Creating local institutional arrangements for sustainable wetland socio-ecological systems: lessons from the ‘Striking a Balance’ project in Malawi

Wetland socio-ecological systems provide livelihood benefits for many poor people throughout the developing world, yet their sustainable development requires local utilisation strategies that balance both environmental and development outcomes. Community-based local institutional arrangements that mediate peoples’ relationships with their environment and facilitate adaptive co-management offer one means of achieving this, and increasingly many NGOs and development practitioners have sought to integrate local institutional capacity building into development projects. In the context of wider academic debates surrounding the long-term sustainability of externally facilitated local institutions, this article draws on the experiences of the three-year Striking a Balance (SAB) project in Malawi which sought to embed sustainable wetland management practices within community-based local institutional arrangements. Drawing on field data collected through participatory methods at three project sites some 5 years after the cessation of project activities, we examine the extent to which SAB’s local institutional capacity building has been successful, and from this draw some lessons for externally driven project interventions which seek win-win outcomes for people and the environment. With reference to Elinor Ostrom’s design principles for long-enduring common property resource institutions, we suggest that the observed declining effectiveness of SAB’s local institutions can be attributed to issues of stakeholder inclusiveness and representations; their sustainability was arguably compromised from their inception on account of them being nested within pre-existing, externally driven village ‘clubs’ whose membership and decision-making was not congruent with all the wetland stakeholders within the community.     

Planning and implementing sustainability in higher education institutions: an overview of the difficulties and potentials

Planning in sustainable development is believed to be an important element in allowing higher education institutions to set their goals and to commit themselves towards undertaking concrete actions and measures at all levels in order to implement sustainability. Yet, there is a paucity of research that has looked at the extent to which planning can support institutions of higher education to assess their performances and to determine whether the set aims have been met. This research gap needs to be met to allow a better understanding of how planning can help to promote the integration of the three components of sustainable development – economic development, social development and environmental protection in higher education. This paper explores the challenges for planning the sustainable development in higher education, also outlining the potentials lessons learned that could assist in improving Education for Sustainable Development efforts in Higher Education Institutions. Among its main results are the fact that many universities wish to pursue sustainable development, but their efforts are hindered by lack of institutional support and planning and limited emphasis on approaches, such as problem-based learning. The universities that are engaged in the field have to face many problems, varying from limited resources to lack of trained staff. As a result, integrated approaches to sustainability become difficult to implement. Finally, the paper has identified the fact that many opportunities offered mainstream developments, such as the UN Declaration ‘The World we Want’ or the UN Sustainable Development Goals are not being put to full use.     

Institutional responses to development pressures: Resilience of social-ecological systems in Himachal Pradesh,India

In the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India, economic and urban growth, and diversification have increased pressure on forests and forest-based social-ecological systems. As in many Himalayan regions, livelihood sustainability is linked to forest resources, products and services. Recent development in the region, to which these systems may be vulnerable, brings into question environmental and livelihood sustainability. This paper examines the resilience of integrated systems of people and nature, or social-ecological systems, in the face of development pressures by evaluating a number of local and state-level institutional responses. Resilience, which describes the ability of the social-ecological systems to adapt to change by buffering shocks, improving self-organization and increasing capacity for learning, is an essential quality for sustainable development. Institutional responses which positively contribute to resilience and sustainability include the work of mahila mandals in forest management, adoption of Joint Forest Management (JFM) policies and practices, upholding rules, strengthening local institutions, establishing firewood depots and adopting alternative energy sources. Institutional failures brought about by the lack of rule enforcement and corruption erode resilience. The analysis of institutional responses helps to identify areas where capacity exists and areas in which capacity building is needed to produce resilient social-ecological systems and therefore, sustainable development.     

