Tools and concepts for sustainable development,how do they relate to a general framework for sustainable development,and to each other?

We present a general framework to plan for sustainability and then relate it to some well-known tools for sustainable development. This framework follows from principles for how a system is constituted (ecological and social principles), and contains principles for a favorable outcome for the system (sustainability), as well as principles for the process to reach this outcome (sustainable development). The principles for sustainability define the favorable outcome and direct problem-solving upstream towards problemsources. A program of activities is then constructed by backcasting from defined outcomes to the current problems. This is followed by “metrics”, i.e. various concepts for measuring and monitoring the activities. Most concepts and tools for sustainable development function as metrics, for instance life cycle assessment (LCA), ecological footprinting (EF), and Factor X. An environmental management system (EMS), like ISO 14001 or EMAS, is an administrative vehicle that should systematically align a firm's specific outcomes, activities and metrics with a general framework for sustainability. From a strategic point of view, metrics should measure alignment of activities with the principles contained in a framework for sustainability. A framework is not an alternative to concepts and tools for metrics. We need them all, because they represent different interrelated levels of strategic planning.     

The message and methods of ethical investment

This paper examines a high profile and often provocative segment of the financial industry: that of Ethical or Socially Responsible Investment. By offering an ethical or sustainable product which has the potential to influence so many stakeholders—the financial industry is in a unique position to guide change towards corporate sustainability. However, what message is ethical investment really giving to companies and the financial industry? Are ethical investors and their rating agencies capable of effectively influencing corporations towards more sustainable patterns of production and consumption; and are their approaches consistent with the principles of Cleaner Production? This paper first gives an overview some of the definitions ‘ethical investment’ and the scale of activities under this umbrella term. Then the actual screening methods and their application is examined. A typology of the different ethical mutual funds is given, and two cases of ethical funds are described (Robur’s Environmental Fund, and Sustainable Asset Management’s sustainability rating tool). Each are analysed in terms of their potential to either reveal or conceal cleaner production innovations by the firms they assess. In order to ascertain where Ethical Investment might lead companies, the effects of ethical investment on companies—and back on the asset management companies themselves is explored. A reflexive model of corporate and finance sector learning based on the ethical screens is proposed.     

Towards a sustainability criteria and indicators framework for legacy mine land

Sustainable development practices have become an integral part of most major mining companies’ business activities. However, the history of mining and the negative impacts it has had on the natural and social environment mean future mining activities, rightly or wrongly, will be judged against the legacies of the past and current poor performers. Legacy mine land, defined here as land which has been mined and is now being used for another purpose, or is orphaned, abandoned or derelict and in need of remedial work, is one management challenge that will be judged in the context of sustainable development. Globally, millions of such sites exist. Having criteria against which to measure progress toward or away from sustainable development goals is a key to delivering results. The aim of this research was to develop a sustainability criteria and indicators framework to suit the particular needs of legacy mine land. The resulting framework consists of 14 criteria and 72 indicators.     

水资源可持续管理的初步研究

从当前的水资源管理不当导致水资源危机发出，探讨将可持续发展与水资源管理的结合提出了水资源可持续管理”的概述，即维持从现在到未来的经济，环境和社会福利而不破坏水资源可持续发展，及赖以生存的水文循环或生态诉水资源管理，并进一步讨论了它的３个基本目标和４项原则，并初步建立了水资源可持续管理的内容体系。     

Transitioning to sustainable production – part II: evaluation of sustainable machining technologies

This paper presents a case-study that highlights the importance of sustainable machining technologies in achieving sustainable development objectives. A technology evaluation was undertaken to understand the likely impacts of the use of technology on sustainability performance measures. The evaluation is more than an experimental method for supporting the design of technology and an instrument for supporting decision-making. It is also a tool for supporting technology policy and for encouraging its adoption and application in industry. More specifically, a sustainability evaluation of cryogenic and high pressure jet-assisted machining in comparison to conventional machining is examined. Sustainability performance measures refer to environmental impact, energy consumption, safety, personal health, waste management, and cost. The case-study refers to the machining of high-temperature Ni-alloy (Inconel 718). It is shown that tooling costs represent the major contribution to the overall production cost, which contradicts previous analyses, and that sustainable machining alternatives offer a cost-effective route to improving economic, environmental, and social performance in comparison to conventional machining.     

The 10-tenets of adaptive management and sustainability: An holistic framework for understanding and managing the socio-ecological system

The three basic principles of sustainable development, relating to ecology, economy and society, have long been embedded within national and international strategies. In recent years we have augmented these principles by a further seven considerations giving rise to the so-called 10-tenets of sustainable management. Whilst theoretically appealing, discussion of the tenets to date has been largely generic and qualitative and, until the present paper, there has been no formal and quantitative application of these tenets to an actual example. To promote the concept of successful and sustainable environmental management there is the need to develop a robust and practical framework to accommodate value judgements relating to each of the tenets. Although, as originally presented, the tenets relate specifically to management measures, they may also be applied directly to a specific development or activity. This paper examines the application of the tenets in both of these contexts, and considers their incorporation into an assessment tool to help visualise and quantify issues of sustainability.     

Environmental management system and human resource practices: is there a link between them in four Brazilian companies?

The aim of this article is to analyze the theoretical model proposed by [Jabbour CJC, Santos FCA. Relationships between human resource dimensions and environmental management in companies: proposal of a model. Journal of Cleaner Production 2008;16(1):51–8.] based on the data collected in four Brazilian companies. This model investigates how the phases of the environmental management system can be linked to human resource practices in order to attain continuous improvement of a company's environmental performance. Our aim is to contribute to a field, which has little empirical evidence. Although the interaction between the phases of the environmental management system and human resource practices is recommended by the specialized literature [Daily BF, Huang S. Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management. International Journal of Operations and Production Management 2001;21(12):1539–52.], the results indicate that most of the theoretical assumptions could not be confirmed in these Brazilian companies.     

Sustainable development policies in Canada's mining sector: an overview of government and industry efforts

This paper provides an overview of mining sustainable development policy-making in Canada. In addition to documenting the important efforts made by the Canadian government, some of the more recent initiatives undertaken by the Canadian mining industry are highlighted. Following years of sustainable development research and careful planning, the Canadian government finally drafted the national Minerals and Metals Policy of the Government of Canada: Partnerships for Sustainable Development (1996), which sets out the Canadian government's role, objectives, and strategies in areas of jurisdiction for making the concept of sustainable development operational in its mining industry, and seeks to create a legacy that Canadians can pass to future generations. Since its implementation, the primary response of both national mining organizations and selected Canadian mining companies to the challenge of sustainable development has been improved planning, and the development of policies that address key environmental and socioeconomic issues and which build upon the principles addressed in the Minerals and Metals Policy of the Government of Canada. It is concluded that most of the attempts made thus far by both the government and the mining industry to address mining sustainable development through policy-making have been major successes, but further improvements can be achieved if additional industry-government partnerships are formed, more community workshops are held, and selected environmental management practices are researched and developed.     

Fitting together the building blocks for sustainability: a revised model for integrating ecological,social, and financial factors into business decision-making

Companies committed to integrating sustainability concerns into product decisions are confronted with the daunting task of assessing hundreds, or thousands, of materials and goods. Further complicating efforts have been the rapid growth of environmental and social assessment principles, strategies, actions, and tools. The lack of clarity on how existing approaches are complementary or distinct has resulted in ambiguities about pathways forward for companies. This current state of the field highlights the need to draw out interconnections between the wide range of current work on integrating environmental and social issues into material, product, and other business decisions.This article—developed through collaboration among several environmental, social, and sustainability-oriented researchers and practitioners—addresses this need through building upon pre-existing work [J. Cleaner Prod. 10(3) (2002) 197; J. Cleaner Prod. 8(3) (2000) 243]. It proposes adaptations on a framework for organizing the assessment field, including development of exemplary sustainable product characteristics and their inclusion in a “strategic sustainable development” decision-making model and process [J. Cleaner Prod. 10(3) (2002) 197]. The article also argues for an expansion of analytical approaches within this previously developed framework in order to highlight social aspects of sustainability and landscape-level issues. Finally, the article puts these elements together to describe a pathway forward for companies. In the conclusion, areas for future research are highlighted.     

Sustainability in the New Zealand wine industry: drivers,stakeholders and practices

This research aims to investigate various sustainability issues in the New Zealand wine industry. Namely, the study examines (1) what drives the industry to engage in sustainability practices, (2) the role of stakeholders in the company's decision-making, and (3) environmental practices related to water utilization, chemicals and waste management. A qualitative research approach supplemented by quantitative measures was adopted to answer the research questions. Twenty-four wineries were studied. The research found that the most important drivers for sustainable practices are personal values, preferences and satisfaction with the profession (i.e., enjoyment of the work itself), followed by product quality and customers' demand. Size of firm also appears to be an important factor. New Zealand wine companies are also driven by the market, but companies do not receive a price premium for grapes grown sustainably or organically grown. The study proposes a typology matrix that differentiates wineries' involvement in sustainability based on the extent of sustainability practices and sustainability drivers.     

