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Sustainability Assessment: Applications and opportunities
by Robert GibsonCurrent and expanding human activities are moving us towards ever deeper unsustainability. While there is no single, simple means of reversing the invidious biophysical trends and redirecting the distribution of benefits, one necessary step is to approach every new and renewed undertaking as an opportunity to deliver maximum multiple, mutually reinforcing, fairly distributed and lasting gains. Finding the best options for enhancing such gains by comparing alternatives, addressing all the key requirements for progress towards sustainability and avoiding significant adverse effects, is the essential purpose of sustainability assessment. This book addresses the theory and practice of sustainability assessment applications, drawing from experiences globally in a variety of sectors and presenting lessons learned. Diverse international case studies from professionals and academics demonstrate progress so far in exploring openings, testing approaches to application and establishing best practice. The book illustrates means of specifying generic sustainability criteria for the context of particular applications, reports on the resulting insights, and examines the barriers and opportunities for further advances. This book is an important resource for students, academics and professionals in the areas of Governance, Environmental Assessment, Planning and Policy Making, Corporate Social Responsibility and Applied Sustainability.
Sustainability Appraisal: A Sourcebook and Reference Guide to International Experience
by Barry Dalal-Clayton Barry SadlerSustainability Appraisal is a sourcebook of the state-of-the-art of this rapidly emerging and diversifying area. It draws on a wealth of international experiences and approaches to illustrate the status and scope of Sustainability Appraisal/Assessment (SA) This comprehensive guide highlights how SA can be used to analyse and integrate the key environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability into decision-making at all levels, from policy to project to investment, by government, business and industry, or international organizations. Distilling both published and unpublished materials, and with contributions from a range of leading experts, organizations and agencies, this book will be of significant value to professionals everywhere who are in need of a solid, reference guide to what constitutes SA practice and, more importantly, how and when it can be applied.
Sustainability Appraisal: A Sourcebook and Reference Guide to International Experience
by Barry Dalal-Clayton Barry SadlerSustainability Appraisal is a sourcebook of the state-of-the-art of this rapidly emerging and diversifying area. It draws on a wealth of international experiences and approaches to illustrate the status and scope of Sustainability Appraisal/Assessment (SA) This comprehensive guide highlights how SA can be used to analyse and integrate the key environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability into decision-making at all levels, from policy to project to investment, by government, business and industry, or international organizations. Distilling both published and unpublished materials, and with contributions from a range of leading experts, organizations and agencies, this book will be of significant value to professionals everywhere who are in need of a solid, reference guide to what constitutes SA practice and, more importantly, how and when it can be applied.
Sustainability and Wellbeing: Human-Scale Development in Practice (Routledge Studies in Sustainable Development)
by Mònica Guillen-RoyoThe idea that we can meet human needs and simultaneously conserve and even enhance the natural environment is an attractive one. Since the Brundtland report popularised a definition of sustainable development based on the concept of needs, there has been a widespread belief that it should be possible to achieve a good quality of life without compromising natural ecosystems. Sustainability and Wellbeing fills a gap in sustainable development studies by drawing on a range of case-studies to discuss the challenges and opportunities of using Max-Neef’s Human Scale Development (HSD) framework in practice. The first section presents the theory and the methodology of HSD in the context of related literature on sustainable development and wellbeing. The second section discusses applications of the HSD methodology with three different purposes: the design of sustainable development interventions; the engagement of researchers with communities or groups of people in sustainability processes and the consolidation of sustainable community initiatives. Finally, the third reflects on challenges and limitations of using the HSD approach to define strategies for sustainable development and concludes. This is an invaluable resource for researchers and postgraduate students in wellbeing, sustainability, sustainable development, and human development.
Sustainability and Wellbeing: Human-Scale Development in Practice (Routledge Studies in Sustainable Development)
by Mònica Guillen-RoyoThe idea that we can meet human needs and simultaneously conserve and even enhance the natural environment is an attractive one. Since the Brundtland report popularised a definition of sustainable development based on the concept of needs, there has been a widespread belief that it should be possible to achieve a good quality of life without compromising natural ecosystems. Sustainability and Wellbeing fills a gap in sustainable development studies by drawing on a range of case-studies to discuss the challenges and opportunities of using Max-Neef’s Human Scale Development (HSD) framework in practice. The first section presents the theory and the methodology of HSD in the context of related literature on sustainable development and wellbeing. The second section discusses applications of the HSD methodology with three different purposes: the design of sustainable development interventions; the engagement of researchers with communities or groups of people in sustainability processes and the consolidation of sustainable community initiatives. Finally, the third reflects on challenges and limitations of using the HSD approach to define strategies for sustainable development and concludes. This is an invaluable resource for researchers and postgraduate students in wellbeing, sustainability, sustainable development, and human development.
