Search

China's progressive assumption as a major actor on the African scene needs critical academic attention and examination. Although there are undoubtedly varied benefits, there are also concerns about whether China's win-win rhetoric is sincere or just empty propaganda. This paper contributes to the debate by examining the relationship between China and Africa through the lens of neo-colonialism. In this regard, the paper examines China's involvement in the textiles and mining industries of Ghana as a case study to argue whether the partnership between China and Africa is one that actually promotes development or engenders a new trend of neo-colonialism. Since this research focuses on areas such as partnership (i.e., between Ghana and China) and illegal mining with its effects, it intersects four of the SDGs (clean water and sanitation [SDG 6]; sustainable cities and communities [SDG 11]; life below water [SDG 14]; and partnership for the goals [SDG 17]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of the 1990s, many researchers and several organizations concerned with development- and environment-related issues have devised methods to evaluate sustainable development at national and international scales. To that effect, they have identified sustainable development indicators. To date, however, very little work has focused on industrial activities. This paper presents a semi-quantitative method allowing evaluation of the environmental aspect to sustainable development, with an application on the environmental performance of the effluent treatment procedure of a paper mill. Eight environmental indicators for sustainable development are considered for evaluation. These indicators are linked to the strategic requirements for sustainable development as stated in the Bruntdland Commission. They are also acknowledged by many authors and organizations. The environmental performance evaluation on the effluent treatment procedure of the paper mill under study shows that this activity meets a relative degree of sustainability. This evaluation allows the identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the effluent treatment with respect to sustainable development.Key words: indicators, sustainable development, measure, environmental performance, biologic treatment, effluents, paper mills.[Journal translation]Depuis le début des années 1990, plusieurs chercheurs et différents organismes préoccupés par les questions de développement et d'environnement mettent au point des méthodes pour évaluer le développement durable à l'échelle nationale ou internationale. Pour ce faire, ils ont identifié des indicateurs de développement durable. Cependant, très peu de travaux se sont concentrés à date sur les activités industrielles. Cet article présente une méthode semi-quantitative permettant l'évaluation du volet environnemental du développement durable avec application à la performance environnementale de la filière de traitement des effluents d'une papetière. Huit indicateurs environnementaux de développement durable sont retenus pour les fins de l'évaluation. Ces indicateurs sont rattachés aux impératifs stratégiques de développement durable énoncés par la Commission Bruntdland. Ils sont aussi reconnus par plusieurs auteurs et organismes. L'évaluation de la performance environnementale de la filière de traitement des effluents de la papetière étudiée montre que cette activité rencontre un degré relatif de soutenabilité. L'évaluation permet d'identifier les forces et les lacunes que comporte la filière de traitement des effluents en regard du développement durable.Mots clés : indicateurs, développement durable, mesure, performance environnementale, traitement biologique, effluents, papetières. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Singapore, on 19 December 2020, a trendy restaurant served nuggets prepared with chicken meat grown by the company Eat Just. According to customers, this product was similar in taste and texture to 'conventional meat'. In the National Review, journalist Matthew Scully welcomes this innovation and emphasises its re-humanising character. The aim of our paper is to show that this innovation, described by the journalist as a 'civilisational milestone' is based on what Mauss called 'a merchant's moral'. Cultured meat refers to powerful economic issues and generates alliances that are more economic-political than ethical. Far from 'rehumanising' us, it leads instead to replacing the living work of humans and animals with the dead work of machines. In other words, it dehumanises us and enslaves us. To show this, we first question the notion of 'real meat' and the historical dynamics that have led this product to being part of a project of agriculture without breeding. We then question the links between these innovations and the 'defenders' of animals and the planet, and the representations of animals underlying these links. Finally, we show that the morality of the merchant who promotes cultured meat is opposed to the universal morality of gift that has been building our relationship with domestic animals for ten millennia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to community sustainability remains an understudied topic of academic inquiry. Focusing on southern and central Ontario, Canada, the ways in which NTFPs may contribute to sustainable livelihoods are explored, along with how a fragmented sociopolitical landscape and the potential impacts of climate change might impede the development of the sector. Following interviews with twenty NTFP producers, four key themes highlighting the major challenges and opportunities are discussed. This paper contends that for an economically viable, socially just and environmentally sustainable NTFP industry to emerge, political-ecological power relations informed by critical social and environmental justice thinking must be understood and addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores responses to COVID-19 by the Buddhist organisation Soka Gakkai in Japan. Sōka means 'value-creation', but what kind of 'value' was created amidst a global pandemic? So-called 'new religions' in the context of Japan are typically presumed to embody a 'flight from the human world' into the exotic and remote. SG's response, however, encouraged people to stay very much within a 'human-bound world'. How did SG differ compared to other popular responses in Japan that drew on yōkai (or 'spirits') for comfort in defeating the soon objectified virus 'monster'? SG may be well-built for responding to disaster in its extensive grassroots networks and its daily newspaper to provide information. Responding with a renewed focus on study, chanting and outreach also highlights, however, how the meaning of 'hope' and 'well-being' were generated by internal change while structurally working to realise the SDG s as part of more long-term solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the emergence of cooperative photovoltaic projects in the Rhône-Alpes region (southeastern France) in the early 2010s marked by a national solar energy policy which at that time favoured the development of individual and private projects. The first part of the paper shows that in 2010 these projects emerged from converging national, regional and local dynamics and problematics. In the second part, the article analyzes the tribulations experienced by one of these collectives when it attempted to open the national incentive policy for photovoltaics to local issues which