Search

This is the second volume of papers in the topical area of environmental management. Arising from work done by the International Centre for the Environment at the University of Bath, the papers address inter-disciplinary environmental themes particularly from a business and management perspective.

This open access book offers a selection of research papers and case studies presented at the 3rd international conference “Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions”, held in December 2019 in Bolzano, Italy, and explores the concept of smart and sustainable planning, including top contributions from academics, policy makers, consultants and other professionals. Innovation processes such as co-design and co-creation help establish collaborations that engage with stakeholders in a trustworthy and transparent environment while answering the need for new value propositions. The importance of an integrated, holistic approach is widely recognized to break down silos in local government, in particular, when aimed at achieving a better integration of climate-energy planning. Despite the ongoing urbanization and polarization processes, new synergies between urban and rural areas emerge, linking development opportunities to intrinsic cultural, natural and man-made landscape values. The increasing availability of big, real-time urban data and advanced ICT facilitates frequent assessment and continuous monitoring of performances, while allowing fine-tuning as needed. This is valid not only for individual projects but also on a wider scale. In addition, and circling back to the first point, (big) urban data and ICT can be of enormous help in facilitating engagement and co-creation by raising awareness and by providing insight into the local consequences of specific plans. However, this potential is not yet fully exploited in standard processes and procedures, which can therefore lack the agility and flexibility to keep up with the pulse of the city and dynamics of society. The book provides a multi-disciplinary outlook based on experience to orient the reader in the giant galaxy of smart and sustainable planning, support the transposition of research into practice, scale up visionary approaches and design groundbreaking planning policies and tools.

Despite frequent protests and abounding discussions about the subject, climate action measures to counter human-made climate change have so far remained largely ineffective. By identifying profound climate-cultural differences, Sarah Kessler offers an explanation to this issue and shows that conventional assumptions of an implicit consensus on the need to prioritise climate action should be reconsidered. She uncovers climate-cultural variations in (implicit and explicit) denial of climate change and thus challenges existing approaches that treat the German public as a unified entity waiting to be activated by the right kind of rationally convincing information.

This academic book critically examines the concept of sustainable futures and its interdependence with the policy framework of Green New Deals. We emphasize the inherent link between the two concepts by highlighting how Green New Deals can pave the way for a sustainable and just future in key areas such as environmental policy, economic development, and social equity. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, the book draws on insights from fields such as environmental studies, sustainable development, political ecology, and climate policy to explore the intricacies of these interconnections. The revised description underscores the importance of understanding the Green New Deal's historical and political contexts, as well as its implications for sustainable futures. The book delves into the theoretical perspectives that shape our comprehension of sustainable futures, the diverse strategies employed by countries and regions in implementing Green New Deals, the role of technological innovation and social movements in fostering sustainable transitions, and the political dynamics surrounding the Green New Deal. Through an analysis of the Green New Deal's role in sustainable development, climate policy, and environmental justice, the book provides a necessary and timely contribution to ongoing debates. The chapters offer detailed explorations of the interrelationships between these key areas, emphasizing how the Green New Deal can serve as a transformative policy framework for achieving sustainable and equitable futures.'Sustainable Futures and Green New Deals'is intended for scholars, policymakers, activists, and students interested in understanding the complex and interconnected issues surrounding sustainable development, climate policy, and environmental justice.

This accessible book provides the first comprehensive analysis of environmental crime victims within criminal prosecutions in the United States. By combining empirical analysis of criminal investigations undertaken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1983-2022 with narrative discussion of numerous related criminal prosecutions, it provides novel insights to help advance a stronger empirical understanding of how the administrative state protects victims of environmental harm, punishes environmental offenders, and aids in furthering the development of an environmental victimology.

Als die Autoren – über die Grenzen zweier Wissenschaftskulturen hinweg – Anfang der 90er Jahre begannen, über die wissenschaftliche und populäre Wahrnehmung und Konstruktion des Phänomens Klima, Klimawandel, Klimapolitik und die Auswirkungen des Klimas auf die Gesellschaft nachzudenken, stießen sie auf erheblichen Widerstand, insbesondere als sie über die dringende Notwendigkeit einer gesellschaftlichen Anpassung an den Klimawandel schrieben. Die Autoren sehen sich als Pioniere in diesem Politikfeld. Viele, wenn nicht die meisten Maßnahmen für den Klimaschutz und gegen die Klimafolgen erfordern die Innovationskraft aller Wissenschaften und der Technik. Die künftige Umsetzung wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse in der Klimapolitik ist Schlüssel des erfolgreichen Umgangs der Gesellschaft mit den Folgen des Klimawandels. Dies geschieht jedoch nicht automatisch. Die Umsetzung von Wissenschaft in die Gesellschaft unterliegt ökonomischen, politischen und kulturellen Zwängen, und kann insbesondere durch den Mehrwert interdisziplinärer Zusammenarbeit von Wissenschaftlern, wie sie in diesem Band praktiziert wird, erreicht werden.

