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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.

The article reports on the author's views about the issue of a field of specialization in sustainability in higher education. This program called the higher education for sustainable development is a growing educational endeavor which sees a future for significant contribution to the sustainability sciences.

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the environmental stringency on trade and the foreign direct investments (FDI) in particular. To do so, both theoretical and empirical investigations are performed. During the empirical investigation, an index of environmental sensitivity performance (IESP) is constructed for the OECD countries. Additionally, the main determinants of the OECD countries' FDI outflows are also analysed alongside with the environmental sensitivity variable for the countries in the sample. The empirical analysis in this paper finds some evidence to suggest that environmental stringency has an important impact on the FDI outflows of the OECD countries. The impact of the degree of environmental stringency on the FDI is significantly positive implying a direct relationship between FDI outflows and relative environmental sensitivity performance of the OECD countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Truffer B. and Coenen L. Environmental innovation and sustainability transitions in regional studies, Regional Studies. Sustainable development and environmental innovations have received increasing attention in regional studies and the related literature. In how far sustainability concerns might also lead to fundamental transformations in technologies, industries and lifestyles (so-called sustainability transitions) has, however, found much less resonance. Sustainability transitions have been in the focus of scholars from the field of innovation studies. However, until recently, these approaches mostly disregarded spatial aspects. This paper therefore maps out a field of future research – the geography of sustainability transitions – that might be beneficially laboured by both traditions. The paper introduces the core concepts, but also the limitations of the transitions literature. After reviewing salient lines of sustainability-related research in regional studies, the paper specifies promising research areas at the interface between both fields. Empirical illustrations will be provided from recent work in sustainability transitions research venturing into this interface. Truffer B. and Coenen L. 区域研究中的环境创新与可持续性转型，区域研究。可持续发展与环境创新在区域研究与相关领域正得到持续的关注。然而，对于可持续性的考量在多大程度可能导致技术、产业以及生活方式（所谓的可持续性转型）发生根本性转变并未得到充分的研究论证。可持续性转型虽已成为创新研究领域的关注重点，然而迄今为止，上述研究方法都忽略了空间要素。本文在综合上述两大研究领域的基础上，勾勒了未来可能的研究方向—可持续性转型的地理学。本文引介了转型研究中的核心概念并指出其局限性。在回顾了《区域研究》中有关可持续性的研究后，本文明确了上述两个领域中有前景的交叉研究领域， 并提供了目前在可持续性转型方面的实证研究。 可持续性 环境创新 转型地理学 Truffer B. et Coenen L. L'innovation écologique et le transition à la durabilité dans les études régionales, Regional Studies. Récemment, on a prêté beaucoup plus d'attention dans les études régionales et dans la documentation connexe au développement durable et aux innovations écologiques. Cependant, il s'avère que le point jusqu'auquel la question de la durabilité pourrait entraîner des transformations fondamentales de la technologie, de l'industrie et du style de vie (les soi-disant passages à la durabilité) a fait beaucoup moins d’écho. Les passages à la durabilité sont dans les collimateurs des spécialistes des études de l'innovation. Cependant, jusqu’à récemment, ces façons n'ont pas tenu compte pour la plupart des effets spatiaux. Cet article cherche alors à esquisser un champ de recherche future – à savoir, la géographie de transitions à la durabilité – au profit des deux traditions. L'article introduit les notions centrales mais également les limites de la documentation sur les transitions. Une fois fait la critique dans regional studies du bien-fondé de la recherche, l'article précise des champs de recherche prometteurs à l'interface des deux domaines. On fournit des exemples empiriques provenant du travail récent à propos de la recherche sur les passages à la durabilité qui s'aventure dans cette interface. Durabilité Innovations écologiques Géographie de transitions Truffer B. und Coenen L. Innovationen im Umweltbereich und Nachhaltigkeits-Transitionen in der Regionalwissenschaft, Regional Studies. In regionalwissenschaftlichen Studien und der dazugehörigen Literatur spielen nachhaltige Entwicklung und Innovationen im Umweltbereich eine immer wichtigere Rolle. Viel weniger Beachtung findet hingegen die Frage, inwiefern Bedenken hinsichtlich der Nachhaltigkeit auch zu grundlegenden Veränderungen bei den Technologien, Wirtschaftssektoren und Lebensgewohnheiten (so genannten Nachhaltigkeits-Transitionen) führen können. Für Wissenschaftler im Bereich der Innovationsstudien sind Nachhaltigkeits-Transitionen ein zentrales Thema. Allerdings wurden bei diesen Ansätzen räumliche Aspekte bis vor Kurzem größtenteils außer Acht gelassen. In diesem Beitrag wird daher ein künftiges Forschungsgebiet – die Geografie von Nachhaltigkeits-Transitionen – entworfen, in dem sich beide Traditionen nutzbringend betätigen könnten. Vorgestellt werden die zentralen Konzepte, aber auch die Grenzen der Tranistionsliteratur. Nach einer Überprüfung der sich abzeichnenden Linien der Nachhaltigkeitsforschung in regional studies definieren wir in diesem Beitrag vielversprechende Forschungsgebiete an der Schnittstelle zwischen den beiden Bereichen. Ebenso liefern wir empirische Illustrationen anhand der aktuellen Forschungsarbeit über Nachhaltigkeits-Transitionen, die sich im Bereich dieser Schnittstelle bewegt. Nachhaltigkeit Innovationen im Umweltbereich Geografie der Transitionen Truffer B. y Coenen L. Innovación medioambiental y transiciones de sostenibilidad en estudios regionales, Regional Studies. El desarrollo sostenible y las innovaciones medioambientales últimamente han recibido una