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From Reclamation to Sustainability tells the story of four places in the West--the Arkansas Valley and the Grand Valley of Colorado, the Truckee-Carson basins of California and Nevada, and the Yakima Basin in Washington--where development and use of water, primarily for irrigated agriculture, have been central to economic and social development. In these places (and many others), the reclamation vision that helped settle the West now competes with a vision of a sustainable West.

All four regions tell of the essential role water has played in western agriculture and the importance of this agriculture for settlement of much of the West. They also exemplify the many difficulties of turning prairie and desert into productive croplands, and MacDonnell describes the sometimes extraordinary human committment and effort that made this possible.

Now, however, western water resources have been developed beyond their sustainable capacity in an attempt to irrigate as much land as possible, and MacDonnell illustrates the consequences of this overdevelopment, including declining rural communities, dewatered streams incapable of supporting native species, and degraded water quality. He also provides examples of efforts to repair some of the damages and of the challenges involved in such restoration.

MacDonnell argues that sustainable use of the West's water resources depends on reducing the gap between diverted water and used water, restoring the functional ecological integrity of water sources, allowing uses of developed water to change, and effective collaborative public/private processes that help reconcile competing interests in water. He concludes that the manner in which the West moves toward sustainable use of its limited water resources--particularly as it affects irrigated agriculture--matters at least as much as achieving sustainable use. It matters because the choices we make will have important consequences for the future West. ... Read more

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This book examines water management integration in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland, based on the European research project EUWARENESS. Coverage includes 12 country-specific case studies, examining theory on water governance, institutional regimes, and property rights, resulting in a tool for monitoring the progress of integrated water management at the basin level in EU member states or other countries.

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Human history, as written traditionally, leaves out the important ecological and climate context of historical events. But the capability to integrate the history of human beings with the natural history of the Earth now exists, and we are finding that human-environmental systems are intimately linked in ways we are only beginning to appreciate. In Sustainability or Collapse?, researchers from a range of scholarly disciplines develop an integrated human and environmental history over millennial, centennial, and decadal time scales and make projections for the future. The contributors focus on the human-environment interactions that have shaped historical forces since ancient times and discuss such key methodological issues as data quality. Topics highlighted include the political ecology of the Mayans; the effect of climate on the Roman Empire; the "revolutionary weather" of El Niño from 1788 to 1795; twentieth-century social, economic, and political forces in environmental change; scenarios for the future; and the accuracy of such past forecasts as The Limits to Growth. ... Read more

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The 1992 Rio Summit and subsequent literature and debate has focused on 'green' issues, such as biodiversity, climate change andmarine pollution. Much less, however, has been written concerning the 'brown' agenda: those issues such as poor sanitation and water quality, air pollution and housing problems, which are particularly prevalent in Third World cities.
"Sustainability, the Environment and Urbanisation" provides a comprehensive overview of the brown agenda, with case studies and examples from a number of Southern countries.It looks at the broad economic context behind the problems and covers the conceptual issues of sustainability, infrastructure and health programmes, as well as assessing environmental appraisal methods.
Clearly written, with contributions from some of the leading experts in the field, the book will appeal to students on environmental and developmental courses, researchers, and all those concerned with the 'healthy cities' movement ... Read more

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Sustainability in the built environment is a major issue facing policy-makers, planners, developers and designers in the UK, Europe and worldwide. The measuring of buildings and cities for sustainability becomes increasingly important as pressure for green, sustainable development translates into policy and legislation. The problems of such measurement and evaluation are presented by the authors in contributions which move from the general to the particular e.g. from a general framework for an environmentally sustainable form of urban development to a specific input-output model application to environmental problems. The book is divided into three parts: the first covers city models and sustainable systems--research programs, environmental policies, green corporations and collaborative strategies to make urban development more sustainable; part two discusses the problems of evaluating the built environment in planning and construction, covering economic and environmental methods and ... Read more

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Households are one of the main sources of waste and of other environmental impacts. Yet most attention to date has focused on the effects of business and industry, rather than on domestic consumption of goods, energy and resources and their resulting outputs.
Green Households? is the first book to concentrate on this vital but neglected sector. Drawing on empirical research largely from The Netherlands, it takes households as consumer units and examines the entire household metabolism. This includes the way domestic demand can influence where and how goods and services are produced, resource flows through households, and the differential environmental impacts of different lifestyles.
It shows both what would constitute sustainable domestic consumption and how far there is to go to achieve this in industrialised and affluent Western society. Those involved in planning and policy as it affects households and urban development, as well as students and researchers in social science and environmental studies will find it an invaluable source of information. ... Read more

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This ground-breaking collection brings together a range of perspectives on the philosophy, design and experience of participatory approaches within education and the environment, health and sustainability. Chapters address participatory work with children, youth and adults in both formal and non-formal settings. Authors combine reflections on experience, models and case studies of participatory education with commentary on key debates and issues.