Sowohl der sich stetig verstärkende Klimawandel als auch das damit zusammenhängende weltweite Artensterben sind im Bewusstsein der meisten Politiker:innen angekommen. Trotzdem wird noch immer zu wenig unternommen, um der globalen ökologischen Krise effektiv zu begegnen. Helmut Willke analysiert das bisherige Scheitern globaler Umweltpolitik aus gesellschaftstheoretischer Perspektive. Seine Analyse zeigt, inwiefern dieses Scheitern darauf zurückzuführen ist, dass die sozialen Teilsysteme »Wissenschaft«, »Wirtschaft« und »Politik« jeweils eigenen, sich gegenseitig ausschließenden Teillogiken folgen. Nur wenn es gelingt, diese Teillogiken und das damit zusammenhängende systematische Ausblenden bestimmter Aspekte der ökologischen Katastrophe zu überwinden, kann globale Umweltpolitik gelingen.

Der Sammelband verfolgt das Ziel, eine erste umfassende Bilanz zur Rezeption und Wirkung der'Fridays for Future'-Bewegung vorzunehmen. Im ersten Teil stellen die Autor•innen in verschiedenen Kapiteln den Stand der sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung zur Bewegung dar. Im zweiten Teil des Bandes widmen sich die Autor•innen den Wirkungen, die'Fridays for Future'auf unterschiedlichen Dimensionen der Gesellschaft hat. Die Beiträge in diesem Teil gehen der Frage nach, wie die Bewegung u.a. politische Parteien, lokale und regionale Akteure oder auch die Wissenschaft insgesamt beeinflusst hat, bzw. welche Impulse sie setzen konnte.

This book explores the leadership of state and federal environmental agencies and local environmental groups in restoring the degraded rivers that flow into North America's Great Lakes and other sites in the northeastern industrial corridor of the US. Robinson examines twenty of the forty-eight sites included in the Areas of Concern Program of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the US. These twenty include heavily urbanized locales such as those along the River Rouge and Detroit River, but also more pristine locales such as the St. Louis River that flows through Duluth. Additionally, Robinson examines challenging river restorations within the northeastern industrial corridor which are led by effective local environmental advocacy organizations: the Penobscot Nation of Indigenous People, the Mystic River Watershed Association, and the Housatonic River Valley Association. All of these river restorations are led and managed by the environmental experts of (i) state and federal agencies, (ii) academia, and (iii) environmental NGOs. Local restorations of industrially degraded water bodies now compose a significant segment of the environmental movement and, ultimately, Robinson demonstrates that local environmental advocacy organizations can help marshal state and local funding for those efforts.

Scholarship on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has often portrayed mining regions as ‘informal'zones that suffer from environmental degradation problems. Water pollution and degraded landscapes, for example, have long been noted as the inevitable consequence of the operations of ASM. Such insistence on the institutional absences of ASM zones has dovetailed with a lack of academic attention to some of the ‘golden'mining practices taking place there. Thus, this work seeks to (re)examine the topic of ‘development'in ASM. The findings suggest that small-scale miners, contrary to popular perception, could be caretakers of the environment. In addition, emphasizing how the dynamic interplay between resources and environmental demands may come to support public policy, the findings illustrate, contrary to the dominant narrative, how the activities of small-scale mining operators can engender a win-win situation for both mining companies and local mining communities.

This book records the press release of Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China in 2020. It is divided into three parts chronologically. The first part contains the records of Minister Huang Runqiu‘s attendance at the press conference of the National People's Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference as well as the'Minister Channel'. The second part contains the records of four press conferences on ecological and environmental protection held by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China. The third part contains the records of 12 regular press conferences held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China.

This open access book is based on the research outputs of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) in 2020. It covers major topics of Chinese and international attention regarding green development, such as climate, biodiversity, ocean, BRI, urbanization, sustainable production and consumption, technology, finance, value chain, and so on. It also looks at the progress of China's environmental and development policies，and the impacts from CCICED. This is a highly informative and carefully presented book, providing insight for policy makers in environmental issues.

Die Autorin analysiert die gesellschaftlichen Auseinandersetzungen um den frühen Implementierungsversuch einer Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologie. Diese Maßnahmen sind vom Weltklimarat als ein Baustein zur Eindämmung des Klimawandels anerkannt. Die EU setzte eine solche Technologie, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), bereits im Jahr 2009 auf die politische Agenda der Mitgliedstaaten. Die Arbeit untersucht die restriktive Regulierung der Kohlendioxidabscheidung und –speicherung in Deutschland, die im journalistisch-öffentlichen Diskurs auch als gescheitert dargestellt wird. Statt die (fehlende) öffentliche Akzeptanz von CCS zu erklären, untersucht die Arbeit die gesellschaftliche Politisierung des Technologie-Sets. Auf der Grundlage von Theorieansätzen der Science and Technology Studies werden die Deutungsrahmen von Interessengruppen auf Bundesebene analysiert. Die Inhaltsanalyse, der öffentlichen Dokumente von Gesellschaftsakteuren im Kontext des Gesetzgebungsverfahrens (2009-2012), zeigt die Verknüpfung von Carbon Capture and Storage und bestehenden soziotechnischen Systemen sowie deren gesellschaftspolitische Kontexte. Die qualitative Analyse behandelt ein vergangenes Beispiel einer umstrittenen technologischen Intervention. Dies ist zugleich zukunftsweisend, da nachträgliche Methoden der CO2-Entnahme aktuell im Zusammenhang von sog. unvermeidbaren Restemissionen erneut diskutiert werden.

