A Framework for Sustainability Transition: The Case of Plant-Based Diets

Societal and technological development during the last century has enabled Western economies to achieve a high standard of living. Yet this profusion of wealth has led to several outcomes that are undesirable and/or unsustainable. There is thus an imperative need for a fundamental and rapid transition towards more sustainable practices. While broad conceptual frameworks for managing sustainability transitions have been suggested in prior literature, these need to be further developed to suit contexts in which the overall vision is arguably clear, such as in the case of consuming animal-originated foodstuffs. In this article we introduce a novel transition management framework that is based upon the dimensions of sustainability. The suggested transition management process includes the identification of objectives and obstacles, the listing of options and their opportunities and threats as well as the evaluation of the outcomes (the Five O’s). We argue that sustainability transition management should be a process in which the identification of the relevant dimensions of sustainability and related objectives forms the foundation for strategic, tactical and operational governance activities. We illustrate the practical applicability of the framework in the case of transition towards plant-based diets.     

Exergetic Sustainability Indicators as a Tool in Commercial Aircraft: A Case Study for a Turbofan Engine

This paper focuses on the exergetic sustainability indicators of a medium-range commercial aircraft engine for constant reference environment and ground running conditions. First, a detailed exergy analysis of turbofan engine have been performed based on engine test cell parameters. Starting from the sustainability considerations and the second law of the thermodynamics, the paper presents six exergy-based sustainability indicators. The indicators of the turbofan engine developed here in conjunction with exergetic analysis and sustainable development are exergy efficiency, waste exergy ratio, exergy destruction factor, recoverable exergy rate, environmental effect factor, and exergetic sustainability index. The investigated sustainable indicators have been calculated by using exergy analysis outputs for aircraft ground running condition. Results from this study show that values of exergy efficiency, waste exergy ratio, exergy destruction factor, recoverable exergy rate, environmental effect factor, and exergetic sustainability index of investigated turbofan engine are found to be 0.315, 0.685, 0.408, 0, 2.174, and 0.460, respectively. These parameters are expected to quantify how the turbofan engine and aircraft become more environmentally benign and sustainable.     

基于能值生态足迹的海岛可持续性评估——以舟山为例

基于能值理论,结合生态足迹方法,构建能值生态赤字/盈余、渔业足迹强度(D)、社会发展压力指数(I)和经济协调指数(Q)参数评价海岛可持续性,选取典型海岛城市浙江省舟山市作为案例研究。结果显示:2003—2017年舟山能值足迹、能值承载力均呈上升趋势;人均能值生态足迹共增加15.78 hm²,增幅为63.26%;人均能值承载力增加5.20×10² hm²,增幅为82.86%;其中,化石能源用地能值足迹增加最多,社会经济承载力增加最多,而自然承载力却有所下降。能值生态赤字/盈余和经济协调指数不能完全反映区域可持续性,区域渔业足迹强度的不断增加表明当前的渔业经济模式不满足可持续发展要求,社会发展压力指数增大也进一步表明舟山的发展状况偏离了可持续性的轨道。     

A Systematic Framework for the Design and Implementation of a Quality Management Practice: The Case of a Consulting Engineering Company

Company productivity and competitiveness in today's marketplace requires creative design, innovation, and the reduction of nonconformances, which require costly rework and can damage a firm's reputation with its customers and potential customers. Using the International Organisation of Standardization's (ISO) 9000 and 14000 series of standards, the authors of this article walk readers through the rigorous process of obtaining upper management buy‐in and sponsorship and engaging workers in a bottom‐up approach to establish the procedures necessary to perform world‐class engineering services.     

Sustainability at the Local Scale: Defining Highly Aggregated Indices for Assessing Environmental Performance. The Province of Reggio Emilia (Italy) as a Case Study

In order to achieve improved sustainability, local authorities need to use tools that adequately describe and synthesize environmental information. This article illustrates a methodological approach that organizes a wide suite of environmental indicators into few aggregated indices, making use of correlation, principal component analysis, and fuzzy sets. Furthermore, a weighting system, which includes stakeholders’ priorities and ambitions, is applied. As a case study, the described methodology is applied to the Reggio Emilia Province in Italy, by considering environmental information from 45 municipalities. Principal component analysis is used to condense an initial set of 19 indicators into 6 fundamental dimensions that highlight patterns of environmental conditions at the provincial scale. These dimensions are further aggregated in two indices of environmental performance through fuzzy sets. The simple form of these indices makes them particularly suitable for public communication, as they condensate a wide set of heterogeneous indicators. The main outcomes of the analysis and the potential applications of the method are discussed.     

