http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Latest open access articles published in Sustainability at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2272 In recent years, air pollution has become a major worldwide concern. Air pollutants can affect metabolic activity, impede healthy development, and exhibit carcinogenic and toxic properties in humans. Over the past two decades, the use of microbes to remove pollutants from contaminated air streams has become a widely accepted and efficient alternative to the classical physical and chemical treatment technologies. Air Pollution Prevention and Control: Bioreactors and Bioenergy focusses on these biotechnological alternatives looking at both the optimization of bioreactors and the development of cleaner biofuels. Sustainability 2013-05-22 5 5 New Book Received 10.3390/su5052272 2272 2287 2071-1050 2013-05-22 doi: 10.3390/su5052272 Shu-Kun Lin http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2252 There is a deficit of multi-site studies examining the integration of sustainability in the policies and practices of post-secondary institutions. This paper reviews what comparative empirical research has been undertaken on sustainability in post-secondary education (PSE) within eight leading international journals publishing on sustainability and education. Three predominant themes of research on the topic are identified within the review: research comparing sustainability curricula across institutions (both within specific disciplines of study and across disciplines); research comparing campus operations policies and practice across multiple institutions; and research on how to best measure or audit approaches and outputs in sustainability in PSE. This review of the research literature supports the contention within the literature on sustainability in PSE that most research on the topic is focused on case studies rather than comparison of multiple institutions. The comparative research that is emerging from the field is concentrated on assessing measurable outputs for environmental externalities within institutional operations, with little examination of sustainability uptake and outcomes across broader institutional policies and practices. Sustainability 2013-05-21 5 5 Review 10.3390/su5052252 2252 2271 2071-1050 2013-05-21 doi: 10.3390/su5052252 Philip Vaughter Tarah Wright Marcia McKenzie Lauri Lidstone http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2233 Through the issue of pesticide management in Belgium, this article offers an empirical and conceptual grasp on what Ulrich Beck called the second-order reflexive modernity; that which is exercised among citizens when they are confronted with threatening and uncertain situations. To achieve this, we use two case studies of two public policy instruments, which we offer to the public for discussion: food product labelling, and the modelling of toxic effects linked to pesticide use. To this end, we organised two focus groups designed to encourage discussion, composed of citizens/practitioners. The results obtained plead in favour of a collective deconstruction-reconstruction of these tools and can lead to what we propose calling a “pragmatic collective interest.” This “pragmatic collective interest” can take the form of a new set-up or new associations that enable the coexistence of conflicting propositions and points of view, and a suspension of efforts to hierarchize causes and required solutions. Sustainability 2013-05-16 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052233 2233 2251 2071-1050 2013-05-16 doi: 10.3390/su5052233 François Mélard Marc Mormont http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2210 Shale gas proponents argue this unconventional fossil fuel offers a “bridge” towards a cleaner energy system by offsetting higher-carbon fuels such as coal. The technical feasibility of reconciling shale gas development with climate action remains contested. However, we here argue that governance challenges are both more pressing and more profound. Reconciling shale gas and climate action requires institutions capable of responding effectively to uncertainty; intervening to mandate emissions reductions and internalize costs to industry; and managing the energy system strategically towards a lower carbon future. Such policy measures prove challenging, particularly in jurisdictions that stand to benefit economically from unconventional fuels. We illustrate this dilemma through a case study of shale gas development in British Columbia, Canada, a global leader on climate policy that is nonetheless struggling to manage gas development for mitigation. The BC case is indicative of the constraints jurisdictions face both to reconcile gas development and climate action, and to manage the industry adequately to achieve social licence and minimize resistance. More broadly, the case attests to the magnitude of change required to transform our energy systems to mitigate climate change. Sustainability 2013-05-14 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052210 2210 2232 2071-1050 2013-05-14 doi: 10.3390/su5052210 Eleanor Stephenson Karena Shaw http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2191 The objective of this questionnaire study was to investigate how Swedish adolescents (n = 321) cope with climate change and how different coping strategies are associated with environmental efficacy, pro-environmental behavior, and subjective well-being. The results were compared to an earlier study on 12-year-olds, and the same coping strategies, problem-focused coping, de-emphasizing the seriousness of the threat, and meaning-focused coping, were identified. As in the study on children, problem-focused and meaning-focused coping were positively related to felt efficacy and environmental behavior, while de-emphasizing the threat was negatively related to these measures. As expected, the more problem-focused coping the adolescents used, the more likely it was that they experienced negative affect in everyday life. This association was explained by the tendency for highly problem-focused adolescents to worry more about climate change. In contrast, meaning-focused coping was positively related to both well-being and optimism. When controlling for well-known predictors such as values and gender, meaning-focused and problem-focused coping were independent positive predictors of environmental efficacy and pro-environmental behavior, while de-emphasizing the threat was a negative predictor of pro-environmental behavior. The results are discussed in relation to coping theories and earlier studies on coping with climate change. Sustainability 2013-05-14 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052191 2191 2209 2071-1050 2013-05-14 doi: 10.3390/su5052191 Maria Ojala http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2178 This article is about the work of museums in constructing the intangible cultural heritage of migration and diasporas. I address the cultural dimension of sustainability and examine what happens to living traditions in migratory contexts, in particular, in contexts of international migrations, and consider different participatory approaches used by museums. I propose that collaborative projects drawing upon the principles of ecomuseology and what I describe as participation by endowment may provide new ways of involving groups of immigrant background. I limit the discussion to questions tied to the intangible cultural heritage of migration to Europe and argue that by recording, documenting, safeguarding and keeping the intangible heritage of diasporas alive, museums contribute in promoting self-esteem among these populations and social cohesion in society. Sustainability 2013-05-13 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052178 2178 2190 2071-1050 2013-05-13 doi: 10.3390/su5052178 Saphinaz-Amal Naguib http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2152 The increasing pressure on the earth’s resources due to population growth requires that development and resource use be managed to maintain a sustainable environment so as to preserve or enhance human well-being. A practical approach for demonstrating the environmental sustainability of an action (e.g., green business practice) through ecosystem service analysis is presented. The overarching premise of the approach is that human well-being is directly related to changes in ecosystems and associated services. The approach evaluates the net change in ecosystem services, and hence human well-being, and is termed a net ecosystem service analysis (NESA). Using this approach, if a net positive change in ecosystem services relative to the baseline condition occurs for an action, that action would be considered potentially sustainable. In addition, if an action creates net ecosystem service value above the baseline condition, it would be considered to embody environmental stewardship. Established ecological and human use quantification methods are incorporated into the analysis. In addition, to demonstrate potential sustainability, the approach must also consider the need to satisfy intergenerational equity objectives. The use of a practical approach from which private business and government representatives can make decisions regarding environmental sustainability and stewardship will provide for improved decision-making based on quantifiable metrics. Sustainability 2013-05-10 5 5 Concept Paper 10.3390/su5052152 2152 2177 2071-1050 2013-05-10 doi: 10.3390/su5052152 Joseph Nicolette Stephanie Burr Mark Rockel http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2129 Population growth and climate change are likely to impact upon food and water availability over the coming decades. In this study we use an ensemble of climate simulations to project the implications of both these drivers on regional changes in food and water. This study highlights the dominant effect of population growth on per capita resource allocation over climate induced changes in our model projections. We find a strong signal for crop yield reductions due to climate change by the 2050s in the absence of CO2 fertilisation effects. However, when these additional processes are included this trend is reversed. The impacts of climate on water resources are more uncertain. Overall, we find reductions in the global population living in water stressed conditions due to the combined effects of climate and CO2. Africa is a key region where projected decreases in runoff and crop productivity from climate change alone are potentially reversed when CO2 fertilisation effects are included, but this is highly uncertain. Plant physiological response to increasing atmospheric CO2 is a major driver of the changes in crop productivity and water availability in this study; it is poorly constrained by observations and is thus a critical uncertainty. Sustainability 2013-05-10 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052129 2129 2151 2071-1050 2013-05-10 doi: 10.3390/su5052129 Andrew Wiltshire Gillian Kay Jemma Gornall Richard Betts http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2108 Cities at all stages of development need to provide jobs, food and services for their people. There is no formula that can unilaterally be applied in all urban environments to achieve this. The complex interaction of social, economic and ecological cycles within cities makes it impossible to predict outcomes. Resilience theory, with its engineering, multi-equilibria and socio-ecological approaches, provides some of the foundations for understanding the full range of the complex social and ecological interactions that underpin sustainable cities. It is proposed that these insights could be extended by a sharper focus on the social and technological innovation that has traditionally been the emphasis of vulnerability and transition theories respectively. Sustainability 2013-05-08 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052108 2108 2128 2071-1050 2013-05-08 doi: 10.3390/su5052108 Leanne Seeliger Ivan Turok http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2098 Neem biodiesel is currently being explored as a future biofuel and was extracted chemically from the vegetable oil. Many of its properties are still under investigation and our aim was to study its noxious-gas emission profiles from blends with regular petroleum diesel. The distinct advantage of a real-time study is acquisition of in situ data on the combustion behavior of gas components with actual progression of time. Mixtures of neem biodiesel and petroleum diesel corresponding to neem additives of 5%, 10%, 15% and 25% were tested for combustion efficiency and emitted gases using a high-performance gas analyzer. Our study, therefore, investigated the overall efficiency of the combustion process linked to emissions of the following gases: O2, CO2, NO, NOx and SO2. The results for the 95/5% blend compared to the neat sample were most promising and showed no serious change in performance efficiency (<2%). NO/NOx emission trends displayed maxima/minima, suggestive of interconvertible chemical reactivity. Declining CO and SO2 emissions were consistent with rapid chemical conversion. The CO and SO2 concentrations fell well below the toxic atmospheric limits in less than 300 s. The results are generally encouraging for blends below 10%. The potential environmental impact of the study is discussed. Sustainability 2013-05-08 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052098 2098 2107 2071-1050 2013-05-08 doi: 10.3390/su5052098 Avin Pillay Arman Molki Mirella Elkadi Johnson Manuel Shrinivas Bojanampati Mohammed Khan Sasi Stephen http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2077 Many cities across the United States have embraced programs aimed at achieving greater sustainability. This may seem surprising, particularly since adopting aggressive environmental protection programs is regarded by some as inimical to economic development. An alternative perspective is that in the modern city sustainability can be part of an economic development strategy. What is largely missing from the literature on sustainable cities’ policies and programs is systematic analysis of the political dynamics that seem to affect support for, and adoption and implementation of, local sustainability policies. To explore the actual behavior of cities with respect to sustainability and economic development policies, two original databases on 50 large U.S. cities are used. One source of data is composed of survey responses from city councilors, agency administrators, and leaders of local advocacy groups in each of these cities. The second database contains information as to what these 50 cities actually do in terms of sustainable programs and policies. In testing a series of hypotheses, findings suggest that: a high number of programs aimed at achieving sustainability is linked to the inclusion of environmental advocacy groups; that this relationship is not compromised by business advocacy; and that inclusion of environmental groups in policymaking seems to be supported, rather than impeded, by high rates of economic growth by the cities. Sustainability 2013-05-07 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052077 2077 2097 2071-1050 2013-05-07 doi: 10.3390/su5052077 Jeffrey Berry Kent Portney http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2060 Energy access metrics are needed to track the progress towards providing sustainable energy for all. This paper presents advancements in the development of the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI), as well as results and analysis for a number of developing countries. The MEPI is a composite index designed to shed light on energy poverty by assessing the services that modern energy provides. The index captures both the incidence and intensity of energy poverty. It provides valuable insights–allowing the analysis of determinants of energy poverty–and, subsequently insights into policy efficacy. Building on previous work, this paper presents results obtained as a result of both increased data availability and enhanced methodology. Specifically, this analysis (i) includes an increased number of countries, and (ii) tracks the evolution of energy poverty over time of energy poverty in selected countries is reported. Sustainability 2013-05-07 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052060 2060 2076 2071-1050 2013-05-07 doi: 10.3390/su5052060 Patrick Nussbaumer Francesco Nerini Ijeoma Onyeji Mark Howells http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2036 The notion “risk governance” refers to an integrated concept on how to deal with public risks in general, and so-called complex, ambiguous and uncertain risks in particular. These ideas have been informed by interdisciplinary research drawing from sociological and psychological research on risk, Science and Technology Studies (STS) and research by policy scientists and legal scholars. The notion of risk governance pertains to the many ways in which many actors, individuals and institutions, public and private, deal with risks. It includes formal institutions and regimes and informal arrangements. The paper will first develop an adaptive and integrative framework of risk governance and applies this model to the risks of urban planning. After a short summary of the roots of risk governance, key concepts, such as simple, uncertain, complex and ambiguous risks, will be discussed. The main emphasis will be on each of the five phases of risk governance: pre-assessment, interdisciplinary assessment, risk evaluation, risk management and risk communication. The paper will explain how these phases of risk governance can be applied to the area of urban planning and improve the dynamic sustainability of cities. Sustainability 2013-05-06 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052036 2036 2059 2071-1050 2013-05-06 doi: 10.3390/su5052036 Ortwin Renn Andreas Klinke http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/2018 As global and local visions for sustainable living environments are increasingly supported by policies and concrete practices in construction, the building and housing sector is seeking to mitigate its environmental impact as well as assume a greater social responsibility. The overarching policy objectives set to concretize what a sustainable housing development entails, however, tend to rely on equivocal terminology, allowing a varied interpretation by key industry practitioners. Though in line with an ecological modernization paradigm in policy, the promotion of a market-driven environmentalism in housing faces multiple challenges as varying interests and perspectives collide. Supported by empirical findings of a semi-structured interview study