共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 31 毫秒
1.
As the societal benefits associated with transitioning to more sustainable, less fossil fuel-reliant energy systems are increasingly recognized by communities throughout the world, the potential of creating ‘green jobs’ within a ‘green economy’ is attracting much attention. Green energy clusters are increasingly promoted throughout the world as a strategy to simultaneously promote economic vitality and stimulate a sustainable energy transition. In spite of their emerging role in regional-scale sustainability planning efforts, such initiatives have not been considered within the sustainability transitions literature. This paper explores the development of one such regional sustainable energy cluster initiative in Central Massachusetts in Northeastern USA to consider the potential for such cluster initiatives to contribute to socio-technical transition in the energy system. Since 2008, a diverse set of stakeholders in Central Massachusetts, including politicians, universities, businesses, local citizens, and activists, have been working toward facilitating the emergence of an integrated cluster of activity focused on sustainable energy. Through interviews with key actors, participant observation, and document review, this research assesses the potential of this cluster initiative to contribute to a regional socio-technical transition. The empirical details of this case demonstrate that sustainable energy cluster initiatives can potentially accelerate change in entrenched energy regimes by promoting institutional thickness, generating regional ‘buzz’ around sustainable energy activities, and building trust between multiple and diverse stakeholders in the region. This research also contributes to emerging efforts to better ground socio-technical transitions in geographic space. 相似文献
2.
This paper presents a theoretical framework that can be used to discuss the question of how context, time and different participatory
process designs influence the results of participatory monitoring projects in terms of concrete outputs (such as sustainability
indicators) and the more intangible social outcomes (such as learning and stakeholder relations). We will discuss and compare
four different cases of participatory monitoring of provincial sustainable development in the Netherlands. The results show
sustainability issues selected by the stakeholders reflect the socio-economic and ecological structural characteristics of
their region. In a different context, stakeholders not only assign different weights to the same set of issues, but more importantly
they select a completely different set of regional aims altogether. Since these regional structural characteristics only change
slowly over time, the influence of time on stakeholder preferences is shown to be only of minor importance. However, the dissipation
of learning effects is shown to be a fundamental challenge for the cyclical nature of participatory monitoring, especially
when its goal is shared agenda building. Another important conclusion is that, in the design of participatory processes, more
attention should be devoted to providing stakeholders with the opportunity to comment on an ‘intermediate’ product. 相似文献
3.
Tanzi Smith 《Environment, Development and Sustainability》2011,13(1):1-17
Throughout the development sector, there is increasing recognition of links between the environment and aspects of development
such as poverty alleviation, health, income generation, and agriculture. While furnished with a diverse range of perspectives
and approaches, development practice is in need of ways to better conceptualize the interactions between the social, environmental,
and economic dimensions of sustainability so that opportunities for simultaneous improvement in human and ecological well-being
can be identified more readily. Critical systems thinking is proposed as a way for development practitioners to conceptualize
and act toward the integration of these economic, social, and environmental dimensions and, in so doing, support communities
to nurture both human and ecosystem well-being. Four desirable attributes of a critical systems thinking approach to development
are identified based on development literature, critical systems literature, and the author’s research into sustainability
in semi-rural communities in Vietnam. The four attributes are ‘a systems thinking approach;’ ‘an ethical base to action and
choices;’ ‘critical reflection permeates processes;’ and ‘appreciation of diverse views and application of diverse approaches.’
These attributes are described and then offered as the basis for further discussion of the ways in which simultaneous improvement
of human well-being and ecosystem health can become an integral part of development practice. 相似文献
4.
Culture as trigger for sustainability transition in the water domain: the case of the Spanish water policy and the Ebro river basin 总被引:2,自引:2,他引:0
There is a mounting body of literature dealing generally with the dynamics of transitions of human systems towards sustainability
and specifically with the different stages and processes of transitions. However, the question of why transition processes
occur in the first place remains largely unexplained. This paper explores the concept of transition triggers, such as culture
or material resource scarcity, and provides a theoretical framework to explain the emergence of a transition and its relation
to recent developments in Spanish water policy. We adapt the general framework provided by current transition theory and gather
empirical evidence and insights from processes occurring within the Spanish policy context and the Ebro river basin in particular.
