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Sustainable leadership is a necessity to achieve the goals of sustainable development, such as addressing complex global issues, preserving environmental and social balance, ensuring the well-being of future generations, and promoting innovation. Sustainable leadership in education is important to contribute to sustainable development goals by equipping future generations with environmental, social, and economic responsibilities and integrating sustainability principles into the education system. This study aims to determine the current state of research containing the term "sustainable leadership" by conducting a bibliometric analysis using the Web of Science (WoS) database. The VOSviewer software is employed to visually represent the data obtained from the WoS database. According to the comprehensive bibliometric analysis results, research related to the theme of "sustainable leadership" began to emerge in 2002, with a total of 390 publications identified in the period from 2002 to 2023. The majority of these publications are in the form of articles, reflecting the interest and curiosity within academic circles in this field. However, considering the lower presence of other document types such as conference papers, book chapters, and review articles, there appears to be a growing need for these types of sources. The bibliometric analysis reveals that research on sustainable leadership is predominantly published in the form of articles, with a significant increase observed, particularly in publications from 2019. The VOSviewer analysis of the "sustainable leadership" field categorizes the most commonly used terms into three clusters: "sustainability", "sustainable leadership", and "leadership". In terms of the distribution of articles in the field of sustainable leadership by citing countries, the countries with the highest number of citations are Thailand, South Africa, the United States, and China, respectively. The findings of the analysis are believed to contribute as a resource for future research and benefit researchers in exploring potential topics related to the theme of sustainable leadership in the near future. Additionally, it is noted that there is limited research on sustainable leadership in Turkey, and recommendations are provided for its further development.

For those receiving funding from the UK HEFCE-funded Open Educational Resource Programme (2009-2012), the sustainability of project outputs was one of a number of essential goals. Our approach for the hosting and distribution of health and life science open educational resources (OER) was based on the utilisation of the WordPress.org blogging platform and search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques to curate content and widen discovery. This paper outlines the approaches taken and tools used at the time, and reflects upon the effectiveness of web strategies several years post-funding. The paper concludes that using WordPress.org as a platform for sharing and curating OER, and the adoption of a pragmatic approach to SEO, offers cheap and simple ways for small-scale open education projects to be effective and sustainable.

U.S. and Chinese universities have engaged in four decades of collaboration since the late 1970s, but these partnerships are subject to potentially irregular forces. Only long-term sustainable partnerships have the potential to develop into reciprocal relationships that establish "negotiated space" around cultural differences. This paper utilizes a qualitative single case study design to explore the factors contributing to the long-term sustainability of U.S.-China higher education partnerships. The findings indicate that a set of essential enablers must be in place to foster long-term and sustainable global partnerships: Leadership, faculty and staff engagement, and policy support. International partnerships must be responsive to the changing needs of the students, faculty, and administrators and to external political, economic, and ideological factors. Critical to the sustainability of any long-term partnership is a shared commitment by both institutions.

A collaborative study abroad program (between one New Zealand and one U.S. university) on the theme of global health has been offered three times in Australia with 59 students registered to date. The course was developed because it is believed that higher education can play a role in improving global health through the fostering of global citizenship. A global citizen is one who is aware of global issues, socially responsible, and civically engaged. From this perspective, personal health is not solely an individual, self-serving act; rather, the consequences of an individual's lifestyle behaviors have deep and wide consequences extending to the community, national, and global contexts. Our paper provides a narrative on the framework used to develop the aforementioned global health study abroad course, including (1) an initial discussion on the intricate relationship between global citizenship and global health; (2) previous evidence demonstrating that short-term study abroad has the potential to foster global citizenship; and (3) the specific process used to develop the current short-term, faculty-led, interdisciplinary, experiential study abroad course.