mayor atención en los estudios regionales y la bibliografía relacionada. Sin embargo, ha tenido mucha menos resonancia la cuestión de en qué medida las preocupaciones relativas a la sostenibilidad podrían llevar también a transformaciones fundamentales en las tecnologías, las industrias y los estilos de vida (las denominadas transiciones de sostenibilidad). Las transiciones de sostenibilidad han sido un tema principal entre los académicos del campo de estudios de innovación. No obstante, hasta ahora en estos enfoques se solían ignorar los aspectos espaciales. Por tanto, en este artículo analizamos un campo de futura investigación –la geografía de las transiciones de sostenibilidad– en el que podrían trabajar beneficiosamente ambas tradiciones. Aquí introducimos los conceptos básicos pero también las limitaciones de la bibliografía sobre transiciones. Después de revisar las líneas destacadas de la investigación relacionada con la sostenibilidad en regional studies, en este artículo especificamos las áreas de investigación prometedoras en la interfaz entre ambos campos. También aportamos ilustraciones empíricas del trabajo reciente en la investigación sobre transiciones de sostenibilidad que explora esta interfaz. Sostenibilidad Innovaciones medioambientales Geografía de las transiciones [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose — The paper aims to outline and analyse some important elements of institutional capital and their potential effect on sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach — The paper presents four elements of institutional capital: public domain, institutional strength, good governance, and institutional equilibrium. The choice of these elements and the analysis of their economic, social and environmental impacts are based on literature study and interpretation and extension of existing analyses which rather focus on either economic or environmental issues. Findings — The main argument of the paper is that institutional capital is a fundament of sustainable development, and that a lack of such capital is likely to cause unsustainable development. Practical implications — The paper creates a general theoretical basis that may be a useful background for developing policy based on a system approach. Originality/value — New institutional economics has often been used to analyse institutional determinants of economic growth and, to a lesser extent, to elaborate conditions for environmental protection and social development. The paper has tried to integrate and extend existing theory, focusing on economic activity, natural resource use and negative externalities, into a more general framework presenting the fundamental importance of social and economic order (institutional capital) for achieving sustainable development. [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 presents a 'Sustainability Management Activity Zone' (SMAZ) to support the implementation of sustainable construction practices integrated within a generic design and construction process map, the Process Protocol (1998). This is being investigated within the C-SanD Project (Creating, Sustaining, and Disseminating Knowledge for Sustainable Construction: Tools, Methods and Architectures). A brief overview of sustainable development and sustainable construction is presented, followed by an introduction to the C-SanD project and its initial findings related to current practice and the perception of sustainability within the construction industry based on the first round of interviews. The paper also discusses some of the sustainability issues identified during the field work, and highlights the need for a structured framework to consider and incorporate sustainability issues during the whole design and construction process of a project. The latter part of the paper discusses the incorporation of these issues within the Process Protocol, as SMAZ. The paper argues that the key for successful use of SMAZ within the industry is the awareness about the sustainable development among design and construction staff and operatives, knowing the importance of different activities and sub-activities within the SMAZ tool, and motivation to bring changes for betterment within the current day-to-day construction and design processes. The paper towards the end also highlights the areas which need further research and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the conceptualization of sustainable human development within the Capability Approach. It goes beyond replacing “human needs” with “human capabilities” to extend the sustainable development premise into a sustainable human development discourse. In so doing, the article first presents an in-depth discussion of the meaning of sustainable human development using the Capability Approach and theorizes the dynamics of capabilities that maybe necessary for sustainable human development. It then grounds this theoretical framework in two self-help group models of grass-roots development from India and Egypt. These case studies provide a common conceptual platform within different contexts to explore the “genre” of capabilities being deployed towards achieving sustainable human development. The paper concludes by identifying the determinants and “lubricants” of human agency as well as their impact on sustainable human development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that there is a need to move beyond an abstract discussion of skills and universally applicable skills sets when considering the development of sustainable communities and, more specifically, the eco-economy. The analysis suggests that the current skills and knowledge debate needs to be more closely related to both the process of creating sustainable communities, and the everyday lives of people in place. Skills and knowledge cannot be un-problematically imported from elsewhere through formal education channels alone. The transfer of skills and knowledge is also more dependent on relational and