved in many engineering projects, and to highlight how real improvements can be, and are being, made. Each chapter ends with a series of questions and exercises for the student to undertake. Sustainable Development for Engineers will be essential reading for all engineers and scientists concerned with sustainable development. In particular, it provides key reading and learning materials for undergraduate and postgraduate students reading environmental, chemical, civil or mechanical engineering, manufacturing and design, environmental science, green chemistry and environmental management.

This book offers a critical evaluation of current scientific work on defining the issue of sustainability and on measuring progress towards a sustainable state. It aims to provide a common understanding of how progress towards sustainability can be achieved by optimising technological development, environmental impact and socio-economic factors. A further objective is to identify the major trends in methodologies that assist progress towards sustainability.

The "business case" for corporate social responsibility, which suggests that socially and environmentally aware companies can expect to reap financial rewards, is seemingly gaining widespread acceptance within the business community. This is particularly apparent in the ever-increasing number of prominent companies parading their social, ethical and environmental credentials by producing paper- or web-based social and environmental, or sustainability, reports. In so doing, reporting companies claim, they are demonstrating a clear commitment to transparency and accountability to their key stakeholder groups. However, in the prevailing voluntaristic, business-case-centred climate within which such initiatives are taking place, little thought appears to have gone into the question of how stakeholders, other than the capital provider group, can actually use corporate disclosures offered in order to hold management accountable for the social and environmental consequences of their actions. While much corporate rhetoric abounds concerning notions of stakeholder dialogue and engagement, rigorous analysis of the governance implications of their claimed commitment to the principles of corporate social responsibility is largely conspicuous by its absence. Corporate Social Responsibility, Accountability and Governance seeks to explore this "missing link" between CSR (and associated reporting initiatives) and governance mechanisms that are capable of embracing true stakeholder accountability. A wide range of case studies, drawing on experiences of both public- and private-sector initiatives in Europe, the United States, Canada, South America and Asia, offer insightful analysis of the complex relationships between the state, the market and civil society in the development of CSR, accountability and sustainable development. The book employs a multidisciplinary perspective in order to analyse the political, social, economic, technological, legal and organisational shaping of CSR. The complexities underpinning the concept are thereby clearly drawn out and the gross oversimplifications inherent in the prevailing consultancy-driven, business-case literature painfully exposed. Above all, the book offers a sound, practically and theoretically informed contribution to public policy debate and reflects and builds on urgent calls from public- and private-sector policy-makers as well as academics to develop better governance and accountability frameworks for business to deal with the imperatives of social responsibility, sustainable development and ethics. This book is divided into five parts. In Part 1, the complex concepts of responsibility, accountability and governance are discussed, and in particular the presumed relationships between the state, the market and civil society in improving accountability and governance are explored and critiqued. Part 2 consists of chapters relating to corporate social responsibility and stakeholder theory. Part 3 is concerned with empirical studies covering governance structures, networking and corporate social responsibility. Part 4 deals with corporate governance and its implications for regulators and civil society. Part 5 discusses multinational companies and how they impact on national governance regimes. Finally, a summary is provided with emerging international patterns of accountability and governance structures. Corporate Social Responsibility, Accountability and Governance will be essential reading for public and private policy-makers and practitioners and academics interested in how CSR can become more than a soundbite, and rather a substantial force for better global corporate governance and accountability.

Social Learning in Environmental Management explores and expands the approaches to collective learning most needed to help individuals, communities, experts and governments work together to achieve greater social and ecological sustainability. It provides practical frameworks and case studies to assist environmental managers in building partnerships that can support learning and action on issues arising from human impacts on the life-support systems of our planet.In this book, social learning frameworks and case studies address the three areas of collaboration, community, government and professional, in some detail. The resulting guidelines and their practical applications provide key source material for undergraduate and postgraduate professional education in the fields of social and environmental sciences, political science, planning, geography and urban studies, and also for professionals in environmental management.

The outcome of a major research project on development, security and culture, this collection along with a second volume Human Values and Global Governance , outlines the emerging field of global studies and the theoretical approach of global social theory. It focuses on the problem of development in the context of the globalized condition.

Shortly, this book is the written up-graded version of the topics discussed during the Small Meeting of the 2nd International School Congress: Natural Resources, Sustainability and Humanity, held in Braga, Portugal, 5-8 May 2010 with the diverse participation of scientists, educators and governmental representatives.

