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This paper aims to address an important issue today, namely environmental protection and establish to what extent we can develop without too significant an impact on the resources at hand. The topic sparked nationwide controversy as well as enough international concerns. Humanity cannot survive without genuine care towards natural resources. The paper aims to present issues related to the consumption levels of society and to what extent there are policies for environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food and drink represents the largest manufacturing sector in the EU and encouragingly has sustained positive growth. Even during the economic downturn, levels of employment in the food and drink industry remained quite stable. While the sector has excellent potential for artisan and specialty producers to establish, the lack of access to food grade workspace is a serious and inhibiting barrier to entry. Moreover, artisan food producers struggle to support the capital requirements of setting up a production facility. On the other hand, there is an abundance of underutilized properties in public and private ownership which could be re-imagined as vibrant Food Incubators but the promoters of same lack the skills and practical strategies to develop them. From this point of view, food incubators have the unique potential to spur productive, inclusive and sustainable economic development. They provide a strong foundation for the creation and expansion of food businesses and jobs by helping communities, Vocational Education and Training (VET) bodies, development agencies to revitalise underutilised buildings into powerhouses of food sector learning, innovation and production. The paper presents the project FITR - Food Incubators Transforming Regions, which seeks to forge an effective and replicable model to provide the learning and strategic structure to develop food kitchens and incubators as enterprise, training and support drivers at regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 6th (2011-15) and 7th (2016-20) Five Year Plans (FYP), Bangladesh's policy makers have set ambitious national environmental targets and goals to move the country towards more a sustainable economy and society. The goals were dictated by the economic, social and political interests of the political elites. This has resulted in limited stakeholder participation in environmental policy formulation. The 6th FYP aimed at achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7: 'Ensure Environmental Sustainability'. It failed due to shortcomings in local implementation and due to a lack of community participation. The 7th FYP is based on the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13, 14, 15. The obvious paradox within Bangladesh's environmental planning is the big gap between central government's policy making and community participation and local government involvement. This paper examines environmental policy formulation, implementation and monitoring in the last two FYPs in Bangladesh. Contemporary deliberative democratic theory provides important theoretical and applied insights that are often unexamined in the environmental planning literature. A theoretical framework is developed to analyse to what degree environmental planning arrangements incorporated deliberative elements and how they contribute to decision-making. A case study of the environmental planning process tests its effectiveness in explaining observed outcomes. Elsewhere, deliberative democratic approaches have been central to the success of the environmental planning process. The central government's failure to apply this approach produced a policy gap. Plan targets cannot be met unless local participation is ensured through the deliberative framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability consumer behavior is a complex and emergent concept and involves progress toward creating a more sustainable society. Changes to government policy in Australia in the Rudd-Gillard era provide a new context for sustainability consumption. Little research appears to address how consumers make decisions and carry out practices to realize their own sustainability values from day to day in the context of a society and economy publicly committed to sustainability, which may also have the influence of not only changing social norms regarding sustainability but also social mores. This paper focuses on how sustainability-concerned consumers made their contribution to sustainability living. Qualitative research was undertaken using depth interviews with 15 sustainability-concerned consumers contacted by advertisement in a Melbourne (Australia) community newspaper along with snowball sampling. The research finds that concerned consumers’ contribution to sustainable living may be characterized on a shades-of-green continuum, as “shoulds” and “woulds”: those who know they should and were prepared to take action and those who are willing to seek more knowledge to take the right action. Sustainability-concerned consumers accept the responsibility to behave sustainably. However they frequently find that this is difficult to do. They consider that purchases and practices both contribute to sustainability and make amends for incorrect purchase by engaging in sustainability practices more widely and more frequently. This may provide an expanded understanding of the values purchase gap. The paper further uncovers how some consumers increasingly are experiencing guilt in regard to their sustainability behaviors. The paper concludes with a discussion of limitations and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development requires that development patterns that meet the needs of the present generation do not harm the needs of future generations. Sustainable development not only demands the sustainability of natural resources and the environment, but also emphasizes sustainable human welfare and resident happiness. Urban sustainable development can be achieved easily at local scales. Urban sustainable development efficiency (USDE) reflects the relevant efficiency of human welfare and resources and the environmental input into an urban system. This paper presents an assessment framework of urban sustainable development based on the reality of natural resource limitations and human welfare needs, and