Human capital and ICT have a significant role in determining human development. The impacts of ICT and human capital on green growth and environmental sustainability should be explored for sustainable economic development. This research contributes to the literature on the role of ICTs and human capital in the determination of green growth and environmental performance. Based on time-series data 1990–2019, the study intends to investigate the impact of ICTs and human capital on environmental and green growth (...) performance for China. The study reports that ICTs tend to reduce CO2 emissions and improve green growth in the long-run. However, education reduces CO2 emissions in the long-run but does not produce any significant impact on green growth in the long-run. It is suggested that government should invest in environmental efficiency and environmental technologies simultaneously with human capital that could significantly contribute to pollution reduction. Lastly, policies to increase human capital should be implemented simultaneously with policies to promote ICTs contribution in order to confirm green growth and environmental protection. (shrink)

Nnewi is situated some 30 kilometres South East of Onitsha in Anambra State in the southeastern part of Nigeria. This highly commercial town has undergone rapid urbanisation and industrialisation within the past two decades, since the end of the 1967–1970 Nigerian civil war. The Igbo community of the study area had traditionally employed bioconversion methods and other indigenous technology to process or recycle bio and non-degradable wastes. Industrialisation has enjoyed priority status in this locality as a requirement for modernisation and (...) economic progress. The rapid urbanisation, aggressive industrialisation, and the attendant uncontrolled population growth have had a deleterious impact on the environment. There is now a wide range of industrial wastes that are released daily into the environment. Effects of these activities on the socio-cultural practices of the people, plant genetic resources and the environment are highlighted. In addition to palliative measures suggested here, a call is made to revisit the successful indigenous waste treatment and management technology formerly practised by the Igbo community. The importance of combining modern biotechnological approaches with the indigenous technology, norms and practices of Nwewi people to effect suitable waste treatment and management, as well as improving the living habits and the education of the people about their environment, is recommended. (shrink)

The study of the interrelationship between ethnomedicinal knowledge and socio-cultural values needs to be studied mainly for the simple reason that culture is not only the ethical imperative for development, it is also the condition of its sustainability; for their exists a symbiotic relationship between habitats and cultures. The traditional communities around Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary of Uttarakhand state in India have a rich local health care tradition, which has been in practice for the past hundreds of years. The (...) present study documents the Ethnomedicinal uses of 54 medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) along with their botanical and vernacular names, family, habit, habitat, threat status, collection season, purpose of collection, quantity, conservation practices, market potential and part(s) used in traditional health care system. The documented species belonging to 38 families have been used to cure more than 47 different kinds of ailments. These MAPs collected from the wild in a particular season and used as per the method prescribed by traditional herbal healers (Vaidyas) that provide effective results. Perception of local people during field trips based on socio-demographic characters showed them to prefer herbal system of treatments and they understood the status of traditional health care systems in the region. The study reveals that approximately 70 % population of the study area depend on herbal systems of treatments and preferred to visit Vaidyas for curing a variety of ailments because the traditional system of medicine is one of the most important prevailing systems in the region where modern health care facilities are rare or in very poor conditions. The organic cultivation practices of selected MAPs were demonstrated to rural inhabitants through capacity building training program and participatory action research framework approaches for sustainability and enhancement of livelihood security. A series of workshops and village level meetings on traditional health care systems were organized and forming/registered a strong association of Vaidyas for making their traditional system of health care more practical and effective. The study emphasizes the potentials of the ethnomedicinal research, conservation practices, socio-cultural and religious ethics for promoting traditional plants based treatments and also the need to document the indigenous knowledge for scientific validation before its industrial application. (shrink)

This paper examines the socio-economic and environmental implications of soy development in Santarém, Pará, located in the Brazilian Amazon. The settlement history of the region contributes directly to the way in which soy agriculture is currently proceeding in Santarém. Government policies and perspectives have been shaped by a history of agrarian colonization of Amazon forests, and the small farmers, or colonos, who are now being bought out by soy agribusiness are also rooted in this history. As a means (...) of ascertaining the current state and interaction of soy actors with the burgeoning soy-based economy in the area, field research was conducted on the role of primary and secondary forests for soy production. Research also included an analysis of valuation discourses – that is, how the differing soy actors (local government, agribusiness, conservation NGOs, and small farmers) assign value to types of forests and their different interpretations of what constitutes environmental degradation. The ways in which these different actors assign such values to forests and how they structure the definition of environmental degradation is a key factor in determining who “wins” and “loses” in the realm of Amazon development. Significant environmental and socio-economic implications of soy expansion, especially for the colonos, are not taken into account because the dominant rhetoric of Amazonian development ignores their contribution to social and ecological diversity. This omission keeps colono communities living at poverty level and even exacerbates colono poverty under the soy development project. The colonos and their representatives are responding by setting forth their own, competing valuations of primary and secondary forests that contrast sharply with state soy growing schemes and NGO plans for “sustainable soy.” These have their roots in local knowledge and best practices. (shrink)

In this paper, we aim to provide an in-depth discussion of nickel's crucial position in the manufacturing sector in the context of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which represent growing environmental imperatives. These SDGs have gained unprecedented urgency due to looming concerns of incompletion. It should be emphasized that the information compiled herein is derived from authoritative sources and is limited in its ability to give comprehensive coverage within the scope of this article. The raised issues are (...) of broad interest in terms of environmental dynamics in the global nickel mining, extraction, and refining arenas. As a result, the content given below may not precisely comply with the local situations dictated by geographical, geological, and socio-economic characteristics. The fundamental goal of this discussion is to clarify the economic-environmental interaction and the pragmatic meanings of the term "sustainable" in the context of the nickel industry. (shrink)

Abstract:The increasing needs for housing in Ghana is a result of urbanisation which is also a sign of improvement in the socio-economic lives of the people. Building of houses usually replaces prime vegetation land. The rate of indiscriminate devegetation for housing purpose in Ghana is as a result of the lack of a comprehensive land use policy implementation in the country. It is clearly stated in the country's land use policy that ‘the principle of optimum usage for all types (...) of land uses will be assured by the state and that, the state will ensure every socioeconomic activity is consistent with sound land use through sustainable land use planning in the long-term. But, evidence in the country is contrary to what is stipulated in the land use policy document. The study therefore, contributes to the environment-spatial land use conflict debate. It does this by focusing on the fast rate at which agricultural land at the fringes of urban Ghana is mainly used for housing purposes. It uses Accra and Tamale as examples to argue that if the content of the land use policy is not implemented to minimise the excessive devegetation for housing, the country stands the chance of losing utterly, its natural vegetation, especially, the forest vegetation. With the help of old maps, GIS and researchers’ observations, the study describes how the land use cover in areas close to the cities of Accra and Tamale has largely been replaced by housing. It ends by advocating sound sustainable housing typologies which will reduce the rate of devegetation in the country. (shrink)