spatially embedded 'learning by doing' and 'learning by seeing'. These provide important channels for developing meaning and personal value which cannot be easily separated from the actual involvement in a sustainability initiative. Equally important is the recognition of the heterogeneity within communities where sustainability is prioritised differently by different people. Policies to promote sustainable communities consequently need to acknowledge how skills are a product of social and spatial relations, and how these interconnect with the multiple, relational and embedded nature of the evolving eco-economy. Incorporating a 'situated learning' approach offers a creative way of reviewing the role of skills and knowledge for sustainable community on two counts. Not only does it acknowledge the role of the individual learner, it also recognises the importance of the dynamic social context in which learning takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Petroleum - Gas University of Ploiesti Bulletin, Economic Sciences Series is the property of Petroleum - Gas University of Ploiesti 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 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]

At the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, partnerships were touted as one of the key routes to sustainable development. But can partnerships really deliver improvements to rural livelihoods? This paper reviews one set of claimed partnerships, those between forestry companies and local individuals or communities, to assess the benefits, and the costs, to local livelihoods. Most arrangements between forestry companies and local communities are not equitable enough to be called partnerships, so the term “deal” is preferred. Positive local impacts of company–community deals include sharing of risks, better returns to land than otherwise possible, opportunities for income diversification, access to paid employment, development of new skills, upgrading of local infrastructure and environmental improvement. However, company–community deals have not yet proved sufficient to lift people out of poverty. They remain supplementary rather than central to income generation. Furthermore, while some deals have resulted in greater cohesion and organisation among community groups, there is as yet little evidence of substantial increases in community bargaining power. Ways forward to increase returns to communities (and to their counterpart companies) centre on moving towards more equal partnerships, by raising community bargaining power, fostering the roles of brokers and other third parties, and developing equitable, efficient and accountable governance frameworks. [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]

The analysis of palaeoenvironmental archives—sediments, archaeological remains, tree-rings, documents and instrumental records—is presented as a key element in the global scientific endeavour aimed at understanding human–environment interactions at the present day and in the future. The paper explains the need for the focus on palaeoenvironmental studies as a means of ‘learning from the past’, and presents the rationale and structure of the IGBP-PAGES Focus 5 programme ‘Past Ecosystem Processes and Human–Environment Interactions’. The past, as described through palaeoenvironmental studies, can yield information about pre-impact states, trajectories of recent change, causation, complex system behaviour, and provide the basis for developing and testing simulation models. Learning from the past in each of these epistemological categories is exemplified with published case-studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the potential contribution and limitations of the Coase Theorem to the theorisation of sustainable development. The Coase Theorem can be manifested in numerous ways beyond the hypothetical example of direct negotiation between the polluters and the pollutees. Sustainable development not only provides a negotiative context, an infrastructure where compensation in the Coasian sense can be made, but also a framework for transforming negative externalities into positive externalities, as illustrated by a real life example from Canada. Central to the framework is a change in the mindsets of parties to a negotiation and Schumpeterian innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translating sustainability policy goals into concrete action has proven to be a complex challenge for government agencies, municipalities and businesses. Existing planning and decision-making methods, such as Comprehensive Planning, Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Systems, are being used to address this focus on sustainability. United States Army policy requires the use of these three procedures by installation planners and managers, providing a unique opportunity for innovation. This paper examines the applicability of these procedures for implementing the Army's sustainable operations policy goals, and explores how the current independent and disconnected implementation can be improved through integration. Included in this analysis is a review of organizational barriers to integrated planning and management. The analysis is applicable outside the Army as these three decision-making procedures are used in many contexts, and installation management shares many characteristics with local government land use planning, federal land management, and corporate business operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has become a focal topic and important goal for many people concerned about environmental issues. It is, therefore, important for educators, and others, to talk about sustainability with their students and colleagues—about its meaning, curricular application, and practice. However, I do not think this is sufficient. In this paper I will examine limitations of the language of sustainability and implications for environmental thinking. Before launching into a critique, I do