Sustainable tourism destinations: the importance of cleaner production

“Sustainable tourism destination” is an emerging term used in recognition schemes to promote sustainable development at destinations. This concept, which is still being developed, has the potential to stimulate the implementation of sustainable development through an interdisciplinary, holistic and integrative approach which combines different aspects of existing tools. This article will discuss the following:

• •conceptual definitions for sustainable tourism destinations
• •the need to integrate different approaches and tools for developing sustainable tourism destinations
• •the role which Cleaner Production plays in terms of developing sustainable tourism destinations

Cleaner production has an important role, to ensure that “prevention” is built into the concept of sustainable tourism destinations. It contributes by providing both a general strategy and specific experiences which may enhance other existing tools, concepts and policies. These can be integrated in a synergistic manner to achieve sustainable tourism destinations.     

A systemic approach to incorporate sustainability into university courses and curricula

This article is based on an analysis of Lund University that took place during the summer and autumn of 2004 (available for download at www.iiiee.lu.se, click library and publications). The university had experienced a loss of momentum in their progress regarding environmental issues. The purpose of the study was to identify barriers to including sustainability-related content throughout Lund University curricula, and eventually to develop solutions to eliminate/overcome these barriers. The article describes how Meadows' “Places to intervene in a system” [Meadows D. Leverage points: places to intervene in a system. Hartland, VT, USA: Sustainability Institute; 1999] was used as a tool to systematically discover these barriers. The same intervention places are used as a basis for deriving solutions to eliminate/overcome the barriers. The main conclusions of this article are that Meadows list can be a useful tool to

• a.systematically identify and characterise the barriers towards achieving the organisational objective of incorporating SD into courses and curricula;
• b.identify ways to overcome these barriers;
• c.increase chances that these barriers are addressed with sufficient leverage.

The authors also experienced that the work method described here provides excellent fuel for creativity.     

Ecological knowledge and North Sea environmental policies

In an analysis of North Sea eutrophication science and policies, focusing on the period 1980–2005, it was investigated how scientific information was used in policy-making. The analysis focused on the central assumptions of the rational policy-making model, i.e. that scientific information can be used to formulate decisions, based upon objective scientific information (rational decision-making), and secondly, can support implementing these decisions (rational management). In general terms, the following was concluded:

• •More knowledge has increased rather than reduced uncertainty;
• •In order to handle the problem of dealing with complexity and uncertainty at the political level, a simplification of facts has occurred, in this case focusing on nutrients as the main cause of the problem, at the same time excluding other possible causes;
• •Both the limited scientific view (i.e. the nutrient view) and the exaggeration of the seriousness of the problem (impacts, scope) have been used as an authoritative basis for the justification of political decisions. Both were not supported by the majority of the scientific community;
• •New scientific knowledge, not in support of existing policies, has been excluded from the policy process;
• •The science–policy interface, mainly consisting of “civil-servant scientists”, that emerged and increased its influence over the period of investigation, has been the central element in the simplification and exclusion process.

The main lesson learned is that work at the interface of science and policy must be subject to democratic principles, i.e. be transparent and involving all parties with a stake in the issue under consideration.     

Stakeholder evaluation of sustainable development in the life sciences industry

Corporate sustainable development (CSD) can help to force the life sciences industry (LSI) to move from responsibility towards accountability.In terms of sustainability issues, which currently affect and occupy the LSI and their stakeholders, one could speak of 4 generations:

• •The local side-effects of operations, production, distribution and use.
• •The effects and risks of the used and applied technologies and methods.
• •The affordability and access to essential available treatments and products.
• •The necessity and need for new essential products or treatments for neglected diseases.

In order to make corporations accountable, there have been many efforts in the field of evaluation. These efforts mostly remain very general. The problem is however that the different stakeholders have diverse understandings of the various sustainability issues. The paper proposes a 2-phased stakeholder-oriented evaluation method for evaluating CSD-strategies on specific sustainability issues of the LSI in Basel, Switzerland. During the first phase, corporate commitment is challenged against the stakeholders' expectations. In the second phase, relevant stakeholders evaluate the effective corporate performance against the corporate commitment.The evaluation method was extensively tested with the stakeholders of the LSI in 5 case studies on the 4 issue generations. The method turned out to work and delivered interesting insight into managing sustainability issues.     

