Showing papers on "Sustainability published in 2001"

Environment and development. Sustainability science.

Abstract: Author(s): Robert W. Kates, William C. Clark, Robert Corell, J. Michael Hall, Carlo C. Jaeger, Ian Lowe, James J. McCarthy, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Bert Bolin, Nancy M. Dickson, Sylvie Faucheux, Gilberto C. Gallopin, Arnulf Grübler, Brian Huntley, Jill Jäger, Narpat S. Jodha, Roger E. Kasperson, Akin Mabogunje, Pamela Matson, Harold Mooney, Berrien Moore III, Timothy O'Riordan, Uno Svedin Reviewed work(s): Source: Science, New Series, Vol. 292, No. 5517 (Apr. 27, 2001), pp. 641-642 Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3083523 . Accessed: 28/02/2012 04:14

Livestock to 2020 : the next food revolution

Abstract: A revolution is taking place in global agriculture that has profound implications for human health, livelihoods and the environment. Population growth, urbanization and income growth in developing countries are fuelling a massive increase in demand for food of animal origin. These changes in the diets of billions of people could significantly improve the well-being of many rural poor. Governments and industry must prepare for this continuing revolution with long-term policies and investments that will satisfy consumer demand, improve nutrition, direct income growth opportunities to those who need them most, and alleviate environmental and public health stress.

Sustainable education : re-visioning learning and change

Abstract: Whilst 'environmental education', and more recently 'education for sustainable development' are important trends, they are not sufficient to reorient and transform education as a whole--and This Briefing critiques the prevailing managerial and mechanistic paradigm in education, and argues that an ecological view of educational theory, practice and policy is necessary to assist the sustainability transition The Briefing then shows how 'a systemic change of educational culture towards the realization of human potential and the interdependence of social, economic and ecological wellbeing--can lead to transformative learning

Farming Systems and Poverty IMPROVING FARMERS' LIVELIHOODS IN A CHANGING WORLD

Abstract: Small farmers produce much of the developing world's food. Yet they are generally much poorer than the rest of the population in these countries, and are less food secure than even the urban poor. Furthermore, although the majority of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2030, farming populations will not be much smaller than they are today. For the foreseeable future, therefore, dealing with poverty and hunger in much of the world means confronting the problems that small farmers and their families face in their daily struggle for survival. The material for this book is derived from a study originally undertaken at the request of the World Bank in order to provide a specifically agricultural perspective to the revision of the Bank's rural development strategy. It has drawn on many years of specialized work within FAO and the World Bank, as well as in a number of other national and international institutions. Findings were supported by more than 20 case studies from around the world which analyzed innovative approaches to small farm or pastoral development. This book is intended for a wider audience than the original study, and it is hoped that policy makers, researchers, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and the agribusiness sector will all find its conclusions and recommendations interesting and thought provoking; and that they will carry the analysis further by applying the approach at national level to assist in the formulation of rural development strategies.

Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management

Abstract: Currently, many businesses are implementing a proactive, strategic tool known as an environmental management system (EMS) to gain a competitive advantage. Companies can no longer simply use compliance plans to deal with environmental concerns; consumer demands for greener products and services, and operational efficiencies require long term strategic and sustainable approaches for environmental management. An EMS includes documentation of: commitment and policy; planning; implementation; measurement and evaluation; and review and improvement. Establishment and maintenance of an EMS can be costly and time consuming, therefore implementation should be carefully structured to assure success. This paper identifies human resource (HR) factors such as top management support, environmental training, employee empowerment, teamwork, and rewards systems as key elements of the implementation process of an EMS. Furthermore, the interaction of these factors is examined in terms of the five categories of an EMS mentioned above. Finally, a conceptual model of the EMS‐HR factors is proposed to assist in proper facilitation of the environmental management program.

Local Ecological Knowledge and Institutional Dynamics for Ecosystem Management: A Study of Lake Racken Watershed, Sweden

Abstract: The sustainable use of resources requires that management practices and institutions take into account the dynamics of the ecosystem. In this paper, we explore the role of local ecological knowledge and show how it is used in management practices by a local fishing association in a contemporary rural Swedish community. We focus on the local management of crayfish, a common-pool resource, and also address the way crayfish management is linked to institutions at different levels of Swedish society. Methods from the social sciences were used for information gathering, and the results were analyzed within the framework of ecosystem management. We found that the practices of local fishing association resemble an ecosystem approach to crayfish management. Our results indicate that local users have substantial knowledge of resource and ecosystem dynamics from the level of the individual crayfish to that of the watershed, as reflected in a variety of interrelated management practices embedded in and influenced by institutions at several levels. We propose that this policy of monitoring at several levels simultaneously, together with the interpretation of a bundle of indicators and associated management responses, enhances the possibility of building ecological resilience into the watershed. Furthermore, we found that flexibility and adaptation are required to avoid command-and-control pathways of resource management. We were able to trace the development of the local fishing association as a response to crisis, followed by the creation of an opportunity for reorganization and the recognition of slow ecosystem structuring variables, and also to define the role of knowledgeable individuals in the whole process. We discuss the key roles of adaptive capacity, institutional learning, and institutional memory for successful ecosystem management and conclude that scientific adaptive management could benefit from a more explicit collaboration with flexible community-based systems of resource management for the implementation of policies as experiments.