This article provides and reflects on an original lesson plan for engaging high school, undergraduate, or graduate students in learning fundamental concepts of environmental ethics. Implementation of this lesson plan effectively promoted critical analysis, reflection, and communication of environmental ethics issues in a seminar for second-year undergraduate students focused on theoretical frameworks and research methods in the field of sustainability. After reading background information about environmental ethics, students worked in small groups to answer questions about ethical issues related to the Dakota Access Pipeline in the midwestern United States. To further apply knowledge about ethics, students independently investigated a second environmental issue of their choosing, using news reports and scholarly publications to identify key ethical questions and interested parties affected by them, then wrote a position paper about how well principles of environmental ethics were upheld in their chosen scenario and how the application of ethics could be improved. In their work, students demonstrated adequate to exceptional ability to communicate knowledge of and apply relevant ethical principles, although the scope and depth of knowledge demonstrated varied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss a shift from the mentality of limitless growth and expansion to the new sustainability paradigm in HRD practice, and identifies what corresponding changes are needed in human resource development (HRD) university programs. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a review of the literature in HRD and related fields, and of curricula of a sample of HRD programs in the USA. Findings: Five themes were found in the academic literature: critique of HRD's fixation with performance outcomes and lack of emphasis on developing sustainable and responsible members of society; role of HRD in embedding sustainability in organizational cultures; training and development methods, aimed at increasing sustainability awareness and at developing related skills; sustainable leadership and leadership development; and interconnectedness of HRD, sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and business ethics. Review of the contents of a sample of HRD graduate programs suggested that these programs rarely incorporate sustainability-focused courses or course segments. Research limitations/implications: Future research needs to conduct an in-depth review and analysis of the existing HRD graduate coursework in a larger sample of HRD programs to determine the extent of coverage of sustainability-related topics. In addition, a review of the literature from related fields (e.g. business and management, HRM, and engineering), is needed to identify successful examples of sustainability-related curricular innovations. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to conduct action research-based studies of experimental development and implementation of courses and/or teaching modules, focused on sustainability issues. Practical implications: There are three main areas where changes in HRD curricula are needed: economic foundations of HRD (to demonstrate the economic necessity of the paradigm change); systems theory (to provide a solid understanding of the systemic nature of inter-relationships between the economy, environment, and society); and self-leadership and individual moral development as related to individual employees' role in promoting sustainable organizations. Originality/value: While there is some research on the role of HRD in organizational sustainability, this article is the first to address issues of corresponding changes in HRD academic curricula.

This paper aims at contributing to new ways of thinking about democratic education. We discuss how revisiting this concept may help raise fresh questions in relation to non-formal fora grappling with intricate sustainability issues that span international borders. Starting from Rancière's ideas on democracy, we first examine a conception of democratic education derived from these ideas. Next, we turn to a complexity informed notion of education as proposed by the two strands of emergence and enaction. We discuss how, in introducing additional dimensions, these strands might fruitfully complement the Rancierian conception of education. We conclude our discussion by proposing to reposition democratic education as a process of (co)-emergence afforded by a series of critical moments which, we suggest, can call forth radically novel visions for governing the commons.

The E-Learning Maturity Model (eMM) is a quality improvement framework designed to help institutional leaders assess their institution's e-learning maturity. This paper reviews the eMM, drawing on examples of assessments conducted in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the USA to show how it helps institutional leaders assess and compare their institution's capability to sustainably develop, deploy and support e-learning. (Contains 8 figures and 1 table.)

Outdoor educators are adapting practices to respond to the priorities of education for sustainability. New practices are emerging or adopted from elsewhere. In Europe, the American recreational movement of Leave No Trace (LNT) has influenced environmental education programs. LNT has been criticized for encouraging a reduction in environmental impact in wilderness areas while ignoring the more significant impacts of equipment purchase, travel, and modern lifestyles. This paper extends the critiques of LNT, suggesting that it encourages attitudes of a separation from nature. It suggests that the LNT concept is unrealistic and unhelpful in Europe, where most landscapes have experienced the impact of humans for millennia. Inspired by European approaches of human-nature relations, and at a time of need for significant environmental changes, I suggest that educational programs seeking to connect people with nature encourage people to "leave more trace" or, perhaps, to "consider their trace" instead.

