This book addresses the issue of smart and sustainable development in the Mediterranean (MED) region, a distinct part of the world, full of challenges and risks but also opportunities. Above all, the book focuses on smartening up small and medium-sized cities and insular communities, taking into account their geographical peculiarities, the pattern of MED urban settlements and the abundance of island complexes in the MED Basin. Taking for granted that sustainability in the MED is the overarching policy goal that needs to be served, the book explores different aspects of smartness in support of this goal's achievement. In this respect, evidence from concrete smart developments adopted by forerunners in the MED region is collected and analyzed; coupled with experiences gathered from successful, non-MED, examples of smart efforts in European countries. More specifically, current research and empirical results from MED urban environments are discussed, as well as findings from or concerning other parts of the world, which are of relevance to the MED region. The book's primary goal is to enable policymakers, planners and decision-making bodies to recognize the challenges and options available; and make to more informed policy decisions towards smart, sustainable, inclusive and resilient urban and regional futures in the MED.

This book describes green photocatalysts and their diverse applications in the fields of environmental sciences and energy. It especially takes a closer look at the removal of air and water pollutants, the generation of hydrogen, photo fuel cells, electrophotocatalysts, solar energy conversions, and green biophotocatalysts. Furthermore it also discusses on the role of catalysts along with their chemical reactions, challenges, past developments and directions for further research on photocatalysts. It includes recent developments of quantum dots (QDs) and photocatalytic applications of QDs such as carbon materials like carbon and graphene based QDs, metal, metal sulfide and metal oxide based QDs as well as a detailed review on various types of templates used for the preparation of porous g-C3N4 and its applications in detail. This is done with special reference to dye degradation, reduction of hexavalent Cr, and reduction of CO2 and for the evolution of H2 photocatalytically. This book offers an intriguing and useful guide for a broad readership in various fields of catalysis, material sciences, environment and energy.

The volume presents innovative approaches to improving energy access in underprivileged communities. A core theme is the use of previously underutilized or unrecognized resources that can be found through synergies in supply and value innovation, novel financing methods, and the use of leapfrog technologies. The contributors illustrate how decentralized approaches and small-scale localized solutions can promote climate change mitigation and adaptation and increase the resiliency of vulnerable communities. This book gathers selected articles from the 2014 Micro energy Systems Conference at UC Berkeley that focus on technical, financial, human, institutional, and natural resource capital. The contributions reflect the latest concepts, theories, methods and techniques, offering a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners and governmental institutions engaged in the field of energy access for developing countries.

The work builds on the results of the COMPETE Bioenergy Competence Platform for Africa, which was supported by the European Commission and coordinated by WIP Renewable Energies, Germany. The five sections cover biomass production and use, biomass technologies and markets in Africa, biomass policies, sustainability, and financial and socio-economic issues. This valuable work is, in effect, a single-source treatment of a key energy sector in a part of the world which still has a lot of unrealised potential for development.

This book analyzes motivation, investments, and influence of the Russian Federation and Russian companies in the European oil sector, specifically, the Southeastern Europe. The main idea of the book is to highlight economic and political logic of the Russian activities in the oil sector as well as to provide a brief analysis of the situation in the natural gas sector. The findings help to understand the general code of conduct of Russian energy companies and their potential ties to their homeland government. This project will appeal to academics, researchers, graduate students, field professionals, and everyone who is interested in Russian and European geopolitics.

All the solid fuels fossil energy and mineral commodities we use come out of the Earth. Modern society is increasingly dependent on mineral and fossil energy sources. They differ in availability, cost of production, and geographical distribution. Even if solid fuels, fossil energy resources and mineral commodities are non-renewable, the extracted metals can to a large extent be recycled and used again and again. Although the stock of these secondary resources and their use increases, the world still needs and will continue to need primary mineral resources for the foreseeable future. Growing demands have begun to restrict availability of these resources. The Earth is not running out of critical mineral resources - at least for the near future - but the ability to explore and extract these resources is being restricted in many regions by competing land use, as well as political and environmental issues. Extraction of natural resources requires a clear focus on sustainable development, involving economic, environmental and socio-cultural aspects. Although we do not know what the most important resources will be in 100 years from now, we can be quite certain that society will still need energy and a wide range of raw materials. These resources will include oil and gas, coal, uranium, thorium, geothermal, metallic minerals, industrial and specialty minerals, including cement, raw materials, rare-earth elements. A global approach for assessing the magnitude and future availability of these resources is called for - an approach that, with appropriate international collaboration, was started within the triennium of the International Year of Planet Earth. Some global mineral resource assessments, involving inter-governmental collaboration, have already been initiated. The International Year of Planet Earth helped to focus attention on how the geosciences can generate prosperity locally and globally, as well as sustainability issues in both developed and developing countries.