Sustainability and Well-Being: The Middle Path to Environment, Society and the Economy
by A. BandarageAsoka Bandarage provides an integrated analysis of the twin challenges of environmental sustainability and human well-being by investigating them as interconnected phenomena requiring a paradigmatic psychosocial transformation. She presents an incisive social science analysis and an alternative philosophical perspective on the needed transition from a worldview of domination to one of partnership.
Sustainability and the Philosophy of Science (Routledge Focus on Environment and Sustainability)
by Jeffry L. RamseyThis book demonstrates how the philosophy of science can enhance our understanding of sustainability and the practices we use to enact it. Examining assumptions about concepts, theories, evidence, and the moral ideals of sustainability can better orient us as we pursue this urgent and important goal. The book applies perspectives and tools from the philosophy of science – construed broadly to include portions of science and technology studies, history of science, and philosophy more generally – to sustainability discourse. It argues that widely held assumptions regarding the meaning of concepts, methods of theorizing and inferential practice, evidential structure, and ethics limit our understanding and practice of sustainability. It offers philosophical alternatives that capture more fully the confusing, wicked nature of sustainability challenges. The alternatives draw attention to existing but often undervalued frameworks in sustainability discourse. This book is aimed towards academics, researchers, and post-graduates working in sustainability, as well as philosophers of science and environmental philosophers interested in the philosophical issues raised by the pursuit of sustainability.
Sustainability and the Philosophy of Science (Routledge Focus on Environment and Sustainability)
by Jeffry L. RamseyThis book demonstrates how the philosophy of science can enhance our understanding of sustainability and the practices we use to enact it. Examining assumptions about concepts, theories, evidence, and the moral ideals of sustainability can better orient us as we pursue this urgent and important goal. The book applies perspectives and tools from the philosophy of science – construed broadly to include portions of science and technology studies, history of science, and philosophy more generally – to sustainability discourse. It argues that widely held assumptions regarding the meaning of concepts, methods of theorizing and inferential practice, evidential structure, and ethics limit our understanding and practice of sustainability. It offers philosophical alternatives that capture more fully the confusing, wicked nature of sustainability challenges. The alternatives draw attention to existing but often undervalued frameworks in sustainability discourse. This book is aimed towards academics, researchers, and post-graduates working in sustainability, as well as philosophers of science and environmental philosophers interested in the philosophical issues raised by the pursuit of sustainability.
Sustainability and the New Economics: Synthesising Ecological Economics and Modern Monetary Theory
by Stephen J. Williams Rod TaylorThis multidisciplinary book provides new insights and hope for sustainable prosperity given recent developments in economics – but only if swift and strong actions consistent with Earth’s biophysical limits and principles of justice are universally taken. It is one thing to put limits on resource throughput and waste generation to conform with the ecosphere’s biocapacity. It is another thing to efficiently allocate a sustainable rate of resource throughput and ensure it is equitably distributed in the form of final goods and services. While the separate but interdependent decisions regarding throughput, distribution, and allocation are the essence of ecological economics, dealing with them in a world that needs to cure its growth addiction requires a realistic understanding of macroeconomics and the fiscal capacity of currency-issuing central governments. Sustainable prosperity demands that we harness this understanding to carefully regulate the rate of resource throughput and manipulate macroeconomic outcomes to facilitate human flourishing. The book begins by outlining humanity’s current predicament of gross ecological overshoot and laments the half-century of missed opportunities since The Limits to Growth (1972). What was once economic growth has become, in many high-income countries, uneconomic growth (additional costs exceeding additional benefits), which is no longer advancing wellbeing. Meanwhile, low-income nations need a dose of efficient and equitable growth to escape poverty while protecting their environments and the global commons. The book argues for a synthesis of our increasing knowledge of the ecosphere’s limited carrying capacity and the power of governments to harness, transform, and distribute resources for the common good. Central to this synthesis must be a correct understanding of the difference between financial constraints and real resource constraints. While the latter apply to everyone, the former do not apply to currency-issuing central governments, which have much more capacity for corrective action than mainstream thinking perceives. The book joins the growing chorus of authoritative voices calling for a complete overhaul of the dominant economic system. We conclude with policy recommendations based on a new economics that, if implemented, would come close to guaranteeing a sustainable and prosperous future. Upon reading this book, at least one thing should be crystal clear: business as usual is not a viable option.
