This book looks into the increasing conflict between the demand of economic growth and the already fragile ecological system condition in China. The prolonged urbanization process has escalated the erosion of natural environments and is increasing energy consumption. China's role as a "world plant" is also demanding more and more resource supply as well as energy consumption. This book argues that to correctly respond to these emerging issues, apart from upgrading industry and improves environmental protection techniques, China needs to establish an "ecological civilization" that provides an ideological basis for the construction of a green low-carbon model of economic growth.

This volume gathers distinguished researchers on travel behavior from a variety of disciplines, to offer state-of-the-art research and analysis encompassing environmental, traffic and transport psychology; transport planning and engineering; transport geography; transport economics; consumer services research; environmental sociology and well-being research. The underlying dilemma is that neither contemporary transportation technology nor contemporary travel behaviors are sustainable. The path toward sustainability is complex, because the consequences of changing technology and attempts to change travel preferences can be extreme both in economic and in social terms. The Handbook of Sustainable Travel discusses transportation systems from environmental, social and economic perspectives, to provide insights into the underlying mechanisms, and to envisage potential strategies towards more sustainable travel. Part I offers an introduction to the subject, with chapters review historical and future trends in travel, the role of travel for a good society, and the satisfaction of travelers with various features of travel options. Part II proceeds from the fact that the car is the backbone of today's transportation system, and that a break with automobiles is likely to be necessary in the future. Contributors review the development of private car use, explore economic and psychological reasons why the car has become the primary mode of transport and discuss how this can be changed in the future. Part III addresses the social sustainability of travel, providing insights into the social costs and benefits of leisure, business and health travel, and taking into account the social costs or benefits of measures whose goals are primarily environmental. The authors provide the necessary background to judge whether proposed transport policies are also sustainable from a social perspective. Part IV highlights future alternatives to physical travel and surveys ecologically sustainable travel modes such as public transport and non-motorized modes of transportation.

The book reviews and reports the recent progress and knowledge on the specific impact of current and projected urban overheating as well as of the urban mitigation technologies on mortality and morbidity and urban vulnerability. It presents recent data and developments on the topic reported by some of the more distinguished researchers in this area. In parallel, it discusses new findings related to the characteristics and the magnitude of urban overheating and reports and analyzes the recent knowledge on the synergies between urban heat island and heatwaves. This book helps to advance our understanding on the interaction between Urban Heat Island (UHI) and overheating as well as their impact on energy demand and public health globally. Exploring the interaction between UHI and energy consumption requires the understanding on the dynamics of UHI intensity and air pollution index in different land use and how such interactions may vary in different cities in the world. Moreover, this book focuses on different cities in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Asia, Spain, UK, and USA.

This book focuses on human rights education (HRE) in higher education, with an emphasis on supporting undergraduate education for social justice and global citizenship at the institutional, classroom, and community levels. Drawing from the work of human rights scholars and advocates at Webster University, Kingston begins a critical discussion about the potential of HRE on college campuses and beyond. Chapter contributors address the institutional issues inherent to building a "human rights campus," promoting just governance models, facilitating student research, and fostering inclusive campus communities. They further explore opportunities within the classroom by highlighting dynamic courses on global sustainable development and post-genocide reconciliation, as well as considering how to create trauma sensitive learning spaces and utilize photography as a human rights teaching tool. Finally, scholar-advocates detail how HRE can be expanded to include the broader community-including teaching critical criminology to aspiring police officers, facilitating community dialogue through academic conferences, and engaging in social justice work related to access to justice, domestic violence, and human trafficking.

The liberalization of U.S. and European electric power markets presents a critical challenge for renewable sources of energy. Edinger and Kaul survey the technological state-of-the-art and economic aspects of renewable electricity generation, and outline the role of other renewable sources, such as solar, wind, and micro-hydroelectric technologies. Offering an empirical and theoretical assessment of these technologies and their assets and liabilities, the book shows how it is possible to restructure our electric power systems and reorient them toward sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives.