Community gardens offer broad research opportunities and analytical resources encompassing urban planning to environmental sustainability, food systems, and social capital. However, little is known about the knowledge structure and research development related to community gardens. This study presents an in-depth bibliometric performance analysis and visual scientific mapping analysis of the literature on community gardens by examining 487 published papers selected from the Web of Science database. The results indicated a considerable rise in research papers in this subject area from 2012 onwards, with most contributions from the United States. Studies from high-income countries accounted for 93.22%, and 38 countries have cooperated 167 times in this field. "Health" is the most frequent keyword, and the terms "ecosystem services" has been gaining popularity over the last five years. A combination of co-citation clustering and keyword co-occurrence clustering analysis identified three major research themes in the field of community gardens: "ecosystem services and disservices", "multidimensional association", and "sustainable garden systems". The development of ecosystem value assessment frameworks, the establishment of region-wide soil monitoring databases, accounting for the cost-effectiveness of nature-based solutions, the integration of garden systems into smart cities, and the integration of water management into regulation will be important future research directions regarding community gardens. Overall, this study provides scholars with a systematic and quantitative understanding of community gardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presented a significant stressor on the public health system in the United States. While we know the immediate effects of the pandemic on public health programming, no literature has examined the resultant long-term impact on programmatic capacity for sustainability. This paper aims to identify the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on state tobacco control program's capacity for sustainability. Methods: From December 2018 to January 2022, we conducted 46 technical assistance calls with tobacco control program employees from 11 states. Calls were audio recorded and professionally transcribed. We analyzed calls (n = 20) that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thematic analysis focused on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on tobacco control program's capacity for sustainability. Results: We identified six domains of sustainability that were impacted by COVID-19: (1) funding stability; (2) organizational capacity; (3) partnerships; (4) communication; (5) strategic planning; and (6) program adaptation. Conclusions: Our study is the first to identify the impact of the pandemic on capacity for sustainability of tobacco control programs. Having an understanding of COVID-19's influence on these sustainability domains could help with future public health programming during significant public health events and emergency preparedness. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03598114. Registration date: Retrospectively registered 02-07-2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the focus on embodied carbon within the built environment has grown in the U.S., local jurisdictional codes have increasingly proposed and implemented code language that requires the use of concrete mixtures that have reduced environmental impacts. This paper provides details about the various ways that localized sustainable concrete provisions have been proposed and implemented in the U.S., including limits on cement content and Global Warming Potential (GWP). These laws and code revisions vary in their measurement of low-carbon concrete and their exemptions and incentives. While the current version of the ACI Building Code, ACI 318-19, does allow for the consideration of sustainability in concrete design, specifics about how the relative sustainability of concrete mixtures and systems are to be measured and compared are not included. This paper addresses how the changing landscape of local jurisdictional codes is driving the development of future ACI 318 provisions to play a part in providing more consistency in the application of sustainable design practices in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usage of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) material is a highly resource-conservative, economical, and sustainable practice in flexible pavement construction. However, its usage in hot mix asphalt (HMA) is capped at 25% by the majority of state transportation agencies due to its aging levels, stiffness characteristics, and handling capabilities, which may result in early-age pavement distress. Though researchers suggest methodologies to increase RAP usage, higher RAP percentages in asphalt pavements require the support of state authorities. The main objective of this paper is to provide information on how different states design their mixtures with high RAP percentages. This study reviewed the current state of practice of fifty (50) state DOTs in the United States (US) with respect to RAP usage and the factors governing its regulations. It was observed that the limit of RAP content is mainly governed by traffic levels, gradation, binder content, and stiffness contributed by RAP and layer position in a pavement structure. The specifications also suggest that apart from volumetric and performance justification, blending charts, fractionation, and virgin binder grade selection would facilitate the use of higher RAP content in HMA. Controlled mixture design abiding by state specifications can increase the allowable RAP to 40–100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries have started their transition to a net-zero economy. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) play an ever-increasing role towards this transition as a rechargeable energy storage medium. Initially, LIBs were developed for consumer electronics and portable devices but have seen dramatic growth in their use in electric vehicles (EVs) and via the gradual uptake in battery energy storage systems (BESSs) over the last decade. As such, critical metals (Li, Co, Ni, and Mn) and chemicals (polymers, electrolytes, Cu, Al, PVDF, LiPF6, LiBF4, and graphite) needed for LIBs are currently in great demand and are susceptible to global supply shortages. Dramatic increases in raw material prices, coupled with predicted exponential growth in global demand (e.g., United States graphite demand from 2022 7000 t to ~145,000 t), means that LIBs will not be sustainable if only sourced from raw materials. LIBs degrade over time. When their performance can no longer meet the requirement of their intended application (e.g., EVs in the 8–12 year range), opportunities exist to extract and recover battery materials for re-use in new batteries or to supply other industrial chemical sectors. This paper compares the challenges, barriers, opportunities, and successes of the United States of America and Australia as they transition to renewable energy storage and develop a battery supply chain to support a circular economy around LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the determinants of environmental sustainability has become a very attractive and popular area of research in response to the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDGs) and COP26 targets. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to explore the effects of renewable energy, technological innovation, and the insurance market on environmental sustainability in the United States (US). This work contributes to the extant body of knowledge by exploring the effect of the insurance market on the load capacity factor (LC), specifically regarding the US. The LC tracks a certain ecological threshold by simultaneously comparing biocapacity and ecological footprint (EF), thereby providing a comprehensive empirical analysis of ecological sustainability determinants. However, this proxy includes the combined attributes of the demand and supply sides of ecological sustainability. Using the recently developed autoregressive distributed lag method, this research reveals that the insurance market adversely affects the LC in the US. The overall outcomes highlight the positive role of renewable energy, technological innovation, and the insurance market in achieving the SDGs and COP26 targets. Policy recommendations for policymakers concerning promoting renewable energy, green innovation activities, the green insurance market, and ecological regulations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although there are several international cleft-care organizations, there are variations in how these organizations are structured. The purpose of this paper was to analyze international cleft-care organizations based out of the United States. We provided an analysis of each, with a specific focus on team structure, funding, location, and model of care. Methods: A systematized review was conducted using PubMed using specific MeSH terms and related keywords. Organizations screened had to have the following inclusion criteria: (1) be based out of the United States (2) have a valid web presence. Results: Nineteen unique international cleft-care organizations were identified in the database search. Most international cleft-care organizations included in this review had originally started with the vertical model and, over time, adopted a diagonal approach including a team-based structure, resulting in an increased need for volunteers. Most organizations reviewed in this paper also demonstrated expansion of care beyond cleft lip and/or palate treatment. The cost of trip per volunteer was variable. The number of trips per year ranged from a minimum of one trip per year to a maximum of 150 trips. Conclusion: Throughout the analysis of each international cleft-care organization, a common theme of sustainability and self-sufficiency was present. The data compiled in this manuscript enables critical appraisal of various cleft-care organizations, comparison of different models of care, and provides insight on engaging in international cleft-care initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Green spaces in urban areas—like remnant habitat, parks, constructed wetlands, and street trees—supply multiple benefits.Many studies show green spaces in and near urban areas play important roles harbouring biodiversity and promoting human well‐being. On the other hand, evidence suggests that greater human population density enables compact, low‐carbon cities that spare habitat conversion at the fringes of expanding urban areas, while also allowing more walkable and livable cities. How then can urban areas have abundant green spaces as well as density?In this paper, we review the empirical evidence for the relationships between urban density, nature, and sustainability. We also present a quantitative analysis of data on urban tree canopy cover and open space for United States large urbanized areas, as well as an analysis of non‐US Functional Urban Areas in OECD countries.We found that there is a negative correlation between population density and these green spaces. For Functional Urban Areas in the OECD, a 10% increase in density is associated with a 2.9% decline in tree cover. We argue that there are competing trade‐offs between the benefits of density for sustainability and the benefits of nature for human well‐being. Planners must decide an appropriate density by choosing where to be on this trade‐off curve, taking into account city‐specific urban planning goals and context.However, while the negative correlation between population density and tree cover is modest at the level of US urbanized areas (R2 = 0.22), it is weak at the US Census block level (R2 = 0.05), showing that there are significant brightspots, neighbourhoods that manage to have more tree canopy than would be expected based upon their level of density. We then describe techniques for how urban planners and designers can create more brightspots, identifying a typology of urban forms and listing green interventions appropriate for each form. We also analyse policies that enable these green interventions illustrating them with the case studies of Curitiba and Singapore.We conclude that while there are tensions between density and urban green spaces, an urban world that is both green and dense is possible, if society chooses to take advantage of the available green interventions and create it. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to explain holistically the main provisions of sustainable development in the nature-society-human system based on the methodology for analyzing changes in energy flows and the power of socio-economic systems. The authors consider the development of society as a creative process aimed at changing the direction and speed of free energy flows (useful power) in Space and Time. They also consider sustainable development in the nature-society-human system to be consistent with the laws of the global evolution of living nature and the laws of the historical development of humankind. The paper focuses on key questions concerning the new concepts of sustainable development; the methodology for designing the sustainable development using the concept of energy flows in open, non-equilibrium stable systems and power change analysis approach. The results of the main positions of the models and their interpretation are presented based on the statistical data of United States of America (USA) in the period of 1960–2021. One of the most important primary things in order to bring about changes in people's thinking, understanding and attitude towards sustainability issues is their education in different forms – formal education and non-formal education opportunities. Creating an interdisciplinary approach and explaining sustainability as a set of economic, social and ecological factors also play a crucial role in raising public awareness of sustainability issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes a number of incentive-based programs (e.g., tax credits) designed to motivate firms to develop new clean technologies for fighting climate change. However, the IRA also includes a fee firms incur for excessive methane emissions. This represents the first time the United States government has ever levied a fee on greenhouse gas emissions, and it raises an interesting research question—how should a budget-constrained regulator balance the use of both incentive and penalty-based levers for stimulating investment in clean technology development? In this paper, we examine a regulator's optimal penalty and subsidy decisions for motivating firms to invest in clean technology development. We illustrate how the level of competitive intensity in the market can influence a budget-constrained regulator with multiple competing objectives—the environment, firm profits, and consumer welfare. We find that a subsidy is always beneficial, irrespective of the regulator's objective. While imposing a firm penalty always benefits the environment, it always negatively impacts the sum of firm profits and consumer welfare. However, depending on the level of competition in the market, instances can occur where imposing a high penalty actually benefits total firm profits or consumer welfare (separately). Interestingly, a regulator that cares about all three dimensions of its objective equally, should always set the penalty to either its minimum or maximum value, depending on whether the environmental cost of the harmful product is high or low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health information systems are central to strong health systems. They assist with patient and program management, quality improvement, disease surveillance, and strategic use of information. Many donors have worked to improve health information systems, particularly by supporting the introduction of electronic health information systems (EHIS), which are considered more responsive and more efficient than older, paper-based systems. As many donor-driven programs are increasing their focus on country ownership, sustainability of these investments is a key concern. This analysis explores the potential sustainability of EHIS investments in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, originally supported by the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).Methods: Using a framework based on sustainability theories from the health systems literature, this analysis employs a qualitative case study methodology to highlight factors that may increase the likelihood that donor-supported initiatives will continue after the original support is modified or ends.Results: Findings highlight commonalities around possible determinants of sustainability. The study found that there is great optimism about the potential for EHIS, but the perceived risks may result in hesitancy to transition completely and parallel use of paper-based systems. Full stakeholder engagement is likely to be crucial for sustainability, as well as integration with other activities within the health system and those funded by development partners. The literature suggests that a sustainable system has clearly-defined goals around which stakeholders can rally, but this has not been achieved in the systems studied. The study also found that technical resource constraints - affecting system usage, maintenance, upgrades and repairs - may limit EHIS sustainability even if these other pillars were addressed.Conclusions: The sustainability of EHIS faces many challenges, which could be addressed through systems' technical design, stakeholder coordination, and the building of organizational capacity to maintain and enhance such systems. All of this requires time and attention, but is likely to enhance long-term outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Management for Global Sustainability is the property of Ateneo de Manila University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we analyze how carbon emissions affect the selection of transportation modes and social welfare by using a two-stage Stackelberg gaming model. Based on this model, the government’s optimal carbon-emission tax scheme and the company’s optimal transportation mode and production decisions are explored. We find that: 1) whether or not the transport