it did not take into account (redistribution and reinvestment of solar revenues, landscape and architectural innovation). Our analysis shows an innovative collective going through multiple trials in their attempt to initiate a territorial trajectory of energy transition that it deemed more equitable than the one then at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the conditions of emergence and the content of energy transition policies in shrinking cities. International academic literature considers shrinkage either as a factor favorable to alternative public policies, particularly in the field of sustainable development, or as a check to their acting capacities due to the multifactorial crises that hit shrinking cities. This paper is based on a case study of Vitry-le-François, archetypal of a small shrinking town in France. Two hypotheses are considered. In the first, urban shrinkage appears as a favorable context for an energy transition policy when the intensity and severity of the shrinkage process leads to a major crisis. In the second, energy transition policies applied to shrinking cities involve a course of action that extends beyond the energy sector and affects the whole of the urban policies in order to address the shrinkage phenomenon itself. The first part of the paper analyses the role of urban shrinkage and of the crisis affecting the local social housing landlord in the emergence of energy transition policies. The second part describes the content of the local energy policy transition and shows that this policy is focused on the rescue of the heating network owned by the social housing landlord, and on economic redevelopment issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoptés solennellement par les 193 États membres de l'Organisation des Nations unies en septembre 2015, les Objectifs du développement durable (ODD) sont présentés comme « 17 objectifs pour sauver le monde » (United Nations 2015). Ils proposent à tous les pays, sans aucune exception, des réponses aux principaux défis qui se posent à l'humanité, parmi lesquels ceux qui sont « liés à la pauvreté, aux inégalités, au climat, à la dégradation de l'environnement, à la prospérité, à la paix et à la justice » (id.). En cela, ils portent un programme d'éducation au politique qui se lit de façon transversale dans toutes les cibles envisagées, mais qui apparaît de la façon la plus explicite dans certaines de celles qui concernent l'enseignement. Cet article se concentre sur celles qui sont focalisées sur l'éducation au développement durable, et plus précisément encore sur l'évaluation qu'en organise le programme PISA de l'OCDE en prenant la mesure de la « compétence globale ». Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the 193 Member States of the United Nations in September 2015, are presented as "17 Goals to Transform our World" (Sustainable development (un.org)). These prospects provide answers to the main challenges facing humanity, including those linked to "poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, prosperity, peace and justice" (id.) to all countries. The related goals carry on a political education program that can be considered transversally in every target envisaged, mainly in educational terms. This paper focuses on those related to education for sustainable development, and more precisely to the evaluation organized by the PISA program of the OECD by measuring "global competence". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circular economy concept is currently being used in multiple ways. For some academics and organizations circular economy can be identified as a long term goal of achieved green growth while others argue that circular economy is fundamentally different from green growth. In this paper, we explore the conditions allowing green growth to be compatible with the concept of circular economy. Our model explicitly takes into account the possibility of a dematerializing of wealth production and raw material recycling through a green growth framework. We show that the reconciling of green growth with circular economy requires: (i) a fast decrease of the raw material intensity of economy far removed from present and past trajectories, (ii) the absence of a physical limitation to this decrease. This seems to indicate that green growth is essentially different from, and incompatible with the concept of circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Algeria, like the most countries of the world, made a lot of efforts to raise the standard of living of the population, and this by adopting development programs for which huge financial allocations were made. This research paper aims to study the extent of the impact of these programs on the reality of sustainable development in Algeria, and we have reached the conclusion that those plans during the period (2005-2019) have achieved many results on the economic and social level, but they failed to achieve all dimensions that achieve optimal exploitation resources to ensure their survival for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the feedback from the project leaders on the management of interdisciplinarity involving 14 scientific projects (3 networks and 11 research projects) that are part of a program on the integrated management of animal health, and from researchers participating in the overall management of the program. The difficulties encountered by the project leaders relate to a need for acculturation among disciplines, to the equilibrium and mutual respect between disciplines within the project, to the lack of time dedicated to the scientific animation of the project, and to the difficulty of publishing interdisciplinary work. The level of interdisciplinarity varies among projects, from juxtaposition of several disciplines to their actual integration. Recommendations proposed to future project leaders at the various steps of a projet involve the co-design step, in order to facilitate the decentering of disciplinary questioning, the implementation step requiring an agile management, and the report step, in order to analyse how interdisciplinarity has shifted disciplinary lines and modified initial questions. Strengthening of interdisciplinary programs should prioritize the training of researchers in interdisciplinarity, provide support for the conception of interdisciplinary projects, and analyse the degree to which integration of disciplines was achieved in the projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context and background: The concept of social accountability in health (SAH) is emerging as a major challenge, at the moment when the health systems are more than ever in difficulty and when society as a whole encounters new events linked to a pandemic that forces our main preoccupations towards a necessary paradigm shift. Objective: This paper offers a brief retrospective of the notion of accountability, from that of social responsibility in entrepreneurship, under the light of the human sciences (philosophy, anthropology, sociology) and discuss how the concept concerns the core of the professional exercise in health. Analysis: How can the social and environmental preoccupations be integrated in the daily medical practice without overloading the already overburden of the health professionals? Several hypotheses are conditioning this process: one of which is the introduction of a systemic thought, making possible a transformative action, a commitment around the values, a co-management with all the professionals and the involved stakeholders. This hypothesis draws the contours of a broadened definition of the SAH, including all actors of health and correlated activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the financial crisis that broke out in 2008, new terms to talk about sustainable development started to emerge: the "green" economy and "green" growth. Some countries supported their usage and others did not. The literature witnessed the recrudescence of the debate on the relationship between economic activity and taking care of the environment, divided into three stances: degrowth advocates, "green" growth backers, and the growth-agnostics. This paper dives into the different "green" terms, paying special attention to the case of Argentina. Unlike in previous papers, which have analyzed country interventions in international forums, the methodology here was to search the web pages of the most relevant local players. The most traditional terms ("sustainable development") were strongly predominant, and the concepts of "green" economy or "green" growth were few and far between. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societies are facing social ecosystemic crises which affect the highly anthropized and globalized Planet and which constitute major issues and a huge challenge for the future. Addressing these issues requires facing the very tough complexities of extensively anthropized ecosystems whose understanding demands interaction between the full range of environmental sciences (ESs), i.e. earth, life, human and societal sciences. Interdisciplinarity is not an option, but a structural constraint. The author presents a comprehensive interdisciplinarity facility which he designed within the French CNRS and implements since 2007 to address with this situation: the Human-Environment Observatories (Observatoires hommes-milieux, OHMs). Thirteen of these have been created in France and in other countries in 2019. In 2012 they were the French Governement's PIA1 laureate with the Labex DRIIHM (InterDisciplinary Research Facility on Human-Environment Interactions) for an 8 years funding which has just been renewed for 5 years (2020-2024). The OHMs are dedicated to the study of heavily anthropized sites hit by a "disrupting event" which has upset the ecological, economic and social balances that have developed over decades in the local socio-ecological conditions (for instance, a coalfield mine and its shutdown). In this paper, the author states the qualities needed for this interdisciplinary work in order to deal with these social ecological issues, and specifies the definition of multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinarity. He remarks that, within the OHMs, an "enlightened disciplinarity" spontaneously develops between all ESs due to a heuristic open-minded attitude called "indisciplinarity". Three examples of this mode of functioning are presented. They highlight the flexibility and simplicity of the process and its efficacy in developing links among scientists and between these and society in a sustainable development outlook. The OHMs facility provides one of the possibilities to take up the challenge of confronting the hypercomplex ecosytemic crises that arise in highly anthropised socio-ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific discourses are influenced by worldviews and values shared by scientific communities. In terms of sustainable development, as for other subjects, the production, dissemination and reception of knowledge structure the discursive universe of academic activities. This paper provides a mapping of the field of academic interactions based on a sample of 93 influential intellectuals active in sustainable development thinking in Latin America, from a review of more than ten thousand citations over a period of forty years (1972-2012). The software Gephi was used to draw figures that highlight these networks along three separate periods of time. A first period runs from 1970 and the start of modern environmental concerns until 1987 and the publication of the very influential Brundtland Report. A second period (1987-2002) covers the period of a flourishing institutional concept of sustainable development until the Johannesburg Conference. And the third one runs until the Rio+20 Summit in 2012. This quantitative analysis is complemented by a qualitative analysis of the works and relations of the most influential authors. The results show a gradual structuring of the discursive field on the subcontinent. We are able to trace the main relations between authors in Latin America and outside, mostly to the US and Europe. Our results also show that many academics in the sub region elaborated critical discourses that developed in synergy with various social movements that strive for justice and socio-environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper treats the ancient city of Constantine to identify the elements and forms of built heritage in Arab-Muslim city through historical monuments and constructions reflecting the creative abilities of the technical, organizational, and cultural dimensions, to bequeath to future generations. The city is experiencing a regression of the built environment and the quality of urban life, due to natural and human factors. What are the characteristics of the ancient city? How can we protect it in the context of sustainable development? Can we conciliate the past with the present to explore the future? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the Gross Sustainability Index of the municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul, prepared according to variables related to the political-administrative structure, instruments and actions developed in favor of environmental preservation. The data were obtained from the Municipal Basic Information Survey (MUNIC), made by the IBGE in 2013. The results indicate that several municipalities are far below the ideal in terms of the political-administrative structure and actions aimed at preserving the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We often hear about the resistance of First Nation (FN) communities to the industrial model of forestry, but we hear less about what they wish to achieve. Translating FN perspectives into concepts that are understood by the mainstream society can help inform current and future forest policies. Such translation can support initiatives that seek ways to increase FN participation in the forest sector. This paper documents one process of translation. It identifies the principles and objectives for forest-based development of the Essipit Innu First Nation in Quebec, Canada, reflective of the deep roots that anchor the Essipit to their territory. Based on participatory research carried out between January and July 2013, we identify 34 objectives folded into three core FN principles: Nutshimiu-Aitun (identity-territoriality), Mishkutunam (sharing-exchange), and Pakassitishun (responsibility-autonomy). Our analysis shows that the economic aims of the dominant forestry model are too narrow for FN communities. This paper contributes to expanding FN engagement in forestry through management and economic approaches that are better adapted to their culture and values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The words "green ICTs" (information and communication technologies), "green IT" or "eco-ICTs" have spread in recent years either asserting the ecological potential of digital