Our socio-economic innovation ecosystem is riddled with ever-increasing complexity, as we are faced with more frequent and intense shocks, such as COVID-19. Unfortunately, addressing complexity requires a different kind of economic governance. There is increasing pressure on economics to not only going beyond its traditional mainstream boundaries but also to tackle real-world problems such as fostering structural change, enhancing sustained growth, promoting inclusive development in the era of the digital economy, and boosting green growth, while addressing the divide between (...) the financial sector and the real economy. This book demonstrates how to apply complexity science to economics, in an effective and instructive way, in the interest of life-enhancing policies. The book revolves around the non-negligible problem of why economics, to date, seems to be insufficient in guiding economic governance to navigate through real and ever-intensifying complex socio-economic and environmental challenges. With its interdisciplinary approach, the book scans the nuanced nexus between complexity and economics by incorporating, as well as transcending the state-of-the-art literature. It identifies ways to trigger opportunities for behaviour change in the economic profession with respect to how to teach and what, introducing and developing further complexity economics thinking with the configuration of its main principles and outlining the silhouette of next-generation economic governance. The book deciphers recommendations both for economic theory, practice, and education and economic governance. It will be of interest to students, scholars, academics, think tank researchers and economic policy practitioners at the national and/or supranational level. Olivér Kovács is a senior research fellow in the Department of Economics and International Economics at the University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary. (shrink)

Well-intended natural resource policies that ignore the complexity of socio-ecological systems too often threaten local values and opportunities for sustainable development. Upland areas throughout Indonesia provide examples of complex socio-ecological systems experiencing rapid socio-economic and environmental transformations in response to interactions between development policies and local agendas. Broad natural resource policies influence socio-ecological systems in different ways. In some cases, there are converging national and local goals, while in others the goals of national policy conflict (...) with local aspirations. This study identifies how broadscale policies could respond to the unique characteristics of upland areas to optimise development outcomes and avoid unintended risks for people and the landscape. The theory of reflexive modernity is utilised to illustrate how two national policies, the Community Forestry initiative and the Irrigation Reservoir program, largely discount the complexity of local values in the uplands of Pagar Alam, Indonesia. We identify local farmer aspirations through an analysis of development narratives and relate how they are impacted upon by the two policies. Our findings indicate that dominant development goals and associated sustainability pathways diverge in a range of ways from local farmer values and aspirations. We suggest that policymakers take more consideration of four interacting elements, namely: local ecological traits; local values and institutions; the multiple development pathways; and exogenous market drivers that affect local development, to promote sustainability and increase the likelihood of achieving all desired policy outcomes. (shrink)

This study examines the multiple dimensions of the agdal system, a traditional Berber form of environmental management that regulates access to communal natural resources so as to allow the regeneration of natural resources. In fact, this ingenious system of agro-pastoral land rotation is ultimately beneficial for the conservation of the bio-physical environment, the performance of the present-day local economy and the maintenance of prevailing social cohesion and cultural coherence. Hence, agdals constitute a key element for the reinforcement of the (...) sustainability of existing agro-pastoral societies and ecosystems, but need to be better understood in order to explore necessary adaptations in the changing world of today. (shrink)

Revolutions and follow-up conflicts in nord-african countries in the last few years could be interpreted also as a consequence of overreaching limits of growth. These revolutions could be named as revolutions of limits and they already changed the characters of political and military conflicts. The analysis is based on Habermas´s identification of crises tendencies which could threat the stability and also identity of the political system. According to the types of crises tendencies dominated in different types of societies, different types (...) of revolutions or transformations which could threat the identity of the political system could be identified, too. Resource depletion and climate changes and their environmental and economic consequences deepen existing social conflicts that were in the past reasons for revolutions and social transformations. The author of the paper shows that the common reason of economic and environmental crises is an imperative of growth. But all types of social formation, institutions and civilizations are also determined by the imperative of sustainability. The current crisis is then characterized as a display of antagonism between the imperative of growth and imperative of sustainability. This antagonism creates a new category of revolutions and conflicts in states that reach environmental and economic limits of growth. These conflicts result from food and water shortages and could bring a growing instability into the world or lead to the deep transformation of the global socio-political system. Otherwise there is a threat of collapse of the industrial civilization. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence is poised to eliminate millions of jobs, from finance to truck driving. But artisanal products are valued precisely because of their human origins, and thus have some inherent “immunity” from AI job loss. At the same time, artisanal labor, combined with technology, could potentially help to democratize the economy, allowing independent, small-scale businesses to flourish. Could AI, robotics and related automation technologies enhance the economic viability and environmental sustainability of these beloved crafting professions, perhaps even expanding (...) their niche to replace some job loss in other sectors? In this paper, we compare the problems created by the current mass production economy and potential solutions from an artisanal economy. In doing so, the paper details the possibilities of utilizing AI to support hybrid forms of human–machine production at the microscale; localized and sustainable value chains at the mesoscale; and networks of these localized and sustainable producers at the macroscale. In short, a wide range of automation technologies are potentially available for facilitating and empowering an artisanal economy. Ultimately, it is our hope that this paper will facilitate a discussion on a future vision for more “generative” economic forms in which labor value, ecological value and social value can circulate without extraction or alienation. (shrink)

Economic growth as we know it today cannot persist indefinitely if it entails continuous degradation of natural resources and the environment. While in a few countries around the world it appears that environmental degradation has been the result of rapid economic growth, in the vast majority of the developing countries the environment has been equally spoiled despite slow or even negative economic growth. This book provides new insights on the common roots of economic stagnation, poverty and environmental degradation (...) which, unfortunately, generally reside in misguided government policies and priorities. By doing this, the volume seeks to provide a broader policy option framework than those found in conventional policy analyses, mainly dominated by the "Washington Consensus". It shows that a major omission of the conventional view is that governments tend to allocate government expenditures in a biased way favouring subsidies to the economic elites to the detriment of investments in public goods, including human capital, R&D, as well as the development of institutions, which are vital for long run growth, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. (shrink)