Sustainability and the Art of Long-Term Thinking (Routledge Studies in Sustainability)
by Thomas Petersen Bernd Klauer Reiner Manstetten Johannes SchillerDealing with time is intimately linked to sustainability, because sustainability, at its core, involves long-term ethical claims. To live up to them, decision and policy-making has to consider long-term development of society, economy, and nature. However, dealing with time and such long-term development is a notoriously difficult subject, both in science and, in particular, in practical decision and policy making. Rooted in philosophical and scientific reasoning, this book explores how the concept of time can be incorporated into effective practical action. The book describes a system and uses case studies to help sustainability practitioners and researchers consider the long-term consequences of our actions in a methodical way. The system integrates scientific and practical knowledge about time and temporal developments to help break down the sometimes overwhelming complexity of sustainability issues. Combining theoretical conceptual thinking and practical applications, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of sustainability science, environmental sciences, sustainable development, environmental economics, political sciences and practical philosophy.
Sustainability and the Art of Long-Term Thinking (Routledge Studies in Sustainability)
by Thomas Petersen Bernd Klauer Reiner Manstetten Johannes SchillerDealing with time is intimately linked to sustainability, because sustainability, at its core, involves long-term ethical claims. To live up to them, decision and policy-making has to consider long-term development of society, economy, and nature. However, dealing with time and such long-term development is a notoriously difficult subject, both in science and, in particular, in practical decision and policy making. Rooted in philosophical and scientific reasoning, this book explores how the concept of time can be incorporated into effective practical action. The book describes a system and uses case studies to help sustainability practitioners and researchers consider the long-term consequences of our actions in a methodical way. The system integrates scientific and practical knowledge about time and temporal developments to help break down the sometimes overwhelming complexity of sustainability issues. Combining theoretical conceptual thinking and practical applications, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of sustainability science, environmental sciences, sustainable development, environmental economics, political sciences and practical philosophy.
Sustainability and Social Responsibility: Regulation and Reporting (Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance & Fraud: Theory and Application)
by Graham Gal Orhan Akisik William WooldridgeThis book addresses key issues related to the choice between governments regulating and enforcing society’s sustainability and social responsibility objectives, and firms reporting on their sustainable and socially responsible activities so stakeholders can exert pressure on firms to achieve society’s goals. While these may be considered as the two endpoints of a continuum, it is clear that there are differing perspectives on the role of governments in sustainability and responsibility. At one end of this continuum are stakeholders who believe the only way to achieve a sustainable and socially conscious society is to establish and enforce regulations with the concomitant governmental organizations to oversee and enforce those regulations. At the other end are those who consider firms to be crucial organizations for achieving sustainability and socially responsible outcomes, and who feel it is the responsibility of stakeholders to determine the legitimacy of firms’ actions. It is probably not the case that any economies exist at either end of this continuum, but it is clear that the availability of reliable information is critical for any stakeholder to review the performance of either the governments or the firms. This book presents a varied set of papers that explore the issues that must be considered, regardless of which position a stakeholder takes.
