A supply chain management approach for investigating the role of tour operators on sustainable tourism: the case of TUI

Increasing awareness and demands in sustainable tourism require firms to implement sustainable Supply Chain Management policies (SCM). Tour operators can significantly influence and promote sustainable tourism development due to their central distribution role and capability to direct tourists to destinations and suppliers. Despite the emerging role of SCM and sustainability, the applicability of SCM practices in tourism is not studied yet. This paper adapts and illustrates the value of using SCM concepts within tour operators' business for integrating sustainability into tourism supply chains. After reviewing the literature in SC management and collaboration, a model for implementing sustainable SCM is proposed and its applicability is shown by analysing the case of TUI. The implications of the model and the case study are discussed.     

核电可持续发展与低中放固体废物安全管理

核事故与放射性废物安全管理是核电可持续发展的两大制约因素。本文针对目前核电厂面临的积存的低中放固体废物超出暂存库设计容量和时间的困境,分析核电持续发展带来的放射性固体废物的处置需求和放射性风险,深入探讨了我国低中放固体废物处置现状和存在的问题,认为问题存在的深层原因主要是废物处置责任划分不明确、核电发展与放射性废物管理的国家职能存在割离,在此基础上提出加快出台放射性固体废物处置选址规划、建立独立的放射性固体废物贮存和处置公司、建立和完善放射性废物管理基金制度等政策建议。     

The water supply footprint (WSF): a strategic planning tool for sustainable regional and local water supplies

This paper introduces a new methodological approach of the ecological footprint explicitly addressing the sustainability of water supplies, which we call the water supply footprint (WSF). The WSF calculates the catchment area or water supply hinterland of a certain society and can serve as a strategic planning tool for local or regional water supplies linking the water demand with the water supply in a water supply footprint matrix. Based on regional water balances it estimates how much water can be appropriated for human use in an environmentally sustainable way.The proposed method is tested on the South East Queensland water supply in Australia, an area where water use restrictions are regularly imposed on the population. Applying the proposed method indicates that supply shortages may be avoided by considerably changing the organisation of water supply, thereby reducing and possibly even avoiding the necessity for large-scale supply side measures like additional sweet water reservoirs or desalination plants. In that way it is demonstrated that the WSF method is applicable at an early and strategic stage of water supply planning.     

The Nature of ecosystem management: postmodernism and plurality in the sustainable management of the boreal forest

Ecosystem management, by seeking to emulate natural disturbance, has been proposed by the ecological and forest management community as a means of maintaining the biodiversity and productivity of boreal forests, key components of sustainable forest management (SFM). However, it is argued that ecosystem management overlooks the paradox inherent in the concept of Nature, limiting the scope of the SFM debate by maintaining a binary opposition between Nature and Society, humans and the environment. Nature is paradoxical because humans are part of Nature, by the theory of evolution, while at the same time Nature is a social construction created by humans, and thus artificial. Recourse is made to postmodernism in order to examine the metaphysical and sociopolitical implications of the deconstruction of this paradox. Based on a review of the philosophy of Foucault and Derrida, the concept of Nature is demonstrated to be socially mediated, an entwinement of reason and power. In order to address metaphysical challenges of the Nature–Society dualism identified above, I refer to Habermas’s theory of communicative action and cite results from a case study in this regard. Results from this case study prompt a critical examination of the legitimacy of a discourse ethic about Nature, making use of the negative dialectics of Adorno. As a result, at the metaphysical level, a different role for ecologists and forest managers in public participation procedures is proposed, one whereby ecologists talk through Nature to the evolutionary agents to which it is intended to refer as a means of discussing whether specific management options will contribute to sustainable development. It is argued that at the sociopolitical level SFM will necessitate improved transparency and participation in forestry, criteria that can be attained through community-based ecosystem management. Both elements require a science more actively engaged with civil society.     

