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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Environmental economics > Sustainability
In "Zero Waste Home," Bea Johnson shares the story of how she
simplified her life by reducing her waste. Today, Bea, her husband,
Scott, and their two young sons produce just one quart of garbage a
year, and their overall quality of life has changed "for the
better" they now have more time together, they've cut their annual
spending by a remarkable 40 percent, and they are healthier than
they've ever been.
Prefaced by Bj rn Stigson, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, this book is one of the few that treats this topic by putting representatives of industry at centre stage. The book systematically addresses the drivers, the tools, and sector-specific elements that play a role in this process. The five chapters in Part I are devoted to a general introduction to eco-efficiency and the related challenges to industry in its implementation. Part II contains 23 case studies, almost all written by industrial experts who tell how they deal with the challenge: what the motivators are, what tools can be used and how they can be implemented, and what are the specific elements in sectors like building, electronics and packaging. These contributions come from multinationals like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Akzo Nobel, Philips and Ciba-Geigy, as well as small and medium sized enterprises from such sectors as the building and furniture trades.
This book was written to support community involvement in the design process, to help prevent negative outcomes that can result from a top-down design approach. The combination of community involvement and design is, at least in literature, not very extensive. Although much has been written about stakeholder involvement, this is often not directly related to design processes, which - most importantly - deprives community members of the opportunity to design their desired future themselves. The Design Charrette: Ways to Envision Sustainable Futures provides a theoretical foundation establishing the benefits of organizing a design charrette for community-based planning, supported by many practical examples. The book includes sections on collaborative learning, practical guidance, theory and case studies in many different contexts: long and short charrettes, urban and rural subjects, and Dutch, Chinese, Australian, Indian and European examples. Part I: General Theory offers a detailed overview of the charrette process, a chapter on innovations in organizational and community learning and a chapter on shifting paradigms in the design charrette. Part II presents a number of case studies, including the INternational Conference on Renewable Energy Approaches for the Spatial Environment (INCREASE); charrettes accomplished in two days in the communities of Sea Lake and Bendigo in Australia; a chapter on lessons for the future, describing rural participatory design in Rajasthan, India; a description of learning by practice in a high-pressure student atelier; a chapter entitled Design Charrettes for Sustainable Building in China and more. The Design Charrette challenges the conventional wisdom that good design by itself will bring about the benefits the designer envisions. By demonstrating and analyzing the effectiveness of design charrettes in personal development and learning, and as a way to share desired future pathways, the book benefits everyone who may be leading, considering or participating in a design charrette.
* State-of-the-art examination of the theory and practice of system innovation* Introduces the concept of PSS innovation and outlines the characteristics* Examines a wide range of potential research directions on sustainable PSS design* Valuable resource for design students, teachers and practicing designersThis book is a state-of-the-art examination of the theory and practice of system innovation through Product-Service System (PSS) design for sustainability from a trans-cultural viewpoint. PSS design incorporates innovative strategies that shift businesses away from designing and selling physical products to developing integrated systems of products and services. The book provides background, advice and tools for designers and design students interested in sustainable PSSs and has a wealth of case studies for practitioners to digest. The first part of the book introduces the concept of PSS innovation, outlining the characteristics and features of such innovation, how different types of PSS can be classified, and which are the related benefits, drivers and barriers. It argues that such innovation has the capability to potentially bring radical reductions in the current levels of resource consumption, without minimizing consumer levels of satisfaction.The second part of the book examines a wide range of potential research directions on sustainable PSS design including: Sustainable PSS in different socio-economic contexts (industrialized, emerging and low income) Sustainable PSS in different organizational bodies (companies, public administrations, NGOs) Sustainable PSS and consumption patterns Sustainable PSS and social innovations Sustainable PSS and aesthetics Sustainable PSS and distributed economies Sustainable PSS and social enterprises Sustainable PSS and socio-technical transitions Sustainable PSS and the sufficiency economy: combining efficiency with sufficiencyThis book is the outcome of the LeNS, the Learning Network on Sustainability, a project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropAid, European Commission, for curricula development and teaching diffusion in worldwide design Higher Education Institutions. It is a hugely important teaching resource for undergraduate, graduate and PhD design students, design teachers and practicing designers worldwide."
Cities are striving to become more resilient, adaptive and sustainable; this requires new ways of governing and developing the city. This book features chapters by researchers using regenerative development and transitions theories to envisage how Eco-Cities could be planned, designed and created, and concludes with practical tools and an outline of how this evolution could be facilitated. It examines two major questions: How can we use understandings of Eco-Cities to address the legacy of urban built form and existing practices which often make it difficult to create the systemic changes needed? And what are the elements of complex urban places and spaces that will enable the planning, creation and evolution of thriving cities? The book will appeal to planners, city makers, urban researchers, students and practitioners, including planners, designers, architects and sustainability managers, and all those seeking to envisage the steps along the path to thriving cities of the future.