The Earth hosts an immense ecosystem, colonized by millions of species for billions of years but only for a few tens of thousands of years by humans. Environmental history tells though that it was humankind that shaped the environment as no other species. History, geography, religion and politics among other reasons have differentiated populations with respect to access to safe food and water, education, health, and to space and natural resource utilization. The globalization era of trade, information and communication is shortening distances and increasing overall wealth, but, as is pointed out in this book, it is also contributing to the propagation of diseases, and to the modification or even destruction of native ecosystems by exotic invasive species.

Man is the only species that has the perception of its history, evolution, of the consequences of its decisions, and that there is a future ahead. It is also the only species that has the potential to change it. This awareness can be a source of anxiety and contradictory behaviours, but it is also the key to changing attitudes towards the construction of a common sustainable home, by committed education, interdisciplinary approaches, mobilization and empowerment of people and political consonant actions.

This book aims to initiate among students and other readers critical and interdisciplinary reflections on key problems concerning development, gender relations, peace and environment, with a special emphasis on North-South relations. This volume offers a selection of the author's research in different parts of the world during 50 years of contributing to an interdisciplinary scientific debate and addressing social answers to urgent global problems. After the author's biography and bibliography, the second part analyses the development processes of several countries in the South that resulted in a dynamic of underdevelopment. The deep-rooted gender discrimination is also reflected in the destructive exploitation of natural resources and the pollution of soils, water and air. Since the beginning of the Anthropocene in the mid-20th century, the management of human society and global resources has been unsustainable and has created global environmental change and multiple conflicts over scarce and polluted resources. Peace and development policies aiming at gender equity and sustainable environmental management, where water and food are crucial for the survival of humankind, focus on systemic alternatives embedded in a path of sustainability transition. * This book reviews multiple influences from Europe, Africa and Latin America on a leading social scientist and activist on gender, development and environment aiming at a world with equity, sustainability, peace and harmony between nature and humans.* This pioneer volume analyses social and environmental conflicts and peace processes in Latin America, with a special focus on Mexico, by addressing the development of under-development, global environmental change, poverty, nutrition and the North-South gap.* This volume focuses on environmental deterioration with a special emphasis on food and water and proposes systemic changes towards a sustainability transition with peace, regional development and gender equity.* This pioneering work offers alternative approaches to regional development, food sovereignty and holistic development processes from a gender perspective.

This volume discusses a broad range of vital issues encompassing the production and consumption of food in the current period of climate change. All of these add up to looming, momentous challenges to food security, especially for people in regions where malnutrition and famine have been the norm during numerous decades. Furthermore, threats to food security do not stop at the borders of more affluent countries - governance of food systems and changes in eating patterns will have worldwide consequences. The book is arranged in four broad sections. Part I, Combating Food Insecurity: A Global Responsibility opens with a chapter describing the urgent necessity for new paradigm and policy set to meet the food security challenges of climate change. Also in this section are chapters on meat and the dimensions of animal welfare, climate change and sustainability; on dietary options for mitigating climate change; and the linkage of forest and food production in the context of the REDD+ approach to valuation of forests. Part II, Managing Linkages Between Climate Change and Food Security offers a South Asian perspective on Gender, Climate Change and Household Food Security; a chapter on food crisis in sub-Saharan Africa; and separate chapters on critical issues of food supply and production in Nigeria, far-Western Nepal and the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Cameroon. Part III examines Food Security and patterns of production and consumption, with chapters focused on Morocco, Thailand, Bahrain, Kenya and elsewhere. The final section discusses successful, innovative practices, with chapters on Food Security in Knowledge-Based Economy; Biosaline Agriculture in the Gulf States; Rice production in a cotton zone of Benin; palm oil in the production of biofuel; and experiments in raised-bed wheat production. The editors argue that technical prescriptions are insufficient to manage the food security challenge. They propose and explain a holistic approach for adapting food systems to global environmental change, which demands the engagement of many disciplines - a new, sustainable food security paradigm.

A revolutionary vision of how we can create a sustainable planet, this book focuses on two critical global issues: rapid population growth and a human-induced climate change. Firor and Jacobsen summarize the current status of these two issues, show how they are related to one another, and prescribe steps that governments, societies, and individuals can adopt to stabilize both population and climate. Illustrations.

