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Sustainable Development, Systems Thinking and
Professional Practice
Stephen Martin is Visiting Professor at the Centre for Complexity and
Change, Open University and the Centre for Active Learning, University
of Gloucestershire, and an Honorary Professor of the University of
Worcester. Email: esm@esmartin.demon.co.uk
This article explores the impact of the sustainable development
(SD) agenda on the occupational and professional needs of those
who have undergone educational and training programmes
in the environmental field either at the undergraduate or the
postgraduate level or through relevant professional institutions’
continuing professional development programmes. It also
describes a one-day workshop for the professions on sustainable
development based on systems thinking and practice. The
workshop provides a model for developing greater understanding
and effective action in professional practices by using dialogue and
interprofessional learning to explore approaches to sustainability
in a variety of business and professional contexts. It introduces
the principles underpinning the concept of sustainability and
provides tools to support the integration of SD into professional
practices and organisational change.
Journal of Education for Sustainable Development,
Vol. 2, No. 1, 21-30 (2008)
Towards action on social determinants for health equity
in urban settings
Tord Kjellstrom: National Institute of Public Health, Ostersund,
Sweden, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia,
Health and Environment International Trust, Nelson, New Zealand,
E-mail: kjellstromt@yahoo.com
Susan Mercado: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Manila, the
Philippines, mercados@wpro. who.int
More than half of the global population now live in urban settings.
Urbanization can and should be beneficial for health. In general,
nations with high life expectancies and low infant mortality
rates are those where city governments address the key social
determinants of health. Better housing and living conditions, access
to safe water and good sanitation, efficient waste management
systems, safer working environments and neighbourhoods,
food security and access to services such as education, health,
welfare, public transportation and child care are examples of
social determinants of health that can be addressed through
good urban governance. Failure of governance in today’s cities
has resulted in the growth of informal settlements and slums
that constitute unhealthy living and working environments for
one billion people. A credible health agenda is one that benefits
all people in cities, especially the urban poor who live in informal
settlements. International agreements calling for urgent action
to reduce poverty, such as the Millennium Development Goals,
can only be met through national strategies that include both
urban and rural commitments and involve local governments
and the poor themselves. Health inequalities in urban areas
need to be addressed in countries at all income levels. Urban
development and town planning are key to creating supportive
social and physical environments for health and health equity.
Achieving healthy urbanization in all countries is a shared global
responsibility. Eliminating deprived urban living conditions will
require resources — aid, loans, private investments — from more
affluent countries in the order of US$ 200 billion per year, no more
than 20 per cent of the annual increase in GDP in high-income
countries. Creating global political support for a sustained and
well-funded effort for social, economic and health equity is one
of the greatest challenges of this generation.
Environment and Urbanization,Vol.20, No 2, 551-574 (2008)
http://eau.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/551
Microfinance for community development, poverty
alleviation and natural resource management in periurban
Hubli-Dharwad, India
Robert M Brook, School of the Environment and Natural Resources,
Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK,
r.m.brook@bangor. ac.uk
Karen J Hillyer, CAZS Natural Resources, Bangor University, Bangor,
Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK, s.a.hughes@bangor. ac.uk
G. Bhuvaneshwari, Department of Agronomy of University of Agricultural
Sciences, Dharwad, bvndwd@yahoo.co.in
This paper reports on the findings of a study of a microfinance
and community mobilization initiative in six villages in the periurban
zone of Hubli— Dharwad in Karnataka state, southern
India, where a number of self-help groups established by two
NGOs were studied over a three-year period (2001—2004).
Despite deliberate targeting of the poor and very poor sectors,
their representation in the self-help groups was found to be
no different from their proportions in the populations of the
villages. (Targeting of women was more successful, with 64 per
cent of members being female.) However, the poor and very
poor were more actively involved in microcredit than members
of the other wealth classes. Over the life of the project, the poor
moved above the state poverty level and their household savings
increased by 647 per cent. More than 77 per cent of the funds
mobilized through this programme were raised through selfhelp
group subscriptions and a further 14 per cent came from
linkages with banks. Findings point to the success of the NGOmediated
self-help group model of community mobilization and
microfinance provision relative to other models.
Environment and Urbanization Vol.20, No.1,149-163 (2008)
http://eau.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/20/1/149
Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable
Development (RCEs): an overview
Author(s): Yoko Mochizuki, Zinaida Fadeeva
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher
Education: Year: 2008; Volume: 9; Issue: 4;
Page: 369 - 381; Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to offer an overview of
the United Nations University’s Regional Centres of Expertise
on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE) initiative–the
global process created to support the implementation of the
United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
(DESD, 2005-2014)–and discuss the roles of institutions of higher
education (IHEs) in RCE efforts.
The paper provides a historical overview of the RCE initiative,
clarifies the philosophy behind it, and describes the guiding
principles for RCE establishment and operations.
The paper reveals the UNU’s views about effective strategies
to promote Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
and discusses the roles of IHEs as partners within and among RCEs. Highlights the potential roles of IHEs in overcoming the
compartmentalization of knowledge and linking policy and
practice.
The paper recognises that RCE is an evolving concept and calls
attention to the RCE process as a promising example of “social
learning” and “communities of practice”, and at the same time,
of “knowledge management system”.
The paper clarifies the expected functions of RCEs as multisectoral
and interdisciplinary partnerships and “local-regional
knowledge base” and exhorts local ESD stakeholders, including
higher education institutions to use RCEs as value-adding learning
networks at the local and global levels.
The paper refines the RCE concept and offers practical advice
to RCEs and RCE candidates. Opportunities are indicated for
higher education institutions in contributing towards ESD and
sustainable development through RCEs.
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