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Based on a study of public–private collaboration in partnerships for integrated environmental management and business development in two Swedish regions, this paper aims to elucidate the conditions for collaboration on sustainability issues amongst different local and regional actors. From interviews with local and regional public administration officers and with CEOs of several SMEs, it was found that public–private collaboration related to sustainable development does exist and takes place in many different ways. In common, however, local or regional authorities initiate them all, indicating an asymmetric interest in public–private partnerships. In relation to the interest asymmetry, which could also be seen as an expression of asymmetric power–dependence relations between SMEs and public authorities, with SMEs as the stronger part, a limited knowledge among SMEs about their role in larger contexts and different understandings of sustainable development among the regional actors, the major obstacle for public–private collaboration seems to be the limited confidence in local and regional authorities among SMEs. In all, there seems to be a need for further discussion in the regions and local communities on views of and potential ways towards sustainable development, which also includes the articulation of the roles of different actors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a request for the submission of reports on sustainable development and identity. The increasing rate of consumption negatively affected the ecological system. Sustainability needs to be contextualized in terms of identities. Identities are influenced by social reality. The papers should examine the aesthetic, emotional. communicative and social aspects of consumption and organizing in different social and cultural contexts. The papers could either be based on empirical findings or be conceptual.

ABSTRACT The concept of the green economy presented in three reports from leading global organizations is examined in this paper. These include the United Nations Environment Programme's Towards a Green Economy, the World Bank's Inclusive Green Growth and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Towards Green Growth. The main critiques of the concept of the green economy are also considered. Contrary to views that the green economy merely represents 'green-washing' and tweaking of the current economic system, this paper concludes that the green economy has the potential to effect substantive and transformative change towards the goal of sustainable development. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1970s there has been a significant interest in small island developing states (SIDS). Since the 1990s the vast majority of this focus has been on economic and environmental ‘vulnerabilities’. This paper reaffirms the importance of ‘the social’ when analysing the ‘vulnerabilities’ of SIDS through a country case study of Seychelles in the context of its SIDS status. It outlines Seychelles' demographic processes and macroeconomic volatilities and discusses its post-independence social development achievements. This paper provides critical analysis of how these achievements have been attained and considers the extent to which the present levels are sustainable. It argues that significant social gains are under threat from a range of domestic and international forces, potentially destabilizing the main pillar of the economy, tourism. The paper concludes that while the economic and environmental vulnerabilities of SIDS are of conceptual importance, reaffirming the centrality of the social is vital to understanding the potential causes and consequences of these vulnerabilities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is part of the special issue of European Environment devoted to the outputs of the EU SRDTOOLS project,1 which developed and applied a new model of regional sustainable development evaluation. The paper introduces the concept and framework of the four-capital model, which was used in the project. First it discusses some issues around sustainable development evaluation, before introducing the theory of the four-capital model. It then describes how indicators can be used to evaluate programmes such as those financed by the EU Structural Funds against criteria for sustainable regional development in terms of the four capitals. An ‘ideal’ indicator set is listed in the appendix. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to establish a practical definition of the term sustainable development, and relate it to a company's performance. Simulation and modelling tools are applied to gain a holistic view of the activities associated with a metal casting company, which includes production, transportation and recycling. In the simulation model, four case scenarios are investigated, including the comparison of original and re-designed cast products of 20% runner weight reduction, and the recycling of scrap metal at two different remelters. The focus of the case study is to monitor the amount of scrap, dross, carbon dioxide emissions from both energy consumption and transportation, productivity and costs during the metal material cycle. From the case study, various ‘sustainability indicators’ are highlighted. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political objective calling for environmentally sustainable development has provided the canvas for lively dialogue amongst scientists and analysts. Be that as it may, what have been found wanting are operational conditions for the achievement of environmental sustainability within specific anthropogenic systems, with cities being cited as a prime example of such systems. Indeed, from a historical perspective, cities have always been based on the concentration of humans and man-made elements, resulting in respective confinement of natural assets. As cities possess particular properties for their environmental basis, the general conditions governing sustainability require suitable modifications when applied to cities. In this context, the present paper examines the conditions for environmentally sustainable development in urban systems. The specific natural and socioeconomic characteristics of urban systems are systematically taken into account for defining environmentally sustainable development in cities. The paper proposes an operational framework for evaluating urban systems for their environmental performance. Urban systems, presenting specific characteristics necessary for creating welfare with high density, ask for particular conditions for their environmentally sustainable development. These conditions differ substantially from those defining sustainability in broader geographical systems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relations between a firm and organizations in its political and economic environment are increasingly seen as crucial for the successful functioning of that firm, both in the narrow economic sense, and at the broader level of reaching sustainability. However, attention seems to be focused on the positive qualities of such networks of organizations. In this paper it is argued that networks of organizations have a dual nature, and do not just provide possibilities for collective learning and problem solving. At the same time, such networks consist of dependency relations that provoke power strategies, which result in outcomes reflecting the distribution of power rather than leading to an optimal result. By means of a case study, this dual nature is explored. It is shown that the actors involved in the process of developing an alternative to the disposable milk carton in the Netherlands are embedded in dependency relations. Several of these actors attempt to create problem solving networks, and succeed. However, the already existing dependency relations between the actors involved influence the direction, outcome, and timing within these networks. Using criteria for network performance, this dual nature of networks is assessed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comparatively analyzes the systems in Australia and Canada from the perspective of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries No. 8. The results show that the key factors in the success of the Australian system are public participation, selecting an indicator with its objectives and improving management performance by the evaluation of the system. Further, the boundaries of the SFDIS should be the same as the boundaries of the management units and fisheries should be examined independently. The framework chosen by the Canadian system is more all-round, and can be combined with the PSR framework to maximize the management effects. Finally, techniques and specialist software such as fuzzy AHP etc. are ‘well-suited to measuring weights and have the potential to be applied elsewhere’. Visual presentation is the best way to promote communication with the public. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's kite diagram and the Sustainable Development Committee's dashboard of sustainability are two excellent visualizations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Scottish experience of integrating sustainable development as a cross cutting theme in the European Union's Structural Funds programmes between 2000 and 2006: an approach known as mainstreaming. It explains how the theme has been integrated into the current Scottish programmes and draws on findings from these programmes' mid-term evaluations to provisionally assess the impact of the mainstreaming agenda. The paper argues that the Scottish approach to integrating the sustainable development theme is based on securing mainstreaming performance rather than more narrowly defined mainstreaming conformance. It goes on to identify and discuss factors that explain this approach. Finally, the article considers the evolving European regional policy context and suggests how sustainable development may be further embedded as the guiding principle for European regional policy programmes between 2007 and 2013. © Crown copyright 2005. Reproduced with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationary Office, Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to reconcile social and environmental goals for sustainable development still poses problems for policy makers in the richer parts of the world. Using the examples of domestic water and energy, this paper argues that the problems are reflected, and often magnified, in developing countries. They arise largely from conflicts between the short-term need to alleviate poverty and longer-term objectives for environmental sustainability. The dual nature of water and energy as both social and economic goods raises questions about the most appropriate forms of provision and allocation of the utilities. It is in no one's long-term interest for developing countries to repeat the environmentally damaging mistakes of the industrialized world. But an equitable distribution of the short-term costs attached to a more environmentally responsible use of resources demands new ways of thinking about global social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its fuzziness, the model of sustainable development has to be particularized and contextualized before it can be used as a yardstick. A local indicator system for two German cities has been developed to meet these requirements using a new conceptualization of sustainability. Initially, local problem areas were identified in a bottom-up approach by local authority personnel. These problem areas were contrasted with a set of sustainability rules, which had been systematically derived from a basic sustainability norm that gives minimum requirements for sustainable development. Indicators were specified at the interface between local problem areas and sustainability rules. The indicators are expected to provide information on whether the city is over time becoming closer to or farther removed from the respective sustainability goals in its problem areas. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Germans' conviction of being an international frontrunner in environmental policy stands in contrast to the unwillingness of the German national governments of the 1990s to undertake a commitment for a nationwide sustainable development strategy. Using five core strategy categories, namely horizontal and vertical integration, participation, implementation mechanism, monitoring and evaluation, this article provides an overview of the German sustainable development strategy preparation and implementation process. While the strategy is an ambitious concept, it also exhibits important shortcomings when viewed with different analytical perspectives such as policy, management and political strategy. Only with all of these perspectives combined can we arrive at specific conclusions about the assessment of the strategy process and make the essential characteristics of political strategy apparent. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the environmental dimension of regional sustainable development in France. The first part evaluates the position of the environment in regional sustainable development policies using two levels of analysis. First, it examines the stated objectives for regional sustainable development that relate to a balanced integration of the environmental dimension in relation to the economic and social dimensions. Second, it demonstrates how efforts to implement regional sustainable development (RSD) invariably lead to domination by environmental factors, as a consequence of well established environmental policies. Thereafter, a critical analysis of this outcome is presented, illustrating how the disparity between what is said and done has produced an ambiguous notion of sustainable development (SD), and how different actors have adopted strongly opposing views. This confusion has created resistance by environmental actors, who perceive sustainable development as potentially diluting environmental demands. The article concludes by discussing the possible future role of the environment within regional sustainable development. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although numerous, definitions of sustainable development remain vague or incomplete, living in an unsustainable world, it is more convenient to observe factors of unsustainability (FOUs) than to extrapolate to the conditions of sustainability. Furthermore, it would be more convenient to have a categorization of FOUs in order to correct them in a more direct way. To achieve this, the dynamics of FOUs have been studied within the scope of the business decision-making process, which can easily be extrapolated to other contexts. This analysis provides some recommendations with which to eliminate FOUs. The key points are cultural change by education, communication, continuous dialogue, learning and adaptation by the whole of society. Eliminating unsustainability does not always mean becoming sustainable. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the philosophy, theory and tools of eco-efficiency. Eco-efficiency is described as being achieved by the delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life cycle. Its importance lies in its ability to combine performance along the axes of sustainable development, environment and economics. History of the notion that increasing economic development would have to be correlated with lowering of environmental impact is discussed. The First International Conference on Quantified Eco-efficiency in 2004 highlighted the lack of focus on providing quantitative interpretations of and methods for eco-efficiency.