This book is the outcome of more than 20 years of experience of the author in teaching and research field. The wider scope and coverage of the book will help not only the students/ researchers/professionals in the field of agriculture and allied disciplines, but also the researchers and practitioners in other fields. Written in simple and lucid language, the book would appeal to all those who are meant to be benefitted out of it. All efforts have been made to present "RESEARCH", its meaning, intention and usefulness. The book reflects current methodological techniques used in interdisciplinary research, as illustrated with many relevant worked out examples. Designing of research programme, selection of variables, collection of data and their analysis to interpret the data are discussed extensively. Statistical tools are complemented with real-life examples, making the otherwise complicated subject like statistics seem simpler. Attempts have been made to demonstrate how a user can solve the problems using simple computer-oriented programme. Emphasis is placed not only on solving the problems in various fields but also on drawing inferences from the problems. The importance of instruments and computers in research processes and statistical analyses along with their misuse/incorrect use is also discussed to make the user aware about the correct use of specific technique. In all the chapters, theories are combined with examples, and steps are enumerated to follow the correct use of the available packages like MSEXCELL, SPSS, SPAR1, SAS etc. Utmost care has been taken to present varied range of research problems along with their solutions in agriculture and allied fields which would be of immense use to readers.

In a world where corporate governance scandals have become the everyday, the role of business schools in producing the managers of today - and tomorrow - has come into sharp focus. Today's managers and the MBAs that will follow them are in need of an education that grounds business ethics and the overarching concerns of sustainable development into the curriculum. As some, but by no means all, organisations are coming to realise, bad performance in environmental protection, labour practices and human rights is no longer a "soft" issue but one that can hit the bottom line with a vengeance. So, what is the state of the art in teaching business sustainability worldwide, and what teaching practices and tools are achieving successful results? This book begins to answer these questions and more.There are many challenges facing educators in the field of sustainability. It is an evolving field still in its infancy as a management discipline; and there is also the need to combat the unstated but often underlying assumption that many environmental and social issues represent non-valued-added effort. Teaching Business Sustainability acknowledges this problem, while helping students explore the various ways in which the theoretical value of business sustainability can result in valuable and value-added practical outcomes.A wide mix of approaches is therefore indicated; while many of these are experimental and on the leading edge of management learning, they all share an experiential (and often a team-based) element, and attempt to bring together the theory in a way that makes it relevant to practitioners in the field. The implication is that, whenever possible, educators need to link the learning to the students' immediate and pressing "real-world" realities. This applies equally to undergraduates or high-level executives. However, in the absence of immediate examples of such realities (as may often be the case in undergraduate settings) educators need to introduce experientially based approaches that recreate such settings in the classroom.The book also argues the case for holistic and interdisciplinary learning. It is clear from much of the literature on sustainability that the concept does not easily lend itself to being pigeonholed and that it crosses many of the functional areas of business. Indeed, it goes beyond just business learning to encompass many fields such as ecology, engineering and biology. If students are to move beyond the narrow perspective that conventional business studies often entail, they need to be introduced to the wider vision that an interdisciplinary approach engenders.The final point that emerges from this collection is that experiential learning of business sustainability often can, and should be, fun! Be it a heated exchange in a case-study discussion, a role-play exercise or a hands-on student consulting project, much experiential learning seems to excite the imagination of the students and to release their creative juices.The 23 contributions to Teaching Business Sustainability have been divided into three thematic groups. In the first section, 'Theory, Critique and Ideas', the authors explore and critique some of the overarching ideas and thinking behind the teaching of sustainability. The next section, 'Learning from Current Practice', contains the experiences of a number of educators and the successful and leading-edge approaches that they have used. The final section then outlines tools, methods and approaches that can be used to teach business sustainability. This last section also serves as an introduction to a second volume - Teaching Business Sustainability Vol. 2 - which provides educators of sustainability with a series of case studies, role plays and experiential exercises. Teaching Business Sustainability is 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.

This book provides a methodological framework to set properly the thermal enhancement and energy efficiency in historical buildings during a renovation process. It describes the unique thermal features of historical properties, closely examining how the building materials, structural elements, and state of conservation can impact energy efficiency, including sample calculations and results. It also describes means and aims of several fundamental steps to improve energy efficiency in historical buildings with an experimentation on a case study. This timely text also introduces leading-edge technologies for enhancing the energy performance of historical buildings, including the potential for integration of co- ad tri-generation though micro-turbines, photovoltaics and solar collectors and their compatibility with architectural preservation.