An approach to assessing sustainability integration in strategic decision systems for product development

This article aims to explore a new approach to assess company decision systems regarding sustainability-related communication and decision support between senior management and product development levels. The assessment approach was developed in theory and its applicability was directly tested in action research in two small and medium-sized companies and two large companies. The results were validated against experiences made by two management consultancies. Our study indicates that successful companies should: (i) integrate sustainability into business goals and plans, backed up by suitable (ii) internal incentives and disincentives and (iii) decision support tools. Our study also indicates that the new assessment approach can be used as a template to assess the current state of sustainability integration in company decision systems.     

Project feasibility study: the key to successful implementation of sustainable and socially responsible construction management practice

This paper introduces a new approach for conducting project feasibility study by embracing the principles of sustainable development. Construction projects, in particular, infrastructures have major influence on the attainment of sustainable development, thus project sustainability needs to be considered. This becomes a pressing issue particularly in those developing countries or regions, such as China where a huge amount of construction works are currently performed and remain to happen in the future. Previous study has addressed little on the relevance of project feasibility study to project sustainability performance. The importance of incorporating sustainable development principles in conducting project feasibility study is not effectively understood by project stakeholders. This paper addresses major challenges of undertaking project feasibility study in line with sustainable construction practice with reference to the Chinese construction industry. A case study approach is the major research method in this study. The research team collected 87 feasibility study reports from various projects. Attributes are used for measuring project performance, including 18 economic performance attributes, nine social performance attributes, and eight environmental performance attributes. Research results show that economic performance is given the most concern in the current practice of project feasibility study, whilst less attention is given to the social and environmental performance. The study reveals the insufficiency of examining the performance of implementing a construction project from the perspective of sustainable development. The results also suggest the need for shifting the traditional approach of project feasibility study to a new approach that embraces the principles of sustainable development.     

Teaching industrial ecology and environmental management in Second Life

Second Life is a virtual, open-access, and user-generated environment that has served as a platform for hosting everything from rock concerts to scientific conferences. Many institutions have also used Second Life as an educational tool, for example by, showcasing scientific exhibits or embedding video and images for learning purposes. Here we discuss the creation and use of an interactive, virtual industrial facility - the Elihu Paper Company - as a way to complement a traditional facility tours in a course in industrial environmental management. Virtual facilities offer a number of educational advantages over real-life ones: they are always open and available for tours, they can be accessed instantaneously from anywhere where there is an adequate internet connection, and most importantly, tours and embedded information can be tailored to specific educational objectives. Our experience in using Elihu Paper as a formal facility visit for the past several years shows that students had significantly more time than usual to ask questions, could and did explore the facility independently, and were still able to produce facility reports that fulfilled the educational objectives of the visits, including mapping material flows and explaining pollution prevention and sustainability opportunities.     

Pro-active behaviour induction by integration of sustainability in business strategic management: INOVE project case study

INOVE was a regional partnership project and had two main goals: finding and helping to implement solutions for real business problems, in order to increase their competitiveness according to sustainable development; and dissemination of new concepts, methodologies and tools of sustainability. Members of the partnership were: INETI, CEISET, eight companies, a polytechnic institute and a university.Knowledge transfer was implemented during 15 workshops and simultaneously was put in practice on companies' sites by mixed teams.Economic indicators were definitely positive; environmental indicators such as materials, water and energy consumption, waste generation and liquid and gaseous emissions were improved and social issues such as stakeholders' information and involvement were introduced into the business strategy of the companies.     

An integrated approach to achieving campus sustainability: assessment of the current campus environmental management practices

Universities can nowadays be regarded as ‘small cities’ due to their large size, population, and the various complex activities taking place in campuses, which have some serious direct and indirect impacts on the environment. The environmental pollution and degradation caused by universities in form of energy and material consumption via activities and operations in teaching and research, provision of support services and in residential areas could be considerably reduced by an effective choice of organizational and technical measures. Although many environmental protection measures can be seen at some universities, but a more systematic and sustainable approach to reducing the negative impacts of those activities and making the campuses more sustainable, is generally lacking. Therefore, this paper proposes a framework of a more suitable approach to achieving campus sustainability that could remedy the limitations of the current environmental management practices in universities and ensures more sustainability through the integration of three strategies, namely: university Environmental Management System (EMS); public participation and social responsibility; and promoting sustainability in teaching and research.     

