This book informs about knowledge gain in soil and land degradation to reduce or prevent it for meeting the mission of the Sustainable Developments Goals of the United Nations. Essence, extent, monitoring methods and implications for ecosystem functioning of main soil degradation types are characterized in overview chapters and case studies. Challenges, approaches and data towards identification of degradation in the frame of improving functionality, health and multiple ecosystem services of soil are demonstrated in the studies of international expert teams. The book consists of five parts, containing 5-12 single chapters each and 36 in total. Parts are explaining (I) Concepts and Indicators, (II) Soil Erosion and Compaction, (III) Soil Contamination, (IV) Soil Carbon and Fertility Monitoring and (V) Soil Survey and Mapping of Degradation The primary audience of this book are scientists of different disciplines, decision-makers, farmers and further informed people dealing with sustainable management of soil and land.

I don't often share a resource in this way but when a gem of a resource like this crosses my path I have to let you all know about it. Huw Richards, author of Grow Food for Free Palmer's book is full of recipes using locally sourced material to create mineral and biological extracts to feed plants. the Guardian Perfect for fans of Charles Dowding and Huw Richards! In The Regenerative Grower's Guide to Garden Amendments, experimental gardener and author Nigel Palmer provides practical, detailed instructions that are accessible to every grower who wants to achieve a truly sustainable garden ecosystem - all while enjoying better results at a fraction of the cost of commercial fertilisers. These recipes go beyond compost by allowing you to make your own biologically diverse inoculants and mineral-rich amendments using leaf mould, weeds, eggshells, bones and other common materials available for little or no cost. Recipes include: Extracting nutrients from plant residues using simple rainwater techniques Extracting minerals from bones and shells using vinegar Fermenting plant juices and fish Culturing indigenous microorganisms (IMO) Inspired by the work of many innovative traditional agricultural pioneers, especially Cho Ju-Young (founder of the Korean Natural Farming method), The Regenerative Grower's Guide to Garden Amendments also includes a primer on plant-soil interaction, instructions for conducting a soil test, and guidance on compost, mulching and so much more!

This book preserves and scientifically interprets the African foreknowledge on water resources management. It offers insight into the relevance of the traditional knowledge and practices to modern approaches on sustainable water management. The African continent has partially preserved its natural habitat for centuries. In this book, this knowledge is combined with the current scientific understanding. The traditional practices are categorized as: i) water harvesting, ii) water transportation, iii) water storage and conservation, iv) water treatments, v) myths and folk stories about water management or conservation, vi) water resource management systems, and vii) soil-water-forest conservation/management systems sub-topics. The findings presented here are in line with SDG 6, which aims at ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by the year 2030.

This book discusses current trends, challenges, and opportunities in the fields of business, hospitality, and tourism, particularly in Eastern Europe. Featuring selected papers presented at the second annual Modern Trends in Business Hospitality and Tourism International Conference held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania in 2022, this book explores sustainable business (re)modelling in various fields including hospitality and tourism from managerial, marketing, financial, and information technology & communications (IT&C) points of view. Topics include changing dimensions of modern business and hospitality post-COVID; business challenges and opportunities during crises; modern customer experiences; human capital leadership & organizational behavior, and investment financing in post-COVID-19 recovery.

This book describes the alarming condition of agriculture in the Anthropocene, when the ethical conception of agriculture as a service of common utility for both society and environment has progressively been marginalized. The ethical utility of agriculture has been sidetracked with the increasing industrialisation of society, the involvement of agriculture in the business-as-usual economy, and the consequential environmental and societal impacts it has had. Thus, re-establishing a meaningful bridge between ethics and agriculture is necessary. A relatively new science (ecology) with both a new epistemological tool (that of the ecosystem concept), and a unique narrative of sustainable development, can help bridge this gap. This book focuses on ethics as a lever for raising scientific, technical, social, economic and political solutions to adopt in agriculture as a model of symbiotic relationships between man and nature. It provides a detailed discussion of the ecological intensification practices in order to maximize ecological and ethical services, wherein agroecosystems will follow.