Numerous business research models or frameworks have been developed to explain, predict, and prescribe the decisions and actions behind changing organizational behaviors to advance sustainability, including sustainability issues related to businesses. The objective of this paper is to recognize that the integration of business sustainability models for the purpose of highlighting the need and prescriptions for more urgent and effective socio-economic and environmental crises resolution is a social innovation that can be encouraged both within and (...) outside of business academics. The scope of the paper is the full set of current and near-future entwined socio-economic and environmental challenges that appear to need to be addressed holistically by entities at the multiple levels of organization , individual/community, and society. (shrink)

Humankind is currently witnessing, and shaping, the most significant and rapid paradigm shift in human history - a paradigm shift of major demographic, economic, ecological, and geo-political dimensions. For the first time in human history - we are faced not with just one crisis - but a confluence of several crises; crises that are not related to a single tribe or community - a single nation -or a single region of the world - but are each global in scale. To (...) meet the challenges of these global crises will require an equally historic paradigm shift; a paradigm shift with a strong environmental ethic that restores ecological balance and integrity to our failing ecosystems, and that addresses the critical issue of climate change; a paradigm shift toward an economic system that brings about an end to poverty — and a paradigm that brings an end to war as a means to solving conflict, as it is only through a global family in harmony and peace with itself, that we can solve the unprecedented global issues facing our one common home, planet earth - and our one common future as a global family. The travel and tourism industry has, and will continue to play a vital and leading role toward this paradigm shift, and as the world's largest industry involving virtually every nation in the world — will be the central pillar of a Peace through Commerce movement. The dramatic growth of tourism in the past 60 years is one of the most remarkable economic and social phenomena of our time. The industry has grown from a total of 25 million international arrivals in 1950 to a projected 1 billion international arrivals in 2010, and a further projection to 1.6 billion by 2020. Beginning with the emergence of "Ecotourism" in the late 1980' s, there are an increasing number of tourism market segments which fall within a broad category that can be called "Peace Tourism," and classified within a framework that includes peace within ourselves, peace with others, peace with nature, peace with past generations, peace with future generations, and peace with our Creator. Since its birth in 1986, the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) has been promoting these values of tourism together with its vision of Travel and Tourism as the world's first "Global Peace Industry" - an industry that promotes and supports the belief that every traveler is potentially an "Ambassador for Peace." This "higher purpose of tourism" includes the key role of tourism in promoting international understanding and collaboration among nations; environmental protection and preservation of biodiversity; enhancing cultures and valuing heritage; contributing to sustainable development and poverty reduction; and healing wounds of conflict. (shrink)

This paper tries to characterize the factors determining human relations with its environment and to identify the drives of those behavioral patterns and “praxis”. One scrutinizes the physiological and psychological factors that influence those drives, and tries to determine ways of overriding instinctive drives in favor of rational, sustainable ones. It focuses its attention on the way the different ecosystemic, economic and socio-cultural systems work, and pin-points the critical issues in view of the development of sustainable behavioral patterns. Also (...) the values that must build the new behavioral paradigm, as well as the ways to ensure the evolutionary quantum-leap necessary to ensure this sustainable condition, and the fulfilment, at every level, the different needs of humans and human societies, are analyzed. In conclusion, it stresses the fact that any reliable and long lasting change towards a sustainable behavior must start at the individual and the close social groups levels, and of the development of new factors of self-fulfillment and gratification, able to support and foster that change. The proposed epistemological approach is particularly innovative, precisely because of this emphasis on the individual drives and the way they determine the global patterns of environmental use, as well as the way they can evolve into a more rational character. In short, the paper focuses itself in the way man can evolve from its natural animal instincts and drives toward more rational ones, humanizing its behavior and turning, therefore, into an able actor of the process of sustainability building. (shrink)

The subject of the paper is an attempt of investigation the idea of sustainable development as an instantiation the principle of justice. Occurring global threads at the and of twenty century as consequences of rapid waste of natural resources, growth of impurity of environment, increase of human population, unsatisfied basic needs of people and global destabilization of natural and socio-economical systems made different environments seek for rational solutions of those problems. Finally as a result of notified by international (...) comities propositions the idea of sustainable development came into existence. Great impact on arising the idea of sustainable development came from so called Brundtland Rapport in 1987. In the document it was stated that one of the conditions of sustaining development in the World requires such development which would satisfy needs of present gen-erations without depriving future generations abilities and satisfactions of their needs. In reference to the idea of sustainable development two-fold purposes were undertaken: (1) instantiation of distributive justice criteria, and (2) explaining validity of future generation justice. (shrink)

This article explores urban dwellers’ perceptions of climate change and their propensity to act ecologically. It argues that a better understanding of people's moral and psychological functioning toward ecology could guide the creation of more suitable environmental management strategies. The study is based on semi-structured interviews investigating the environmental values of urban inhabitants; the interviews were conducted in 2018, in a coastal French area affected by recurring floods. Our results showed no significant relationships among the three studied factors (...) of experiencing natural hazards, becoming aware of sustainable issues and developing intentions to ‘act green’. In fact, these last two aspects depended mainly on informal education and socio-economic conditions. Using a ‘heuristic of fear’ (Jonas 1984) to develop sustainability practices is therefore inefficient, at best. Instead, practical efforts should be centred on upbringing, education, self-efficacy and socio-economic and political regulations, especially in a country like France where people are historically used to welcoming collective regulations by the Welfare State. (shrink)

The relationship between people and nature is one of the most important current issues of human survival. This circumstance makes it necessary to educate young people who are receptive to global challenges and ready to solve the urgent problems of our time. The purpose of the article is to analyze the experience of the environmental behavior of young people in the metropolis. The authors studied articles and monographs that contain Russian and international experience in the environmental behavior of (...) citizens. The following factors determine people’s behavior: the cognitive capabilities of people who determine the understanding and perception of nature and the value-affective component that determines the attitude towards nature. The next task of the study is surveying young people through an online survey and its analysis. The research was realized in Ekaterinburg, the administrative center of the Sverdlovsk region (Russia). The study of the current ecological situation in Ekaterinburg made it possible to conclude that the environmental problem arises not only and not simply as a problem of environmental pollution and other negative influences of human economic activity. This problem grows into transforming the spontaneous impact of society on nature into a consciously, purposefully, systematically developing harmonious interaction with it. The study results showed that, from the point of view of the youth of Ekaterinburg, the city’s ecological situation is one of the most pressing problems. Despite minor improvements over the past 3–5 years, this problem has not lost relevance, and regional authorities and city residents should be responsible for its solution. Young people know environmental practices, but they often do not apply them systematically. Ecological behavior is encouraged and discussed among friends/acquaintances. The key factors influencing the formation of environmental behavior practices are the mass media and social networks. The most popular social network for obtaining information on ecological practices among young people is Instagram, and the key persons are bloggers. This study did not reveal the influence of the socio-demographic characteristics of young people on the application of eco-behavior practices, which may indicate the need for a survey of a larger sample. (shrink)