Sustainability and Resilience Planning for Local Governments: The Quadruple Bottom Line Strategy (Sustainable Development Goals Series)
by Haris AlibašićThis book details a process of creating a long-term sustainability and resilience plan for local governments to use in designing and implementing sustainability and resilience-related policies, initiatives, and programs. It offers guidance and methods in applying sustainability and resilience strategies to attain the prosperity of organizations and communities. The recommendations in this book are based on the author's years of experience in directing applied resilience and sustainability planning for a local government, and years of research covering diverse aspects of sustainability and resilience from climate change, climate preparedness and readiness, quadruple bottom line strategy, greenhouse gas emission reduction policies, climate adaptation and mitigation to sustainable energy policies and initiatives. Chapter one defines terms related to sustainability and resilience and addresses how the topics reshape local governments and communities. Chapter two maps out the sustainability and resilience process for organizations and communities, determining the appropriate steps to be taken at each level of sustainability and resilience planning. Chapter three identifies community and organizational level engagement, with internal and external stakeholders, including designs necessary throughout these processes. Chapter four contains measuring, tracking, monitoring and reporting methods using the quadruple bottom line strategy, and developing a sustainability and resilience progress report to ensure accountability, transparency, and good governance. Then, chapter five details the implementation of a sustainability and resilience plan once it is established, describing potential programs and initiatives to achieve sustainable and resilient communities. Chapter six describes the intersection between sustainability and resilience, and chapter seven examines the tools and resources available to create a practical sustainability and resilience plan. Chapter eight concludes the text by addressing the future of sustainability and resilience, and complexities of the modern dynamics of the interconnected systems in cities, counties, and organizations, and recommends how local government administrators in their planning methods and strategies must consider these challenges.
Sustainability and Peaceful Coexistence for the Anthropocene (Transnational Law and Governance)
by Pasi HeikkurinenThe rapid industrialization of societies has resulted in radical changes to the Earth’s biosphere and its local ecosystems. Climate scientists have recorded and forecasted worrying global temperature rises going back to the early twentieth century, while biologists and palaeontologists have suggested that the next mass extinction is on its way if the current rate of species loss continues. To avert further ecological damage, excessive natural resource use and environmental deterioration are challenges that humanity must deal with now. The human species has had such a significant impact on the natural environment that the present geological epoch can be referred to as the ‘Anthropocene’, the age of humans. The blame and responsibility for the prevailing unsustainability, however, cannot be assigned equally to all humans. To analyse the root problems and consequences of unsustainable development, as well as to outline rigorous solutions for the contemporary age, this transdisciplinary book brings together natural and social sciences under the rubric of the Anthropocene. The book identifies the central preconditions for social organization and governance to enable the peaceful coexistence of humans and the non-human world. The contributors investigate the burning questions of sustainability from a number of different perspectives including geosciences, economics, law, organizational studies, political theory and philosophy. The book is a state-of-the-art review of the Anthropocene debate and provides crucial signposts for how human activities can, and should, be changed.
Sustainability and Peaceful Coexistence for the Anthropocene (Transnational Law and Governance)
by Pasi HeikkurinenThe rapid industrialization of societies has resulted in radical changes to the Earth’s biosphere and its local ecosystems. Climate scientists have recorded and forecasted worrying global temperature rises going back to the early twentieth century, while biologists and palaeontologists have suggested that the next mass extinction is on its way if the current rate of species loss continues. To avert further ecological damage, excessive natural resource use and environmental deterioration are challenges that humanity must deal with now. The human species has had such a significant impact on the natural environment that the present geological epoch can be referred to as the ‘Anthropocene’, the age of humans. The blame and responsibility for the prevailing unsustainability, however, cannot be assigned equally to all humans. To analyse the root problems and consequences of unsustainable development, as well as to outline rigorous solutions for the contemporary age, this transdisciplinary book brings together natural and social sciences under the rubric of the Anthropocene. The book identifies the central preconditions for social organization and governance to enable the peaceful coexistence of humans and the non-human world. The contributors investigate the burning questions of sustainability from a number of different perspectives including geosciences, economics, law, organizational studies, political theory and philosophy. The book is a state-of-the-art review of the Anthropocene debate and provides crucial signposts for how human activities can, and should, be changed.
Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment in Industrial Biotechnology (Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology #173)
by Magnus Fröhling Michael HieteThis 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
Sustainability and Law: General and Specific Aspects
by Volker Mauerhofer Daniela Rupo Lara TarquinioThe book discusses sustainability and law in a multifaceted way. Together, sustainability and law are an emerging challenge for research and science. This volume contributes through an interdisciplinary concept to its further exploration. The contributions explore this exciting domain with innovative ideas and replicable approaches. It combines a variety of authors, from both the public and the private sectors, and thereby guarantees a broad view that enshrines the more theoretical arguments from the academic side as well as stronger practical applicable perspectives. The book provides space for thoughtful expansions of established theories as well as the hopeful emergence of innovative ideas. Moreover, the combination of three to five contributions into the eleven parts respectively aims toward a compression of like minded thoughts. This should lead to an intensification of exchange of viewpoints from different angles on a similar theme. Readers therefore also have the opportunity to concentrate on single chapters, but receive comprised knowledge and a variety of thoughts for new ideas on a particular theme.