Scales of integration for sustainable development governance

Efforts at integration are central in the Sustainable Development Goals and the wider Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda. While integration forms a major focus of this agenda, there are fundamental limitations on pursuing this focus. The global governance discussions on integration lack a clear conceptualization of what it is, do not have any tools for measurement or assessment, and are narrowly focused around policy integration between global institutions. This article develops a framework for conceptualizing cross-level and cross-scale integration which addresses these problems and introduces the opportunities and challenges of pursuing different types of integration in global governance. Cross-level integration involves governance efforts which seek to bridge similar institutions with one another (for example, bringing together efforts by environmental ministries and development ministries). Cross-scale integration, in contrast, deals with governance efforts that bring together institutions which have distinct scopes, jurisdictions, and epistemologies. With this important distinction, the article explores the opportunities for cross-scale integration as part of the global sustainable development efforts and particularly expanding the policy integration focus with spatial and temporal integration as well. The conclusion uses the Earth System Governance perspective to focus on the trade-offs that are likely as wider forms of institutional integration are pursued beyond environmental mainstreaming and policy integration.     

Genetic variation in defense chemistry in wild cabbages affects herbivores and their endoparasitoids

Populations of wild Brassica oleracea L. grow naturally along the Atlantic coastlines of the United Kingdom and France. Over a very small spatial scale (i.e., <15 km) these populations differ in the expression of the defensive compounds, glucosinolates (GS). Thus far, very few studies have examined interactions between genetically distinct populations of a wild plant species and associated consumers in a multitrophic framework. Here, we compared the development of a specialist (Pieris rapae) and a generalist (Mamestra brassicae) insect herbivore and their endoparasitoids (Cotesia rubecula and Microplitis mediator, respectively) on three wild populations and one cultivar of B. oleracea under controlled greenhouse conditions. Herbivore performance was differentially affected by the plant population on which they were reared. Plant population influenced only development time and pupal mass in P. rapae, whereas plant population also had a dramatic effect on survival of M. brassicae. Prolonged development time in P. rapae corresponded with high levels of the indole GS, neoglucobrassicin, whereas reduced survival in M. brassicae coincided with high levels of the aliphatic GS, gluconapin and sinigrin. The difference between the two species can be explained by the fact that the specialist P. rapae is adapted to feed on plants containing GS and has evolved an effective detoxification system against aliphatic GS. The different B. oleracea populations also affected development of the endoparasitoids. Differences in food-plant quality for the hosts were reflected in adult size in C. rubecula and survival in M. mediator, and further showed that parasitoid performance is also affected by herbivore diet.     

Science, Power, and System Dynamics: the Political Economy of Conservation Biology

Abstract: Frustration with the lack of action on conservation issues by governments has sparked debate around the policy role of conservation biologists. We analyzed the political economy of conservation biology, that is, of the dynamics of the political and economic structures within which conservation biology operates, and we suggest more productive means for conservation biologists to achieve conservation goals. Within the modern state, conservation goals are marginalized because the growth needs of industrial capital have the highest priority. Environmental advocacy within this system largely addresses only proximate concerns and has limited success. Science is a product of modern society, but scientists now need to foster novel institutional arrangements in which humans can function within the limits of natural systems. This entails a larger recognition of the inherent contradictions residing within current institutions that themselves depend on unsustainably high resource flows. As one critical counterbalance to these institutions, we discuss community-based management and research as primary institutions through which sustainable use of natural resources might be achieved.     

Firm ownership structure impact on corporate social responsibility: evidence from austerity U.K.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an increasingly important sustainable development issue in U.K. The main contribution of this study is to examine how firm ownership structure impacts good corporate governance and CSR in U.K. during austerity conditions. Following the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the U.K. government introduced austerity conditions which impacted firm CSR activities. From the initial sample of more than 250 firms, 50 consistently remain listed on the FTSE4good index during 2008–2012 and are analysed. The definition of CSR distinguishes voluntary and mandatory CSR construct. Findings indicate Board ownership structure and satisfactory firm performance impact on the level of voluntary CSR. Board ownership results suggest increased institutional and non-CEO shareholdings support a higher level of voluntary CSR engagement, whilst increased CEO shareholdings lead to a lower level of investment in voluntary CSR. In terms of satisfactory firm performance, results suggest positive attainment discrepancy supports a higher level of voluntary CSR, whereas greater potential organisational slack leads to a lower level of voluntary CSR investment. Effective governance and voluntary CSR association is more pronounced under conditions of high attainment discrepancy and low organisational slack. The findings suggest implications for adapting firm decision-making latitude and government policy between austerity and prosperity conditions.     