Die konkreten gesellschaftlichen Folgen des Klimawandels sind sehr unsicher und nicht vorhersagbar. Die Szenarioanalyse erlaubt es, Vorstellungen möglicher Zukünfte zu entwickeln. Das Buch stellt vier kohärente Zukunftszenarien für die Stadt Bochum im Jahr 2046 vor und zeigt, wie daraus konkrete Maßnahmen für politische Entscheidungsträger•innen hergeleitet werden können. Die Leser•innen dringen in utopische und dystopische Erzählungen ein, die die wissenschaftlich fundierte Entwicklung der Szenarien anschaulich werden lassen. Darüber hinaus bietet das Buch eine Einführung in die Methode der Szenarioanalyse, die für den Aufbau von Aktivitäten der städtischen Vorausschau (Urban Foresight) auch in anderen Kommunen hochgradig relevant ist.

This book will provide a comprehensive discussion of groundwater sustainability, including what it is, how its definition has changed over time, why traditional assessments of it are wrong, how assessments of it are ideally multidisciplinary efforts recognizing that policy is more controlling of outcomes than science, and why achieving it is difficult once pumping exceeds sustainable levels of pumping. The book will provide a nontechnical background of hydrogeology relevant to groundwater sustainability and present several case studies from around the United States and the world. The book has been designed to appeal to academics, students, and practitioners. Academics, particularly those just getting into the subject, will find the book a useful entry in terms of management concepts and political realities of attempting to achieve groundwater sustainability. It will also be useful to academics in that the book will include discussions on the history and development of groundwater sustainability and the practical aspects of aspiring to and achieving sustainable production. Although not a textbook, the book could be used as the basis for teaching a course or as a supplement to a hydrogeology or groundwater management class. Accordingly, the book will include questions and additional reading materials at the end of each chapter. This book will also be useful to practitioners through non-technical explanations of the sciences, discussions of the nuances of defining sustainability in aquifers, and the presentation of case studies where sustainable management has failed and succeeded.

This book examines the pathways to decarbonising African cities, structured around strategies and applications in renewable energy, waste management, healthcare, telecommunication, education and governance reconfigurations for Petro-cities. Throughout the book the authors highlight infrastructural, governance and policy approaches to drive decarbonisation. Opening with chapters focused on propositions for solar urban planning and scope for decarbonisation in waste management the book then moves on to examine innovative strategies for a low-carbon healthcare sector. The authors then discuss the use of hybrid power systems at remote telecommunication sites, their deployment on university campuses, and how this can be optimised to reduce carbon emissions. Further chapters explore government, private sector and civil society actions for decarbonising Kenyan cities and an overview of the political economic choices for decarbonising Petro-cities. Finally, closing chapters propose mechanisms for translating COP26 takeaways to decarbonisation policies and a low-carbon framework for African cities.

In this comprehensive Handbook, scholars from across the globe explore the relationships between workers and nature in the context of the environmental crises. They provide an invaluable overview of a fast-growing research field that bridges the social and natural sciences. Chapters provide detailed perspectives of environmental labour studies, environmental struggles of workers, indigenous peoples, farmers and commoners in the Global South and North. The relations within and between organisations that hinder or promote environmental strategies are analysed, including the relations between workers and environmental organisations, NGOs, feminist and community movements.

This volume presents the proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Vibration Conference (APVC) 2019,'Vibration Engineering for a Sustainable Future,'emphasizing work devoted to numerical simulation and modelling. The APVC is one of the larger conferences held biannually with the intention to foster scientific and technical research collaboration among Asia-Pacific countries. The APVC provides a forum for researchers, practitioners, and students from, but not limited to, areas around the Asia-Pacific countries in a collegial and stimulating environment to present, discuss and disseminate recent advances and new findings on all aspects of vibration and noise, their control and utilization. All aspects of vibration, acoustics, vibration and noise control, vibration utilization, fault diagnosis and monitoring are appropriate for the conference, with the focus this year on the vibration aspects in dynamics and noise & vibration. This 18th edition of the APVC was held in November 2019in Sydney, Australia. The previous seventeen conferences have been held in Japan (‘85,'93, ‘07), Korea ('87,'97, ‘13), China ('89,'01,'11, ‘17), Australia ('91, ‘03), Malaysia ('95, ‘05), Singapore (‘99), New Zealand (‘09) and Vietnam (‘15).

This book introduces the press release work carried out by Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China in 2019. It is divided into four parts, each arranged chronologically. The first part contains the records of Li Ganjie, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, who attended the press conference on'Promoting Ecological Civilization and Building a Beautiful China'. The second part contains the records of Minister Li Ganjie's attendance at the press conference of the National People's Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference as well as the'Minister channel'. The third part contains the records of four press conferences on ecological and environmental protection held by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China. The fourth part contains the records of 12 regular press conferences held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

This book offers a conceptual framework for the critical understanding of the present socio-environmental conflicts. It reflects on the evolution of subject and thought, a shift in environmental thinking triggered by the development of eco-territorial conflicts and the social responses given to the environmental question. Bringing together 40 years of the authors writing and research, the book explores the transition from ecological economics and historical materialism to ecological Marxism. It unpacks the forging of political ecology from value theory in political economy, to ecological distribution and ecologies of difference; a transition to an environmental rationality grounded in the ontology of diversity, a politics of difference and an ethics of otherness. This evolution in thinking gives consistency to a theoretical discourse able to respond to the territorial conflicts generated by the radicalization of the environmental question as a key social issue of our times. The bookis a call to respond to the urgent challenge of reversing the tendency towards the entropic death of the planet and to building a sustainable world order.