Sustainable Production Consumption Systems brings together a set of designed case studies intended to provide a more in-depth understanding of challenges and opportunities in bringing knowledge and actions closer together for the sustainable management of specific production and consumption systems. The case study approach enabled researchers to engage directly with some of the actors involved in the production, consumption or regulation of specific goods or services and other stakeholders affected by those processes. Such engagement was particularly worthwhile when it helped mobilize actors to pursue linking knowledge with action in ways that improve the prospects for sustainability.

This edited collection assesses governance in forestry programmes and projects, including REDD+ governance. It examines political representation, participation and decentralisation in forest governance, providing insight as to how forest governance arrangements can be responsive to the socio-economic interests of local people and communities who live adjacent to and depend on forests. Global Forest Governance and Climate Change argues that inclusive complementary representation of local communities is required for strong participatory processes and democratic decentralisation of forest governance. Responsiveness to local people's socio-economic interests in forestry initiatives require paying attention to not just the hosting of participatory meetings and activities, but also to the full cast of appointed, self-authorized, and elected representative agents that stand, speak, and act for local people. This book will be of interest to students and academics across the fields of climate change governance, forestry, development studies, and political economy. It will also be a useful resource for policy makers and practitioners responsible for forestry and climate change initiatives.

This book addresses the grave concerns stemming out due to conventional treatment techniques. The main focus of this book revolves round the central kernel of novel technology (bioremediation and biotechnology) which has emerged as an independent warrior to clean up and restore the disturbed environs. Furthermore, this book is a coherent assortment of diverse chapters relevant to the role of biotechnology and bioremediation for restoration of the ecosystems degraded by pesticide and heavy metal pollution. The inaugural chapters deal with the quantification of problem and its magnitude due to pesticides and heavy metals, followed by innovative modern biotechnological and bioremediation treatment technologies and sustainable techniques to remediate the persistent pollutants. It is a detailed comprehensive account for the treatment technologies from unsustainable to sustainable. Academicians, researchers and students shall find it as a complete wrap up regarding biotechnological intervention for sustainable treatment of pollution and shall suffice for the diverse needs of teaching and research.

This book offers a systematic, empirical examination of the concepts of disasters and sustainable economic development applied to many cases around the world. It presents comprehensive coverage of the complex and dynamic relationship between disaster and development, making a vital contribution to the literature on disaster management, disaster resilience and sustainable development. The book collects twenty-three chapters, examining theoretical issues and investigating practical cases on policy, governance, and lessons learned in dealing with different types of disasters (e.g., earthquakes, floods and hurricanes) in twenty countries and communities around the world.

Going against both the naive techno-optimism of 'greening business as usual' and a resurgent 'catastrophism' within green thinking and politics, The Politics of Actually Existing Unsustainability offers an analysis of the causes of unsustainability and diminished human flourishing. It makes a case for seeing that it is profound and deepening unsustainability and growing injustice that characterizes the modern world. The books locates the causes of unsustainability in dominant capitalist modes of production, debt-based consumerism, and the imperative for orthodox economic growth. It suggests that valuable insights into the causes of and alternatives to unsustainability can be found in a critical embracing of human vulnerability and dependency as both constitutive and ineliminable aspects of what it means to be human. Rather than seeing invulnerability as the appropriate response, the book defends resilience, the ability to 'cope with' rather than 'solve' vulnerability, as a more productive strategy. The Politics of Actually Existing Unsustainability offers a trenchant critique of the dominant neoclassical economic groupthink, which the book argues must be seen not as some value-neutral form of 'expert knowledge' but as a thoroughly ideological 'common sense' that has corrupted and limited creative ways of thinking about and through our current predicament. It offers a green political economic alternative which replaces economic growth with economic security, and views economic growth as having done its work in the minority, affluent world, which should now focus on human flourishing and lowering socio-economic inequality and fostering solidarity as part of that new re-orientation of public policy. Complementing this green political economy, the book outlines and develops an account of 'green republicanism', which represents an innovative and original contribution to debates on the political responses to the crises and opportunities of global unsustainability. The Politics of Actually Existing Unsustainability draws widely from a range of disciplines and thinkers to produce a highly relevant, timely, and provocatively original statement on the human predicament in the twenty-first century.