Our results show that the sole existence of biophysical limits to water use or development cannot explain the start of a possible
sustainability transition in this domain in Spain. Changes in the existing water policies in the direction of sustainability
were not ignited by people directly affected by water scarcities but by a coalition of sensitive agents, mostly from academia,
NGOs and local constituencies, who managed to articulate new identities, integrate multiple sources of policy relevant knowledge,
and develop new values under the umbrella of the new water culture movement.
相似文献
Akgun IlhanEmail: |
5.
The science of sustainability has inevitably emerged as a vibrant field of research and education that transcends disciplinary
boundaries and focuses increasingly on understanding the dynamics of social-ecological systems (SES). Yet, sustainability
remains an elusive concept, and its nature seems unclear for the most part. In order to truly mobilize people and nations
towards sustainability, we place emphasis on the necessity of understanding the nature, cost and principles of ‘visioneering’—the
engineering of a clear vision. In SES, purpose is the most important pillar, which gives birth to vision—the key to fulfilling
the systems’ mission. Such a systems perspective leads us to redefine resilience as jumping back to the original purpose,
for which SES do not necessarily retain the same structures and functioning after disturbances. A sustainable future will
require purpose-driven transformation of society at all scales, guided by the best foresight, with insight based on hindsight
that science can provide. Visioneering with resilience-based systems thinking will provide communities with a logical framework
for understanding their interconnections and purposes, envisioning a sustainable web of life, and eventually dancing with
the systems. 相似文献
6.
Yosef Jabareen 《Environment, Development and Sustainability》2008,10(2):179-192
A critical review of the multidisciplinary literature on sustainable development reveals a lack of a comprehensive theoretical
framework for understanding sustainable development and its complexities. A critical review shows that the definitions of
sustainable development are vague; there is a lack of operative definitions and disagreement over what should be sustained;
the concept is unclear in terms of emotional commitment; and it “remains a confused topic”, “fraught with contradictions”.
This article aims to theoretically synthesize the interdisciplinary literature on sustainable development, and then identify
the results by broad categories. Therefore, this article uses conceptual analysis, which reviews multidisciplinary literature
on sustainable development, which recognizes patterns and similarities within the literature, then it synthesizes the patterns
to different categories and independent concepts, where each concept has distinctive meanings and represents close ideas on
sustainability. The analytical process elaborates seven concepts that together assemble the theoretical framework of ‘sustainable
development’ and each concept represents distinctive meanings of the theoretical framework. 相似文献
7.
Jayanath Ananda George Domazetis John Hill 《Environment, Development and Sustainability》2009,11(5):1051-1071
A ‘roadmap’ has been devised for a progressive greening of the Australian chemical industry over the next two decades. The
roadmap is based on a set of interactive principles broadly termed ‘economic’, ‘social’, ‘technological’, ‘environmental’
and ‘political’, which collectively form the ‘drivers of change’ in chemical industry strategy/business/policy planning—leading
to greater efficiency and economic sustainability of this industry. The proposed roadmap pre-supposes that real economic,
societal and environmental benefits can be obtained through greater use of existing and emerging green chemical technology.
It can play an important role in developing a sustainable chemical industry in Australia. Primarily, the proposed roadmap
involves a paradigm shift of the business operating plan and a significant mindset change of management. 相似文献
8.
Conceptualising climate change in rural Australia: community perceptions, attitudes and (in)actions 总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2
Public engagement and support is essential for ensuring adaptation to climate change. The first step in achieving engagement
is documenting how the general public currently perceive and understand climate change issues, specifically the importance
they place on this global problem and identifying any unique challenges for individual communities. For rural communities,
which rely heavily on local agriculture industries, climate change brings both potential impacts and opportunities. Yet, to
date, our knowledge about how rural residents conceptualise climate change is limited. Thus, this research explores how the
broader rural community—not only farmers—conceptualises climate change and responsive activities, focussing on documenting
the understandings and risk perceptions of local residents from two small Australian rural communities. Twenty-three semi-structured
interviews were conducted in communities in the Eden/Gippsland region on the border of New South Wales and Victoria and the
north-east of Tasmania. There are conflicting views on how climate change is conceptualised, the degree of concern and need
for action, the role of local industry, who will ‘win’ and ‘lose’, and the willingness of rural communities to adapt. In particular,
residents who believed in anthropogenic or human-induced factors described the changing climate as evidence of ‘climate change’,
whereas those who were more sceptical termed it ‘weather variability’, suggesting that there is a divide in rural Australia
that, unless urgently addressed, will hinder local and national policy responses to this global issue. Engaging these communities
in the twenty-first-century climate change debate will require a significant change in terminology and communication strategies. 相似文献
9.