This volume presents the proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Vibration Conference (APVC) 2019,'Vibration Engineering for a Sustainable Future,'emphasizing work devoted to experimental methods and verification. The APVC is one of the larger conferences held biannually with the intention to foster scientific and technical research collaboration among Asia-Pacific countries. The APVC provides a forum for researchers, practitioners, and students from, but not limited to, areas around the Asia-Pacific countries in a collegial and stimulating environment to present, discuss and disseminate recent advances and new findings on all aspects of vibration and noise, their control and utilization. All aspects of vibration, acoustics, vibration and noise control, vibration utilization, fault diagnosis and monitoring are appropriate for the conference, with the focus this year on the vibration aspects in dynamics and noise & vibration. This 18th edition of the APVC was held in November 2019 in Sydney, Australia. The previous seventeen conferences have been held in Japan (‘85,'93, ‘07), Korea ('87,'97, ‘13), China ('89,'01,'11, ‘17), Australia ('91, ‘03), Malaysia ('95, ‘05), Singapore (‘99), New Zealand (‘09) and Vietnam (‘15).

This book explores sustainable development from the perspective of resources and energy, based on China's practical experience and cross-disciplinary research. It focuses on major challenges, key solutions and policy recommendations, and studies and explores seven important themes of resources, energy and sustainable development, including: 1) China's low-carbon energy transition, 2) China's urbanization and low-carbon development, 3) China's low-carbon action in cities, 4) China's low-carbon power transition, 5) China's water resources management, 6) electric vehicle development and key metal resources and 7) China's low-carbon development of the iron & steel industry. This book contributes to a more integrated understanding of many themes and their relationships in the area of resources, energy and sustainable development and guides the related policy and management.

This book provides thorough knowledge and detailed information of oil shales using a range of conventional and unconventional techniques and methodologies combined to elucidate the composition of oil shale deposits. As these rocks are mined for energy production their composition and mineral constituents are of special interests to individuals and communities that are likely to be effected by these resources when mined and processed. The book highlights the environmental and health hazards of the spent shales after processing. These are significantly greater in volume than the rocks originally mined before processing. Toxic metals tend to double and triple their concentrations in the spent shales and will be leached into water sources and soils.Since oil shales as an energy resource are totally uneconomical; all oil shales, their mining and processing are heavily subsidised by governments and institutions using taxpayers money.

Dieses Open Access Buch befasst sich mit Nachhaltiger Entwicklung unter Bedingungen eines rasanten globalen Wandels. Noch nie waren Menschen global so vernetzt und Informationen wurden so schnell um den Globus ausgetauscht wie heute, und trotzdem bestehen massive Ungleichheiten bei der gerechten Verteilung von Ressourcen, dem Schutz von Menschenrechten, dem Schutz der Natur und den gewährten Hilfestellungen bei der Anpassung an den Klimawandel. Wir greifen so stark in das Erdsystem ein, dass man zunehmend von einem durch den Menschen geprägten Erdzeitalter spricht, dem „Anthropozän“. Um die für eine Begrenzung des Klimawandels und den Erhalt unserer natürlichen Lebensgrundlagen unabdingbaren gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Transformationen durchzusetzen, müssen wir es wagen, eine andere Welt zu denken und die Schranken in unseren Köpfen hinterfragen. Eine interdisziplinäre Nachhaltigkeitsforschung kann hierzu wichtige Beiträge liefern.

Es ist das brandaktuelle Buch für die zentrale, globale Herausforderung unserer Zeit. In seinem Vermächtnis, zeigt sich Friedrich Schmidt-Bleek erneut als richtunggebender Vordenker, als Visionär, Umweltforscher und Gestalter einer zukunftsfähigen Umweltpolitik. Ein erfolgreiches Ökologiekonzept muss alle die Klimakrise auslösenden und Umwelt zerstörenden Bereiche in ihren ineinandergreifenden Wirkungszusammenhängen ganzheitlich betrachten. Darauf kann eine verantwortungsbewusste Politik mit klaren Zielen, mit richtungssicheren sozialen, ökologischen und wirtschaftlichen Indikatoren aufbauen. Der zentrale Hebel zur Bewältigung der Klimakrise und Beendigung der Umweltzerstörung besteht für den Autor in der qualitativen Veränderung der Ressourcenabhängigkeit von Produkten und Dienstleistungen durch eine wesentliche Minimierung des Ressourcenverbrauchs. Mit dem seit 1990 entwickelten MIPS Konzept (Material-Input pro Serviceeinheit) ist ein Parameter entstanden, der den Ressourcenverbrauch im Lebenszyklus von Produkten und Dienstleistungen berechenbar und damit veränderbar macht. Damit ist der Weg zu zukunftsfähigen, nachhaltigen Produkten gangbar geworden. Anschaulich und allgemeinverständlich geschrieben legt Schmidt-Bleek hier sein über Jahrzehnte verfeinertes, und vorsorgendes Ökologiekonzept dar, dass eine gesamtgesellschaftliche Transformation und Ressourcenwende ermöglicht und uns allen Wege aufzeigt, aktiv daran teilzuhaben zu können.