Contemporary global politics is characterized by an increasing trend toward experimental forms of governance, with an emphasis on private governance. A plurality of private standards, codes of conduct and quality assurance schemes currently developed particularly, though not exclusively, by TNCs replace traditional intergovernmental regimes in addressing profound global environmental and socio-economic challenges ranging from forest deforestation, fisheries depletion, climate change, to labor and human rights concerns. While this trend has produced a heated debate in science and politics, surprisingly (...) little attention has been paid on the effects of private governance on questions of distribution and justice. This is highly problematic. At the beginning of the twenty-first century global inequalities are greater than ever before, while rapid economic, social, political, and environmental changes threaten to further derail sustainable development and humanitarian objectives. If private governance creates or intensifies some of the pressing global inequalities (e.g., food security), and alleviates others (e.g., environmental degradation), from a business ethics perspective, we need to know which aspects need to be strengthened and where appropriate interventions are necessary and desirable. This paper proposes a framework to examine and classify the distributive outcomes of private governance institutions through the lenses of one particular approach to distributive justice, the capability approach. Empirically, it focuses on agrifood one area where the controversy regarding the distributive concerns of private governance are particularly pronounced. (shrink)

The United Nation’s (UN) 3rd Annual Multi-stakeholder Forum on ‘Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) - Transformation Towards Sustainable and Resilient Societies’ was held at the UN Headquarters in New York on 5th and 6th of June, 2018. This STI Forum set out to discuss a suit of the sustainable development goals, namely sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG 6), sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG 12), and sustainable terrestrial ecosystems (SDG 15). (...) It also discussed how to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (SDG 7) and how to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SDG 11). I participated in the panel debate on ‘Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Terrestrial Ecosystems (SDG 15)’ – emphasizing the importance of food systems in the context of SDG 15. My statement is summarized below. The panel debate aimed at helping to identify good practices and policy recommendations, as well as challenges and needs, especially as they relate to international cooperation, innovation and capacity-building, with a view to facilitate the development, scaling up adoption and dissemination of relevant technologies for SDG 15. A food system can be described as a system that embraces all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, institutions, infrastructure, markets and trade) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution and marketing, preparation and consumption of food and the outputs of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes. A sustainable food system delivers food and nutrition security for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised. (shrink)

Critical Realism and the Objective Value of Sustainability contributes to the growing discussion surrounding the concept of sustainability, using a critical realist approach within a transdisciplinary theoretical framework to examine how sustainability objectively occurs in the natural world and in society. The book develops an ethical theory of sustainability as an objective value, rooted not in humans' subjective preferences but in the holistic web of relationships, interdependencies, and obligations existing among living things on Earth, a web (...) believed to have maintained life on Earth over the last 3.7 billion years. It proposes three pillars of sustainability ethics: contentment for the human existence given to us; justice (beyond distributive justice); and meaningful freedom (within ecological and moral limits). Using abductive reasoning, the book infers that there is an out-of-this-world Sustainer behind the Earth's sustainability acting as a metaphysical source of all being and value. It argues that sustainability value, accepted as a shared understanding of the common good, must guide individual decisions and socio-economic development efforts as a matter of deliberate choice, as well as be built on the awareness that there are non-negotiable, pre-established conditions for our planet's sustainability. This book will be of interest to students and scholars across fields of inquiry, including sustainability, sustainable development, environmental philosophy and ethics, philosophy of science, ecological economics, and to whoever may wonder why seasons exists and why humans have creative minds. (shrink)

This thesis studies the enabling properties of ICT and their effects and potential for social change, and prepares the ground for a sustainability-oriented ethico-political assessment of this technology. It primarily builds on interdisciplinary scholarship to describe and explain the multifaceted co-evolution between the global deployment of ICTs and the emergence of the Information Society, understood as a socioeconomic restructuring of capitalism. Beyond the role of ICTs in this regime transition, the thesis delivers other philosophical insights about crucial aspects of (...) ICT development, applications and management. These include arguments about how we should conceptualize ICTs on the basis of their different roles in extending human communication and in performing or facilitating the remote control of humans and animals, machines and systems operations; about the entanglement between telecommunications, transport networks, urban development and work and organization; and about the relations between ICTs, culture and human values. Examples are offered to illustrate the potential that these empirical and philosophical lessons may hold for the construction of a framework for the ethico-political assessment of ICTs. (shrink)

In 2007, then Australian Prime Minister Howard said of the Murray-Darling Basin’s rivers that action was required to end the ‘The tyranny of incrementalism and the lowest common denominator’ governance to prevent ‘economic and environmental decline’. This paper explores the management of these rivers as an epicentre for three key debates for the future of Australia. Information on biodiversity, analyses of the socio-ecological system, and climate change projections are presented to illustrate the disjunction between trends in environmental (...) health and the institutions established to manage the Basin sustainably. Three key debates are considered: (1) conflict over the allocation of water between irrigated agriculture versus a range of other ecosystem services as the latest manifestation of the debate between adherents of the pioneering myth versus advocates of limits to growth in Australia; (2) cyclical crises as a driver of reactive policy reform and the prospects of the 2008 Water Act forming the basis of proactive, adaptive management of emerging threats and opportunities; and (3) subsidiarity in governance of the environment and natural resources in the Australian federation. Implementation of the 2012 Basin Plan as promised by the Federal Government ‘in full and on time’ is a key sustainability test for Australia. Despite Australian claims of exceptionalism, the Murray-Darling Basin experience mirrors the challenges faced in managing rivers sustainably and across governance scales in federations around the world. (shrink)