基于可持续性的城市总体规划环境影响评价指标体系

城市总体规划（简称“总规”）是实施城市可持续性战略的重要载体,战略环境评价（SEA）是连接抽象的、宏观的可持续发展战略与具体的、可操作的建设项目之间的桥梁,是实施可持续发展战略的政策工具;指标体系是SEA工作的核心工作和评价依据。然而,当前存在城市总体规划环境影响评价（总规环评）指标体系与城市规划内容、城市可持续性脱节,指标体系的设计缺乏理论支撑等问题。本文首先归纳出城市可持续性的一般内涵,然后通过逻辑关系分析、影响评价矩阵的方法,识别总规的可持续性影响,构建了可持续性总规环评指标体系框架,最后以太仓为案例说明框架的应用。     

A method for sustainable product development based on a modular system of guiding questions

In this paper, we present a method for sustainable product development (MSPD) with the aim of integrating social and ecological aspects of sustainability with a strategic business perspective in product development. The method applies backcasting from basic principles for sustainability, which allows a strategic approach, and it includes a modular system of guiding questions that are derived by considering these principles and the product life cycle. Initial testing in Swedish companies indicates that the suggested MSPD promotes a ‘bird's eye’ perspective and encourages and aids development of products that support society's transformation towards sustainability. Furthermore, it is concluded that the modular system provides flexibility and user-friendliness.     

Environmental decision making in multi-stakeholder contexts: applicability of life cycle thinking in development planning and implementation

According to the targets set for sustainability, integrating the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs is one of the main goals for development projects. A major challenge in the development field is cross-sectoral integrated planning and achieving multi-stakeholder consensus for collaborative joint projects, especially when sustainability is a goal. This increases the complexity of the multi-stakeholder interaction in decision making and requires enhanced mechanisms for stakeholder participation, coordination, and commitment beyond narrow self-interest. A critical aspect in the decision making process is to enable stakeholders to not only interpret and make decisions based on expert judgments, but also to appropriately involve the relevant parties in the research and decision making process. Therefore, scientific analyses in multi-stakeholder contexts have to be more transparent, participatory, and stakeholder-based in order to provide useful information to assist responsible decision making.This paper presents an outline of a stakeholder-based life cycle assessment approach that can be used to support sustainable decision making in multi-stakeholder contexts. The framework is discussed and compared to other common methods used to support environmental decision making in development projects. We argue that the fundamental concept of life cycle thinking can be effectively used to incorporate stakeholders in the research and decision making process, which can lead to more comprehensive, yet achievable assessments in collaboration with stakeholders. Life cycle thinking is not just a way to examine environmental impacts of activities, but also a way to comprehend and visualize a broader set of upstream and downstream consequences of decisions in development planning and implementation. A life cycle framework including the mapping of stakeholder involvement at each activity in upstream and downstream stages would give stakeholders a holistic view that they otherwise may not have.     

Informal knowledge processes: the underpinning for sustainability outcomes in EIA?

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was originally tailored for restructuring rules and values regarding environmental protection, through interdisciplinary work. EIA has developed as a tool for decision-making for the implementation of projects which potentially pose significant environmental impacts. This paper reviews the sustainability and interdisciplinarity assumptions inherent in EIA. It illustrates through a case study of a proposed landfill extension in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, that these principles can arise more from informal knowledge processes than from legal ones. It can be shown that interdisciplinarity is often misunderstood as multidisciplinarity or simple knowledge clustering, and sustainability has no common definition amongst EIA practitioners, but that there predominates an understanding which delivers weak sustainability, driven primarily by social and economic goals. The conclusion is that EIA cannot achieve the original vision set out in the world's first legislation adopted in 1970 unless a learning-organization approach is taken whereby: the critical role of informal knowledge is recognized; informal knowledge is properly managed by EIA teams to engender a common understanding of sustainable development goals; interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary working practices are adopted.     

From a literature review to a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain management

Academic and corporate interest in sustainable supply chain management has risen considerably in recent years. This can be seen by the number of papers published and in particular by journal special issues. To establish the field further, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it offers a literature review on sustainable supply chain management taking 191 papers published from 1994 to 2007 into account. Second, it offers a conceptual framework to summarize the research in this field comprising three parts. As starting point related triggers are identified. This allows putting forward two distinct strategies: (1) supplier management for risks and performance, and (2) supply chain management for sustainable products. It is evident that research is still dominated by green/environmental issues. Social aspects and also the integration of the three dimensions of sustainability are still rare.Both practitioners in companies and academics might find the review useful, as it outlines major lines of research in the field. Further, it discusses specific features of sustainable supply chains as well as limitations of existing research; this should stimulate further research.