International climate conferences such as those in Rio de Janeiro and Kyoto have proclaimed the need for environmentally hospitable technologies. A new electricity system, based on renewable resources and small-scale power technologies, is needed badly; their economics and other efficiencies over conventional central power generation with fossil fuels is clear. Edinger and Kaul assess the rewards and risks associated with renewable technologies and outline a feasible path toward a more environmentally friendly, and reasonable, use of limited natural resources and the global ecosystem. One promising approach for industrialized countries is the decentralization of our current public grid systems. This offers an opportunity for developing countries to leapfrog the stage of fossil fuel, held responsible now for environmental pollution, resource depletion and possibly global climate change. The authors present theoretical analyses and empirical evidence to buttress their contentions, mainly, that electric power systems founded on renewable resources are vital prerequisites if we are to achieve the United Nations' target of globally sustained development.

Sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems are far-reaching and burning issues in the wake of high growth of population, low production and per ha yield of crops and depletion of biodiversity resources. Mountainous regions of the world are facing the menace of poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition. Further, tremendous growth in population and slow pace of development have together forced most of the population to live below poverty line. Traditionally depending upon cultivating subsistence crops for food requirement, the people living in mountainous region are unable to produce sufficient food grains to run their livelihood smoothly. The Himalayas is one of the world's biodiversity hotspots and has an abundance of natural resources: land, water and forest - life sustaining factors. The geo-environmental conditions - climate and landscape further enhance the possibility of sustainable livelihoods through eco-tourism, harnessing water resources and utilizing forests and their products sustainably. Diversifying agricultural practices through cultivating cash and cereal crops and enhancing livelihood options through extensive use of timber and non-timber based forestry products can help to eradicate poverty and provide food security. This book consists of an introduction and nine chapters, covering geo-environmental setting, socio-economy and population profile, sustainable livelihoods: diversification and enhancement, livelihood analysis, development of tourism and hydroelectricity, case studies, mountain ecosystems, sustainable mountain development and also presents a conclusion.

A number of arguments are made by an international group of authors in this though provoking book about an understudied and socially important context. A future in which financial wealth transfers across the North-South divide from richer to poorer countries is far from sufficient for the relief of poverty and the pursuit of sustainability. Caution must be taken when growth is achieved through the liquidation of the natural wealth of poorer nations, in order to maintain a global economic status quo. Neither poverty reduction nor sustainability will ultimately be achieved. The financial collapse and social upheaval that might result will make the most recent economic downturn look trivial by comparison. What is more urgently needed instead, as argued in this book, is collaboration for sustainability and innovation in the global South, especially building on models originally developed in the South that are transferable to the North. In pursuit of a sustainable and more equitable future, the book examines such topics as Cross-Border Innovation in South-North Fair Trade Supply Chains; Potential Pollution Prevention Programs in Bangladesh; Digital Literacy and Social Inclusion in the South through Collective Storytelling and Eco-innovation at the 'Bottom of the Pyramid'. Many of these stories and have not been told and need greater visibility. The book contributes in a meaningfully to the discussion of how innovation and sustainability science can benefit both sides in South-North innovation collaborations. It provides useful introduction to the topics, as well as valuable critiques and best practices. This back-and-forth flow of ideas and innovation is itself new and promising in the modern pursuit of a fair and sustainable future for all regions of our planet.

By 2050, the world's population is estimated to grow to 10 billion. To feed everyone, we will have to double our food production, to produce more food in the next 40 years than in the whole of the last 6,000. Changing the Food Game shows how our unsustainable food production system cannot support this growth. In this prescient book, Lucas Simons argues that the biggest challenge for our generation can only be solved by effective market transformation to achieve sustainable agriculture and food production. Lucas Simons explains clearly how we have created a production and trading system that is inherently unsustainable. But he also demonstrates that we have reason to be hopeful - from a sustainability race in the cocoa industry to examples of market transformation taking place in palm oil, timber, and sugarcane production. He also poses the question: where next? Provocative and eye-opening, Changing the Food Game uncovers the real story of how our food makes it on to our plates and presents a game-changing solution to revolutionize the industry.

