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Now showing 1 - 10 of 109
  • Journal Article
    'Sustainability Learning': An Introduction to the Concept and Its Motivational Aspects
    (2010) Hansmann, Ralf
    "This theoretical paper clarifies the concept of sustainability learning and specifically analyzes motivational aspects. Mastering the challenges of sustainability requires individual learning as well as learning processes on different levels of human systems ranging from groups and organizations to human societies, and mankind as a whole. Learning processes of individuals play a fundamental role, since individuals constitute and shape the larger social aggregates. Learning processes on the level of social aggregates are important since social systems embed and influence individuals. Therefore, sustainability learning needs to be understood as a multi-level concept, comprising individual learning as well as learning processes of human systems. Transdisciplinarity and mutual learning between science and society are considered fundamental approaches of sustainability learning, and hence increase the capacity of mankind to manage human-environment systems in sustainable ways. Based on systemic considerations, the two-fold role, in which motivations act as determinants and targeted outcomes of sustainability learning processes, is explained together with the outstanding role that cooperation, hence cooperative motivation, plays for sustainable development. Finally, the multifaceted, controversial discourses on what sustainability ultimately means (for the scientific community, for a given cultural or political entity, organization, or individual person) are considered."
  • Journal Article
    Design Principles for Social-ecological Transformation toward Sustainability: Lessons from New Zealand Sense of Place
    (2012) Chapin, F. Stuart; Mark, Alan F.; Mitchell, Robin A.; Dickinson, Katharine J.M.
    "As society seeks to meet the needs of a growing human population and rising aspirations for consumption, many of the ecosystem services on which society depends have declined in the global aggregate. Although some local societies sustainably manage their natural resources for long time periods, the more frequent pattern is overuse of renewable resources and a trajectory toward degradation. How can this degradation be reversed? In this paper we draw on four New Zealand examples and the literature to posit a set of design principles and recommendations to foster transformation from social-ecological degradation toward more sustainable pathways. These include a strong sense of place, prioritizing long-term solutions over short-term benefits, collective engagement of all key stakeholders and willingness to compromise, right to organize and manage, negotiated consensus on sustainability goals, formal and informal monitoring, flexibility to renegotiate goals and adapt, and guidance by a skilled facilitator. We also identify guidelines that foster consensus-building in the face of contested solutions. Examples from New Zealand and the literature suggest that local social-ecological systems can self-organize to shift toward more sustainable trajectories and that society can foster conditions that increase the likelihood of favorable transformations."
  • Journal Article
    Social Learning and Natural Resource Management: The Emergence of Three Research Perspectives
    (2011) Rodela, Romina
    "A review is presented of research contributions that use social learning in research on natural resource management. The review is based on an extensive survey of peer-reviewed journal articles appraised against the following selected analytical items: (1) characterizing features, (2) level of analysis, and (3) operational measures. Together, these allowed for an assessment of underlying assumptions and emerging themes. The findings suggest that, within natural resource management literature, three research approaches to social learning have been developed, each with its own assumptions about the learning process, learning outcomes, and operational practices. Hence, we find that a group of publications showed an interest for participants' learning experiences and focused on the type of outcomes that arise from their attendance in participatory workshops and similar activities. Also, findings indicate that a second group of publications showing an interest for learning in other types of settings, such as groups, networks, and associations, have framed social learning as a process that results in a change in resource management practices, or in how things are done. On the other hand, a third group of publications showed an interest in social-ecological systems emphasizing learning as an emergent property."