Advancing pollution prevention and cleaner production – USA's contribution

In this paper, a brief history is presented of the development of pollution prevention (P2) programs and policies in both the states and by the federal government in the United States. Current trends are then discussed including the evolution of these programs, difficulties maintaining public support and prospects for the future. The 13 papers in this issue are then briefly described. They are grouped in the following four categories:

• •Government initiatives to increase use of P2 strategies and technologies
• •Purchasing initiatives
• •Sector initiatives
• •Program evaluation and measurement

The papers in this issue are representative of much larger activities in each of these categories. Most P2 activity occurs in the states and by the private sector. With the available space it is not possible to adequately represent everything that is going on in all its aspects, including academia. For the future, three grand challenges are described: maintaining public support, competing priorities affecting P2 implementation by businesses, and the challenges of documenting P2 progress.     

Preliminary results from the analysis of metal samples from the National Materials Exposure Programme (NMEP)

As part of a U.K. National Materials Exposure Programme, samples of stone and metals are being exposed at 29 sites for a minimum of 4 years. The sites were chosen to cover a wide range of environmental conditions, climate and topography. Information on meteorological conditions and atmospheric pollutants are being collected from all the sites. Four of the sites also form part of an international programme that is operating concurrently for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).Results are reported from the exposure test on bare mild steel, galvanized steel, painted steel, copper and aluminium. Rates of corrosion in industrial areas are well below those reported for similar sites in 1930–1960, mainly because of the large fall in sulphur dioxide concentrations, and in many cases the scale is becoming increasingly protective. Rates for aluminium are extremely low.The measured mass losses have been fitted to a variety of simple multivariate correlation functions. Work using continuous corrosion monitors suggests (in agreement with the mass-loss data) that:

1. 1.(i) the rate of corrosion of steel is controlled in British conditions mainly by the long-term average sulphur dioxide concentration, and scarcely responds to short-term SO₂ episodes;
2. 2.(ii) nitrogen oxide concentrations have little effect on the rate of corrosion;
3. 3.(iii) the chloride content of rain is not a very important factor for steel corrosion rates except at a few coastal sites.

     

Implementation-oriented and transformative research—Lessons from a project on conservation and sustainable use of forest resources in Ethiopia

This article draws lessons from a seven-year project on conservation and use of remaining coffee forests in the highlands of South-west Ethiopia. The project investigated the genetic diversity of Coffea arabica in its place of origin as well as economic perspectives of quality coffee marketing. With initially broad multidisciplinary natural and social sciences research a basis was laid for a second phase of praxis and implementation-oriented research in the same region.As a key innovative approach an NGO was established to take over all project management and implementation-oriented work in Ethiopia at the beginning of the second phase. This initiative helped decisively to solve the kind of problems identified in RESCUE (2012): ownership of results developed within R&D, the often missing mandate for science to actively contribute to solutions ‘on the ground’, and problems of cultural and social unsuitability and misunderstanding, which often are at the core of the problem when solutions from scientists are expected.The NGO operated as an intermediary between the involved scientists and other stakeholders from the coffee industry as well as from public administration and the Ethiopian polity. Its overall target was to contribute toward establishment of a biosphere reserve following the UNESCO MAB scheme and to use this scheme for the conservation and use of the remaining Ethiopian coffee forests. This target was achieved: the biosphere reserve has been accepted and accredited by UNESCO and is in operation. In addition, quality coffee from the development zones of the biosphere reserve is being sold on local markets in Yayu, SW Ethiopia.There are important lessons for the future of transdisciplinary and transformative sustainability science that can be drawn from this experience. These lessons concern concrete challenges and chances of research and development geared toward sustainable development:

• •Working with implementation-targets as project organizing elements,
• •communication and transfer of responsibility to involved stakeholders,
• •challenges for praxis-oriented syntheses from research results,
• •practical challenges of management and coordination for transdisciplinary projects, as well as.
• •chances for long-term sustainability and use of research and implementation work.

These lessons are described in this article with the overall intention to draw conclusions and to make them more widely available for scientists and project coordinators working in transdisciplinary projects that aim to contribute toward (more) sustainable development.     

Wavering between radical and realistic sustainable consumption policies: in search for the best feasible trajectories

In this article radical change in the context of sustainable development is seen as a long-term process in which steady progress in the right direction is regarded as more essential than quick success. The author argues that pressing for swift radical changes bears a serious risk of becoming counter productive, because:

• pressing for rapid change is often wasteful and may prevent the best possible ways of exploitation of innovations;

• rapid change over a wide front of applications and sectors is usually impossible;

• pressing for rapid changes usually encounters strong opposition from interest groups, thereby risking to get bogged down in acceptability discourses.