This book considers how public sector institutions can be transformed to better support sustainable development by exploring the concept of green inside activism and its importance for institutional change. The phenomenon of inside activism has been shown to be crucial for green policy change and this book focuses on public officials as green inside activists, committed to green values and engaged in social movement, acting strategically from inside public administration to change public policy and institutions in line with such value commitment. The book theorizes how green inside activism can contribute to a more sustainable development through institutional change. This theorizing builds on and relates to highly relevant theoretical arguments in the existing literature. The authors also consider the legitimacy of inside activism and how it can be reconciled with democratic ideals. This innovative work will appeal to students and scholars of public policy, political science and environmental politics.

In this handbook social science researchers who focus on sustainability present and discuss their findings, including empirical work, case studies, teaching and learning innovations, and applied projects. As such, the book offers a basis for the dissemination of information, ideas and experiences acquired in the execution of research projects, especially initiatives which have influenced behavior, decision-making, or policy. Furthermore, it introduces methodological approaches and projects which aim to offer a better understanding of sustainability across society and economic sectors. This multidisciplinary overview presents the work of researchers from across the spectrum of the social sciences. It stimulates innovative thinking on how social sciences influence sustainable development and vice-versa.

This book reports on cutting-edge technologies that have been fostering sustainable development in a variety of fields, including built and natural environments, structures, energy, advanced mechanical technologies as well as electronics and communication technologies. It reports on the applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Internet-of-Things, predictive maintenance, as well as modeling and control techniques to reduce the environmental impacts of buildings, enhance their environmental contribution and positively impact the social equity. The different chapters, selected on the basis of their timeliness and relevance for an audience of engineers and professionals, describe the major trends in the field of sustainable engineering research, providing them with a snapshot of current issues together with important technical information for their daily work, as well as an interesting source of new ideas for their future research. The works included in this book were selected among the contributions to the BUE ACE1, the first event, held in Cairo, Egypt, on 8-9 November 2016, of a series of Annual Conferences & Exhibitions (ACE) organized by the British University in Egypt (BUE).

This book is a collection of chapters concerning the use of biomass for the sustainable production of energy and chemicals-an important goal that will help decrease the production of greenhouse gases to help mitigate global warming, provide energy security in the face of dwindling petroleum reserves, improve balance of payment problems and spur local economic development. Clearly there are ways to save energy that need to be encouraged more. These include more use of energy sources such as, among others, manure in anaerobic digesters, waste wood in forests as fuel or feedstock for cellulosic ethanol, and conservation reserve program (CRP) land crops that are presently unused in the US. The use of biofuels is not new; Rudolf Diesel used peanut oil as fuel in the ?rst engines he developed (Chap. 8), and ethanol was used in the early 1900s in the US as automobile fuel [Songstad et al. (2009) Historical perspective of biofuels: learning from the past to rediscover the future. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Plant 45:189-192). Brazil now produces enough sugar cane ethanol to make up about 50% of its transportation fuel needs (Chap. 4). The next big thing will be cellulosic ethanol. At present, there is also the use of Miscanthus x giganteous as fuel for power plants in the UK (Chap. 2), bagasse (sugar cane waste) to power sugar cane mills (Chap. 4), and waste wood and sawdust to power sawmills (Chap. 7).

The book aims to capture, describe and convey the current significance, the values and potentials of urban biodiversity and ecosystem services to scientists and professionals in the context of sustainable urban development and ongoing urbanization processes. Current developments, different approaches and future challenges in the competition of green spaces and urban land consumption in China and Germany are elaborated, discussed and illustrated within case studies and good practice examples. The strategic goal is a long-term appreciation of the potentials and increased consideration of urban green spaces in city planning and development. This book provides tangible recommendations for urban planners, politicians and stakeholders in the fields of green infrastructure at the interface of environment and urban landscape.

Energy technologies in the future will need to be based on renewable sources of energy and will, ultimately, need to be sustainable. This book provides insight into unintended, negative impacts and how they can be avoided. In order to steer away from the pitfalls and unintended effects, it is essential that the necessary knowledge is available to the developers and decision makers engaged in renewable energy. The value of this book lies in its presentation of the unintended health and environmental impacts from renewable energies.

