Quality of life and sustainability: Toward person–environment congruity

In the light of sustainable development requirements, environmental psychology has an increasing role to play in addressing people–environment congruity. People–environment congruity refers to the interrelation between the individual and his or her (especially: residential) environment, considering the match between individual life satisfaction and objective standards of living. Promoting human well-being requires looking beyond singular effects of environmental features and considering people's overall relationship to their environment. This leads us to look at the residential environment as the place where people–environment congruity is crucial, and to propose a framework of analyses of the conditions of congruity between objective and subjective assessment of environmental stressors in relation to the individual and social expression of well-being. The paper concludes with the implications of people–environment congruity for research and policy-making about sustainable development.     

Environmental Ethics: Driving Factors Beneath Behavior,Discourse and Decision-Making

This paper tries to characterize the factors determining human relations with its environment and to identify the drives of those behavioral patterns and “praxis”. One scrutinizes the physiological and psychological factors that influence those drives, and tries to determine ways of overriding instinctive drives in favor of rational, sustainable ones. It focuses its attention on the way the different ecosystemic, economic and socio-cultural systems work, and pin-points the critical issues in view of the development of sustainable behavioral patterns. Also the values that must build the new behavioral paradigm, as well as the ways to ensure the evolutionary quantum-leap necessary to ensure this sustainable condition, and the fulfilment, at every level, the different needs of humans and human societies, are analyzed. In conclusion, it stresses the fact that any reliable and long lasting change towards a sustainable behavior must start at the individual and the close social groups levels, and of the development of new factors of self-fulfillment and gratification, able to support and foster that change. The proposed epistemological approach is particularly innovative, precisely because of this emphasis on the individual drives and the way they determine the global patterns of environmental use, as well as the way they can evolve into a more rational (human) character. In short, the paper focuses itself in the way man can evolve from its natural animal instincts and drives toward more rational ones, humanizing its behavior and turning, therefore, into an able actor of the process of sustainability building.     

Business environmental initiatives: Beyond waste reduction and recycling

Xerox was one of the first U.S. companies to discover that environmentally sound practices not only result in good community relations, but also often more than pay for themselves. This article presents ideas and guidelines companies can use in their waste reduction and recycling programs. Implementing a waste reduction and recycling program is an important step toward improved environmental performance. Given the numerous ways businesses affect the environment—through purchasing, manufacturing, and resource consumption—waste reduction and recycling are just two of many potential environmental measures. This article will highlight further initiatives your business can take toward sustainable development, defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.     

Swedish environmental psychology

Environmental psychology research in Sweden is reviewed beginning with studies in the 1960s. The traditional main foci of the Swedish research are the visual perception of form, space, colour, and texture, the meaning of social and physical environments; and the effects of the indoor and outdoor ambient environment (noise, air quality and temperature). More recent research foci include environmental cognition (perceptual categorization, cognitive mapping, orientation, planning), affective reactions to the environment, and systems applications. It is concluded that the Swedish research is integrated with environmental psychology research in other countries in terms of a common data base and methodology, despite the fact that the problems investigated are to some extent national in tone. It is also pointed out that the Swedish research appears to have the potential of theoretical contributions to environmental psychology, which is badly needed within the field as a whole.     

A study on operation problems of hydropower plants integrated with irrigation schemes operated in Turkey

In this study, Hydroelectric Power Plants, which have been built and integrated with irrigation schemes by the State Hydraulic Works which is a government agency and private companies in Turkey, have been examined. Technical, environmental, structural and social problems encountered during their operation have been analyzed, and appropriate solution proposals have been presented in the study for a sustainable irrigation and Hydroelectric Power Plant operation. Consequently, Hydroelectric Power Plants which have been integrated with irrigation schemes should be operated efficiently and they should be operated in attenuation with the environment. However, when hydroelectric projects are developed without preparing their necessary integrated basin management plans, then this will cause environmental, operation and maintenance, administrative, monitoring and evaluation problems. In order to ensure sustainability of hydroelectricity production and also in order to use water resources more efficiently for irrigation; it is very important to find permanent solutions to these problems.     