conducted with housing developers in a new ‘green’ urban district in Göteborg, Sweden, theoretical frameworks surrounding the paradoxical path towards a sustainable housing development are presented. Inconsistencies between outspoken ambitions; social dimensions; and the framing of efficiency in new housing are discussed. Possibilities for the housing sector are given in the recognition of new forms of development, where a systemic perspective is required in the alignment between how industry, policy and the market perceives housing development and what is actually sustainable. Sustainability 2013-05-06 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5052018 2018 2035 2071-1050 2013-05-06 doi: 10.3390/su5052018 Pernilla Hagbert Mikael Mangold Paula Femenías http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1994 Today’s educational challenges in Africa have their roots in the colonial education system. The article explores the consequences of linguistic choices for quality education, self-determined development and children’s rights in education. The analysis centers on a case study of a curriculum change in Zanzibar in which English has replaced Kiswahili as the language of instruction in the last years of primary school in Mathematics and Science subjects. The case study is grounded in an extensive review of theory and practices on the relationship between language of instruction, learning and rights in education. The field study researched the reasons behind the curriculum change, the extent to which schools were prepared for the change, and the consequences of the change for the learning environment. The article, therefore suggests that for the 21st century, Africa should place emphasis on rights policies that promotes not only access, but also inclusion and quality education. Sustainability 2013-05-06 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051994 1994 2017 2071-1050 2013-05-06 doi: 10.3390/su5051994 Zehlia Babaci-Wilhite http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1974 This paper estimates the economic value of the North Sea cod (Gadus morhua) stock under recent catch and several recovery scenarios. The research presents results on: a) what the value of catches and biomass would have been if the EU fishing fleet had followed the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea scientific recommendations (SRs) and Total Allowable Catches (TACs) in the 1986–2010 period; and b) what the value of catches and biomass will be for the 2010–2022 period if the fleet follows the current Common Fisheries Policy Reform (CFPR). Results show that the actual economic value of the stock for the 1986–2010 period has been US$7 billion, which is substantially lower than what would have been predicted had the industry followed the SRs (US$20.7 billion) or approved TACs (US$19.5 billion). Similarly, if catches do not follow the SRs or the approved TACs for the 2010–2022 period the estimated economic value of the stock is predicted to be lower than if they had done so. Further, the losses of non-compliance increase even when a scenario of 50% reduction of discards under the new CFPR is considered. We also show that the status of the stock is strongly dependent on the trade-offs generated by both the non-compliance of scientific recommendations and by the short-term economic incentives of the fishing industry. With most fishery resources fully exploited or overexploited in Europe, opportunities for development lie primarily in restoring depleted stocks and catching fish more efficiently, as is the case of the North Sea cod stock. Sustainability 2013-05-02 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051974 1974 1993 2071-1050 2013-05-02 doi: 10.3390/su5051974 Sebastian Villasante David Rodríguez-González Manel Antelo http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1960 Ecological footprint analysis (EFA) can be used by cities to account for their on-going demands on global renewable resources. To date, EFA has not been fully implemented as an urban policy and planning tool in part due to limitations of local data availability. In this paper we focus on the material consumption component of the urban ecological footprint and identify the ‘component, solid waste life cycle assessment approach’ as one that overcomes data limitations by using data many cities regularly collect: municipal, solid waste composition data which serves as a proxy for material consumption. The approach requires energy use and/or carbon dioxide emissions data from process LCA studies as well as agricultural and forest land data for calculation of a material’s ecological footprint conversion value. We reviewed the process LCA literature for twelve materials commonly consumed in cities and determined ecological footprint conversion values for each. We found a limited number of original LCA studies but were able to generate a range of values for each material. Our set of values highlights the importance for cities to identify both the quantities consumed and per unit production impacts of a material. Some materials like textiles and aluminum have high ecological footprints but make up relatively smaller proportions of urban waste streams than products like paper and diapers. Local government use of the solid waste LCA approach helps to clearly identify the ecological loads associated with the waste they manage on behalf of their residents. This direct connection can be used to communicate to citizens about stewardship, recycling and ecologically responsible consumption choices that contribute to urban sustainability. Sustainability 2013-05-02 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051960 1960 1973 2071-1050 2013-05-02 doi: 10.3390/su5051960 Meidad Kissinger Cornelia Sussman Jennie Moore William Rees http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1944 The concept of sustainable complex triangular cells may be applied to an individual of any human society. This concept was introduced in two recent articles. A case study was proposed to show the applicability of this new concept to Indian populations without contact with civilization and with a low environmental impact. Here we propose to apply this concept to a recent study, which claims that the concept of “common but differentiated responsibilities” refers to the emissions of individuals instead of nations. The income distribution of a country was used to estimate how its fossil fuel CO2 emissions are distributed among its citizens and, from that a global CO2 distribution was constructed. We propose the extension of the concept of complex triangular cells where its area would be equivalent to the CO2 emission per individual. In addition, a new three-dimensional geometric model for the regular hexagonal structure is offered in which the sharing of natural resources (human cooperation) is employed to reduce CO2 emissions in two scenarios by 2030. Sustainability 2013-05-02 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051944 1944 1959 2071-1050 2013-05-02 doi: 10.3390/su5051944 Marcelo Sthel José Tostes Juliana Tavares http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1917 This study examines struggles to bring people back into protected forests to enhance sustainable forest management and livelihoods using insights emerging from a co-management project in Malawi. It uses mixed social science methods and a process-based conceptualization of co-management to analyze experiences, and theory of reciprocal altruism to explain major findings of continuing local forest-user commitment to co-management despite six years of conservation burdens largely for minimal financial benefits. It argues that overemphasis on cash incentives as the motivation for “self-interested” users to participate in co-management overlooks locally significant non-cash motivations, inflates local expectations, and creates perverse incentives that undermine socio-ecological goals. Some non-cash incentives outweighed cash-driven ones. Findings support broadening of incentives mechanisms, including via nested cross-scale institutional arrangements for holistic management that integrates adjacent forests into forest-reserve co-management. Strengthened institutions, improving community/government and intra-community trust, improved village forests easing pressure on the reserve, measures minimizing elite capture, and impetus from an external threat, enhanced forest condition. Generous forest rights and appropriate community licensing and benefit-sharing systems also helped. Bureaucratic/donor inefficiencies, wood-extraction challenges, poor forest-based enterprise development, and low resource value undermined performance. Insights on forest-management planning, fair cost-sharing, targeting the poor, and need for social learning are highlighted. Sustainability 2013-05-02 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051917 1917 1943 2071-1050 2013-05-02 doi: 10.3390/su5051917 Leo Zulu http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1893 This study had three main objectives: (1) to evaluate the aboveground biomass and volume yield of three unrelated hybrid poplar clones in 9 year-old riparian buffer strips located on four farms of southern Québec, Canada; (2) to compare yield data at 9 years with previous data (at 6 years); (3) to evaluate how soil fertility, measured using three different soil testing methods (soil nutrient stocks, soil nutrient concentrations, soil nutrient supply rates), is related to yield. Across the four sites, hybrid poplar productivity after 9 years ranged from 116 to 450 m3ha−1, for stem wood volume, and from 51 to 193 megagrams per hectare (Mg ha−1), for woody dry biomass. High volume and woody dry biomass yields (26.3 to 49.9 m3ha−1yr-1, and 11.4 to 21.4 Mg ha−1yr-1) were observed at the three most productive sites. From year 6 to 9, relatively high yield increases (8.9−15.1 m3ha−1yr−1) were observed at all sites, but the productivity gap between the less fertile site and the three other sites was widened. Clone MxB-915311 was the most productive across the four sites, while clone DxN-3570 was the least productive. However, at the most productive site, clone MxB-915311 experienced severe stem and branch breakages. Independently of the soil testing method used, available soil P was always the first soil factor explaining volume yield. Sustainability 2013-04-29 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051893 1893 1916 2071-1050 2013-04-29 doi: 10.3390/su5051893 Julien Fortier Benoit Truax Daniel Gagnon France Lambert http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1875 Residential bioenergy consumption and bioenergy resources based on by-products of residential agricultural production and animal husbandry have been analyzed statistically, based on a nationwide residential livelihood and energy survey conducted in Cambodia in 2009. Furthermore, the potential for biomethanation, residential biogas consumption and small-scale power generation for non-electrified rural areas has been assessed. Household potential of biogas substrates in Cambodia, based on nationally representative data has not been presented earlier. This paper proposes mixtures of substrates for biogas production for various livelihood zones of Cambodia. The occurrence of biomass suitable for biomethanation is most favorable in unelectrified rural areas, except for fishing villages. The theoretical daily biogas potential from animal dung and rice husk appears to be promising for households in unelectrified rural villages, both for household digesters and units designed for small-scale electricity generation. Theoretical CH4 content of biogas was 63.9% and specific biogas yield 0.41 Nm3/kg for households in unelectrified villages. Based on the survey, the energy content of biogas potential is 25.5 PJ per year. This study shows that biogas has nationally significant technical potential in Cambodia. Sustainability 2013-04-29 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051875 1875 1892 2071-1050 2013-04-29 doi: 10.3390/su5051875 Suvisanna Mustonen Risto Raiko Jyrki Luukkanen http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1863 The transport sector is the second largest and one of the fastest growing energy end-use sectors, representing 24% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The International Energy Agency has developed scenarios for the transport sector within the overall concept of mitigation pathways that would be required to limit global warming to 2 °C. This paper builds on these scenarios and illustrates various passenger travel-related strategies for achieving a 2° transport scenario, in particular looking at how much technology improvement is needed in the light of different changes in travel and modal shares in OECD and non-OECD countries. It finds that an integrated approach using all feasible policy options is likely to deliver the required emission reductions at least cost, and that stronger travel-related measures result in significantly lower technological requirements. Sustainability 2013-04-29 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051863 1863 1874 2071-1050 2013-04-29 doi: 10.3390/su5051863 Lewis Fulton Oliver Lah François Cuenot http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1845 The reduction of CO2 emissions associated with vehicle use is an important element of a global transition to sustainable mobility and is a major long-term challenge for society. Vehicle and fuel technologies are part of a global energy system, and assessing the impact of the availability of clean energy technologies and advanced vehicle technologies on sustainable mobility is a complex task. The global energy transition (GET) model accounts for interactions between the different energy sectors, and we illustrate its use to inform vehicle technology choices in a decarbonizing economy. The aim of this study is to assess how uncertainties in future vehicle technology cost, as well as how developments in other energy sectors, affect cost-effective fuel and vehicle technology choices. Given the uncertainties in future costs and efficiencies for light-duty vehicle and fuel technologies, there is no clear fuel/vehicle technology winner that can be discerned at the present time. We conclude that a portfolio approach with research and development of multiple fuel and vehicle technology pathways is the best way forward to achieve the desired result of affordable and sustainable personal mobility. The practical ramifications of this analysis are illustrated in the portfolio approach to providing sustainable mobility adopted by the Ford Motor Company. Sustainability 2013-04-29 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051845 1845 1862 2071-1050 2013-04-29 doi: 10.3390/su5051845 Maria Grahn Erica Klampfl Margaret Whalen Timothy Wallington http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1829 In this exploratory field-study, we examined how normative messages (i.e., activating an injunctive norm, personal norm, or both) could encourage shoppers to use fewer free plastic bags for their shopping in addition to the supermarket’s standard environmental message aimed at reducing plastic bags. In a one-way subjects-design (N = 200) at a local supermarket, we showed that shoppers used significantly fewer free plastic bags in the injunctive, personal and combined normative message condition than in the condition where only an environmental message was present. The combined normative message did result in the smallest uptake of free plastic bags compared to the injunctive and personal normative-only message, although these differences were not significant. Our findings imply that re-wording the supermarket’s environmental message by including normative information could be a promising way to reduce the use of free plastic bags, which will ultimately benefit the environment. Sustainability 2013-04-29 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051829 1829 1844 2071-1050 2013-04-29 doi: 10.3390/su5051829 Judith de Groot Wokje Abrahamse Kayleigh Jones http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1806 Urban sprawl is rapidly transforming the landscape of Kentucky’s prime farmland from a dominant agricultural land use pattern to a patchwork of dispersed and loosely defined parcels. This state, located in the east central portion of the U.S., is not unlike many states considered rural, nor is it unlike many rural regions found throughout the world where urban sprawl is concentrated in metropolitan areas that are often encroaching into these rural areas. Authors have argued for and against urbanization patterns generally understood to be sprawl on the basis of social, economic, and biophysical opportunities and constraints. Finding consensus in the literature about defining and measuring urban sprawl is difficult. This paper demonstrates a method for cost effectively measuring urban development using National Land Cover Data, Census data, and ancillary data across 34 counties. Based on seven indicators framed around the amount, configuration, and per capita land usage, an amalgamated sprawl index (ASI) is demonstrated through an example in north central Kentucky, USA. While the public believes this growth area of Kentucky is rapidly sprawling, this study indicates the pattern of sprawl is spreading faster in areas not obvious to this same public. Sustainability 2013-04-29 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051806 1806 1828 2071-1050 2013-04-29 doi: 10.3390/su5051806 Barry Kew Brian Lee http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1789 The experiences of past efforts of industrial pollution control while maintaining competitiveness should be of great value to research and policy practice addressing sustainability issues today. In this article, we analyze the environmental adaptation of the Swedish pulp industry during the period 1970–1990 as illustrated by the sulfite pulp producer Domsjö mill. We investigate how this company managed to adapt to heavy transformation pressure from increasing international competition in combination with strict national environmental regulations during the 1960s to the early 1990s. In line with the so-called Porter hypothesis, the company was able to coordinate the problems that were environmental in nature with activities aiming at production efficiency goals and the development of new products. Swedish environmental agencies and legislation facilitated this “win-win” situation by a flexible but still challenging regulatory approach towards the company. From the early 1990s and onwards, the greening of the pulp industry was also a result of increased market pressure for green paper products. Sustainability 2013-04-29 