Institutions, Ecosystems and Sustainability

Institutions, Ecosystems and Sustainability PDF Author: Robert Costanza
Publisher: CRC-Press
ISBN: 9781566703895
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
In the latter part of the 20th century, humans are doing a particularly poor job of managing natural resources in a sustainable way over the long term. Institutions, Ecosystems and sustainability focuses on long term, sustainable natural resource management practices at the local, national, and international levels. The authors suggest that a major cause of the "sustainability problem" lie in "scale" problems. Large scale ecosystems are not simply larger versions of smaller systems, and micro-scale ecosystems are not merely microcosims of large scale systems. The driving forces and feedback mechanisms operate at different levels and exhibit distinct patterns of their own. The challenge is to match ecosystems and governance systems in ways that maximize the compatibility of these systems. This book builds upon this fundamental principle. Particularly valuable is the use of simulation exercises to explore the consequences of social institutions and a discussion of the progress being made in developing a broad global data base to test hypotheses about the relationship between ecosystems and social institutions, and to investigate ways to repair the damage already caused by scale mismatches.

Institutions and Sustainability

Institutions and Sustainability PDF Author: Volker Beckmann
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402096909
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
From the first vague idea to use Konrad Hagedorn’s 60th birthday as an inspi- tion for taking stock of his vibrant academic contributions, this joint book project has been a great pleasure for us in many ways. Pursuing Hagedorn’s intellectual development, we have tried to reflect on the core questions of humanity according to Ernst Bloch “Who are we?”, “Where do we come from?” and “Where are we heading?” In this way, and without knowing it, Konrad Hagedorn initiated a c- lective action process he would have very much enjoyed ... if he had been allowed to take part in it. But it was our aim and constant motivation to surprise him with this collection of essays in his honour. Konrad Hagedorn was reared as the youngest child of a peasant family on a small farm in the remote moorland of East Frisia, Germany. During his childhood in the poverty-ridden years after the Second World War, he faced a life where humans were heavily dependent on using nature around them for their livelihoods; meanwhile, he learned about the fragility of the environment. As a boy, he - tended a one-room schoolhouse, where his great intellectual talents were first r- ognised and used for co-teaching his schoolmates. These early teaching expe- ences might have laid the foundations for his later becoming a dedicated lecturer and mentor.

Institutions, Ecosystems and Sustainability

Institutions, Ecosystems and Sustainability PDF Author: Robert Costanza
Publisher: CRC-Press
ISBN: 9781566703895
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
In the latter part of the 20th century, humans are doing a particularly poor job of managing natural resources in a sustainable way over the long term. Institutions, Ecosystems and sustainability focuses on long term, sustainable natural resource management practices at the local, national, and international levels. The authors suggest that a major cause of the "sustainability problem" lie in "scale" problems. Large scale ecosystems are not simply larger versions of smaller systems, and micro-scale ecosystems are not merely microcosims of large scale systems. The driving forces and feedback mechanisms operate at different levels and exhibit distinct patterns of their own. The challenge is to match ecosystems and governance systems in ways that maximize the compatibility of these systems. This book builds upon this fundamental principle. Particularly valuable is the use of simulation exercises to explore the consequences of social institutions and a discussion of the progress being made in developing a broad global data base to test hypotheses about the relationship between ecosystems and social institutions, and to investigate ways to repair the damage already caused by scale mismatches.

Barriers to Sustainable Transport

Barriers to Sustainable Transport PDF Author: Piet Rietveld
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134348983
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
The complexity of transportation systems and their negative social and environmental effects are today at the centre of attention. This book focuses on the impact of institutions and regulatory systems on transport systems and travel behaviour. While institutions appear to play an important role in the economic success of many countries, this book considers the extent to which they also support sustainable development.