Transition management, such as for a transition towards sustainable consumption seems often to presuppose the need for radical changes. Even though the embedding function of transition management is a helpful concept and tool for sustainable consumption strategies, the lack or the negligence of the role of objective functions is a disturbing feature of transition management theories. All in all, the need for radical change should emerge as the transition process unfolds. There is no good scientific reason for a priori claims for radical changes as a kind of new dogma.     

The relative contributions to the greenhouse effect from the use of different fuels

An attempt has been made to assess factors that indicate how various fuels affect the climate. In these factors emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are weighed together with reference to the direct and indirect effects of these gases on the long wave radiation absorption.The analysis is dependent on the time period that is to be studied. We have carried out calculations both on the basis of the coming 50-year period and on the basis of a period where the greenhouse effect is summed up after the total lifetime of the gases in the atmosphere, i.e. more than 400 years.The analyses show that the results become different according to the time period considered.The uncertainties in the calculations are due to the following:

• •the indirect effects of methane emissions, i.e. ozone formation, are difficult to assess;
• •knowledge about the emissions of methane and nitrous oxide is incomplete;
• •any other secondary effects such as emissions of carbon monoxide and other organic substances, natural and anthropogenic, may be of significance.

In addition, light should be shed on whether the results change significantly if account is also taken of the effects of the gases on the stratosphere, i.e. the depletion of the ozone layer.     

Emissions of perchloroethylene from dry cleaned fabrics

A study was conducted to evaluate the emissions of perchloroethylene (tetrachloroethylene) from dry cleaned fabrics to determine: (a) how the introduction of fresh dry cleaning into a home affects the indoor concentration of perchloroethylene, and (b) the effectiveness of ‘airing out’ dry cleaned clothes in reducing perchloroethylene emissions. Small chamber tests were conducted to determine perchloroethylene emission characteristics for three fabrics at several air exchange rates. Test house studies were conducted to determine the indoor concentration of perchloroethylene due to the placement of dry cleaned clothing in the house. Based on the study results, and assuming that test conditions were representative of normal dry cleaning and consumer practices, the following conclusions were reached.

• (1)Emissions from freshly dry cleaned clothing cause elevated levels of perchloroethylene in residences.
• (2)For the three fabrics tested, ‘airing out’ of dry cleaned clothing by consumers for short time periods (4–8 h) will not be effective in reducing perchloroethylene emissions.
• (3)Adsorptive surfaces (i.e. sinks) in residences may have a major impact on consumer exposure to perchloroethylene.

It is emphasized that these conclusions are based on the results of the study reported. Significant variations in dry cleaning practices and/or in the mix of fabrics and clothing being cleaned could provide different results and conclusions.     

Emission reductions to meet deposition criteria

The paper assumes Governments are willing and able to reduce national emissions of pollution to protect the environment. Sulphur dioxide is examined as an important example. Although not necessarily true at the present time, it further assumes:

• 1.(i) that the cost of reducing these emissions from different industries (and other source types) are known, and that these costs include the secondary consequences of emission control (for example, possible resulting unemployment);
• 2.(ii) that maximum deposition criteria (mdc) have been established on some appropriate grid (above which undesirable environmental damage will occur) and that in some gridsquares these mdc are currently being exceeded; and
• 3.(iii) that priorities for reducing the deposition may be ascribed for each gridsquare. The highest priority may reflect concern over excessive levels of heavy metals in drinking water drawn from wells used by remote homesteads, for example. Gridsquares where more gradual, and hopefully reversible, damage is taking place would be given a rather lower priority.

The paper seeks to establish maximum levels of emission in each gridsquare which will result in depositions nowhere exceeding the mdc (on the scale of a gridsquare). It also offers a means of selecting an optimum staged reduction strategy whereby emissions are reduced gradually towards the ultimate maximum levels, and at each stage of the reduction, gives the maximum benefit for the capital outlay consistent with the priorities and costs outlined above.The paper utilizes a very simple analytical model of the deposition field resulting from a single emission. The model is tuned to give the best comparison with the 1985 sulphur deposition field obtained using the much more complex EMEP MSC-W Lagrangian model used operationally for acid-rain analyses in Europe.     

