Working toward a sustainable future

Keyword: Federal policy, international policy, sustainable development, social responsibility, economic conditions, environmental protection, business, industryCitation: Hecht A., Fiksel J., & Moses M. 2014. Working toward a sustainable future. Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy 10(2):65-75. Published online Jan 15, 2014. http://sspp.proquest.com/archives/vol10iss2/communityessay.hecht.htmlIntroductionHow can contemporary society address the complex interaction of environmental, social, and economic forces? What factors are currently limiting the sustainability of business enterprises? How can federal and state agencies break down silos and work together to pursue sustainability? What is the preferred model for business-government collaboration and engagement with civil society and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)? We raise these questions because in the 21st century all sectors of society must confront the challenge of sustaining economic development while protecting critical environmental resources.In 1970, when the modern environmental movement was coalescing and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) was created, environmental protection focused mainly on addressing issues related to industrial emissions and occupational health and safety. Most environmental challenges were highly visible and easy for the public to understand. For instance, on June 22, 1969, an oil slick and debris in the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire, drawing national attention to environmental problems in Ohio and elsewhere in the United States. Time magazine wrote on August 1, 1970, "Some River! Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than flows."Congress addressed the obvious problems of air, water, and land pollution in the United States through media-specific environmental legislation. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was significant bipartisan popular demand for federal leadership in ameliorating pollution problems (Andrews, 2011). The Clean Air Act of 1970, the Clean Water Act of 1972, the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Cleanup, and Liability (Superfund) Act of 1980 yielded great progress in improving the quality of the environment. These initiatives relied on federal regulations that set maximum pollutant limits and heavily fined businesses that did not comply. The success of these laws and subsequent regulations is evident today: our air and water are cleaner, less hazardous waste is produced, and contaminated sites are being remediated. Existing regulations provide a strong "safety net" against the domestic impacts of pollution, although the potential remains for environmental problems to be "exported" across global supply chains.Despite these significant accomplishments, newly emerging pressures are threatening the well-being and resilience of human society and the natural environment, thus jeopardizing economic prosperity. The urgency of dealing with today's problems is evident. Worldwide population growth and urban development, as well as globalization of industrial production, have driven increased consumption of energy, water, materials, and land. The consequences include increased greenhouse-gas emissions, decreased biodiversity, and threats to vital natural resources including water bodies, soils, forests, wetlands, and coral reefs. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment found that fifteen of 24 global ecosystem services are being degraded or exhausted (Hassan et al. 2005). A study by the Stockholm Center for Resilience suggests that on a planetary scale we have exceeded our "safe operating boundaries" in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions, nitrogen flows, and biodiversity (Rockstrom et al. 2009). The Global Footprint Network has estimated that if current trends continue, by the 2030s, we will need the equivalent of two Earths to support the world's population.

The Ethno-Cultural Influences on “Assam Type” Building Typology—A Case of Barduwa, Assam

Assam has peculiar geographical and climatic conditions; which has shaped its culture, practices and vernacular style. We see direct influences of such features on society which has remained self-sufficient for centuries and their reflections in ethnic styles in food habits, clothing, agriculture, fisheries, architecture, beliefs, recreation, etc. Objective of this research is to conduct studies on ethno-cultural influence mapping in evolution of vernacular architecture. Study was conducted to find existing conditions in various domains of public life, aspirations, occupational activities, supporting infrastructure, for system analysis and intervening areas which can maintain idea of sustainability around local building designs. Study resulted in identification of Acts, Actors and their Inter-relationships which are crucial for evolution of such typology and socio-cultural system. Design Directions on four perspectives are drawn

Critical review of existing built environment resilience frameworks: Directions for future research

Resilience, in general, is widely considered as a system's capacity to proactively adapt to external disturbances and recover from them. However, the existing resilience framework research is still quite fragmented and the links behind various studies are not straightforwardly accessible. The paper provides a critical state-of-the-art review of both quantitative and qualitative considerations of resilience, approached from a built environment engineering perspective, with a focus on geo-environmental hazards. A research gap is identified and translated into a holistic and systemic approach to conceptualise resilience, factoring in related concepts such as vulnerability, adaptive capacity and recoverability. A generic built environment resilience framework is proposed informed by a critical and comprehensive review of the related literature. The paper concludes with insights into four key strategic areas requiring further research, namely: (a) risk based cost optimal resilient design and standards of buildings and infrastructures, (b) model based evaluation and optimisation of buildings and infrastructures, (c) integrated risk modelling, inference and forecasting, and (d) heterogeneous disaster data acquisition, integration, security and management

Sustainability and resilience: toward a systems approach

A comprehensive systems approach is essential for effective decision making with regard to global sustainability, since industrial, social, and ecological systems are closely linked. Despite efforts to reduce unsustainability, global resource consumption continues to grow. There is an urgent need for a better understanding of the dynamic, adaptive behavior of complex systems and their resilience in the face of disruptions, recognizing that steady-state sustainability models are simplistic. However, assessing the broad impacts of policy and technology choices is a formidable challenge, as exemplified in life-cycle analysis of the implications of alternative energy and mobility technologies. A number of research groups are using dynamic modeling techniques, including biocomplexity, system dynamics, and thermodynamic analysis, to investigate the impacts on ecological and human systems of major shifts such as climate change and the associated policy and technology responses. These techniques can yield at least a partial understanding of dynamic system behavior, enabling a more integrated approach to systems analysis, beneficial intervention, and improvement of resilience. Recommendations are provided for continued research to achieve progress in the dynamic modeling and sustainable management of complex systems

Design for environment : creating eco-efficient products and processes

indeks Bibliografi hlm. setiap bab.xiii, 513 hlm. : il . ; 23 cm

Design for environment :creating eco-efficient products and processes

indeks Bibliografi hlm. setiap bab.xiii, 513 hlm. : il . ; 23 cm