Showing papers on "Sustainability published in 1988"

Town and country planning in the UK

Abstract: This edition has been extensively revised to take into account changes introduced by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the UK Government's mission to change the culture of planning. It provides an explanation of the nature of planning, the institutions and organisations involved, the plans and other tools used by planners, the system of controlling development and land use change, and mechanisms for implementing policy and proposals. Detailed consideration is given to: the nature of planning and its historical evolution; Central and Local Government, the devolved administrations, the EU and other agencies; the mechanisms of controlling development; environmental and countryside planning; sustainable development, waste and pollution; heritage and transport planning; urban renaissance and regeneration; community involvement in planning;and changes to the profession and education of planners.

Global sustainability: Toward measurement

Abstract: The widespread interest in the concept of sustainable environment and development has been accompanied by the need to develop useful systems of measurement. We discuss the use of indicators which might be used to assess such conditions. Our characteristics, or criteria, for desirable global sustainability indicators are: We discuss the basis of these characteristics, and examine two categories of indicators (soil erosion and population) and two specific indicators (physical quality of life index and energy imports as a percentage of consumption) for their value as sustainability measures.

What is sustainability science

Abstract: Sustainability is the theme of our time and also the grandest challenge to humanity. Since the 1970s, the term, sustainable development, has frequently appeared in the scientific literature, governmental documents, media promotions for public goods, and commercial advertisements. However, the science that provides the theoretical foundation and practical guidance for sustainable development--sustainability science--only began to emerge in the beginning of the 21st century. Nevertheless, the field has rapidly developed in depth and expanded in scope during the past decade, with its core concepts and research methods coalescing. China, as the most populous country in the world and home to the philosophical root of sustainability science-the unity of man and nature, is obligated to take upon the challenge of our time, to facilitate global sustainability while pursuing the Chinese Dream, and to play a leading role in the development of sustainability science. Toward this grandiose goal, this paper presents the first Chinese introduction to sustainability science, which discusses its basic concepts, research questions, and future directions. Sustainability science is the study of the dynamic relationship between humans and the environment, particularly focusing on the vulnerability, robustness, resilience, and stability of the coupled human-environment system. It is a transdisciplinary science that integrates natural sciences with humanities and social sciences. It hinges on the environment-economy-society nexus, and merges basic and applied research. The key components of sustainability often change with time, place, and culture, and thus sustainability science needs to emphasize multi-scale studies in space and time, with emphasis on landscapes and regions over a horizon of 50 to 100 years. It needs to focus on the relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being, as influenced by biodiversity and ecosystem processes as well as climate change, land use change, and other socioeconomic drivers. Landscape sustainability is at the core of sustainability science, and is expected to be a hot research topic in the next few decades.

Summary of key findings

Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate how different community-based management models, in terms of their demand responsiveness and level of delegation, impact on the sustainability of piped water supply systems. It addressed this issue in 26 communities of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Mali representing a variety of piped water supply technologies and different types of management models in West Africa. Backstopping and technical assistance properly administered to foster competence seem to constitute the basics for achieving a sustainable management. By competence, one must understand competence in financial, technical, and administrative management. But backstopping and technical assistance can only be applied to a well defined and well identified management body in the community, invested with adequate authority and responsibility. A competent management body should also be interested in community participation and accountability to the community. A good correlation hasn't been established between Regional Bureau for Africa (DRA) and a sustainable management by this study. The reason is because the systems studied weren't implemented using DRA. The overall judgment of the study is that DRA by creating awareness in the community will have helped in implementing a management based on the community. This study has also identified the need for a better design of training and the definition of a clear national policy for maintenance.

Optimal Prices for Sustainable Development

Abstract: In the 1960s and 1970s the thrust of the environmentalist argument was that economic growth was inconsistent with environmental preservation. There are few better surveys of these arguments than Richard Lecomber’s own monograph (Lecomber, 1975). In the 1980s, however, the emphasis has shifted to the argument that growth is consistent with environmental preservation and that both must be sold as a ‘package’. It seems fair to say that this duality of sustainable development and sustainable use of the environment has been only lightly analysed. This paper offers one small input into what I hope is a deeper analysis of ‘sustainability’. Its starting point is a set of (as always) provocative remarks by Herman Daly in a recent essay. Daly (1986) has drawn attention to a generally unacknowledged externality relevant to the pricing of environmental services.1 Daly was commenting on the relevance of the Laws of Thermodynamics for welfare optimisation. In particular he notes that In the light of the entropy law a previously neglected aggregate constraint on the physical scale of the economy relative to the ecosystem is seen to exist. The market is, by itself, unable to reflect this constraint because Pareto optimality of allocation is independent of whether or not the scale of physical throughput is ecologically sustainable. (Daly, 1986, my italics)