Marine plant life is an abundant source of nutrients that enhance the daily diet. In recent years, consuming diets rich in seaweeds or their extracts have been shown to provide health benefits due to being rich in macronutrients, micronutrients and nutraceuticals. The commercial value of seaweeds for human consumption is increasing annually, and some countries harvest several million tons annually. The seaweeds industry is valued at around $12 billion in 2017, and supports millions of families worldwide. Seaweeds production grew globally by 30 million tons in 2016. Seaweeds have seen increasing usage in the food industry due to their abundance of beneficial nutrients, vitamins and -3 fatty acids. To date there have been no books that comprehensively cover up-to-date information on seaweeds cultivation, processing, extraction and nutritional properties. This text lays out the properties and effects of seaweeds from their use as bioresources to their use in the feed industry to their applications in wastewater management and biofuels. Sustainable Global Resources of Seaweeds Volume 2: Industrial Perspectives offers a complete overview of the application of seaweeds into food, pharmaceuticals and other health-based applications. The first section focuses on the various foods derived from seaweeds, including extensive insight into the beneficial nutrients these plants contain. The many functional foods derived from sea plants are covered in detail, including foods from tropical seaweeds, macroalgae, Monostroma, Caulerpa, Palmaria, Gracillaria, Porphyra, Laminaria, Fucus, Undaria, and many more. The chapters delve further into the nutritional makeup of these foods, their health benefits and chemical makeup. A second section is dedicated to the pharmaceutical applications of seaweeds and their many health benefits. With chapters devoted to vitamin sources, health properties and pharmaceutical applications, this section acts as a single source for researchers exploring the pharmaceutical applications and possibilities of seaweeds. Research, development, and commercial applications are explored, plus a complete picture of the multitude of health benefits derived from these plentiful and beneficial plants. For researchers in search of a comprehensive and up-to-date source on the application of nutrient-rich seaweeds from across the world into novel foods and pharmaceuticals, look no further than this volume.

The book is a collection of analyses on country-specific and universal efforts, programmes and projects from Africa and beyond, aimed at realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, the chapters focus on the achievements and challenges that can potentially aid countries of the world and the United Nations in achieving the 17 SDGs. The chapters focus more on the challenges, prospects and concrete steps taken in the Global South towards the attainment of these goals.

This book is a pioneering work to position the creative city concept within Malaysian urban development discourse. The chapters are written and systematically sequenced to be all-encompassing and comprehensible to audiences both from the academic and non-academic realms. The nascency of creative city development in Malaysia has motivated the timely exploration of the viability of this strategy for selected Malaysian cities (i.e. Kuala Lumpur, George Town, Ipoh, Johor Bahru). The book also discusses the global discourse on creative city and its critiques. This is followed by an overview of Malaysia's macrolevel socio-economic and political structures as well as national policies to frame the Malaysian creative city narrative. The case study chapters are novel, as each Malaysian city unravels its unique experiences and dissects the way the city responds to the creative city agenda amidst local nuances and idiosyncrasies.

This volume contains the papers of the 1st Workshop IFToMM for Sustainable Development Goals (I4SDG), held online on November 25-26, 2021. The main topics of the workshop include the aspects of theory, design and practice of mechanism and machine science which are instrumental in reaching a sustainable development, such as: biomechanical engineering, sustainable energy systems, robotics and mechatronics, green tribology, computational kinematics, dynamics of machinery, industrial applications of mechanism design, gearing and transmissions, multibody dynamics rotor dynamics, vibrations, humanitarian engineering, and socio-technical systems for sustainable and inclusive development. The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, highlight numerous exciting ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaboration among different specialists, demonstrating that medical and service robotics will drive the technological and societal change in the coming decades.

Sustainability requires companies to develop in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable manner. Corporate sustainable development in turn requires movement towards cleaner production. In order to recognize the potential from cleaner production reduced costs and fewer environmental impacts through the reduced use of materials environmental management accounting (EMA) is a necessary information management tool.

Environmental Management Accounting for Cleaner Production reveals a set of tools for companies to collect, evaluate and interpret the information they need to estimate their potential to use cleaner production to realize cost savings and to make the best decisions about the available cleaner production options. EMA is therefore the key for driving environmental progress, cost savings, increased competitiveness and corporate sustainability through the means of cleaner production."

This book gathers the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of environmental and construction engineering, as presented by international researchers at the XXIV International Scientific Conference "Construction: The Formation of Living Environment", held in Moscow, Russia on April 22-24, 2021. It covers highly diverse topics, including sustainable innovative development of the construction industry, building materials, reliability of buildings and constructions and safety in construction, modelling and mechanics of building structures, engineering and smart systems in construction, climate change and urban environment. The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, highlight numerous exciting ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaborations.