Sustainability and Financial Risks: The Impact of Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Social Inequality on Financial Markets (Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance)
by Marco Migliorelli Philippe DessertineDespite growing discussions on the relationship between sustainability and finance, so far little attention has been given to the relation linking sustainability-related risks and financial risks. Climate change, environmental degradation and social inequality, among others factors, may indeed have considerable adverse impacts on financial actors and markets, and even have the potential to harm financial stability. Shedding light on the importance of the nexus between sustainability and financial risks, this book addresses the need for new industry and policy approaches. With insights from a skilled set of scholars in the finance field, this edited collection explores the effects of climate risks on the banking and insurance industries, the problem of stranded assets, the possible corporate risk management frameworks that could be used to control sustainability-related risks, the role of non-financial disclosure in fostering market discipline, and the policy actions needed to integrate sustainability considerations into prudential supervision. Tackling an interdisciplinary topic, this book will appeal to academics and practitioners within the finance, business and sustainability fields.
Sustainability and Energy Politics: Ecological Modernisation and Corporate Social Responsibility (Energy, Climate and the Environment)
by Giorel CurranThe author explores the fraught politics of energy transitions in an age of climate change. She does so through an ecological modernisation and corporate social responsibility lens which she contends shapes and underpins sustainability today. Case studies cover climate policy, unconventional gas and renewable energy.
Sustainability Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Approach
by Stanislav Shmelev Irina ShmelevaSustainability Analysis provides a detailed exploration of current environmental thinking from a variety of perspectives, including institutional and psychological angles. Primarily focusing on macroeconomic policies and green national accounting, this book provides a strong basis for further study in sustainable development.
Sustainability Accounting, Management Control and Reporting: A European Perspective (Business for Society)
by Pierre BaretSustainability Accounting, Management Control and Reporting: A European Perspective traces a picture of innovative performance measurement tools and approaches to drive organizations to implement their shared value and sustainability strategy, considering different perspectives around accounting, managerial control and reporting. In recent years, organizations managing their responsible approach with relevance and pressure from stakeholders and regulations has proven to be a major challenge. During the first two decades of the 21st century, many companies have reached a real maturity in this area and have deployed coherent responsible approaches that are integrated into their overall strategy. It is now a matter of steering these responsible approaches from an accounting and managerial standpoint, but also of reporting on them. It requires the simultaneous use of comprehensive accounting, controlling and reporting tools. This book provides an innovative perspective on sustainable management control, comprehensive accounting and integrated reporting, presenting the most recent proposals and the main critical issues. Aimed at researchers, academics, managers, business leaders and advanced students, the book will be especially valuable to those in the fields of corporate social responsibility, strategic management, and accounting.
Sustainability Accounting, Management Control and Reporting: A European Perspective (Business for Society)
by Pierre Baret Lucrezia Songini Anna PistoniSustainability Accounting, Management Control and Reporting: A European Perspective traces a picture of innovative performance measurement tools and approaches to drive organizations to implement their shared value and sustainability strategy, considering different perspectives around accounting, managerial control and reporting. In recent years, organizations managing their responsible approach with relevance and pressure from stakeholders and regulations has proven to be a major challenge. During the first two decades of the 21st century, many companies have reached a real maturity in this area and have deployed coherent responsible approaches that are integrated into their overall strategy. It is now a matter of steering these responsible approaches from an accounting and managerial standpoint, but also of reporting on them. It requires the simultaneous use of comprehensive accounting, controlling and reporting tools. This book provides an innovative perspective on sustainable management control, comprehensive accounting and integrated reporting, presenting the most recent proposals and the main critical issues. Aimed at researchers, academics, managers, business leaders and advanced students, the book will be especially valuable to those in the fields of corporate social responsibility, strategic management, and accounting.