Sustainability is not enough

Abstract: Traditional agricultural systems that have met the test of sustainability have not been able to respond adequately to modern rates of growth in demand for agricultural commodities. A meaningful definition of sustainability must include the enhancement of agricultural productivity. At present, the concept of sustainability is more adequate as a guide to research than to farming practice.

Ecology and development in the Third World

Abstract: Development and natural vegetation environmental impact of land development development of water resources development and changing air quality urban development and environmental modification the global concern concepts and mechanisms for global environmental management environmental problems and Third World development.

Pesticides and Policies Approaches to Pest-Control Dilemmas in Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Abstract: Many economic, environmental, and public health problems have emerged with the increasing use of pesticides in Third World agriculture. Some governments of developing nations, recognizing the detrimental effects, have attempted to establish controls. State efforts have included a variety of regulations, policies, training and extension programs, research activities, and in some cases, projects for developing integrated pest management (IPM)i (which generally entails the use of biological and cultural methods, along with reduced use of chemicals, intended to improve profitability and environmental sustainability of pest control). The specific types and effectiveness of pesticide-related programs and policies vary considerably. However, in many cases it appears that in practice their efficacy has been minimal, due to various obstacles (Bottrell, 1984; Bull, 1982; Boardman, 1986). Yet few studies have examined the different approaches to assess progress and problems in specific nations. After presenting a brief contextual background and an overview of central themes in pesticide policy dilemmas, this article analyzes and compares pesticide-related policies and programs in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Although these two countries share similar histories of pest control and pesticide problems, their policy approaches reveal clear differences in terms of their organizational support structures, program emphases, technical and manpower capacities, the states' commitment, and the impacts of the laws and actions in influencing pesticide use. On the one hand, Costa Rica's government, despite its many formal laws pertaining to pesticide use, has been relatively ineffective in carrying out laws and in undertaking badly needed actions; several constraints have

Traditional management of a hillside agroecosystem in Tlaxcala, Mexico: An ecologically based maintenance system

Abstract: Traditional agricultural systems are increasingly being recognized as important examples of ecologically sustainable production methods and as such deserve agroecological attention. In a study of terrace agriculture in Tlaxcala, Mexico, the authors identify several management features which have been used for as long as three thousand years. The theoretical approach employs the notion of open versus closed agroecosystems for examining soil and water management, species diversity, and nutrient cycling. In the traditional system, conservation of existing resources is the distinctive feature whereas, with modern techniques, the emphasis is on replacement. The most distinctive feature of the Tlaxcalan agroecosystem is the terrace/cajete complex which serves to contain heavy downpours and trap eroded soil, ensures diversity of plant species, and traps and concentrates nutrients. The functioning of this traditional system is endangered by new management strategies that have responded to external political, economic and social pressures for change. This article discusses the ecological repercussions of these new practices and suggests ways that appropriate elements may be integrated to promote the sustainability of food production.

Criteria of External Sustainability

Abstract: This paper analyzes the main conceptual issues that arise in assessing external sustainability with a view toward developing operational criteria for the purposes of multilateral surveillance. The main contribution of the analysis is to show how conditional forecasts of external imbalance may be generated in a consistent way that explicitly incorporates a mechanism for achieving sustainability. An index of external unsustainability is also derived that reflects the probability of future changes in policies expected by private agents over time.