Variation of concentration of ambient aerosols in Tokyo

The number concentration of aerosol particles dispersed in the urban atmosphere was measured at Kagurazaka in central Tokyo from January 1980 to December 1987.Aitken particle number concentrations were measured with a Pollak condensation nuclei counter and a diffusion battery. The characteristic radius was deduced, using the DeMarcus equation, from the measured concentrations. Mie particle number concentrations ranging from 0.055 to 2.5 μm in radius were measured with two optical particle counters. Slope and intercept of the Junge distribution were calculated for particles > 0.15 μm. The main results are as follows.

• 1.(1) For these 8 yr, there are no long-term trends in the particle number concentrations, characteristic radius, and slope and intercept of the Junge distribution.
• 2.(2) Aitken particle number concentrations show regular seasonal variations, with a maximum during winter and a minimum during summer. They also show regular diurnal variations, with an increase during daytime and a minimum in the early morning. Detailed discussions suggest that these variations are affected by anthropogenic sources and meteorological conditions.
• 3.(3) Mie particle number concentrations show neither a clear seasonal nor diurnal variation. The variations are strongly dependent on meteorological conditions. Our careful analysis shows that wind speed is most important of the meteorological elements. Mie particle number concentrations decrease as wind speed increases, often by as much as two-thirds. This effect was observed for all wind directions.

     

Aerosol formation and growth in atmospheric organic/NOχ systems—I. Outdoor smog chamber studies of C7- and C8-hydrocarbons

Outdoor smog chamber experiments have been performed to determine the aerosol-forming potential of selected C₇- and C₈-hydrocarbons in sunlight-irradiated hydrocarbon-NO_χ mixtures. Measured aerosol size distributions were used to determine the rates of gas-to-particle conversion and to study the effects of the addition of SO₂ and/or NH₃ on aerosol formation and growth. The average aerosol yields by mass for the hydrocarbons studied were (the range of measured values for methylcyclohexane and 1-octene are in parentheses):

• •methylcyclohexane 9.2% (0.12–18.8);
• •1-octene 4.2% (0.17–6.9);
• •toluene 18.6%;
• •n-octane <0.001%.

The average yields are accompanied by large standard deviations (see Table 3) and depended strongly on the conditions, particularly the hydrocarbon to NO_χ initial concentration ratio. Addition of SO₂ to the organic/NO_χ systems led to an early nucleation burst and subsequent rapid growth of the newly formed aerosol. In the presence of NH₃, the gas-to-particle conversion rate of the organic/NO_χ system was enhanced perhaps due to the formation of NH₄NO₃ or the reaction of NH₃ with carboxylic acids. Sustained particle formation was observed when both SO₂ and NH₃ were present, presumably as a result of (NH₄)₂SO₄ formation. We have estimated the complexity of the 1-octene aerosol and identified 5-propyl furanone as a component of the aerosol.     

Levels of airborne man-made mineral fibres in U.K. dwellings. II—Fibre levels during and after some disturbance of loft insulation

In this study airborne levels of MMMF were determined in 11 dwellings during and after disturbance of loft insulation. The disturbance was in two stages.

• 1.(a) Minor disturbance. Household items (such as suitcases) stored in the lofts were moved around for about 10 min. The disturbance to the insulation material was kept to a minimum.
• 2.(b) Major disturbance. Insulation wools were physically handled for about 30 min, simulating the disturbance associated with activities such as rewiring or plumbing.

About 250 samples of air were collected on membrane filters and analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in conjunction with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. A few selected samples were analyzed by phase contrast optical microscopy (PCOM). During physical disturbance of the insulation, fibre levels in lofts measured over a 4-h period were up to 0.03 f ml⁻¹. Personal exposure during the disturbance activity was up to 0.2 f ml⁻¹. Contamination of the living space was not detected even though the access door to the loft remained open throughout the disturbance and sampling period.     