Creating a “values” chain for sustainable development in developing nations: where Maslow meets Porter 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Philip R. Walsh 《Environment, Development and Sustainability》2011,13(4):789-805
This paper serves to establish an appropriate framework for prioritizing policy related to sustainable development by combining
elements of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory with Porter’s value chain theory. An appropriate balance of social sustainability,
economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability is defined so that policy makers may be provided some direction
in regard to appropriate and socially just resource priorities. The model that forms the basis for this framework is then
tested through hierarchal regression analysis using data from 45 developing countries. Using these results, the values chain
framework has been refined to consider that self-actualization and sustainable development are one and the same and that the
satisfaction of society’s physiological needs through the prioritization of policies related to environmental sustainability
is the principle motivator for moving on to the attainment of higher-order needs such as increased levels of sustainable development. 相似文献
10.
Thaddeus R. Miller Arnim Wiek Daniel Sarewitz John Robinson Lennart Olsson David Kriebel Derk Loorbach 《Sustainability Science》2014,9(2):239-246
Over the last decade, sustainability science has been at the leading edge of widespread efforts from the social and natural sciences to produce use-inspired research. Yet, how knowledge generated by sustainability science and allied fields will contribute to transitions toward sustainability remains a critical theoretical and empirical question for basic and applied research. This article explores the limitations of sustainability science research to move the field beyond the analysis of problems in coupled systems to interrogate the social, political and technological dimensions of linking knowledge and action. Over the next decade, sustainability science can strengthen its empirical, theoretical and practical contributions by developing along four research pathways focused on the role of values in science and decision-making for sustainability: how communities at various scales envision and pursue sustainable futures; how socio-technical change can be fostered at multiple scales; the promotion of social and institutional learning for sustainable development. 相似文献
11.
Marisa Casale Scott Drimie Timothy Quinlan Gina Ziervogel 《Regional Environmental Change》2010,10(2):157-168
Within southern Africa, many households are facing increasing pressures as they deal with multiple challenges such as low
employment, high levels of disease, environmental resources under pressure and changing political landscapes. To respond to
the needs of different individuals and households, it is important to define the nature of their vulnerability. An increasing
amount of theoretical and empirical work on the concept of ‘vulnerability’ has led to a range of definitions, indicators and
measurement tools, which have come to characterise this field of study. As a result, there is no one general consensus. This
paper presents the results from the latest in a series of applied studies conducted since 2004 by a network of scientists
working in southern Africa, aimed at refining the definition and application of the concept of vulnerability. The study employed
a recently developed multiple-stressor model to guide the collection and analysis of data from three sites in South Africa
and Malawi. In this paper, we identify and explore five key ‘symptoms’ of vulnerability emerging from our multi-country data
and reflect on the usefulness of the model employed. 相似文献
12.
The need for environmental and urban planning reached a critical point in the year 2007, when one-half of the world's population
could be defined as living in cities. Urbanisation in India is also increasing at a fast rate. Urban chaos in India, emanating
from the continuous ignorance of fragile ecosystems, calls for the reshaping of existing cities as ‘eco-cities’. The ‘eco-city’—a
well-known concept in the western world—is new to the Indian context. While western connotations of eco-cities should not
be discarded outright in the context of India, core concerns vary significantly for obvious reasons. Recognising two facts—firstly,
eco-city development is altogether a fresh approach to human settlement development in India, and, secondly, the manifold
increase in the vulnerability of cities—this paper discusses documented good practice, reinforcing evolution towards the eco-city
vision. Lessons drawn from the examples cited are further deconstructed in the light of their contribution to urban risk reduction,
which provides direction to appreciating the ‘disaster-resilient eco-community’ concept in Puri, a coastal city in India.
Further, this paper attempts to unravel existing community-based practices in Puri, which are boon to the local environment
and invariably reduce disaster risk. These seemingly modest neighbourhood initiatives symbolise immense societal wealth, which
can be calibrated appropriately for reducing urban environmental risk as well. This paper also illustrates how a ‘disaster
resilient eco-community’ approach is inevitable in the present and future contexts not only to preserve sustainable development
gains but also to secure human well-being. 相似文献
13.