acknowledge the importance of "sustainability" and the usefulness of this concept. Many ecological processes are not sustained—not kept going continuously. Species are going extinct at an alarming rate and whole ecosystems are at risk. So, sustainability is important. However, we must also pay attention to what sustainability is not. And, we should consider why these limitations matter. For example, "education for sustainability" has gained rapid acceptance, yet little critical attention has been given to the term. Just as many environmental educators have expressed reservations about "education for sustainable development," I believe there are serious problems associated with allowing our work to be subsumed by the term "education for sustainability." In this presentation I will explore reasons for educators, and others, to be concerned about relying on the language and goals of sustainability. These areas of concern, or limitations, are discussed in terms of determinism, exclusivity, and conceptualization. Some suggestions are provided to help refocus our direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the survey and to some extent polemical article is to present the issue of green growth, a new operating strategy, which the OECD is currently working on. Green growth is seen as a practical tool for achieving the timeless objective, which is sustainable development. In the paper, a particular attention is put on the following question: what kind of relationship occurs between green growth, green economy and sustainable development. The author analyses the purpose of simultaneous functioning of the three "green" ideas. The added value of this paper is a presentation of the author's model of GG-GE-SD relations and a new approach to defining the phenomenon of green growth. It is concluded that co-existence of the trio green economy - green growth - sustainable development is reasonable due to the complementary and synergistic nature of correlations between these concepts. [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]

The sustainable product concept includes a variety of economic, social and environmental considerations. A sustainable product is an item or service that minimizes its impact on resource use and environment and maximizes that on society at each stage of its life cycle. The improvement of both characteristics must become the constant objective of the producers. The more they succeed to achieve these objectives, the more sustainable the products become. The end product of sustainable marketing consists in its contribution to the sustainable development by the favorable impact on its economic, social and environmental constituent parts (Yazdanifard and Mercy, 2011, p.638) The introduction of the environmental protection into the marketing equation to promote the consideration of the social aspect which defends the environmental interests of the society (Hopfenbech 1994, p.300) provided a major challenge for the Romanian entrepreneurs in the business area regarding to a multidimensional transformation process. This paper aims the successive steps of an organizational complete model considered by us as essential to draw the social responsible enterprise status focus to "consumer & environment" to increase their good effets upon society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to review the international organizations' approaches to the measurement of sustainable development and explore the system of indicators provided by the considered organizations. The systems of proposed indicators to measure sustainable development are being juxtaposed, specific features, advantages and disadvantages revealed. Organizations for sustainable development were founded to review progress at the international, regional and national levels in the implementation of sustainable development policy, to take part in legislative process, to control balance between economic development, social development, and environmental development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The distribution of energy and industry in China is extremely uneven. The western region is rich in energy resources but relatively economically backward, while the eastern region, particularly, the southeast coastal area, is an industrially-developed area but is short of energy resources. On the basis of such a situation, this paper recommends the sustainable development of energy systems for the western region. The specific innovative energy systems adopted here can convert the western region''s fossil fuels to alternative fuels and electricity with higher efficiency, lower investment cost, and less impact upon the environment. As one of such innovative energy systems, the MES (multi-functional energy system) can achieve 10–14% in the energy conservation ratio, 4–8% reduction of investment cost, and a 10–37% decrease of main pollutants. Moreover, its adoption will increase the income and accelerate the development of the energy industry in the western region, as well as meet the energy demand of the eastern region. The analysis in this paper presents a feasible energy road map for the rapid yet sustainable development of China''s western region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sustainability principles are at the forefront of regional planning. In Hawaii, the movement toward “sustainability” gave way to revisiting the State Plan. This paper uses a case study of the Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan ( Hawaii 2050) to illustrate how adopting popular notions of sustainability, without critical examination of how the respective policy frames diverge or interrelate, can lead to “tautological traps.” In the case of Hawaii 2050, the “triple-bottom-line” (embedded within sustainable development) became the dominant sustainability frame during the solicitation of public input and was thus used to guide the planning discourse. The application of triple-bottom-line concepts at the level of