This research aims to fill a major gap in the relevant literature on small businesses in developing countries, specifically concerning the development of models to better explain economic and environmental performance as a result of environmental compliance, thus moving toward an explanation of the sustainable behavior of these businesses. Data from 186 pottery craft businesses located in three Mexican states (Oaxaca, Puebla and Tlaxcala) reveal that environmental compliance significantly influences economic and environmental performance, with the mediating (...) role of environmental innovation, confirming the Porter hypothesis in the context of small businesses in an emerging economy. Environmental compliance is an important factor in improving the economic and environmental performance of small businesses in emerging economies. (shrink)

Agroecological farming is widely considered to reconcile improved working and living conditions of farmers while promoting social, economic, and ecological sustainability. However, most existing research primarily focuses on relatively narrow trade-offs between workload, economic and ecological outcomes at farm level and overlooks the critical role of contextual factors. This article conducts a critical literature review on the complex nature of agroecological farm work and proposes the holistic concept of sustainable farm work (SFW) in agroecology together with a heuristic evaluation (...) framework. The latter was applied to ten case studies to test its relevance, affirming positive outcomes of agroecology on SFW, such as improved food sovereignty, biodiversity conservation, and social inclusiveness, but also showing trade-offs, including increased workload and potential yield reductions. Further, results show that contextual factors, such as policy support, market regulation, and access to resources, heavily influence the impact of agroecological practices on SFW. This article strongly argues for the importance of a holistic understanding of SFW and its contextualization within multiple socio-ecological system levels. The proposed framework establishes clear relationships between agroecology and SFW. An explicit recognition of these multidimensional relationships is essential for maximizing positive outcomes of agroecology in different contexts and fostering SFW. On a theoretical level, this research concludes that, from a holistic perspective, work is an entry point to studying the potential of agroecology to drive a sustainable agroecological transition in economic, social, and ecological terms. (shrink)

The livestock sector is under increasing pressure to respond to numerous sustainability and health challenges related to the production and consumption of livestock products. However, political and market barriers and conflicting worldviews and values across the environmental, socio-economic and political domains have led to considerable sector inertia, and government inaction. The processes that lead to the formulation of perspectives in this space, and that shape action (or inaction), are currently under-researched. This paper presents results of a mixed (...) methods exploration of the influence of environmental worldviews, values, and demographic factors on perspectives towards the future of the livestock sector. The approach combines survey and interview data derived from a sample of livestock representatives (N = 307). Respondents with higher pro-environmental, ecocentric and relational worldviews and values favour more behaviour-oriented solutions. Those with lower pro-environmental and higher techno-centric worldviews and values favour technological solutions to improve the efficiency of production and to enable continued patterns of meat consumption. Demographic variation and qualitative data emphasise the need to recognise cultural and geographic nuance in narratives. This study improves our understanding of the processes that lead to the formulation of perspectives, enabling the development of more holistic solutions that acknowledge all voices in an increasingly polarised debate. Adopting more pluralistic, relational methodologies will therefore be paramount in developing solutions for sustainable livestock futures. (shrink)

In this article we argue that sustainable development is not a socio-ecologically friendly principle. The principle, which is deeply embedded in environmental law, policymaking and governance, drives environmentally destructive neoliberal economic growth that exploits and degrades the vulnerable living order. Despite seemingly well-meaning intentions behind the emergence of sustainable development, it almost invariably facilitates exploitative economic development activities that exacerbate systemic inequalities and injustices without noticeably protecting all life forms in the Anthropocene. We conclude the article by examining (...) an attempt to construct alternatives to sustainable development through the indigenous onto-epistemology of buen vivir. While no panacea, buen vivir is a worldview that offers the potential to critically rethink how environmental law could re-orientate away from its ‘centered’, gendered and anthropocentric, neoliberal sustainable development ontology, to a radically different ontology that embraces ecologically sustainable ways of seeing, being, knowing and caring. (shrink)

We propose Edgar Morin’s notion of transdisciplinarity as a complementary educational perspective for preparing business school students in addressing the complex global socio-economic and environmental challenges that our planet has been facing for some time. Morin’s notion of transdisciplinarity spans various disciplines, both within disciplines and beyond individual disciplines. Morin’s transdisciplinary approach is inquiry driven and presents a systemic/humanistic vision and form of awareness that challenges habitually dualistic and simplistic thinking. Morin’s transdisciplinarity is based on a dialogical and (...) translogical principle that extends classical and rigid logic and that helps students to explore and unify concepts of a simultaneous complementary and contradictory nature. Confronting students with different modes of thinking, imagining and feeling can help them to develop greater self-awareness, critical reflection, and creativity; with various frames of reference; and with an openness toward and confidence in engaging in changes needed to address global challenges in a sustainable and responsible way. (shrink)

Fears about the sustainability of oil-rich communities and hopes that petroleum would fuel financial, social, and moral renewal have accompanied the oil industry since its inception in the mid-nineteenth century. With each successive ecological disaster caused by oil spills, debates over the industry's ecological sustainability sharpen. Discussions about the geological sustainability of the petroleum industry intensify when oil supplies tighten, and dissipate when they increase. Although concerns about the moral viability of communities dependent on oil have become (...) radically unfamiliar since the late nineteenth century, these, too, were once central to debates about the effects of oil on human society. In the nineteenth century, the progress that oil promised to bring was to be measured not only in material wealth, but in the attainment of social harmony and the attenuation of political strife. (shrink)

The study analyses the external (distance from home to work and a public transport stop), socio-economic (age, gender, education, income, living with minors, access to a car), and socio-psychological (attitudes, subjective social norms, perceived behavioural control) predictors of the commuting behaviour of persons working in the city of Kaunas. During the study, an online survey was conducted, which was filled out by 228 respondents (of whom 169 (74.1%) women, 59 (25.9%) men; the respondents’ average age 39.52 years). A (...) multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed, the results of which revealed that commuting behaviour was predicted by environmental attitudes towards non-motorised transport and walking, perceived behavioural control towards public transport, instrumental attitudes towards the car and public transport, and access to a car. The study provides useful information about the type of measures promoting sustainable commuting that can be effective in the city of Kaunas. (shrink)

