Growing literature on the green energy/capitalism, renewable/clean energy, and environmentally friendly production and consumption processes make sustainability concept more visible. Researches and studies about these concepts help to provide policy recommendations for the future. The book contributes to the growth and development literature by evaluating different development approaches. Additionally, given policy recommendations to support developing countries in the sustainable development process is another strength of this book.

As the outcome of the seventh international congress, the papers in this volume cover a wide range of topics related to the main theme of the conference, titled “Current Debates in Social Sciences”, and basically focuses Sustainability in Architecture, Urban Design and Environmental Studies. In this context, the articles in the book draw attention to the different aspects and scales about design and planning processes including architecture, urban design and environment studies. We believe that these studies would contribute to the development of debates in social sciences and encourage interdisciplinary approaches.

Can there be a common definition of sustainable development? Views on sustainable development range from those of the mainstream economist to the hardened environmentalist – via many shades of green. This book offers a clear overview of the debates and sets out the various theories, providing an accessible introduction for all who now need to understand how sustainable development affects their working practices. The text is structured around key questions on the concept of sustainable development: Does it define a starting point, a process, or the end-goal? Can it provide a coherent theory? Is it a workable concept in practice? Is it ‘balanced’ or does ‘balance’ form part of the solution? Mark Mawhinney explores the various strands of thought that claim to define sustainable development - as a concept, a theory or as a set of principles. He also highlights gaps in understanding that often arise and attempts to break down the barriers to a common understanding - redefining current concepts in terms that will help to progress the debate on sustainable development.

Sustainable Energy Management: Planning, Implementation, Control and Strategy, Second Edition provides the key concepts and practical knowledge needed to successfully plan, implement and control sustainable energy technologies. The book provides new paradigms for measuring energy sustainability, pragmatic methods for applying renewable resources, efficiency improvements, and unique insights on managing risk. It highlights the possible financial and practical impacts of these activities, as well as the methods for their calculation. This new edition provides updated guidelines for planning, analyzing, developing and optimizing sustainable energy production projects in the real world, also presenting real-life examples of the topics covered in each chapter.With its focus on real-life issues and discussions of practical challenges, this book is an ideal resource for engineers, researchers and energy managers developing and rolling out sustainable energy practices. Included case studies will help benchmark decisions, especially in the book's new chapter on energy security. - Presents completely updated content, including new data, tables and figures - Contains new, global case studies in every chapter - Provides new content on energy security, advanced methodologies for energy saving and energy efficiency, integration of renewables, GHG emissions, and future challenges - Explores real-life pathways for transitioning to sustainable energy practices - Features case studies from around the world, explaining the whys and hows of successes and failures - Covers a broad spectrum of energy development issues, from planning through realization, emphasizing efficiency, scale-up of renewables, risk mitigation and energy security

The future of economic growth is one of the decisive questions of the twenty-first century. Alarmed by declining growth rates in industrialized countries, climate change, and rising socio-economic inequalities, among other challenges, more and more people demand to look for alternatives beyond growth. However, so far these current debates about sustainability, post-growth or degrowth lack a thorough historical perspective. This edited volume brings together original contributions on different aspects of the history of economic growth as a central and near-ubiquitous tenet of developmental strategies. The book addresses the origins and evolution of the growth paradigm from the seventeenth century up to the present day and also looks at sustainable development, sustainable growth, and degrowth as examples of alternative developmental models. By focusing on the mixed legacy of growth, both as a major source of expanded life expectancies and increased comfort, and as a destructive force harming personal livelihoods and threatening entire societies in the future, the editors seek to provide historical depth to the ongoing discussion on suitable principles of present and future global development. History of the Future of Economic Growth is aimed at students and academics in environmental, social, economic and international history, political science, environmental studies, and economics, as well as those interested in ongoing discussions about growth, sustainable development, degrowth, and, more generally, the future.