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051789 1789 1805 2071-1050 2013-04-29 doi: 10.3390/su5051789 Kristina Söderholm Ann-Kristin Bergquist http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/5/1764 Although the study of environmental change has long been of academic interest, the effects of change have become a much more pressing concern in the past few decades due to the often disruptive effect of human expansion and innovation. Researchers from many fields contribute to understanding our footprint on the natural world, problems we cause, and strategies we can employ to protect key species and ecosystems. Unfortunately, environmental change and its consequences are often studied without an awareness of the inherent attributes of the changes. As a result, the relevance of new advances in this field may be easily missed or misunderstood, and existing knowledge is not optimally applied. In this paper, we aim to facilitate the multi-disciplinary comparison of studies on environmental change, by offering a meta-level perspective on the process of change from the point of view of the individual animal. We propose an inclusive definition of change that can be applied across contexts, in which we take our understanding of “change” from an event to an interaction between a physical occurrence and an individual’s state. Furthermore, we discuss key event- and individual-based attributes of change, their relevance in today’s changing world, and how they relate to animals’ available behavioural, physiological and cross-generational responses. We hope that by uncovering the underlying fundamental (or structure) of change, fellow scientists may better share their experience and knowledge gained from years of studying individual species and situations. Sustainability 2013-04-25 5 5 Article 10.3390/su5051764 1764 1788 2071-1050 2013-04-25 doi: 10.3390/su5051764 Minke B. Langenhof Jan Komdeur http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1747 This paper examines some of the normative aspects of “community energy” programmes—defined here as decentralized forms of energy production and distributed energy technologies where production decisions are made as close as possible to sources of consumption. Such projects might also display a degree of separation from the formal political process. The development of a community energy system often generates a great deal of debate about both the degree of public support for such programmes and the values around which programmes ought to be organized. Community energy programmes also raise important issues regarding the energy choice problem, including questions of process, that is, by whom a project is developed and the influence of both community and exogenous actors, as well as certain outcome issues regarding the spatial and social distribution of energy. The case studies, drawn from community energy programmes in both the United States and the United Kingdom, allow for a careful examination of all of these factors, considering in particular the complex interplay and juxtaposition between the ideas of “public value” and “public values”. Sustainability 2013-04-23 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041747 1747 1763 2071-1050 2013-04-23 doi: 10.3390/su5041747 Steven Hoffman Shane Fudge Lissa Pawlisch Angela High-Pippert Michael Peters Joel Haskard http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1725 Problem- and project-based learning (PPBL) courses in sustainability address real-world sustainability problems. They are considered powerful educational settings for building students’ sustainability expertise. In practice, however, these courses often fail to fully incorporate sustainability competencies, participatory research education, and experiential learning. Only few studies exist that compare and appraise PPBL courses internationally against a synthesized body of the literature to create an evidence base for designing PPBL courses. This article introduces a framework for PPBL courses in sustainability and reviews PPBL practice in six programs around the world (Europe, North America, Australia). Data was collected through semi-structured qualitative interviews with course instructors and program officers, as well as document analysis. Findings indicate that the reviewed PPBL courses are of high quality and carefully designed. Each PPBL course features innovative approaches to partnerships between the university and private organizations, extended peer-review, and the role of knowledge brokers. Yet, the findings also indicate weaknesses including paucity of critical learning objectives, solution-oriented research methodology, and follow-up research on implementation. Through the comparative design, the study reveals improvement strategies for the identified challenges and provides guidance for design and redesign of PPBL courses. Sustainability 2013-04-23 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041725 1725 1746 2071-1050 2013-04-23 doi: 10.3390/su5041725 Katja Brundiers Arnim Wiek http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1700 The aim of this research is to study the possibility and sustainability of retrofit and refurbishment design solutions on historical buildings converted to different uses and often clashing with their original purpose and architectural features. The building studied is an ancient monastery located in the historical center of Florence (Italy). Today the original cloister is covered over by a single glazed pitched roof and used as a fashion showroom. Our proposed solution concerns a reversible and sustainable plant design integrated with an active transparent building casing. The existing glazed pitched roof was reconsidered and re-designed as part of the existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) plant system, based on the functioning of an active thermal buffer to control the high heat flow rates and external thermal loads due to solar radiation. Hourly whole building energy analysis was carried out to check the effectiveness and energy sustainability of our proposed solution. Results obtained showed, from the historical-architectural, energy and environmental points of view, its sustainability due to the building-plant system integration and interaction with its location, the external climatic conditions and defined expected uses, in particular with reference to indoor thermal comfort. Sustainability 2013-04-22 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041700 1700 1724 2071-1050 2013-04-22 doi: 10.3390/su5041700 Carla Balocco Enrico Marmonti http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1680 This is a study of how indoor temperature settings have changed over time in the United States based on data from the Energy Information Administration’s, Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). It is shown that Americans have moderately raised indoor temperature settings during the heating season over the past thirty years. It is also shown that most Americans keep their homes relatively cool in the summertime and are generally averse to implementing temperature setbacks. It is revealed that occupants in lower-income homes tend to set their thermostats higher in winter than other income groups, but that the most intense cooling tends to take place in both low-income and high-income homes. As expected, renters tend to heat and cool more intensively than homeowners. Getting Americans to change their temperature settings in order to save energy is not easy even though it comes with the promise of financial savings. The use of programmable thermostats thus far has proved unsuccessful. Greater utilization of social marketing to achieve energy savings is suggested, as well as a renewed effort on the part of electricity suppliers to work more closely with homeowners as part of the rollout of the “smart grid”. Sustainability 2013-04-22 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041680 1680 1699 2071-1050 2013-04-22 doi: 10.3390/su5041680 Jack Barkenbus http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1661 Making pro-environmental behavior changes can be difficult, particularly when these changes challenge daily routines and comfortable lifestyles. We designed and implemented an eco-representative intervention program to help students reduce their energy use by proactively coping with barriers to pro-environmental behavior change, and then communicate effective behavior change strategies to student peers. Twenty-nine first-year college students participated in a four-week proactive coping training to change five environmentally impactful behaviors and then spread behavior change messages to fellow residents during a two-week energy challenge. Eco-reps successfully changed their own behaviors in a pro-environmental direction by generating important barriers and successful facilitators for behavior change, and eco-rep residence halls were more likely to reduce energy and maintain reductions compared to non-eco-rep halls. Implications for future environmental behavior change interventions are discussed. Sustainability 2013-04-18 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041661 1661 1679 2071-1050 2013-04-18 doi: 10.3390/su5041661 Brittany Bloodhart Janet Swim Matthew Zawadzki http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1645 The term sustainable development is often criticized for having lost credibility due to a lack of clear-cut delineation. The same holds true for education designed to foster sustainable development often referred to as education for sustainable development (ESD). This contribution agrees that the term suffers from a want of meaning, but argues that the persistent hunt for a definition—i.e., a fixed generic description—produces rather than resolves this deficit. What sustainable development means is context and time dependent and is therefore necessarily ambiguous, open-ended and dynamic. Hence, the success of ESD depends on the paradoxical imperative of reducing vagueness while at the same time maintaining ambiguity. This paper explores how this can be established and proposes a process informed by the arts.  Drawing from dialogic practices, site-specific theatre and a project conducted in a British village, this writing discusses elements that constitute a process of “context-based meaning finding”. It concludes that ESD essentially starts with and revolves around re-embedding SD in life and the act of living, engaging people in place through processes in which communities yield their own, context and time specific interpretations of sustainable development. Sustainability 2013-04-18 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041645 1645 1660 2071-1050 2013-04-18 doi: 10.3390/su5041645 Natalia Eernstman Arjen Wals http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1632 The demand for food, feed, and feedstocks for bioenergy and biofactory plants will increase proportionally due to population growth, prosperity, and bioeconomic growth. Securing food supply and meeting demand for biomass will involve many biological and agro-ecological aspects such as genetic plant improvement, sustainable land use, water-saving irrigation, and integrated nutrient management as well as control of pests, diseases and weeds. It will be necessary to raise biomass production and economic yield per unit of land—not only under optimum growing conditions, but even more under conditions constrained by climate, water availability, and soil quality. Most of the advanced agronomic research by national and international research institutes is dedicated to the major food crops: maize, rice, wheat, and potato. However, research on crops grown as feedstock, for bio-energy and industrial use under conditions with biophysical constraints, is lagging behind. Global and regional assessments of the potential for growing crops are mostly based on model and explorative studies under optimum conditions, or with either water or nitrogen deficiencies. More investments in combined experimental and modeling research are needed to develop and evaluate new crops and cropping systems under a wide range of agro-ecological conditions. An integral assessment of the biophysical production capacity and the impact on resource use, biodiversity and socio-economic factors should be carried out before launching large-scale crop production systems in marginal environments. Sustainability 2013-04-17 5 4 Review 10.3390/su5041632 1632 1644 2071-1050 2013-04-17 doi: 10.3390/su5041632 Huub Spiertz http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1617 Sustainable development reflects an underlying tension to achieve economic growth whilst addressing environmental challenges, and this is particularly the case for the aviation sector. Although much of the aviation-related focus has fallen on reducing aircraft emissions, airports have also been under increasing pressure to support the vision of a low carbon energy future. One of the main sources of airport-related emissions is passenger journeys to and from airports (the surface access component of air travel), which is the focus of this paper. Two aspects associated with the relationship between sustainable development and airport surface access are considered. Firstly, there is an evaluation of three technological innovation options that will enable sustainable transport solutions for surface access journeys: telepresence systems to reduce drop-off/pick-up trips, techniques to improve public transport and options to encourage the sharing of rides. Secondly, the role of behavioral change for surface access journeys from a theoretical perspective, using empirical data from Manchester airport, is evaluated. Finally, the contribution of technology and behavioral intervention measures to improvements in sustainable development are discussed. Sustainability 2013-04-17 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041617 1617 1631 2071-1050 2013-04-17 doi: 10.3390/su5041617 Tim Ryley Jaafar Elmirghani Tom Budd Chikage Miyoshi Keith Mason Richard Moxon Imad Ahmed Bilal Qazi Alberto Zanni http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1598 The nascent research area of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) needs a firm grounding in educational philosophy in order to focus more on education. This conclusion is based on experiences at two recent conferences focusing on research in this field. Issues related to content, attitudes and long-term aims dominated at these conferences, while learning processes were often taken for granted. Sustainability 2013-04-16 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041598 1598 1616 2071-1050 2013-04-16 doi: 10.3390/su5041598 Per Sund Jonas Lysgaard http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1577 The paper provides an assessment of first generation biofuel (ethanol and biodiesel) development in Thailand in terms of feedstock used, production trends, planned targets and policies and discusses the biofuel sustainability issues—environmental, socio-economic and food security aspects. The policies, measures and incentives for the development of biofuel include targets, blending mandates and favorable tax schemes to encourage production and consumption of biofuels. Biofuel development improves energy security, rural income and reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but issues related to land and water use and food security are important considerations to be addressed for its large scale application. Second generation biofuels derived from agricultural residues perform favorably on environmental and social sustainability issues in comparison to first generation biofuel sources. The authors estimate that sustainably-derived agricultural crop residues alone could amount to 10.4 × 106 bone dry tonnes per year. This has the technical potential of producing 1.14–3.12 billion liters per year of ethanol to possibly displace between 25%–69% of Thailand’s 2011 gasoline consumption as transportation fuel. Alternatively, the same amount of residue could provide 0.8–2.1 billion liters per year of diesel (biomass to Fischer-Tropsch diesel) to potentially offset 6%–15% of national diesel consumption in the transportation sector. Sustainability 2013-04-15 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041577 1577 1597 2071-1050 2013-04-15 doi: 10.3390/su5041577 S. Kumar P. Salam Pujan Shrestha Emmanuel Ackom http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1568 This study presents a systematic method for aggregating firm level sustainable value indicators to sector, region or industry levels. The proposed method applies the generalized sustainable value that is based on frontier production functions. The method is illustrated by an empirical application to the Finnish crop and dairy sectors, where the benchmark technology is estimated by data envelopment analysis. Our efficiency assessment shows that the representative crop farm achieves only about a half of its potential output. Efficiency of the representative dairy farm is somewhat higher. Sustainability 2013-04-11 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041568 1568 1576 2071-1050 2013-04-11 doi: 10.3390/su5041568 Natalia Kuosmanen Timo Kuosmanen Timo Sipiläinen http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1545 This article explores the pros and cons for reducing working hours in Europe. To arrive to an informed judgment we review critically the theoretical and empirical literature, mostly from economics, concerning the relation between working hours on the one hand, and productivity, employment, quality of life, and the environment, on the other. We adopt a binary economics distinction between capital and labor productiveness, and are concerned with how working hours may be reduced without harming the earning capacity of workers. There are reasons to believe that reducing working hours may absorb some unemployment, especially in the short-run, even if less than what is advocated by proponents of the proposal. Further, there may well be strong benefits for the quality of peoples’ lives. Environmental benefits are likely but depend crucially on complementary policies or social conditions that will ensure that the time liberated will not be directed to resource-intensive or environmentally harmful consumption. It is questionable whether reduced working hours are sustainable in the long-term given resource limits and climate change. We conclude that while the results of reducing working hours are uncertain, this may be a risk worth taking, especially as an interim measure that may relieve unemployment while other necessary structural changes are instituted. Sustainability 2013-04-11 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041545 1545 1567 2071-1050 2013-04-11 doi: 