Climate changes will affect food production in a number of ways. Crop yields, aquatic populations and forest productivity will decline, invasive insect and plant species will proliferate and desertification, soil salinization and water stress will increase. Each of these impacts will decrease food and nutrition security, primarily by reducing access to and availability of food, and also by increasing the risk of infectious disease.

Although increased biofuel demand has the potential to increase incomes among producers, it can also negatively affect food and nutrition security. Land used for cultivating food crops may be diverted to biofuel production, creating food shortages and raising prices. Accelerations in unregulated or poorly regulated foreign direct investment, deforestation and unsustainable use of chemical fertilizers may also result." "Biofuel production may reduce women s control of resources, which may in turn reduce the quality of household diets. Each of these effects increases risk of poor food and nutrition security, either through decreased physical availability of food, decreased purchasing power, or increased risk of disease.

"The Impact of Climate Change and Bioenergy on Nutrition" articulates the links between current environmental issues and food and nutrition security. It provides a unique collection of nutrition statistics, climate change projections, biofuel scenarios and food security information under one cover which will be of interest to policymakers, academia, agronomists, food and nutrition security planners, programme implementers, health workers and all those concerned about the current challenges of climate change, energy production, hunger and malnutrition.

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This book is in part a response to the attempts of governments to address increasing concerns over such environmental issues as the impact of climate change; carbon emissions; pressures from overpopulation of cities; coal seam gas extraction and depleting natural resources. The authors have developed a Sustainable Communities Framework (SCF) which incorporates social-cultural, environmental and economic sustainability principles in the process of urban planning. The authors propose a five-step SCF built on an application of sustainability tables. The book examines a wide range of urban planning practices utilizing sustainability criteria, outlining both qualitative and quantitative tools. Separate chapters discuss application of the SCF to both the natural environment and the built environment. This framework is applied to a case study of the outer Sydney growth area of Wyong Shire, Central Coast, NSW, Australia. Addressing the question of how best to measure the environment, the authors present a table for selecting indicators of sustainability, and outline sustainability scorecards which use color-coded ratings of green, red and amber to measure indicators of sustainability. The authors show how aggregating these ratings allows the framework to be scaled up for application to larger areas. Finally, the authors show how scorecards can be incorporated in sustainability reports, with actions and monitoring components. The authors also examine urban planning education including land use planning, natural resource planning and sustainable urban planning, focusing on the extent to which schools incorporate principles of sustainability. The authors offer their critique on the movement of planning practices towards a more coordinated and holistic framework, in incorporating sustainability principles. Sustainable Communities: A Framework for Planning concludes by drawing a future scenario on the application of the SCF to incorporate principles of sustainability into urban planning. The authors propose future options for SCF applications, including adopting a systems program; environmental performance monitoring and showing how the framework will accommodate the social-cultural and economic components of sustainability, in addition to the environmental ones as examined in the case study.

Since 2014, and the start of the New-type Urbanization Plan (NUP), we see a turning point in the sustainability agenda of China. One of the main indicators is greening cities and the built environments, which will be covered holistically in this edited book. From the perspective of green infrastructure, in particular, the book approaches key areas of 'forest city development', 'sponge city program', 'green roofing', 'nature-based solutions', 'urban farming', 'eco-city development', etc. This is the first time that such important areas of research come together under the perspective of green Infrastructure. The results would be beneficial to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in China and across the globe. The comprehensive set of findings from this book will benefit other countries, as we aim to highlight some of the best practices of the current age. The main aim of the book is to put together an excellent group of scholars and practitioners from the field, focusing on the topic of 'Green Infrastructure in Chinese Cities'. In doing so, we aim to cover some of the key 'best practices' for sustainable urbanism. Divided into four parts, the book covers four key areas of (1) Policy Interventions, (2) Planning Innovation, (3) Design Solutions, and (4) Technical Integration. In doing so, we cover an array of best practices related to green infrastructures of various types and their impacts on cities and communities in China. We expect the book to be a valuable resource for researchers in the areas of sustainability, urbanism, urban planning, urban geography, urban design, geographical sciences, environmental sciences, landscape architecture, and urban ecology. The book covers essential factors such as policy, regulations, and programs (in Part 1), planning paradigms and their impacts on urban development (in Part 2), integrated design solutions that suggest sustainable urbanization progression (in Part 3), and technical knowledge that would be utilized for the future development of green infrastructure practices in China and beyond. Lastly, this edited book aims to provide a collaborative opportunity for experts and researchers of the field, who could contribute to the future pathways of sustainable urbanization of China. Lessons extracted from these contributions could be utilized for other contexts, which will benefit a wider group of stakeholders.