This book discusses selected current issues in the field of public finance and public administration. These current issues include budget right, global public goods, financial reporting, control of the activities, robot tax, arms trade, tax expenditures and mandatory private pension system, public and private partnerships, fiscal space, ethics, governance, urban safety and metropolitan municipality. For this reason, the book is capable of appealing to everyone interested in these fields. It will also contribute to researchers who want to improve themselves in public finance and public administration.

Sustainable development is capturing the attention of planners, politicians and business leaders. Within the academic sphere its study is increasingly breaching disciplinary boundaries to become a focus of attention for natural and social scientists alike. But in studying such a key concept, it is vital that there is a clear definition of what it means, how it is applied on the ground, and the influence it exerts upon people's perceptions of change in the physical environment, economic activity and society. Exploring Sustainable Development is a major new text which provides a multifaceted introduction to key areas of study in this field, examining sustainability at the full range of spatial scales from the local to the global. Building on existing theory it demonstrates the unique contributions that thinking geographically about space, place and human-environment relationships can bring to the analysis of sustainable development. This book explores different interpretations of sustainable development in both theory and practice, in developed and developing countries, and in rural and urban areas. It pays particular attention to the local, national and international politics of implementation, the future of climate and energy, the role of business, and different conceptions of agricultural sustainability. This wide-ranging text is ideal for undergraduates and postgraduates in geography, environmental science, development studies, and related social and political sciences.

The ongoing social crises and moral conflicts evident in global social policy debates are addressed in this timely volume. Leading interdisciplinary scholars focus on the ‘social’ of social policy, which is increasingly conceived in a globalised form, as new international agreements and global goals engender social struggles. They tackle pressing ‘social questions’, many of which have been exacerbated by COVID-19, including growing inequality, changing world population, ageing societies, migration and intersectional disadvantage. This ground-breaking volume critically engages with contested conceptions of ‘the social’ which are increasingly deployed by international institutions and policy makers. Focusing on ‘social sustainability’, ‘social cohesion’, ‘social justice’, ‘social wellbeing’ and ‘social progress’ this text is even more crucial as policy makers look to accelerate socially sustainable solutions to the world’s biggest challenges.

A number of arguments are made by an international group of authors in this though provoking book about an understudied and socially important context. A future in which financial wealth transfers across the North-South divide from richer to poorer countries is far from sufficient for the relief of poverty and the pursuit of sustainability. Caution must be taken when growth is achieved through the liquidation of the natural wealth of poorer nations, in order to maintain a global economic status quo. Neither poverty reduction nor sustainability will ultimately be achieved. The financial collapse and social upheaval that might result will make the most recent economic downturn look trivial by comparison. What is more urgently needed instead, as argued in this book, is collaboration for sustainability and innovation in the global South, especially building on models originally developed in the South that are transferable to the North. In pursuit of a sustainable and more equitable future, the book examines such topics as Cross-Border Innovation in South-North Fair Trade Supply Chains; Potential Pollution Prevention Programs in Bangladesh; Digital Literacy and Social Inclusion in the South through Collective Storytelling and Eco-innovation at the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’. Many of these stories and have not been told and need greater visibility. The book contributes in a meaningfully to the discussion of how innovation and sustainability science can benefit both sides in South-North innovation collaborations. It provides useful introduction to the topics, as well as valuable critiques and best practices. This back-and-forth flow of ideas and innovation is itself new and promising in the modern pursuit of a fair and sustainable future for all regions of our planet.

Tourism, one of the world’s leading industries, has propelled countries into recovery from economic recession. As a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral, holistic, and systemic industry, tourism also uniquely placed to address the concerns of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the relationships between tourism, sustainability, and sustainable development are the subjects of deep study, the direct positive effects of tourism on SDGs remain underdiscussed. The Handbook of Research on the Role of Tourism in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals is a collection of innovative research that explores sustainable practices within the tourism industry. While highlighting a broad range of topics including economic growth, education, and production patterns, this book is ideally designed for engineers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, executives, advocates, researchers, academicians, and students.