The main purpose of The NorwegianGene Technology Act (1993) is to enforcecontainment of genetically modified organisms(GMOs) and control of GMO releases.Furthermore, the Act intends to ensure that``production and use of GMOs should take placein an ethically and socially justifiable way,in accordance with the principle of sustainabledevelopment and without detrimental effects tohealth and the environment.'' Hence it isobvious that, for the Norwegian authorities,sustainable development is a normativeguideline when evaluating acceptableconsequences of GMO use and production. Inaccordance with this, we have investigated theextent (...) to which the sustainability criteriawere decisive for the destiny of one approvedand one declined application of geneticallymodified plant release. The presentunderstanding of the ecological,socio-economical, and cultural consequences ofGMO use and release is fragmentary anduncertain. We consider the PrecautionaryPrinciple and the notion of equitabledistribution as key issues within thesustainable development framework, henceconstituting important foundations for ouranalyses. The Act is legitimizingsustainability criteria, but does not seem tosecure their conversion into concrete action.We envisage a more conscious implementation ofthe Norwegian Gene Technology Act.Sustainability concerns ecological, economical,and social values, and these can only beensured through long-term thinking, initiationof independent risk-associated research, andbroad involvement of all stakeholders in theevaluation of GMO issues and concerns. (shrink)

This article reviews the development of social quality indicators and the challenges ahead. First, through a review of recent Asian and Australian work carried out on social quality indicators, and the World Bank related work on “social development indicators,” the article argues that social quality indicators research should move beyond the empirical level of particular policy areas. Therefore, it should be guided by a clear methodological perspective regarding the role of indicators as part of a social quality theory (SQT) and (...) their relation to the social quality approach (SQA). Second, the article opens a debate about the rationale behind distinguishing between three different functions of social quality indicators. Indicators should address the change in the conditional factors in daily life, as manifested in its economic, socio-political, socio-cultural and environmental dimensions, in order to examine the consequences of general trends and contradictions in (1) societal circumstances, (2) the development (or lack of development) toward sustainability, and (3) the related issue of sustainable urban development. Before 2010 social quality scholars mainly concentrated on the first issue. Recently, however, they are approaching all three issues. It is essential to delve deeper into SQT and the SQA for understanding these three issues separately and integrally. This has implications for the nature of social quality indicators and their comparison to those of other mainstream approaches; the article introduces this agenda of work. (shrink)

The concept of sustainable development considers environmental, social and economic issues in general. And the goals of resource conservation and socio-economic development do not contradict each other, but contribute to mutual reinforcement. The purpose of this study is to build and test an economic and mathematical model for the formation of strategies for the behavior of an economic entity with an increase in the impact of negative environmental factors. The proposed strategies and their models are based on (...) the income-expenditure balance equation, which takes into account both quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The constructed models are considered in the state space. The research methodology is based on building models in the form of linear combinations of functions of a homogeneous external impact and various spatial combinations of economic sources (sinks). The study makes it possible to assess the dependence of the amount of resources used for life support on the chosen adaptive strategy. Within the framework of the proposed model, it was found that the criterion for the effectiveness of the applied strategy can be an indicator of satisfaction with the state, the preservation of which, simultaneously with the preservation of the size of resources used, corresponds to the direction of optimization. This approach is consistent with the concept of sustainable development. (shrink)

Research has established that the burdens of externalities associated with industrial production are disproportionately borne by socially and politically vulnerable groups, and this is particularly true for farmworkers who are at high risk for environmental exposures and illnesses. The impacts of these risks are often compounded by farmworker communities’ social vulnerability. Yet, less is known about how the intersection of race, class, and gender can position some farmworkers to be at higher risk for particular types of oppressions. We extend (...) the literature by analyzing the case of Black women farmworkers in Apopka, Florida, which was historically home to a large agricultural community. Drawing on the concept of critical environmental justice, we investigate the lived experiences of these women in the context of racialized, gendered, and economic oppressions during their time working on the farms. We use the case of Apopka to ask: how the policies and socio-historical context of the agricultural industry in the American South contributed to injustices experienced by Black women farmworkers in Apopka, Florida; and how race, gender, and class intersected and intersect to create and legitimize environmental injustices in the workplace for these farmworkers. Our data include semi-structured in-depth interviews, newspaper and media coverage, and archival materials. Our analysis advances work on critical environmental justice and intersectionality by mapping the relationship between structural and environmental intersectional oppressions for Black women farmworkers. (shrink)

The lack of attention to sustainability, as a concept with multiple dimensions, has presented a developmental gap in green marketing literature, sustainability, and marketing literature for decades. Based on the established premise of customer–corporate (C–C) identification, in which consumers respond favorably to companies with corporate social responsibility initiatives that they identify with, we propose that consumers would respond similarly to companies with sustainability initiatives. We postulate that consumers care about protecting and preserving favorable economic environments (an economic (...) dimension of sustainability) as much as they care about natural environments. Thus, we investigate how two sustainability dimensions (i.e., environmental and economic) and price can influence consumer responses. Using an experimental method, we demonstrate that consumers favor sustainability in both dimensions by giving positive evaluations of the company and purchase intent. In addition, consumers respond more negatively to poor company sustainability than to high company sustainability. In comparison, consumers respond more negatively to the company’s poor commitment to caring for the environment than to the company’s poor commitment to economic sustainability. We also find that consumers do not respond favorably to low prices when they have information about the firm’s poor environmental sustainability. Finally, we find support for an interaction effect between consumer support for sustainability and corporate sustainability; that is, consumers evaluate a company more favorably if the company shares the consumers’ social causes. Overall, we conclude, from our empirical study, support for the idea that consumers do respond to multiple dimensions of sustainability. (shrink)

The strengths and weaknesses of current energy planning can be attributed to the limited economic, social, and environmental contexts taken into account as a result of the current intellectual and professional division of labor. A preventive approach is developed by which the ratio of desired to undesired effects can be substantially improved. It takes into account supply-and demand-side options, renewable and nonrenewable sources, and net energy availability. Alternative energy must be considered within such a strategy, which carefully examines its (...) effects on society and the biosphere. Intellectual barriers are identified, and ways of overcoming them are suggested. (shrink)

This paper presents a systematic discussion, mainly for non-economists, on economic approaches to the concept of sustainable development. As a first step, the concept of sustainability is extensively discussed. As a second step, the argument that it is not possible to consider sustainability only from an economic or ecological point of view is defended; issues such as economic-ecological integration, inter-generational and intra-generational equity are considered of fundamental importance. Two different economic approaches to environmental issues, i.e. neo-classical (...) class='Hi'>environmental economics and ecological economics, are compared. Some key differences such as weak versus strong sustainability, commensurability versus incommensurability and ethical neutrality versus different values acceptance are pointed out. (shrink)