Institutions for Environmental Aid

Institutions for Environmental Aid PDF Author: Robert Owen Keohane
Publisher: Mit Press
ISBN: 9780262611206
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
The discrepancy between levels of environmental quality of rich and poor countries will continue as long as large per capita gaps in income persist. Institutions for Environmental Aid draws on research from economics, international relations, and development assistance, as well as the growing literature on international environmental relations, to evaluate the effectiveness of international institutions designed to facilitate the transfer of resources from richer to poorer countries, in conjunction with efforts to improve the natural environment. Looking at the Global Environmental Facility, aid arrangements associated with the Montreal Protocol on the ozone layer, environmental operations of world financial institutions (with respect to aid to Eastern Europe and efforts to save tropical forests), debt-for-nature swaps, and the Rhine River, Institutions for Environmental Aid asks whether they increase concern, improve the contractual environment, and increase national capacity--functions identified in a companion study, Institutions for the Earth. The authors of this carefully planned collaboration observe that although there is some evidence of effectiveness in these terms, conflicts of interests within and between states, and involving nongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations, are frequently debilitating; successful initiatives result from a combination of favorable constellations of interests and creative, dedicated leadership. Global Environmental Accords series

Sustainability in Higher Education

Sustainability in Higher Education PDF Author: J. Paulo Davim
Publisher: Chandos Publishing
ISBN: 0081003757
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
Support in higher education is an emerging area of great interest to professors, researchers and students in academic institutions. Sustainability in Higher Education provides discussions on the exchange of information between different aspects of sustainability in higher education. This book includes chapter contributions from authors who have provided case studies on various areas of education for sustainability. - Focus on sustainability - Present studies in aspects related with higher education - Explores a variety of educational aspects from an sustainable perspective

Institutions for the Earth

Institutions for the Earth PDF Author: Peter M. Haas
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262082181
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
Can environmental institutions be effective at bringing about a healthier environment? How? Institutions for the Earth takes a close look at the factors influencing organized responses to seven international environmental problems - oil pollution from tankers, acid rain in Europe, stratospheric ozone depletion, pollution of the North Sea and Baltic, mismanagement of fisheries, overpopulation, and misuses of farm chemicals to determine the roles that environmental institutions have played in attempting to solve them. Through rigorous, systematic comparison, it reveals common patterns that can lead to improvements in the collective management of these problems and suggests ways in which international institutions can further the case of environmental protection.The contributors identify three major functions performed by effective international environmental institutions: building national capacity, improving the contractual environment, and elevating governmental concern. The international organizations analyzed within this framework include the United Nations Environment Program, the Intergovernmental Maritime Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, numerous fisheries commissions, the Commission for Europe, the Oslo and Paris Commissions, the Helsinki Commission, and the United Nations Fund for Population Assistance.

Rethinking Sustainability

Rethinking Sustainability PDF Author: Jonathan M. Harris
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 9780472089246
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
DIVProvides important guideposts toward a more complete theory of sustainable human and economic development /div

Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions

Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions PDF Author: Sandra Caeiro
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3319023756
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 423

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Book Description
This book contributes to debates on current sustainability practices, with a focus on assessment tools as applied in higher education institutions. These institutions are challenged to carry out management, research, and teaching, and to create settings that allow developing new competencies to address the complex global environmental, social, cultural, and economic pressures with which current and future generations are confronted. The first chapters discuss issues of sustainability in higher education, namely the role of universities in promoting sustainability and the emergent fields of sustainability science and education for sustainable development and how to integrate and motivate sustainability into the university. Subsequent chapters present examples of sustainability assessment tools specifically developed for higher education institutions, such as the AISHE – Auditing Instrument for Sustainability in Higher Education, the GASU – Graphical Assessment of Sustainability in Universities too, the STAUNCH – Sustainability tool for Auditing Universities Curricula in Higher Education. The use of other integrated tools are also presented. The papers have adopted a pragmatic approach, characterized by conceptual descriptions, including sustainability assessment and reorienting the curricula, on the one hand, and practical experiences on the other, with good practices from different edges of the world. Sustainability Assessment Tools in Higher Education Institutions will be of interest to graduate student, lecturers, researchers, and those setting university policy.

The Institutional Dimensions of Environmental Change

The Institutional Dimensions of Environmental Change PDF Author: Oran R. Young
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262740241
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
A study that lays the foundation for cumulative research on the roles institutions play in causing and confronting environmental changes.

Economic Institutions and Environmental Policy

Economic Institutions and Environmental Policy PDF Author: Antonio Nicita
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351787527
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
This title was first published in 2001. This wide-ranging and comprehensive collection investigates the background to environmental economic development over the last thirty years, and the political implications of new directions resulting from technological and cultural changes in environmental issues. It examines the application of economic analysis to environmental problems in the past and solutions to the current issues of water, soil, air, energy, waste and urban ecology, discussing the implications of political decisions, cultural changes and technological constraints. It will prove a stimulating resource for students, academics, researchers and policy-makers alike.