Sustainable development is capturing the attention of planners, politicians and business leaders. Within the academic sphere its study is increasingly breaching disciplinary boundaries to become a focus of attention for natural and social scientists alike. But in studying such a key concept, it is vital that there is a clear definition of what it means, how it is applied on the ground, and the influence it exerts upon people's perceptions of change in the physical environment, economic activity and society. Exploring Sustainable Development is a major new text which provides a multifaceted introduction to key areas of study in this field, examining sustainability at the full range of spatial scales from the local to the global. Building on existing theory it demonstrates the unique contributions that thinking geographically about space, place and human-environment relationships can bring to the analysis of sustainable development. This book explores different interpretations of sustainable development in both theory and practice, in developed and developing countries, and in rural and urban areas. It pays particular attention to the local, national and international politics of implementation, the future of climate and energy, the role of business, and different conceptions of agricultural sustainability. This wide-ranging text is ideal for undergraduates and postgraduates in geography, environmental science, development studies, and related social and political sciences.

The International Conference on New and Renewable Energy Technologies for Sustainable Development held in Ponta Delgada, Azores (2002), Portugal, has provided technology specialists and hardware developers with the opportunity to discuss, review and demonstrate the research directions, the design methodologies, and the production techniques leading to cost- effective energy technologies for sustainable development.

This dialog provides the context for more detailed technical presentations and panel discussions on energy systems, renewable resource exploitation, and the engineering design and optimisation for minimum resource consumption. The papers included in this volume are selected from those presented at the conference reflecting to present the state-of-the-art developments in the field.

The selection of papers presented in this volume has enlightened various fields of scientific and economic development which should merge efforts in the understanding of the sustainable development concept and technological implications. The book will be of particular interest to engineering practitioners, product developers, researchers, and also economists, political scientists and government administrators exploring the multifaceted relationship between renewable energy technologies and sustainable development. Keynote lectures frame the technical and policy issues confronting the sustainable development movement and enrich the dialog between various segments of the community.

The Spirit of Sustainability helps readers navigate the moral worlds and ethical concepts, and social and religious practices related to sustainability. In collaboration with the Forum on Religion and Ecology, an established network of leading scholars, it explores a wide range of topics and perspectives, from the promise and problems of approaching sustainability through global and indigenous religions, to major theories in philosophy and environmental ethics, and professional practices and social movements. This volume presents the various goals of sustainability - ecological integrity, economic health, human dignity, fairness to the future, and social justice - and provides a framework for reasoning through many interrelated environmental challenges for both current and future generations.

This volume investigates the challenges facing the Egyptian Northern coastal lakes, focusing on the impact of climate change, their biodiversity and sustainable management. Presenting up-to-date research, it covers the following topics: climate change and water quality modeling and their impacts on the sustainability of the lakes; the economic role of the lakes; the use of remote sensing in monitoring; and the biodiversity of the lakes with detailed discussions. Further, management strategies for the sustainable development of these valuable resources are proposed to maintain the lakes sustainability. The book closes with a concise summary of the conclusions and recommendations presented in the preceding chapters. As such, it offers an invaluable resource for the academic community and postgraduate students, as well as for environmental managers and policymakers.

The links between education and sustainable development are deepening, although subject to much controversy and debate. The success of the sustainability discourse depends both on the pedagogic and research functions of higher education. Similarly, for higher education itself to remain relevant and engaged it faces pressure not only to integrate the insights and lessons drawn from the perspective of sustainable development, but also to be responsive to scrutiny of its own practices in relation to sustainability. Among professionals in higher education, sustainable development has its supporters and detractors. It is embraced by some individuals and departments while being perceived by others as a threat to the coherence of particular disciplines. Although it is not currently an academic discipline in its own right, increasing public and professional familiarity with the term, and the increasing urgency of global calls for the implementation of sustainable development mean that this is rapidly changing. This volume analyses the impact of the concepts and practices of sustainability and sustainable development on various academic disciplines, institutional practices, fields of study and methods of enquiry. The contributors, drawn from a wide-range of disciplines, perspectives, educational levels and institutional contexts, examine the purpose of the modern university and the nature of sustainable education, which includes exploring links to social movements for sustainability projects, curriculum change, culture and biodiversity, values relating to gender equality and global responsibility, and case studies on the transformation, or otherwise, of some specific disciplines.