The hypothetical conflict between self‐interest, corporate interest, and the common good is one of the hottest debated issues in business ethics. This article focuses on a particular corporate social responsibility approach within the field of sustainable (project) finance, which has the potential—given that certain reform measures are adopted—to overcome the alleged trade‐off between self‐interest and the common good. The approach is labeled as the Equator Principles (EPs) framework, which celebrated its tenth anniversary and the formal launch of the third generation (...) of the EPs (EP III) in 2013. The article shows how companies can theoretically be both profitable and socio‐environmentally responsible by adhering to the EPs. The article proceeds as follows: Before moving on to the EPs, section 2 defines the key terms self‐interest and common good. Section 3 then analyzes the EPs from a business ethics perspective. Section 4 shows how the EPs can help in solving the potential trade‐off between self‐interest and the common good—provided that the EPs are substantially revised. These required reform steps are discussed in section 5. The article ends with a summary of the main findings. (shrink)

This collection is a multidisciplinary and multicultural contribution to the current sustainability discourse. It is focused on two main dimensions of our world: complexity and diversity. Desirable and urgent transition of socio-technological systems toward a sustainability trajectory of development requires a better understanding of technological trends and social transformations. General advancement of technology does not produce identical changes in various societies, differentiated economically and culturally. Moreover, the abilities to approach sustainable development change over time and space. As (...) a result there is a constant need for continuing research, analyses, and discussions concerning changing contexts and adequacy of strategies and policies. Authors from twelve countries and of different academic and cultural settings present their insights, analyses and recommendations. The collection is focused both on contexts and on activities leading to sustainable trajectories in various domains of economy and social life. Continuing research and discussion is needed to better understand these challenges and to prepare the appropriate strategies and solutions. Development of socio-technological systems is nowadays very complex; moreover, the world we live in is extremely diverse. Therefore, sustainability discourse must be ongoing, introducing new ideas, concepts, theories, evidence and experience by various parties-academics, professionals, and practitioners. (shrink)

Production and social reproduction are increasingly characterized by its multisitedeness given the rising number of working people migrating for wage work. The ways in which these spheres interplay, both at migrants’ places of origin and at the destination sites of work, differ greatly across societies. Based on primary research in Puerto Gaitán, Colombia—a small town in a largely rural area serving as an agribusiness and oil exploitation hub—I suggest that the complex expressions of the production-social reproduction nexus are intimately connected (...) with the ‘politics of land’. While the town of Puerto Gaitán, as a place of migration, provides for most everyday ‘material’ elements to sustain life (food, shelter, clothing, care, schools, hospitals), other crucial aspects of social reproduction are still heavily performed at indigenous’ rural collective lands (resguardos). Resguardo lands are a key socio-cultural basis of Indigenous peoples’ reproduction, despite serious limitations partly due to their isolation, to restrictions on the free circulation by large landowners, and to historical underlying drivers founded in dispossession. One important analytical and political implication is that migrant workers’ access to land should respond to a broader conceptualization of social reproduction—i.e., in which non-material aspects are equally considered. (shrink)

One of the most pervasive ideas in Western culture is the notion of progress. Among economists, it is synonymous with economic growth. According to advocates of unlimited growth, more growth will result in a cleaner environment, a stable population level, and social and economic equality. Although most environmentalists do not subscribe to the growth ethic, they generally cling to a notion of progress by arguing that there has been continual enlightenment in public attitudes toward the environment and that this enlightenment (...) can lead to environmental salvation. I argue that there is no convincingargument for past human progress and no reason to believe that it will occur in the future. Once we abandon notions of progress, we free ourselves to concentrate on making do with what we have rather than placing our hopes on some future material or ethical utopia. (shrink)

Abstract In a context of human demographic, technological and economic pressure on natural systems, we face some demanding challenges. We must decide 1) whether to “preserve” nature for its own sake or to “conserve” nature because nature is essentially a reservoir of goods that are functional to humanity’s wellbeing; 2) to choose ways of life that respect the biodiversity and evolutionary potential of the planet; and, to allow all this to come to fruition, 3) to clearly define the role of (...) scientific expertise in a democratic society, recognizing the importance of biospheric equilibrium. In fact, in socio-scientific controversies, which are characterized by complex linkages between some life and environmental sciences objects and economic, political and ethical issues, a posture of transparent, impartial commitment is appearing, more and more, as a deontological necessity. (shrink)

We focus on alternative innovation pathways for addressing agricultural sustainability challenges in Odisha, India. The first pathway that we term as industrial, is focused on breeding new seed varieties in modern laboratories and test fields, ostensibly for climate resilience. It is driven by public scientific institutions and private corporations. The second pathway that we call agroecological, is grounded in saving and sharing of diverse local varieties, largely by Indigenous (Adivasi) smallholders and their allies in civil society. Using the pathways’ (...) descriptions as bases, we present perspectives of different professional groups who appraise how effectively each pathway addresses a range of sustainability issues. While all participants appraise the agroecological pathway to be clearly better performing for addressing agricultural biodiversity and cultural uses of rice, appraisals for issues of the economy, seed accessibility, stress tolerance, and nutrition diverged from each other. An overall picture in support of one pathway did not emerge. Embracing such ambiguities and uncertainties associated with appraisals, we argue for balancing political support between diverse pathways. Greater support for structurally marginalised agroecological pathways may be crucial to meet sustainability goals. This support can include the restitution of lands and other socio-ecological resources for marginalised pathways as well as guaranteeing autonomy of Adivasi (Indigenous) communities among whom the pathways thrive. (shrink)

To understand how regulation influences competitiveness and upgrading processes, this article focuses on the organizational changes involved in “rewarding regulation.” Through a qualitative study of two clusters in the agrifood industry in Nicaragua, it analyzes two types of regulation and their interaction with small producers’ production organizations: food safety and environmental sustainability. The analysis shows that regulation plays a crucial role in fostering changes in organizational practices and routines. This occurs when local organizations build new knowledge and skills (...) to upgrade products and production processes, while developing new connections among producers and between them to other private and public actors that support economic development. “Rewarding regulation” is part of a process of learning and creating networks that help build local know-how and generate supportive collective resources. (shrink)