The Analysis of Sustainability Indicators as Socially Constructed Policy Instruments: benefits and challenges of 'interactive research'

Sustainability indicator sets are increasingly being discussed on the policy level as fruitful contributions to the improvement of political decision- making and to the implementation of programs oriented towards the achievement of strategic goals of sustainable development. The vast number of different indicator type tools, their varying contexts of use and their differing objectives indicate that there is no simple answer to what sustainable indicator type tools should look like or could be used for. Instead, more than the final products (e.g. a specific indicators set), the analyses of the discourse on this topic reveal a lot of information. Thus, an innovative research approach is recommended focusing on understanding the production of social meaning and processes of social interaction within political-administrative systems. Firstly, there is a need to identify the development, purpose and use of sustainability indicator sets, which depend on the different interests of policy actors, their relationships and existing governance structures. Secondly, one should identify any reasons for the ineffective use of indicator sets where the goals of sustainability are concerned. The approach of 'interactive research' understood as a research process, in which 'researchers' and 'practitioners' develop knowledge for solving problems in a communicative, reflexive and collaborative way, facilitates this challenging research task. This paper critically examines the approach of interactive research and sheds some light on benefits as well as challenges of it via extracting the lessons learnt in an EU-funded project called 'Promoting Action for Sustainability through Indicators at the Local Level in Europe' (PASTILLE), which applied an interactive research approach.     

The Integration of Environmental Sustainability Considerations into EU Development Policy: A Case Study of the LEADER Initiative in the West of Ireland

In peripheral parts of Europe such as the West of Ireland, where environment-development tensions may be particularly sensitive, environmental sustainability principles need to be integrated into all policy and programme areas, as the Fifth Environmental Action programme requires. This paper examines the small but significant LEADER rural development initiative to assess how much its operation integrates sustainability considerations. While LEADER-supported projects are often environmentally benign, there is little evidence of proactive application in LEADER group strategies of sustainability criteria which are other than weak. Economic imperatives dominate LEADER programmes, and many actors are sanguine about potential environmental problems arising from development.     

The Organizational and Operational Boundaries of Triple Bottom Line Reporting: A Survey

This article responds to Gray’s (2002) call for normative research on social and environmental accounting (SEA) and Parker’s (2005) call for active engagement in the process of designing SEA systems. More specifically, our investigation focuses on the study of boundary setting for triple bottom line (TBL) reporting, an issue that has been given more attention by practitioners than by researchers. The study reviews the consequences of boundary setting for the discharge of organizational accountability, from which it develops a framework to investigate TBL reporting boundaries and then reports on an empirical survey of best practice. It concludes that organizations are strategically setting and disclosing their boundaries instead of discharging their accountability and argues that such strategies have far-reaching consequences, because reporting boundaries are not only reflective of organizations but also have a constitutive role in their definition. A further consequence is that it calls into question the use of voluntary labeling, such as “in accordance” with Global Reporting Initiative; one implication being that further research into technical developments in TBL reporting could contribute to the discharge of organizational accountability.     

Urban Sustainability as a Function of Compromises Households Make Deciding Where and How to Live: Portland and Seattle compared