Integrating carbon footprint into supply chain management: the case of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) in the automobile industry

The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of carbon footprint within the context of automobile supply chain management. The case study approach is employed as a research method. Primary data were collected through site visits and extensive interviews with HMC’s corporate and plant management. First, identification and measurement of direct and indirect carbon footprint is critical for mitigating supply chain risks. Second, setting the system boundary of measurement is another important issue to integrate the issue of carbon footprint into supply chain management. Third, developing a map of product carbon footprint facilitates identification and measurement of carbon emissions across the supply chain. Companies today operate in a carbon-constrained world. In particular, the automobile industry is under pressure to take a close look at its product carbon footprint. Managing the downstream consequences of the use of its products and inputs from upstream suppliers is critical for developing carbon risk-mitigated supply chain management. This paper is of benefit to academics and managers by providing a new way to integrate carbon emissions in supply chain management. Since climate change and carbon footprint present challenges to many industries, increasing our understanding of how to integrate carbon footprint in supply chain management is necessary, but has seen little research in the automobile industry.     

Diagnosis and proposals for waste management in industrial areas in the service sector: case study in the metropolitan area of Granada (Spain)

Industrial parks play a significant role in the production and use of goods and services. However, this also means that the environmental problems of each company are concentrated in a relatively small area. One of these problems is solid waste disposal, which has become a critical issue because of its negative impacts as well as the resources consumed. Integrated solid waste management integrates cleaner and more sustainable production strategies by reducing resource consumption and applying mechanisms found in natural ecosystems to industrial systems. Nevertheless, one of the necessary conditions for the design of such a system is a preliminary study of waste generation management in the area. The study presented in this paper characterizes industrial waste production and management in the metropolitan area of Granada (Spain), and analyzes its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A similar typology of industrial activities, mainly in the distribution and transportation sector, as well as the proximity of various industrial parks could facilitate their partnership in environmental management. The results obtained in our study point to significant weaknesses in the system, such as the lack of effective waste management tools and training for waste management personnel. Other weaknesses were, the low percentage of selective waste collection and the existence of unauthorized collectors. The paper concludes with specific proposals for waste collection. These recommendations include the creation of the following: (i) a community responsible for waste management; (ii) recycling points in industrial parks; (iii) energy recovery from the waste; (iv) a market to sell, buy, and/or exchange waste; (v) one authorized set of waste management agents that would provide the advantages of an economy of scale.     

Design for Sustainability (DfS): the interface of sustainable production and consumption

Nowadays design is faced with the challenge to contribute to the transition towards a sustainable society. Design for Sustainability (DfS) is the response to this challenge. It includes but goes beyond what Design for the Environment or ecodesign provides, by integrating social, economic, environmental and institutional aspects and by offering opportunities to get involved, express one’s own identity beyond consuming standardised mass products.DEEDS, a Leonardo research project, had the mission to embed sustainability in design and design in sustainability. For this behalf, the project partners approached the issue from the angles of design, sustainability science and sustainable consumption analysis, developing tools and rules (the SCALES principles) to support DfS and to incorporate it into design education and practice.The paper describes the framework conditions as explored by sustainable consumption research, the obstacles identified by DEEDS and gives hints how to overcome them based in the lessons learnt in the course of the project.     

废弃物施加对福州平原稻田土壤团聚体分布及其稳定性的影响

为了阐明废弃物施加对稻田土壤团聚体分布及其稳定性的影响,以福州平原稻田为研究对象,对对照、石膏、贝壳、生物炭和炉渣5种处理样地0~10 cm、10~20 cm、20~30 cm土层土壤团聚体分布及其稳定性,包括0.25 mm团聚体含量(DR0.25)、平均质量直径(MWD)、几何平均直径(GMD)、分形维数(D)进行了测定和分析.结果表明,与对照样地相比,石膏、贝壳、生物炭和炉渣施加后均增加了土壤团聚体DR0.25、MWD和GMD值,其中,石膏施加后土壤团聚体DR0.25、MWD和GMD值分别增加了12.76%、12.13%和12.17%,贝壳施加后分别增加了32.65%、31.83%和33.86%,生物炭施加后分别增加了12.07%、9.32%和11.70%,炉渣施加后分别增加了19.70%、13.59%和18.10%,但与对照样地相比,石膏、贝壳、生物炭和炉渣施加后土壤团聚体分形维数均表现为减小的趋势,分别减小了4.02%、11.65%、4.37%、9.29%.从土壤团聚体DR0.25、MWD、GMD值和分形维数的变化特征来看,石膏、贝壳、生物炭和炉渣施加均提高了土壤团聚体的稳定性.     