This book comprises the select peer-reviewed proceedings of the National Conference on Renewable Energy and Sustainable Environment (NCRESE) 2019. The book brings together the latest developments in harvesting, storing and optimizing alternate and renewable energy resources. It covers latest developments in green energy technologies as well as smart grids, and their applications towards a sustainable environment. The book can be useful for beginners, academicians, entrepreneurs, and professionals interested in renewable energy technologies and sustainable environment practices.
This book provides a much-needed review of Asia's economic growth and its challenges in the context of post-war industrialization. In the early 1990s, the World Bank (1993) recognized eight high-performing Asian economies (HPAEs) (Japan, the Asian tigers, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand) and named them the 'Asian economic miracle'. In the recent past, the term 'emerging economies' has been widely used to refer to the high-growth economies, and includes China, India, Mongolia and Vietnam. In this rush towards high growth, the adverse effects of industrialization are widespread, but were unnoticed. The major challenge is to bring together a comprehensive picture of Asia's growth, taking into account the adverse consequences. Finally, this book examines two challenges for the future of Asia's development: the global financial crisis and urban poverty and inequality.
You can grow all the fruit and vegetables your family needs, raise animals for meat and eggs, keep fish and bees, and even produce firewood on a plot of land of just one acre or less - alongside your work and family life. Whether you have a garden, a paddock or perhaps the corner of a field, Sally Morgan guides you through: How to lay out your plot - including fencing and polytunnels or greenhouses Managing soil fertility Growing fruit and vegetables throughout the year Keeping livestock: poultry, pigs, sheep and goats Producing fish with aquaponics Filled with practical advice, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to be more self-sufficient and live a more sustainable life.
At the dawn of the third millennium, planet Earth entered a zone of turbulence. The 2008 crisis added economic uncertainty to the threat of global warming and extreme events such as droughts, floods and cyclones, the persisting crisis of p- erty and the spectrum of pandemics and terrorism. Against this global landscape in an era of fragility, cities, already sheltering more than half of humankind, appear as Janus-faced realities, the best and worst of places, vulnerable but still full of hope and will to overcome the crisis of societal values and progress in the path of susta- able development. This book addresses the most critical challenges for cities, humanity's collective masterpieces in danger, and analyses breakthrough responses for sustainable dev- opment, a globalisation with human face and the transition to inclusive post carbon communities. The ultimate wish is that experts, city planners, decision-makers and citizens in search of sustainable cities could find here some sources of information and inspiration to enhance the immense possibilities of cities and embrace the best possible trajectories of change.
Integrating Amartya Sen's approach with the literature on place-based territorial development processes, this book recognises the interplay between the evolution of local development systems and the expansion of individual and collective capabilities.
This edited volume explores 21st century stories of hunting, foraging, and fishing for food as unique forms of place-based learning. Through the authors' narratives, it reveals complex social and ecological relationships while readers sample the flavors of foraging in Portland, Oregon; feel some of what it's like to grow up hunting and gathering as a person of Oglala Lakota and Shoshone-Bannock descent; track the immersive process of learning to communicate with rocky mountain elk; encounter a road-killed deer as a spontaneous source of local meat, and more. Other topics in the collection connect place, food, and learning to issues of identity, activism, spirituality, food movements, conservation, traditional and elder knowledge, and the ethics related to eating the more-than-human world. This volume will bring lively discussion to courses on place-based learning, food studies, environmental education, outdoor recreation, experiential education, holistic learning, human dimensions of natural resource management, sustainability, food systems, environmental ethics, and others.
This will be the first textbook on the integration of food, energy and water systems (FEWS). In recent years, the world has seen a dramatic rise in interdisciplinary energy and environmental courses and degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In the US for instance, the number and variety of such programs has increased significantly over the past decade, Simultaneously, national and international initiatives that integrate food, energy and water systems have been launched. This textbook provides a substantive introduction to the food-energy-water nexus suitable for use in higher level undergraduate and graduate level courses and for scholars moving into the field of nexus studies without a strong background in all three areas and the many aspects of nexus studies.
The family farm lies at the heart of our national identity, and yet its future is in peril. Rick Hammond grew up on a farm, and for forty years he has raised cattle and crops on his wife's fifth-generation homestead in Nebraska, in hopes of passing it on to their four children. But as the handoff nears, their family farm-and their entire way of life-are under siege on many fronts, from shifting trade policies, to encroaching pipelines, to climate change. Following the Hammonds from harvest to harvest, Ted Genoways explores the rapidly changing world of small, traditional farming operations. He creates a vivid, nuanced portrait of a radical new landscape and one family's fight to preserve their legacy and the life they love.