10.3390/su5041545 Giorgos Kallis Michael Kalush Hugh O.'Flynn Jack Rossiter Nicholas Ashford http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1522 This paper discusses the current status of all aspects of education for sustainable development (ESD) across the United Kingdom (UK), drawing on evidence from its political jurisdictions (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), and setting out some characteristics of best practice. The paper analyzes current barriers to progress, and outlines future opportunities for enhancing the core role of education and learning in the pursuit of a more sustainable future. Although effective ESD exists at all levels, and in most learning contexts across the UK, with good teaching and enhanced learner outcomes, the authors argue that a wider adoption of ESD would result from the development of a strategic framework which puts it at the core of the education policy agenda in every jurisdiction. This would provide much needed coherence, direction and impetus to existing initiatives, scale up and build on existing good practice, and prevent unnecessary duplication of effort and resources. The absence of an overarching UK strategy for sustainable development that sets out a clear vision about the contribution learning can make to its goals is a major barrier to progress. This strategy needs to be coupled with the establishment of a pan-UK forum for overseeing the promotion, implementation and evaluation of ESD. Sustainability 2013-04-11 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041522 1522 1544 2071-1050 2013-04-11 doi: 10.3390/su5041522 Stephen Martin James Dillon Peter Higgins Carl Peters William Scott http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1510 Most climate related hazards in Bangladesh are linked to water. The climate vulnerable poor—the poorest and most marginalized communities living in remote villages along Bangladesh’s coastal zone that are vulnerable to climate change impacts and who possess low adaptive capacity are most affected by lack of access to safe water sources. Many climate vulnerable poor households depend on small isolated wetlands (ponds) for daily drinking water needs and other domestic requirements, including cooking, bathing and washing. Similarly, the livelihoods of many of these households also depend on access to ponds due to activities of small-scale irrigation for rice farming, vegetable farming and home gardening. This is particularly true for those poorest and most marginalized communities living in Satkhira, one of the most vulnerable coastal districts in south-west Bangladesh. These households rely on pond water for vegetable farming and home gardening, especially during winter months. However, these pond water sources are highly vulnerable to climate change induced hazards, including flooding, drought, salinity intrusion, cyclone and storm surges, erratic rainfall patterns and variations in temperature. Cyclone Sidr and Cyclone Aila, which hit Bangladesh in 2007 and 2009 respectively, led to a significant number of such ponds being inundated with saline water. This impacted upon and resulted in wide scale implications for climate vulnerable poor households, including reduced availability of safe drinking water, and safe water for health and hygiene practices and livelihood activities. Those households living in remote areas and who are most affected by these climate impacts are dependent on water being supplied through aid, as well as travelling long distances to collect safe water for drinking purposes. Sustainability 2013-04-03 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041510 1510 1521 2071-1050 2013-04-03 doi: 10.3390/su5041510 Golam Rabbani Syed Rahman Lucy Faulkner http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1501 Membrane Bio Reactors (MBRs) are mainly used for industrial wastewaters applications where their costs can be more easily afforded. High costs are basically due to energy consumption and membrane cleaning or replacement. Membrane fouling is responsible for reducing treated water production and increasing maintenance as well as operation costs. According to previous researches, the addition of Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) in high dosages could reduce membrane fouling; but such concentrations are economically unsustainable for operative conditions. A MBR pilot plant, fed by mixed liquor of a full-scale activated sludge process from a municipal wastewater treatment plant, was operated dosing low PAC concentrations (0, 2, 5, 10 and 20 mg·L−1, respectively). Experiments were also carried out at two different temperatures corresponding to summer and winter conditions. Results indicated that PAC addition was effective at the low dosages (2 and 5 mg·L−1) by reducing the permeate flux loss (from 16 up to 27%, respectively) while higher PAC concentrations turns out in a useless cost increase. Sustainability 2013-04-03 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041501 1501 1509 2071-1050 2013-04-03 doi: 10.3390/su5041501 Vincenzo Torretta Giordano Urbini Massimo Raboni Sabrina Copelli Paolo Viotti Antonella Luciano Giuseppe Mancini http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1480 Thailand, a developing country in Southeast Asia, is experiencing rapid development, particularly urban growth as a response to the expansion of the tourism industry. Hua Hin city provides an excellent example of an area where urbanization has flourished due to tourism. This study focuses on how the dynamic urban horizontal expansion of the seaside city of Hua Hin is constrained by the coast, thus making sustainability for this popular tourist destination—managing and planning for its local inhabitants, its visitors, and its sites—an issue. The study examines the association of land use type and land use change by integrating Geo-Information technology, a statistic model, and CA-Markov analysis for sustainable land use planning. The study identifies that the land use types and land use changes from the year 1999 to 2008 have changed as a result of increased mobility; this trend, in turn, has everything to do with urban horizontal expansion. The changing sequences of land use type have developed from forest area to agriculture, from agriculture to grassland, then to bare land and built-up areas. Coastal urban growth has, for a decade, been expanding horizontally from a downtown center along the beach to the western area around the golf course, the southern area along the beach, the southwest grassland area, and then the northern area near the airport. Sustainability 2013-04-02 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041480 1480 1500 2071-1050 2013-04-02 doi: 10.3390/su5041480 Kritsana Kityuttachai Nitin Tripathi Taravudh Tipdecho Rajendra Shrestha http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1461 Global catastrophes, such as nuclear war, pandemics and ecological collapse threaten the sustainability of human civilization. To date, most work on global catastrophes has focused on preventing the catastrophes, neglecting what happens to any catastrophe survivors. To address this gap in the literature, this paper discusses adaptation to and recovery from global catastrophe. The paper begins by discussing the importance of global catastrophe adaptation and recovery, noting that successful adaptation/recovery could have value on even astronomical scales. The paper then discusses how the adaptation/recovery could proceed and makes connections to several lines of research. Research on resilience theory is considered in detail and used to develop a new method for analyzing the environmental and social stressors that global catastrophe survivors would face. This method can help identify options for increasing survivor resilience and promoting successful adaptation and recovery. A key point is that survivors may exist in small isolated communities disconnected from global trade and, thus, must be able to survive and rebuild on their own. Understanding the conditions facing isolated survivors can help promote successful adaptation and recovery. That said, the processes of global catastrophe adaptation and recovery are highly complex and uncertain; further research would be of great value. Sustainability 2013-03-28 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041461 1461 1479 2071-1050 2013-03-28 doi: 10.3390/su5041461 Timothy Maher Seth Baum http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1443 Graduates of university programs addressing sustainable resource management are likely to shape strategies for natural resource use in the future. Their academic training needs to foster student knowledge of the multiple dimensions of natural resource management. This paper investigates university student understanding of such challenges. We differentiated situational, conceptual, and procedural types of knowledge, and three domains of knowledge (ecological, socio-economic and institutional knowledge), and sampled beginners (third semester) and seniors (seventh semester) of seven natural resource related programs at the leading Indonesian institution of higher education in the field of natural resource management (IPB Bogor; n = 882). The questionnaire consisted of multiple choice and rating scale items covering ‘locally’ relevant open-access resource use issues. With a confirmatory tau-equivalent LISREL model, construct validity was assessed. The ability to extract relevant information from problem descriptions provided (situational knowledge) did not differ between third and seventh semester students. While it was high for ecological and socio-economic items, it was markedly lower for institutional knowledge. Knowledge of relevant scientific concepts (conceptual knowledge) increased in the ecological and socio-economic domains but the effect was small. Conceptual knowledge in the socio-economical and institutional domains tended to be lower than ecological knowledge. Although there was certain improvement, student judgments on the efficacy of resource management options (procedural knowledge) differed strongly from expert judgments for beginners as well as for senior students. We conclude that many of the university students in the sampled programs displayed substantial gaps in their capacity to solve complex, real-world natural resource management problems. Specifically, the socio-economic and institutional knowledge domains—and their integration with ecological knowledge—may require attention by educational planners. Sustainability 2013-03-28 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041443 1443 1460 2071-1050 2013-03-28 doi: 10.3390/su5041443 Sebastian Koch Jan Barkmann Micha Strack Leti Sundawati Susanne Bögeholz http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1406 With declining system costs and assuming a short energy payback period, photovoltaics (PV) should, at face value, be able to make a meaningful contribution to reducing the emission intensity of Australia’s electricity system. However, solar is an intermittent power source and households remain completely dependent on a “less than green” electricity grid for reliable electricity. Further, much of the energy impact of PV occurs outside of the conventional boundaries of PV life-cycle analyses (LCA). This paper examines these competing observations and explores the broader impacts of a high penetration of household PV using Melbourne, Victoria as a reference. It concludes that in a grid dominated by unsequestered coal and gas, PV provides a legitimate source of emission abatement at high, but declining costs, with the potential for network and peak demand support. It may be technically possible to integrate a high penetration of PV, but the economic and energy cost of accommodating high-penetration PV erodes much of the benefits. Future developments in PV, storage, and integration technologies may allow PV to take on a greater long term role, but in the time horizon usually discussed in climate policy, a large-scale expansion of household PV may hinder rather than assist deep cuts to the emission intensity of Australia’s electricity system. Sustainability 2013-03-26 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041406 1406 1442 2071-1050 2013-03-26 doi: 10.3390/su5041406 Graham Palmer http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1387 Climate change is projected to increase the seasonality in river flows in the great river systems of Himalaya and impose challenges to regional food production. Since climate change increases the uncertainty in local weather patterns, people’s ability to maintain local agricultural production will probably depend on how flexible the local farming systems are to adjust to unpredictable changes. The objective of this paper is to investigate the flexibility of one such farming system which is located in Mustang, Nepal, Himalaya. Defining flexibility as “uncommitted potentialities for change” following Gregory Bateson, the paper identifies opportunities for change in the farming system, as well as factors that constrain flexibility. Further developing the concept of flexibility, it is suggested that flexibility may be analyzed in terms of scope, type and temporal flexibility. Although there are several underexploited resources in the studied farming system, the present situation is not regarded as one of irrational and suboptimal exploitation of resources. Instead, unexploited resources imply opportunities for change, which provide the system with flexibility to rapidly adjust agricultural production to varying and uncertain conditions of production. Sustainability 2013-03-25 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041387 1387 1405 2071-1050 2013-03-25 doi: 10.3390/su5041387 Nina Holmelin Tor Aase http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1372 Although pro-environmental behaviour is often believed to be difficult, aggravating, and potentially threatening one’s quality of life, recent studies suggest that people who behave in a more pro-environmental way are actually more satisfied with their lives. In this manuscript, we aim to explain this apparent paradox by reviewing theoretical arguments and empirical evidence for both sides of the coin: why would acting pro-environmentally decrease one’s well-being, and why would it increase one’s well-being? We conclude that part of the answer lies in a different view on what well-being entails, and more specifically, whether the focus is on hedonic well-being (i.e., feeling pleasure) or eudaimonic well-being (i.e., feeling meaningful). Sustainability 2013-03-25 5 4 Review 10.3390/su5041372 1372 1386 2071-1050 2013-03-25 doi: 10.3390/su5041372 Leonie Venhoeven Jan Bolderdijk Linda Steg http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/4/1356 Declarations for sustainability in higher education are often seen as a set of guiding principles that aid institutions of higher learning to incorporate the concept of sustainability into their various institutional dimensions. As the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development draws to a close and in the shadow of the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, it seems appropriate to re-evaluate how these declarations have changed over the past two decades. In this study, we apply critical discourse analysis to examine how sustainability and the university are socio-politically constructed within these documents. Our analysis uncovers evidence of ideological assumptions and structures that are potentially misaligned with notions of sustainability often discussed in the Sustainability in Higher Education (SHE) literature. It is not the purpose of this study to provide a definitive reading of the documents, but rather to ply a novel critical lens to help elucidate how some taken-for-granted assumptions present in the declarations may work against their stated goals. Sustainability 2013-03-25 5 4 Article 10.3390/su5041356 1356 1371 2071-1050 2013-03-25 doi: 10.3390/su5041356 Paul Sylvestre Rebecca McNeil Tarah Wright http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1340 Environmental sustainability of post mined limestone quarries often requires reclamation to a diverse woody plant community. Woody species diversity may be severely limited if only nursery stock is relied on for propagation material; thus other sources must be evaluated. To address woody species establishment and survival from different propagule sources at a limestone quarry in western Canada, native trees (4) and shrubs (3) were seeded and transplanted into amended substrates (wood shavings, clean fill, unamended control) in two seasons (spring, fall). Plant sources were nursery stock, local forest wildlings, seeds and forest soil (LFH mineral soil mix). Plant emergence, survival, height, health and browsing were evaluated over four years. Survival was greater with fall transplanted seedlings than with spring transplanted. Survival was greater for Picea glauca, Pseudotsuga menziesii and Populus tremuloides from nursery than local source stock. Seedlings from seeds and LFH did not survive for any of the species. Growth and survival were affected by bighorn sheep. Amendments did not improve plant establishment. Diversity of the woody plant community was increased at the quarry in spite of the severe conditions. Sustainability 2013-03-20 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031340 1340 1355 2071-1050 2013-03-20 doi: 10.3390/su5031340 Anayansi Cohen-Fernandez M. Naeth http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1317 Ecological restoration is an increasingly important component of sustainable land management. We explore potential facilitative relationships for enhancing the cost-effectiveness of restoring native forest understory, focusing on two factors: (1) overstory shade and (2) possible facilitation by a fern (Dryopteris wallichiana), one of few native colonists of pasture in our montane Hawaiˈi study system. We planted 720 understory tree seedlings and over 4000 seeds of six species under six planting treatments: a full factorial combination of low, medium and high light, situating plantings in either the presence or absence of a mature fern. After three years, 75% of outplanted seedlings survived. Seedling survivorship was significantly higher in the presence of a fern (79% vs. 71% without a fern) and in medium and low light conditions (81% vs. 64% in high light). Relative height was highest at low to medium light levels. After 2.2 years, 2.8% of the planted seeds germinated. We observed no significant differences in seed germination relative to light level or fern presence. Analyzing several approaches, we found nursery germination of seeds followed by outplanting ca. 20% less costly than direct