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This book examines and decodes some of the basic elements of sustainability; food, water and energy. Current resource uses and human development strategies are discussed that can help maintain resilient environments and societies at a country level. It explores how a range of countries make decisions regarding their energy and bio-resource consumption and procurement and how these choices impact not only their societies and environments, but the world in general.

Sustainability Unpacked reviews the merits of various sustainability and environmental metrics and applies these to 27 countries that are ranked low, medium or high on the human development index. It assesses their resource capacities and the environmental impacts, both within and outside their country boundaries, from consuming food, water, and energy. It explores how well the available country-level indices enlighten us regarding our ability to accurately measure the continued sustainability of food, water, and energy for future generations. The authors discuss both the commonality and uniqueness of several countries' food, water, and energy stories as a process to identify the links between resource uses and sustainability at a country level. The final section uses the lessons derived from the earlier analyses of resource consumption to explore the importance of geography, climates and sustainable management of forests and other natural resources for building resilient societies in the future. ... Read more

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This book contains papers presented at the Third International Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Malta. The Meeting focused on empirical work and case studies from around the world, and the book offers new insight and best practice guidance for supporting sustainable tourism. Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, this book examines the practice of sustainable tourism from global travel trends through to destination and site
management.

Of interest to scientists, practitioners and policy makers, the topics covered in this volume include: Art, culture and nature; Climate change and tourism; Coastal issues; Community Involvement; Ecological issues; IT and
tourism; Modelling and estimates; Risk and safety; Rural tourism; Tourism
and protected areas; Tourism as a factor of development; Tourism as a tool of urban development; Tourism impact; Tourism strategies. ... Read more

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Current population growth is leading to a depletion in natural resources and could eventually cause irreversible damage to the environment.This book attempts to explain trends in the growth of the global population and the ecological consequences by blending the insights of analytical economics and behavioral ecology.

The book begins by looking at population from a long term perspective and considers the ecological influences before going on to examine the economics of population growth.Reproduction decisions of the family are then analyzed, and the welfare effect of these decisions on society as a whole are considered.Anup Shah pays particular attention to policies which could try to prevent or cure overpopulation.He asks whether there is a case for intervening in order to prevent overpopulation, and suggests that one way of reducing the effects of population growth is through technological advances which can help compensate for the adverse external effects. Finally, he examines the future of urban centers in the light of population growth.

The book is written from a multidisciplinary approach and will have a wide readership throughout the social sciences.It will have particular appeal for economists, geographers, earth scientists, ecologists, environmentalists and those working in the area of development studies. ... Read more

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This digital document is a journal article from Landscape and Urban Planning, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The 'sustainability debate' has had a profound influence on contemporary Landscape Ecology. This paper explores the implications of the second global summit for the research agendas that developed after the Rio Summit (1992), and argues that although the Declaration from Johannesburg 2002 restates the earlier summit concerns, the messages it sends to the research community are subtly different to those a decade earlier. The growing body of literature, which identifies the need for a new kind of sustainability science, is reviewed, and its relevance to Landscape Ecology is discussed. Although recent commentators have argued for a more transdisciplinary approach to Landscape Ecology that appears to meet the requirements of this new science we still lack ways of taking this forward. The paper concludes by proposing a new paradigm for Landscape Ecology based on the concept of ecosystem goods and services, or natural capital. It is argued that in the decade since the Rio Summit, a key focus of the future research agenda for the discipline should be an exploration of the 'sustainability choice space' defined by the interaction of biophysical limits and social and economic values at the landscape-scale. The paper provides a conceptual model (the tongue model) that describes how biophysical and socio-economic constraints can be combined in sustainability planning. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Geographical Journal, published by Royal Geographical Society on September 1, 2000. The length of the article is 477 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Bankruptcy of Economics: Ecology, Economics and the Sustainability of the Earth.(Review)(Brief Article)
Author: Adrian Martin
Publication: The Geographical Journal (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2000
Publisher: Royal Geographical Society
Volume: 166Issue: 3Page: 277

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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This digital document is a journal article from Resources, Conservation & Recycling, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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This paper focuses on the environmental component of sustainability of technology, taking into account the role of industrial ecology. Assessment of environmental sustainability of technology traditionally focuses on immediate impact of technology on the environment through quantifying resource extraction and generated emissions. However, technology does not only exchange materials with the environment but also with the industrial society as a whole, the so-called industrial metabolism. A higher compatibility of a specific technology with the industrial system, as studied in industrial ecology, can result in lower resource extraction and reduced waste emission, indirectly contributing to a better environmental sustainability. Starting from the considerations above and based on the second law of thermodynamics, the paper presents a set of five environmental sustainability indicators for the assessment of products and production pathways, integrating industrial ecology principles. The indicators, all scaled between 0 and 1, take into account: (1) renewability of resources; (2) toxicity of emissions; (3) input of used materials; (4) recoverability of products at the end of their use; (5) process efficiency. The applicability of the elaborated set of indicators is illustrated for different production pathways of alcohols (petrochemical and oleochemical based), polyethylene end-of-life options and electricity production from non-renewable (natural gas and fossil oil) and renewable resources (hydropower, photovoltaic conversion of solar irradiation). ... Read more

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This book offers a unique perspective on green living and sustainability by observing environmentally friendly living throughout the human life cycle. Starting with natural childbirth, finishing with green burial, and examining all phases of life in-between, Hall offers tips and suggestions to help each of us live a greener lifestyle.

