Leadership Approaches To The Science Of Water And Sustainability

"This book covers a brief geologic history of water, a collection of memoirs of exploring and looking for pristine spring water sources, about the complications of quality control, water law and the science of water and sustainability"--

Water is the life source of all living things on our planet. By honoring our environment and realizing the importance of our great resources, we not only restore our natural world, but we also create a sustainable planet and quality of life we so desperately need. Many do not have access to pure, clean water. In addition, natural disasters temporarily alter water systems and make them undrinkable, and as we look for healthy, on-the-go alternatives, many have turned to bottled water. This is one of the many issues involving water science and environmental sustainability. Leadership Approaches to the Science of Water and Sustainability highlights the many issues with water and sustainability. It details the lengths one goes to find, develop, and protect natural resources and highlights the scientists, state, and government agencies who work tirelessly to protect our great natural resources. Covering topics such as environmental law, the history of water, and water science, this premier reference source is a dynamic resource for government officials, conservationists, environmental engineers, agricultural scientists, environmental scientists, non-profit organizations, students and faculty of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

The traditional urban transportation systems around the globe are now being transferred into green public transportation systems in an effort to mitigate CO2 emissions and provide nature-friendly transportation systems in cities and, ultimately, to increase citizens’ wellbeing. Furthermore, the cities are expected to transform their traditional transportation systems to cutting-edge high technology green transportation systems in the near future due to regulations applied by the related authorities such as the EU and UN. At the same time, cities are undergoing a transformation from traditional to smart cities, which is an inevitable process due to swift developments in technologies and smart systems. Sustainable public transportation systems must be developed and adjusted to be applicable in future smart cities. The Handbook of Research on Promoting Sustainable Public Transportation Strategies in Urban Environments considers the challenges and advantages of sustainable public transportation systems in urban areas and provides relevant theoretical frameworks, the latest empirical research findings, and an overview of the latest technological developments on the subject. Covering key topics such as green vehicles, sustainability, and walkable cities, this major reference work is ideal for policymakers, government officials, industry professionals, researchers, scholars, practitioners, academicians, instructors, and students.

The Graduate Program in Sustainability Science under the Department of Urban Engineering of The University of Tokyo has been running an environmental leadership education program at the graduate student level since 2007 called the Asian Program for Incubation of Environmental Leaders (APIEL). This book describes the University’s experiences in establishing and organizing that program and provides some lessons learned for those who are considering starting environmental leadership education programs. APIEL’s curriculum includes the classroom topic “Environmental Challenges and Leadership in Asia.” As well, the APIEL program has field units to provide experience in problem solving, decision making, and participation, taking into consideration ecological, political, economic, social, aesthetic, and ethical aspects. Another characteristic feature of the program is that it promotes changes in attitudes and behavior that will help to solve existing environmental problems and to avoid a generation of new ones. Over the four years of study, efforts have been made to bond leadership with field-oriented exercises such as: 1) The Intensive Program on Sustainability; 2) an integral approach focused on sustainable integrated watershed management of arid regions; 3) sustainable development of programs in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand for qualifying students with problem-solving processes to combat issues such as flooding, lack of proper urban environmental infrastructure, and health risks; and 4) the Greater Pearl River Delta program with multicultural diversity to bring about sustainable urban development for a green city. All of those are described in the book. Last but not least, APIEL’s resonance throughout international networks and alumni are introduced.

Water is our most fundamental natural resource, a resource that is limited. Challenges to our nation's water resources continue to grow, driven by population growth, ecological needs, climate change, and other pressures. The nation needs more and improved water science and information to meet these challenges. Toward a Sustainable and Secure Water Future reviews the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Water Resource Discipline (WRD), one of the nation's foremost water science organizations. This book provides constructive advice to help the WRD meet the nation's water needs over the coming decades. Of interest primarily to the leadership of the USGS WRD, many findings and recommendations also target the USGS leadership and the Department of Interior (DOI), because their support is necessary for the WRD to respond to the water needs of the nation.

This open access book offers both conceptual and empirical descriptions of how to “frame” sustainability challenges. It defines “framing” in the context of sustainability science as the process of identifying subjects, setting boundaries, and defining problems. The chapters are grouped into two sections: a conceptual section and a case section. The conceptual section introduces readers to theories and concepts that can be used to achieve multiple understandings of sustainability; in turn, the case section highlights different ways of comprehending sustainability for researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders. The book offers diverse illustrations of what sustainability concepts entail, both conceptually and empirically, and will help readers become aware of the implicit framings in sustainability-related discourses. In the extant literature, sustainability challenges such as climate change, sustainable development, and rapid urbanization have largely been treated as “pre-set,” fixed topics, while possible solutions have been discussed intensively. In contrast, this book examines the framings applied to the sustainability challenges themselves, and illustrates the road that led us to the current sustainability discourse.