seeding in the field. This study opens new questions about facilitation mechanisms that have the potential to increase the extent and effectiveness of restoration efforts. Sustainability 2013-03-20 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031317 1317 1339 2071-1050 2013-03-20 doi: 10.3390/su5031317 Rachelle Gould Harold Mooney Laura Nelson Robert Shallenberger Gretchen Daily http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1304 Efforts to sustain the earth’s biodiversity will include the establishment and manipulation of isolated rescue populations, derived either via in situ fragmentation, or under ex situ circumstances. For target species, especially those with limited propagation resources, major goals of such projects include both the optimization of population size and the preservation of genetic diversity. Such rescue populations will be founded in a variety of ways, but little is known about how the geometric patterning of founders can affect population growth and genetic diversity retention. We have developed a computer program, NEWGARDEN, to investigate this issue for plant species that vary in life history characteristics. To use NEWGARDEN, input files are created that specify the size and structure of the preserve, the positioning and genetic diversity of the founders, and life history characteristics of the species (e.g., age-specific reproduction and mortality; gene dispersal distances; rates of selfing, etc.). The program conducts matings with consequent offspring establishment such that the virtual population develops through generations as constrained by the input. Output statistics allow comparisons of population development for populations that differ in one or more input conditions. Here, with NEWGARDEN analyses modeling a triennial species, we show that rescue population project managers will often have to carefully consider the geometric placement of founders to minimize effort expended while maximizing population growth and conservation of genetic diversity, such considerations being heavily dependent on the life history characteristics of particular species. Sustainability 2013-03-20 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031304 1304 1316 2071-1050 2013-03-20 doi: 10.3390/su5031304 Steven Rogstad Stephan Pelikan http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1282 In French economist Serge Latouche’s 2009 book, Farewell to Growth, Latouche discusses “degrowth” in great detail, but he also explains how racial bias (and bias in general) in the world today has no place in a post-GDP world that embraces the principles outlined in “degrowth” or, as he calls it, décroissance. Latouche writes in Farewell to Growth that “we resist, and must resist all forms of racism and discrimination (skin color, sex, religion, ethnicity)”, biases he insist are “all too common in the West today.” Latouche’s ideas are important for considering “degrowth”, because racial bias and the historical problems presented by that bias, in the United States, continues despite efforts to address it in a significant manner. The World is Yours discusses “degrowth” , economic growth and racial inequality, seeking to not only provide a better understanding of the recent social, legal and political meaning of these terms, but also the difficulties presented by these ideas today in a world increasingly committed to economic growth, even at the expense of human existence. How can a new economic paradigm be pursued that is more sustainable? Will African-Americans and other groups of color and nations of color accept “degrowth” if the US begins to implement a real sustainable agenda that addresses racial inequality? Sustainability 2013-03-20 5 3 Essay 10.3390/su5031282 1282 1303 2071-1050 2013-03-20 doi: 10.3390/su5031282 Brian Gilmore http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1266 Human actions have contributed to numerous environmental challenges, including climate change and a significant loss of the world’s biodiversity. As the scientific study of human thought and behaviour, psychology has much to offer in better understanding these issues, as well as fostering greater sustainability in human actions. Yet, despite this recognition, and increasing calls from leaders in psychology education to produce graduates capable of applying their disciplinary knowledge to such real-world issues to solve worldwide behaviourally-based problems; this may not be adequately addressed in current psychology training. The present study assessed the content of all APAC (Australian Psychology Accreditation Council) approved psychology programs within Australia to determine the proportion which offered a psychology-focused course (unit) specifically in conservation or sustainability. Based on the data advertised through each university website, it appears that only one of 39 programs currently offers such a course, with one other university implementing a conservation psychology course in 2013. Thus 95% of current APAC-accredited programs in Australia do not have a strong focus on training psychology graduates to contribute to addressing these important issues. The need for greater integration of conservation psychology content into undergraduate psychology education in Australia and beyond is discussed. Sustainability 2013-03-19 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031266 1266 1281 2071-1050 2013-03-19 doi: 10.3390/su5031266 Elissa Pearson http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1256 In Scotland, homebuilders are requested to take valiant efforts to meet the government’s ambition that all newly built homes should be carbon-neutral by 2016/17. In delivering net zero carbon homes, the application of renewable energy technologies, such as solar photovoltaic (PV) power generating systems, is almost inevitable. Cost-effectiveness of emerging green technologies is a major factor that affects stakeholders’ housing design decision-making on whether or not the innovations can be applied in practical terms. Based on the United Kingdom (UK) government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for energy rating of dwellings, this study conducted a comparative value assessment of 19 design alternatives set. The options also included ones that encompassed both electricity and heat generation potentials of PV applications—i.e., air-sourced PV thermal (PV/T) systems. Based on the SAP simulation results, it concluded that operational energy use and cost, as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels, can drastically be reduced particularly when a PV/T system is combined with a low-energy and high-performance mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system that can extract fresh air heated by PV. This study led to visualizing the cost-effectiveness of PV/T MVHR systems and identifying the economic value over 10 years at the interest rate of 10%, based on an assumption that the innovations are applied to Scottish homes today. Sustainability 2013-03-19 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031256 1256 1265 2071-1050 2013-03-19 doi: 10.3390/su5031256 Masa Noguchi http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1234 The food system is facing unprecedented pressure from environmental change exacerbated by the expansion of agri-food corporations that are consolidating their power in the global food chain. Although Africa missed the Green Revolution and the wave of supermarket expansion that hit the West and then spread to Asia and Latin America, this is unlikely to continue. With a large proportion of sub-Saharan African countries’ GDP still heavily reliant on agriculture, global trends in agri-food business are having an increasing impact on African countries. South Africa, a leader in agribusiness on the continent, has a well-established agri-food sector that is facing increasing pressure from various social and environmental sources. This paper uses interview data with corporate executives from South African food businesses to explore how they are adapting to the dual pressures of environmental change and globalisation. It shows that companies now have to adapt to macro-trends both within and outside the formal food sector and how this in turn has repercussions for building sustainable farming systems—both small and large-scale. It concludes with the recognition that building a sustainable food system is a complex process involving a diversity of actors, however changes are already being seen. Businesses have strategically recognised the need to align the economic bottom line with social and environmental factors, but real sustainability will only happen when all stakeholders are included in food governance. Sustainability 2013-03-19 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031234 1234 1255 2071-1050 2013-03-19 doi: 10.3390/su5031234 Laura Pereira http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1211 Consumption is a transcending challenge for the 21st century that is stimulating research on multiple pathways required to deliver a more environmentally sustainable future. This paper is nested in what is a much larger field of research on sustainable consumption and reports on part of a major Australian Research Council study into the determinants of household resource consumption, based on a survey of 1,250 residents in Melbourne, Australia. Three environmental lifestyle segments are established that represent the spectrum of attitudes, opinions and intentions across the surveyed population: “committed” greens, “material” greens and “enviro-sceptics” (representing respectively 33.5%, 40.3% and 26.3% of the population). Each segment was found to display distinctive socio-demographic attributes, as well as urban geographies. However, few differences were found in relation to each segment’s actual consumption of energy, water, housing space, urban travel and domestic appliances. The research findings indicate that in these areas of urban resource consumption—all principal contributors to the ecological footprint of households—there are sets of factors at work that override attitudes, opinions and intentions as indicators of consumer behaviour. Some of these factors are information, organization and finance related and are the focus of much public policy. However, the persistence of well ingrained habits and practices among individuals and households and the lack of norms and values in western societies that explicitly promote environmental conservation among its population, are fundamentally involved in the attitude-action gap and constitute important avenues for future research and action. Sustainability 2013-03-19 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031211 1211 1233 2071-1050 2013-03-19 doi: 10.3390/su5031211 Peter Newton Denny Meyer http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1208 After a successful start in 2011, the 2nd World Sustainability Forum (WSF) was held on sciforum.net from 1–30 November 2012. More than 80 papers were presented and over 180 authors contributed to the multidisciplinary conference. The objective of this short report is to sum up the contributions and discussions of the 2nd World Sustainability Forum. It is organized as follows. First, some general information on the Forum is given, then a summary of the contributions to the different sections, as well as providing an overview of the discussions. A final section including an outlook to the 3rd World Sustainability Forum concludes the article. Sustainability 2013-03-19 5 3 Brief Report 10.3390/su5031208 1208 1210 2071-1050 2013-03-19 doi: 10.3390/su5031208 Sylvie Flämig Marc Rosen http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1188 Replacement of fossil carbon by renewable biomass-based carbon is an effective measure to mitigate CO2 emission intensity in the blast furnace ironmaking process. Depending on the substitution rate of fossil fuels, the required amount of biomass can be substantial. This raises questions about the availability of biomass for multiple uses. At the same time, the economic competitiveness of biomass-based fuels in ironmaking applications should also be a key consideration. In this assessment, availability of energy wood, i.e., logging residues, small-diameter wood and stumps, in Finland is discussed. Since biomass must be submitted to a thermochemical process before use in a blast furnace, the paper describes the production chain, from biomass to charcoal, and economics related to each processing step. The economics of biomass-based reducing agents is compared to fossil-based ones by taking into account the effect of European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The assessment reveals that there would be sufficient amounts of energy wood available for current users as well as for ironmaking. At present, the economics of biomass-based reducing agents in ironmaking applications is unfavorable. High CO2 emission allowance prices would be required to make such a scheme competitive against fossil-based reducing agents at current fuel prices. Sustainability 2013-03-19 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031188 1188 1207 2071-1050 2013-03-19 doi: 10.3390/su5031188 Hannu Suopajärvi Timo Fabritius http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1177 Active restoration is one strategy to reverse tropical forest loss. Given the dynamic nature of climates, human populations, and other ecosystem components, the past practice of using historical reference sites as restoration targets is unlikely to result in self-sustaining ecosystems. Restoring sustainable ecological processes like pollination is a more feasible goal. We investigated how flower cover, planting design, and landscape forest cover influenced bird pollinator visits to Inga edulis trees in young restoration sites in Costa Rica. I. edulis trees were located in island plantings, where seedlings had been planted in patches, or in plantation plantings, where seedlings were planted to cover the restoration area. Sites were located in landscapes with scant (10–21%) or moderate (35–76%) forest cover. Trees with greater flower cover received more visits from pollinating birds; neither planting design nor landscape forest cover influenced the number of pollinator visits. Resident hummingbirds and a migratory bird species were the most frequent bird pollinators. Pollination in the early years following planting may not be as affected by details of restoration design as other ecological processes like seed dispersal. Future work to assess the quality of various pollinator species will be important in assessing this idea. Sustainability 2013-03-19 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031177 1177 1187 2071-1050 2013-03-19 doi: 10.3390/su5031177 Catherine Lindell Ginger Thurston http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1161 Nowadays, the electric connection circuits of power plants (based on fossil fuels as well as renewable sources) entail generator circuit-breakers (GCBs) at the generator terminals, since the presence of that electric equipment offers many advantages related to the sustainability of a power plant. In an alternating current (a.c.) circuit the interruption of a short circuit is performed by the circuit-breaker at the natural passing through zero of the short-circuit current. During the current interruption, an electric arc is generated between the opened contacts of the circuit-breaker. This arc must be cooled and extinguished in a controlled way. Since the synchronous generator stator can flow via highly asymmetrical short-circuit currents, the phenomena which occur in the case of short-circuit currents interruption determine the main stresses of the generator circuit-breaker; the current interruption requirements of a GCB are significantly higher than for the distribution network circuit breakers. For shedding light on the proper moment when the generator circuit-breaker must operate, using the space phasor of the short-circuit currents, the time expression to the first zero passing of the short-circuit current is determined. Here, the manner is investigated in which various factors influence the delay of the zero passing of the short-circuit current. It is shown that the delay time is influenced by the synchronous machine parameters and by the load conditions which precede the short-circuit. Numerical simulations were conducted of the asymmetrical currents in the case of the sudden three-phase short circuit at the terminals of synchronous generators. Further in this study it is emphasized that although the phenomena produced in the electric arc at the terminals of the circuit-breaker are complicated and not completely explained, the concept of exergy is useful in understanding the physical phenomena. The article points out that just after the short-circuit current interruption by the generator the circuit-breaker (when the GCB has been subjected at the metal contact terminals to the high temperature of a plasma arc, up to 50,000 K) between its opened contacts, there arises the transient recovery voltage (TRV) which constitutes the most important dielectric stress after the electric arc extinction. Since the magnitude and shape of the TRV occurring across the generator circuit-breaker are critical parameters in the recovering gap after the current zero, in this paper, we model, for the case of the faults fed by the main step-up transformer, the equivalent configurations, with operational impedances, for the TRV calculation, taking into account the main transformer parameters, on the basis of the symmetrical components method. Sustainability 2013-03-19 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031161 1161 1176 2071-1050 2013-03-19 doi: 10.3390/su5031161 Cornelia Bulucea Marc Rosen Doru Nicola Nikos Mastorakis Carmen Bulucea http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1141 This paper argues that the contemporary growth paradigm needs to be reconsidered on a micro level of consumption and product service-systems. This becomes necessary since a dynamic link between macro strategies and micro implementation of sustainable growth is missing up to date. Therefore, mainstream sustainability strategies of efficiency and consistency are extended by sufficiency in order to integrate strategies for individual welfare within their social environment. Limits to and drivers for growth are revised and updated socially in terms of qualitative values, diminishing marginal utility or symbolic social distinction. We elaborate a definition of sustainable growth that fosters individual welfare by enhancing social enactment within the boundaries of environmental space. Shifting focus on social aspects in design fosters more sustainable production and consumption patterns while