Sustainability: A History, Revised and Updated Edition (Routledge International Handbooks Ser.)
by Jeremy L. CaradonnaFrom one of the world's leading experts on the subject, a fully updated introduction to the sustainability movement from the 1600s to today The word is nearly ubiquitous: at the grocery store we shop for "sustainable foods" that were produced from "sustainable agriculture"; groups ranging from small advocacy organizations to city and state governments to the United Nations tout "sustainable development" as a strategy for local and global stability; and woe betide the city-dweller who doesn't aim for a "sustainable lifestyle." Seeming to have come out of nowhere to dominate the discussion-from permaculture to renewable energy to the local food movement-the ideas that underlie and define sustainability can be traced back several centuries. In this illuminating and fascinating primer, newly revised and updated, Jeremy L. Caradonna does just that, approaching sustainability from a historical perspective and revealing the conditions that gave it shape. Locating the underpinnings of the movement as far back as the 1660s, Caradonna considers the origins of sustainability across many fields throughout Europe and North America. Taking us from the emergence of thoughts guiding sustainable yield forestry in the late 17th and 18th centuries, through the challenges of the Industrial Revolution, the birth of the environmental movement, and the emergence of a concrete effort to promote a balanced approach to development in the latter half of the 20th century, he shows that while sustainability draws upon ideas of social justice, ecological economics, and environmental conservation, it is more than the sum of its parts and blends these ideas together into a dynamic philosophy. Caradonna's book broadens our understanding of what "sustainability" means, revealing how it progressed from a relatively marginal concept to an ideal that shapes everything from individual lifestyles, government and corporate strategies, and even national and international policy. For anyone seeking understand the history of those striving to make the world a better place to live, here's a place to start.
Sustainability: A History, Revised and Updated Edition (Routledge International Handbooks Ser.)
by Jeremy L. CaradonnaFrom one of the world's leading experts on the subject, a fully updated introduction to the sustainability movement from the 1600s to today The word is nearly ubiquitous: at the grocery store we shop for "sustainable foods" that were produced from "sustainable agriculture"; groups ranging from small advocacy organizations to city and state governments to the United Nations tout "sustainable development" as a strategy for local and global stability; and woe betide the city-dweller who doesn't aim for a "sustainable lifestyle." Seeming to have come out of nowhere to dominate the discussion-from permaculture to renewable energy to the local food movement-the ideas that underlie and define sustainability can be traced back several centuries. In this illuminating and fascinating primer, newly revised and updated, Jeremy L. Caradonna does just that, approaching sustainability from a historical perspective and revealing the conditions that gave it shape. Locating the underpinnings of the movement as far back as the 1660s, Caradonna considers the origins of sustainability across many fields throughout Europe and North America. Taking us from the emergence of thoughts guiding sustainable yield forestry in the late 17th and 18th centuries, through the challenges of the Industrial Revolution, the birth of the environmental movement, and the emergence of a concrete effort to promote a balanced approach to development in the latter half of the 20th century, he shows that while sustainability draws upon ideas of social justice, ecological economics, and environmental conservation, it is more than the sum of its parts and blends these ideas together into a dynamic philosophy. Caradonna's book broadens our understanding of what "sustainability" means, revealing how it progressed from a relatively marginal concept to an ideal that shapes everything from individual lifestyles, government and corporate strategies, and even national and international policy. For anyone seeking understand the history of those striving to make the world a better place to live, here's a place to start.
Sustainability: Prospects For Sustainability In The New Economy (Short Introductions)
by Maurie J. CohenSustainability is one of the buzzwords of our times and a key imperative for economic growth, technological development, social equity, and environmental quality. But what does it really mean and how is it being implemented around the world? In this clear-eyed book, Maurie Cohen introduces students to the concept of sustainability, tracing its history and application from local land-use practices, construction techniques and reorientation of business models to national and global institutions seeking to foster sustainable practices. Examining sustainable development in scientific, technological, social and political terms, he shows that it remains an elusive concept and evidence of its unambiguous achievements can be difficult to ascertain. Moreover, developed and developing countries have formulated divergent agendas to engage the notion of sustainability, further complicating its application and progress across the world. Innovative and readily accessible to students from a range of disciplines, this primer takes us on a journey to show that sustainability is as much about unchartered waters as it is about formulating answers to urgent global issues.