The book presents results from cross-disciplinary research on the implementation of alternative fuels in the transport sector, namely hydrogen, electricity and biodiesel. This is followed by an assessment of environmental impacts from the production of solar cells. Critical reviews on the use of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in the energy technologies is then provided, with the formation of nanoparticles during combustion of bio-blended diesel and their toxic effects, discussed in detail."

This two-volume work is a testament to the increasing interest in the role of microbes in sustainable agriculture and food security. Advances in microbial technologies are explored in chapters dealing with topics such as carbon sequestration, soil fertility management, sustainable crop production, and microbial signaling networks. Volume I is a collection of research findings that invites readers to examine the application of microbes in reinstating degraded ecosystems and also in establishing sustainable croplands. Highly readable entries attempt to close the knowledge gap between soil microbial associations and sustainable agriculture. An increase in the global population with changing climate is leading to environments of various abiotic and biotic stresses for agricultural crops. It therefore becomes important to identify the techniques to improve soil fertility and function using different microbial groups such as actinobacteria, microalgae, fluorescent pseudomonads and cyanobacterial systems. These are examined in this volume in greater detail. This work is a significant contribution to research in this increasingly important discipline, and will appeal to researchers in microbiology, agriculture, environmental sciences, and soil and crop sciences.

This volume presents up-to-date research on the Nile Delta and discusses the challenges involved in and opportunities for improving its productivity. The topics addressed include: groundwater in the Nile Delta and its quality; the mapping of groundwater with remote sensing technologies; land degradation; salt-affected soils; on-farm irrigation; the remediation of agricultural drainage water for sustainable reuse; the use of satellite images to estimate the bathymetry of coastal lakes; the assessment of the Nile Delta coastal zone and its management; its sediment and water quality; and fishing ports, fish and fisheries. The book closes with a review of the latest findings on the Nile Delta and offers conclusions and recommendations for future research to fulfill the requirements for sustainable development. It provides a unique and topical resource for researchers, graduate students and policymakers alike.

This book collects a selection of the best articles presented at the CUPUM (Computers in Urban Planning and Urban Management) conference, held in the second week of July 2013 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The articles included were selected by external reviewers using a double blind process.

This volume challenges global leaders and citizenry to do more in order to resource the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (AfSD) and its 17 interwoven Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Starting from the concept 'we cannot manage what we cannot measure', the book presents some cases showing how to draw national level baselines for the domestication and localisation of the SDGs seeking to provide a clear roadmap towards achieving the 2030 AfSD. Scaling up SDGs Implementation is targeted at the United Nations, national and state governments, sub-national governments, the corporate sector and civil society, including higher education institutes, labour groups, non-governmental organisations and youth movements. The book is cognizant of these institutions' common, but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities within their socio-political, environmental and economic conditions. The book presents case studies of how the corporate sector has been scaling up SDGs implementation, from the tourism sector, insurance, to the aviation and agricultural sectors. To make sure that no one is left behind, the volume includes cases on solutions for pressing environmental and socio-economic problems ranging from cooperatives in Brazil to the conservation of springs in Zimbabwe. The matter of finding synergies between the climate SDG and the Paris Agreement's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is elaborated at length. Lastly, the book discusses how institutions of higher education remain critical pillars in SDGs scaling up, with cases of curriculum re-orientation in South Africa to the rolling out of the Women's University in Africa. In this context, this volume challenges every global citizen and organization to invest every effort into making the implementation of the SDGs a success as we welcome the second four to five year segment down the road to the year 2030.

This book, based on extensive international collaborative research, highlights the state-of-the-art design of "smart living" for metropolises, megacities, and metacities, as well as at the community and neighbourhood level. Smart living is one of six main components of smart cities, the others being smart people, smart economy, smart environment, smart mobility and smart governance. Smart living in any smart city can only be designed and implemented with active roles for smart people and smart city government, and as a joint effort combining e-Democracy, e-Governance and ICT-IoT systems. In addition to using information and communication technologies, the Internet of Things, Internet of Governance (e-Governance) and Internet of People (e-Democracy), the design of smart living utilizes various domain-specific tools to achieve coordinated, effective and efficient management, development, and conservation, and to improve ecological, social, biophysical, psychological and economic well-being in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of development ecosystems and stakeholders. This book presents case studies covering more than 10 cities and centred on domain-specific smart living components. The book is issued in two volumes. and this volume focus on city studies.