technologies or, on the contrary, underlining the progress needed in this field. Our paper raises the issue of ICT production and use, showing how they help to steer human societies towards more ecological ways, or on the other hand how they generate pollutions and "rebound effects", which might more than cancel expected benefits. What stakes are currently involved in these terms? By crossing the contributions of several disciplines, the paper highlights a trend shared by many stakeholders who believe that the problem can be solved through technical advances and thus can be dropped out of their agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, renewable energies have become increasingly important at the global level, with a significant impact on the sustainable development of various nations. Although multiple papers have examined the efficiency of policies and instruments to promote renewable energy sources, the majority have disregarded the fact that the context in which policies are implemented determines how well they perform. This paper analyzes renewable energy development in the electricity market in Argentina, paying special mind to the contextual conditions in which the policies were designed and finding that in recent history, it is precisely these conditions that constitute the main reason why renewable energies have such a low degree of penetration in the electrical power system in Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although urban sprawl is a normal process associated with the population growth and their activities it is considered as an uncontrolled process when urban growth is faster than population growth (European Environment Agency -JCR 2006-2011). It is known that the origins of this uncontrolled growth is a change in the way of inhabiting the territory and involves some environmental and social imbalances. The lack of attention to this excessive growth in territorial development planning it remains challenging to which the Spanish society is facing. In this sense, the paper aims to provide conceptual and instrumental elements which offer the possibility to analyze in perspective spatial and demographic growth of the Andalusian metropolitan areas, since its origins until the last real estate crisis. Thus seeks to value the territorial cohesion as a whole based upon basic principles of social and environmental sustainability as posed by the future European urban agenda. The results suggest a quite sustainable behavior of Andalusian metropolitan areas despite the deep changes in the pattern of metropolitan development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ANR Agrobiosphère program (2011-2013) aimed to support and fund research projects addressing the issue of transition towards sustainable production systems. It followed in the steps of the ADD (2005-2006) and Systerra (2008-2010) programs and of Adage, a prospective workshop on the impacts of climate change and new adaptation strategies. Priority was given to issues related to the long-term evolutionary trajectories of systems, to the design of agro-ecological innovations at the territorial and sector levels, also including the notions of transition, sustainability and resilience in situations of change. This paper gives the main points of a final review conference organized in November 2016, at which the results generated by the projects were discussed within five sessions: adaptation to global changes; biogeochemical cycles; functional biodiversity; territorial modeling and support to actors; relations between natural environments and economic systems. We show that the program succeeded in building bridges between different scientific communities in an innovative way. It facilitated the development of new forms of interdisciplinarity and inter-institutional collaboration, leading to a significant increase in the contribution of scientific teams in ecology and social sciences to the project, and thus opening a space in agronomic research for the various dimensions of sustainable development. The program has proved crucial in stabilizing the concept of agroecology, which has now became a very concrete component of French public policy. The lessons learnt from Agrobiosphère are a strong argument for thematic programs to support targeted research on emergent issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an example of the advantages of using mathematical viability theory concepts and tools to study sustainable development issues. Instead of seeking optimal solutions according to a predefined value function, viability theory follows a inverse approach and does not postulate any a priori behaviours. Its methods and tools concern the set of all evolutions from a given situation that remain within a given set of constraints. An evolution is called viable (sustainable) if constraints are permanently satisfied. These constraints may be physical and as such imperative, or normative and consequently possibly modifiable. The aim of the paper is to show that the viability approach does not only encompass constraint satisfaction but also helps solve intertemporal optimisation problems. By applying a macroeconomic model generally used as a benchmark model to study theoretical issues of sustainable development we propose a new approach to assessing intergenerational equity. We describe two viability approaches to tackle the intergenerational equity issue: the first, proposed earlier by previous authors, concerns a minimal set of guaranteed rights for all generations; the second aims to minimize inequalities between generations while respecting resources and production constraints. Numerical computations have been performed to graphically display the solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007, the French government organized a series of meetings dealing with environment and sustainable development problematics under the title ⪡ Grenelle de l'Environnement ⪢. The conclusions of these meetings were introduced in a new law published in August 2009 (Law N° 2009-967) known as "Grenelle 1". Article 1 requires that the State designs a so-called Sustainable Development National Strategy (SDNS) structured around 9 targets. Target 1 consists in fighting against climate change. The SDNS is used as a basis for the involvement of public and private agencies in this perspective. The struggle against climate change and implementation of sustainable development principles within the agency framework raises a number of practical questions: how are adaptive methods and tools to be developed to help the agency reach a new balance given the environmental, economic and social risks induced by these broad targets? Are there any standards of reference and if not can an innovative approach be developed to support decision-making in situations of uncertainty? How can a management dashboard be developed for a proportional allocation of resources adapted to the various stakeholders and decision levels within the agency? How does one compare actions that can have different impacts in different sub-systems and with different time frameworks? Following a brief historical review of the origin of the challenges of sustainable development and climate change in the introduction part of the paper, we discuss the methodological approach selected and the investigator's intervention program in the first part of the paper. In the second part, we address practical issues for an agency facing the challenges of sustainable development and climate