Aktuelle Entwicklungen bei Umweltindikatorensystemen

The current monitoring of the status of the environment and natural resources is a substantial basis for the implementation of a sustainable development as a model of the environmental policy in the terms of Agenda 21. For the 90s, in particular by the mandate of Rio 1992, both the international institutions (international level), e.g. the OECD, the United Nation Commission of Sustainable Development and the European Environmental Agency, and the environmental protection authorities of the different countries (national level) e.g. Germany, and of the federal states of Germany (regional level) are developing environmental indicator systems. In the context of the Local Agenda 21, indicators for the ecological, economic, social and institutional categories are set up on a communal level. In the environmental indicator systems different issues, e.g. climate change, ozone layer depletion, water quality and water resources, waste, toxic contamination, biodiversity, landscape protection, soil resources, forest resources, etc., are described. Concepts with driving forces, pressure, state, impact and/or response indicators are applied. The German Council of Environmental Advisors (SRU) requires that the selection and aggregation of indicators must be transparent and comprehensibly documented and that the chosen indicators must be oriented at political targets. The following article gives an overview of relevant actual environmental indicator systems, their concepts and structuring, and points to the further research and developmental requirements within this area.     

Worldviews,institutions and sustainability: An introduction to a co-evolutionary perspective

This work analyzes hierarchical and causal relationship between worldview, institutions, technology and economic behaviour under conditions of informational uncertainty.

In our pursuit of sustainable living, institutions function both as constraints and as primary instruments of change of socio-economic behaviour. The process of radical institutional change is contingent upon prior change in the dominant worldview, while its dynamics resembles that of a paradigm change in political and scientific arenas. Therefore, the timely and adaptive outcome of institutional change with respect to global environmental problems remains intrinsically uncertain.     

资源-环境双重约束下的区域生态效率的时序特征——以广西壮族自治区为例

为了探讨资源—环境双重约束下我国生态赤字地区资源环境绩效水平,利用生态脆弱指数和资源环境绩效指数（REPI）对地处珠江三角洲的广西资源环境绩效进行了系统分析和比较研究。结果表明：尽管资源环境绩效水平从2000年的72.4上升为2007年的116.1,但趋势并不明显,资源环境综合绩效水平在全国的第24—26位徘徊。综合绩效指数、SO2排放绩效指数、工业固体废弃物排放绩效指数和生物资源指数呈现＂N＂型变动,水污染指数下呈＂∧＂变动态势,大气污染指数呈现＂W＂型剧烈变动,生态承载力处于超载状态,生态脆弱性趋势没有明显改变。资源消耗和污染物排放的下降态势并不稳定。1995—2007年,广西区域环境水平呈下降趋势,区域环境水平和资源转化效率呈剧烈变动的下降趋势,抗逆水平和生态保护指数有所提高,土地资源指数呈现下降态势,排放强度指数下降明显,生态脆弱指数保持恒定,气候变异指数呈波浪状变动,环境治理指数呈剧烈变动。广西面临生态环境的整体不稳定性和对外力干预敏感性的双重压力。广西应发挥地处泛珠三角的地缘优势和辐射＂东盟＂的区位优势,加大结构调整和制度创新力度,缩短目前资源密集型的发展阶段,改善生态效率和承载力,提升广西在泛珠江三角洲地区的综合竞争力。     

Influence of eco-innovation on Indian manufacturing sector sustainable performance