  • Journal Article
    Rethinking the Galapagos Islands as a Complex Social-Ecological System: Implications for Conservation and Management
    (2008) Gonzalez, Jose A.; Montes, Carlos; Rodriguez, Jose; Tapia, Washington
    "The Galapagos Islands are among the most renowned natural sites in the world. Unlike other oceanic archipelagos, the ecological and evolutionary processes characteristic of Galapagos have been minimally affected by human activities, and the archipelago still retains most of its original, unique biodiversity. However, several recent reports suggest that the development model has turned unsustainable and that the unique values of the archipelago might be seriously at risk. In response to international concern, UNESCO added Galapagos to the list of World Heritage in Danger in 2007. Our goal was to provide new insights into the origins of the present-day crisis and suggest possible management alternatives. To this end, we re-examined the Galapagos situation from a broad systems perspective, conceptualizing the archipelago as a complex social-ecological system. Past, present, and possible future trends were explored using the resilience theory as a perspective for understanding the dynamics of the system. Four major historical periods were characterized and analyzed using Hollingâ  s adaptive cycle metaphor. The current Galapagos situation was characterized as a prolonged series of crisis events followed by renewal attempts that have not yet been completed. Three plausible future scenarios were identified, with tourism acting as the primary driver of change. The current tourism model reduces the systemâ  s resilience through its effects on the economy, population growth, resource consumption, invasive species arrival, and lifestyle of the island residents. Opportunities to reorganize and maintain a desirable state do exist. However, strong political and management decisions are urgently needed to avoid an irreversible shift to a socially and environmentally undesirable regime. Key measures to achieve a new sustainability paradigm for Galapagos include modifying traditional practices to produce a more adaptive resilience-based co-management model, adopting a more comprehensive approach to territorial planning, strengthening participative approaches and institutional networks, and promoting transdisciplinary research at the frontiers of social and biophysical sciences."
  • Journal Article
    Is Corruption Bad for Environmental Sustainability? A Cross-National Analysis
    (2006) Morse, Stephen
    "This paper explores the hypothesis that higher levels of corruption are detrimental to environmental sustainability. It does this by employing the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) and its component variables and indicators as promoted by the World Economic Forum and the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) created by Transparency International (TI). Both the CPI and ESI were shown to be statistically significantly related to income (proxied as GDP/capita) such that environmental sustainability declined with decreasing income while corruption worsened. The ESI for 2002 was also divided into indicators representing pressure, state, impact and response (i.e., the PSIR framework), and each of these were regressed onto a 'residual CPI' (CPI of 2002 with the influence of income removed). The results suggest that for the most part the pressure, state and impact indicators of the ESI are not correlated with 'residual' CPI. The only statistically significant relationships with 'residual CPI' were for those of the response indicators of the ESI, although even here the R2 values were low (< 20%). Corruption was found to reduce any positive contribution from the response indicators towards environmental sustainability. However, great care needs to be taken when drawing conclusions from the sort of highly aggregated (spatially as well as mathematically) indices as the ESI and CPI."
  • Journal Article
    The Use of Impact Assessment Tools to Support Sustainable Policy Objectives in Europe
    (2010) De Smedt, Peter
    "Sustainable development has become an overall policy objective in Europe. The sustainability transition is seen as the process of coming to terms with sustainability in all its ecological, social, economic, and institutional dimensions. This challenging process is as much about new ways of knowing as it is about resource management and product innovation. I analyzed how scientific tools such as environmental, socioeconomic, and integrated models have been developed and used to provide a solid foundation for sustainable policy objectives. I used a scoping study to compare current impact assessment exercises and research policy cases within the European Commission (EC). Although the EC is recognized as having supported environmental policy integration for more than three decades, updated insight is relevant because the current impact assessment system within the EC is highly dynamic, involving frequent new policy commitments and institutional initiatives to strengthen its practice and quality within the last three years. In addition, a broad range of research projects have been initiated to support this process by developing new concepts and tools and linking them with actual policy initiatives. Finally, the focus on design and use of scientific tools will contribute to a better understanding of what hinders the tools from being relevant, accurate, and legitimate. For example, while being simplifications of reality, many scientific models remain so complex that they are seen as black boxes instead of transparent analytical tools. Consequently, research outcomes do not fully reach policy makers."
