Provides a rigorous analysis of sustainable development that includes practical, policy-relevant, global case studies, explained concisely and clearly.
This work presents and discusses the latest approaches and strategies for implementing Sustainability and Green IT into higher education and business environments. Following the global financial crisis in 2007/2008, businesses began to struggle coping with the increased IT/IS cost and their environmental footprint. As a consequence, action by universities to incorporate sustainability and ‘Green IT’ as parts of their teaching and learning materials, acknowledging their importance for global and local businesses, is being increasingly implemented. The book addresses the cooperation and coordination between academics and practitioners needed in order to achieve the changes required to obtain sustainability. Intended for researchers, lecturers and post-graduate students, as well as professionals in the Information Society and ICT and education sectors, and policy makers.
The Assessment of Development Results (ADR) is an independent evaluation by the Evaluation Office (EO) which systematically assesses progress of key interventions by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in countries receiving its support. The ADR in Sri Lanka is the seventy-fourth assessment conducted by the EO and the twenty-first conducted within the Asia-Pacific region, and the first such evaluation conducted in Sri Lanka. This ADR was conducted jointly with the Government of Sri Lanka with a view to strengthening the ownership of the evaluation results by national partners, and thereby its credibility and utility. For this purpose, a Joint Management Group (JMG) was set up with participation from both the Government and the EO. The JMG provided oversight to the evaluation which was conducted by an independent national team and guided by a professional evaluation manager from the EO. Through this mechanism, both the Government and the EO ensured that established norms and standards for evaluation, such as independence, impartiality and rigorous methodology, were followed. We believethat this joint approach has helped the evaluation team collect inputs from a broad range of national partners and resulted in a report that is soundly rooted in the national reality making it useful for national partners and UNDP in designing their future engagement with a better sense of UNDP's strategic direction. The evaluation found that UNDP had significantly helped the country overcome major challenges that emerged during the last decade. Today, Sri Lanka is looking at a new development path as a middle income country, and UNDP has been seeking to reposition itself to maintain its relevance in the new context. We therefore believe that the evaluation was very timely. Having provided the opportunity to take stock of what worked, and what did not, in the past decade, the evaluation proposes the mostuseful role UNDP can play in the future.
This book presents an overview of the key debates that took place during the Economic and Social Council meetings at the 2007 High-level Segment, at which ECOSOC organized its first biennial Development Cooperation Forum. The discussions also revolved around the theme of the second Annual Ministerial Review, "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development."--P. 4 of cover.
This book examines the experience of 11 universities in nine countries around the world that have grappled with the challenge of building successful research institutions in difficult circumstances and outlines key lessons of from this experience.
This edited work provides policy, institutional and governance recommendations in response to the MEA finding that humans have degraded ecosystems services at a faster rate and on a larger scale than at any time in human history. This book focuses on ecosystems services as the benefits people receive from nature.
Sri Lanka’s early achievements in education and literacy became well known among the international development community in the middle of the last century and were often used to benchmark progress elsewhere. Development, Education and Learning in Sri Lanka presents an illuminating narrative of changing education fortunes and inequalities, based on half a century of research. This research journey was undertaken in collaboration with Sri Lankan researchers island-wide in myriad communities, schools, classrooms and education offices, through conversations with countless parents, teachers, students, community members, trade union officers, politicians and members of local, national and international development agencies, as well as through extensive documentary analysis. The book delineates the distinctive and changing features of the Sri Lankan education system through comparisons with systems elsewhere, through an understanding of national political, economic and social conditions, crises and upheavals, through changes in education policy and through shifting patterns of opportunity among diverse social groups. These analyses are framed by themes in the international development discourse ranging from modernisation to basic needs to globalisation and sustainable development, some of which themes have been influenced by the Sri Lankan story. The book’s overriding messages are the need to understand education and development in a country’s own terms, and to place learning at the heart of education policy, situating it within broader conceptions of the purpose, values and means of development. Praise for Development, Education and Learning in Sri Lanka 'Through rigorous and comprehensive research and a blend of local and global perspectives, this book offers invaluable insights for academics and policymakers alike.' Tara de Mel, Director, Bandaranaike Academy for Leadership and Public Policy and former Secretary, Sri Lanka Ministry of Education 'Reflecting on a career-long engagement with education and development, Angela Little brilliantly co-locates the personal, political and the theoretical. A privilege to read.' Simon McGrath, University of Glasgow 'This passionate engagement with education reform and development offers very instructive lessons for academics and policymakers in Sri Lanka, and beyond.' Siri T. Hettige, University of Colombo 'Fifty years of personal experience in Sri Lanka from many vantage points. A focus on education and society, rather than education alone. And a concern to understand rather than prescribe. This book has no competitors.' Mick Moore, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex
With very few exceptions, industrial development has been central to the process of structural transformation which characterises economic development. Industrial Development for the 21st century examines the new challenges and opportunities arising from globalization, technological change and new international trade rules. The first part focuses on key sectors with potential for developing countries, focussing on two key themes. First, traditional points of entry for late industrializers - like textiles and clothing - have become even more intensely competitive than ever before, requiring more innovative adaptive strategies for success. Second, countries now recognize that manufacturing does not exhaust the opportunities for producing high value-added goods and services for international markets. Knowledge intensity is increasing across all spheres of economic activity, including agriculture and services, which can offer promising development paths for some developing countries. The final section addresses social and environmental aspects of industrial development. Labour-intensive, but not necessarily other patterns of industrial development can be highly effective in poverty reduction though further industrial progress may be less labour-intensive. A range of policies can promote industrial energy and materials efficiency, often with positive impacts on firms' financial performance as well as the environment. Promoting materials recycling and reuse is an effective, if indirect means of conserving resources. Finally, the growth of multinational interest in corporate social responsibility is traced, with consideration given to both the barriers and opportunities this can pose for developing country enterprises linked to global supply chains.