policy and planning led to a process that polarized economic and environmental interests. While the goals of sustainable development and the use of triple-bottom-line concepts are useful for planners, we argue that they should be applied within the parameters of ecological sustainability in a US regional context, lest resulting plans continue to allow the momentum of development to override ecological concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing critically on the effects of the conditions for foreign direct investment on sustainable growth in the recipient country, this paper analyzes the potential for investments in environmental innovations in India. The definition of sustainability applied in this paper incorporates economic development and investment which promotes environmentally and socially friendly production and innovation. As the Indian economy experienced strong growth in GDP in recent years, but is still lagging behind in providing the basic needs of clean water, clean air and proper waste management for households and companies, the necessity for sustainable development exists. From a methodological point of view this paper uses macroeconomic data to evaluate quantitatively the potentials and needs of Indian states. This results in a state ranking showing the potential for sustainable development in selected Indian states, based on economic and environmental indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for a historical and socio-cultural approach to participation as a key concept in a democratically oriented education for sustainable development (ESD). With three empirical examples from a non-formal educational setting, it demonstrates that even though a relatively open framework is provided for genuine participation, certain themes and problems can be marginalised in the dominant discourse of sustainable development. Since the 1990s, this discourse has been characterised as 'ecological modernisation' in northern Europe. I show that there is a risk that, rather than enlightening sustainable development, participatory ESD will contribute to a self-deceptive simulation. In order to go beyond this and contribute to the development of ESD, I argue by way of conclusion for a weighting of work with dilemmas, dissensus and deliberative communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid 90ies the debate of how to achieve the objective of sustainability in the tourism sector is en vogue. Often weakly illuminated, however, is the interesting question as to whether the underlying framework conditions of the tourism industry are consistent with the concept of sustainability. This paper aims on contributing to the dialogue with a new interdisciplinary perspective. Rather than putting the emphasis on the question of whether the tourism industry can be sustainable or how sustainable it can be, the perspective of this paper focuses on whether tourism can support sustainable development. This, so far neglected shift in perspective, opens up a completely new field of academic discussion due to its remodelling of the interrelationship between sustainability and tourism industry. Therefore, in a first step, the possible influences of the tourism industry towards supporting sustainable development will be discussed. In a second step, the results of a qualitative study performed by the authors in the context of the Cypriot Agro Tourism will be presented, in order to empirically elicit existing influences of tourism on sustainable development in the rural areas of Cyprus. Especially, the case study illuminates the consequences of an efficient interplay between strategic and operational decision makers, hence, addressing both, macro and micro issues. The paper concludes, that, in synthesis with local heritage, entrepreneurship and location branding, this innovative form of tourism can provide a significant contribution to the economic, social and environmental components of sustainability and can be regarded as a best practice example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the legal and policy barriers to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) implementation in Uganda. Although CDM has been perceived as an opportunity through which developing countries can achieve sustainable development while at the same time helping to mitigate climate change, it remains unclear as to whether CDM will in fact deliver the much anticipated sustainable development benefits in light of the current global trends in CDM investments. By February 2007, only approximately 1.5% of the total registered projects were in Africa and one project was in Uganda. The main study methodology has been library research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic niche management (SNM) is a recently developed approach that could help induce a broad socio-technical transition towards more sustainable development. It is designed to facilitate the introduction and diffusion of new sustainable technologies through protected societal experiments in fields such wind energy, biogas, public transport systems, electric vehicle transport and eco-friendly food production. A major challenge in SNM concerns the processes by which such experiments can evolve into viable market niches and ultimately contribute to a broader shift towards sustainable development. This paper sheds more light on this issue by systematically consolidating the main SNM studies, and by bringing in new insights from the literature that is in some sense complementary to SNM. These are studies on the development and commercialisation of radical innovations in large companies, and literature about infant industry protection and broader industrialisation processes in developing countries. A number of suggestions for implementing SNM are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ekologija is the property of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Publishers 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.)