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This book considers the corporate governance of sustainability from a co-evolutionary perspective, exploring the linkages between pro-active approaches at the corporate level, market-based incentives and environmental networks.

The contributors contend that governance for sustainable development has not yet been fully formulated, and requires further analysis in the context of policies, the role of the state and the inclusion of corporate and private actors. They question whether the governance of sustainable development goes beyond traditional, state-centered policy-making by aiming for proactive changes of private actors' behaviors at different levels. The discussion also encompasses relevant theory on corporate governance, competition, market failures and regulatory tools. An assessment methodology suitable for empirical network analysis at the meso-level is introduced, and its application is demonstrated using eight case studies.

Raimund Bleischwitz and his team of contributing authors draw important conclusions for policy analysis and sustainability assessments and the actors involved. The book will therefore prove an invaluable resource for academics, scholars and policymakers focusing on applied sustainability research, policy analysis and evaluation. ... Read more

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Now in paperback, Green Development analyzes the evolution of the concept of ``sustainable development,'' and assesses how this can be applied in the real world. William Adams questions the established understanding of the problems of environment and development, stressing the inadequacy of a narrow view of environmental impacts and a limited response based on traditional conservation measures. He bridges the gap between environmentalism and development studies and argues that the central focus of ``green development'' should be on the needs of the poor, and their capacity for control, power, and self-determination. ... Read more

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This is a fresh presentation of an interdisciplinary perspective on the possibility of creating a sustainable path of economic development that would not harm the natural environment. Concepts, theories, methods and policy advice are offered on establishing a general notion of sustainability. ... Read more

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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a major environmental challenge facing the world. We all want to reduce the risks of global warming, but how much will this cost? What will it mean on a personal, business, or community level? And what policy responses should we expect from our governments?

The Cost of Climate Policy sheds light on these pressing issues. The authors look at the challenges of estimating the costs of greenhouse gas emission reduction to help readers understand how different definitions of costs and different assumptions about technological and economic evolution affect the estimates that are so hotly debated today. Using Canada as their focal point, the authors look specifically at the impact of emission reduction policies on energy prices, technology options, and lifestyle choices. The book concludes with concrete proposals for overcoming the constraints of environmental policy making and the high initial costs of action.

Policy makers need to know as much as possible about the costs of taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As indispensable as this book will be to policy analysts, it is also an important primer for a wider range of readers interested in the economic implications of climate change.

The Cost of Climate Policy is the winner of the 2002 Canadian Policy Research Award for Outstanding Research Contribution. ... Read more

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Environment, Growth and Development offers a unique analysis of sustainable economic growth and development and the implications for policy and planning at the local, national and global scale.of `green accounting'. A complete revision and expansion of Environment and Development, this books offers a new focus on macroeconomic aspects. ... Read more

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The 9th Highway and Urban Environment Symposium (9HUES) was held in Madrid, Spain, from 9-11 June 2008. HUES is run by Chalmers University of Technology within the Alliance for Global Sustainability (The AGS). HUES was initiated by Professor Ron Hamilton at Middlesex Polytechnic (now University) in the early 1980s and had the title "Highway Pollution". The initial aim was to measure and assess challenges in highway pollution, with a strong emphasis on urban photochemical smog, ozone formation and particle release. After the first symposium, the emphasis on air pollution issues continued through to Munich in 1989 where diesel particulate issues and the relevance to health through measurements of PM10 emerged. The focus on air quality issues was also strengthened. In parallel, the symposium started to receive an increasing number of scientific contributions from the area of urban run off, indeed to the extent that the title of the symposium was changed to "Highway and Urban Pollution". Since then the importance of science in support of policy became increasingly important as a key aspect of the symposium. 9HUES was held at TRANSyT- Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain to provide a professional and scientific forum on global examples of the science required to support pathways to a positive and sustainable future in the highway and urban environment. This volume contains papers grouped by topic on ustainable mobility and management; air pollution; trace elements in the environment; urban water contamination, contaminated sites and treatment; urban climate and climate change.

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The institutional perspective on the management of natural resources in the light of the interdisciplinary debate on sustainability is the focus of the agricultural and resource economist Konrad Hagedorn. Institutions and Sustainability reflects the latest trends in combining institutions and sustainability, summarises new conceptual developments in environmental economics and outlines new approaches towards the analysis of governance of natural resources.

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The issues associated with sustainable production are among the most important facing the world in the early 21st century. While most of the scholarship in this area has been produced in the United States and Europe, not much has been written from a Canadian perspective.

Sustainable Production establishes a Canadian presence in the sustainable production debate by analyzing the opportunities and constraints facing both the public and private sectors as Canada strives to move public policy and industrial practice forward.

Sustainable production focuses on the systems by which industrial economies produce goods and services and the ways in which investment and production decisions are influenced by public policy. One goal of sustainable production is to dematerialize production - minimizing energy and material extraction and throughput per unit of economic output. In its broader sense, sustainable production should simultaneously improve environmental quality and social well-being. Sustainable production envisions an industrial system that would maximize resource efficiency, minimize environmental impacts, and replenish natural capital, while providing safe and satisfying employment opportunities.

Sustainable Production will be of interest to scholars and students in business, public policy and engineering, to policy makers, and to practitioners in firms and industry associations. ... Read more

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In this study, the author constructs a systematic statisticalframework for studying the environment and technology, the economy andsociety, and performs a series of analyses of the impact of humanactivities on the environment. The many topics analyzed include:energy consumption, resource use, water and air pollution, technology,recycling, and pollution prevention.
From the theoretical perspective, Environmental Options:Accounting for Sustainability provides not only a model atthe global level, but also at the level of individual industries, andfor various social groups. Of equal significance, the framework alsoallows international linkages to be examined.
The proposed framework will serve as a common yardstick in formulatingenvironment policy in both developed and less developed countries,setting the standard for further international cooperation.
... Read more

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Twenty years after the landmark Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, the United Nations has convened a Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. The 1989 UN resolution calling for the conference singles out -- among other global problems -- issues of biodiversity, water and other natural resources, atmospheric integrity, and human health as ones whose management requires strengthened international cooperation and attention.

Whatever explicit and effective commitments -- to control greenhouse gases that threaten global warming, for example -- are negotiated at UNCED, profound problems relating to the linked pursuit of environmental, natural resource, and economic objectives are certain to survive the two-week meeting of government leaders, technical experts, and representatives of environmental constituencies. To be sure, participants may well assert that the goals of environmental protection, natural resource adequacy, and economic growth are compatible. But a probing of the question of sustainability of development inspires less confidence that potential problems and conflicts in the pursuit of these goals are fully appreciated in the international community, much less that the consensus needed to easily achieve the goals will be forthcoming.

In Global Development and the Environment: Perspectives on Sustainability, researchers at Resources for the Future examine some of the enduring issues, whether or not officially under consideration at the conference or raised there informally, that cannot be ignored in any attempt to pursue aspirations concerning the environment and development. The lasting value of UNCED may depend on the extent to which it diverse participants couple political rhetoric with willingness to confront these difficult issues once this "earth summit" fades into history.
... Read more

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Why do we claim to value sustainability while acting in an unsustainable fashion? How can we reduce our consumption drastically and move toward a sustainable social system when our society is specifically based on consumption? These two linked questions are at the heart of this important book, the result of a four-year interdisciplinary study of British Columbia's Lower Fraser Basin.

Taking the slogan "think globally, act locally" to heart, the contributors to Fatal Consumption are theoretical as well as practical. They conceptualize the policy analysis they provide, while also proposing useful tools for those charged with making decisions. Though specific in focus, the analysis in Fatal Consumption can be generalized to most North American urban areas. It offers both an understanding of the present and hope for a sustainable future, counterbalancing a discussion of the opportunities for change with a frank examination of the barriers to such change.

Fatal Consumption will appeal to urban planners, to policy makers, and to scholars and others interested in the relationship between health and a sustainable society. ... Read more

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A sustainable city is widely recognised as one which meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In this book, many interrelated aspects of the urban environment from transport and mobility to social exclusions and crime prevention are addressed. The papers included were originally presented at the Fifth International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability and will be of interest to city planners, architects, environmental engineers and all academics, professionals and practitioners working in the wide range of disciplines associated with creating a viable urban environment.

The papers are published under the following topics: Architectural issues;
Cultural heritage; Energy resources systems; Environmental management;
Healthy cities; Indicators: ecological, economic, social; Land use and
management; Mega cities; Planning issues; Planning, development and
management; Public safety; Revitalisation strategies; Socio-economic issues;
Spatial modelling; Strategy; Sustainable transportation and transport integration; The community and the city; Traffic and transportation;
Urban-rural relationships. ... Read more