In Search Of Sustainability

Leading Australians present their thoughts on what the main issues are for moving towards a sustainable future.

The concept of sustainability holds that the social, economic, and environmental factors within human communities must be viewed interactively and systematically. Sustainable development cannot be understood apart from a community, its ethos, and ways of life. Although broadly conceived, the pursuit of sustainable development is a local practice because every community has different needs and quality of life concerns. Within this framework, contributors representing the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, geography, economics, law, public policy, architecture, and urban studies explore sustainability in communities in the Pacific, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and North America. Contributors: Janet E. Benson, Karla Caser, Snjezana Colic, Angela Ferreira, Johanna Gibson, Krista Harper, Paulo Lana, Barbara Yablon Maida, Carl A. Maida, Kenneth A. Meter, Dario Novellino, Deborah Pellow, Claude Raynaut, Thomas F. Thornton, Richard Westra, Magda Zanoni

This book examines from a multidisciplinary viewpoint the question of what we mean - what we should mean - by setting sustainability as a goal for environmental management. The author, trained as a philosopher of science and language, explores ways to break down the disciplinary barriers to communication and deliberation about environment policy, and to integrate science and evaluations into a more comprehensive environmental policy. Choosing sustainability as the keystone concept of environmental policy, the author explores what we can learn about sustainable living from the philosophy of pragmatism, from ecology, from economics, from planning, from conservation biology and from related disciplines. The idea of adaptive, or experimental, management provides the context, while insights from various disciplines are integrated into a comprehensive philosophy of environmental management. The book will appeal to students and professionals in the fields of environmental policy and ethics, conservation biology, and philosophy of science.

From one of the world's leading experts on the subject, a fully updated introduction to the sustainability movement from the 1600s to today The word is nearly ubiquitous: at the grocery store we shop for sustainable foods that were produced from sustainable agriculture; groups ranging from small advocacy organizations to city and state governments to the United Nations tout sustainable development as a strategy for local and global stability; and woe betide the city-dweller who doesn't aim for a sustainable lifestyle. Seeming to have come out of nowhere to dominate the discussion-from permaculture to renewable energy to the local food movement-the ideas that underlie and define sustainability can be traced back several centuries. In this illuminating and fascinating primer, newly revised and updated, Jeremy L. Caradonna does just that, approaching sustainability from a historical perspective and revealing the conditions that gave it shape. Locating the underpinnings of the movement as far back as the 1660s, Caradonna considers the origins of sustainability across many fields throughout Europe and North America. Taking us from the emergence of thoughts guiding sustainable yield forestry in the late 17th and 18th centuries, through the challenges of the Industrial Revolution, the birth of the environmental movement, and the emergence of a concrete effort to promote a balanced approach to development in the latter half of the 20th century, he shows that while sustainability draws upon ideas of social justice, ecological economics, and environmental conservation, it is more than the sum of its parts and blends these ideas together into a dynamic philosophy. Caradonna's book broadens our understanding of what sustainability means, revealing how it progressed from a relatively marginal concept to an ideal that shapes everything from individual lifestyles, government and corporate strategies, and even national and international policy. For anyone seeking understand the history of those striving to make the world a better place to live, here's a place to start.

What must we do to achieve a sustainable society? There is no one answer. The first steps towards sustainability cover a whole spectrum of economic, social and environmental issues. In this volume Australian leaders from a wide range of fields discuss the key issues we must address if we are to move towards a more just and sustainable future. They identify the major concerns and challenges for achieving sustainability in the areas of: human health, water resources, land use and natural ecosystems, energy, equity and peace, economic systems, climate change, labour forces and work, urban design and transport, and population. Achieving sustainability will require major changes in our current approaches. The thought-provoking chapters in this book provide a solid introduction to the issues in the search for a genuine path to sustainability.

A New World-System: From Chaos to Sustainability examines the present crisis in the social and ecological environment that is producing profound, potentially catastrophic challenges to the planet and humanity and outlines a process for moving forward to address these critical issues. This book is a cautionary interpretation of the present and vision for the future. Unlike other books on this or allied subjects that are focused singularly, Part 1 surveys the five major threats facing humanity today: climate change, inequality and poverty, new technologies, migration, and globalization. It approaches the challenge of integrating these phenomena into a global picture from a systems perspective rather than taking a purely reductionist approach to understanding what is occurring in the world today. Part 2 moves from identifying the problems to solving them, with chapters examining the ability of the present world-system to address these issues and outlining a process for action. The book concludes by discussing what could follow capitalism as a social organizing strategy and, perhaps more importantly, the consequences to the planet if we do not construct a new world-system. This book is essential reading for students and scholars of sustainable development, climate change, environmental studies, rural and urban planning, environmental psychology, political economy, sociology, social policy, leisure studies, and environmental politics. More broadly, it is a vital resource for all those interested in building a sustainable society.

In January 2010, author, academic and social entrepreneur Dr Wayne Visser set off on a nine-month, 20-country "quest" to talk to entrepreneurs, business leaders and innovators and learn about how companies in all parts of the world can and are helping to tackle the world's most pressing social and environmental problems. His aim was to explore the many varieties of global approaches to sustainable business practices first-hand and to share some of the most innovative global examples.The result is this treasure trove of a book, full of stories, ideas, links to more than 100 video interviews, best practices and tools for making sustainable business work in a myriad of different contexts, cultures and settings. Besides sharing insights from his 2010 "CSR Quest World Tour", the author captures his professional experiences and the evolution of sustainable business over the past 20 years.The path begins in Africa and winds its way through Asia, North America, Europe, Australasia and Latin America. The author shares what he has learned in encounters with mega-corporations and small farmers, and conversations with CEOs and social entrepreneurs. There are facts and figures about world trends, and interviews with thought leaders and activists. This is a tale that consciously weaves the personal and the professional, mixing anecdotes and case studies. It looks outwards and reflects inwards, and is both autobiography and the life story of a global movement.