Sustainability: Key Issues is a comprehensive introductory textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students doing courses in sustainability. Highly original, it covers the very broad spectrum of ideas covered under sustainability, from participation, resilience, growth, ecological modernism through to culture, sustainable communities and sustainable consumption. Each chapter covers one key idea, and has been written by an expert in that field. This book makes key issues approachable, with each chapter containing:
- a definition of the key concept
- a history of how and why the issue has emerged
- a discussion of the advantages, drawbacks, main contributions and controversies associated with this issue
- case studies to demonstrate how it works in reality
- critical discussion of mainstream models of sustainability and the reason why they don't work
- introduction of beyond-the-convention alternatives, including circular economy and cradle to cradle approaches
This is the ideal book for students and anyone interested in understanding the key issues within sustainability and how they interact.
Table of Contents
Part 1. Defining Sustainability Introduction. The Emergence and Development Of Sustainability Helen Kopnina and Eleanor Shoreman-Ouimet 1. Sustainability, the Metaphysics Of Mastery, and Transcendent Nature Michael Bonnett 2. Reconstructing the Sustainability Narrative: Separating Myth From Reality Peter N. Nemetz Part 2. Measuring and Assessing Sustainability 3. Ethics in Sustainability Indexes Sarah E. Fredericks 4. Navigating Towards Sustainability: Essential Aspects of Assessment and Indicators Waas T. Hugé, J. & Verbruggen, A. Block, T. 5.Concepts, Methodologies, Data and Tools To Assess Water Use Markus Pahlow Part 3. Governing, Business, and Managing Sustainability 6. Sustainable Consumption and Its Discontents Cindy Isenhour 7. The Future We Want: Post Rio+20 Sustainable Development Goals and the Role Of Education For Sustainable Development Kamarulazizi Ibrahim, Kanayathu C Koshy and Walter Leal Filho 8. Sustainability 2.0: New Strategies for Achieving Behavior Change in a More Connected World Anna C. Evely, Mark S. Reed, David Adams and Emily Lambert 9. CSR, Voluntary Standards & Sustainability Thomas B. Long, Anne Tallontire and William Young 10. Business and Production Solutions: Closing loops and the circular economy Geraldine Brennan, Mike Tennant and Fenna Blomsma Part 4. Globalization, Growth, and Environmental Change 11. Economic Growth and Sustainability Christian Kerschner and Daniel W. O'neill 12. Population Matters Blake Alcott 13. Urban Sustainability John Blewitt 14. Sustainable Rural Development and Livelihoods Andreas Neef Part 5. Sustainability and Ethics 15. Environmental Politics, Animal Rights and Ecological Justice Robert Garner 16. Environmental Ethics For Tomorrow: Sustaining the Biosphere Holmes Rolston Iii 17. Is ‘Sustainability’ the Same As ‘Sustainable Development’? Haydn Washington
Helen Kopnina is currently employed at The Hague University of Applied Science in the Netherlands. She is a coordinator of Sustainable Business program, lecturer in Politics, Business and Environment and researcher of environmental education and environmental social sciences.
Eleanor Shoreman-Ouimet is an environmental anthropologist and currently teaches in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut, USA. Her research focuses on human-environment interactions, cross-cultural conservation practices, community response to natural hazards and the effects of climate change.
Featured Author Profiles
"This book contains many of today's top scholars involved in the emergent study of what "sustainability" can and should mean across diverse interdisciplinary and international contexts. This is an important text that will help to academically orient students and scholars interested in the subject. Undoubtedly, it will facilitate and sustain many debates on the crucial array of social and ecological matters it takes up for discussion and possible transformative action." –Richard Kahn, Antioch University , USA
"This high quality, well-written work contributes to the diversity of perspectives on sustainability. It reviews the core issues from political, economic, commercial and ethical angles and features a variety of experts, including several big names in the field. Case studies make the text accessible and inspiring." –F. Meijers, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands and R. Lengelle, Athabasca University, Canada
"This volume brings together a range of authors with a wide variety of expertise to explore some of the most pressing issues and challenges in the sustainability arena. The breadth of its coverage means the volume offers a valuable grounding for anyone wanting to learn more about sustainability."–Lindsay C. Stringer, University of Leeds, UK
"This important and timely volume casts a wide net on the potential analytical purchase of the concept of 'sustainability'. It provides a foundation for interdisciplinary studies of sustainability and showcases the force of this growing concept and its' multiple forms of practice."–Peter C. Little, Rhode Island College, USA