This book presents the meaning of green infrastructure and its concerns to the contribution of materials and applications. It explores the evolving contested material under "green infrastructure" covering timber, concrete, soil, and pavement. It discusses the resistance to the ambiguity of managing the construction of green infrastructure and drawing on wider debates around applications and processes on construction. These contributions are by no means definitive, but rather an attempt to provide a detached and holistic perspective on the engineering "green infrastructure" concept.

Since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis the prevailing economic development model based on an assumption of unlimited resources and, therefore, unlimited growth has been increasingly put into question by academics, policy-making agencies and even industry leaders themselves. Climate change, general environmental and natural resource degradation, widespread inequalities, and systemic governance failures are pressing capitalism to renew itself to deliver sustainable outcomes for a broader base of stakeholders. This has become known in more practical terms as the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and responsible investment movements. The pressure to change how we organise ourselves as societies and economies has implications for how large and small corporations, public or private, are governed and to the benefit of whom. This Handbook offers a rare combination of pluralistic and multidisciplinary perspectives from law, economics, finance and management, as well as an interesting mix of latest academic thinking and practical recommendations on ESG for boards and executive teams. Should companies be governed and managed for the benefit of their shareholders alone? Can companies be governed to deliver for shareholders as well as the broader stakeholder base? How can investors allocate capital to advance sustainability? Part I provides a pluralistic discussion of some of these fundamental questions besetting academics and practitioners alike while Part II examines recent regulatory developments and assesses what may need to change in terms of law and regulation to both hold companies to account for sustainability while enabling them to continue to provide vital goods and services. Part III of the book discusses how the different types of companies and investors are currently facing the sustainability imperative and incorporating ESG factors on how they operate and invest. The concluding chapter provides an overview of the key regulatory, ecosystem and board-level gaps that require urgent and decisive action.

Progressing towards sustainable development raises important challenges to conducting performance evaluations in governments because there are neither generally accepted methods nor specific standards to be met at present. Sustainability Performance Evaluation System in Government, makes a conceptual contribution to public sustainability performance evaluation and develops a set of framework indicators with the help of the strategic and comprehensive approach Sustainability Balanced Scorecard .

As a conceptual basis for the further research and application, this volume will be of great interest to researchers and practitioners at many levels of environmental / sustainability, public management and strategic control studies. Evaluators will find methodological approaches and applied tools for their work. Decision-makers and managers will find it valuable to manage the social, economic and environmental issues in a balanced and integrated manner. Governments will also find it helpful in assisting them in establishing an evaluation system towards sustainable development."

This book introduces current managerial approaches to energy production and energy use. The volume analyses how to manage technological developments that contribute to lowering the price of energy production and also focuses on the impact renewable energy sources that provide continuity in energy production and how to manage it. The book presents studies on the effectiveness of wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydroelectric energies and discusses current technological approaches to prevent environmental pollution such as carbon capture and storage. Furthermore, the book includes sustainable economic and financial strategies to use energy more effectively and efficiently. It thus appeals not only to an academic readership but also to energy management professionals working in this field.

This book focuses on the behavioral interactions among possible stakeholders in carbon labeling practice, brings the attentions of stakeholders' interests to explore the opportunities, and challenges related to carbon labeling practice, thus to provide insight into low-carbon consumption and production. It is essential reading for students, researchers, and policy makers as well as those with a wider interest in environmental science and sustainable development.

This book presents five interesting chapters dealing with the sustainability of toys. The concept of sustainability has reached all industrial sectors these days and being practiced in almost all the sectors. One of the main sectors where sustainability has to be embedded to the core is the toy sector. Needless to enumerate the importance of sustainability in this sector especially when it comes to usage of chemicals and so on. There are various elements associated with the sustainability of toys and there is a dearth of published literature on this subject.