evaluates the performance of urban sustainable development in Chinese cities as a case study. The assessment framework is constructed based on natural resource inputs and human welfare outputs. The assessment index system includes 11 specific indicators, and data envelopment analysis was chosen to assess the urban sustainable development performance of 287 cities in China. The USDE results of the sample cities showed an increasing trend in sustainability over the past three decades, with visible spatial differences. By assessing the urban development of society, economy, and industry in China, the results reflected various characteristics and differences in urban development. The methods and index system used in this study can be used to reveal temporal and spatial differences in urban development resource inputs, human welfare, and environmental support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of a group of developing countries with shared characteristics, challenges, and needs, distinct from those of developed countries, has been central to sustainable development discourse and policy for decades. However, in the years since the original Rio conference it has become increasingly apparent that it is difficult to sustain this notion of a single developing world. Within the context of unfolding diversity, a central claim of the present paper is that lumping all countries together under the expansive category of 'developing' risks obfuscating the complex challenges, solutions, and fragmented geopolitics of sustainable development. Instead, it is necessary to use the terms developing country, countries, or world far more selectively, mindful that they may conceal just about as much as they reveal. In the paper I proceed to consider a number of alternative national, subnational, and transnational spatial categorisations which might be deployed to better describe and/or analyse the evolving nature, effective governance, and politics of sustainable development challenges across space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving economic development and environmental sustainability simultaneously is one of the most important development challenges for Africa today. The relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability is founded on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). This paper examines the validity of the hypothesis and the driving factors of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission in five African countries using the STIRPAT empirical model, panel cointegration and fully modified ordinary least squares. Unlike previous studies, economic development is disaggregated into agriculture and industrial economic development. The results show that there is no evidence of the validity of the hypothesis in Africa, regardless of whether economic development is driven by agriculture or industrialisation. Energy structure and energy intensity are the two major driving forces of CO 2 emissions in Africa. Population growth and urbanisation have negative relationship with CO 2 emissions. From our results, the EKC is not a sound basis for environmental policy in Africa; rather, environmental policy in Africa, specifically for CO 2 emissions mitigation, should focus on encouraging energy efficiency, enhancing the use of clean energy, incorporating the impact of population growth and harnessing the positive impacts of urbanisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For almost a decade, the EU has pursued sustainable development not with one but with two overarching strategies: the so-called Lisbon Strategy and sustainable development strategies. While the Lisbon Strategy was a genuinely European policy response to global economic and social pressures, which was superseded by the 'Europe 2020' strategy in 2010, sustainable development strategies are ongoing cyclical processes that aim to better coordinate and integrate economic, social and, in particular, environmental policies at both the EU and Member State levels. This paper explores the horizontal governance linkages that existed between the two strategies. It first contrasts the Council rhetoric, emphasizing the complementarity of the two strategies with their different histories and governance arrangements. This paper then shows that the Council rhetoric of complementarity never materialized in the everyday governance routines of the two strategies, and provides three explanations for this finding. Based on these findings, this paper finally provides a brief outlook discussion on how to proceed with the governance of sustainable development in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife tourism is potentially a common pool resource (CPR) issue when the following are applicable: it is difficult to exclude tourists; their experiences are affected by others' activities; and adverse impacts on the wildlife occur. CPRs are typified by non-excludability and subtractability. Relatively few efforts have been made to consider tourism in this way or to use the concept of CPR in tourism management schemes. This paper (1) explores the possibility of wildlife tourism being a CPR issue, (2) derives a list of enabling conditions required for the sustainability of such resources and (3) determines the applicability of the conditions through a case study. Having described the potential for wildlife tourism to be a CPR issue, the enabling conditions explored in the rest of the paper follow: the characteristics of the tourism resource system and its user groups, the associated institutional arrangements and the external environment. The application of CPR thinking to the case study, whale shark tourism in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia, revealed the contribution of institutional arrangements, particularly those associated with the State Government, to sustainable management. The use of the enabling conditions as a tool for managing wildlife tourism is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With this paper we depict a typology of regions, capturing the diversity of regional innovation systems (RISs) across the EU-25. Following the RIS literature, we select twenty-one variables related to the ability of a region to generate and absorb knowledge, and its capacity to transform research and development into innovation and economic growth. On the basis of the results of