The affordability of sustainable entrepreneurship certification for SMEs

Sustainable entrepreneurship is a spin-off concept from sustainable development that can be defined as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce, their families, local communities, society and the world at large, as well as future generations. This is an approach that is applied mostly by large, often industrial companies. In their wake, a whole range of sustainability certificates have come about. Because of the proliferation of complex and costly procedures to obtain them, SMEs have almost unanimously ignored and repudiated the idea of sustainable entrepreneurship. Although the gains can be substantial in terms of risk control, business relationships with large companies and positive reputation, the question is raised whether SMEs can actually afford to do business in a sustainable manner.

The case study provides the preconditions for implementation of sustainable business practices by SMEs. First, the smaller financial resources of SMEs are not a prohibitive determinant. Lack of time, however, is. When preconditions are solved, SMEs should select a simple, pragmatic and effective format that is tailored to their needs. The case study offers some convincing examples. Finally, SMEs should look at the return and the opportunity costs of a sustainability strategy rather than simply examining the financial costs.     

Contrasting visions of food and farming sustainability: NGOs versus the UK Labour government

In a previous issue of the International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology I described how competing visions of sustainable agriculture are currently battling for hegemonic status (Johnson 2006). One vision seeks to break the hegemony of productionism and the other seeks to continue down its path with a greater emphasis on biotechnology. In this paper, I wish to explore these visions further as they apply to actual existing strategies for sustainable farming and food in the UK. This paper uses discourse analysis to compare the UK government's vision for sustainable farming and food sectors with that of two NGOs: Friends of the Earth and Corporate Watch. The language and discourse in the government's and NGOs' strategy documents is examined for evidence indicating their ideological conception of agricultural sustainability. The paper concludes that, whilst the NGOs are pursuing a strong vision of sustainability, seeking to break productionism's hegemony, the UK government is pursuing an ideologically weak-tomoderate conceptualisation of sustainability, pursuing the high-technology modified version of agricultural productionism.     

Status and trends in research and development projects in the mountains: A situational analysis in the Indian Himalaya

The mountains hold the key to global ecological and social stability by virtue of being centres of biological and cultural diversity and the storehouse for water and other resources. However, they are becoming unable to sustain the demands of the changing life style of the growing number of inhabitants as well as the population in the plains and, therefore, the resources are depleting rapidly. Inadequacy of research and development (R&D) projects undertaken in mountain ecosystems is, perhaps, a major factor that has not enabled us to evolve and introduce suitable interventions to replenish and restore the health of the degraded mountains. In this article, taking the Indian Himalayan region as a case study, an effort has been made to understand the adequacy and appropriateness of R&D projects in mountain ecosystems by analysing the research and development projects implemented in this region from 1985–86 to1998–99. The analysis revealed inadequacy in the number and budgets of R&D projects implemented in this mountain ecosystem as a whole as well as in specific subject areas; the number of R&D projects implemented during this period was only 5.28% of the total projects, with a fund allocation of 4.45% of the total R&D budget of India, which appears to be inadequate considering the geophysical and bio-social importance of the Himalaya. The finding suggests that national funding agencies of mountain nations need to increase the number of R&D projects in mountain regions as a priority, with the intention of developing scientific packages capable of restoring the degraded ecosystem of the mountains and ensuring their sustainable development.     

A sceptical vision of the environmental Kuznets curve: The case of sulfur dioxide

The aim of this paper is to check the hypothesis for the environmental Kuznets curve for sulfur dioxide. This involved analysis of: 1. the theoretical basis of the model; 2. the technical problem of SO2 generation; 3 the kind of information used in the estimations; 4. changes in the structure of electric energy production; 5. improvements in energy efficiency; and 6. the recent introduction of cleaning mechanisms in a favourable political context. The conclusion is that, if it is possible to prove the existence of environmental Kuznets curve models, their utility as instruments of economic policy is debatable.     

Strategic Environmental Assessment and the World Bank Group

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is mandated by an increasing number of countries and agencies. SEA has become a reliable and useful tool in reducing environmental and social impacts of plans, policies and programmes. The main elements of SEA are outlined with examples. The status of SEA in the World Bank is discussed. The case is presented that the World Bank should apply SEA to country lending strategies, programme lending, technical assistance, and to its budget.     

Current situation and development of Chinese urban forestry

This paper introduces Chinese urban forestry research in terms of the concept, forest types, ecosystem services, spatial structure, planning and construction, assessment and management. Modern Chinese urban forest had a close relationship with traditional landscape architecture. Urban forest services had been quantified in some case cities, and determined by urban forest spatial patterns and internal structures. Based on landscape ecology and urban planning, urban forest spatial patterns have been analysed and planned rationally in some cities. However, studies on urban forestry generally lack long-term, continuous and systemic observations, as well as in-depth research on ecological processes and mechanisms. The development trends in urban forestry in China might include extensive application of '3S' technology, research on the relationship between urban forest landscape spatial patterns and their ecological effects, economic assessment, ecological and economic benefits and studies on the negative effects of pollutants.     

Farmer's perception and response towards land policy and eco-environment based on participatory rural appraisal: A case study in the Loess hilly area,China

Based on a survey of 107 farm households by means of participatory rural appraisal, this paper presents a region-level analysis of farmer's perception and response towards land policies and eco-environment in the Loess hilly area, China. The surveyed farmers are divided into two groups, farmers on non-irrigated farmland and farmers on irrigated farmland. The results indicate that most farmers mainly depend on cropland, especially the farmers on non-irrigated farmland. Farmers believe that stability and persistence of land policies are important, and most hold a positive attitude towards the Grain-for-Green Programme. The farmers on irrigated farmland have a more favourable attitude to environmental conservation than the farmers of non-irrigated farmland. Nearly 80% of interviewees consider that the local eco-environment has improved in the last ten years. About 45% never consider the environmental impact of their agriculture practices. About 55% think drought is the most important reason for eco-environment deterioration, overgrazing and serious soil erosion. Soil and water conservation is not conscious and voluntary behaviour for farmers, it is only a measure to guarantee their basic agricultural production and to improve their living conditions. Results indicate that farmers on nonirrigated land find engineering approaches more beneficial to agronomic methods. However, the farmers on irrigated farmland pay more attention to improving farmland quality.     

Sustainable development and systems thinking: A case study of a heritage city

The concept of sustainable cities is based on a development paradigm that recognizes that cities make an important contribution to social and economic development. System thinking, including hard and soft systems, can be used to provide a new perspective and tools to resolve questions. The 500-year-old heritage city of Udaipur in India, which has traditionally maintained the spirit of living in a sustainable manner, is now seeking sustainable development. This paper attempts to analyse the issues underlying sustainable development of Udaipur by applying CATWOE in order to comprehend the systemic elements of the city from a soft systems perspective.     

Watershed integrated management: A decision-support model on Sete Cidades Lake (Azores)

The Sete Cidades Lake (437 ha) is located in a volcanic crater of São Miguel Island (Azores). The watershed is 1923 ha, and 25% of it is covered with water. Extreme logging and the use of fertilizers in the cattle grazing areas have caused sedimentation and eutrophication of the main water body (Carlson Trophic State Index TSI = 40–50 mesoeutrophy). To deal with the issue, a linear programming model was created to generate efficient land-use scenarios for different amounts of phosphorus release. The model was calibrated for the present situation and then simulated to obtain 29 scenarios. It allowed us to derive parameters for each scenario. Then a multiobjective program was used to derive an acceptable weight for each indicator. The dominant solutions were discovered and discussed with different stakeholders.