Ecostrategies in theory and practice: Farmer's perspectives on water, nutrients and sustainability in low-resource agriculture in the dry zone of Sri Lanka

Abstract: PROBLEM The need for a sustainable man - nature relationship has long been a neglected aspect of development theory. The increasing awareness of this negligence has led to a search for development strategies alternative to conventional industrial growth. The conceptual framework concerning man's relation to nature is, however, unclear, and it is notknown how this is reflected empirically. METHOD Three main types of views and practical utilizations of natural resources('ecostrategies') were identified ('domination: 'active adaptation' and 'passive adaptation'). This framework was elaborated upon by investigating five villages characterized by low-resource agriculture (paddy rice and shifting cultivation) in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Information about the farmers' views and practices concerning rainfall andnutrients in agriculture was collected with the help of surveys and semi-structured interviews. The information was collected within an interdisciplinary research project in which Sri Lankan and Swedish researchers collaborated. RESULTS The green revolution package of High Yielding Varieties (HYV's ), chemical fertilizers and other agrochemicals, was introduced in the studied villages mainly in the 1950's and 1960's but still irregularly used. The farmers were well aware of the resulting higher yields when using these industrialized inputs. The majority wanted to increase theiruse, but regarded the cost as a major limitation. Most of thern believed that it was necessary to use the new inputs, but they were also worried about long-term, environmental effects. They contrasted these negative aspects of this type of 'domination' ecostrategy with a more 'adaptation' ecostrategy of the past. There was a belief that there had been a decrease in the fertility of the soil and the quality of crops, whichwas paralleled in the perception of a general decrease in precipitation. In general the farmers' knowledge concerning various aspects of their impact upon nature was quite good. Their perception of a general deterioration of the resource base must mainly be seen as a reflection of increasing resource pressure due to a larger population. In the current context, this means that the traditional 'adaptation' strategy is closer to 'passive adaptation' to nature. A potential for any 'active' development oflocal resources (e.g., dung and greenmanure andlocally adaptevarieties) was generally not recognized. The ethnoperspective of man and nature involves a moral connotation. The worries about the long-term effects of the industrial agricultural inputs without recognized alternatives, present a challenging topic for further research and policy making.

Sustainable Development in Agriculture

Abstract: Food problems -- the efficient production or procurement of food and its appropriate distribution among members of society -- are problems endemic to mankind Yet the nature and dimensions of these problems have been changing over time As economic systems have developed, specialization has increased; and this has led to increased interdependences of rural and urban areas, of agricultural and nonagricultural sectors, and of nations This book focuses on the interactions between resources, technologies, and environment in agricultural systems and on their consequences for long-run agricultural development It presents development of some methodological approaches as weLL as case studies of differing regions using systems analysis The case studies cover a wide variety of countries and economic systems, and provide examples of dealing with an extensive range of issues concerning sustainability of agriculture

Pluralism in environmental economics: a survey of the sustainable economic develoment debate

Abstract: It is claimed that the concept of ‘sustainable economic development’ is central to the new ‘practical’ environmentalism of the 1980s. Intuitively, sustainability perspectives seem to suggest that knowledge accumulated in the natural sciences ought to be applied to economic processes. They contain the proposition that there is a real prospect that increasing per capita real incomes over time can be achieved in an environmentally benign manner, or at least without posing severe environmental risks. A working definition of sustainable development might be as follows: Sustainable development involves maximising the net benefits of economic development, subject to maintaining the services and quality of natural resources over time. Economic development is broadly construed to include not just increases in real per capita incomes but also other elements in social welfare. Development will necessarily involve structural change within the economy and in society. Maintaining the services and quality of the stock of resources over time implies, as far as practicable, acceptance of the following rules: utilise renewable resources at rates less than, or equal to, the natural or managed rate at which they can regenerate; optimise the efficiency with which non-renewable resources are used in the long run, subject to substitutability between resources, and technological progress.

The Economics of Sustainable Agricultural Systems in Developing Countries

Abstract: Sustainable development in a world economy implies a stable and satisfactory relationship between agricultural production and consumption. It implies a world population level or growth rate that is supportable on a long-term basis. Agricultural sustainability has extraordinarily different implications in today’s world than in even the recent past. Sustainable agricultural systems are those systems that support sustainable development in a world economy. The predominant food grain in Asia is rice. The rice culture practiced throughout Asia today is remarkable in both its longevity and degree of homogeneity. The policies and practices of developed countries with respect to resource use represent probably the greatest long-term threat to the sustainability of developing countries’ agricultural systems. Sustaining agricultural systems in developing countries requires a greater commitment to long-term investment in research, infrastructure, and institution building on the part of developed and developing countries.

Moving toward sustainability Building the Agroecological Framework

Abstract: (1988). Moving toward sustainability Building the Agroecological Framework. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development: Vol. 30, Sustainable Agriculture in Developing Countries, pp. 14-36.