carbon-emission tax can increase social welfare depends on the relationships among the social cost of carbon (SCC), the transportation mode shifting threshold (TMST), and the biggest carbon-emission tax that a company can afford (BCRA); 2) a greater SCC implies a higher probability of improving social welfare via imposing transportation carbon-emission tax; and 3) a smaller TMST or BCRA yields a higher probability of improving social welfare when a carbon-emission tax is imposed. Further study shows that imposing a carbon-emission tax on the product with a higher production cost, a bigger product volume, or a bigger product density can increase the probability of improving social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The sustainability of large dams has been questioned on several grounds. One aspect that has been less explored is that the development of dams and reservoirs often enables agricultural expansion and urban growth, which in turn increase water consumption. As such, dam development influences, while being influenced by, the spatial and temporal distribution of both supply and demand of water resources. In this paper, we explore the interplay between large dams, patterns of population growth and agricultural expansion in the United States over the past two centuries. Based on a large-scale analysis of spatial and temporal trends, we identify three distinct phases, in which different processes dominated the interplay. Then, we focus on agricultural water use in the Southwest region (Arizona, California and Nevada) and explore chicken-and-egg dynamics where water supply partly meets and partly fuels water demand. Lastly, we show that the legacy of dams in the United States consists of a lock-in condition characterized by high levels of water consumption, especially in the Southwest, which leads to severe water crises and groundwater overexploitation when droughts occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen a rapid rise in the number of firms publicly touting the environmental merits of their products or their operational practices. This is driven by the changing societal concern and public discourse around environmental issues. What was once an infrequent conversation has emerged as a moral obligation. While the number of "green" products available in the market has grown, these conditions have also resulted in firms deliberately misleading consumers about their environmental performance or the environmental benefits of their products, a condition commonly known as "greenwashing." This paper will argue that the urgency to address our rapidly deteriorating environment requires that tangible steps be taken to control incidents of greenwashing. It examines the merits and drawbacks associated with government's taking an active role in the regulation of greenwashing and argues that the current regulatory instruments being used by governments to address greenwashing are not likely to be successful in addressing the problem. Finally, the paper proposes a new regulatory instrument where governments and interested stakeholders work together to collect and disseminate information on sustainable business practices and the impact of goods and service production on the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the creation and the development of biotechnology start-ups in Japan known as "bioventures". In the early 1990s, the Japanese government began to introduce new policies to promote the development of bioventures. Within the span of a decade, the number of bioventures grew five times. However, majority of them continued to operate at the seed or start-up stage. This paper seeks to explore the underdeveloped state of bioventures in Japan, based on the case study method which includes the use of interviews and reviews of several policies and regulations. This paper also compares the development of Japanese biotechnology industry with the biotechnology industry in the US and Europe. This paper concludes that the lack of a sustainable system of funding is the real issue hindering the development of bioventures in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a brief overview of the changes made during our department level reform (DLR) process (Grant Title: A Systems Approach for Civil and Environmental Engineering Education: Integrating Systems Thinking, Inquiry-Based Learning and Catamount Community Service-Learning Projects) and some of the effects of these changes on our students and ourselves. The overall goal of the reform has been to have students learn and apply a systems approach to engineering problem solving such that when they become practicing engineers they will develop more sustainable engineering solutions. We have integrated systems thinking into our programs in the following ways; 1) new material has been included in key courses (e.g., the first-year introductory and senior design courses), 2) a sequence of three related environmental and transportation systems courses have been included within the curricula (i.e., Introduction to Systems, Decision Making, and Modeling), and 3) service-learning (SL) projects have been integrated into key required courses as a way of practicing a systems approach. A variety of assessment methods were implemented as part of the reform including student surveys, student focus groups, faculty interviews, and assessment of student work. Student work in five classes demonstrate that students are learning the systems approach, applying it to engineering problem solving, and that this approach helps meet ABET outcomes. Initial student resistance to changing the curriculum has decreased post implementation (e.g., graduating class 2010), and many students are able to define and apply the concept of sustainability in senior design project. Student self-assessments show support of SL projects and that the program is influencing student understanding of the roles and responsibilities of engineers in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the actions and the factors driving those actions to reduce energy consumption and enhance energy efficiency taken by United States cities. While