Reef fish spawning aggregations, ranging from small groups to many tens of thousands of individuals, are spectacular but poorly known natural phenomena whereby fish assemble at specific times and locations to spawn. For some species these large groups may be the only form of reproduction, the high fish numbers briefly giving a false impression of stability and abundance-an 'illusion of plenty'. They are often a focus for intensive seasonal fishing because of their predictability and because many important commercial fishes form them. Highly vulnerable to overexploitation, many aggregations and their associated fisheries, have disappeared or are in decline. Few are effectively managed or incorporated into protected areas. Aggregations are not well understood by fishery scientists, managers and conservationists and their significance little appreciated by fishers or the wider public. To ensure their persistence to replenish important fisheries in coral ecosystems, maintain their ecosystem function and continue to delight divers, a significant change in perspective is needed to foster protection and management. This book provides comprehensive and practical coverage of the biology, study and management of reef fish aggregations, exploring their how, when, where, and why. It explores ways to better protect, study, manage and conserve them, while identifying key data gaps and questions. The text is extensively illustrated with many unique, never before published, photographs and graphics. Case studies on over 20 interesting and important fishes are included, outlining their biology and fisheries and highlighting major concerns and challenges.

Currently the notion of "sustainability" is used in an inflationary manner. Therefore the authors start with a definition which is stable to serve as an anchor for further research as well as for discussions among scientists, managers and politicians, ideally across different disciplines. The character of this book is purely conceptual. The argumentation is based on comparison of new and demanding requisites with existing models (process and network architectures in the field of logistics). Formerly neglected impacts on the environment will be included. Main features of a new approach will be developed which are capable to avoid these impacts and to align logistics with the requirements of sustainability. In order to make logistics sustainable large parts will have to be reinvented. The focus needs to be on decoupling transportation activities from economic growth rates.

Livestock's Longer Shadow is one the most important books of its kind since Ruth Harrison's Animal Machines (1964). Most people have little idea how eating animal-based foods harm animals, our health and our planet. We want to believe the animals we eat do not suffer pain, injury, live good lives and eating them is a trade-off for the care we afford them. We accept the illnesses we suffer are simply a consequence of getting old. We want to believe our food choices do not cause rainforest and ocean deforestation. We are told farmers are the guardians of the countryside, yet our landscape is over-cultured and biologically dysfunctional, and our environment polluted by livestock farming. Livestock's Longer Shadow, cuts through the noise for anyone wanting to know how we really treat animals, our health and our planet through the ways we farm and consume animals, through a UK lens. Tim Bailey is an Environmental Scientist and one of the UK's leading and most prominent regulatory farm pollution experts. He brings together all aspects of the UK's animal-based farming and food system, from farm to fork, documents its devastation and provides us with a kinder, more compassionate, sustainable and healthier way forward. In sounding the alarm on the paradigms of animal-based food production, the author uses his own first-hand experience of the impacts of livestock farming from a career regulating the industry spanning over 30-years.

This book presents the new EU approach to environmental management and its attempt to place it in the perspective of sustainable development. Written by eminent scientists working on sustainable development, the book covers not only theoretical aspects but also gives practical cases and examples. China and other large and fast growing economies are putting increasing pressures on the global environment, but they are also looking at the European experience with great interest.