sustaining individual welfare. We derive latent indications for eco-intelligent product service-arrangements and evaluate to concepts by referring to introduced definitions and according indications. With doing so, we illustrate new pathways for the translation of sustainable growth and strategies into product service-systems. Sustainability 2013-03-19 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031141 1141 1160 2071-1050 2013-03-19 doi: 10.3390/su5031141 Christa Liedtke Johannes Buhl Najine Ameli http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1128 There is increasing interest in the role that schools can play in promoting education for sustainable development (ESD), and evidence is emerging that schools can be influential in the emerging agenda around the ecological, ethical and social aspects of food, diet and nutrition. With regard to such food sustainability issues, this paper analyses the role of the Food for Life Partnership national programme in supporting garden and farm-based learning activities in 55 primary schools in England, UK. Using a mixed methods approach, the study examined the programme’s implementation through staff perceptions and a range of school change indicators. The study found that the programme delivery was associated with widespread institutional reforms. According to staff, implementation of the programme provided a range of opportunities for pupils to learn about food production and sustainability, but addressing these issues was challenging for teachers and raised a number of questions concerned with effective, equitable and on-going implementation. At a pedagogical level, teachers also reflected on conceptually challenging aspects of food sustainability as a topic for primary school education. The study identified ways that ESD programmes could support schools to think about and implement learning opportunities as well as identifying significant barriers related to resourcing such programmes. Sustainability 2013-03-08 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031128 1128 1140 2071-1050 2013-03-08 doi: 10.3390/su5031128 Emma Weitkamp Mat Jones Debra Salmon Richard Kimberlee Judy Orme http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1114 The construction and service of urban infrastructure systems and buildings involves immense resource consumption. Cities are responsible for the largest component of global energy, water, and food consumption as well as related sewage and organic waste production. Due to ongoing global urbanization, in which the largest sector of the global population lives in cities which are already built, global level strategies need to be developed that facilitate both the sustainable construction of new cities and the re-development of existing urban environments. A very promising approach in this regard is the decentralization and building integration of environmentally sound infrastructure systems for integrated resource management. This paper discusses such new and innovative building services engineering systems, which could contribute to increased energy efficiency, resource productivity, and urban resilience. Applied research and development projects in Germany, which are based on integrated system approaches for the integrated and environmentally sound management of energy, water and organic waste, are used as examples. The findings are especially promising and can be used to stimulate further research and development, including economical aspects which are crucial for sustainable urban (re-)development. Sustainability 2013-03-07 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031114 1114 1127 2071-1050 2013-03-07 doi: 10.3390/su5031114 Thorsten Schuetze Joong-Won Lee Tae-Goo Lee http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1095 As it touches all aspects of human activity and society in general, energy has become an object of discourse. Two main discourses have formed on the use of energy: risk discourse and security discourse. While environmental changes and oil depletion continue, a new application for the term security has appeared: energy security. This concept can be interpreted within the terms of risk discourse, which is oriented towards rational consensus and decision making, or as an exercise of power, sovereignty and hegemony. The boundaries between interpretations are often unclear. Thus, in an institutional framework that has fragmented principles, norms and rules, opposing discourses will overlap. Political agents and institutions deploy strategies based on these discourses. With this overlapping of discourses, the performative powers of different institutions clash, thus creating conflictive fragmentation in a governance architecture. The purpose of this investigation is to analyze the use of, replication of, and ambiguities surrounding the concept of energy security, so as to understand how and why these discourses overlap and the profound consequences that this overlap may have for present and future energy use, environmental negotiations, and political climate. Sustainability 2013-03-07 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031095 1095 1113 2071-1050 2013-03-07 doi: 10.3390/su5031095 Luis Fernández Carril Roeb García Arrazola Julio Rubio http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1080 During the last decade, agriculture has lost its importance in many European mountain regions and tourism, which benefits from attractive landscapes, has become a major source of income. Changes in landscape patterns and elements might affect scenic beauty and therefore the socio-economic welfare of a region. Our study aimed at modeling scenic beauty by quantifying the influence of landscape elements and patterns in relationship to distance. Focusing on Alpine landscapes in South and North Tyrol, we used a photographic questionnaire showing different landscape compositions. As mountain landscapes offer long vistas, we related scenic beauty to different distance zones. Our results indicate that the near zone contributes by 64% to the valuation of scenic beauty, the middle zone by 22%, and the far zone by 14%. In contrast to artificial elements, naturalness and diversity increased scenic beauty. Significant differences between different social groups (origin, age, gender, cultural background) occurred only between the local population and tourists regarding great landscape changes. Changes towards more homogenous landscapes were perceived negatively, thus political decision makers should support the conservation of the cultural landscape. Sustainability 2013-03-07 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031080 1080 1094 2071-1050 2013-03-07 doi: 10.3390/su5031080 Uta Schirpke Sonja Hölzler Georg Leitinger Maria Bacher Ulrike Tappeiner Erich Tasser http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1067 As the current growth economy has created severe environmental pollution and unbalanced distribution of prosperity, there is an increasing amount of critical voices calling for a change. The new concept of degrowth addresses a fundamental change in political, economic and institutional levels underpinning different norms and values towards sustainability. Spatial planning institutions have a decisive role in the transition process insofar as they take decisions regarding the use of land and its attributed space. Especially in three areas spatial planning has influential potentials to stimulate the transition process towards degrowth by enhancing: (i) a sustainable use of renewable energy sources; (ii) sustainable settlement structures; and (iii) the creation of social capital by more community based facilities. The paper explores these possibilities for intervention and shows how spatial planning can have positive impacts on degrowth. Sustainability 2013-03-07 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031067 1067 1079 2071-1050 2013-03-07 doi: 10.3390/su5031067 Petra Wächter http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1049 International climate policy over the last 7–8 years has been characterized by the increasing involvement of developing countries. While COP-13 at Bali marked a stronger willingness to participate in mitigation efforts in principle, there are now numerous examples of domestic programs for mitigation by this group of countries. Brazil has gone furthest among developing countries, with a substantial voluntary commitment to reduce its emissions proclaimed in 2009. The dynamics behind the change in Brazil’s position are discussed, with a particular eye to the effects of international influences. In conjunction with important domestic changes, a set of interacting influences through a variety of pathways both changed preferences among important interest groups in Brazilian society towards favoring some kind of commitments and helped to change the structure of government forums and decision-making rules in a way that empowered reform-minded ministries. It is argued that this perspective, drawn from Peter Gourevitch’s idea of the “second image reversed”, is increasingly relevant for understanding the influence of the broad “regime complex” on climate change on politics in developing countries. Sustainability 2013-03-06 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031049 1049 1066 2071-1050 2013-03-06 doi: 10.3390/su5031049 Sjur Kasa http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1036 In Garrett Hardin’s popular essay on “The Tragedy of the Commons”, he presents a model of a shared commons where herdsmen graze their cattle to illustrate the tension between group and self-interest that characterizes so many social dilemmas. However, Hardin is not explicit that consumption can actually vary widely among herdsman, although later, when discussing population growth, he clarifies that “people vary”. People do indeed vary, and here we explore further the prevalence of asymmetrical contributions to the tragedy of the commons. We also provide several examples to demonstrate that asymmetries have been frequently underappreciated by conservation initiatives. Given that many of today’s major environmental problems, such as climate change, freshwater shortages, and overfishing, are problems of users or groups of users over-consuming common resources asymmetrically, we believe identifying patterns of consumption is a necessary first step in solving any social dilemma, and can help elucidate priority areas for conservation. Sustainability 2013-03-06 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031036 1036 1048 2071-1050 2013-03-06 doi: 10.3390/su5031036 Jennifer Jacquet David Frank Christopher Schlottmann http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/1011 Climate adaptation has emerged as a mainstream risk management strategy for assisting in maintaining socio-ecological systems within the boundaries of a safe operating space. Yet, there are limits to the ability of systems to adapt. Here, we introduce the concept of an “adaptation frontier”, which is defined as a socio-ecological system’s transitional adaptive operating space between safe and unsafe domains. A number of driving forces are responsible for determining the sustainability of systems on the frontier. These include path dependence, adaptation/development deficits, values conflicts and discounting of future loss and damage. The cumulative implications of these driving forces are highly uncertain. Nevertheless, the fact that a broad range of systems already persist at the edge of their frontiers suggests a high likelihood that some limits will eventually be exceeded. The resulting system transformation is likely to manifest as anticipatory modification of management objectives or loss and damage. These outcomes vary significantly with respect to their ethical implications. Successful navigation of the adaptation frontier will necessitate new paradigms of risk governance to elicit knowledge that encourages reflexive reevaluation of societal values that enable or constrain sustainability. Sustainability 2013-03-06 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5031011 1011 1035 2071-1050 2013-03-06 doi: 10.3390/su5031011 Benjamin Preston Kirstin Dow Frans Berkhout http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/997 Within conservation, the need to measure the impacts on people from conservation initiatives such as projects and programs is growing, but understanding and measuring the multidimensional impacts on human well-being from conservation initiatives is complex. To understand the constituent components of human well-being and identify which components of well-being are most common, we analyzed 31 known indices for measuring human well-being. We found 11 focal areas shared by two or more indices for measuring human well-being, and the focal areas of living standards, health, education, social cohesion, security, environment, and governance were in at least 14 of the 31 human well-being indices. We examined each of the common focal areas and assessed its relevance to measuring the human well-being impacts of a conservation initiative. We then looked for existing indices that include the relevant focal areas and recommend the use of Stiglitz et al. (2009)—a framework designed to measure economic performance and social progress—as a starting place for understanding and selecting human well-being focal areas suitable for measuring the impacts on people from a conservation initiative. Sustainability 2013-03-06 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5030997 997 1010 2071-1050 2013-03-06 doi: 10.3390/su5030997 Craig Leisher Leah Samberg Pieter Van Buekering M. Sanjayan http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/982 This study explores relationships between upper secondary school students’ understanding of prices and environmental impacts. The study uses responses from 110 students to problems in which they were asked to explain differences in prices and also to express and justify opinions on what should be the difference in prices. Very few students expressed an environmental dimension in their understanding of price. A few students suggested that environmental impact influenced price by raising demand for “Environmentally friendly products”. A few students suggested that ‘environmentally friendly products’ had higher prices because they were more costly to produce. We found no examples of students combining both lines of explanation. However, nearly half of the students believed that prices should reflect environmental effects, and this reasoning was divided between cases where the point was justified by a broad environmental motivation and cases where the point was justified in relation to incentives–to get consumers to act in a more environmentally friendly way. Sustainability 2013-03-04 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5030982 982 996 2071-1050 2013-03-04 doi: 10.3390/su5030982 Caroline Ignell Peter Davies Cecilia Lundholm http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/980 We must develop a serious approach to the fact that emotions, thoughts, assessments, and decisions originate in the mind, and as such are firmly based in human beings. We sense, experience, and act on the basis of internal processes, but which criteria constitute the basis of these processes and how does the internal “control system”, which we all have, function? Moreover, we need to take a closer look at the ways in which the organic and sustainable mechanisms of our living organisms are optimized and explicated. Otto Scharmer calls this process going from ego-system-awareness to eco-system-awareness. These are some of the questions which are at the heart of this book. Sustainability 2013-03-04 5 3 New Book Received 10.3390/su5030980 980 981 2071-1050 2013-03-04 doi: 10.3390/su5030980 Shu-Kun Lin http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/955 There is increasing interest in long-term plans that can adapt to changing situations under conditions of deep uncertainty. We argue that a sustainable plan should not only achieve economic, environmental, and social objectives, but should be robust and able to be adapted over time to (unforeseen) future conditions. Large numbers of papers dealing with robustness and adaptive plans have begun to appear, but the literature is fragmented. The papers appear in disparate journals, and deal with a wide variety of policy domains. This paper (1) describes and compares a family of related conceptual approaches to designing a sustainable plan, and (2) describes several computational tools supporting these approaches. The conceptual approaches all have their roots in an approach to long-term planning called Assumption-Based Planning. Guiding principles for the design of a sustainable adaptive plan are: explore a wide variety of relevant uncertainties, connect short-term targets to long-term goals over time, commit to short-term actions while keeping options open, and continuously monitor the world and take actions if necessary. A key computational tool across the conceptual approaches is a fast, simple (policy analysis) model that is used to make large numbers of runs, in order to explore the full range of uncertainties and to identify situations in which the plan would fail. Sustainability 2013-03-04 5 3 Review 10.3390/su5030955 955 979 2071-1050 2013-03-04 doi: 10.3390/su5030955 Warren Walker Marjolijn Haasnoot Jan Kwakkel http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/934 This is the second of two articles that explores the coastal innovation paradox and imperative. Paradoxically, innovation is necessary to escape the vulnerability trap created by past innovations that have degraded coastal ecosystems and imperil coastal livelihoods. The innovation imperative is to reframe and underpin business and technology with coherent governance innovations that lead to social transformation for coastal sustainability. How might coastal management help to facilitate this transition? It is argued that coastal management needs to be reconceptualised as a transformative practice of deliberative coastal governance. A foundation comprising four deliberative or process outcomes is posited. The point of departure is to build human and social capital through issue learning and improved democratic attitudes and skills. Attention then shifts to facilitating community-oriented action and improving institutional capacity and decision-making. Together, these endeavours enable improved community problem-solving. The ultimate process goal is to build more collaborative communities. Instituting transformative deliberative coastal governance will help to stimulate innovations that chart new sustainability pathways and help to resolve the coastal problems. This framework could be adapted and applied in