change. To this end we relate the experience of designing a sustainable development framework within a public agency using an organizational approach and a multiple criteria decision aid methodology. Finally, we discuss the decision-makers' choices and the lessons learned by implementing an innovative approach which we set up to face these new challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dominant legal discourse in Australian water law and policy since 2004 has been about incorporating several definitions of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) rules into freshwater management. The strategy selected to achieve this has been the Regional Water Allocation Plan (RWAP), which is based on hydrological and biological information about the impact of water use. Several aims of the ESD policy reflect the three pillars (environmental, economic, and social outcomes) common to the use of the term in international instruments, such as the 1987 UN Declaration; all ESD formulations in several state laws and the recent Federal Water Act 2007 look at the integration of the three pillars. The State Acts and the Federal Act insist on the adoption of the precautionary principle and achievement of intra- and inter-generational equity-a stunning reversal of previous policies, where the economic use and social aspects of water use were the primary concern. The ESD policy is not without its critics, especially from the farming communities, hard hit by new water plans that have reduced the amount of water able to be allocated by up to 52%. City dwellers have also been critical of water restrictions in urban areas and the higher cost for water supplied through desalination plants where the groundwater is severely depleted. The RWAP is the tool that must bear the brunt of these conflicts; at present, there are 190 such plans. This paper outlines a research agenda, but also makes preliminary comments on the types of conflicts that have existed, and the potential future conflict types. This is based on legal case analysis and some field work, reports of other authors, as well as observations and discussions with key informants in the several jurisdictions. It finds that there are conflicts between users, between the environment and users, as well as several conflicts related to processes used to consult the community, the science used to reduce allocations and the way the water reductions have been administered. The social capital of the community, the extent of the water allocation reductions and the level of trust in the science are key determinants of how many conflicts will exist in any given WAP region. The paper suggests a law reform that could reduce conflicts, i.e. that a duty to co-operate be added to state laws to require persons working on water plans to work cooperatively in the region and with others in the next water plan region. Such a duty would go some way to increasing the achievement of ESD and overcome the fragmentation and introspective approach of some of the early regional water plans. Citation McKay, J. M. (2011) Australian water allocation plans and the sustainability objective-conflicts and conflict-resolution measures. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(4), 615-629. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal water conservation is increasingly promoted as a key dimension of environmental sustainability at the municipal scale. Progress toward municipal water conservation in Canada has, however, been poor. This paper examines the governance dimension of water conservation, and presents evidence in support of the argument that conservation efforts on the part of water utilities (and sometimes municipalities) are often constrained by factors external to their jurisdiction. To explore these issues, this paper presents a case study of municipal water conservation in Canada. The analysis identifies governance-related barriers to water conservation and explores the relationship between these barriers and broader issues stemming from the multi-scalar, fragmented nature of environmental governance in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper asserts that sustainable development is not a univocal question whose inherent truth may be clearly stated. In historical terms, sustainable development is originally a societal project aiming at a better common life on Earth, a kind of environmental and social-democratic ideal. This project, however, must unavoidably face economic and political logics that often run against it. The paper then claims that 'sustainable development' as an expression has become omnipresent in the media, an infinitely flexible mantra liable to endless adaptations and transformations. In the following section, the paper postulates that sustainable development is not solely an ecological-social-democratic project nor a norm of 'correct speak' in the public sphere, but that it is also a set of more or less articulated institutions and practices that have a fallout on social legitimacies. Finally the paper states that for many, sustainable development is also a hit target, a way of conceiving the world that, if it cannot be combated head on because of its attractive and affective aura, must at all costs be undermined from the inside and pushed out of the way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight suggestions for a public action and a methodology to apply them have been described in a complementary paper, to incite the professionals from Quebec involved in the sustainable stormwater drainage management to target clear objectives. The present paper reports a case study where these eight suggestions were applied in a developing residential sector located in a Quebec municipality, following the proposed methodology. The main objective of this paper is to show the feasibility of some selected Best Management Practices (BMP). The brief economical analysis performed in the study shows that integration of some applicable BMP in Quebec cities seems to be cost effective, when clear objectives are targeted. Nevertheless a deep analysis is still necessary to identify all feasible BMP designed to improve the urban drainage management and to determine the real costs linked to the new techniques investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how the concept of sustainable development interacts with scientific disciplines. First it confronts the characteristics of academic research dealing with sustainable development to the criteria formulated by T. Kuhn for disciplines, paradigms and scientific revolutions. In this framework, sustainable development does not appear as an overarching paradigm. It is interpreted differently within several disciplines, and can modify their subjects and methods of research. In the second part of the paper, more recent theory about scientific disciplines is introduced, underlining the importance of interactions with spheres external to scientific communities. The paper suggests that a major feature of sustainable development research - that has more to deal with methods than with the subjects studied - would be to deliberately assume the interactions of science, society and policy, and to deal with their consequences. We conclude with some implications of these analyses for teaching sustainable development in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking Sartre's philosophy as a starting point, our paper is deliberately both theoretical and action oriented. It aims to promote a way to