Sustainability, Local Democracy and the Future: The Swedish Model
Sustainability, Local Democracy and the Future: The Swedish Model

Author: U. Svedin

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-06-27

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 940100496X

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This book deals with the challenges posed by the transformation of society towards much-needed sustainability. Especially, it deals with the local features of this change, but seen in a global context. The two cases examined - the municipalities of Linköping and Åtvidaberg - are Swedish, but the problems of how to relate locally to a globalized world are common today. The cases have been deliberately chosen to expose alternative types of choices for the local communities involved. Large Linköping is, historically, a nodal city of importance in the national grid of regional centres, one that relates to the nation state and represents officialdom. Small Åtvidaberg developed in the context of its forest region setting and metallurgy, and today operates directly to wider markets, while still emphasising its very local identity. The fact that these municipalities border each other provides a similar regional context, and differences between them may then not be entirely confused by a debate on drastically different geographical settings.

Environmental Politics and Deliberative Democracy
Environmental Politics and Deliberative Democracy

Author: Karin B‹ckstrand

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1849806411

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This important new book provides an excellent critical evaluation of new modes of governance in environmental and sustainability policy. The multidisciplinary team of contributors combine fresh insights from all levels of governance all around a carefully crafted conceptual framework to advance our understanding of the effectiveness and legitimacy of new types of steering, including networks, public private partnerships, and multi-stakeholder dialogues. This is a crucial contribution to the field. Frank Biermann, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands Can new modes of governance, such as public private partnerships, stakeholder consultations and networks, promote effective environmental policy performance as well as increased deliberative and participatory quality? This book argues that in academic inquiry and policy practice there has been a deliberative turn, manifested in a revitalized interest in deliberative democracy coupled with calls for novel forms of public private governance. By linking theory and practice, the contributors critically examine the legitimacy and effectiveness of new modes of governance, using a range of case studies on climate, forestry, water and food safety policies from local to global levels. Environmental Politics and Deliberative Democracy will appeal to scholars, both advanced undergraduate and postgraduate, as well as researchers of environmental politics, international relations, environmental studies and political science. It will also interest practitioners involved in the actual design and implementation of new governance modes in areas of sustainable development, food safety, forestry and climate change.

Green Utopianism
Green Utopianism

Author: Karin Bradley

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-03-21

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 1135078424

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Utopian thought and experimental approaches to societal organization have been rare in the last decades of planning and politics. Instead, there is a widespread belief in ecological modernization, that sustainable societies can be created within the frame of the current global capitalist world order by taking small steps such as eco-labeling, urban densification, and recycling. However, in the context of the current crisis in which resource depletion, climate change, uneven development, and economic instability are seen as interlinked, this belief is increasingly being questioned and alternative developmental paths sought. This collection demonstrates how utopian thought can be used in a contemporary context, as critique and in exploring desired futures. The book includes theoretical perspectives on changing global socio-environmental relationships and political struggles for alternative development paths, and analyzes micro-level practices in co-housing, alternative energy provision, use of green space, transportation, co-production of urban space, peer-to-peer production and consumption, and alternative economies. It contributes research perspectives on contemporary green utopian practices and strategies, combining theoretical and empirical analyses to spark discussions of possible futures.

A Changing Environment for Human Security
A Changing Environment for Human Security

Author: Linda Sygna

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-06-26

Total Pages: 498

ISBN-13: 113627250X

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Environmental change presents a new context and new opportunities for transformational change. This timely book will inspire new ways of understanding the relationship between environmental change and human security. A Changing Environment for Human Security: Transformative Approaches to Research, Policy and Action both supports and informs a call for new, transformative approaches to research, policy and action. The chapters in this book include critical analyses, case studies and reflections on contemporary environmental and social challenges, with a strong emphasis on those related to climate change. Human thoughts and actions have contributed to an environment of insecurity, manifested as multiple interacting threats that now represent a serious challenge to humanity. Yet humans also have the capacity to collectively transform the economic, political, social and cultural systems and structures that perpetuate human insecurities. These fresh perspectives on global environmental change from an interdisciplinary group of international experts will inspire readers – whether students, researchers, policy makers, or practitioners – to think differently about environmental issues and sustainability. The contributions show that in a changing environment, human security is not only a possibility, but a choice.

Encyclopedia of Sustainability [3 volumes]
Encyclopedia of Sustainability [3 volumes]

Author: Robin Morris Collin

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2009-12-09

Total Pages: 891

ISBN-13: 0313352623

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This three-volume encyclopedia explores the concept of sustainability in the contexts of the environment, economics, and justice. This expansive encyclopedia breaks new ground, giving definition and focus to an urgent and much-talked-about topic that is extraordinarily wide ranging and all too often misunderstood. As the first major reference work in its field, the three comprehensive volumes span the entire scope of sustainability from ecological concepts to financial concerns to public policy and community action, giving readers a solid foundation from which to think critically about efforts to make a more sustainable world. The Encyclopedia of Sustainability comprises three volumes, each dedicated to one of three equally important contexts in which the term is used: environment and ecology, business and economics, and equity and fairness. Each volume provides authoritative but accessible coverage of basic concepts and terms, as well as policy initiatives, controversies, and future trends. Volumes also include biographical sketches of important contributors to sustainability efforts from the scientific, economic, public policy, and activist realms, plus extensive listings of print and online resources for further exploration.

Education for Sustainable Development
Education for Sustainable Development

Author: Klas Sandell

Publisher: Studentlitteratur AB

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 9789144033778

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This textbook aims at making a contribution towards advancing the necessary knowledge and skills required in order to teach on the subject of sustainable development. This includes developing the ability to make conscious choices among the available alternatives in teaching contents and methods in such a way as to expand and deepen students perspectives on sustainable development. Part I of the book presents the history of humankinds interaction with the natural world from the hunter-gatherer period up to the industrial societies of today. There is also a particular focus on how current environmental commitment has evolved, transformed and intensified over the years. Part II focuses on four current ways of putting environmental and developmental issues into perspective: An ecological perspective on what characterises the natural world; an environmentally ethical perspective on the different ways of morally relating to the natural world; a political perspective on environmental and developmental issues; and an economical perspective applied as a means of achieving sustainable development. Part III deals with educational aspects including: A comparison between Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and other traditions within Environmental Education; a discussion on the democratic role of education; a perspective on the learning process; a presentation of a teaching perspective on ESD; and finally a study of the practical implications of ESD.