This book provides a comprehensive account of asymmetric linkage in the trilogy of environment, development and sustainability and its impact on society. It examines varied perspectives and issues of development related to environmental destruction and sustainability challenges. By examining the recent trends of development and recording the dilemmas which are creating ecological imbalances, it explores some alternative ways of development to achieve sustainability. Divided into three parts, it has a broad canvass. The first section examines critically the ‘perspectives'on ecology, practice and ethics, rural development and man–forest interaction in the metropolis. ‘Issues'of dams, river, agricultural distress, environmental migration, eco-tourism, ecological conservation and land acquisition are assessed in part second. ‘Alternative'means of development is explored in part third by incorporating chapters on the constructed wetland, biofuels, subsistence economy, water and traditional knowledge practice. This interdisciplinary book is of immense significance to academicians, researchers, postgraduate and graduate-level students of social sciences and environmental studies; policymakers, development practitioners and NGOs working in the area of environment and development.

The book considers the challenge of poverty and deterioration of the ecological environment in China, particularly in rural areas. Examining key factors such as the overuse of natural resources and the loss of biodiversity in the face of an expanding population and rapidly developing economy. It focuses on examining the frameworks of rural households in poor mountainous areas in rural China, considering their livelihood choices and decision-making processes. It analyses the relationship between these households'livelihoods and their environment, notably farmers'attitudes and perceptions towards ecological conservation policies, and their use of forest resources. Cutting across the fields of population studies, sociology, economy and environment, this is an important read for scholars and students interested in how China is dealing with the challenges of natural resources exploitation, sustainable development and social welfare.

Environmental and climate problems have gained a global dimension and constituteone of the important issues of world politics and economies. The necessity of allstates to act together on these problems, which threaten the present and future of humanity,and find the solution has revealed the “global” character of the process. Theinterdependence created by economic development and environmental problemsbrought a new meaning and dimension to both national and international politics.Especially the recent pandemic has made the global nature of environmental issuesmore understandable. In this context, it seems necessary to create a work that dealswith current debates in the field, which will help identify the problems in the fieldand find solutions to them.

Das Buch soll zu einem klareren Begriffsverständnis von Teilhabe und damit zur theoretischen Verortung und Reflexion von Teilhabeforschung beitragen. Eine Begriffsklärung ist nicht nur in Bezug auf die Kommunikation über Teilhabe in Arbeitszusammenhängen des Bündnisses relevant, sondern auch aus der Verbreitung des Teilhabebegriffs. Mit einem über die Politik- und Arbeitsfelder hinweg geteilten Bedeutungskern wird er insbesondere auch für das Verständnis und die Bearbeitung derjenigen sozialen Probleme interessant, die Bereichsgrenzen und klare leistungsrechtliche Zuordnungen überschreiten bzw. sich an deren Schnittstellen bewegen. Intersektionelle Benachteiligungen lassen sich gut als Häufungen und Zuspitzungen von Teilhabeeinschränkungen beschreiben.

This proceedings addresses the challenges of urbanization that gravely affect the world's ecosystems. To become efficiently sustainable and regenerative, buildings and cities need to adopt smart solutions. This book discusses innovations of the built environment while depicting how such practices can transform future buildings and urban areas into places of higher value and quality. The book aims to examine the interrelationship between people, nature and technology, which is essential in pursuing smart environments that optimize human wellbeing, motivation and vitality, as well as promoting cohesive and inclusive societies: Urban Sociology - Community Involvement - Place-making and Cultural Continuity – Environmental Psychology - Smart living - Just City. The book presents exemplary practical experiences that reflect smart strategies, technologies and innovations, by established and emerging professionals, provides a forum of real-life discourse. The primary audience for the work will be from the fields of architecture, urban planning and built-environment systems, including multi-disciplinary academics as well as professionals.

Julia Schuppan untersucht die Wirksamkeit betrieblichen Mobilitätsmanagements in beruflichen Lebensereignissen. In einem zwischen Soziologie, Psychologie und Geografie verorteten Ansatz werden berufliche Lebensereignisse als geeignete Gelegenheitsfenster für Mobilitätsmanagement identifiziert und als komplexe Übergänge im Kontext zwischen individuellem Erleben, Sozialisationseinflüssen und Identitätsänderungen skizziert. In einer Mixed-Method-Studie zeigt die Autorin, dass berufliche Lebensereignisse dann ein Gelegenheitsfenster für Mobilitätsänderung sein können, wenn Mobilität identitätsstiftende und für den Übergang unterstützende Funktionen erfüllt. Betriebliches Mobilitätsmanagement kann nur dann effektiv sein, wenn es Identitätsaspekte aufgreift und als institutionelle Unterstützungsleistung im beruflichen Übergang wirkt.