develop the adequate scientific practices which the sustainable development utopia requires. To this end, it is written as a manifesto designed to stimulate debates and controversies. Following a critical review of all that is being said and done in the name of sustainable development in the political sphere as well as in the relationships social sciences entertain with the political sphere, this paper is a call to consider rigorously the difficulties and even the impossibilities of moving "from the utopia to the concepts". Introducing and articulating the almost contradictory dimensions of sustainability in real urban territories demands that a relevant method be developed to investigate this complex object. We propose the concept of "socially sustainable milieu" to try and reach this objective which requires the interdisciplinary linking of physical and social sciences. GIS and modelling need to be associated with anthropological methods. Most of all, the paper underscores the need to set "inhabitants" at the heart of the scientific project, thus reversing the usual focus and starting with an investigation of the way each individual reconciles the "three pillars" of sustainable development and builds his/her relationship with sustainable urban milieus. This may help rise above the still top-down views of governance, thus enabling scientists to contribute to developing the political sustainable utopia in real sites and situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Amazonian context, some authors analyze the evolution of the agricultural frontier as a pre-determinated dynamic: the stabilization of the frontier, which has been colonized by family farmers, would repeat the Brazilian model of land tenure, with the domination of big properties and the marginalization of family farming. This paper is based on the hypothesis that the stabilization of the frontier depends on sedentarization strategies of the farmers: alongside public politics and the economic context, examining migration choices of family farmers is essential to understand the type of frontier stabilization occurring. Those strategies can not be seen as an economically rationalistic behaviour, but depends on the reproduction logics of the families. This paper focuses on the migrations of the farmers’ sons in the Transamazonian frontier in order to reveal the strategies of their families’ mobility, and their complex relations with the space and the society. Concluding with a statistical analysis showing that there is no factor explaining the whole migrations of the sons, I present a qualitative analysis in order to establish a typology of farmer families according to their mobility practices; and I attempt to map this typology to show its importance in different localities over 30 years. Finally, I point out that the stabilization of the frontier is closely linked with the families’ strategies, and that the debate on sedentarization requires a more complex model of the relations between social organization and land. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper discusses some of the challenges related to integration and cooperation in Latin America: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a clear platform that involves every country in the region, as well as various actors, and trade negotiations in the twenty-first century, in particular, mega-regional agreements whose scopes are limited to a few countries. Latin America is currently exploring the possibilities of convergence and cooperation in a context of diverse geopolitical interests. This will require adopting a flexible and inclusive approach. The experiences of Asia and Africa in this arena will undoubtedly be relevant. Achieving convergence will be crucial to fostering cooperation and coordinating policies to respond to the challenges of globalization. The region will also have to find new resources and models for national and international funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings have significant impacts on the environment and economy as they were reported by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in 2009 to account for 40% of the global energy consumption. Building owners are increasingly seeking to integrate sustainability and green measures in their buildings to minimize energy and water consumption as well as life-cycle cost. Due to the large number of feasiblecombinations of sustainability measures, decision makers are often faced with a challenging task that requires them to identify an optimal set of upgrade measures to minimize the building life-cycle cost. This paper presents a model for optimizing the selection of building upgrade measures to minimize the life-cycle cost of existing buildings while complying with owner-specified requirements for building operational performance and budget constraints. The optimization model accounts for initial upgrade cost, operational cost and saving, escalation in utility costs, maintenance cost, replacement cost, and salvage value of building fixtures and equipment, and renewable energy systems. A case study of a rest area building in the state of Illinois in the United States was analyzed to illustrate the unique capabilities of the developed optimization model. The main findings of this analysis illustrate the capabilities of the model in identifying optimal building upgrade measures to achieve the highest savings of building life-cycle cost within a user-specified upgrade budget; and generating practical and detailed recommendations on replacing building fixtures and equipment and installing renewable energy systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past two decades, the expression «sustainable spatial development» has been successfully incorporated into spatial planning documents, becoming a guiding principle thereof. This paper analyzes the integration of the principles of sustainability into Spanish spatial planning and assesses its practical outcomes. An analysis of legislation and regional plans has been conducted, focusing on four case studies (the Basque Country, Navarra, Andalucía and the Valencian Community) selected for the relevance of sustainability principles in their regional planning processes. Complementary information was gathered by interviewing key agents of spatial planning in those regions. According to the results, despite the good intentions embodied in plans and legislation, the integration of sustainability in regional spatial planning progresses slowly, and its practical outcomes are still barely visible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates that the strategies of sustainability, social responsibility and innovation do have an impact on the business plans of smaller organizations. This statement has been made after creating, testing and cross-checking a model that identifies these strategies in SMEs. A total of thirty-nine SMEs from the province of Avila were included in the model. The format chosen for the study was a prize, which not only made it possible to analyse the strategies but also to promote and disseminate them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of corporate strategies based on CSR is at an early stage in Ecuadorian companies. This paper explains the impact that greater implementation of CSR policy would have on the strategic plans of companies. To this end, the authors conducted a survey of 70 entrepreneurs working in strategic industries in the city of Guayaquil. To improve CSR implementation