not much empirical evidence is available on why governments pursue practical sustainability actions, we attempt to shed more light on this important topic by empirically identifying factors that contribute to concrete actions toward sustainability policies. We adopt political market theory as a basic theoretical framework with policy-making applied to city energy consumption. Using the 2010 ICMA (local government sustainability policies and program) data, this study expands the focus of analyses to evaluate the effect of the form of government on energy consumption and energy efficiency by using multiple regression analysis. The findings show that at the city level, the mayorcouncil form of government are negatively associated with governments' efforts to reduce energy consumption. However, cities with at-large elections and municipal ownership are more likely to adopt sustainability actions. We also find that a large-scale economy has significant effects on the effort to reduce city energy consumption and improve energy efficiency. This shows that environmental policies are directly connected to locally relevant affairs, including housing, energy use, green transportation, and water. Thus, local level administrators could take an executive role to protect the environment, encourage the development of alternative energy, and reduce the use of fossil fuel and coal energy. These efforts can lead to important environmental ramifications and relevant actions by municipal governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, representing research in progress on cultural influences on sustainability entrepreneurship, builds on recent scholarship concerning the intersection of entrepreneurship with sustainability. Because cultural factors highly influence both sustainability and entrepreneurship, the global impact of sustainability entrepreneurship may depend on its adaptability to a variety of cultures. This paper discusses sustainability entrepreneurship from the perspective of value creation by focusing on the holistic value proposition (HVP) created by a sustainability venture. The HVP delineates the value that a sustainability venture generates for multiple stakeholders across the multiple dimensions of sustainability. An ongoing case study is used to examine cultural influences on sustainability venture creation, operation and evolution. Navajo FlexCrete, a venture of the Navajo Nation (the Nation), the United States' largest Native American tribe, produces green building products by recycling waste materials. Navajo FlexCrete provides a spectrum of economic, social, environmental and cultural value that contributes to overall tribal sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Aim The United States (US) and other affluent countries consume vast quantities of global natural resources, but contribute proportionately less to the extraction of many raw materials. This imbalance is due, in part, to domestic policies intended to protect the environment. Ironically, developed nations are often better equipped to extract resources in an environmentally prudent manner than the major suppliers. Thus, although citizens of affluent countries may imagine that preservationist domestic policies are conserving resources and protecting nature, heavy consumption rates necessitate resource extraction elsewhere and oftentimes under weak environmental oversight. A major consequence of this ‘illusion of natural resource preservation’ is greater global environmental degradation than would arise if consumption were reduced and a large portion of production was shared by affluent countries. This paper considers some implications of the consumption, management and conservation of forests and wood at a local and global scale. Location We focus on Massachusetts, the eighth most forested state in the USA (by area), the third most densely populated, and an affluent region with consumption rates that are among the highest in the country. Methods Estimates of wood production and consumption are generated, and comparisons are made with other commonly used materials (e.g. steel, concrete, aluminium). Results A comparison of the feasibility and environmental impact of various strategies for dealing with rising wood demand suggests that the US should strive to: (1) reduce per capita consumption of wood and its substitutes, (2) recycle forest products more effectively, (3) protect extensive areas of intensively managed and unmanaged forests and (4) promote sound forest management where the environmental consequences are mild. Forestry and the sustainable generation of wood in Massachusetts would allow preservation of primary forests elsewhere in... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Journal of Public Health is the property of Turkish Journal of Public Health and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper investigates the relationship between efficiency and market structure for a sample of industrial facilities dispersed among the U.S. states. In order to measure the relevant efficiency scores, we use a data envelopment analysis allowing for the inclusion of desirable and undesirable (toxic chemical releases) outputs in the production function. In the next stage, we utilize the bootstrapped quantile regression methodology to uncover possible nonlinear relationships between efficiency and competition at the mean and at various quantiles before and after the global financial crisis (2002 and 2012). In this way, we impose no functional form constraints on parameter values over the conditional distribution of the dependent variable (efficiency). At the same time, we estimate at which part of its cumulative distribution function the efficiency is located and draw substantial conclusions about the range of policy measures obtained. The empirical findings indicate that the relationship between efficiency and market concentration did change in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The empirical results survived robustness checks under the inclusion of an alternative market concentration indicator (CR8). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]