Manufacturing firms are striving to improve their sustainable performance in order to satisfy multiple stakeholders. Eco-innovation is a promising approach that decreases environmental impact and helps firms to increase their business value. There are several antecedents which help the firms to innovate and improve their triple bottom line performance. Among the antecedents, management and innovative practices are directly related to eco-innovation. It is not well known what practices and innovations help the firms to eco-innovate as well as to improve sustainable performance. Hence, the research objective of this paper is to identify the suitable combination of management and innovative practices that help firms to eco-innovate as well as to achieve overall sustainable performance. The paper develops an eco-innovation conceptual model which relates the management and innovative practices (antecedents) and overall sustainable performance (consequences) of eco-innovation using institutional theory. Using Indian manufacturing sector’s empirical data and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach, this paper determines the effect of eco-innovation’s antecedents and consequences. In the Indian context, this study suggests that the role of management practice is more significant towards eco-innovation than innovative practices. The results reflect practitioners’ view on how to increase innovation rate and to focus more on social aspects. The finding suggests that training on environmental related practices could tackle innovation and social aspects in the Indian manufacturing sector context.     

Institutional deficiencies and capacity building constraints: the dilemma for environmentally sustainable development in Africa

SUMMARY

The authors question Africa's ability to achieve sustainable development in view of the erosion of its institution building capacity, a problem compounded by the alarming rate of Africa's continuing marginalisation in the world economy. The situation has been provoked by inappropriate domestic policies which have not only compromised Africa's competitiveness, but also made it particularly vulnerable given the increasing globalisation of markets and factors of production. The benefits associated with effective global economic participation transcend direct financial gains and include technology transfers, technical and managerial skills transfers, and other skills transfers associated with the ‘learning and doing’ process. These benefits are instrumental in the development of the economic, administrative, legislative and social institutions that prescribe the organisational and managerial structure of an economy and define its capacity for sustainable growth. In Africa, the absence of such structures has undermined development efforts and created large impoverished populations. But poverty in living standards is not only prevalent, there is also the acute poverty in knowledge and skills which is so damaging to institution building capacity. The socio-economic impact is manifest in dilapidated infrastructure, decaying institutions, the exodus of the professional and managerial cadre, and the almost total disintegration of society. It is within this context that Africa's ability to evolve and effectively manage sustainable development policies is questioned. The study concludes that the continent's capacity to initiate sound environmental and sustainable development policies depends crucially on its ability to develop appropriate and functional institutions.     

Mobility in pastoral systems: Dynamic flux or downward trend?

Several interdependent strategies have allowed pastoralists to survive for centuries in patchy and unpredictable low-productivity environments while sustaining their resource base: mobility, diversity, flexibility, reciprocity and reserves. Recent decades have witnessed curtailed mobility due to agricultural expansion into rangelands, the establishment and enforcement of political and administrative boundaries, the usurpation of local institutional control and disruption of local practices, increased labour costs, and the development of stationary goods and services. Pastoralists have responded by becoming sedentary, diversifying or intensifying their production strategies, leaving the herding sector, or adapting and transforming their practices and institutions. While these trends may be significant, an historical precedence of ebbs and surges in mobility indicates they may not be new or unidirectional. Emerging political trends and technologies may provide an opportunity for pastoral populations to maintain or increase their mobility in the future, but will the customary pastoral institutions that support sustainable practices still be viable, or will new, viable institutions emerge? These institutions are often subtle, contextual, and norm-based; 'invisible' and easily dismantled or replaced by more authoritarian regimes. There is relatively little understanding of how they work or how to support them. Without them, the trend may be towards open access or privatization.     

Book reviews and notices

The aim of sustainable development is to balance social, economic, and environmental needs. In order to justify the decisions they make, stakeholders must quantify the different impacts found in the operations and developments of companies and/or projects throughout their life cycle. However, as some areas are subjective in nature, the quantification process of the different impacts and the assessment of sustainable development performance become arduous tasks of development, validation, and application of scientific and empirical methods with the intrinsic objective of finding an agreement among the involved parties (i.e., stakeholders). Several environmental and sustainability assessment tools, instruments, processes, and methodologies have been developed; rating systems stand out and have gained attention and credibility, as demonstrated by the vast number of certified projects around the world and the widely-known usefulness and advantages of their application. The Wa-Pa-Su project sustainability rating system presents an integrated approach to sustainability assessment by integrating three distinctive areas of knowledge: (1) sustainable development theory and fundamentals supports the ultimate goal of the rating system, which is to contribute to sustainability, with the aim of finding a path to balance social, economic, and environmental needs; (2) continual performance improvement becomes essential due to the duration of the projects, as it is critical to allow organizations or projects to improve performance over time; and (3) multi-criteria decision analysis assists with the assessment process through stakeholder engagement and participation, and the design and implementation of a criteria weighting system.     

