Beyond the limits to growth : New ideas for sustainability from Japan
This book offers an optimistic view of the future and provides a road map for societies to get there. Drawing upon extensive research and many years as a thought leader in environmental and sustainability issues in Japan and internationally, Hiroshi Komiyama analyzes the most pressing challenges to the attainment of sustainability of economically advanced nations and argues forcefully for Japan to lead them out of the present dilemma through active promotion of creative consumer and societal demand. He shows how an active industry–government–academic partnership can provide the environment needed to promote such new creative demand and illustrates its potential through presentation of a Platinum Society Network that was launched on a regional basis in Japan in 2010 to facilitate the solution of common issues through the exchange of information and ideas.
Architect, verb : the new language of building
Leading architect Reinier de Graaf De Graaf punctures the myths behind the debates on what contemporary architecture is, with wit and devastating honesty. Architecture, it seems, has become too important to leave to architects. No longer does it suffice to judge a building solely by its appearance, it must be measured, and certified. When architects talk about "Excellence," "Sustainability," "Well-being," "Liveability," "Placemaking," "Creativity," "Beauty" and "Innovation" what do they actually mean? In Architect, Verb, De Graff dryly skewers the doublespeak and hot air of an industry in search of an identity in the 21st century
A beginner's guide to urban design and development : the ABC of quality, sustainable design
Provides invaluable guidance to all those with an interest in placemaking and the built environment, from those with no experience to those who have worked for many years in industry, illustrating key principles that will secure higher quality, more sustainable design in accessible, jargon-free language. Explains the design process in a straightforward way, exploring the different roles and highlighting the opportunities and limitations different agencies have to influence design over the various stages of the process. Examples from the UK and worldwide look at how the system operates and how best practice can make a real difference on the ground. Case studies examine situations where quality or sustainability fell short – and how this could have been avoided. This book also showcases a variety of evaluation tools, explaining how they operate, and giving guidance on how to create project-specific tools to drive schemes forward. With community empowerment at its core, the book explains technical language and shares bountiful knowledge to broaden place democracy and make influencing design accessible to many, not just a few.
Managing Innovation and Standards : A Case in the European Heating Industry
This book provides an in-depth study of the management of standards and regulation in sustainable and radical innovation development. It considers the case of micro Combined Heat and Power (mCHP) technology. The developers of this radical innovation in the European heating sector encountered major conflicts when attempting to create or adapt standards when bringing the technology to market. Utilising rich research data and interviews with key actors, the author uses this case to derive a grounded theory on the management of standards and regulation during an innovation process. The results also have important implications for innovators, which are reflected in clear advice for practice.
Management of Intentional and Accidental Water Pollution
The goals of the workshop included a discussion of the state of the science in identification of new research and approaches for water pollution events and communication of the management of water pollution and sustainability of water resources. Critical to management of accidental and intentional pollution events is the assessment of the risk, an understanding of the hazards and lessons learned from events which may lead to preventative management and control strategies. Public health protection will ultimately be improved by the ability to develop management frameworks which are flexible and adaptable to the specific region, country or watershed problems and concerns and allow for prioritization in the decision making. The integration of scientific information regarding the types of hazards the environmental fate of the chemical/biological, exposure pathways and human and ecosystem impacts may be implemented from both a qualitative or descriptive approach or using a more classical quantitative risk assessment paradigm. Thus the frameworks for assessing the risk and managing the risk may be seen as preventive, early warning and responsive.
Complex systems concurrent engineering : Collaboration, technology innovation and sustainability
Concurrent engineering is well-established as an approach to engineer product parts. However, the concept has much broader application. Complex Systems Concurrent Engineering: Collaboration, Technology Innovation and Sustainability demonstrates how concurrent engineering can be used to benefit the development of complex systems, to produce results that sustain balanced stakeholder satisfaction over time. Gathered from the 14th ISPE International Conference on Concurrent Engineering, the collected papers cover all aspects of the sustainable and integrated development of complex systems, such as airplanes, satellites, space vehicles, automobiles and ships.
Comparative Third Sector Governance in Asia : Structure, Process, and Political Economy
The book – the first of its kind – establishes new theory and knowledge in the area of third sector organizations (TSOs) in Asia. The main purpose of this book is to draw the attention of Asia's TSOs on the importance of good governance. It documents variety of approaches, and identifies socio-cultural, economic, and political dynamics and impacts of different models of TSO governance. The combined information from the contributions in this work will ensure the sustainability of TSOs throughout Asia.
Community Quality-of-Life Indicators : Best Cases II
This book is second in a series covering best practices in community quality-of-life (QOL) indicators. The first volume in this series is a compilation of cases of best work in community indicators research. This second volume continues to build on the goal of the series and includes eleven cases (chapters). The cases in both volumes describe communities that have launched their own community indicators programs.
Climate-Smart Food
This book asks just how climate-smart our food really is. It follows an average day's worth of food and drink to see where it comes from, how far it travels, and the carbon price we all pay for it. From our breakfast tea and toast, through breaktime chocolate bar, to take-away supper, Dave Reay explores the weather extremes the world’s farmers are already dealing with, and what new threats climate change will bring. Readers will encounter heat waves and hurricanes, wildfires and deadly toxins, as well as some truly climate-smart solutions. In every case there are responses that could cut emissions while boosting resilience and livelihoods. Ultimately we are all in this together, our decisions on what food we buy and how we consume it send life-changing ripples right through the global web that is our food supply.