Making sustainability operational within organisational practice requires dealing with three interrelated questions: A "what-question", an "attribute-question" and a "who-question". The complexity of these questions needs a tailor-made interpretation of sustainability. This paper provides a framework that can be used for obtaining such a tailor-made interpretation of sustainability. This framework is based on the notion that staff members somehow need to make sense of sustainability. By taking a cognitive mapping approach, a multidimensional space of sustainability can be deduced. The interpretation of the dimensions of this space can then provide a definition of sustainability. We illustrate the framework by obtaining an image of sustainability for a firm of consulting engineers. [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 paper discusses some of the potentials, problems, policies and progress in modelling sustainable development. After briefly describing ten approaches to modelling sustainable development, some of the methodological problems still to be resolved are addressed. It is then suggested that policies to promote sustainable development should operate at six different spatial levels connecting global, multinational, national, regional, local and individual. Attempting to model sustainable development in such a hierarchical manner is exceedingly difficult. One way of modelling sustainable development is to develop the concept of a sustainable corridor, combining ecological, economic and equity considerations in a hierarchical fashion and through space-time. A preliminary dynamic, hierarchical model is described connecting global and national patterns of development. Using global and national data for Scotland, the calibrated model, running under the business-as-usual scenario, shows that current development paths are unsustainable. It is shown that, by implementing a judicious choice of policies, a sustainable corridor for a global and a national system can be achieved. The ways in which this preliminary model can be developed to connect all six hierarchical levels are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development can be defined as that which meets the needs of the current generation while leaving sufficient resources for the needs of future generations. A central objective is to decouple conventional resource use (and its corollary, waste generation) from economic development through technological innovation, improved efficiency and changes in individual practices. As the global population becomes urbanized and human activity is concentrated in urban areas, settlement planning is a key aspect of sustainability. The widespread inclusion of environmental objectives in urban plans at all scales provides an opportunity for the incorporation of urban climate knowledge into the planning process on a routine basis. Many of the stated objectives have both direct and indirect connections to climate. However, for this to happen, climate research and results must be linked more explicitly to the objectives of the sustainable settlement. In this paper, the relevance of sustainability to urban design and climate is discussed and the potential contribution of current urban climatology is assessed, identifying areas of special consideration for transfer to achieve sustainable urban planning and design. [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]

Governments everywhere are recognising environmental sustainability as a major driver of technological and economic development--with innovative direction being found at the interface of our efforts to become more socially and environmentally sustainable. Rural communities, faced with the pressures of unprecedented change, have an opportunity to embrace the principles of sustainable development, to create a new future at the leading edge of global change--but they need help. They need both knowledge and skills to enable them to self-evaluate and strategically plan, and they need a highly motivated, creative, and coherent community to carry it through. Small Towns: Big Picture is a community development process designed to foster creative, energetic, and collaborative action by five small rural communities in central Victoria--focusing on the development of social, environmental, and economic sustainability indicators. The project bought together artists, researchers and local communities to produce a coherent and shared understanding of the sustainability issues and opportunities. This paper presents Small Towns: Big Picture, focusing specifically on the social dimension and the development of a Community Cohesion indicator through an arts-led community engagement process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationships between community development, sustainable development and economics. In particular the convergence of thought in the realms of strong sustainability and ecological economics are shown to be consistent with the goals of sustainable community development (SCD). It is argued that in order to truly and effectively practice SCD, an economics of sustainability, best represented by ecological economics, should be incorporated into all facets of SCD work. It is suggested that the application of neoclassical or environmental economics is likely to limit the effectiveness of SCD work. Five practical implications of the necessary relationship between SCD and ecological economics are