Assessing aquaculture sustainability: a comparative methodology

Little work dealing with the evaluation of aquaculture system sustainability has so far been undertaken on a global and comparative basis. Moreover, such work is mostly based on very unbalanced approaches in terms of the dimensions of sustainable development that are taken into account. The approach adopted in this article is designed to encompass all the dimensions of sustainability including the institutional one (governance). The taking into account of this latter, in particular, together with the role played by aquaculture in sustainability at the territorial level gives the approach its original and innovative nature. The process of establishing the checklist of sustainability indicators in aquaculture relies on a hierarchical nesting approach which makes it possible to link indicators with general sustainability criteria and principles. At once multidisciplinary and participatory, the approach compares several countries with highly differentiated types of aquaculture system. An original finding from this work is that the technically most intensive farming model scores better than more extensive systems, which might have been thought to be closer to natural systems in their environmental dimension and therefore intuitively more ‘sustainable’. This result suggests relating sustainability outcomes to the level of control and of devolved responsibilities.     

A regional-scale sustainable development index: the case of Baja California Sur,Mexico

Sustainable development, as a multi-dimensional concept, is difficult to measure. Some efforts using indicators and indices have appeared in recent years, but most were developed on a national scale. Use of sustainability indicators has proven valuable for attaining better management of the environment by minimizing information gaps and maximizing community capabilities in terms of economic, social, environmental, and institutional sustainability dimensions. However, at least in the case of developing countries, the potential exists that national sustainability measures, based on national level indicators, may mask problems in sub-national zones with highly unsustainable conditions. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate sustainable development at a local level, the use of which could be helpful in comparing different regions within a country or even among different countries. National sustainability indicators should result from a combination (whether additive or proportional) of regional sustainability indicators, as developed in this paper.     

Effects of glucosinolate and myrosinase levels in Brassica juncea on a glucosinolate-sequestering herbivore – and vice versa

Summary. Larvae of the turnip sawfly, Athalia rosae L. (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae), sequester glucosinolates of their host plants, namely members of the Brassicaceae family, in their haemolymph. Therefore, they need to circumvent myrosinase activities of the plant tissue which normally hydrolyse the glucosinolates after plant damage. Effects of varying levels of glucosinolates and myrosinases on the performance of A. rosae were investigated using homozygous lines of Brassica juncea (L.) with either (1) low glucosinolate (lowGS) and low myrosinase (lowMR), (2) high glucosinolate (highGS) and high myrosinase (highMR), or (3) high glucosinolate (highGS) and low myrosinase (lowMR) levels. To insure that the given quantities remained as constant as possible, newly hatched larvae were enclosed on the second-youngest leaf of a plant, and were offered a new plant of comparable physiological age (6-leaf-stage) every day. The performance of A. rosae was little affected by leaf quality. Body masses of eonymphs and adults were on average lowest on the highGS/highMR-line, but these differences were rarely significant. The pupal developmental times of females and males were longest on the highGS/lowMR-line in only one of two replicate experiments. All other performance traits (developmental times of larvae, egg numbers, adult longevity) were not significantly different. Glucosinolates, sequestered by the larvae, are carried through the pupal stage. The glucosinolate concentration measured in adult insects reflected the level of the host plant line, without showing any obvious costs for sequestration. Obviously, A. rosae is highly tolerant to variation in the glucosinolate-myrosinase system of its host. In addition, induced changes of glucosinolate concentrations and myrosinase activities caused by 24 h-feeding of groups of three small larvae were analysed in the second-youngest leaves. In contrast to the patterns most herbivores evoke on Brassicaceae, namely an increase of both glucosinolate concentration and myrosinase activity, we detected a significant decrease of both traits in all three lines where the respective trait was originally high in the plants. Although glucosinolate levels dropped in the highGS lines about 50%, these still contained higher concentrations than the lowGS line. Whereas the activity of soluble myrosinases remained highest in the highMR line, even after a decrease to almost 30% due to feeding, the levels of insoluble myrosinases converged after feeding in lowMR and highMR lines. Levels of the signalling molecule salicylic acid slightly decreased on average after feeding, whereas jasmonic acid was below the detection threshold in almost all samples. The concentration of several molecules varies strongly in plant tissue with age and can change due to induction by herbivore feeding. Therefore, if performance of an insect species is measured on plants with specific traits, the variability in these traits needs to be carefully controlled in experiments.     

