Pathways To Our Sustainable Future

Pittsburgh has a rich history of social consciousness in calls for justice and equity. Today, the movement for more sustainable practices is rising in Pittsburgh. Against a backdrop of Marcellus shale gas development, initiatives emerge for a sustainable and resilient response to the climate change and pollution challenges of the twenty-first century. People, institutions, communities and corporations in Pittsburgh are leading the way to a more sustainable future. Examining the experience of a single city, with all of its social and political complexities and long industrial history, allows a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities inherent in adapting to a changing world. Choices for more sustainable pathways for the future include transforming the energy system, restoring infertile ground, and preventing pollution through green chemistry production. Throughout the book, case studies responding to ethical challenges give specific examples of successful ways forward. Inspired by Rachel Carson’s voice of precaution in protecting the Earth, this is a book about empowerment and hope.

In an urbanizing world, the majority of people live in urban settlements predominantly on the coastal edge. Focus has historically been on people, place and the challenges and opportunities of living with global change, and academic attention has largely been on sustainability science or sustainable solutions. This book seeks to strengthen the relatively weak link between sustainability science, land use planning and socio-economic change, and show that a more integrated approach to planning will be required to develop more sustainable pathways for cities and regions in the future. Sustainable Pathways for our Cities and Regions builds on the recent publications on cities and climate change, resilient cities and coasts, and sustainable cities, and looks at the ways in which current planning approaches need to be adapted to embrace concepts including green growth, planetary boundaries, healthy cities and longer-term sustainability. Drawing on case studies from four cities selected for their publicly stated commitment to sustainability – Canberra, Kuala Lumpur, Copenhagen and New York – the author proposes seven sustainable pathways and draws conclusions on the positive contribution planning can make in preparing urban and regional communities for significant change in the twenty-first century city. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of urban planning, sustainable cities, climate change, green growth and community engagement. It will also be of great value to leaders and community activists seeking more sustainable pathways for their cities and regions.

Sustainable consumption is a central research topic in academic discourses of sustainable development and global environmental change. Informed by a number of disciplinary perspectives, this book is structured around four key themes in sustainable consumption research: Living, Moving, Dwelling and Futures. The collection successfully balances theoretical insights with grounded case studies, on mobility, heating, washing and eating practices, and concludes by exploring future sustainable consumption research pathways and policy recommendations. Theoretical frameworks are advanced throughout the volume, especially in relation to social practice theory, theories of behavioural change and innovative visioning and backcasting methodologies. This groundbreaking book draws on some conceptual approaches which move beyond the responsibility of the individual consumer to take into account wider social, economic and political structures and processes in order to highlight both possibilities for and challenges to sustainable consumption. This approach enables students and policy-makers alike to easily recognise the applicability of social science theories.

The book draws on content and cases from across the 'Pathways' Transformative Knowledge Network; an international group of six regional hubs working on sustainability challenges in their own local or national contexts. It draws inputs from North and South, mirroring the universality of the Sustainable Development Goals.

This 9th volume of International Development Policy looks at recent paradigmatic innovations and related development trajectories in Latin America, with a particular focus on the Andean region. It examines the diverse development narratives and experiences in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru during a period of high commodity prices associated with robust growth, poverty alleviation and inequality reduction. Highlighting propositions such as buen vivir, this thematic volume questions whether competing ideologies and discourses have translated into different outcomes, be it with regard to environmental sustainability, social progress, primary commodity dependence, or the rights of indigenous peoples. This collection of articles aims to enrich our understanding of recent development debates and processes in Latin America, and what the rest of the world can learn from them. Contributors include: Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Alberto Acosta, Ana Elizabeth Bastida, Luis Bustos, Humberto Campodónico, Gilles Carbonnier, Ana Patricia Cubillo-Guevara, Fernando Eguren, Ricardo Fuentes-Nieva, Eduardo García, Javier Herrera, Antonio Luis Hidalgo-Capitán, Robert Muggah, Gianandrea Nelli Feroci, José Antonio Ocampo, Camilo Andrés Peña Galeano, Guillermo Perry, Darío Indalecio Restrepo Botero, Sergio Tezanos Vázquez, and Frédérique Weyer.

Cities have experienced an unprecedented rate of growth in the last decade. More than half the world's population lives in urban areas, with the U.S. percentage at 80 percent. Cities have captured more than 80 percent of the globe's economic activity and offered social mobility and economic prosperity to millions by clustering creative, innovative, and educated individuals and organizations. Clustering populations, however, can compound both positive and negative conditions, with many modern urban areas experiencing growing inequality, debility, and environmental degradation. The spread and continued growth of urban areas presents a number of concerns for a sustainable future, particularly if cities cannot adequately address the rise of poverty, hunger, resource consumption, and biodiversity loss in their borders. Intended as a comparative illustration of the types of urban sustainability pathways and subsequent lessons learned existing in urban areas, this study examines specific examples that cut across geographies and scales and that feature a range of urban sustainability challenges and opportunities for collaborative learning across metropolitan regions. It focuses on nine cities across the United States and Canada (Los Angeles, CA, New York City, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Grand Rapids, MI, Flint, MI, Cedar Rapids, IA, Chattanooga, TN, and Vancouver, Canada), chosen to represent a variety of metropolitan regions, with consideration given to city size, proximity to coastal and other waterways, susceptibility to hazards, primary industry, and several other factors.

Sustainable development is the most important challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. The global economic growth in the recent past has indeed exhibited marked progress in many countries. Nevertheless, the issues of income disparity, poverty, gender gaps, and malnutrition are not uncommon in the global landscape, in spite of the upward growth of the economy and technological advances. This grim picture is further exacerbated by our growing human population, unmindful resource use, ever-increasing consumption trends, and changing climate. In order to protect humanity and preserve the planet, the United Nations issued the “2030 agenda for sustainable development,” which includes but is not limited to sustainable production and consumption practices, e.g. in a sustainable bioeconomy. The hallmark of the sustainable bioeconomy is a paradigm shift from a fossil-fuel-based economy to a biological-based one, which is driven by the virtues of sustainability, efficient utilization of resources, and “circular economy.” As the sustainable bioeconomy is based on the efficient utilization of biological resources and societal transformations, it holds the immense potential to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This book shares valuable insights into the linkages between the sustainable bioeconomy and Sustainable Development Goals, making it an essential read for policymakers, researchers and students of environmental studies.

The direction of higher education is at a crossroads against a background of mounting sustainability-related issues and uncertainties. This book seeks to inspire positive change in higher education by exploring the rich notion of the sustainable university and illustrating pathways through which its potential can be realised. Based on the experience of leading higher education institutions in the UK, the book outlines progress in the realisation of the concept of the ‘sustainable university’ appropriate to the socioeconomic and ecological conditions facing society and graduates. Written by leading exponents of sustainability and sustainability education, this book brings together examples, insight, reflection and strategies from the experience of ten universities, widely recognised as leaders in developing sustainability in higher education. The book thus draws on a wealth of experience to provide reflective critical analysis of barriers, achievements, strategies and potential. It critically reviews the theory and practice involved in developing the sustainable university in a systemic and whole institutional manner, including the role of organisational learning. While remaining mindful of the challenges of the current climate, The Sustainable University maps out new directions and lines of research as well as offering practical advice for researchers, students and professionals in the fields of management, leadership, organisational change, strategy and curriculum development who wish to take this work further.