This book explores how China's industrial transformation and development depend on technology and innovation and how considerations about issues associated with technology and innovation may affect China's development strategies. Market-oriented reforms initiated four decades ago have constantly fueled a high speed of development in China. The country's industrial structure has experienced rapid evolution. In the meantime, especially in the general context of globalization, the country has also opened to foreign trade and foreign direct investment, transforming itself from a virtually completely closed economy into a major trading nation and the largest developing country destination for foreign direct investment in the world. Technology is thought to be one of the key driving forces that shape the transformation of the Chinese economy. Owing to different speeds of innovation and technology diffusion, uneven development is one major issue in the process of China's industrial transformation under new trends of globalization. Substantial disparities across different Chinese regions, e.g., the gaps in regional industrial development and those in incomes and living standards, have been one prominent feature of China and are (needless to say) closely related to different speeds of innovation and technology diffusion. The relationship between technology diffusion, innovation, and industrial development is an important yet complicated issue that deserves careful study. Considerations related to technology and innovation play a crucial role in leading and shaping China's development strategies and routes. Sustainable development of China creates strong pressures for continuous transforming, upgrading, and restructuring of the Chinese economy, and in all of these processes, innovation and technology diffusion play a fundamental role. The book presents to the interested reader facts, thoughts, models, empirical results, and discussions that shed light on those issues.

In recent years, there has been a rise in the demand of alternative agricultural commodities, specifically camel milk-based products. Camel products have become highly coveted items in today's commercial market due to their environmental and health advantages. However, there is a lack of research and literature on camel milk and related camel goods. Up-to-date information is needed to give researchers a better understanding of the compositional and functional properties of camel milk production. Health and Environmental Benefits of Camel Products is an essential reference source that discusses the nutritional, physical, and chemical factors of camel milk in comparison to other animal and plant-based milks and introduces benefits attributed to camel meat. The up-to-date potential health benefits of fresh and fermented camel milk in vitro and in vivo will be also covered in addition to the link between functional constituents and the functional properties of milk. The authors will review the recent research on the functional properties of camel milk such as the angiotensin converting enzyme, antimicrobial, anticancer, and hypocholesterolimic effects. Featuring research on topics such as colostrum composition, meat production, and nutritional value, this book is ideally designed for health professionals, environmentalists, dieticians, food industry professionals, researchers, academicians, and students seeking coverage on the compositional and physiological aspects of camel products.

This book provides a broad investigation of various issues in East Asia's steel industry since the 1980s, including international specialization and trade relations, the sustainable use of resources, technological innovations, and environmental mitigation, alongside a consideration of the rapid growth in Chinese steel industry. Using macro and firm-level data, and case studies based on field research to discuss issues concerning the steel industry in East Asia. In search of an easy understanding, we try to simplify complicated economic models and statistical analyses, and concentrate on policy implications based as much as possible on the results of empirical analyses. We believe that this book will be of interest to policymakers, economists, practitioners and advocates of sustainability.

This book fills an important gap in the literature, and presents contributions from scientists and researchers working in the field of sustainable development who have engaged in dynamic approaches to implementing sustainability in higher education. It is widely known that universities are key players in terms of the implementation and further development of sustainability, with some having the potential of acting as "living labs" in this rapidly growing field. Yet there are virtually no publications that explore the living labs concept as it relates to sustainability, and in an integrated manner. The aims of this book, which is an outcome of the "4th World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities" (WSSD-U-2018), held in Malaysia in 2018, are as follows: i. to document the experiences of universities from all around the world in curriculum innovation, research, activities and practical projects as they relate to sustainable development at the university level; ii. to disseminate information, ideas and experiences acquired in the execution of projects, including successful initiatives and good practice; iii. to introduce and discuss methodological approaches and projects that seek to integrate the topic of sustainable development in the curricula of universities; and iv. to promote the scalability of existing and future models from universities as living labs for sustainable development. The papers are innovative, cross-cutting and many reflect practice-based experiences, some of which may be replicable elsewhere. Also, this book, prepared by the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP) and the World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre (WSD-RTC), reinforces the role played by universities as living labs for sustainable development.

From cocoa farming in Ghana to the orchards of Kent and the desert badlands of Pakistan, taking a practical approach to sustaining the landscape can mean the difference between prosperity and ruin. Working with Nature is the story of a lifetime of work, often in extreme environments, to harvest nature and protect it - in effect, gardening on a global scale. It is also a memoir of encounters with larger-than-life characters such as William Bunting, the gun-toting saviour of Yorkshire's peatlands and the aristocratic gardener Vita Sackville-West, examining their idiosyncratic approaches to conservation. Jeremy Purseglove explains clearly and convincingly why it's not a good idea to extract as many resources as possible, whether it's the demand for palm oil currently denuding the forests of Borneo, cottonfield irrigation draining the Aral Sea, or monocrops spreading across Britain. The pioneer of engineering projects to preserve nature and landscape, first in Britain and then around the world, he offers fresh insights and solutions at each step.