Informed Cities looks at the knowledge brokerage processes between cities and higher education institutions, and in particular evaluates governance mechanisms for monitoring local sustainability and the role of research within this. The first part of the book provides an analysis of tools for governing sustainable cities and develops a typology of existing tools. It then considers approaches to monitor local sustainability on a European level, focusing on a number of key tools such as the Covenant of Mayors, Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities, and Green Capital Award. The second part of the book introduces an explorative application of two tools that the author team have used in practice to monitor local sustainability, Urban Ecosystems Europe and Local Evaluation 21, presenting and evaluating European level data collected from local governments. The third part of the book looks deeper into a number of case studies discussing how a working and rewarding city-university connection can be created and nourished in an administrative and political setting. Finally, the last part of the book reflects on lessons learned from the application of the tools and accompanying research process and makes recommendations for further developing monitoring tools for urban sustainability on a European level. This book will be essential reading for professionals in urban and regional planning who are tasked with monitoring the effects of sustainability policies, as well as for graduate students in planning, environmental governance, sustainable development and related disciplines.
World population and the number of city dwellers are steadily growing. Globalization and digitalization lead to an increased competition for skilled and creative labor and other economic resources. This is true not only for firms, but increasingly also for cities. The book elaborates on resulting challenges and opportunities for urban management from the European perspective, and discusses theories, methods and tools from business economics to cope with them. Contributions in this volume come from scholars and practitioners of economics, business administration and urban management, and cover aspects ranging from urban dynamics to city marketing. They draw on experiences from several European cities and regions, and discuss strategies to improve city performance including Open Government, Smart City, cooperation and innovation. The book project was initiated and carried out by the Center for Advanced Studies in Management (CASiM), the interdisciplinary research center of HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management. It is addressed to scholars and managers in Europe and beyond, who will benefit from the scientific rigor and useful practical insights of the book.
This book is an attempt to bring value to the enterprise pursuits in the areas of research and innovation around the specific issues in terms of topic selection, open data resources and researcher orientation. Over the last 300 years, industrial revolutions have had game-changing impact on societies. Presently, by and large, we are at the crossroads of the fourth industrial revolution, where phygital systems are going to play a massive role, where digital systems can simulate and go beyond the limitations of the physical world, thereby enabling a new world order. This transformation is cutting across every sphere known to mankind. The world will become a globally localized marketplace. In today's business world, sustainability is a corporate agenda. Enterprises are also aiming to be purpose-driven, adaptive and resilient to disruptions. The contributions to community and environment are part of their corporate branding. The book explores and presents a part of the open data sets from government institutions to achieve the sustainable goals at local level, in turn contributing towards global mission. As the topic suggests, the authors are looking at some of the specific issues in the areas of environment, agriculture and health care through the lens of data science. The authors believe that the above three areas chosen have deep relevance in today's world. The intent is to explore these issues from a data and analytics perspective and identify cracks through which deeper inroads can be made. Conscious efforts have been taken to make use of all the major data science techniques like prediction, classification, clustering, and correlation. Given the above background, deeper waters will be explored through the contents of this book.
It's the new rock and roll. It's the new black. Sustainability is trendy, and not just among hipsters and pop stars. The uncool chemical sector helped pioneer it, and today, companies inside and outside the sector have embraced it. But what have they embraced? Surely not the Brundtland definition of meeting "the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Sustainability describes a change in the chemical industry's
approach to the external world: to regulators, to greens, to
neighbors, to investors and to the general public. Displacing the
adversarialism of the 1970s-80s, sustainability is a new approach
to social/political conflict, and an attempt to rebuild the
industry's long-suffering public image. In practice, it consists
of: The core of this book is a survey of the world's 29 largest chemical companies: how they put sustainability into action (six of the 29 do not), and the six 'sustainability brands' they have created. It begins with a history of stakeholders conflict, before looking at various definitions of sustainability - by academics, by the public and by investors. After the survey and analysis, the book covers sustainability and 'greenwash' plus the ROI of sustainability, and it gives five recommendations.
Through the lens of sensory affect, this book offers a new way of thinking about day-to-day teaching and student engagement within learning spaces in design education. The book examines the definitions, concepts, ideas and overlaps of a repertoire of learning spaces prevalent in higher education and addresses the pedagogical gap that exists between broader learning structures and spaces, and the requirements of specialist design education. Recognising that mainstream teaching environments impact upon design studio learning and student engagement, the book positions creative learning spaces at the heart of practice-based learning. It defines the underlying pedagogical philosophy of a creative learning space in design education and reports on how practical strategies incorporating sensory affect may be implemented by educators to foster better student engagement in these spaces within higher education. Bringing much needed attention to specialist design teaching and learning spaces in higher education, this book will be of interest to educators, researchers and post graduate students immersed in design education, pedagogy and learning spaces more broadly.