Sustainable development (SD) is generally recognised as having three dimensions, ecological, economic and social. Yet, its
implementation is burdened with resistance and conflict rooted in the short-term ‘business as usual’ development model, opposed
to the long-term sustainable benefit of local communities. Hence, the development of strategies to implement SD projects may
require further differentiation of these dimensions in relation to the contextual situation in which the project resides.
In two studies of SD projects on the Croatian islands, we identify five interlocking spheres of importance, Spiritual, Political,
Economic, Educational and Health, in addition to Ecological. Each of these spheres is accessible through gate-keepers, individuals
or a group of people who have the authority over the sector and as such, significantly influence public opinion. We suggest
that in this particular island context the sustainability of these projects may lie with those gate-keepers. Hence, initiating
and maintaining SD projects in these contexts requires a structured and targeted lobbying of these gate-keepers. 相似文献
14.
M. S. Suneetha 《Sustainability Science》2010,5(1):79-87
Biodiversity is acknowledged as one of the most important resources that helps to sustain life’s processes. Additionally,
it is also one of the most important sources of livelihood for different kinds of stakeholders at various levels of resource
markets—local, domestic, or international. With globalization and increasing sophistication in the methods of commercial trade
in biological resources, various issues arise related to the sustenance of resources, of ecological balances, and equity in
transactions. All of these are concerns to be addressed to achieve a state of ‘sustainability.’ This paper prescribes to the
definition of ‘sustainability’ as the capacity to maintain a certain process or state for “improving the quality of human
life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems” (IUCN/UNEP/WWF, in Caring for the Earth: a strategy
for sustainable living. Gland, Switzerland, 1991). This goes beyond ensuring inter- and intragenerational equity in access
to resources and includes several other parameters, including equity among stakeholders to returns from biological resources,
related knowledge, trade-offs, and ethical business practices related to these resources. Through the prism of an examination
of a simplistic supply route(s) and value addition chain of biodiversity resources for commercial use, this paper reviews
and highlights issues related to ‘sustainability’ at each stage. Evidence points to shortcomings in the sustainable use of
biological resources at each stage of value addition, calling for focused and specific measures to address them. 相似文献
15.
Ashley A. Webb 《Environment, Development and Sustainability》2012,14(2):233-252
In the south-east of New South Wales, Australia, forested catchments are largely relied upon to provide high-quality surface
water at low cost to small regional communities. The forests in question are used for multiple purposes including timber production,
which can result in conflicts and debate regarding the sustainability of timber and water resources being co-developed. A
case study is examined where a logging operation will occur on 3.5% of the Myrtle Creek catchment that is used to supply water
to the small township of Wyndham. Modelling based on the water yield response of eucalypt forests to disturbance predicts
that during the first four years post-harvest, total streamflows will be increased under the ‘2010 logging’ scenario, with
a maximum increase of 2.6% within the first two years. Streamflows will then likely decrease compared to the ‘no logging’
scenario and will continue to do so until regrowth reaches 28 years of age with a maximum 1.4% decrease predicted. Streamflows
under both scenarios will continue to increase over time as water yield has been suppressed by forest regeneration following
extensive wildfires and logging that occurred from the 1960s to 1980s. It is concluded that timber harvesting, if limited
spatially and temporally, can occur without compromising catchment values and may contribute to improved forest heterogeneity
and resilience. However, in the face of a changing climate and an increased likelihood of catastrophic high intensity wildfires,
the future sustainability of undercapitalised small town water supplies reliant on a single water source is questionable. 相似文献
16.
Vinish Kathuria 《Environment, Development and Sustainability》2009,11(5):955-970
The failure of formal regulation and market-based approaches to control pollution has highlighted the significance of informal
regulation in the form of ‘public disclosure’ and ‘rating’ for achieving environmental goals in the nineties. In developing
countries where pollution information is often scarce, disclosure can make a firm’s emissions more costly. This is because
it increases penalties from regulators, local communities, consumer organizations and factor markets. Public or information
disclosure combines conventional environmental monitoring, self-regulation and public pressure using environmental ratings
to promote better environmental management. Thus, it forms an effective tool to control pollution in developing countries
like India, China or Kenya and countries-in-transition like Poland, Russia, etc. The different examples given in the paper
indicate that effective public disclosure requires a credible scheme with scrutiny at different checkpoints similar to the
one used for PROPER in Indonesia or GRP in India. 相似文献
17.