Sustainability of three apple production systems

Abstract: Escalating production costs, heavy reliance on non-renewable resources, reduced biodiversity, water contamination, chemical residues in food, soil degradation and health risks to farm workers handling pesticides all bring into question the sustainability of conventional farming systems. It has been claimed, however, that organic farming systems are less efficient, pose greater health risks and produce half the yields of conventional farming systems. Nevertheless, organic farming became one of the fastest growing segments of US and European agriculture during the 1990s. Integrated farming, using a combination of organic and conventional techniques, has been successfully adopted on a wide scale in Europe. Here we report the sustainability of organic, conventional and integrated apple production systems in Washington State from 1994 to 1999. All three systems gave similar apple yields. The organic and integrated systems had higher soil quality and potentially lower negative environmental impact than the conventional system. When compared with the conventional and integrated systems, the organic system produced sweeter and less tart apples, higher profitability and greater energy efficiency. Our data indicate that the organic system ranked first in environmental and economic sustainability, the integrated system second and the conventional system last.

Integrating seaweeds into marine aquaculture systems: a key toward sustainability

Abstract: The rapid development of intensive fed aquaculture (e.g. finfish and shrimp) throughout the world is associated with concerns about the environmental impacts of such often monospecific practices, especially where activities are highly geographically concentrated or located in suboptimal sites whose assimilative capacity is poorly understood and, consequently, prone to being exceeded. One of the main environmental issues is the direct discharge of significant nutrient loads into coastal waters from open-water systems and with the effluents from land-based systems. In its search for best management practices, the aquaculture industry should develop innovative and responsible practices that optimize its efficiency and create diversification, while ensuring the remediation of the consequences of its activities to maintain the health of coastal waters. To avoid pronounced shifts in coastal processes, conversion, not dilution, is a common-sense solution, used for centuries in Asian countries. By integrating fed aquaculture (finfish, shrimp) with inorganic and organic extractive aquaculture (seaweed and shellfish), the wastes of one resource user become a resource (fertilizer or food) for the others. Such a balanced ecosystem approach provides nutrient bioremediation capability, mutual benefits to the cocultured organisms, economic diversification by producing other value-added marine crops, and increased profitability per cultivation unit for the aquaculture industry. Moreover, as guidelines and regulations on aquaculture effluents are forthcoming in several countries, using appropriately selected seaweeds as renewable biological nutrient scrubbers represents a cost-effective means for reaching compliance by reducing the internalization of the total environmental costs. By adopting integrated polytrophic practices, the aquaculture industry should find increasing environmental, economic, and social acceptability and become a full and sustainable partner within the development of integrated coastal management frameworks.

Natural Area Tourism: Ecology, Impacts and Management

Abstract: The book covers all facets of tourism in natural areas. The book is underpinned by a strong foundation of environmental understanding. It then describes the range of impacts, which occur when tourism takes place in the natural environment and illustrates how managers can plan, develop and appropriately manage tourism developments in natural areas. Finally, the book addresses ongoing management concerns such as monitoring environmental change and the need to introduce appropriate management strategies.

The fourth pillar of sustainability: culture’s essential role in public planning

Abstract: ‘The Fourth Pillar’ provides a clear definition of culture, analyses its function within the emerging new planning paradigms and proposes practical measures for the integration of a cultural perspective into the public sphere. Its key conclusion is that a whole-ofgovernment cultural framework, operating in parallel with social, environmental and economic frameworks, is essential for the achievement of a sustainable and healthy society.

Green Development: Environment and Sustainability in the Third World

Abstract: 1. The Dilemma of Sustainability 2. The Origins of Sustainable Development 3. The Development of Sustainable Development 4. Sustainable Development: The Rio Machine 5. Mainstream Sustainable Development 6. Countercurrents in Sustainable Development 7. Environment, Degradation and Sustainability 8. The Environmental Costs of Development 9. The Political Ecology of Sustainability 10. Sustainability and Risk Society 11. Mainstreaming Environmental Risk 12. Sustainable Development from Below 13. Green Development: Reformism or Radicalism?

Manufacturing’s role in corporate environmental sustainability ‐ Concerns for the new millennium

Abstract: The natural environment and the manufacturing function are becoming inextricably linked. As the new millennium approaches and progresses, profitability, productivity and environmental consciousness are increasingly viewed as integral goals of manufacturing organizations. The issues facing manufacturing organizations, in general, and the manufacturing function in particular, are discussed in this paper. Some of the current practices and future requirements for an environmentally sustainable manufacturing enterprise are included in this discussion. Even though the focus is on manufacturing strategy and operations, issues relevant to the overall organization and other functions are also included. In the final analysis, this field and topic is relatively novel to most organizations, ample room exists for both practitioners and researchers for making progress in the next millennium.