As CEOs and business leaders navigate a world of complex global challenges, sustainability is no longer optional but a business imperative. In this book, two sustainability leaders with decades of experience – Henrik Henriksson, CEO of Scania and Elaine Weidman Grunewald, Co-founder of the AI Sustainability Center, and former Chief Sustainability & Public Affairs Officer at Ericsson – offer a simple but powerful three-step model for leading an organization on a sustainability transformation journey that aims at big, audacious, world-changing goals. Honest about the dilemmas but bullish on the opportunities, the authors advise leaders on how to accelerate sustainability in their organizations told through a Swedish lens, where the country’s values and culture permeate the boardroom and the C-suite, bringing a unique clarity and conviction to leading with integrity. In practical insights gleaned from the authors’ own experience, the book takes leaders through the three phases of sustainability leadership: from establishing a solid foundation rooted in purpose, culture, values, principles and consistent, credible leadership, to integrating sustainability into the core business, and then to executing a vision that not only shifts the direction of the company but can change an entire industry, and even the world. Throughout the book, more than 25 interviews with other leading CEOs of Swedish companies as well as successful start-ups, investors, economists, and other experts illuminate the path to sustainability leadership from different perspectives. These are complemented by case studies describing how companies got it right – or turned themselves around after getting it very, very wrong. With this hands-on insiders’ guide, CEOs and C-suite leaders can take sustainability to the next level. This is the encouragement and inspiration business leaders need to move past incremental improvement at a time when exponential, world-changing action is more urgent than ever.

Part of the SAGE Reference Series on Leadership, this 2-volume set tackles issues relevant to leadership in the realm of the environment and sustainability. Volume 1 of Environmental Leadership: A Reference Handbook considers such topics as environmental thought leadership (environmental ethics, conservation, eco-feminism, collective action and the commons and what we have termed contrarians); political leadership (the environmental challenge context for the expression of political leadership); governmental leadership (government initiatives to provide leadership in environmental management); private sector leadership (private sector leadership in environmental management as individuals, through organizations or through specific initiatives); nonprofit leadership (nonprofit sector leadership in topical areas such as conservation, advocacy, philanthropy and economic development); signaling events (events and their impact on the exercise of environmental leadership through individual, political and organizational actions); grassroots activism (profiles of individual environmental activists and considerations of how environmental leadership is exercised through activism); environmental leadership in journalism, literature and the arts; and environmental leadership in education. In Volume 2 we cover topics that confront the particular intractable characteristics of environmental problem solving. Individual chapters focus on how environmental leadership actions or initiatives may be applied to address specific problems in context, offering both analyses and recommendations. Overarching themes in this volume include taking action in the face of uncertainty (mitigating climate change impacts, adapting to climate change, protecting coastal ecosystems, protecting wetlands and estuaries, preserving forest resources, protecting critical aquifers, preventing the spread of invasive species, and identifying and conserving vital global habitats); promoting international cooperation in the face of conflicting agendas (designing and implementing climate change policy, reconciling species protection and free trade, allocating scarce resources, designing sustainable fisheries, addressing global overpopulation, preventing trade in endangered species, conserving global biodiversity, and mitigating ocean debris and pollution); addressing conflicts between economic progress and environmental protection (preserving open space, redesigning cities, promoting ecotourism, redeveloping brownfields, designing transit-oriented development, confronting impacts of factory farming, preventing non-point source agricultural pollution, confronting agricultural water use, addressing the impacts of agrochemicals, designing sustainable food systems, and valuing ecosystem services); addressing complex management challenges (energy efficiency, solar energy, wind energy, hydrogen economy, alternative vehicles, solid waste disposal, hazardous waste disposal, electronic waste disposal, life cycle analysis, and waste to energy); and addressing disproportionate impacts on the poor and the weak (preventing export of developed world waste to developing countries, minimizing co-location of poverty and polluting industries, protecting the rights of indigenous peoples, preventing environmental disease, protecting children′s health, providing universal access to potable water, and protecting environmental refugees). The final three chapters examine next-generation environmental leaders.