Some of the topics covered include: raising 'green' children, green colleges, green transportation, green clothing, intentional communities, green architecture, alternative energy, and green gardening.

Hall had this to say about his upcoming book:

"Does green living matter? I think we should consider the consequences either way. What if the environmentalists are wrong, and things like global warming and depletion of natural resources aren't really happening? Well, if they're wrong, and we take action anyway, the consequences will be a cleaner environment, better health, and more available resources for everyone. But if the anti-environmentalists are wrong, and we really are running out of resources and heating up the planet in the process, what are the consequences if we take no action at all?

"That's why I think green living matters. If the readers of my book, Green Circles, apply these tips and techniques to their own lifestyles, things can only get better. It's a win-win situation." ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is a journal article from Resources, Conservation & Recycling, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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This paper presents a systems analysis perspective that extends the traditional process design framework to green process design and industrial ecology leading to sustainability. For green process design this involves starting the design decisions as early as chemical and material selection stage on one end, and managing and planning decisions at the other end. However, uncertainties and multiple and conflicting objectives are inherent in such a design process. Uncertainties increase further in industrial ecology. Combining AI approaches with optimization methods, and constraining the system using thermodynamics and physics can provide a way to address this problem. The concept of overall sustainability goes beyond industrial ecology and brings in time dependent nature of the ecosystem and multi-disciplinary decision making. Optimal control methods and theories from financial literature can be useful in handling the time dependent uncertainties in this problem. ... Read more

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ECOSUD is a challenge for the creation of a new science in line with Prigogine's statement that at all levels we observe events associated with the emergence of novelties and narrative elements, which we may associate with the creative power of natureA". This is not only a platform to present novel research related to ecological problems from all over the world; it also gives opportunities for new emergent ideas in science arising from the cross fertilization of different disciplines, including mathematical models and eco-informatics, evolutionary thermodynamics and biodiversity, structures in ecosystems modelling and landscapes to mention but a few. The Seventh International Conference in the well-established series on Ecosystems and Sustainable Development contains papers on the following topics: Greenhouse issues; Ecosystems modelling; Mathematical and system modelling; Natural resources management; Environmental indicators; Sustainability development studies; Recovery of damaged areas; Energy and the environment; Socio economic factors; Soil contamination; Waste management; Water resources; Environmental management. ... Read more

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In the past, the science of ecology has frequently been excluded from the development agenda for various reasons. Increasingly however there has been a renewed interest in finding more ecologically sustainable means of development that have required a strong foundation in ecological knowledge (for example EcoAgriculture Partnerships, EcoHealth presented at ESA, and EcoNutrition proposed by Deckelbaum et al). Each of these examples has already taken the critical first step at integrating ecological knowledge with agriculture, health and nutrition, respectively. However, this is only the first step; more attention needs to be placed not only on the role that two fields can play towards poverty alleviation, but on the role of a truly integrated, interdisciplinary approach towards development goals that is firmly grounded in ecological understanding. We feel that a critical look at what ecology can and cannot provide to the development agenda, in light of the Millennium Development goals, is timely and crucial. The introduction and the final section of the book will then integrate the lessons and principles outlined in each of the chapters. All chapter authors will be heavily encouraged to focus on how their sub-discipline in ecology impacts overall human well-being and environmental sustainability.

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Agroecologists from around the world share their experiences in the analysis and development of indicators of agricultural sustainability in Agroecosystem Sustainability: Developing Practical Strategies. The authors build on the resource-conserving aspects of traditional, local, and small-scale agriculture while at the same time drawing on modern ecological knowledge and methods. They define the relationship between agroecology and sustainable development.Leading researchers present case studies that attempt to determine 1) if a particular agricultural practice, input, or management decision is sustainable, and 2) what is the ecological basis for the functioning of the chosen management strategy over the long term. They discuss common findings, define the future role of agroecology, and explore strategies for helping farmers make the transition to sustainable farming systems. Preserving the productivity of agricultural land over the long term requires sustainable food production. Agroecosystem Sustainability: Developing Practical Strategies covers topics that range from management practices specific to a particular region to more global efforts to develop sets of indicators of sustainability. It links social and ecological indicators of sustainability. From this foundation we can move towards the social and economic changes that promote sustainability in all sectors of the food system. ... Read more

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Integrates contributions from leading researchers & scholars from around the world to provide a multifaceted perspective of what Earth System Analysis is all about.Outlines the scope of the scientific challenge for a well-defined transdisciplinary discourse on this issue. ... Read more

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Recent innovations in Sustainable Forest Management and Ecosystem Approaches are resulting in forests increasingly being managed as part of the broader social-ecological systems in which they exist. Forests in Landscapes reviews changes that have occurred in forest management in recent decades. Case studies from Europe, Canada, the United States, Russia, Australia, the Congo and Central America provide a wealth of international examples of innovative practices. Cross-cutting chapters examine the political ecology and economics of forest management, and review the information needs and the use and misuse of criteria and indicators to achieve broad societal goals for forests. A concluding chapter draws out the key lessons of changes in forest management in recent decades and sets out some thoughts for the future.

Published with IUCN ... Read more