Transition Strategies for Sustainable Community Systems


Book Description

This book presents five critical dimensions on relationships, institutions, produc-tion, organisation, and governance from design and systems perspectives for thesystematic transition of unstable and vulnerable communities across the world tosustainable community systems.• The first section discusses features of relationships and processes to deepencooperation and trust within a community.• The second section examines institutions within and outside a district tofoster synergy across institutions within a district and to minimise negativeexternalities on local communities within a district.• The third section deals with food production systems that are nature-friendly, resilient, efficient and sustainable.• The fourth section discusses the design of producer organisations that cangraduate to become sustainable community enterprise systems.• The fifth section focuses on community governance that can facilitatedecentralised, participatory, transparent and democratic local governancesystems. This book• offers a fresh perspective on design thinking for optimising internal designconsistencies.• provides a systems perspective on building sustainable community systemsat the lowest governance unit in different countries, such as Ward/GramPanchayat/Panchayat Council/Gewong/Union Council/GN.• gives insights into design & systems perspectives towards buildingsustainable community systems within a district of any country across the/divworld.




Toward Sustainable Communities


Book Description

A new edition with new and updated case studies and analysis that demonstrate the trend in U.S. environmental policy toward sustainability at local and regional levels.




Critical Perspectives on Public Systems Management in India


Book Description

This book analyses the effectiveness of district administration from critical management perspective. Using classical organizational theory and leadership competency framework, the authors conducted a comparative study of two exemplary districts with distinctive traits in India ─ a rural district in the developed state of Maharashtra and an urban district from the underdeveloped state of Madhya Pradesh. The book delves into the dynamics of district administration by breaking down the processes further and mapping the role of the district magistrates on the UNDP competency framework. Given the changing scope and challenges of public service, this comparative analysis of the two districts would provide insights into district administration and would be of significant relevance to administrators and management professionals across the globe in assessing their effectiveness. The book provides an eclectic framework for public administration from an overall sustainability perspective







Our Common Journey


Book Description

World human population is expected to reach upwards of 9 billion by 2050 and then level off over the next half-century. How can the transition to a stabilizing population also be a transition to sustainability? How can science and technology help to ensure that human needs are met while the planet's environment is nurtured and restored? Our Common Journey examines these momentous questions to draw strategic connections between scientific research, technological development, and societies' efforts to achieve environmentally sustainable improvements in human well being. The book argues that societies should approach sustainable development not as a destination but as an ongoing, adaptive learning process. Speaking to the next two generations, it proposes a strategy for using scientific and technical knowledge to better inform future action in the areas of fertility reduction, urban systems, agricultural production, energy and materials use, ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation, and suggests an approach for building a new research agenda for sustainability science. Our Common Journey documents large-scale historical currents of social and environmental change and reviews methods for "what if" analysis of possible future development pathways and their implications for sustainability. The book also identifies the greatest threats to sustainabilityâ€"in areas such as human settlements, agriculture, industry, and energyâ€"and explores the most promising opportunities for circumventing or mitigating these threats. It goes on to discuss what indicators of change, from children's birth-weights to atmosphere chemistry, will be most useful in monitoring a transition to sustainability.




Transitions to Sustainable Development


Book Description

Over the past few decades, there has been a growing concern about the social and environmental risks which have come along with the progress achieved through a variety of mutually intertwined modernization processes. In recent years these concerns are transformed into a widely-shared sense of urgency, partly due to events such as the various pandemics threatening livestock, and increasing awareness of the risks and realities of climate change, and the energy and food crises. This sense of urgency includes an awareness that our entire social system is in need of fundamental transformation. But like the earlier transition between the 1750's and 1890's from a pre-modern to a modern industrial society, this second transition is also a contested one. Sustainable development is only one of many options. This book addresses the issue on how to understand the dynamics and governance of the second transition dynamics in order to ensure sustainable development. It will be necessary reading for students and scholars with an interest in sustainable development and long-term transformative change.




The Future of the Past: Paths towards Participatory Governance for Cultural Heritage


Book Description

The Future of the Past is a biennial conference generally carried out during the commemoration date of the incorporation of Santa Ana de Los Ríos de Cuenca Ecuador as a World Heritage Site (WHS). It initiated in 2014, organized by the City Preservation Management research project (CPM) of the University of Cuenca, to create a space for dialoguing among interested actors in the cultural heritage field. Since then, this space has served to exchange initiatives and to promote coordinated actions based on shared responsibility, in the local context. The third edition of this conference took place in the context of the 20th anniversary of being listed as WHS and a decade of CPM as the Southern host of the PRECOM3OS UNESCO Chair (Preventive Conservation, Maintenance and Monitoring of Monuments and Sites). For the very first time, and thanks to the collaboration with the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation of the University of Leuven (Belgium), the conference expanded its local scope. On this occasion, contributions reflected round a worldwide challenge in the cultural field: revealing the paths towards participatory governance of cultural heritage. Participatory governance is understood as institutional decision-making structures supported by shared responsibilities and rights among diverse actors.




Strategy for Sustainability Transitions


Book Description

In this innovative work, Kristof Van Assche, Raoul Beunen and Monica Gruezmacher analyse the challenges and possibilities of sustainability transitions, presenting the dilemmas facing the path to sustainable communities and societies, as well as proposing creative solutions. The authors deploy evolutionary governance theory as a conceptual framing for transition strategy, highlighting the importance of understanding governance and community strategy in any potential response to environmental crises.




Citizenship in Organizations


Book Description

This book explores the concept of citizenship, and the role that organizations can or do play in its creation, stimulation and control. Offering multiple organizational perspectives (private and public organisations) and their relation to several types of output (citizenship, poverty, profit, employability), this work presents a rich collection of philosophical thoughts and practices on the subject of citizenship within and without the organizational context. Particular attention is given to this human aspect, an element of unpredictability, a gut feeling, the unknown... something immeasurable that plays a part in human relations and how they organize themselves. Citizenship in Organizations casts new light on the impact of organizations to the notion of citizenship.




Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0 for Sustainable Supply Chain Performance


Book Description

This book provides the interplay between digital transformation, industry 4.0 technologies, and sustainable supply chain performance. The book mainly focuses on presenting case studies and empirical studies demonstrating how the industry 4.0 technologies interact with the conventional manufacturing practices such as lean manufacturing, circular economy practices, total quality management, and maintenance management, while achieving enhanced sustainable supply chain performance. The book guides the practitioners to consider the status of conventional supply chains in their organisations while designing industry 4.0 systems. This book is a useful resource for researchers and academicians to understand the interplay between existing technologies, industry 4.0 technologies, and sustainable performance in the digital transformation journey.