Recent Trends in Residential Energy Use in OECD Countries and their Impact on Carbon Dioxide Emissions: A Comparative Analysis of the Period 1973–1992

In the late 1970s and for most of the 1980s, residential energy use in the OECD underwent significant changes. Many of these changes were a result of more efficient energy use in response to higher energy prices, energy efficiency programs, and the appearance of new technologies for saving energy. This study analyzes these changes and the impact of energy use on carbon emissions in the residential sector for nine OECD countries for the period from 1973 to 1992. The major findings of this analysis are:

1. CO₂ emissions per capita were lower in 1992 in almost all of the countries we studied;
2. The two primary changes were improvements in energy efficiency and a decrease in the share of fossil fuels used for electricity and district heating production;
3. The main source of growth in emissions from residential energy use was increased ownership of electric appliances, where, in spite of important improvements in energy efficiency, ownership grew so rapidly that electricity use (and subsequent emissions) increased;
4. Changes in fuel mix, including both the changes in the share of fuels used in households and the share of fuels used to generate electricity and district heating, led to a decrease in emissions in the nine countries;
5. Increasing the efficiency of electric appliances and further reductions in the intensity of space heating are probably the key elements in a strategy to improve efficiency as a means to lowering CO₂ emissions.

     

Antarktische Meteorite

During the recent years more than 5000 meteorites have been collected in the Antarctic. They are mainly found on the surface of blue ice fields close to the Allan Hills and the Yamato Mountains. Taking into account all available analytical data of these meteorites and considering observations in the field the large number of meteorites found at the Allan Hills site can be explained by several specific circumstances:

1. On the bare ice fields in Antarctica meteorites with diameter less than 1 cm are easily detected.
2. The weathering of meteorites under the climatic conditions of Antarctica is very small. Therefore, higher densities of meteorites can build up on the surface of ice fields with no snow accumulation.
3. Concentration mechanisms due to ice movement and ablation of the ice are active. However, for the Allan Hills sampling site the collection of meteorites fallen on much larger areas is of less importance.

     

Temporary Carbon Sequestration Cannot Prevent Climate Change

Storing carbon in biosphere sinks can reduce atmospheric CO₂ concentrations in the short term. However, this lowers the concentration gradient between the atmosphere and the oceans and other potential carbon reservoirs, and consequently reduces the rate of CO₂ removal from the atmosphere. If carbon is released again from that temporary storage, subsequent atmospheric CO₂ concentrations will, therefore, be higher than without temporary carbon storage. It is thus important to analyse whether temporary carbon storage in biosphere sinks can mitigate climate-change impacts. To analyse that, climate-change impacts need to be quantified explicitly. Impacts can be quantified:

1. as the instantaneous effect of increased temperature
2. through the rate of temperature increase
3. as the cumulative effect of increased temperatures.

The analysis presented here shows that temporary carbon storage only reduces climate-change impacts related to the cumulative effect of increased temperature and could even worsen impacts mediated via the instantaneous effect of temperature or the rate of temperature change. This applies under both high and low greenhouse-gas emission scenarios. Because temporary carbon storage improves some, but worsens other, climate-change impacts, it achieves very little on average. For greenhouse mitigation, it is, therefore, not warranted to provide policy incentives for temporary carbon storage.     

The phylogeny of archaebacteria,including novel anaerobic thermoacidophiles in the light of RNA polymerase structure

DNA-dependent RNA polymerases of archaebacteria are distinct from those of eubacteria both in structure and in function. They show similarities to those of the eukaryotic cytoplasm. Extremely thermophilic anaerobic sulfur-respiring archaebacteria isolated from solfataric waters represent four different families, the Thermoproteaceae, the “stiff filaments”, the Desulfurococcaceae and the Thermococcaceae, of a novel order, Thermoproteales. Together with the Sulfolobales, they form the second branch of the urkingdom of the archaebacteria besides that of the methanogens and extreme halophiles. Thermoplasma appears isolated.     

The Hirudo medicinalis species complex

Recently, Hildebrandt and Lemke (Naturwissenschaften 98:995–1008, 2011) argued that the taxonomic status of the three European medicinal leeches, Hirudo medicinalis Linnaeus 1758, Hirudo verbana Carena 1820, and Hirudo orientalis Utevsky and Trontelj (Parasitol Res 98:61?66, 2005) is “questionable” since “all three species interbreed in the laboratory”. This statement is in conflict with data published by Elliott and Kutschera (Freshwater Reviews 4:21?41, 2011), indicating that these leeches, which are reciprocally copulating hermaphrodites, represent reproductively isolated biospecies. Here, I summarize evidence indicating that these three European taxa, plus the North African “dragon leech” (Hirudo troctina Johnson 1816), must be interpreted as a complex of closely related species, and that the economically most important taxon H. verbana is polymorphic.