The Wellbeing of Nations: A Country-by-Country Index of Quality of Life and the Environment

Abstract: The use of indicators to gauge human progress is common and well understood; Gross Domestic Product and the Index of Leading Economic Indicators are two well-known examples. Yet most of the widely cited indicators focus exclusively on economic activity, and even the most progressive of indicators fail to account for key issues of sustainability. "The Wellbeing of Nations" addresses that shortcoming by combining indicators of human wellbeing with those of environmental stability to generate a more comprehensive picture of the state of our world. The author combines 39 indicators of health, population, wealth, education, communication, freedom, peace, crime and equity in to a Human Wellbeing Index, and 39 indicators of land wealth, protected areas, water quality, water supply, global atmosphere, air quality, species diversity, energy use, and resource pressure into an Ecosystem Wellbeing Index. The two indexes are then combined into a Wellbeing/Stress Index that measures the amount of stress each country's development places on the environment. Seventy colour-coded geopolitical maps portray the performance of each of the 180 nations for all indexes, and the main indicators that go into them. In addition, all data are given in 160 pages of tables, and the methodology is described in appendices so that readers can undertake their own assessments. Produced in collaboration with the leading international organizations involved with sustainable development, "The Wellbeing of Nations" is a helpful reference for development and environmental policy professionals, as well as for students and scholars in environmental studies, international studies, and international development.

Innovating Our Way to the Next Industrial Revolution

Abstract: In many ways, the industrial age has been an era of harvesting natural and social capital in order to create financial and productive capital. So far, the New Economy looks more like the next wave of the industrial era than a truly postindustrial one. Why should we care? Because, say the authors, the basic development patterns of the industrial era are not sustainable. In the face of this challenge, organizational-learning expert Peter Senge and former Volvo and IKEA senior executive Goran Carstedt hail the emergence of a new environmentalism driven by innovation, not regulation ? radical new technologies, products, processes and business models. They describe how more and more companies are recognizing the business opportunities that a focus on sustainability creates. Such a shift in thinking is already evident in many companies and industries. Xerox employed "zero-waste-to-landfill" engineering to develop its 90% remanufacturable Document Centre 265 copier. Interface Inc. is no longer just a maker of commercial carpet tiles, but now ? as a provider of "floor-covering services" ? leases products and later recycles them completely. Such companies are applying learning-organization principles to create sustainable business models. Simultaneously, they become inspirational, energetic places to work, where even relationships with customers and suppliers improve. Nonetheless, ecoefficiency alone will not create a truly postindustrial age. Ecoefficiency gains are laudable but dangerously incomplete, say the authors, as is any strategy that fails to consider how the economic system affects the larger ecological and social systems within which it resides. Only a more integrated view will enable companies to innovate for long-term profitability and sustainability. Industrial-age systems follow a linear flow of extract, produce, sell, use, discard: the "take-make-waste" approach to economic growth. A systemic approach would reduce all sources of waste: from production, use and disposal. How can managers adapt? In stark contrast to industrial-age, command-and-control management methods are the three core competencies that learning organizations must master to profit from sustainability. First, they must encourage systemic thinking so that they can sense the emerging future. Second, they must convene strategic conversations with investors, customers, suppliers and even competitors to build the trust needed to change outmoded mental models about what business success is. Finally, they must take the lead in reshaping economic, political and societal forces that stymie change. True learning organizations stand out by championing business models that foster sustainable growth. According to Senge and Carstedt, no time in history has afforded greater possibilities for a collective change in direction.

The sustainability debate

Abstract: This paper serves as an introduction to this special issue of the journal on the topic of sustainability. It commences with definitions of sustainability, followed by a description of the roles played by governments and corporations as developers of standards and legislation, and investors in products and processes, respectively. The paper then goes on to discuss the company capacities required to achieve sustainability, paying particular attention to operations management capabilities and the management of human resources. The discussion of these topics is related to the content of the other papers subsequently presented in this special issue, and the paper concludes with suggestions for further research.

Organizational Support for Employees: Encouraging Creative Ideas for Environmental Sustainability:

Abstract: The environmental sustainability of businesses depends largely on employees9 creative environmental ideas and innovative solutions to environmental problems. This article analyzes how companies that want to improve their environmental performance can increase their employees9 willingness to eco-innovate. Results of an employee survey show that supportive behaviors from line managers significantly increase the probability that employees will try environmental initiatives. Even in firms that have sustainable development policies, line managers are less supportive when managing environmental issues compared to managing other business issues. Stated environmental policies may not have much of a direct influence on employees9 willingness to eco-innovate. This article shows how firms can encourage line managers to adopt behaviors that employees perceive to be supportive of environmental actions, and it indicates which behaviors and policies are most effective at supporting environmental innovations.

Water Wars : Privatization, Pollution, and Profit

Abstract: Part 1 Theoretical underpinnings of the global water crisis: water rights - the state, the market, the community water cycles vs. market cycles - when ecology clashes with commerce the world on the edge. Part 2 Privatization - the culture of scarcity and water conflicts: intensive irrigation, large dams and water conflicts mining and water conflicts aquaculture and water shortage. Part 3 Sustainable use: converting scarcity into abundance culture and the value of nature - the sea as paradigm. Part 4 Resistance: our vanishing waters.