Climate risk in Africa : Adaptation and resilience
This book highlights the complexities around making adaptation decisions and building resilience in the face of climate risk. It is based on experiences in sub-Saharan Africa through the Future Climate For Africa (FCFA) applied research programme. It begins by dealing with underlying principles and structures designed to facilitate effective engagement about climate risk, including the robustness of information and the construction of knowledge through co-production
Chromatography for Sustainable Polymeric Materials : Renewable, Degradable and Recyclable
This volume is a valuable contribution to sustainability research. … This interesting, well-written book provides the reader with an excellent resource on how to effectively use simple chromatographic techniques to aid in determining processing conditions, additive formulations, quality control, service life, degradation pathways, and more.
Building a Resilient and Sustainable Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
What are the challenges and action points for agricultural sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa? This collection of papers offers technical analyses, policy recommendations and an overview of success stories to date. Each carefully selected paper provides valuable insights for improved policy making and defines relevant strategic priorities on Africa’s sustainable transformation process, which is in line with the international development agenda. Although agriculture remains the main source of income for Africa’s population, the sector is rain-fed subjecting it to the vagaries of weather and climate change. This volume demonstrates the rationale of developing a competitive, inclusive and sustainable agribusiness sector for Africa’s food security and structural transformation.
Beyond Kyoto : A new global climate certificate system : Continuing Kyoto commitsments or a global ´Cap and Trade´ scheme for a sustainable climate policy?
This book shows how humankind can ‘prevent dangerous interference with the c- mate system’ without dangerous interference with the global economic system. In the two underlying studies on behalf of the Ministry of Environment and Transport of i the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, the results have been elaborated through scientific evaluation of different climate protection systems and intensive developmental work on an efficient climate protection system. The results will be presented in nine chapters according to the following nine basic R&D steps: 1. Quantifying the ‘ultimate climate objective’ of the world community in order ‘to prevent dangerous interference with the climate system,’ thus achieving climate sustainability; 2. Development of a comprehensive standard system for evaluating the prospect of success for different climate protection systems; 3. Based on this scientific standard system, evaluation of the current Kyoto system and of the most important proposals for ‘incremental regime evolution’ of the Kyoto system. Unfortunately, it must be noted that these systems are incapable of achi- ing climate sustainability; 4. Evaluating three proposals for ‘structural regime change’ of the Kyoto system. Following this objective evaluation process and numeric comparison of the diff- ent proposals, 5. Description of the eight basic elements of GCCS and its in-depth ‘critical asse- ment;’ 6.
Asia-Pacific fishing livelihoods
Where fishing livelihoods come from and where they are going are simple questions with no simple answers. Using examples of small-scale fisheries in Asia-Pacific, Fabinyi and Barclay offer eloquent analyses of how fishing livelihoods are shaped, resting on a relational approach idea
Asian-Pacific coasts and their management : States of environment
The Asia-Pacific region is home to the world’s largest region of coral reefs and mangroves. It accommodates two-thirds of the world’s human population and its economic activities have the highest growth rate in the world. Ongoing degradation of the environment, resulting from coastal development, deforestation, desertification and over-harvesting, are becoming a matter of great concern, as floods and droughts occur as a result of this degradation. Threats of global environmental change, such as climate change and sea-level rise, will exacerbate such problems. Therefore, appropriate policies and measures are needed for coastal management, to address both the local and global trends. This book gives an overview of the state-of-the-art understanding on the drivers, state, and responses to coastal environmental changes in the Asia-Pacific region. It provides excellent perspectives on current and anticipated environmental changes in the region’s coastal areas, to researchers, students, policy makers, coastal managers and other stakeholders.
Applied Remote Sensing for Urban Planning, Governance and Sustainability
Despite the promising and exciting possibilities presented by new and fast-developing remote sensing technologies applied to urban areas, there is still a gap perceived between the generally academic and research-focused spectrum of results offered by the “urban remote sensing” community and the application of these data and products by the local governmental bodies of urban cities and regions. While there is no end of interesting science questions that we can ask about cities, sometimes these questions don't match well with what the operational problems and concerns of a given city are. The authors present data from six urban regions from all over the world. They explain what the important questions are, and how one can use data and scientific skills to help answer them.
Anthropological Perspectives on Environmental Communication
Through anthropological and ethnographic analyses, this collection addresses how interests, values, and ideologies affect dialogue and sustainability work. Drawing on studies from three continents – Europe, North America, and South America – the paradoxes and the plurality of meanings associated with the creation of sustainable futures are explored. The book focuses on how communication practices collide with organizational frameworks, customary practices, livelihoods, and landscape.
Agroecology now! : Transformations towards more just and sustainable food systems
Develops a framework for advancing agroecology transformations focusing on power, politics and governance. It explores the potential of agroecology as a sustainable and socially just alternative to today’s dominant food regime. Agroecology is an ecological approach to farming that addresses climate change and biodiversity loss while contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals
Advanced Microsystems for Automotive Applications 2008 ; 4th ed.
With the total number of vehicles steadily increasing and soon approaching one billion, the world is facing serious challenges in terms of both safety of road transport and sustainability. Consequently the two major persistent issues for the automotive industry are improved safety and reduced emissions. The book in hand is a showroom of activities, the International Forum on Advanced Microsystems for Automotive Applications (AMAA) has been known for during the last 12 years.
A Portrait of State-of-the-Art Research at the Technical University of Lisbon
This book contains the edited version of the invited lectures that were delivered by prominent researchers at UTL. This book brings together in a review manner a comprehensive summary of high quality research contri- tions across basic and applied sciences. The contributing papers are organized around the following major areas: – Emergent areas (Nanosciences, Quantic Computations and Infor- tion, Risk and Volatility in Financial Markets); – Basic Sciences (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Materials); – Social Sciences, Economics and Management Sciences; – Life Sciences and Biotechnology; – Engineering and Technologies – Nature, Environment and Sustainability; – Public Health, Food Quality and Safety; – Health and Sport Sciences; – Urbanism, Transports, Architecture, Arts and Design.



