  • Journal Article
    Stakeholder Engagement and Biodiversity Conservation Challenges in Social-Ecological Systems: Some Insights from Biosphere Reserves in Western Africa and France
    (2017) Bouamrane, Meriem; Spierenburg, Marja; Agrawal, Arun; Boureima, Amadou
    "Biosphere reserves are an example of social-ecological systems that combine biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic development with knowledge generation and dissemination (both scientific and local). We review lessons learned from case studies biosphere reserves in western African and France, highlighting the importance of early stakeholder engagement to build knowledge for achieving sustainable development. We discuss the evolution of the concept of biosphere reserves and its application over time in different socioeconomic and cultural settings. The diversity of stakeholders and their different needs and perceptions about nature conservation complicate implementation processes, sometimes resulting in conflicts about the objectives and zonation of biosphere reserves. Dialogue among the different stakeholders must start at an early planning phase and be based on the principle of social and ecological solidarity. Dialogue must then be pursued, formalized, ritualized, and translated both in terms of biosphere reserve management and in terms of political support. Tools and methods exist that can facilitate such dialogue and colearning."
  • Journal Article
    Sustainable Nanotechnology: Through Green Methods and Life-Cycle Thinking
    (2010) Dhingra, Rajive; Naidu, Sasikumar; Upreti, Girish; Sawhney, Rapinder
    "Citing the myriad applications of nanotechnology, this paper emphasizes the need to conduct 'life cycle' based assessments as early in the new product development process as possible, for a better understanding of the potential environmental and human health consequences of nanomaterials over the entire life cycle of a nano-enabled product. The importance of this reasoning is further reinforced through an illustrative case study on automotive exterior body panels, which shows that the perceived environmental benefits of nano-based products in the Use stage may not adequately represent the complete picture, without examining the impacts in the other life cycle stages, particularly Materials Processing and Manufacturing. Nanomanufacturing methods often have associated environmental and human health impacts, which must be kept in perspective when evaluating nanoproducts for their 'greenness.' Incorporating life-cycle thinking for making informed decisions at the product design stage, combining life cycle and risk analysis, using sustainable manufacturing practices, and employing green chemistry alternatives are seen as possible solutions."
  • Journal Article
    Theories for Sustainable Futures
    (2000) Holling, C.S.
    From p. 1: "Sustainable development and management of global and regional resources is not an ecological problem, nor an economic one, nor a social one. It is a combination of all three. And yet actions to integrate all three typically have short-changed one or more. "Sustainable designs driven by conservation interests often ignore the needs for an adaptive form of economic development that emphasizes human economic enterprise and institutional flexibility. Those driven by economic and industrial interests often act as if the uncertainty of nature can be replaced with human engineering and management controls, or ignored all together. Those driven by social interests can act as if community development and empowerment of individuals encounter no limits to the imagination and initiative of local groups. Each view captures its prescriptions in code words: regulation and control; get the prices right; empowerment; stakeholder ownership. These are not wrong, just too partial. Investments fail because they are partial. As a consequence, the policies of governments, private foundations, international agencies, and NGOs flop from emphasizing one kind of myopic solution to another. Over the last three decades, such policies have switched from large investment schemes, to narrow conservation ones to (at present) equally narrow community development ones."
  • Journal Article
    A Sustainable Energy Scenario for the United States: Year 2050
    (2010) Tonn, Bruce; Frymier, Paul; Graves, Jared; Meyers, Jessa
    "This paper presents a scenario depicting life in the United States in the year 2050. The scenario is designed to achieve energy sustainability: fossil fuels and corn ethanol have been replaced by other sustainable and inexhaustible energy sources. The scenario describes the disappearance of the suburbs, replaced by a mix of high density urban centers and low density eco-communities. A suite of advanced technologies and significant social changes underpin the scenario. Analysis of the energy implications inherent in the scenario suggest that total US energy consumption would be around 100 quads in 2050, approximately the same as in the year 2010 despite a forecasted population increase of 130 million."