Stefan Laser folgt den Spuren des Werts von Elektroschrott. Mithilfe ethnographischer Studien bespricht er ein umkämpftes Gesetz in Indien, verfolgt als Mitarbeiter eines deutschen Recycling-Weltmarktführers das Schreddern und Schmelzen alter Elektronikgeräte und untersucht eine Google-Innovation zur Neugestaltung von Smartphones. Im Zentrum des Buchs steht die aufwendige, kontroverse Entstehung neuer Werte. Der Autor identifiziert das Hightech-Recycling als dominante politische und ökonomische Kraft im Umgang mit Elektroschrott – eine einseitige Strategie, die andere verdrängt und nicht zur nachhaltigen Vermeidung von Müll beiträgt.

This book addresses hegemonic ruling class masculinity and emphasized femininity within renewables organisational governance, and critiques Anglo-Celtic male privilege, as a barrier to women's leadership participation.Primarily using the Australian socio-political context, the author considers the patriarchal control of organisations and renewables governance, and argues that women-led emphasized femininity-resistance strategies can challenge the hegemonic status of ruling elites to create a leadership that is less power oriented, more collaborative and open to change. Utilising detailed interviews with Australian women environmentalists, together with feminist, sociological and social movement theory, whilst considering the historic context of Red Vienna and contemporary political challenges (Brexit, Monarchism etc.), it puts forward an innovative policy framework for an Australian Bill of Rights Act and republican constitutional change.Written for academics, activists and policymakers alike, this book offers a unique insight into women's inequity within patriarchal institutionalist governance. It will be engaging and inspiring reading for feminist and environmentalist activists and practitioners, in addition to professional associations focussing on gender, justice and environmental change. Academics and postgraduates in Gender Studies, Ecofeminism, Sociology and Organisational Studies will also find the book of key interest in its interdisciplinary discussions of Sustainable Scientific-Technological Development Initiatives (SSTDI) and feminism in an Australian political context.

This book provides perspectives on depopulated areas and regional social capital from positivistic field surveys. Among the developed countries of the world, Japan has a very small amount of national land, with almost 70% of it being in mountainous locations. Concentration of populations and economic capital into large metropolitan areas along with many depopulated and population-aged regions in the mountainous parts can be seen in the country. A very clear regional disparity has arisen in Japan, especially since the era of its high economic growth. This book also offers critical suggestions for the shrinking societies of the developed world in the era of Society 5.0, the fifth stage of society where economic development is achieved and social issues are resolved by the fusion of cyber and physical space. To begin, the book refers to an outline of depopulation and depopulated areas in Japan. Then, it deals with issues of depopulation, out-migration from a mountainous village, revitalization of local industries, and maintenance of daily living functions in these areas. This book is suitable for students and scholars of the social sciences, regional planners, staffs of government offices, members of NPOs, general citizens, and the many other people who are interested in sustainability of a region and a community in a shrinking social environment.

In an era of big data and smart cities, this book is an innovative and creative contribution to our understanding of urban energy use. Societies have basic data needs to develop an understanding of energy flows for planning energy sustainability. However, this data is often either not utilized or not available. Using California as an example, the book provides a roadmap for using data to reduce urban greenhouse gas emissions by targeting programs and initiatives that will successfully and parsimoniously improve building performance while taking into account issues of energy affordability. This first of its kind methodology maps high-detail building energy use to understand patterns of consumption across buildings, neighborhoods, and socioeconomic divisions in megacities. The book then details the steps required to replicate this methodology elsewhere, and shows the importance of openly-accessible building energy data for transitioning cities to meet the climate planning goals of thetwenty-first century. It also explains why actual data, not modeled or sampled, is critical for accurate analysis and insights. Finally, it acknowledges the complex institutional context for this work and some of the obstacles – utility reluctance, public agency oversight, funding and path dependencies. This book will be of great value to scholars across the environmental sectors, but especially to those studying sustainable urban energy as well as practitioners and policy makers in these areas.

Tobias Aberle examines how an entrepreneurship training helps disadvantaged youths in rural parts of Bihar, India, to cope with structural conditions that enable or constrain them. The present research reveals that young entrepreneurs can be divided into two groups: those who developed personal initiative and thus coped with limiting structural conditions very proactively, and those who solely behaved in a reactive way. For many entrepreneurs, the self-employed activity was only a Plan B, as in reality they sought for high-prestige career jobs. IFor entrepreneurship training to become a tool of empowerment, the range of training must be significantly adjusted in accordance with young trainees'social and educational backgrounds. In addition, a functioning ecosystem for entrepreneurship education must be in place, which ensures support for individual entrepreneurs through mentorship and networks.

This book discusses the need for the development of sustainable environmental protection technologies to reduce the impact of environmental contaminants. Three levels of sustainable technologies are addressed. The first level involves the concept of sustainable technologies as natural technologies, or ecotechnologies, whereby contamination level is assessed based on the contamination footprint through the use of biogeochemical barriers (e.g. methods utilizing the bioaccumulation properties of plants). The second level concerns the use of sustainable natural materials, such as biochar, in environmental engineering systems, an approach that is used for analyzing the processes of adsorption and biofiltration, as well as immobilization of contaminants in soil. The third level discusses the optimal components necessary to achieve sustainability in environmental engineering systems, including system operation principles, structural solutions, and the synergies between various system components such as microorganisms. The book will be of interest to specialists of industrial enterprises engaged in environmental protection, as well as environmental system designers, stakeholders from environmental protection ministries and institutions, researchers, doctoral students and masters and bachelors of science in the field of environmental engineering.