This book explores how integrated management of environmental resources via a nexus approach can help in achieving the respective Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It provides conceptual considerations but mainly practical examples on how to implement a nexus approach in cities and multifunctional land-use systems to increase resource use efficiency and develop a low carbon economy. After sketching out the background and conceptual outline, contributions to the book explore key aspects of the nexus implementation. Specifically, they * Demonstrate how to sustainably use organic waste and wastewater for agriculture, * Explore examples on how to manage multifunctional land-use systems including multipurpose reservoirs, * Highlight the importance of economic incentives for successful nexus implementation, and * Provide a comprehensive perspective on challenges and opportunities of implementation, considering peer-to-peer learning, indigenous knowledge, and stakeholder participation. The chapters in this book shed a new light on key aspects of the interrelation between SDGs and the nexus approach in resilient cities and multifunctional land-use systems, and provide specific examples on how to advance sustainable resources management.

Environmental Change in Lesotho identifies and analyzes the drivers of land-use change and the consequences of these changes on the livelihoods of rural land-users/managers. To accomplish this, a combination of tools from the social sciences and environmental fields were developed to identify causes and consequences of land-use change at selected levels, using a 'nested' approach. These methods were then applied to a case study of two villages in the Lowland region of Lesotho. This book is directed at environmental and social science experts, researchers, decision-makers, and development/aid workers interested in understanding the intricate human-environment relationship as it relates to land-use change in a changing biophysical, socio-economic, political and institutional context, coupled by HIV/AIDS, changing demographics, local perceptions and what is termed here 'dependency syndrome'.

In any ecosystem, plant and microbe interaction is inevitable. They not only co-exist but also support each other's survival and also provide for sustenance in stressful environment. Agro-ecosystems of many regions around the globe are affected by multi-stress. Major limiting factors affecting the agricultural productivity worldwide are environmental stresses. Apart from decreasing yield they introduce devastating impact on plant growth as well. Plants battle with various kind of stresses with the help of symbiotic association with the microbes in the rhizosphere. Naturally existing plant-microbe interaction facilitates survival of plants under these stressful conditions. Rhizosphere consists of many groups of microbes, plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) is one such group of microbes which assist plants in coping with multiple stresses and in plant growth as well. These microbes help in stress physiology of the plants and can be extremely useful in solving agricultural as well food security problems. The proposed book is split into two parts, with an aim to provide comprehensive description and highlight a holistic approach. It elucidates various mechanisms in rhizosphere of nutrient management, stress tolerance and enhanced crop productivity. The book discusses rhizospheric flora and its importance in enhancement of plant growth, nutrient content, yield of various crops and vegetables as well as soil fertility and health. Both volumes of the book addresses fundamentals, applications as well as research trends and new prospects of agricultural sustainability. Volume 2: Nutrient Management and Crop Improvement, contains chapters which cover a broad overview of plant growth promoting activities of microbes. This proposed book also highlights the contribution of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc-solubilizing microbes from rhizospheric soil to develop efficient indigenous microbial consortia to enhance the food and nutritional security. With the given content and layout the proposed book will be an all-inclusive collection of information, which will be useful for students, academicians, researchers working in the field of rhizospheric mechanisms, agricultural microbiology, soil microbiology, biotechnology, agronomy and sustainable agriculture and also for policy makers in the area of food security and sustainable agriculture. It will be of special interest to both academics and professionals working in the fields of microbiology, soil microbiology, biotechnology and agronomy, as well as the plant protection sciences. Timely, this edited and research book provides an essential and comprehensive source of material from basic to advance findings on microbes and their role in agricultural and soil sustainability.

Rustling under a leafy tree, A greedy shrew could hardly see... Shrew has spent his entire life using only one sense to hunt - his sense of smell. Until a horrible case of the flu forces him to make use of the rest of his senses. Once he hones the art of hunting - using more than just his nose - he can't help but gobble up every snack in sight. The question is, can Shrew restore the forest he so dearly loves? 'The Shrew with The Flu' is a wonderfully warm and endearing story by budding author Will Hamilton-Davies, created in partnership with illustrator Jennifer Davison. The combination of rhyming verse and rich, vibrant illustrations, makes this environmentally themed story the perfect read-aloud for every family. While on the surface 'The Shrew with The Flu' is an endearing story about a shrew's quest for food, it also holds a powerful message about greed and empathy, a message that fosters love and respect for our natural world.