other geographical settings. Sustainability 2013-03-04 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5030934 934 954 2071-1050 2013-03-04 doi: 10.3390/su5030934 Bruce Glavovic http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/912 Coasts are the primary habitat for humanity. Throughout history, coastal cities and towns have been a crucible for innovation. However, business and technological innovations imperil coastal communities, because prevailing practices are unsustainable. Consequently, coasts are the frontline in humanity’s endeavour to learn to live sustainably in the face of global change. Governance innovations have done little to stem the tide of unsustainable coastal activities. Paradoxically, innovation is necessary to navigate a way out of the vulnerability trap that past innovation has unwittingly set. This is the first of two articles that examine, in turn, the coastal innovation paradox and the coastal innovation imperative. This article explains the coastal problématique and innovation paradox. Then, the nature and dimensions of innovation are outlined. Notwithstanding wholesale innovations in governance and public sector management, the sustainability crisis is deepening. Why is it so difficult to mobilize effective collective action for coastal sustainability? Locating coastal management within the wider milieu of evolving and multi-layered governance helps to answer this question. Resolving the coastal innovation paradox necessitates coherent innovation across governance episodes, processes and cultures. The second article posits a transformative foundation of deliberative coastal governance to foster innovation and facilitate the transition to coastal sustainability. Sustainability 2013-03-04 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5030912 912 933 2071-1050 2013-03-04 doi: 10.3390/su5030912 Bruce Glavovic http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/896 One of the factors that led to the wide rejection of the 1972 “Limits to Growth” report was the inability for most people to understand the model used in the study. In the present paper, the author builds simple “mind sized” world models designed to convey to readers the main qualitative features of world modeling. These models turn out to provide results comparable to real-world historical cases and are similar to those generated by the more complex “World3” model used for the “Limits to Growth” study. Sustainability 2013-03-04 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5030896 896 911 2071-1050 2013-03-04 doi: 10.3390/su5030896 Ugo Bardi http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/882 In Washington, over fifty percent of the wheat produced under rainfed conditions receives less than 300 mm of annual precipitation. Hence, a winter wheat-summer fallow cropping system has been established to obtain adequate moisture for winter wheat production. Current tilled fallow systems receive significant soil erosion through both wind and water. As a result, no-till chemical fallow systems are being adopted to mitigate erosion concerns. The objective of this study was to evaluate current Pacific Northwest cultivars under no-till chemical fallow and tilled fallow systems to identify cultivars adapted to a late-planted no-till system. Twenty-one cultivars were planted in a split-plot design with fallow type as the main plot and genotype as the sub-plot. Four replications were planted at two locations over three years. Data was collected on heading date, grain yield and grain volume weight. Analysis of variance was conducted on data from each year and location. Results were significant for all traits. Cultivars in the late-planted no-till system yielded an average of 39% less than the tilled fallow system. It is evident that cultivars vary in their adaptability and yield stability across production systems. Chukar and Eltan displayed the highest levels of yield stability, and growers who wish to plant winter wheat in a late-planted no-till system may benefit from choosing these cultivars. Sustainability 2013-02-28 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5030882 882 895 2071-1050 2013-02-28 doi: 10.3390/su5030882 Ryan Higginbotham Stephen Jones Arron Carter http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/841 The aim of this paper is to suggest and discuss policy instruments that could lead towards a more sustainable waste management. The paper is based on evaluations from a large scale multi-disciplinary Swedish research program. The evaluations focus on environmental and economic impacts as well as social acceptance. The focus is on the Swedish waste management system but the results should be relevant also for other countries. Through the assessments and lessons learned during the research program we conclude that several policy instruments can be effective and possible to implement. Particularly, we put forward the following policy instruments: “Information”; “Compulsory recycling of recyclable materials”; “Weight-based waste fee in combination with information and developed recycling systems”; “Mandatory labeling of products containing hazardous chemicals”, “Advertisements on request only and other waste minimization measures”; and “Differentiated VAT and subsidies for some services”. Compulsory recycling of recyclable materials is the policy instrument that has the largest potential for decreasing the environmental impacts with the configurations studied here. The effects of the other policy instruments studied may be more limited and they typically need to be implemented in combination in order to have more significant impacts. Furthermore, policy makers need to take into account market and international aspects when implementing new instruments. In the more long term perspective, the above set of policy instruments may also need to be complemented with more transformational policy instruments that can significantly decrease the generation of waste. Sustainability 2013-02-27 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5030841 841 881 2071-1050 2013-02-27 doi: 10.3390/su5030841 Göran Finnveden Tomas Ekvall Yevgeniya Arushanyan Mattias Bisaillon Greger Henriksson Ulrika Gunnarsson Östling Maria Söderman Jenny Sahlin Åsa Stenmarck Johan Sundberg Jan-Olov Sundqvist Åsa Svenfelt Patrik Söderholm Anna Björklund Ola Eriksson Tomas Forsfält Mona Guath http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/805 Land managers in the western US are beginning to understand that early 20th century forests displayed complex patterns of composition and structure at several different spatial scales, that there was interplay between patterns and processes within and across scales, and that these conditions have been radically altered by management. Further, they know that restoring integrity (see Definition of Terms) of these conditions has broad implications for the future sustainability (see Definition of Terms) of native species, ecosystem services, and ecological processes. Many are looking for methods to restore (see Definition of Terms) more natural landscape patterns of habitats and more naturally functioning disturbance regimes; all in the context of a warming climate. Attention is turning to evaluating whole landscapes at local and regional scales, deciphering recent changes in trajectories, and formulating landscape prescriptions that can restore ecological functionality and improve landscape resilience (see Definition of Terms). The business of landscape evaluation and developing landscape prescriptions is inherently complex, but with the advent of decision support systems, software applications are now available to conduct and document these evaluations. Here, we review several published landscape evaluation and planning applications designed with the Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) software, and present an evaluation we developed in support of a landscape restoration project. We discuss the goals and design of the project, its methods and utilities, what worked well, what could be improved and related research opportunities. For readability and compactness, fine and broad-scale landscape evaluations that could be a part of multi-scale restoration planning, are not further developed here. Sustainability 2013-02-25 5 3 Article 10.3390/su5030805 805 840 2071-1050 2013-02-25 doi: 10.3390/su5030805 Paul Hessburg Keith Reynolds R. Salter James Dickinson William Gaines Richy Harrod http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/789 Waste and materials management, land use planning, transportation and infrastructure including water and energy can have indirect or direct beneficial impacts on the environment and public health. The potential for impact, however, is rarely viewed in an integrated fashion. To facilitate such an integrated view in support of community-based policy decision making, we catalogued and evaluated associations between common, publically available, Environmental (e), Health (h), and Sustainability (s) metrics and sociodemographic measurements (n = 10) for 50 populous U.S. cities. E, H, S indices combined from two sources were derived from component (e) (h) (s) metrics for each city. A composite EHS Index was derived to reflect the integration across the E, H, and S indices. Rank order of high performing cities was highly dependent on the E, H and S indices considered. When viewed together with sociodemographic measurements, our analyses further the understanding of the interplay between these broad categories and reveal significant sociodemographic disparities (e.g., race, education, income) associated with low performing cities. Our analyses demonstrate how publically available environmental, health, sustainability and socioeconomic data sets can be used to better understand interconnections between these diverse domains for more holistic community assessments. Sustainability 2013-02-22 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020789 789 804 2071-1050 2013-02-22 doi: 10.3390/su5020789 Jane Gallagher Elaine Hubal Laura Jackson Jefferson Inmon Edward Hudgens Ann Williams Danelle Lobdell John Rogers Timothy Wade http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/779 Instrumental arguments linking inequality to environmental sustainability often suppose a negative relationship between inequality and social cohesion. While social cohesion is difficult to measure, there are measures of a narrower concept, social trust, and empirical studies have shown that social trust is negatively related to inequality. In this paper we test whether at least part of the observed relationship may be explained by income level, rather than income distribution. We use individual response data from the World Values Survey at the income decile level, and find evidence that income level is indeed important in explaining differences in levels of social trust, but it is insufficient to explain all of the dependence. In the sample used for the study, we find that both income level and income distribution help explain differences in social trust between countries. Sustainability 2013-02-21 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020779 779 788 2071-1050 2013-02-21 doi: 10.3390/su5020779 Eric Kemp-Benedict http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/774 The publication Corporate Fraud and Internal Control contains essential guidance for companies to examine and improve their fraud programs: Corporate governance legislation has become increasingly concerned with the ongoing resilience of organizations and, particularly, with their ability to resist corporate fraud from the lowest levels to the upper echelons of executive management. It has become unacceptable for those responsible for corporate governance to claim, "I didn't know". Corporate Fraud and Internal Control focuses on the appropriateness of the design of the system of internal controls in fraud risk mitigation, as well as the mechanisms to ensure effective implementation and monitoring on an ongoing basis. Sustainability 2013-02-19 5 2 New Book Received 10.3390/su5020774 774 778 2071-1050 2013-02-19 doi: 10.3390/su5020774 Shu-Kun Lin http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/749 This paper develops mathematical models of the tragedy of the commons analogous to ecological models of resource consumption. Tragedies differ fundamentally from predator–prey relationships in nature because human consumers of a resource are rarely controlled solely by that resource. Tragedies do occur, however, at the level of the ecosystem, where multiple species interactions are involved. Human resource systems are converging rapidly toward ecosystem-type systems as the number of exploited resources increase, raising the probability of system-wide tragedies in the human world. Nevertheless, common interests exclusive of exploited commons provide feasible options for avoiding tragedy in a converged world. Sustainability 2013-02-18 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020749 749 773 2071-1050 2013-02-18 doi: 10.3390/su5020749 Peter Roopnarine http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/724 This study investigates the impact of climate change and land use change on water resources and food security in Jordan. The country is dominated by arid climate with limited arable land and water resources, where the per capita share of water is less than 145 m3/year. The study focused on crop production and water resources under trends of anticipated climate change and population growth in the country. Remote sensing data were used to determine land use/cover changes and rates of urbanization, which took place at the cost of the cultivable land. Recession of irrigated areas led to lesser food production and food security. Outputs from crop production and water requirements models, in addition to regression analysis, were used to estimate the projected increase in agricultural water demand under the scenarios of increased air temperature and reduced rainfall by the years 2030 and 2050. Results indicated that problems of water scarcity and food insecurity would be exacerbated by climate change and increased population growth. To move from the tragedy of the commons towards transcendence, the study emphasized the need for adaptive measures to reduce the impacts of climate change on water resources and food security. The challenge, however, would remain the development and the efficient use of new water resources as a means for future sustainable development. Sustainability 2013-02-15 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020724 724 748 2071-1050 2013-02-15 doi: 10.3390/su5020724 Jawad Al-Bakri Mohammad Salahat Ayman Suleiman Marwan Suifan Mohammad Hamdan Saeb Khresat Tarek Kandakji http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/711 Measures of sustainable behavior (SB) usually include the self-report of activities aimed at the conservation of the natural environment. The sustainability notion explicitly incorporates both the satisfaction of human needs and the need of conserving the natural environment. Yet, the assessment of sustainable behaviors rarely considers the protection of the social environment as situation to investigate. In this paper, we propose the use of an instrument assessing SB, which includes the report of pro-ecological and frugal actions in addition to altruistic and equitable behaviors. The responses provided by 807 Mexican undergraduates to a questionnaire investigating those four instances of SB were processed within a structural equation model. Emotional (indignation due to environmental destruction, affinity towards diversity, happiness) and rational (intention to act) factors assumedly linked to sustainable behavior were also investigated. Significant interrelations among pro-ecological, frugal, altruistic and equitable behaviors resulted, suggesting the presence of a higher-order-factor that we identified as SB. This factor, in turn, significantly correlated with the rest of the investigated pro-environmental factors. Sustainability 2013-02-15 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020711 711 723 2071-1050 2013-02-15 doi: 10.3390/su5020711 César Tapia-Fonllem Victor Corral-Verdugo Blanca Fraijo-Sing Maria Durón-Ramos http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/695 Achieving sustainability-related targets in construction projects is increasingly becoming a key performance driver. Yet sustainability is a complex concept in projects and there are many diverse stakeholders. Some stakeholders are generally recognized as important, i.e., the client and main contractor, yet there are others not always perceived as such and whose absence from the decision-making processes may result in a failure to address sustainability issues. Hence there is a need for a systematic approach to engage with stakeholders with high salience in relation to sustainability. This paper reports the results of an exploratory study involving interviews with construction project practitioners that are involved in sustainability in some way. Data were collected from the practitioners in terms of the processes for engaging with stakeholders to deliver sustainability. The data suggests six steps to a stakeholder engagement process: (i) identification; (ii) relating stakeholders to different sustainability-related targets; (iii) prioritization; (iv) managing; (v) measuring performance; and (vi) putting targets into action. The results suggest that understanding the different sustainability agendas of stakeholders and measuring their performance using key performance indicators are important stages to be emphasized in any stakeholder engagement process to achieve sustainability-related goals. Sustainability 2013-02-13 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020695 695 710 2071-1050 2013-02-13 doi: 10.3390/su5020695 Menoka Bal David Bryde Damian Fearon Edward Ochieng http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/664 Forty years ago, the results of modeling, as presented in The Limits to Growth, reinvigorated a discussion about exponentially growing consumption of natural resources, ranging from metals to fossil fuels to atmospheric capacity, and how such consumption could not continue far into the future. Fifteen years earlier, M. King Hubbert had made the projection that petroleum production in the continental United States would likely reach a maximum around 1970, followed by a world production maximum a few decades later. The debate about “peak oil”, as it has come to be called, is accompanied by some of the same vociferous denials, myths and ideological polemicizing that have surrounded later representations of The Limits to Growth. In this review, we present several lines of evidence as to why arguments