Demystifying Sustainability by Haydn WashingtonWhat is sustainability? Much has been said about the terms 'sustainability' and 'sustainable development' over the last few decades, but they have become buried under academic jargon. This book is one of the first that aims to demystify sustainability so that the layperson can understand the key issues, questions and values involved. Accessible and engaging, the book examines the 'old' sustainability of the past and looks to the future, considering how economic, ecological and social sustainability should be defined if we are to solve the entwined environmental, economic and social crises. It considers if meaningful sustainability is the same as a 'sustainable development' based on endless growth, examining the difficult but central issues of overpopulation and overconsumption that drive unsustainability. The book also explores the central role played by society's worldview and ethics, along with humanity's most dangerous characteristic - denial. Finally, it looks to the future, discussing the 'appropriate' technology needed for sustainability, and suggesting nine key solutions. This book provides a much-needed comprehensive discussion of what sustainability means for students, policy makers and all those interested in a sustainable future.
Call Number: online
ISBN: 9781138812680
Publication Date: 2015-02-16
Handbook of Sustainable Development by Giles Atkinson (Editor); Simon Dietz (Editor); Eric Neumayer (Editor); Matthew Agarwala (Editor)'This Handbook demonstrates the well-established body of thinking on sustainable development which now exists, and its tighter focus today on limits to current economic growth patterns. But while there have been lots of big global debates on planetary boundaries, and thresholds for critical resources, there has been little progress on the ground and in getting the politics right. Contributing authors show that many of the models we use to understand and manage relations between planet, people and profit are hopelessly mis-specified. But better tools exist, such as sustainability indicators, national environmental accounts, and the ecological footprint to help bridge this gap.' - Camilla Toulmin, International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED), UK This timely and important Handbook takes stock of progress made in our understanding of what sustainable development actually is and how it can be measured and achieved.
Call Number: online
ISBN: 9781782544692
Publication Date: 2014-11-26
Degrowth by Giacomo D'Alisa (Editor); Federico Demaria (Editor); Giorgos Kallis (Editor)Degrowth is a rejection of the illusion of growth and a call to repoliticize the public debate colonized by the idiom of economism. It is a project advocating the democratically-led shrinking of production and consumption with the aim of achieving social justice and ecological sustainability. This overview of degrowth offers a comprehensive coverage of the main topics and major challenges of degrowth in a succinct, simple and accessible manner. In addition, it offers a set of keywords useful forintervening in current political debates and for bringing about concrete degrowth-inspired proposals at different levels - local, national and global. The result is the most comprehensive coverage of the topic of degrowth in English and serves as the definitive international reference. More information at: vocabulary.degrowth.org
Call Number: Online
ISBN: 9781138000773
Publication Date: 2014-11-05
Countering 21st Century Social-Environmental Threats to Growing Global Populations by Frederic R. SiegelThis book brings together in a single volume a grand overview of solutions - political, economic, and scientific - to social and environmental problems that are related to the growth of human populations in areas that can least cope with them now. Through progressive adaptation to social and environmental changes projected for the future, including population growth, global warming/climate change, water deficits, and increasing competition for other natural resources, the world may be able to achieve a fair degree of sustainability for some time into the future.