principal components and cluster analyses, we identify seven types of RIS where the 186 regions group together according to their sectoral specialisation, technological and economic capacity, and performance. By allowing us to identify similar and more advanced regions, the paper facilitates comparisons and benchmarking between similar regions, thus enabling more accurate policy learning. For each group a number of policy recommendations are suggested, contingent on their local specific characteristics. In short, the contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it provides the first RIS typology for the EU-25 regions completed using a large number of variables. Secondly, the conclusions obtained from the analysis may be used to lead policy makers' actions in the field of regional innovation policy in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Material flow accounting and analysis (MFA) has been established as an influential framework for quantifying the use of natural resources by modern societies. So far, however, no reference data for overall scale and trends of global extraction of natural resources and their distribution between different world regions has been available. This paper presents the first comprehensive quantification of the material basis of the global economy, i.e. used domestic extraction in a time series from 1980 to 2002. We analyse time trends for major material groups (fossil fuels, metals, industrial and construction minerals, and biomass) disaggregated into seven world regions. This allows for (a) an illustration of the global economy''s physical growth driven by worldwide processes of economic integration over the past decades, and (b) an indication of the worldwide distribution of environmental pressures associated with material extraction. The results show that annual resource consumption of the world economy increased by about one third between 1980 and 2002. This indicates that scale effects due to economic growth more than compensated for other effects, such as the relative increase of the service sectors'' contribution to GDP (structural effect) and the use of new production technologies with higher material and energy efficiency (technology effect). The observed growth of natural resource extraction is unevenly distributed over the main material categories, with metals showing the highest growth rate. The regional analysis shows the increasing importance of Asia and Latin America in global resource extraction. On the global level, material intensity, i.e. resource extraction per unit of GDP, decreased by about 25%, indicating relative decoupling of resource extraction from economic growth. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for a more sustainable use of natural resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The semi-annual European Environment Sustainable Conference in Aalborg, Denmark brought together from primarily Europe, but also other parts of the world. The Conference focused on sustainability but one panel focused on practical applications for public policy and private industry. The papers from this panel are presented in this special issue of the journal. They cover topics ranging from corporate sustainable programs to government plans including "feed in laws". Some papers are more academic oriented but clearly derived from practical political experiences such as those of the California energy crisis. These theories argue the need for "agile energy systems" whereby regions, cities and communities must have combinations of on-site or distributed energy generation like combined heat and power (CPH) along with central grid power generation. Finally, there is a clear message in all the papers that "market forces" alone do not develop, monitor or even provide "level playing fields" for communities. In short, there needs to be continuous "government" or public involvement in the sustainable communities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In considering social, economic and ecological impacts of new technologies it is essential to start from an understanding of human nature. This paper explores this issue drawing out some implications for ecological and neoclassical economics. The paper presents two key arguments. First, we argue that there is a growing tension between our evolved human nature and social structures and our emerging technological prowess. Modern technologies give us increasing power to manipulate the very axes of nature: space, time, energy, matter, and life. Technologies are now so powerful they give us abilities our ancestors would consider godlike. The question is posed: Are humans ready to wield the power of the gods? We have the knowledge, but do we have the wisdom? The myth of Prometheus and Pandora is considered as a metaphor for the interaction between technology, nature and universal aspects of human nature developed over eons of evolution. Second, we argue that even a ‘technologically optimistic’ scenario (employed by some economists) may not actually deliver Utopian outcomes. With technological advancement and diffusion there is a “technological trickle down effect” whereby potent technologies, once available only to governments and powerful elites, become available to greater numbers of groups and individuals. The more accessible a technology, the more likely its social and ecological impacts will be shaped by the full range and extremes of human nature. These issues have implications for the development and regulation of Promethean technologies such as nuclear energy, genetic engineering and nanotechnology; technologies with unprecedented power and reach through nature. Development and diffusion of such technologies may also have implications for the ethics of the social structure of society. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article, we explore a series of issues and tensions raised by the papers in this Special Issue of Environmental Education Research . The papers focus on developments in environmental education and ESD research in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In order to provide an alternative framework for contextualising and understanding the trends and challenges illustrated in the collection, we begin with an examination of Germany’s green political movement, both at the level of national politics but also in relation to broader cultural shifts that have taken place in recent years. We then invite further debate on environmental education and ESD by focusing on three nodes within the discourse on these complex, dynamic and linked fields of theory and practice. First, we explore the themes of compatibility and compliance regarding environmental education and the ‘global’ as two of the key ingredients to ESD. Second, we consider the growing dominance of competency-based approaches to ESD, primarily in terms of educational standards projects, but also in relation to images of the human therein. Third, we look into understandings of agency in relation to innovation and change, including the role of NGOs in research and policy-making, and the sources and drivers of possible frames for future research agendas. The article ends by inviting wider discussion and critique of the achievements, tensions and challenges for research and development in environmental education and ESD, both in the three countries, and further afield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first significant government sponsored community-based forest management project in Australia was initiated in Central Victoria in 2002. This paper analyses the initial stage of the Wombat Community Forest Management Pilot Project. The paper develops a functional concept of `effective community' for structuring community engagement in these kinds of natural resource management projects. The effective community has characteristics in common with a community of interest, adopts a bioregional perspective, embodies the values of environmental stewardship and interacts in a fully informed way as a `discursive community' (Meppam 2000). The paper offers general advice for organising effective community engagement in such projects and 12 recommendations for governments developing similar initiatives elsewhere. [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]

The paper discusses conflicts in perceptions of GM crops illustrating the complexities of GM debates and applications of the concept of sustainable development. The concept consists of three discourses that both opponents and supporters of GM crops refer to in their analyses: environmentalism, social and economic development and the two sub-issues of sustainable development-biodiversity loss and food security. This creates a unique situation when both proponents and opponents of GM food use the same framework of sustainable development to support their arguments and do not reach a common ground. This will be illustrated by a review of the arguments brought by these two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of carbon emission performance is crucial to formulate environmental policies. Few studies have systematically examined environmental efficiency from the perspective of regional temporal–spatial differences and evolution laws. In this paper, we evaluate the carbon emission efficiency and reduction cost in 30 provinces of mainland China from 1996 to 2012 using the non-radial directional distance function method. Three primary carbon emission zones, i.e., the steep-slope zone, flat zone, and plateau zone are classified and compared comprehensively in terms of emission performance (measured by Malmquist index), abatement cost (measured by shadow price), and potential emissions (measured by the growth rates of emissions and economic outputs). Results show that, carbon emission efficiency varies greatly among zones and is closely related to regional economic development. The shadow price for each zone and the whole country between 1996 and 2012 presents a remarkable regularity that it kept increasing at first and decreased afterwards, reaching the maximum value at the year 2000. Furthermore, the carbon emissions in three zones exhibit significant differences. Meanwhile, similarities exist within each zone, indicating that environmental policies designed for different zones and emissions trading across zones are rather necessary and feasible. The empirical estimations from this study provide an analytical basis for the implementation of carbon emission regulations and would facilitate a balanced and sustainable development of China's environment and economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article devoted to analysis of sustainable development indicators (SDI) evolution and peculiarities of designing the set of SDI for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and other countries. The paper provides an overview of evolution and application experience of sustainability measuring practice. Researchers analyze the directions of measurement approach progress. Modern trends of indicators' using are explored. Ways of overcoming the lack of harmonization in variety of conceptual and organizational frameworks which are used by different countries are viewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is currently not only the most populous country on earth, but also the world's largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter. As China's population growth continues contributing to the overall global population increase, the country remains a significant player in the global problems related to climate change. The Chinese government, however, has recognized that a low-carbon economy is in the country's long-term economic and social interests and this is now a key part of its national development strategy. This paper examines the evolution of policies for sustainability in China and explores their compositions, functions and operational mechanisms. Some emerging features and trends in China's development model are examined, arguing that they represent a clear shift towards sustainability. Further problems and challenges associated with this change and how they impact on China's policies and strategies are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Environmental protection seems to be a very important social problem, associated with allocations of substantive amounts of social resources. Designs and implementation models of environmental policies have significant impacts on the effectiveness of such allocations. The authors have developed a novel methodology for ex-post environmental policy implementation assessment. The Czech Ministry of the Environment has approved the methodology as the one suggested for environmental policy assessment. It covers all three pillars of sustainable