presented, suggesting that SCD practitioners must: (1) seek interdisciplinarity, (2) understand and endorse limits to growth, (3) adopt and endorse alternative measures of success, (4) seek the economic valuation of natural and social capital and (5) ensure the inclusion of equity in discussions of sustainability. Finally, a practical example of those implications is offered by way of a community economic workbook application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conceptual underpinning and the organizational structure of the existing system of higher environmental education in Russia are analysed. The system, embracing 129 universities, has been created in the last 10 years. At present there is a shift from general environmental education to education for sustainable development. The new system is based on the incorporation of natural, economic and social components into the curriculum. The paper also discusses the contribution of Russian scientists to the sustainable development concept (D.L. Armand's works of the 1960s) and Russia's participation in the development of the European Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crete, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean and the largest Greek island, is a highly heterogeneous region which has experienced rapid tourism development since the mid- to late 1960s when the growth in international tourism and broader socioeconomic changes disturbed past equilibrium patterns. Tourism has become a leading economic sector but has also caused several unwanted economic, environmental and sociocultural impacts and, currently, it appears to threaten the island's sustainability. The principal goal of official development plans is the achievement of sustainable development and the promotion of tourism in the island. To make realistic suggestions for the transition to sustainability it is essential, however, to identify the two-way relationship between tourism and the context within which it develops. The paper offers a broad-brush, integrated analysis of tourism and local development in Crete in three time periods since the late 1960s. It presents its impacts, evaluates them with a consistent set of sustainability criteria and probes into the essential requirements for securing the sustainability of development of the island and of its tourist sector. It concludes with a brief account of theoretical issues related to tourism development in heterogeneous destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues on both theoretical and empirical grounds that, beyond a certain point, there is an unavoidable conflict between economic development (generally taken to mean `material economic growth') and environmental protection. Think for a moment of natural forests, grasslands, marine estuaries, salt marshes, and coral reefs; and of arable soils, aquifers, mineral deposits, petroleum, and coal. These are all forms of `natural capital' that represent highly-ordered self-producing ecosystems or rich accumulations of energy/matter with high use potential (low entropy). Now contemplate despoiled landscapes, eroding farmlands, depleted fisheries, anthropogenic greenhouse gases, acid rain, poisonous mine tailings and toxic synthetic compounds. These all represent disordered systems or degraded forms of energy and matter with little use potential (high entropy). The main thing connecting these two states is human economic activity. Ecological economics interprets the environment-economy relationship in terms of the second law of thermodynamics. The second law sees economic activity as a dissipative process. From this perspective, the production of economic goods and services invariably requires the consumption of available energy and matter. To grow and develop, the economy necessarily `feeds' on sources of high-quality energy/matter first produced by nature. This tends to disorder and homogenize the ecosphere, The ascendance of humankind has consistently been accompanied by an accelerating rate of ecological degradation, particularly biodiversity loss, the simplification of natural systems and pollution. In short, contemporary political rhetoric to the contrary, the prevailing growth-oriented global development paradigm is fundamentally incompatible with long-term ecological and social sustainability. Unsustainability is not a technical nor economic problem as usually conceived, but rather a state of systemic incompatibility between a economy that is a fully-contained, growing, dependent sub-system of a non-growing ecosphere. Potential solutions fly in the face of contemporary development trends and cultural values. [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]