Reexamining the relations between socio-demographic characteristics and individual environmental concern: Evidence from Shanghai data

This study reexamines the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on individual environmental concern by applying a pooled sample of 1200 individuals in Shanghai, China. Previous studies, which made efforts to explain environmental concern as a function of social structure, suggest that there are traditionally five observations (the age, gender, social class, residence, and political orientation effects) for the relations between socio-demographic characteristics and individual environmental concerns. In this study, we first conduct a factor analysis to a group of 11 environmental concern measures and then use the resulting factors to test three observations (the age, gender, and social class effects) by applying a seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) model. As a result, high household income and high education level have reacted positively to environmental concern as expected. However, we find that in contrast to most of the previous studies, age has shown positive reaction to individual environmental concern, implying that the older generation is more concerned about the environment than the younger population. In addition, the SUR results indicate that women in Shanghai seem less concerned about the environment than men. Other socio-demographic characteristics such as employment status and household size are found to be almost irrelevant to environmental concern.     

Status,stigma and energy practices in the home

Domestic energy practices are a topical policy issue, with implications for climate change, energy security and fuel poverty. Accordingly, a growing body of literature examines ways of promoting energy conservation and generation by individuals. However, there has been relatively little discussion of how status and stigma are implicated in these practices, and may act as facilitators or barriers to “behaviour change”. To help address this gap, this article draws both on existing literature and a new UK-based study of people who are attempting to live sustainable lives, to provide insights into how domestic energy practices may be status-enhancing or stigmatising, and how these risks and opportunities can be managed. While energy practices are often understood as “inconspicuous”, it is argued here that in some circumstances individuals may actively manage the visibility of their energy practices. The discussion considers these findings with regard to social power relations, and identifies issues warranting further exploration within the emerging research agenda on energy and equity.     

Health, Environmental and Social Justice

Health is a basic human right. Improving health requires social and environmental justice and sustainable development. The 'health for all' movement embraces principles shared by other social movements--in sustainable development, community safety and new economics. These principles include equity, democracy, empowerment of individuals and communities, underpinned by supportive environmental, economic and educational measures and multi-agency partnerships. Health promotion is green promotion and inequality in health is due to social and economic inequality. This paper shows how health, environmental and economic sustainability are inextricably linked and how professionals of different disciplines can work together with the communities they serve to improve local health and quality of life. It gives examples of how local policy and programme development for public health improvement can fit in with global and national policy-making to promote health, environmental and social justice.     

Views of the City: multiple pathways to sustainable transport futures

In this paper we look behind the notion of sustainable transport and highlight the tensions and contradictions between the different ways of achieving this. The paper examines transportation plans for a major UK city and describes how these develop the idea and practice of sustainable transport and demand management along three quite distinct trajectories. By focusing on both the technological and the institutional dimensions of three different routes to sustainable transport, the analysis explicates the different ways in which the urban transport problem is framed, the different socio-technical logics of demand management embodied in the plans and the differing ways in which institutional relationships are (re)constituted. A key finding is that technological and institutional innovations are inversely related so that radical technological innovation often serves to reinforce existing social relations of power and exclusion. The conclusion drawn is that the choice is not just between a sustainable and an unsustainable transport future, but also between different forms of sustainability.     