development and applies multicriteria analysis as its main methodological tool. The paper also presents two applications of the methodology - in Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and Solid Waste Management in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Evidence on the role of information and knowledge for policy making shows that policy actors seldom use information as a direct input to their decisions. Similar patterns of (non)use have been identified in the case of indicators in the environmental and sustainable development policy domains. The objective of the paper is to elucidate the patterns of environmental indicator use and to argue for the introduction of a ‘politics of policy indicators’. With a limited set of characteristics (e.g. legitimacy, credibility and salience) of indicators, which help to apprehend the usability of indicators, we argue that the usability profile of indicators can be analysed as a matter of construction and deliberation by indicator creators and policy actors. The performance of indicators as policy tools – as rendered with their usability profile – is co-dependent of the institutional embeddedness of the indicators. Our conclusion makes the case that if environmental improvements towards more sustainability are partly relying on the quality and uptake of information into policy processes in order to steer decisions, then the ‘usability profile’ of indicators itself should be subject to collective and conscious steering. This call to ‘steer the steering’ is supported by the wider calls to initiate patterns of ‘reflexive governance’ within the sustainability policy domain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Educational competencies represent learning objectives and are used to plan educational programs, develop curricula, and assess existing programs, among other functions. After reviewing the literature and offerings at more than 20 universities, the existence of a comprehensive set of educational competencies in the area of energy and sustainability was not identified. This paper motivates and presents model competencies for graduate education programs in the energy and sustainability area, which is called Energy for Sustainability (EfS). Energy for Sustainability follows from the perspective that the provision of energy is a key element in promoting the goals of sustainability. The nature and use of competencies in education planning and assessment is reviewed, and recommendations for model competencies for two EfS specialties, 'Buildings and Urban Environments' and 'Energy Systems and Policy,' are presented. Competencies are prioritized, and their use in developing new multidisciplinary master's and doctoral programs at the University of Coimbra is discussed. The competencies promote a wide range of understanding and capabilities aimed at the technical, economical, social, and institutional factors needed to manage and transition current energy systems towards the goals of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has suffered frequent source water contamination accidents in the past decade, which has resulted in severe consequences to the water supply of millions of residents. The origins of typical cases of contamination are discussed in this paper as well as the emergency response to these accidents. In general, excessive pursuit of rapid industrialization and the unreasonable location of factories are responsible for the increasing frequency of accidental pollution events. Moreover, insufficient attention to environmental protection and rudimentary emergency response capability has exacerbated the consequences of such accidents. These environmental accidents triggered or accelerated the promulgation of stricter environmental protection policy and the shift from economic development mode to a more sustainable direction, which should be regarded as the turning point of environmental protection in China. To guarantee water security, China is trying to establish a rapid and effective emergency response framework, build up the capability of early accident detection, and develop efficient technologies to remove contaminants from water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order for a sustainable development there is the need to simultaneously maintain an economic development together with an environmental one, implying as well an environmental impact assessment in the beginning phases of all plans and programmes. The environmental impact assessment is one of the basic instruments of environmental policies and modern regulations. Practically there is a diversity of methods for developing environmental impact assessment. Out of all the methods used for an EIA, the following ones may be mentioned: the matrix method and the global pollution index one. These methods are applied in the paper for the area adjacent to the mines in Olt Coal Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the complex relationships and some of the tensions in reconciling economic, social, and environmental goals as necessary for achieving sustainable energy infrastructure development in developing countries. It introduces the rationale of sustainable development, and uses examples to demonstrates that reconciling the three dimensions to achieve sustainable energy infrastructure engenders intricate legal relationships and interests that require a reorientation in our appreciation of law and policy beyond traditional models. It identifies an adequate legal framework through which sustainable energy infrastructure can be secured, and recommends a regulatory model that is best for achieving sustainable energy in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vietnam has experienced high growth in economic development since the mid-1990s. This has resulted in an increase in energy demand and challenges with regard to energy accessibility. This paper examines the status of sustainable energy strategy evolution and implementation in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section presents abstracts of papers on city planning published from 2007 to 2008, including "Streets, Sounds and Identity in Inter-war Harlem," by Clare Corbould, "(Re)making the Other, Heterosexualising Everyday Space," by Kath Browne, and "Rankings and Reactivity: How Public Measures Recreate Social Worlds," by Wendy Nelson Espeland and Michael Sauder.