Stimulating learning and innovation in networks for regional sustainable development: the role of local authorities

Inter-organizational collaboration in networks and partnerships is supposed to promote the potential for learning and innovation needed for environmental transformation and sustainable development. This paper aims at exploring the roles of local authorities (LAs) in actor-networks related to regional sustainable development, and examining their potential in stimulating learning and innovation related to sustainable development. From empirical case studies it is suggested that LAs can act as ‘teachers’ or ‘tutors’ in the networks. From further analysis, drawing also from literature on partnerships, innovation management, socio-technical change, and educational science, it is proposed that in the short run both the ‘teacher’ and ‘tutor’ approach would promote incremental innovation rather than the radical system innovations needed for sustainable development. However, there is potential for stimulating more long-term, radical change if the LA takes on the role of a ‘teacher’. This approach may favour close collaboration in long-lived, multi-actor networks with potential to (i) serve as forum for continuous dialogue on sustainable development at a community level, (ii) stimulate experimentation and learning needed for system innovations, and (iii) provide a basis for strategic niche management for development and testing of new technologies.     

Sustainability assessment of a farm in the Chianti area (Italy)

In the study of agricultural systems, where land fertility and environmental conditions are primary factors, it is essential to consider both the efficiency and the environmental sustainability of processes. Emergy analysis, introduced by H.T. Odum [Science 242 (1988) 1132], is an approach developed at the interface between thermodynamics systems ecology. It was here used to obtain sustainability indicators and to assess the efficiency of a complex agricultural system, a farm in the Chianti area.The results for different crops were compared with Italian averages to obtain an idea of the long-term sustainability of this agricultural system. The cultivation of all the crops on the farm, except grapes, was more efficient and had less impact on the environment than the Italian standards. The Chianti grapes were compared not only with the Italian average but also with grapes of similar high quality, ‘Brunello di Montalcino’ and ‘Nobile di Montepulciano’, both grown in the same region. The production of grapes in the Chianti vineyard was more efficient and had an intermediate environmental impact, in the emergy sense, with respect to the other two systems.The proportion of emergy inputs to the farm that are local or renewable is quite high. Thus the emergy analysis demonstrated that the Chianti farm has a relatively good long-term sustainability considering both the whole system, and its individual crops.     

长沙市医疗垃圾管理处置状况及特性研究

报道了对长沙市5所医院为期一个月的研究结果，内容包括：医疗垃圾管理处置现状；医疗垃圾类型及产量；门诊人数、住院人数及垃圾量的变化规律；住院病人和门诊病人的垃圾产率及中药渣产率；传染性垃圾与生活垃圾的比例及医疗垃圾的组成，指出了现行医疗垃圾管理处置需要改进和提高之处，为建立长沙市医疗垃圾集中处理示范工程提供了依据。     

Governance of sustainable transitions: about the 4(0) ways to change the world

Transitions are radical system innovations that usually take 1–2 generations. Using Cultural Theory as a heuristic, this paper presents four archetypical approaches to transition management. The fatalist approach refrains from transition management (motto: ‘First, disaster must happen’). The system is in a stalemate that no experiment or hierarchy can break; external events must bring the window of opportunity for change. The hierarchic approach relies on a dominant actor coalition to steer change (motto: ‘Let's put a man on the moon!’). The individualist approach relies mainly on changing the financial ground rules (motto: ‘Sustainability through the market’). Finally, the egalitarian approach relies on process management, doing experiments, etc. (motto: ‘A good transition arena will solve it all’). This approach makes sense if the situation is not clear enough to be managed via one of the other approaches, and there is a clearly identifiable learning objective.     