Nanobiotechnology in agriculture is a new knowledge area that offers novel possibilities to achieve high productivity levels at manageable costs during the production and merchandising of crops. This book shows us how we can use the cutting-edge knowledge about agriculture, nanotechnology, and biotechnology to increase the agricultural productivity and shape a sustainable future in order to increase the social welfare in rural areas and preserve the environmental health. Specialists from several countries will provide their feedback on a range of relevant topics such as environment-friendly use of nanofertilisers, nanodevices, nano-food packaging, nanocoating and nanocarriers and their relationship with the modern agriculture.

The introduction is free to download here.This book is about empowering ordinary people to make a difference in the world. It explores the transformation that emerges when groups spread around the world working on similar issues discover synchronicities, often cross-pollinating, and collaborate rather than compete. A Collaboratory is a facilitated space where stakeholders meet to discuss burning societal issues. Each collaboratory is different and needs to be carefully designed to fit the context, ambition, purpose, stakeholders, culture, and space.Part 1 of the book sets the stage by explaining what a collaboratory is, where it emerges from, how it is defined and how it fits into the larger context of the social lab revolution that is happening all over the world.Part 2 of the book unpacks the many dimensions and considerations that contribute to the magic of a collaboratory experience. We offer nine unique insights and perspectives that need to be considered and form an integral part of a successful collaboratory.Part 3 offers eight inspiring examples of how a collaboratory could be applied. We look at applications in the educational field, within organizations, among institutions, and as movements.Part 4 offers a pragmatic outlook on how to get started if you want to use the Collaboratory in your own field of work. The book offers a narrative roadmap using a real-life example of a co-designed and co-created Collaboratory in Norway.Offering practical recommendations and benefits, and bringing together insights from a range of experienced academics, practitioners and facilitators, The Collaboratory is a handbook for experienced or aspiring practitioners in all fields of change: in society, in organizations of all kind and in the field of education.

This book discusses the dynamics and resource management qualities of the peri-urban interface to address climate change consequences, focusing on the peri-urban region of the global city of Bengalaru. In 5 chapters, the authors document the unique challenges experienced in peri-urban areas, including soil-water vegetation dynamics, local and regional impacts on water bodies (surface and groundwater), food production issues, and the inhibited adaptive capacity of local communities. The book also provides knowledge on implementations of environmental management by local institutions, government interventions that have acted as catalysts in promoting community based adaptation strategies, and the physical, social and economic aspects of rural-urban dynamics. The book not only adds to the scarce existing literature on peri-urban contexts, but also addresses the role of culture in protecting ecological landscapes and how traditions play an important role in coping with climate change. Furthermore, the authors expand on these climate change coping mechanisms in peri-urban areas, taking into account local cultural factors and interesting governance interventions in the context of health. The book will be of interest to planners, policy makers, and students and researchers engaged in rural-urban dynamics and climate change adaptation.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of sustainability and management in India and through its insightful essays highlights the complex and multifaceted nature of sustainability as a concept. It also demonstrates the debates surrounding the concept of sustainability and its ramifications for ground-level practice in managing organisations and for public policy. The contributions from sustainability enthusiasts, practitioners from disparate fields and academics working at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, have been divided into five themes: (1) sustainability as a normative concept; (2) sustainability concept at the global level, (3) sustainability practices in Indian organisations and consumer behaviour; (4) sustainability, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility and (5) sustainability: a critique of organisational practice and government regulation. The themes reflect both new and continuing issues confronting management in the country today. Examples and in-depth studies make it relevant to the grounded reality in India. The expertise and experience of the contributors ensure that readers are left with a grasp of our current understanding of how sustainability is related to society and business, the direction this understanding will take in the future.