in Ecuadorian companies, specifically those located in Guayaquil (Ecuador's most populous city and busiest port), the authors propose a new management model based on social responsibility. The benefits of its implementation could improve not only the living conditions of professionals working in companies, but also those of the population as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present a new approach for evaluating the sustainability by crossing two scientific barriers within the concept of eMergy. The emergy analysis of steady-state complex systems presents the first barrier. As the second barrier, the emergy analysis of recycling process can be identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous research and development projects have been launched since the seventies in the French overseas territories. Their aim was to foster new activities in agriculture based on local productions for local markets, notably in the French West Indies (FWI). In this paper we analyze two development projects on the rearing of giant freshwater prawn, one in the FWI and the other in French Guyana, over twenty years after their launching. The purpose of these compared studies is twofold: first to try to understand why a set of relevant technical innovations ended in failure 15 years later; second to identify recommendations in terms of methodology in order to diminish risks of mistakes or failure for future projects. To reach this goal we followed two approaches. A first analysis is based on a set of three criteria: social acceptability, legitimacy and time planning. The second analysis, justified by the subjective need for an explanatory tool, is based on the actor-network theory. The results show that beyond the levels of political support and financial investment and support the three key criteria for success are: (i) reactivity of the decision-makers, notably when markets change, (ii) quality of leadership transfer between the launching phase and the stabilized phase, and (iii) capacity of the decision-makers to take into account the concrete consequences of the various scenarios. Regarding this third criterion, our analysis suggests that the scenario of full technical success needs to be explored, notably in terms of economic sustainability. The integration of these two types of analyses into an ex-ante frame should contribute to reducing risks of failure in similar development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the role of the policies that support organic agriculture in the sector promotion, from the case of Andalucia in Spain, the largest in area and number of operators in the country. To do this, in the first place, key policies at regional, national and supranational levels that have potentially affected the supply of the sector are identified. Then, the evolution of the main variables related to it is illustrated (surface, producers, demand, etc...). Based on the foregoing, it is concluded that the existence of a relationship between the aids to organic production and the sectoral development could be presumable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the territory management process regarding a succinct property of the public policy, its territorialization. The methodological basis takes criteria and factors that deal exclusively with territorial development, and segregate two qualities to the territory: as a central focus of public policy and as a management unit. All in all, the interactions that make up social networks are analyzed and a proposal on the convergence structure for territorial management is presented. The results show the methodological feasibility in a case study, the District/Regional Councils of Sustainable Rural Development (CD / RDRS) in Central Mexico. It is concluded that the methodologies are coherent for reasoning the condition or situation of territorial development, and based on that propose solutions to the problems that arise from the management process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Mexico many socioeconomic dynamics are being put in motion within rural communities, the purpose of which is to regain control over natural resources and creating Communal Forestry Companies that support an inclusive and participative type of progress. The object of the present paper is to analyse the case of San Pedro El Alto in Mexico in terms of local endogenous development, Víctor Toledo's (1996) contribution to the study sustainable communities and post-farming appropriation (Barkin y Rosas, 1996; Rosas, 2011). This study proposes a transition from subsistence agriculture to a type of production that would increase quality of life. A participative methodology was used, including semi-structured interviews to key informants and documental information. Data will be showed demonstrating that San Pedro El Alto has achieved a certain degree of development due to the creation of the Communal Forestry Company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the rise of climate and environmental challenges during the last decade or so, the growing awareness among various actors of sustainability issues at the local and global levels has resulted in a change in public policies as in industrial and financial strategic moves. This change has been rapidly translated into substantial investments both in public and private environmental sectors. Indeed, many "green" technologies and innovations are now reaching the market and more radical ones are being developed through significant Research and Developing (R&D) investments. However, the development of this emergent "Green Economy" is rather concentrated in certain leading countries or regions. Building on some national examples, the paper explains this phenomenon by the key role played both by the integration and inter-temporal coherence of public policies and by territorial specific settings and permissive conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on some salient issues of urban sustainable development in France with a specific accent on six urban agglomerations: Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse. The reticular nature of these issues and the circuits leading to their realization are analysed with reference to the ways a multiplicity of actors conceive, plan and bring about the construction of cities, rather than through sectoral viewpoints. Thus, urban sustainable development appears within a (locally variable) set of linkages that sets these issues firmly in areas of interrelations and intersections. Based on a large body of documentation and field work (observations and interviews) this approach helps trace the complex relations between discourse and the reality of on-going dynamics, including the implementation of sustainable development urban operations such as mutations in the domain of public action as exemplified by urbanisation. These relations converge in articulating the issues, with urban sustainable development — in the diversity of its usages — becoming a "portmanteau", much like "governance". In this context, technical experts and the "city professionals" can be seen as intermediary representatives: actors/go-betweens who contribute to the development of links and modes of combining practices between usually separate worlds. On this assumption, we consider that nowadays novel professions directly linked with urban areas and environmental issues are emerging at public local level (cities, metropolitan institutions, town-planning agencies, semi-public