for a near-term peak in world conventional oil production should be taken seriously—both in the sense that there is strong evidence for peak oil and in the sense that being societally unprepared for declining oil production will have serious consequences. Sustainability 2013-02-12 5 2 Review 10.3390/su5020664 664 694 2071-1050 2013-02-12 doi: 10.3390/su5020664 Robert Brecha http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/654 Human isolation in mountain areas has an extra cost for the people living there, because they occasionally have to face harsh environmental conditions. Such adaptation to the environment can be faced in several ways, and in situ landrace conservation is a proposed strategy that concerns food acquisition and maintenance. However, human isolation could also be affected as a result of residing inside a protected area. In this paper, we assess the correlation between the in situ landraces conserved by farmers and the location of the farms inside or outside of a protected area (Montseny Mountains Biosphere Reserve and Natural Park). The variables of isolation, calculated as the time needed to reach the nearest market and the effect of altitude, were also considered. We interviewed 28 farmers, 12 inside and 16 outside of the protected area, and identified a total of 69 landraces. Those farms located inside the boundaries of the Natural Park retained more landraces than those located outside. There was also a positive and significant correlation between the landraces cultivated and the degree of isolation. The effect of altitude did not appear to be a relevant variable. Finally, a total of 38 landraces were located only on farms inside the Natural Park, 13 were found outside and 18 were cropped in both territories. Sustainability 2013-02-11 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020654 654 663 2071-1050 2013-02-11 doi: 10.3390/su5020654 Martí Boada Jordi Puig Carles Barriocanal http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/643 In a rapidly changing world, sustainability, if it can be said to exist at all, is concept that has attained mythic status, often pursued and rarely reached. In order to improve our capability to cope with environmental problems, adopting an Ecosystem Approach has been suggested. One of the major challenges in the implementation of this new paradigm relates to control of externalities. The recognition and quantification of externalities is often cast as valuing the unmarketable, and there are several approaches that have been proposed. Here, we analyze the opportunity to “feed” the economic valuation with ecological concepts. From an ecological perspective, the energy required to sustain a biomass unit at a given trophic level (TL) is the same, whatever the species. We build on this central tenet of ecology to assess the value of a TL unit for each trophic position using fish market data. The results obtained were then used to assign a value to each species living in a given habitat, together with consideration of their ecological role within the community. Estimates of both natural capital and functional value were applied to assess the ecological impacts of mechanical clam harvesting versus the multi-species artisanal fishery in the Venice lagoon. Results are discussed in relation to possible contribution to the implementation of a different management strategy. Sustainability 2013-02-06 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020643 643 653 2071-1050 2013-02-06 doi: 10.3390/su5020643 Fabio Pranovi Gianluca Sarà Piero Franzoi http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/629 Adaptive co-management is a governance approach gaining recognition. It emphasizes pluralism and communication; shared decision-making and authority; linkages within and among levels; actor autonomy; and, learning and adaptation. Adaptive co-management is just starting to be applied for climate change adaptation. In drawing upon adaptive co-management scholarship and a case in progress of application for climate change adaptation in Niagara, Canada, key considerations for the Barents Euro-Arctic Region are identified. Realistic expectations, sensitivity to context, and cultivating conditions for success are highlighted as key considerations for future efforts to implement adaptive co-management approaches in the Barents Region. Sustainability 2013-02-05 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020629 629 642 2071-1050 2013-02-05 doi: 10.3390/su5020629 Ryan Plummer Julia Baird http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/617 The purpose of this study was to (1) discover consumer purchasing behaviors while shopping as a tourist and shopping at home, and (2) investigate tourist shopping preferences for an ideal shopping environment. A sample of 1,235 respondents participated in this study. Survey participants were asked to evaluate what store attributes they desired and what sources of information they used while selecting a store to shop in during their trips. Results indicate that consumers utilized various shopping channels while shopping in various environments. Also, different types of consumers exhibited clear preferences toward their ideal shopping environment. The results of this study are helpful for future service providers, tourism businesses, and tourism retailers to plan product development, provide better services, and equip a wider range of service skills. Sustainability 2013-02-05 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020617 617 628 2071-1050 2013-02-05 doi: 10.3390/su5020617 Rachel Chen http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/592 Tropical highland regions are experiencing rapid climate change. In these regions the adaptation challenge is complicated by the fact that elevation contrasts and dissected topography produce diverse climatic conditions that are often accompanied by significant ecological and agricultural diversity within a relatively small region. Such is the case for the Choke Mountain watersheds, in the Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia. These watersheds extend from tropical alpine environments at over 4000 m elevation to the hot and dry Blue Nile gorge that includes areas below 1000 m elevation, and contain a diversity of slope forms and soil types. This physical diversity and accompanying socio-economic contrasts demand diverse strategies for enhanced climate resilience and adaptation to climate change. To support development of locally appropriate climate resilience strategies across the Blue Nile Highlands, we present here an agroecosystem analysis of Choke Mountain, under the premise that the agroecosystem—the intersection of climatic and physiographic conditions with agricultural practices—is the most appropriate unit for defining adaptation strategies in these primarily subsistence agriculture communities. To this end, we present two approaches to agroecosystem analysis that can be applied to climate resilience studies in the Choke Mountain watersheds and, as appropriate, to other agroecologically diverse regions attempting to design climate adaptation strategies. First, a full agroecoystem analysis was implemented in collaboration with local communities. It identified six distinct agroecosystems that differ systematically in constraints and adaptation potential. This analysis was then paired with an objective landscape classification trained to identify agroecosystems based on climate and physiographic setting alone. It was found that the distribution of Choke Mountain watershed agroecosystems can, to first order, be explained as a function of prevailing climate. This suggests that the conditions that define current agroecosystems are likely to migrate under a changing climate, requiring adaptive management strategies. These agroecosystems show a remarkable degree of differentiation in terms of production orientation and socio-economic characteristics of the farming communities suggesting different options and interventions towards building resilience to climate change. Sustainability 2013-02-05 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020592 592 616 2071-1050 2013-02-05 doi: 10.3390/su5020592 Belay Simane Benjamin Zaitchik Mutlu Ozdogan http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/590 Occupy Education is motivated by the sustainability crisis and energized by the drive for social justice that inspired the Occupy movement. Situated within the struggle for sustainability taking place amid looming resource shortages, climate change, economic instability, and ecological breakdown, the book is a timely contribution to community education and action. It opens a whole realm of integrated theory to educators and sustainability activists-and demonstrates how that theory can be moved into practice. Occupy Education is an excellent text for courses in sustainability studies, social philosophy, globalization, social justice, food system praxis, sustainability education, political economy, and environmental studies. Sustainability 2013-02-04 5 2 New Book Received 10.3390/su5020590 590 591 2071-1050 2013-02-04 doi: 10.3390/su5020590 Shu-Kun Lin http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/570 Current patterns of “move-in move-out” hypermobility are perfectly exemplified by residential tourism: the temporary or permanent mobility of relatively well-to-do citizens from mostly western countries to a variety of tourist destinations, where they buy property. The mobility of residential tourists does not stand alone, but has broader chain effects: it converts local destinations into transnational spaces, leading to a highly differentiated and segmented population landscape. In this article, residential tourism’s implications in terms of local society in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, are examined, starting from the idea that these implications should be viewed as complex and traveling in time and space. Mobile groups, such as residential tourists, can have an important local participation and involvement (independently of national citizenship), although recent flows of migrants settle more into compatriot social networks. The fact that various migrant populations continually travel back and forth and do not envision a future in the area may restrict their opportunities and willingness for local involvement. Transnational involvement in itself is not a problem and can be successfully combined with high local involvement; however, the great level of fragmentation, mobility, temporariness and absenteeism in Guanacaste circumscribes successful community organizing. Still, the social system has not completely dissolved. Sustainability 2013-02-04 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020570 570 589 2071-1050 2013-02-04 doi: 10.3390/su5020570 Femke van Noorloos http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/560 If we wish to understand how our species can adapt to the coming tide of environmental change, then understanding how we have adapted throughout the course of evolution is vital. Evolutionary biologists have been exploring these questions in the last forty years, establishing a solid record of evidence that conventional, individual-based models of natural selection are insufficient in explaining social evolution. More recently, this work has supported a growing consensus that our evolution, in which we have expressed extra-ordinary adaptive capacities, can best be explained by “Multi-level Selection”, a theory that includes the influence of both genes and culture to support unique adaptive capacities premised on pro-social behaviours and group selection, not individual-level competition for survival. Applying this scholarship to contemporary concerns about adapting to environmental change may be quite fruitful for identifying sources of vulnerability and adaptive capacity, thereby informing efforts to enhance the likelihood for sustainable futures. Doing so, however, requires that we bridge the gap between evolutionary biology, and the social sciences study of sustainability. Sustainability 2013-02-04 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020560 560 569 2071-1050 2013-02-04 doi: 10.3390/su5020560 Jeffrey Andrews Debra Davidson http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/524 Over 50% of world’s population presently resides in cities, and this number is expected to rise to ~70% by 2050. Increasing urbanization problems including population growth, urban sprawl, land use change, unemployment, and environmental degradation, have markedly impacted urban residents’ Quality of Life (QOL). Therefore, urban sustainability and its measurement have gained increasing attention from administrators, urban planners, and scientific communities throughout the world with respect to improving urban development and human well-being. The widely accepted definition of urban sustainability emphasizes the balancing development of three primary domains (urban economy, society, and environment). This article attempts to improve the aforementioned definition of urban sustainability by incorporating a human well-being dimension. Major problems identified in existing urban sustainability indicator (USI) models include a weak integration of potential indicators, poor measurement and quantification, and insufficient spatial-temporal analysis. To tackle these challenges an integrated USI model based on a hierarchical indices system was established for monitoring and evaluating urban sustainability. This model can be performed by quantifying indicators using both traditional statistical approaches and advanced geomatic techniques based on satellite imagery and census data, which aims to provide a theoretical basis for a comprehensive assessment of urban sustainability from a spatial-temporal perspective. Sustainability 2013-02-01 5 2 Review 10.3390/su5020524 524 559 2071-1050 2013-02-01 doi: 10.3390/su5020524 Li Shen Jared Kyllo Xulin Guo http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/496 In this paper, the regional Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) is compiled for Flanders for the period 1990–2009. The ISEW is a measure of economic welfare in that it measures the contribution of a country’s or region’s economy to the overall level of well-being of its citizens. It does so by comparing the benefits and the costs of economic activities rather than simply looking at the market value of all final goods and services produced in an economy (Gross Domestic Product-GDP). The ISEW for Flanders shows that the per capita level of sustainable economic welfare in the region decreased between 1990 and 2009. The drop in the ISEW/capita is caused by a deterioration of the net international investment position of Belgium (which is divided over the different regions in the country on a per capita basis) and by an increase in the income inequalities in Flanders. To a lesser extent, the increase of the environmental costs (climate change and the use of non-renewable energy resources) also contributed to the decrease in the ISEW per capita. In the last four years of the study period, the level of sustainable economic welfare in the Flemish region started to rise again, even in 2008 and 2009 during the economic recession. Sustainability 2013-02-01 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020496 496 523 2071-1050 2013-02-01 doi: 10.3390/su5020496 Brent Bleys http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/478 This paper compares two rivers, Tana River in Northern Norway and Columbia River on the northwest coast of the United States of America. Both rivers host indigenous populations, the Sámi and the Nez Perce, whose cultural and material existence depends upon salmon. Because these people live indigenously within highly industrial, postcolonial societies, their lives have been part of larger economic, political and legal structures for substantial periods of time. In these rivers, peoples have been, and are currently dealing with the possibility of salmon extinction. This article is concerned with how such a crisis has been interpreted and acted upon within two nation’s natural-resource management regimes. We observe how the threat of extinction has initiated commotion where nature, economies, legal instruments, politics and science have come into play, in ways that reveal differences in the Norwegian and American constellations of interests and powers, manifested as differences in natural resource management regimes’ hierarchies of positions. The outcome is the protection of different entities, which could be labeled cultural and biological sustainability. In the Columbia River, cultural sustainability was promoted while in the Tana, biological sustainability became prioritized. By way of our comparison we ask if the protection of one kind of sustainability has to be to the detriment of the other. Sustainability 2013-01-31 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020478 478 495 2071-1050 2013-01-31 doi: 10.3390/su5020478 Gro Ween Benedict Colombi http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/2/456 The Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami event on the 26 December 2004 has provided a unique and valuable opportunity to evaluate the performance of various structures, facilities and lifeline systems during the tsunami wave attacks. There are especially meaningful observations concerning the structural changes due to the tsunami forces, which open up a wide area of research to develop the mitigation procedure. The business restoration process of business companies in terms of buildings, facilities and lifelines have shown greater research interest. In this study, we investigated the restoration process of business sectors in East and South coastal region in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. A field survey was conducted in East and South coast of Sri Lanka, in order to study the affecting parameters to damage assessment in the restoration process of the business companies. The results of the questionnaire-based field survey are then compared with the statistical analysis results. Finally, the factors affecting the restoration process after the tsunami are identified. As a main conclusion, financial support could be the most important reason for delays in restoration. Moreover, it has been observed that the tsunami inundation level of higher than one meter may have had more effect concerning the damage to the structures and requires additional time for restoration than other areas. Sustainability 2013-01-31 5 2 Article 10.3390/su5020456 456 477 2071-1050 2013-01-31 doi: 10.3390/su5020456 Chandana Parape Chinthaka Premachandra Masayuki Tamura Abdul Bari Ranjith Disanayake Duminda Welikanna Shengye Jin Masami Sugiura