Old-style manufacturing, embodied in industrial parks that litter the landscape, may soon become dinosaurs of industrial development. These "Jurassic Parks" of the past will be replaced by new eco-industrial parks (EIPs) that link manufacturers more closely together into an industrial ecosystem for business and environmental excellence. Companies have always depended on a larger ecology of suppliers, customers, geography and market to be successful, but a popular mythology was that each company was an island. Abandoning this fantasy by consciously integrating into a larger industrial ecology is smart business that draws on the overall system of interactions to nourish corporate success-and the environment. Eco-industrial development, born from the realisation that the places where we work waste too much and unnecessarily pollute the land, air, and water, simply stated, demands a better way of working. From eco-parks-most famously at Kalundborg in Denmark-to virtual networks, this progressive perspective on economic development is taking shape in communities across the United States and around the world. Eco-industrial Strategies is edited by Ed Cohen-Rosenthal, a pioneer in the field of industrial ecology, whose untimely passing early in 2002 has left this book as a legacy to his passion and commitment to improving both the environment and places in which people work. The book explores the key issues involved in eco-industrial development and identifies the stakeholders and their roles in such projects. In addition, it offers a compendium of eco-industrial development case studies. While an increasing number of handbooks and manuals focus on eco-industrial development, no other book containing process analysis, a breakdown of stakeholder responsibility, and case study assessment exists. What sets this work apart is the pooling together of resources and knowledge from a wide array of sources within the eco-industrial field and the framing of the concept from multiple angles. Eco-industrial Strategies aims to accomplish a two-step "inform and empower" process. First, it familiarises readers with eco-industrial development, its innovative proclivity and applicability to diverse circumstances. Second, it provides the fundamental tools and motivational creativity to implement independent eco-industrial projects. The introductory chapters of this book present several overarching concepts and perspectives of the field, which pay particular attention to the technological, economic and social elements. The next section focuses on the role of the various stakeholders involved in eco-industrial development. Each chapter sets out to answer various questions relating to the stakeholders' place in the system, specifically: what are the stakeholders' particular interests, in what ways can they participate in the process, and how do they relate to other actors and stakeholders? These chapters also respond to questions regarding the relationship between stakeholders and eco-industrial development. Chiefly, they trace the flow of benefits, and various other impacts and repercussions, among and between the stakeholders and the development project. Since eco-industrial development involves countless groups and individuals, this book focuses on five distinct and comprehensive categories: namely, central government, local government, surrounding community, development community, and energy resources. The third section outlines several matters related to conceptualisation, design, operation and assessment of eco-industrial projects. Concentrating on the core legal, environmental, management, financial, real estate and evaluative aspects, the book presents the critical components of each issue and also provides an understanding of the unique attributes eco-industrial development brings to the equation. The case-study portion of this book provides vignettes of actual work in progress. Each chapter details the key characteristics of the effort and the process undertaken in developing the eco-industrial project. The studies focus primarily on issues considered in the preceding sections, such as project funding, stakeholder engagement and environmental stewardship. In addition, they recount achievements, threats to success, ways obstacles were overcome, and details on the project's future. Eco-industrial Strategies showcases development projects from around the world, including Asia, Canada, Denmark and the United States, situated in a variety of settings: for example, army bases, industrial parks and virtual networks. This eclectic mix of development structures and contexts is indicative of the diversity apparent in eco-industrial projects overall and allows readers to glean functional and constructive lessons adaptable to their particular circumstances. Accordingly, this section stands as a testament to the widespread applicability of eco-industrial development, and as inspiration for practitioners in both traditional and unconventional settings. An idea and practice still in its infancy, eco-industrial development will undergo many evolutions beyond what this collaborative work is able to capture. As a document of the concept's earliest theorists, Eco-industrial Strategies provides current and future readership with an understanding of eco-industrial development's foundations, its beginnings and its aspirations. Most excitingly, policy-makers, industry professionals, community developers, grass-roots activists, and all other readers yearning for a better way to work and live, will experience a glimpse of the thoughts, concerns, ambitions, technological insight, communities and economies that embody eco-industrial development.

This work contains a collection of selected, peer-reviewed and state-of-the-art reflecting papers that were presented at the First Dubrovnik Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, 2-7 June 2002. This conference was focussed on following objectives: Discussion of sustainability concepts of energy, water and environment and their relation to global development; Analysis of potential scientific and technological processes reflecting energy, water and environment exchange; Presentation of energy, water and environment system models and their evaluation; Presentation of multi-criteria assessment of energy, water and environment systems by taking into consideration economic, social, environmental and resource use aspects. This book is interesting for (post)graduate students, scientists and professionals from mechanical, chemical and environmental disciplines who are working on sustasinable development.