Planners and policy makers in the UK and the USA widely believe that negative attendants of growth, such as congestion, pollution and sprawl, can be stemmed by mixed-use 'urban village' design solutions. It is assumed that concentrating jobs, housing, shops and schools within compact communities reduces individual recourse to energy-consuming movement. This paper critically examines this assumption. It draws on detailed observation of dual-earner household decisions concerning where and how to live, focusing on the two west-coast US cities of Portland and Seattle. The question is asked whether co-ordination of home and work is more manageable for working parents living in a compact city such as Portland. Contrary to popular belief, urban living is not synonymous with more localised modes of living. Residential preference does not hinge on job location or household structure alone. Equally, job location, child care and shopping practices do not hinge on residential location. For dual-earner households, tensions exist not only between individuals balancing the demands of competing careers but also between mutually exclusive tastes and identitities. Preferences associated with children's education, attachment to place, local social networks and moral cultures effectively cross-cut those of housing choice, journey to work and personal environmental ethos. The resulting 'compromises' profoundly shape the profile and quality of the built environment and its associated ecological footprint. Understanding this requires further development of a household approach to urban social and environmental sustainability. Planificadores y creadores de normas en Gran Bretaña y en Los Estados Unidos creen ampliamente que las asociaciones negativas de crecimiento, tales como congestión, polución y el crecimiento urbano descontrolado, pueden ser detenidas mediante el uso combinado de soluciones de diseño de villas urbanas. Se asume que concentrar empleos, vivienda, almacenes y escuelas dentro de comunidades compactas reduce el recurso individual del consumo de energía por movimiento. Este documento examina críticamente este supuesto. Describe con detallada observación las decisiones de hogares con doble ingreso concerniendo donde y como vivir, centrandose en las dos ciudades de la Costa Oeste de Los Estados Unidos, Portland y Seattle. La pregunta es si la coordinación de hogar y trabajo es mas manejable para padres trabajadores que viven en ciudades compactas como Portland. Contrario a la creencia popular, vida urbana no es sinónimo de mas localizados estilos de vida. La preferencia residencial no depende de la ubicación del trabajo o la sola estructura del hogar. Igualmente, la ubicación del trabajo, guarderias para niños y practicas de compra no dependen del lugar de residencia. Para hogares con doble ingreso, las tensiones no solo existen entre los individuos equilibrando las demandas de carreras competentes sino tambien entre exclusivos gustos e identidades mutuas. Las Preferencias asociadas con la educacion de los niños, el apego al lugar, las redes sociales locales y las culturas morales cortan eficazmente esas de selección de vivienda, trayecto al trabajo y carácter ambiental personal. Los 'acuerdos' resultantes moldean profundamente el perfil y la calidad del ambiente construido y su huella ecológica asociada. Para entender esto se requiere un desarrollo adicional del enfoque del hogar hacia el sostenimiento ambiental y social urbano.     

A Zoonosis as a Health Hazard in UK Moorland Recreational Areas: A Case Study of Lyme Disease

This paper discusses the zoonosis Lyme disease in the context of reduction and control options for the human disease, tick vectors, tick hosts and tick habitats. A questionnaire survey on three moorland recreational areas in the UK (Dartmoor, the Quantock Hills and the North York Moors) was carried out to investigate awareness of the problem of Lyme disease by people using these upland areas. A total of 567 questionnaires analysed showed extremely low levels of knowledge of the disease, symptoms, mode of infection and measures which might reduce the risk of tick bites. The results of this study extend knowledge of a countryside management/human health issue which is of increasing concern across the whole of Europe and North America.     

大气重污染预警区域联防联控协作体系构建——以京津冀地区为例

为改善大气环境质量、破除现有的环境保护与管理体制障碍,本文从京津冀地区大气重污染防治的现实意义出发,对比分析了属地管理模式的局限性与联防联控体系的优越性,探讨了京津冀地区构建大气污染联防联控体系的必要性。通过梳理大气重污染预警区域联防联控的发展历程及该地区联防联控的成功实践案例,从工作机制、联动机制、协同机制三方面提出了京津冀地区的联防联控体系构建框架以及具体实施举措,重点包括创新区域空气改善总体规划、统一加强大气污染源管控、建立落实政府环境绩效考核、建立区域生态环保专项资金等。     

The Power of Innovation and Strategic Sustainability Positioning: A Survey of the Mining Sector in Brazil

This study investigates the relationship between the power of innovation and the sustainability strategies of companies involved in the minerals extraction sector in Brazil. The study included companies associated with the Brazilian Mining Institute, and it used research surveys to gather data. Analysis of the survey data revealed that companies with highly intensive characteristics in regard to innovation and environmental activities (environmental management activities) also display offensive, or proactive, strategies for pursuing sustainability.     

The Ethics and Politics of Animal Welfare in New Zealand: Broiler Chicken Production as a Case Study

The cause of poor welfare in broilers is multifactorial, but genotype is a major contributor. Modern broilers have been bred for rapid growth, and this leads to increases in lameness and ascites as the legs and hearts of the heavier birds find it difficult to cope with the extra demands placed on them. Visible lameness indicative of pain is more common in New Zealand than in Europe. The government, however, insists that New Zealand welfare standards are higher than Europe. The government also appears to have a strong antipathy to those demanding better welfare for broilers. Reasons for this antipathy and disparities between government statements and research results are discussed. Government publications reveal that animal welfare is seen as a question of image for market access and that there is little concern with animal welfare as an ethical imperative for its own sake. The Animal Welfare Act in theory makes it an offence to ill treat an animal, but in practice allows exemptions for industrial agriculture. The interests of animals may be better protected by an independent animal welfare advisory service.     

