Working Towards Sustainable Development

A green economy is necessary if sustainable development is to be realised. However, as this report emphasizes, a green economy can also, if accompanied by the right policy mix, create more and better jobs, lift people out of poverty and promote social inclusion. In fact, the growth model of the past few decades has been inefficient, not only economically, but also from environmental, employment and social perspectives. It overuses natural resources, is environmentally unsustainable and has failed to meet the aspirations of a large proportion of society seeking productive, decent work and dignified lives. A new development model - one which puts people, fairness and the planet at the core of policy-making - is urgently needed, and is eminently achievable. More fundamentally, this report demonstrates that employment and social inclusion must be integral parts of any sustainable development strategy and must be included in policies that address climate change and ensure the preservation of the environment. In particular, the report assesses the sectoral, employment and income implications of the transition to a green economy. It highlights the necessary conditions, policy prescriptions and good practices required to ensure that the green economy is characterized by gains in job quality, reductions in poverty and improvements in social inclusion.

This collection of in-depth case studies emphasizes the diversity and inventiveness of local initiatives since the Rio 'Earth Summit' within different national settings. From the Earth Summit to Local Agenda 21offers a realistic counterpoint to the official monitoring and assessment procedures of national governments and international bodies. It highlights the problems of assessment and policy evaluation and clearly sets out the policy stages necessary for more effective realization of Local Agenda 21 objectives.

The challenges of achieving environmental sustainability and of generating decent work for all are closely linked. In this timely book, Poschen argues that an integrated approach to tackle these challenges is a necessity: the goal of environmentally sustainable economies will not be attained without the active contribution of the world of work. Decent Work, Green Jobs and the Sustainable Economy demonstrates that green jobs can be a key economic driver, as the world steps into the largely uncharted territory of building a sustainable and low-carbon global economy. Poschen shows that positive outcomes are possible, but require a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges.Enterprises, workers and governments are not passive bystanders in the great transformation that is urgently needed in our economies. They are essential agents of change, able to develop new ways of working in sustainable enterprises that safeguard the environment, create decent jobs and foster social inclusion. This book highlights the solutions that the world of work offers for policy and practice to tackle climate change, achieve environmental sustainability and to build prosperous and cohesive societies. It is essential reading for those in business, aca­demia and government.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognize the increasingly complex, interdependent nature of societal and environmental issues for governments and business. Tackling such "grand challenges" requires the concerted action of a multitude of organizations and multiple stakeholders at different levels in the public, private, and non-profit sector. Organizing for Sustainable Development provides an integrated and comparative overview of the successes and failures of organizational efforts to tackle global societal issues and achieve sustainable development. Summarizing years of study by an interdisciplinary board of authors and contributors, this book provides readers with an in-depth understanding of how existing businesses and new hybrid organizations can achieve sustainable development to bring about an improved society, marking a key contribution to the literature in this field. Combining theoretical views with empirical approaches, the chapters in this book are highly relevant to graduate and undergraduate (multidisciplinary) programs in sustainable development, organization studies, development economics, development studies, international management, and social entrepreneurship.

This book is the first that provides a comprehensive overview of the way countries, education systems and institutions have responded to the call for an integration of learning for work, citizenship and sustainability at the Second International Conference on Technical and Vocational Education which was held in Seoul in 1999. Discussions on the central theme of the Seoul Conference - lifelong learning and training for all, a bridge to the future – led to the conclusion that a new paradigm of both development and Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) was needed. This book showcases the wide range of international initiatives that have sought to put such exhortations into practice. It includes: case studies of national TVET policy reforms, reoriented curricula, sustainable campus management programs, and examples of innovative approaches to integrating learning in TVET with on-the-job training and in community service. It also focuses on the issues and challenges being faced and ways of moving forward. Case studies feature initiatives in a wide range of world regions and countries, and include authors from: UK, Germany, Finland, Canada, USA, Australia, South Africa, China, Republic of Korea, India, Pakistan and the Philippines.

The book brings together twelve original essays on the meaning and implications of sustainable development. The collection assesses the theoretical debate over the concept of sustainable development, and looks at the unique experiment in applying this practically which has taken place in Norway to discover how the concept can illuminate practical policy across a wide range of fields. Topics covered include sustainable development as a global ethics; the concept of need; global and generational equity; the limits of nature; implications for economics; and the role of technology. The editors outline the logic of the approach and draw together the implications of the individual studies for a more focused and consistent application of the concept.