Urbanization and sustainability: challenges and strategies for sustainable urban development in Bangladesh 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Md. Masud Parves Rana 《Environment, Development and Sustainability》2011,13(1):237-256
Like other developing countries, urbanization in Bangladesh is a growing phenomenon, which is steady in nature but fretfully
affects urban sustainability in the wake of lacking in good governance. Despite urban authorities are concerned about this
issue, they often fail to address the problems due to the fact of uncontrollable and unpredictable rural to urban migration,
and negligence of urban poor’s sustainable living and access to basic services. Virtually the rural poverty problem has been
transposed to urban areas, particularly in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Inadequacy of infrastructural services, basic amenities
and environmental goods; environmental degradation; traffic jam and accidents; violence and socioeconomic insecurity are the
major challenges which are created through rapid urbanization. This paper provides a general understanding of urbanization
in Bangladesh and tries to embrace related sustainability issues and challenges hindrance to sustainable urban development
in Dhaka city. In addition, it presents a brief case study of water supply in Dhaka city which introduces an issue of ‘system
hijack’. The paper concludes providing some strategies that might be helpful to the policy makers in formulating development
policies for sustainable urban services. 相似文献
18.
The scientific field of impact assessment encompasses various ‘traditions’, each reflecting a set of particular policy objectives.
This paper analyses two types of impact assessment. Regulatory impact analysis focuses on better regulation and competitiveness,
while sustainability assessment fosters a holistic approach centred on the values of sustainable development. Through an analysis
of the political discourses at the level of the European Union and at the sub-national level of the Flemish Region of Belgium,
elements of convergence between the better regulation and sustainable development discourse are identified. The paper analyses
how integrated impact assessment can be an integrative tool that allows to merge both discourses and to implement them in
day-to-day decision-making. The potential of the existing Flemish regulatory impact analysis framework to be the starting
point of an integrated assessment scheme for sustainable development is advocated and motivated. 相似文献
19.
The paper discusses the role of visions within sustainability assessment and governance for sustainable development in Europe.
Currently, our societies (still) develop along an unsustainable path, which results in a number of persistent problems (climate
change, loss of biodiversity, poverty, etc.). Integrated sustainability assessment (ISA) is one approach designed to initiate
transitions towards sustainability. Visions of a sustainable future form an important part of ISA. These visions support the
process of discussing how the transition from today’s societies/systems to a sustainable future can be achieved. According
to the principles of ISA, visions should be developed in a participatory way, thus including the ideas and perceptions of
stakeholders, decision-makers, experts and/or citizens. The paper starts with an introduction of the concepts of visions and
scenarios and describes exemplary methods for their participatory development. Then, the main concepts for integrated sustainability
assessment in comparison with other impact assessments are discussed. The main body of the paper presents experiences in three
projects (ARTEMIS, ALARM, ECOCHANGE) in which visions and scenarios of sustainable futures were developed with stakeholders.
The paper concludes with lessons learned and suggestions for future applications for participatory scenario development. 相似文献
20.
Stefan Hellstrand 《Environment, Development and Sustainability》2006,8(3):351-373
The concept of sustainable development is forcing standard economic analysis to acknowledge and address the existence of dimensions
of performance, which are not reducible to monetary accounting. In particular, the implementation of this concept in practice
requires: (a) the simultaneous handling of indicators developed in different disciplinary fields; and (b) an approach more
related to the procedures adopted by consultants (Participatory Integrated Analysis), rather than theoretical academic analysis
looking for ‘the’ optimal solution. The case study considered in this paper is a multi-criteria analysis of changes, which
occurred in the Swedish milk production sector for the period 1989–1999. Multi-criteria impact matrices and multi-criteria
representations are used to provide a transparent method of integrated analysis. Changes are characterized and quantified
in a way that makes it possible to relate the impact of existing trends in relation to different sub-objectives (variation
in performance in relation to social, economic and ecological indicators). The results of this analysis confirm a few well
known predicaments of sustainability associated with agriculture. The growth of Sweden economy is driving a major increase
in material throughputs within its agricultural sector. The need of increasing agricultural throughput (especially labour
productivity) has moved the Swedish dairy sector in a clear situation of decreasing marginal return ( = large increases in
inputs are not reflected in a proportional increase in output). Therefore, sound policies of development of this sector aimed
at increasing the goal of sustainability have to be developed by considering several indicators of performance, and not only
economic variables. 相似文献