companies, associations acting as service providers, etc.), in proportion with the development of an urban sustainable development "repertoire" in urban politics. New specific competences and scopes of activities extend and define the field of sustainable development experts. Nevertheless, these competences remain broken up between several kinds of jobs and functions (civil servants and local government officers, project leaders, urban architects, consultants, employees of associations, etc.). Indeed, the limits of this professionalization process are significant of the success of urban sustainable development itself, which can be interpreted as a malleable concept, a property considered as a central condition of its cognitive and practical diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty is a phenomenon which is caused by lack of education and no access to adequate social services, malnutrition, no hygienic conditions and sex discrimination. For this reason, in different countries like Peru, a Social Mining Fund has been created. This organization shows a big potential to become a relevant strategic tool to set the bases for a sustainable development, reducing poverty rates and allowing institutional development. Similarly, this Fund has caused the onset of strategic alliances, which have increased the production of resources, the inclusion of new markets, becoming an essential instrument of intercultural negotiation in the mining sector. In this paper, a new development model is presented based on the three strategies in which the Social Mining Fund can be applied, being sustainable development, poverty rate decrease and institutional development, and at the same time focused on a general axis- an intercultural perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non controlled management of runoff stormwater volumes may cause the quality degradation of water tables and water surfaces. An investigation conducted in 2007 on the stormwater management in Quebec shows the existence of certain gaps in the design of the stormwater networks, when more and more expectations are coming from citizens and sustainable development requirements. It becomes therefore urgent to set up in Quebec a new stormwater management approach based on sustainable and integrated solutions. The present paper lists a brief state of the art in Quebec regarding the stormwater issue. Also it analyzes the Best Management Practices (BMP) applicable in Quebec and it describes a strategy to control the stormwater runoff volumes. Eight suggestions for a public action in the context of a sustainable development are developed. A nine-step methodology process is presented to show how professionals involved in environment issues may apply these eight suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses various aspects of the current economic crisis. Firstly, we study the onset of the crisis as caused by multiple factors, emphasizing the fall of subprime securities, although the rising oil prices also had an influence in it. We then echo how this crisis questions some elements of existing economic theories and guidelines for interpreting and finding patterns in economic processes, especially those concerning the financial markets (efficient market theory). The role throughout this process, and thirdly, the speculative bubble seen as a new concept: Keynesianism stock exchange? or asset price Keynesianism? Finally, the paper addresses that this crisis also coexists and affects life-supporting ecosystems as well as the changes in environmental policies criteria that would have to be articulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the conditions that are liable to lead to local environmental quality enhancement in areas having suffered from industrial pollution in the past. in emphasizing the central role of institutions, understood as common meanings, "proximity" can help researchers understand the mechanisms inherent in the development of collective action, beginning with converging individual interests coupled with co-ordination among various actors. In the field of environmental and territorial dynamics, these conditions are crucial in achieving certain objectives shared by various stakeholders motivated by different interests that may converge on a specific point. The specificities inherent in the management of environmental resources and the importance of land-use or resource-use conflicts are an invitation to investigate the central role of institutions in this field. In this paper we focus on institutional proximity in order to express the conditions that may lead to a collective and territorial dynamic made possible by exploitation of natural resource and seeking to achieve both industrial development and environmental quality goals. We show that these goals are not necessarily achieved through the use of market tools. The actions described here were launched a few years ago to deal with the "industrial environment" in Dunkirk and are widely based on the implementation of locally-established rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is based on a literature review and analysis of sustainable indicator proposals for transport policies from different countries and international organizations. Its aim was to propose an approach to qualify these experiences. Indicators are drawn up in support of a particular posture, a characteristic which is relevant for our analysis. Several political postures were found to underlie the production of indicators and their uses. We highlighted three argumentative postures. An integrative posture which seeks to internalize social and environmental externalities, its aim being to optimize transport policies. A critical posture which argues for a more reasonable and less aggressive transport policy. This posture is often environmentally-based. Last, a global posture based on the sustainable development movement at national or international scales. These experiences deal with different development aspects, transport being only one of their concerns. We were able to demonstrate the analytical interest of these three postures in a study of four experiences of public debate. To conclude, our paper calls for a better definition of the governance contexts in which the sustainable transport indicators are used. The indicators proposed in the experiences studied relate to different postures within the same framework of debates and are difficult to use in describing them. Working on the governance context is essential to ensure a proper use of indicators that will enrich concertation and debates among actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversification of the agrarian activities towards different branches of the economy seems a viable alternative to clear the gray horizon of this type of organizations. An emergent activity, Rural Tourism, appears as a very interesting option to complement partners' income, as well as the effective development of these companies. To demonstrate the viability of both activities within an organization, as well as to obtain the ideal cooperative profile for the development of theses activities, or better still, to establish the form to reach it, are some of the goal pursued with this paper. We follow an empirical analysis based on a qualitative and quantitative methodology, on the agrarian cooperatives integrated in the Hojiblanca group, and pertaining to Antequera, a Spanish region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]