This paper proposes an alternative approach to rural tourism that returns to a more traditional model of development: large, flagship attractions that act as a ‘growth pole’ for the local economy and community. It questions some of the accepted beliefs about sustainable rural tourism development current in recent years. It is based on a case study of Alnwick Garden in Northumberland, England. It suggests that, under certain circumstances, flagship or mega-attractions can not only increase substantially the number of visitors to rural areas but also, through appropriate policies and processes, can underpin the longer-term, sustainable development of those areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper briefly reviews key insights from natural resource and environmental economics, ecological economics and industrial ecology in an effort to identify the major contributions of these fields to the understanding and promotion of sustainable development. Each is based on overlapping worldviews, methods and tools. Their synthesis and extension–subsumed under the rubric of ‘Natural Economics’–is suggested as a new thrust in environmental research, offering valuable guides to policy making. An early illustration of the application of natural economics in New Zealand is presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article illustrates the importance of nature experience for environmental knowledge, values and action. Recent empirical German research on the importance of nature experience will be analysed with regard to research foci, innovative research contributions and selected research results. Research deficits and challenges will be identified. Recommendations for improving nature experience research will be given. The paper argues that nature experience is one central foundation for the development of knowledge and values in relation to the environment. Nature experience has frequently been shown to influence environmental action in everyday situations with low task complexity. The full challenge for education for sustainable development is posed, however, by situations of high factual and ethical complexity. In this regard, nature experience is also essential because of its role in fostering assessment and judgement competences. [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]

Research evidence and pleas that humans are undermining their own survival on a robust and unforgiving planet seem to be falling on deaf ears. The drive for economic and military security remains more powerful than the evidence that both of these objectives are being undermined by environmental damage, social disruption, unjust treatment and forced migration. Yet the signs are growing that environmentally and socially sound futures may be vital prerequisites for economic and military stability. So, at the heart of multi-nationalism, sustainable development is beginning to be recognized as a crucial element in reliable international agreements. The consequence of all this is that environmental science has become highly political, and geographers need to recognize and work within an expanding political process. Examples of new forms of governing via sustainability science for sustainable futures are offered in the latter part of the paper, especially at local government level. The antagonistic pressures of established power and economic hegemony are never far away. Indeed, the confirmation of these established patterns of power still pervades the politics of environmental science. But it is possible that these antagonistic political frameworks are beginning to be transcended by the more influential aspects of sustainability partnerships incorporating new arrangements between government, private capital and civil associations. These partnerships will not be easy to create, for they criss-cross boundaries of familiarity and rules of operation. But geographers can play a critical role in helping to shape them and assess the best circumstances for ensuring their success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the opportunity of using the ecological footprint as a tool in elaborating and correcting sustainable development plans and strategies in Romania. The authors briefly present the concept and consider it as one of the most appropriate approach of the balance society - natural ressources supply. As the experience of other countries shows up, the use of the ecological footprint at sub-national level (region, department, big urban area) could be a viable way to avoid the over-exploitation of natural resources. A list of potential advantages coming from the implementation of this tool in Romania, at region or county scale is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]