Local development enhances the economic capacity and quality of life of the residents and, in particular, attracts tourism to the area. The co-creative value of the residents and the tourists can improve the consensus of the residents on the sustainable development of the place. This study focuses on the factors influencing the co-creation of value between residents and visitors in the Tamsui area near Taipei. The research hypothesis is based on the components of local attachment, economic benefits brought by tourists, (...) environmental costs, social and cultural welfare of the place, life satisfaction of the residents, and the value of co-creation between residents and tourists. A total of 430 questionnaires were collected through a questionnaire survey and statistical data were analyzed using a structural equation model, including descriptive statistical analysis, measurement reliability and validity verification, model fit, and structural model analysis to validate the research hypotheses. The study found that place attachment positively and significantly affects the economic benefits, environmental costs, and socio-cultural welfare of residents about tourists. Resident satisfaction is positively and significantly affected by the environmental costs from visitors and by socio-cultural welfare, but there is no significant impact from economic benefits. Finally, based on the findings of the study, practical recommendations were made for enhancing co-creation value between Tamsui residents and visitors, including enhancing residents’ feelings of place attachment and construction of local social culture and welfare. For the residents of Tamsui, unlike the local government and enterprises, need to be able to create value with tourists in order to have a friendly relationship with them and develop regional tourism in a sustainable manner. (shrink)

Ensuring that their work has a positive influence on society is a responsibility and a privilege for engineers, but also a considerable challenge. This book addresses the ways in which engineers meet this challenge, working from the assumption that for a project to be truly ethical both the undertaking itself and its implementation must be ethically sound. The contributors discuss varied topics from an international and interdisciplinary perspective, including: · robot ethics; · outer space; · international development; · internet privacy (...) and security; · green branding; · arms conversion; · green employment; and · deliberate misinformation about climate change Important questions are answered, such as: · what is meant by engineering ethics and its practical implications; · how decisions made by engineers in their working lives make an impact at the global as well as the local level; and · what ethics-related questions should be asked before making such decisions. Engineering Ethics, International and Environmental Stability will be a valuable resource for practising and student engineers as well as all who are interested in professional ethics, especially as it relates to engineering. Researchers and policy makers concerned with the effects of engineering decisions on environmental sustainability and international stability will find this book to be of special interest. (shrink)

Tourism is one of the socio-economic trends that significantly contributes to the shift of the planetary system into the Anthropocene regime. At the same time, it is also a socio-cultural practice characteristic of the imperial mode of living, or consumerism. Thus, it is a form of commodification of nature, also a way of deepening social inequalities between a privileged minority of the global population and an exploited majority providing services to those whose socio-economic status allows them to (...) travel for fun and commoditised “experience”. This is not an inevitable activity, an activity in which environmental costs (carbon footprint, water footprint, energy consumption, and waste production) are necessary to ensure the basic resources of life. Tourism is therefore a form of luxury consumption. For any tourism model to be, not only, environmentally sustainable but also socially just, or at least acceptable, it would have to be accessible to all people. Ecotourism should also have to meet the criterion of a solidarity mode of living referred to as sufficiency. This is hardly conceivable in the climatic, demographic, and political regime of the Anthropocene. The latter is likely to be characterized by, among other things, mass migration of climate or environmental refugees on the one hand and climate apartheid of the states of the global North on the other. Ecotourism, accessible to an even smaller proportion of the world`s population than the current mass tourism, will thus be more likely to accentuate the social and environmental inequalities of which it is already a significant manifestation. Therefore, the question is whether the concept of ecotourism is not just another manifestation of greenwashing, i.e. an attempt to legitimize economic, social, and cultural activities that devastate the social and environmental environment. (shrink)

The 2019-2020 pandemic of the SARS-CoV-2 virus—the cause of the novel COVID-19 disease—is an exceptional moment in modern human history. The abrupt and intense cessation of human activities in the first months of the pandemic, when large parts of the global human population were in lockdown, had noticeable effects on the environment that can serve to identify key learning experiences to foster a deep reflection on the human relationship with nature, and their interdependence. There are precious lessons to be learned. (...) A global, tangible threat was needed to trigger a global lockdown, where different societies adopted different strategies and management measures to adapt or transform their activities. Humanity is still coming to terms with how to relaunch the economy while preventing further outbreaks. Here, I summarize the immediate positive and negative effects that the pandemic has had on the natural environment, with emphasis on marine ecosystems. I reflect on key lessons learned from this unprecedented situation so far. The essential role that the oceans play in maintaining the functioning of natural systems and key socio-economic activities is exceptionally relevant, and I discuss key not-to-miss opportunities to add the ‘Blue Recovery’ to the international agenda under the new ‘Build Back Better’ or ‘Healthy Recovery’ context after the acute phase of COVID-19. Achieving sustainable use of the ocean is one of the grand challenges of the new decade, and marine ecologists must play a more proactive role. (shrink)

Considering the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the foundation of our socio-economic and environmental systems, it is imperative to apply multi-faceted sustainability approaches for the current and post-pandemic era. The built environment plays a key role in the spatial engagement of humans and their workspace in the urban environment. Proposing new concepts for the post-pandemic era that combine the built environment and sustainability techniques may provide an opportunity for better integration into the essence of sustainability. (...) In this regard, this paper recommends applying circular economy idea in adaptive reuse practice of industrial heritage to create circular workplaces for the post-pandemic period. As an example of this given proposal, a scheme for a textile factory in Isfahan, Iran is presented. (shrink)

The precautionary principle (PP) aims to anticipate and minimize potentially serious or irreversible risks under conditions of scientific uncertainty. Thus it preserves the potential for future developments. It has been incorporated into many international treaties and pieces of national legislation for environmental protection and sustainable development. In this article, we outline an interpretation of the PP as a framework of orientation for a sustainable information society. Since the risks induced by future information and communication technologies (ICT) are social risks (...) for the most part, we propose to extend the PP from mainly environmental to social subjects of protection. From an ethical point of view, the PP and sustainability share the principle of intergenerational justice, which can be used as an argument to preserve free space for the decisions of future generations. Applied to technical innovation and to ICT issues in particular, the extended PP can serve as a framework of orientation to avoid socio-economically irreversible developments. We conclude that the PP is a useful approach for: (i) policy makers to reconcile information society and sustainability policies and (ii) ICT companies to formulate sustainability strategies. (shrink)