环境可持续发展理论体系框架的构建

环境问题包括生态环境与社会、经济与生态环境关系两方面的问题，本文从社：会、经济、文化以及环境科技发展等不同角度论述了环境可持续发展理论体系框架的构建，认为环境可持续发展必须是在体现公平性、可持续性、协调性的基础上，建立以生态思维为基础的社会环境伦理观、发展环境科学技术、实现经济的有机增长，不断完善环境政策与环境法制体系，     

霍式理论下民法典环境权入法路径研究

环境权作为一项新兴权利,各科学者都投入大量的实证分析研究,然而环境权内涵模糊使得该权利难以正式列入民法典"权利家族"中。究其原因,主要是环境权相关理论阙如,而以往的代际公平理论、环境正义理论、公共信托理论、可持续发展理论过于宏观而难以解决权利私人化的困境,而人权理论对于环境权的法定化作用有限。因此,亟须新的理论为环境权入法提供相关支撑。霍菲尔德法律关系理论中对于"权利"一词的特殊解读和对权利、义务、责任、特权、权力等概念间的基本法律关系进行的严密论证可以为环境权的间接入法提供有益作用。本文认为,应该将环境权解释为一项具体对人权,而将人身权解释为一项宽泛意义上的对人权,以形式逻辑论证将其纳入其中,同时从法律概念间的相关关系、相反关系,从义务、责任、特权等路径论证环境权间接入法的可行性,从而实现环境权的早日入法。     

Moral Responsibility for Environmental Problems—Individual or Institutional?

The actions performed by individuals, as consumers and citizens, have aggregate negative consequences for the environment. The question asked in this paper is to what extent it is reasonable to hold individuals and institutions responsible for environmental problems. A distinction is made between backward-looking and forward-looking responsibility. Previously, individuals were not seen as being responsible for environmental problems, but an idea that is now sometimes implicitly or explicitly embraced in the public debate on environmental problems is that individuals are appropriate targets for blame when they perform actions that are harmful to the environment. This idea is criticized in this paper. It is argued that instead of blaming individuals for performing actions that are not environmentally friendly we should ascribe forward-looking responsibility to individuals, a notion that focuses more on capacity and resources than causation and blameworthiness. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that a great share of forward-looking responsibility should also be ascribed to institutional agents, primarily governments and corporations. The urge to ascribe forward-looking responsibility to institutional agents is motivated by the efficiency aim of responsibility distributions. Simply put, if responsibility is ascribed to governments and corporations there is a better chance of creating a society in which the opportunities to act in an environmentally friendly way increase.     

Views of the City: Multiple pathways to sustainable transport futures

In this paper we look behind the notion of sustainable transport and highlight the tensions and contradictions between the different ways of achieving this. The paper examines transportation plans for a major UK city and describes how these develop the idea and practice of sustainable transport and demand management along three quite distinct trajectories. By focusing on both the technological and the institutional dimensions of three different routes to sustainable transport, the analysis explicates the different ways in which the urban transport problem is framed, the different socio-technical logics of demand management embodied in the plans and the differing ways in which institutional relationships are (re)constituted. A key finding is that technological and institutional innovations are inversely related so that radical technological innovation often serves to reinforce existing social relations of power and exclusion. The conclusion drawn is that the choice is not just between a sustainable and an unsustainable transport future, but also between different forms of sustainability.     

将环境规划纳入国民经济和社会发展规划中的方法初探

社会经济发展的最终目的是提高人民的生活质量,而环境质量是生活质量的重要组成部分,因此环境质量的优劣无疑应成为评价生活质量是否提高的标准之一.同时,保证资源具有可持续的支撑能力更是实现社会经济可持续发展的关键.因此,社会、经济发展规划中应体现出环境与资源因素的影响,这就需要开发现实可行的方法,以用于制定有利于实现可持续发展的区域规划.本文从物质平衡的角度出发,利用投入产出分析作为中介体,针对区域发展的特点提出了将环境成本和资源价值体现在区域投入产出分析中的方法,并探讨了如何将这种方法应用于区域规划研究中.     

