Sustainable Development: Principles, Frameworks, and Case Studies (Social Environmental Sustainability)

225 Pages·2010·1.64 MB·English

by  Okechukwu Ukaga

SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Principles, Frameworks, and Case Studies
Edited by
Okechukwu Ukaga, Chris Maser,
and Mike Reichenbach
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data
Sustainable development : principles, frameworks, and case studies / edited by
Okechukwu Ukaga, Chris Maser, Mike Reichenbach.
p. cm. -- (Social environmental sustainability)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4398-2062-9
1. Sustainable development. 2. Environmental economics. 3. Environmental
policy--Social aspects. I. Ukaga, Okechukwu, 1961- II. Maser, Chris. III. Reichenbach,
Mike. IV. Title. V. Series.
HC79.E5S86467 2010
338.9’27--dc22 2009030998
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
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© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Contents
Series Editor’s Note .........................................................................................vii
Preface .................................................................................................................ix
Okechukwu Ukaga, Chris Maser, and Michael Reichenbach
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................xvii
The Editors .......................................................................................................xix
Contributors ..................................................................................................xxiii
1. If the GDP Is Up, Why Is the GPI Down? From Normative
Debate to Progressive Democratic Economics .....................................1
Jason Venetoulis
2. Sustainable Development and the Genuine Progress
Indicator: An Updated Methodology and Application in
Policy Settings ..........................................................................................17
John Talberth and Clifford Cobb
3. Refining the Ecological Footprint ........................................................57
Jason Venetoulis and John Talberth
4. Learning by Experiencing: Systemics, Futures Thinking, and
Scenarios....................................................................................................95
Richard Bawden and Michael Reichenbach
5. Using Lean Thinking Approaches to Speed Sustainable
Development ............................................................................................115
James R. Sinton
6. Working Together to Sustain Local Economy, Environment,
and Community: The University of Minnesota Regional
Sustainable Development Partnerships ...........................................135
Kathy Draeger, Linda Ulland, Okechukwu Ukaga, and
Michael Reichenbach
7. The Holistic Management Framework: Ensuring Social,
Environmental, and Economically Sound Development ..............149
Allan Savory and Jody Butterfield
v
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
vi Contents
8. Taking Personal Action toward Sustainability ...............................177
Viviane Simon-Brown and Chris Maser
9. Participatory Leadership for Sustainable Development ...............187
Okechukwu Ukaga, Charles Moumouni, Michael Reichenbach, and
Chris Maser
Index ................................................................................................................201
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Series Editor’s Note
We (Okechukwu Ukaga, Chris Maser, and Michael Reichenbach) have
come together out of a sense of trusteeship for the generations of children
of today, tomorrow, and beyond to create a book that will help protect for
them a future of good quality.
The purpose of our book is to frame in the positive some of the most
important, human-related aspects of sustainable development. There
is great power in learning to think in a positive mode. In so doing,
members of a community can create a shared vision whereby they not
only understand their community from several vantage points, but
also understand that much of the confusion in communication comes
from trying to move away from negatives. Trying to move away from a
negative precludes people from saying what they really mean because
they are focused on what they do not want. As long as people express
what they do not want, it is virtually impossible to figure out what they
do want because they are “symptomatic” in their thinking as opposed
to “systemic.”
In other words, we continually focus on and attempt to treat the symp-
toms of today’s emerging global crises, but we refuse to deal with the
cause—which in part is the opulence of our Western industrial lifestyle.
These crises include a warming climate, per-capita shrinking of natu-
ral resources due to a human population that is rapidly exceeding the
global carrying capacity, and the ever-growing disparity between the rich
and poor peoples and nations. We cannot, however, move away from an
unwanted, negative circumstance. We can only move toward a desired,
positive outcome.
To help us elucidate our common journey toward a positive future for
all generations, we have invited distinguished practitioners and scholars
to contribute their expertise to help reveal the multidimensional nature
of sustainable development. Their approaches include strong theoretical
and historical pieces as well as salient case examples, which illustrate the
outcome of each model or framework.
Chris Maser
Series Editor
vii
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Preface
Okechukwu Ukaga, Chris Maser, and Michael Reichenbach
An environmental disaster may be looming within many of our readers’
lifetimes and certainly within the lifetime of the next generation. The full
impacts of Earth climate change are not known, nor can they be known.
Carbon emissions are linked to Earth warming, the impacts of which
include rising oceans, flooded coastlines, changes to where and how we
grow our crops, and changes in the ecology of the planet. As we write this
in the summer of 2009, the Earth economic system is in the process of cor-
rection. While we will, as in the past, recover from this latest downturn, it
is yet another powerful reminder that economic growth cannot continue
indefinitely. To be sustainable, all societies must adjust to new realities,
which include changing ecosystems and natural limits to growth. How
do we address these issues and maintain an equitable way of life for all
on the planet? The solutions are embedded in the principles of sustainable
development. Hence, this book presents frameworks and cases that have
been used or could be used to address impacts of climate change, chal-
lenging economic conditions, social problems, and other complex issues
related to our future.
While the basic idea behind sustainable development is not new, espe-
cially among traditional or indigenous societies, the present-day concept of
sustainability can be traced to the United Nations Conference on Human
Environment, held June 5–16, 1972, in Stockholm, which highlighted
the link between the environment and development in the Earth arena
(United Nations General Assembly 1972, 148). The World Commission on
Environment and Development (1987, 383) further catalyzed the Earth con-
versation about sustainable development, which it defined in their publi-
cation Our Common Future as “development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.” This recognizes the complex interrelationships among
the environment, people, and development, as well as the past, present,
and future generations.
Sustainability, itself a transcendent term, is an ideal toward which we
strive and not an endpoint. It has many interrelated dimensions (e.g., eco-
logical, economic, social, political, and epistemological) and calls for a
participatory, holistic, interdisciplinary approach to program planning,
implementation, and evaluation. Sustainable development requires the
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© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC