Sustainability: Articles and Web Resources

Sustainable development has been a local public policy concern for nearly three decades. Accordingly, the demand for hiring sustainability professionals is increasing within local governments. However, the job of a municipal sustainability manager is notably understudied as extant literature provides little clarity on who fills these positions, what their job entails, and how they perform their job.

While acknowledging the need for “sustainability,” this paper summarizes the problems that have been encountered in our understanding and use of this concept. It explores the efforts of others to define the concept within the context of specific disciplinary areas and sets forth a proposal for a basic understanding of the term “environmental sustainability” as an expansion of our common perception of the nature of human activity so as to more clearly connect it with the ecological concept of interdependence and to serve as a goal for environmental managers.

A review of the different narratives about food systems is proposed. The way sustainability is defined in those narratives is reviewed. Trade-offs between the different dimensions of sustainability are unavoidable. A framework identifying how to transition to sustainable food systems is elaborated. The concept of food system has gained prominence in recent years amongst both scholars and policy-makers.

Thousands of government officials, environmental activists, business leaders and other delegates from nearly 200 countries are in Honolulu for 10 days to shape the direction of global conservation and sustainable development. This is the first time the eco-summit is being held in the U.S. Organizers say one of the reasons the Aloha state was chosen to host the quadrennial conference is because it’s been a model for incorporating indigenous culture into its conservation initiatives. A shining example of this is Limahuli Garden and Preserve, on the island of Kauai.

This archipelago’s society before Western contact developed a large, self-sufficient population, yet imposed a remarkably small ecological footprint.

International conservation leaders and the State of Hawaii are looking at what our islands’ pre-contact heritage may have to teach us.

Richard Heede has become a thorn in the side of the fossil fuel industry.

A virile alternative to doomerism is emerging from the Pacific Islands

Government and nongovernmental interests alike have been preparing for the coming climate summit in Glasgow starting November 1. Here’s some essential homework for getting the most out of COP26.