Environmental planning,ecosystem science,and ecosystem approaches for integrating environment and development

Currently popular concepts such as sustainable development and sustainability seek the integration of environment and development planning. However, there is little evidence that this integration is occurring in either mainstream development planning or environmental planning. This is a function of the history, philosophies, and evolved roles of both. A brief review of the experience and results of mainstream planning, environmental planning, and ecosystem science suggests there is much in past scientific and professional practice that is relevant to the goal of integrated planning for environment and development, but still such commonly recommended reforms as systems and multidisciplinary approaches, institutional integration, and participatory, goal-oriented processes are rarely achieved. “Ecosystem approaches,” as developed and applied in ecology, human ecology, environmental planning, anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines, may provide a more transdisciplinary route to successful integration of environment and development. Experience with ecosystem approaches is reviewed, their advantages and disadvantages are discussed, and they are compared to traditional urban and regional planning, environmental planning, and ecosystem science approaches. Ultimately a synthesis of desirable characteristics for a framework to integrate environment and development planning is presented as a guide for future work and a criterion for evaluating existing programs.     

Health,Environmental and Social Justice

Health is a basic human right. Improving health requires social and environmental justice and sustainable development. The 'health for all' movement embraces principles shared by other social movements—in sustainable development, community safety and new economics. These principles include equity, democracy, empowerment of individuals and communities, underpinned by supportive environmental, economic and educational measures and multi-agency partnerships. Health promotion is green promotion and inequality in health is due to social and economic inequality. This paper shows how health, environmental and economic sustainability are inextricably linked and how professionals of different disciplines can work together with the communities they serve to improve local health and quality of life. It gives examples of how local policy and programme development for public health improvement can fit in with global and national policy-making to promote health, environmental and social justice.     

Environmental psychology: Manifold visions, unity of purpose

An attempt is made to understand and integrate the different perspectives on and approaches to environmental psychology. As a whole, the field is oriented to fundamental science, to practice, and to informing policy. Some approaches focus more on the person, some more on the environment, but all acknowledge its unity of purpose to understand the complex relations between people and the built, natural, and living environments around them. Environmental psychology is developing around the world from its North American and European roots, and this growth is enriching its collective vision. Interest in human transactions with the built environment remains, and concern for the natural world, including the optimizing of human relations with other species and the planet is very strong; these manifold visions are the very definition of environmental psychology.     

Ecophilosophy and science

Summary This paper aims to do two main things: first, to provide an introduction to ecophilosophy by presenting a spectrum of positions that have been developed to characterise the relationship between humans and their environment; second, to examine the variety of ways in which scientific work impacts upon human thought in regard to each of these positions. The import of this discussion should be twofold: first, it should help to acquaint readers with, and hopefully, interest them in, the kinds of developments that have been occurring in the area of ecophilosophy; second, it should help to acquaint environmentally concerned people with, and, hopefully, interest them in, the relevance of science to their arguments. Although many environmentally concerned people are scientifically informed, this second aim is worth stating because a number of environmentally concerned people unfortunately remain suspicious of the role of science in general.Dr Warwick Fox is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania. His first degree, in experimental psychology from the University of Western Australia, was followed by PhD in environmental philosophy. Currently his research interests are concerned with the development of a comprehensive and coherent oriented world view, from epistemology and cosmology to psychology, ethnics and politics.     

Water resources and development of women in arid regions in northern China

The total land area in China affected by desertification has grown over time due mainly to rapid population growth and environmental degradation. Arid and semi-arid regions now comprise approximately one-third of the country's land area. Women in arid areas suffer from the harsh environment as well as from discriminatory attitudes tied to the general expectations of women's role in society. Discrimination against women, high rates of illiteracy, poor health care, society's failure to recognize women's work, and insufficient social services result in illness, poverty, and low social status among women. The material poverty and lack of knowledge and education among women living in arid areas are discussed, as well as what women can do to alleviate poverty and improve the environment in arid areas. With regard to policies which could lead to sustainable development, the author discusses improving women's education in arid regions, public policies designed to improve women's conditions, ways to involve women in environmental protection, encouraging migration to reduce environmental degradation, and improving childbearing conditions.