This book addresses carbon footprint calculation and mitigation in various industrial sectors. There are numerous sectors whose carbon footprints need to be calculated, and effective ways to mitigate the greenhouse-gas emissions from these sectors need to be found. This book highlights the carbon sequestration potential of the Western Ghats ecosystems, the carbon footprint of Spanish households and residential buildings, and agricultural products in Canada; it also includes a case study on urban carbon footprints.
This book explores a new area of psychology of sustainability and sustainable development with specific focus on organizations, and introduces a range of advanced perspectives for healthy business, harmonization and decent work. Split into two parts, the first half presents cross-cultural contributions that study in depth the benefits and drawbacks of sustainability, while the second half discusses theoretical approaches and empirical research that offer new prospects for innovation in prevention science. Gathering research from leading scholars and researchers from around the globe, this book offers an essential reference guide that will benefit researchers, professionals, students, and policy makers interested in promoting better business harmony and sustainability.
This book examines education about standardization in the context of sustainable management. It shows the role of standardization education in the global economy, and in markets, industries and businesses. The book presents knowledge on standardization for sustainable management, describes measures that can be taken to stimulate it, and highlights strategies for teaching and disseminating the concept. Subsequently presenting a number of best practices and case studies, the book seeks to align theory and practice. For researchers, this is the first academic publication that interconnects the concepts of sustainability, standardization and education. For professionals in the area of sustainability it shows that standardization is an essential instrument for enhancing sustainability for which proper education is needed. For standardization professionals the book reveals the links to sustainability and it shows not only the importance of education about standardization but also how this can be organized, and finally, for universities, the book shows that standardization deserves to be included in the curriculum, and it provides guidance and best practice examples about how this can be done.
It is more and more evident that our living system is completely disturbed by human intrusion. Such intrusion affects the functioning of entire systems in ways we do not yet fully understand. We use paradigms such as the disturbance to cover large and deep gaps in our scienti?c knowledge. Human ecology is an uncertain terrain for anthropologists, geographers, and ecologists and rarely is expanded to include the social and economic realms. The integration of different disciplines and the application of their many paradigms to problems of environmental complexity remains a distant goal despite the many efforts that have been made to achieve it. Philosophical and semantic barriers are erected when such integration is pursued by pioneering scientists. Recently, evolutionary ecology has shown great interest in the spatial processes well described by the emerging discipline of landscape ecology. But this interest takes the form of pure curiosity or at worst, of skepticism toward the real capacity of landscape ecology to contribute to the advancement of ecological science. The past two centuries have been characterized by huge changes occurring in the entire ecosphere. Global changes are the effects of human intervention at a planetary scale, with consequent degradation of the environment creating an e- logical debt for future generations. On the other side of the issue, new technologies have improved the welfare of billions of people and have given hope to many other billions that they may also see such improvement in the near future.
Taking Complexity Seriously applies the advanced policy analysis technique of triangulation to what is now the world's most complex public policy challenge: sustainable development. One central problem of public policy analysis has been to find new ways of analyzing issues of increasing complexity and uncertainty. Triangulation is perhaps the best example of these novel techniques, as it uses various methods, databases, theories, and approaches to converge on what to do about the complex issue in question. Taking Complexity Seriously uses four different theoretical approaches (Girardian economics, cultural theory, critical theory, and the local justice framework) to triangulation in order to converge on answers to four major policy questions: What is sustainable development? Why is it an issue? What needs to be done? What can actually be done? These four approaches are used to analyze the sustainable development controversy that recently arose in the pages of Science magazine and the journal Ecological Applications. These different approaches prove highly potent in defamiliarizing conventional wisdom about sustainable development. Ultimately the different approaches will converge on novel answers to the four questions. The practical implications of these conclusions are drawn out at the end of Taking Complexity Seriously in a detailed case study of ecosystem management.
This book lays out the principles and practices of transformative sustainability education using a relational way of thinking and being. Elizabeth A. Lange advocates for a new approach to environmental and sustainability education, that of rethinking the Western way of knowing and being and engendering a frank discussion about the societal elements that are generating climate, environmental, economic and social issues. Highlighting the importance of Indigenous and lifegiving cultures, the book covers educational theory, transformation stories of adult learners, social and economic critique and visions of changemakers. Each chapter also has a strong pedagogical element, with entry points for learners, embodied practices and examples of taking action at micro/meso/macro levels woven throughout. Overall, this book enacts a relational approach to transformative sustainability education that draws from post humanist theory, process thought, relational ontology, decolonization theory, Indigenous philosophy and a spirituality that builds a sense of sacred toward the living world. Written in an imaginative, storytelling manner, this book will be a great resource for formal and nonformal environmental and sustainability educators. |
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