A sustainable municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system is recognized by Agenda 21 as an opportunity for cities for creating decent jobs, raising incentives for responsible consumption, and protecting the natural environment. However, according to our experience for many stakeholders and decision-makers in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the principles for sustainability defined by the Bruntland Commission are far too abstract. They are not readily applicable to establish a sustainable MSWM system. Even though Brazilian cities are strongly being influenced by concepts developed in high-income countries to search for strategic policies and long-term action plans for MSWM, many decisions-makers have not paid much attention to an overall sustainability approach so far. Against this backdrop, the present paper introduces the municipal solid waste diagram (MSWD) as a comprehensive framework for assessing the current state of a MSWM system against a future sustainable one. The normative foundation of MSWD is the Integrative Concept of Sustainability (ICoS), which contrasts the conventional approach of sustainability which typically characterizes a sustainable future along the three dimensions of economy, environment and society. ICoS points out crucial documents for sustainable development (e.g., Brundtland report and Agenda 21), and moreover, it does not neglect the potential of the capability approach. By this, the dynamic interrelationship between the abovementioned dimensions is taken into account. Another characteristic of the MSWD is the strong involvement of stakeholders, experts, and decision-makers during the construction and application of that instrument. Their central task was to certify the relevance, compatibility, flexibility of the chosen nine assessment criteria and the related 18 indicators on the ground of the ICoS. Any other study is known which looks for the dynamics of MSWM. The proposed approach helps to identify the constitute elements of MSWM clearly and to match to goals of sustainability without distinguishing and prioritizing any dimensionality. This approach clarifies the scientific background for sustainable development in the process of decision making regarding MSWM which is not done by conventional sustainability assessment methodologies. By the participation of the most relevant stakeholders of Belo Horizonte, the municipal solid waste diagram is verified. Belo Horizonte has currently obtained a level of development of about one third towards the goals of sustainability. The city had the best performance on securing human existence, in which the individual protection takes currently a high priority. The presented MSWD and thus the findings are specific to Belo Horizonte, but not the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a modelling study on regional sustainable development. First, the use of formal modelling for studying the multi-level relationship between economic, environmental and development processes is discussed. Such a relationship is analyzed for an island region in Greece. A potential conflict exists here between environmental conservation, local interests and rapid growth in tourism. A dynamic model is used to depict the development of the economies of three main islands and their interactions with the terrestrial and marine environment. The presentation of the case study model is followed by a discussion of scenarios, indicators and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examined the role of macroeconomic variables such real investments, trade openness, exchange rate, inflation rate, real per capital income, oil revenue in enhancing economic diversification and preventing resources curse hypothesis. It also established the threshold level for investment and the cost of avoiding the oil resource curse hypothesis for effective diversification in an oil rich African developing economy like Nigeria. Normalised Hirschman Index was used to determine degree of diversification while conventional fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) to estimate the models. The result showed that the systematic variation in diversification index is caused by variation in exchange rate, trade openness, inflation, gross fixed capital formation and gross domestic product and the results were not sensitive to model specification and estimation technique. The result confirmed the resource hypothesis. It is also established that there as much as 16% deficit in investment as the economy required a minimum of 30% investment as ratio GDP. Similarly, per capital income needed to stimulate economic diversification need to be raised beyond a threshold of $1380.3 billion for effective diversification. The main policy implication is that investment level and per capita income must be greater than this threshold if the vicious circle poverty and sustainable development is to be achieved in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For sustainable development of Urban Underground Space (UUS 1 UUS means Urban Underground Space. 1 ), determination of the desirable volume and function share of UUS is of vital importance. However, prediction of demand for UUS remains a rather challenging task. Very little quantifiable information, which is a basis for comparative study and improvement of prediction methods, is currently available pertaining to UUS. Xinjiekou, the center of Nanjing city, is called the first commercial center of China. Employing precision mapping on site and inquiring with a variety of organizations concerned, all the developed UUS in the area of Xinjiekou has been investigated in detail. On the basis of the quantitative investigation, the development modes and functional ratios are compared with other Chinese and foreign cases. By quantitative and comparative studies, the demand and driving factors of UUS have been identified. It is also found that the study area has the potential to be further developed and improved. It is hoped that this paper will enhance knowledge about the quantitative characteristics of UUS use, and be helpful for the demand prediction and planning of UUS development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]