This book reviews the assessment of industrial biotechnology products and processes from a sustainable perspective. Industrial Biotechnology is a comparably young field which comes along with high expectations with regard to sustainability issues. These stem from the promise of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and replacing fossil resources in the near or later future and using green technology, i.e. more environmentally friendly technologies. The intended economic, ecological and social benefits, however, need to be proven, resulting in a variety of challenges, both from a methodological and application point of view. In this book, specific assessment and application topics of industrial biotechnology are addressed, highlighting challenges and solutions for both developers and users of assessment methods. In twelve chapters, experts in their particular fields define the scope, characterize industrial biotechnology and show in their contributions the state of the art, challenges and prospects of assessing industrial biotechnology products and processes.The chapter'Societal and Ethical Aspects of Industrial Biotechnology'of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com

This textbook explores the growing area of human-environment interaction. We live in the Anthropocene, an era dominated by humans, but also by the positive yet destructive environmental feedbacks that are poised to completely reset the relationships between nature and society. Modern and historic political, social, and cultural processes and physical landscape responses determine the intensity of these impacts. Yet different cultural groups, political and economic entities view, react to, and impact these human-environmental processes in spatially distinct and divergent ways. Providing an accessible, up-to-date, approach to human-environment interactions with balanced coverage of both social and natural science approaches to core environmental issues, this textbook is an integrative, multi-disciplinary offering that discusses environmental issues and processes within the context of human societies. The book begins by addressing the three most pressing issues of our time: climate change, threshold exceedance, and the 6th mass extinction. From there the authors identify within chapters on resources, population, agriculture and urbanization what precipitated and continues to sustain these three issues. They end with a chapter outlining some practical solutions to our human-environment crises.The book will be a valuable resource for interdisciplinary environment related courses bridging the gap between the social and natural sciences, human geographies and physical geographies.

Auch wenn die Dringlichkeit einer sozial-ökologischen Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit längst von praktisch allen Seiten anerkannt wird - moderne Gesellschaften verteidigen ihren Wohlstand und Lebensstil entschiedener denn je. Beharrlich wird eine sozial und ökologisch zerstörerische Politik der Nicht-Nachhaltigkeit betrieben. Die Konjunktur des Rechtspopulismus signalisiert, wie sehr das ökologisch-demokratische Projekt vergangener Jahrzehnte brüchig geworden ist. Und die Corona-Pandemie verschiebt die Prioritäten erneut in Richtung Wachstumspolitik und Konsumstimulation. Dieser Band stellt grundlegende Annahmen der Nachhaltigkeitsforschung und Umweltsoziologie in Frage. Er skizziert neue sozialwissenschaftliche Forschungsperspektiven, um die eigenartige Fortdauer der Nicht-Nachhaltigkeit zu erhellen.

This volume presents the proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Vibration Conference (APVC) 2019, emphasizing work devoted to Vibration Engineering for a Sustainable Future. The APVC is one of the larger conferences held biannually with the intention to foster scientific and technical research collaboration among Asia-Pacific countries. The APVC provides a forum for researchers, practitioners, and students from, but not limited to, areas around the Asia-Pacific countries in a collegial and stimulating environment to present, discuss and disseminate recent advances and new findings on all aspects of vibration and noise, their control and utilization. All aspects of vibration, acoustics, vibration and noise control, vibration utilization, fault diagnosis and monitoring are appropriate for the conference, with the focus this year on the vibration aspects in dynamics and noise & vibration. This 18th edition of the APVC was held in November 2019 in Sydney, Australia. The previous seventeen conferences have been held in Japan (‘85,'93, ‘07), Korea ('87,'97, ‘13), China ('89,'01,'11, ‘17), Australia ('91, ‘03), Malaysia ('95, ‘05), Singapore (‘99), New Zealand (‘09) and Vietnam (‘15).

This book presents an accessible overview of the seven key concepts of city diplomacy (development cooperation, peacekeeping, economy, innovation, environment, culture, and migration). The book discusses its scope and challenges, maps the actors involved along with their interaction and offers suggestions for available tools and outcomes. Each chapter includes an analysis of a selection of best practices. The book successfully combines theory with practical evidence and will be an invaluable reference for students and researchers of international relations and urban studies looking for a comprehensive and updated analysis of the multifaceted international action of cities. The book will also be of interest to practitioners and city officials responsible for the design and implementation of impactful diplomatic strategies.

This book examines the “oil-tourism interface”, the broad range of direct and indirect contact points between offshore oil extraction and nature-based tourism. Offshore oil extraction and nature-based tourism are pursued as development paths across the North Atlantic region. Offshore oil promises economic benefits from employment and royalty payments to host societies, but is based on fossil fuel-intensive resource extraction. Nature-based tourism, instead, is based on experiencing natural environments and encountering wildlife, including whales, seals, or seabirds. They share social-ecological space, such as oceans, coastlines, cities and towns where tourism and offshore oil operations and offices are located. However, they rarely share cultural or political space, in terms of media coverage, public debate, or policy discussion that integrates both modes of development. Through a comparative analysis of Denmark, Iceland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Norway, and Scotland, this book offers important lessons for how coastal societies can better navigate relationships between resource extraction and nature-based tourism in the interests of social-ecological wellbeing.