As climate change and urban development are closely interlinked and often interact negatively, this edited volume takes Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam's first mega-urban region as a case study to analyse its vulnerability to climate change and to suggest measures towards a more sustainable urban development. The book offers an overview on land use planning regarding the aspects of urban flooding, urban climate, urban energy and urban mobility as well as spatial views from the angle of urban planning such as the metropolitan level, the city, the neighbourhood and building level. It shows that to a significant degree, measures dealing with climate change can be taken from the toolbox of sustainable urban development and reflects how institutional structures need to change to enhance chances for implementation given socio-cultural and economic constraints. This is merged and integrated into a holistic perspective of planning recommendations, supporting the municipal government to increase its adaptive capacity. The authors are members of a German government funded research project on how to support HCMC's municipal government to adapt to risks related to climate change.

Public Participation and Better Environmental Decisions is about a specific 'promise' that participation holds for environmental decision-making. Many of the arguments for public participation in (inter)national environmental policy documents are functional, that is to say they see public participation as a means to an end. Sound solutions to environmental problems require participation beyond experts and political elites. Neglecting information from the public leads to legitimacy questions and potential conflicts.

There is a discourse in the literature and in policy practice as to whether decision-making improves in quality as additional relevant information by the public is considered. The promise that public participation holds has to be weighed against the limitations of public participation in terms of costs and interest conflicts. The question that Public Participation and Better Environmental Decisions seeks to answer for academics, planners and civil servants in all environmental relevant policy fields is: What restricts and what enables information to hold the 'promise' that public participation lead to better environmental decision-making and better outcomes?

The need to reform energy subsidies was one of the pressing issues highlighted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Many types of subsidy, especially those that encourage the production and use of fossil fuel, and other non-renewable forms of energy, are harmful to the environment. They can also have high financial and economic costs, and often only bring few benefits to the people for whom they are intended.Removing, reducing or restructuring such energy subsidies is helpful for the environment and the economy at the same time. Potential social costs in terms of employment in the conventional energy industry or reduced access to energy could be addressed by redirecting the money formerly spent on subsidies to income support, health, environment, education or regional development programmes.Of course, subsidies can have certain positive consequences, particularly where they are aimed at encouraging more sustainable energy production and use. Temporary support for renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies to overcome market barriers, and measures to improve poor or rural households' access to modern, commercial forms of energy, for instance, could be positive measures in support of sustainable development.Based on ground-breaking work undertaken by UNEP and the International Energy Agency, this book aims to raise awareness of the actual and potential impacts of energy subsidies and provide guidance to policy-makers on how to design and implement energy-subsidy reforms. It provides methodologies for analysing the impact of subsidies and their reform, and reviews experiences with energy subsidies in a number of countries and regions. Drawing on these case studies, it analyses the lessons learned as well as the policy implications, and provides guidance on how to overcome resistance to reform.The book provides an analytical framework which aims to set the scene for the detailed discussion of energy-subsidy issues at the country level. It considers how subsidies are defined, how they can be measured, how big they are and how their effects can be assessed. A more detailed discussion of methodological approaches to the assessment of the economic, environmental and social effects of subsidies and their reform is contained in the Annex.Chapters 3-11 of the book contain country case studies from contributing authors, which review various experiences and issues related to energy subsidies in selected countries, but do not strive for a common approach. They are organised along geographical lines, beginning with a review of energy subsidies generally in OECD countries. Case studies of energy subsidies in transition economies - the Czech and Slovak Republics (Chapter 4) and Russia (Chapter 5) - follow. Three studies of Asian countries focus on the costs of different types of energy subsidy: electricity subsidies in India (Chapter 6), oil subsidies in Indonesia (Chapter 7) and energy subsidies generally in Korea (Chapter 8). Chapter 9 reviews the effect of energy subsidies in Iran and suggests a pragmatic approach to reforming them. This is followed by an assessment of the LPG subsidy programme in Senegal (Chapter 10) and an analysis of the effects of removing coal and oil subsides in Chile (Chapter 11).Chapter 12 analyses the lessons learned from these case studies, focusing on the economic, environmental and social effects and their implications for policy. Finally, Chapter 13 discusses the implications of these findings and makes practical recommendations for designing and implementing policy reforms.This book will be essential for both practitioners and academics involved in the energy sector and for governments and policy-makers wishing to examine the reform of energy subsidies.