The Importance of Temporal and Spatial Vegetation Structure Information in Biotope Mapping Schemes: A Case Study in Helsingborg,Sweden

Temporal and spatial vegetation structure has impact on biodiversity qualities. Yet, current schemes of biotope mapping do only to a limited extend incorporate these factors in the mapping. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the application of a modified biotope mapping scheme that includes temporal and spatial vegetation structure. A refined scheme was developed based on a biotope classification, and applied to a green structure system in Helsingborg city in southern Sweden. It includes four parameters of vegetation structure: continuity of forest cover, age of dominant trees, horizontal structure, and vertical structure. The major green structure sites were determined by interpretation of panchromatic aerial photographs assisted with a field survey. A set of biotope maps was constructed on the basis of each level of modified classification. An evaluation of the scheme included two aspects in particular: comparison of species richness between long-continuity and short-continuity forests based on identification of woodland continuity using ancient woodland indicators (AWI) species and related historical documents, and spatial distribution of animals in the green space in relation to vegetation structure. The results indicate that (1) the relationship between forest continuity: according to verification of historical documents, the richness of AWI species was higher in long-continuity forests; Simpson’s diversity was significantly different between long- and short-continuity forests; the total species richness and Shannon’s diversity were much higher in long-continuity forests shown a very significant difference. (2) The spatial vegetation structure and age of stands influence the richness and abundance of the avian fauna and rabbits, and distance to the nearest tree and shrub was a strong determinant of presence for these animal groups. It is concluded that continuity of forest cover, age of dominant trees, horizontal and vertical structures of vegetation should now be included in urban biotope classifications.     

Using Ecological Footprints as a Policy Driver: The Case of Sustainable Construction Planning Policy in London

Abstract

The forests of Nepal, which in the past were at least nominally under the direct control of the state, are today increasingly entrusted to local people in the name of community forestry (CF). CF is considered a successful endeavour in managing forest resources, conserving biodiversity and supplying people with basic economic needs. In order to assess to what extent the two goals of biodiversity conservation and meeting economic needs of people have been integrated through CF, four community forestry user groups (CFUGs) were studied in the Mid-hills ecological zone. Based on a participatory survey and a critical review of the statutes and operational plans of these CFUGs, it was found that integration of biodiversity conservation was still insufficient, and that improvements in the policy and management regimes of CF are necessary to achieve a balance between biodiversity conservation and economic use of the forest resources.     

Using Ecological Footprints as a Policy Driver: The Case of Sustainable Construction Planning Policy in London

The heuristic value of the ecological footprint (EF) conceptual device has met with considerable political and civic buy-in at national, regional and local levels. It is seen as particularly valuable for visualizing ecological overshoot but debates about methodological soundness have undermined this potential. This paper examines the emerging opportunities for advanced footprinting approaches that use input-output analysis to test 'what if?' policy scenarios and hence turn EF into a proactive driver for sustainability-oriented policy development. It focuses on the London case and the specific arena of planning policy for sustainable construction.     

Nutrient-Balance Modeling as a Tool for Environmental Management in Aquaculture: The Case of Trout Farming in France

The control and prevention of nutrient pollution from fish farming plays an essential role in the French regulatory framework. Assessing nutrient emissions from fish farms is important in terms of farm authorization, taxation, and monitoring. Currently employed strategies involve both water sampling and empirical modeling. This article reports the work and outcomes of an expert panel that evaluated existing methodologies and their possible alternatives. The development and evaluation of a nutrient-balance approach was assessed as a potential alternative to currently used methodologies. A previously described nutrient-balance model was suggested and parameterized using expert choice, and its validity and applicability were assessed. The results stress that the nutrient-balance model provides more robust and relatively conservative waste estimates compared to the currently used methodologies. Sensitivity of the approach to the uneven data quality available at farm level, difficulties of on-farm measurements, as well as model requirements and limitations are discussed.