This book investigates multidimensional change in the Arctic and policy response to it. It focuses its attention on the need for effective leadership within the region. In so doing it considers the contribution made by the main international organization of the region, the Arctic Council. In particular, it examines the various leadership functions undertaken by the Chair of that body including that of convener, manager, promoter, representative and resolver of differences. It is argued that in performing these multiple roles the Chair is contributing to the necessary leadership required to address pressing Arctic concerns. The book highlights the activities of the four most recent Arctic Council Chairs, Sweden, Canada, the United States and Finland. It considers the programs for action that each of these countries promoted during their terms at the helm of this major circumpolar organization. It examines the particular approaches, methods and strategies that eachused to advance its agenda and the consequences of such efforts. It focuses attention on the need for building consensus among a diverse membership including Arctic states, organizations representing northern indigenous peoples, non-Arctic countries and non-governmental bodies. Drawing upon the insights of scholars from several disciplines from across the circumpolar community, the collected essays in this volume seek to paint a picture of the real challenges and opportunities for international diplomacy in the contemporary North. It suggests that there are true “lessons to be learned” in advancing leadership within the region. The book provides a means for considering these and the most effective means of response.

For the past two decades, scientists have urged us to abandon fossil fuels as rapidly as possible and pursue a range of other environmental reforms to avert the many crises climate change will bring. The reforms have not occurred at the expected rate, and their absence raises questions about when they might occur. In Shocks, States, and Sustainability, Thomas K. Rudel addresses this question. He outlines a theory of environmental revolutions and when they will likely occur through a comparison of radical environmental reforms throughout the 20th century. By looking at farmers in the American Dust Bowl, land-use planners in post-war England, small farmers in post-Soviet Cuba, and lobster fishers along the coast of Maine, Rudel emphasizes how sudden focusing events can spur radical reforms by providing a fresh realization about the scarcity of natural resources. Shocks, States, and Sustainability explains how earth-shaking events like droughts, depressions, and wars can provide the foundations necessary for the pursuit of global sustainability.

“System change not climate change!” This cry reverberated throughout the streets of Paris during 2015's heated COP21 climate negotiations. It was as much a demand as it was an indictment of the failure of existing political institutions to respond adequately to our world's ecological crisis. In an era of slow motion apocalypse, with 3,500 international environmental agreements to date, where did everything go wrong? In this new and greatly expanded edition of his 1991 classic Political Ecology, Dimitri Roussopoulos delves into the history of environmentalism to explain the failure of the state management of the ecological crisis. He explores civil society's various past responses and the prospects for channeling environmentalist aspirations into political alternatives, emphasizing the ideas of social ecology and the central role of democratic neighborhoods and cities in developing alternatives. Ecologists, Roussopoulos argues, aim further than simply protecting the environment—they call for new communities, new lifestyles, and a new way of doing politics. This US edition also includes a new preface analyzing the implications of Trump's presidency for climate politics and an extensive new conclusion analyzing the Paris Accord. Revised, expanded, and updated, Political Ecology is a classic that provides an essential, timely history of the environmental movement now when we need it most.

This book discusses sustainable forest management from the perspectives of sociology, anthropology, politics, economics and policy. It examines the roles of governments, private sectors, NGOs, academics and local communities in implementing sustainable plantation forestry, which aims to supply timber for the forestry industry while at the same time reducing global warming. The book also explores the debates on sustainable forest management practices in several countries, and examines the effects of political ecology on plantation forestry as well as the impact of climate change and conservation programs. By analyzing a number of interrelated issues, it offers a valuable resource for all governments, private companies, practitioners, NGOs, academics and students studying forest management and political ecology from a social sciences perspective.

First published in 1999, this volume is concerned with how issues of identity and locality – globalization and ethics, valuing the environment, environmental justice and the use of traditional and new legal forms – cross the disciplines of law, ethics, geography, political science and social theory. Necessarily diverse, the collection both explores and confronts the limitations of law that prevent recognition of the relationship between humans and nature.

As regions and communities are increasingly affected by the projects, programs, and policies of disparate government and private groups, the skills of social scientists are being called on to aid in the environmental planning process. This volume presents accounts of the many ways in which the social sciences are contributing to environmental planning. The authors, drawing on case studies and displaying a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches, address the transition from theory to practice in environmental planning, local-level contributions to the planning process, socioeconomic development and planning needs, and socioenvironmental planning and mitigation procedures.

This book elucidates what it means to transition to alternative sources of energy and discusses the potential for this energy transition to be a more democratic process. The book dynamically describes a recent sociotechnical study of a number of energy transitions occurring in several countries - France, Germany and Tunisia, and involving different energy technologies - including solar, on/off-shore wind, smart grids, biomass, low-energy buildings, and carbon capture and storage. Drawing on a pragmatist tradition of social inquiry, the authors examine the consequences of energy transition processes for the actors and entities that are affected by them, as well as the spaces for political participation they offer. This critical inquiry is organised according to foundational categories that have defined the energy transition - ‘renewable'energy resources, markets, economic instruments, technological demonstration, spatiality (‘scale') and temporality (‘horizon(s)'). Using a set of select case studies, this book systematically investigates the role these categories play in the current developments in energy transitions.