Exploring the role of local community perceptions in sustainability measurements

Measuring sustainability is an integral part of decision-making processes in order to promote sustainable development. The present paper focuses on sustainability indicators as these are measured on local level and explores two main issues: firstly, the subjective measurement of indicators focusing especially on social dimensions of sustainability, secondly, the incorporation of local perceptions in sustainability assessments. These two issues are explored in the Asopos River basin in Greece, an area where significant environmental degradation has been observed in the past decades and is also under financial pressure due to the ongoing national recession. A large-scale research study was conducted measuring environmental, economic and social indicators while, at a second stage, a model was developed, estimating new indicators that incorporate local communities’ perceptions on what they considered as important for their area. The results of the study reveal that the most important indicators for the sustainable development of the area, according to locals’ perceptions, are environmental quality as well as quality of life. By contrast, trust in local and central institutions and also local enterprises were not considered as important by locals. These results illustrate the importance of combining global and national scale assessment with locally focused social measurements of sustainability in order to better understand what is important for local communities prior to embarking on public policy planning.     

Effects of population-related variation in plant primary and secondary metabolites on aboveground and belowground multitrophic interactions

Insects feeding on aboveground and belowground tissues can influence each other through their shared plant and this is often mediated by changes in plant chemistry. We examined the effects of belowground root fly (Delia radicum) herbivory on the performance of an aboveground herbivore (Plutella xylostella) and its endoparasitoid wasp (Cotesia vestalis). Insects were reared on three populations of wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea) plants, exhibiting qualitative and quantitative differences in root and shoot defense chemistry, that had or had not been exposed to root herbivory. In addition, we measured primary (amino acids and sugars) and secondary [glucosinolate (GS)] chemistry in plants exposed to the various plant population-treatment combinations to determine to what extent plant chemistry could explain variation in insect performance variables using multivariate statistics. In general, insect performance was more strongly affected by plant population than by herbivory in the opposite compartment, suggesting that population-related differences in plant quality are larger than those induced by herbivory. Sugar profiles were similar in the three populations and concentrations only changed in damaged tissues. In addition to population-related differences, amino acid concentrations primarily changed locally in response to herbivory. Whether GS concentrations changed in response to herbivory (indole GS) or whether there were only population-related differences (aliphatic GS) depended on GS class. Poor correlations between performance and chemical attributes made biological interpretation of these results difficult. Moreover, trade-offs between life history traits suggest that factors other than food nutritional quality contribute to the expression of life history traits.     

Organizational adoption of sustainable manufacturing practices in India: integrating institutional theory and corporate environmental responsibility

Organizations are increasingly engaging in socially and environmentally sustainable initiatives. This paper focuses on the institutional isomorphism mechanisms to analyse the organizational adoption of sustainable manufacturing practices like eco-design, source reduction, and environmental management practices. This paper empirically examines the role of institutional influence in the organizational adoption of sustainable manufacturing practices among firms in India. The results of this study confirm the significance of the three institutional isomorphism mechanisms in influencing sustainable responses, but not all mechanisms influence the organizational response equally. In particular, the results show a strong influence of self-regulatory normative isomorphism on the implementation.