This book examines the energy dimension of the smart city from the perspective of urban planning, providing a complete overview that ranges from theoretical aspects to practical considerations and projects. In addition, it aims to illustrate how the concept of the smart city can enhance understanding of the urban system and foster new forms of management of the metropolis, including with respect to energy supply and use. Specifically, the book explores the different dimensions of the relationship between energy and the city, discusses methodological issues with a special focus on ontological approaches to sustainability, and describes practices, tools, and good examples of energy-related urban planning. The authors represent the main Italian research groups working in the field, Italy being an excellent example of a country exposed to energy problems due to, for example, vulnerability to climate change and lack of primary energy resources. This book will be valuable for students of urban planning, town planners, and researchers interested in understanding the changing nature of the city and the challenges posed by energy issues.

This book will bring a state of the art overview of the research done in sustainable logistics. It will be structured along the four A's of sustainable logistics:- 1 Awareness: it is important that companies and policy makers are aware of the effects of their activities and policies. New methods to estimate the effects of the logistic activities and the change towards more sustainable ways will be covered. 2 Avoidance: transport can be avoided by a better collaboration between actors (vertically and horizontally. Papers covering this topic will be introduced here. 3 Acting and shifting the goods to more environmental friendly modes or to the non peak hours. 4 Anticipation of new technologies: the use of more environmental friendly vehicles (electric,.LNG,..) within the logistic chain.

This book provides insights into an understanding of disruptive leadership. It explores the key success factors for digital transformation of organizations in the highly disruptive, increasingly VUCA-driven era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Disruption is happening everywhere and in every aspect of our lives. It is happening at a scale and speed that is unprecedented in modern history, impacting diverse industries, from financial services to retail, media, logistics and supply chain, manufacturing, education, professional services, and life sciences. Leaders are finding it challenging to navigate the near-insurmountable challenges resulting from the impact of these disruptive events on their organizations. The right leadership is critical for organizations to thrive in a disruptive business environment. How should we define leadership in such an environment? Are the current leadership practices and competencies still relevant in the face of such disruption? What are the attributes of a "disruptive digital leader"? How can leaders set themselves up not only to survive but also to thrive in navigating the challenges of disruptive events and crises? This book provides insights into an understanding of disruptive leadership. It explores the key success factors for digital transformation of organizations in the highly disruptive, increasingly VUCA-driven era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (also known as Industry 4.0). The book also examines the fundamental qualities of disruptive leadership that would distinguish successful leaders as they guide their organizations through the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the digital transformation at the workplace.

This book covers the elements involved in achieving sustainability in textiles and clothing sector. The chapters covered in three volumes of this series title cover all the distinctive areas earmarked for achieving sustainable development in textiles and clothing industry. This third volume highlights the areas pertaining to the regulatory aspects and sustainability standards applicable to textiles and clothing supply chain. There are various standards earmarked for measuring the environmental impacts and sustainability of textile products. There are also plenty of certification schemes available along with the index systems applicable to textile sector. Brands and manufactures are also venturing into new developments to achieve sustainable development in textile sector. This third volume addresses all these important aspects.

Environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) are asserting their growing role in curricula around the world, yet how deeply embedded are they in the learning systems of the Pacific nations? Building on an earlier analysis in China and Taiwan, this volume expands its purview to examine the quality and extent of environmental and sustainable development education in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including China itself, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia.As well as offering detailed national analyses provided by Asian-Pacific academics and professionals, this work includes examples in the US and Canada and an introduction that assesses the contrasting challenges and positive commonalities among diverse education systems.

The chapters reflect leading-edge practice, innovation, and depth of experience and at the same time as detailing locally relevant and culturally appropriate strategies they also provide clear models and strategies for expanding the application and influence of education for sustainable development elsewhere. In doing so, they mirror the global nature of environmental issues as well as the local nature of the solutions."