青岛市工业危险废物处理现状分析与评价

自2006年青岛市工业产业结构调整以来,城市经济快速发展与人民生活水平日益提高,商品消费量不断增加,由此导致工业危险废物的产生量与排放量加速增长,且废物种类繁多、性质复杂、产生源数量分布广泛．管理难度大,因而带来了极大的环境安全隐患。在调查和分析2005—2007年青岛市工业危险废物产生现状的基础上,指出：（1）产生量最大危险废物类别为无机氰化物、无机氟化物、含铬废物和染料涂料等4大类;（2）产生量大小排序依次为平度市、莱西市和李沧区。同时,在分析废物产生特性和污染特性的基础上,提出青岛市在工业危险废物管理过程中存在的问题已成为青岛绿色经济发展的严重壁垒。针对工业经济发展规划和废物产生特征,提出了相关的管理对策和建议,对青岛市工业危险废物的有效管理和促进循环经济的发展具有一定的指导意义。     

Evidence of earliest human occurrence in Europe: the site of Pirro Nord (Southern Italy)

Some flint lithic artifacts were discovered in the fissure fillings of the well-known Pirro Nord site (Apulia, Southern Italy). The lithic industry, composed by three cores and some flakes, has been found to be associated to an Early Pleistocene vertebrate fossil assemblage. The fossil association contains a wide range of micromammals, including Allophaiomys ruffoi and Episoriculus gibberodon and large mammals including Bison degiulii and Equus altidens together with African elements as the gelada baboon Theropithecus and the saber-toothed cat Megantereon whitei. It defines the latest Villafranchian chronological unit (Pirro Nord Faunal Unit) in the Western European mammal biochronology. The lithic industry of Pirro Nord represents the oldest occurrence of the genus Homo in Europe as it is attributable to a chronological interval between 1.3 and 1.7 Ma. This supports the hypothesis that the genus Homo, with Oldowaian technology, extended its range in Europe, probably from western Asia, during the first half of the Early Pleistocene. The new discovery from Pirro Nord changes the chronology of the first arrival of hominids in Europe and offers new perspectives in the debate about the human dispersal in the Early Pleistocene.     

青岛市废有机溶剂现状分析与评价

调查分析青岛市废有机溶剂产生现状、污染特性、处置流向及回收利用的概况。结合青岛市产业结构特点,遵循资源化、减量化、无害化处置原则,提出废有机溶剂管理的对策和建议。研究结果对危险废物的有效管理和促进循环经济发展具有指导意义。     

Towards sustainable production and use of charcoal in Kenya: exploring the potential in life cycle management approach

The study seeks to demonstrate the potential role that industrial ecology could play towards energy poverty reduction and environmental conservation in Kenya through sustainable charcoal production and consumption. This is achieved through an exploration of the application of the life cycle management (LCM) concept that identifies various opportunities for technological intervention for energy and environmental conservation and reduction of material and energy losses. It also identifies opportunities for income generation at various stages of the product’s life cycle; an aspect critical in poverty reduction in developing countries. The study finds that applying LCM in the charcoal trade in Kenya can deliver social, economic and environmental benefits to developing country communities and should, therefore, be promoted. However, appropriate legal, policy and institutional frameworks must exist in these countries for this to occur.     

Phosphorus balance of an experimental ricefield in the Po plain (Italy)

Phosphorus balance was measured in an experimental ricefield in the Po plain (Italy). The main input of phosphorus was from fertilizers (67%) and irrigation water (32%). The standing crop of plants contained 10% of the total input of phosphorus and 13% was lost with the outlet water. More than 70% of the phosphorus input was incorporated in the sediments, probably both by adsorption on clay particles and by precipitation as hydroxyapatite.     

国内外废电池管理与回收处理分析

通过对国内外在废电池的管理与回收利用方面的成果及存在问题的分析 ,探讨了如何加强废电池环境无害化管理的方法 ,提出了控制电池生产源、加强管理法规建设、完善管理体系、建立健全环境无害化管理机制、研究适合国情的先进技术等几方面的建议     

浅谈可持续发展路径与工商业的角色

一、可持续发展大背景 20年前,1992年6月14日召开里约会议,各国首脑聚首里约热内卢,决心公正合理地满足当代和后代的发展权利,20年后的今天,地球人口从55亿增加到70亿,各国首脑仍然面临着同样的问题,只不过现在的问题更加急迫、更加复杂. 全球不断增长的人口试图从自然资本中获得幸福,历史上从来没有过这么多人摆脱了贫困、饥饿及健康不良,采用的方式趋于多样化和全球化,然而经济发展方式加剧了环境退化,这种退化又反过来加剧了发展的脆弱性,人类过度使用日益缩减的自然资本,相当于9个月内使用掉了自然需要花费12个月来补充和恢复的资源.