WorldWideScience

Sample records for sustained yield management

  1. 25 CFR 163.11 - Forest management planning and sustained yield management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... principles of sustained yield management and will not be authorized until practical methods of harvest based on sound economic and silvicultural and other forest management principles have been prescribed... period in the future. Forest management plans shall be based on the principle of sustained yield...

  2. Influence of management and environment on Australian wheat: information for sustainable intensification and closing yield gaps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bryan, B. A.; King, D.; Zhao, G.

    2014-04-01

    In the future, agriculture will need to produce more, from less land, more sustainably. But currently, in many places, actual crop yields are below those attainable. We quantified the ability for agricultural management to increase wheat yields across 179 Mha of potentially arable land in Australia. Using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM), we simulated the impact on wheat yield of 225 fertilization and residue management scenarios at a high spatial, temporal, and agronomic resolution from 1900 to 2010. The influence of management and environmental variables on wheat yield was then assessed using Spearman’s non-parametric correlation test with bootstrapping. While residue management showed little correlation, fertilization strongly increased wheat yield up to around 100 kg N ha-1 yr-1. However, this effect was highly dependent on the key environment variables of rainfall, temperature, and soil water holding capacity. The influence of fertilization on yield was stronger in cooler, wetter climates, and in soils with greater water holding capacity. We conclude that the effectiveness of management intensification to increase wheat yield is highly dependent upon local climate and soil conditions. We provide context-specific information on the yield benefits of fertilization to support adaptive agronomic decision-making and contribute to the closure of yield gaps. We also suggest that future assessments consider the economic and environmental sustainability of management intensification for closing yield gaps.

  3. Geoelectrical parameter-based multivariate regression borehole yield model for predicting aquifer yield in managing groundwater resource sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kehinde Anthony Mogaji

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This study developed a GIS-based multivariate regression (MVR yield rate prediction model of groundwater resource sustainability in the hard-rock geology terrain of southwestern Nigeria. This model can economically manage the aquifer yield rate potential predictions that are often overlooked in groundwater resources development. The proposed model relates the borehole yield rate inventory of the area to geoelectrically derived parameters. Three sets of borehole yield rate conditioning geoelectrically derived parameters—aquifer unit resistivity (ρ, aquifer unit thickness (D and coefficient of anisotropy (λ—were determined from the acquired and interpreted geophysical data. The extracted borehole yield rate values and the geoelectrically derived parameter values were regressed to develop the MVR relationship model by applying linear regression and GIS techniques. The sensitivity analysis results of the MVR model evaluated at P ⩽ 0.05 for the predictors ρ, D and λ provided values of 2.68 × 10−05, 2 × 10−02 and 2.09 × 10−06, respectively. The accuracy and predictive power tests conducted on the MVR model using the Theil inequality coefficient measurement approach, coupled with the sensitivity analysis results, confirmed the model yield rate estimation and prediction capability. The MVR borehole yield prediction model estimates were processed in a GIS environment to model an aquifer yield potential prediction map of the area. The information on the prediction map can serve as a scientific basis for predicting aquifer yield potential rates relevant in groundwater resources sustainability management. The developed MVR borehole yield rate prediction mode provides a good alternative to other methods used for this purpose.

  4. Influence of management and environment on Australian wheat: information for sustainable intensification and closing yield gaps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bryan, B A; King, D; Zhao, G

    2014-01-01

    In the future, agriculture will need to produce more, from less land, more sustainably. But currently, in many places, actual crop yields are below those attainable. We quantified the ability for agricultural management to increase wheat yields across 179 Mha of potentially arable land in Australia. Using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM), we simulated the impact on wheat yield of 225 fertilization and residue management scenarios at a high spatial, temporal, and agronomic resolution from 1900 to 2010. The influence of management and environmental variables on wheat yield was then assessed using Spearman’s non-parametric correlation test with bootstrapping. While residue management showed little correlation, fertilization strongly increased wheat yield up to around 100 kg N ha −1  yr −1 . However, this effect was highly dependent on the key environment variables of rainfall, temperature, and soil water holding capacity. The influence of fertilization on yield was stronger in cooler, wetter climates, and in soils with greater water holding capacity. We conclude that the effectiveness of management intensification to increase wheat yield is highly dependent upon local climate and soil conditions. We provide context-specific information on the yield benefits of fertilization to support adaptive agronomic decision-making and contribute to the closure of yield gaps. We also suggest that future assessments consider the economic and environmental sustainability of management intensification for closing yield gaps. (paper)

  5. Closing Yield Gaps: How Sustainable Can We Be?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prajal Pradhan

    Full Text Available Global food production needs to be increased by 60-110% between 2005 and 2050 to meet growing food and feed demand. Intensification and/or expansion of agriculture are the two main options available to meet the growing crop demands. Land conversion to expand cultivated land increases GHG emissions and impacts biodiversity and ecosystem services. Closing yield gaps to attain potential yields may be a viable option to increase the global crop production. Traditional methods of agricultural intensification often have negative externalities. Therefore, there is a need to explore location-specific methods of sustainable agricultural intensification. We identified regions where the achievement of potential crop calorie production on currently cultivated land will meet the present and future food demand based on scenario analyses considering population growth and changes in dietary habits. By closing yield gaps in the current irrigated and rain-fed cultivated land, about 24% and 80% more crop calories can respectively be produced compared to 2000. Most countries will reach food self-sufficiency or improve their current food self-sufficiency levels if potential crop production levels are achieved. As a novel approach, we defined specific input and agricultural management strategies required to achieve the potential production by overcoming biophysical and socioeconomic constraints causing yield gaps. The management strategies include: fertilizers, pesticides, advanced soil management, land improvement, management strategies coping with weather induced yield variability, and improving market accessibility. Finally, we estimated the required fertilizers (N, P2O5, and K2O to attain the potential yields. Globally, N-fertilizer application needs to increase by 45-73%, P2O5-fertilizer by 22-46%, and K2O-fertilizer by 2-3 times compared to the year 2010 to attain potential crop production. The sustainability of such agricultural intensification largely depends

  6. The journey from safe yield to sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alley, William M; Leake, Stanley A

    2004-01-01

    Safe-yield concepts historically focused attention on the economic and legal aspects of ground water development. Sustainability concerns have brought environmental aspects more to the forefront and have resulted in a more integrated outlook. Water resources sustainability is not a purely scientific concept, but rather a perspective that can frame scientific analysis. The evolving concept of sustainability presents a challenge to hydrologists to translate complex, and sometimes vague, socioeconomic and political questions into technical questions that can be quantified systematically. Hydrologists can contribute to sustainable water resources management by presenting the longer-term implications of ground water development as an integral part of their analyses.

  7. From safe yield to sustainable development of water resources - The Kansas experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sophocleous, M.

    2000-01-01

    This paper presents a synthesis of water sustainability issues from the hydrologic perspective. It shows that safe yield is a flawed concept and that sustainability is an idea that is broadly used but perhaps not well understood. In general, the sustainable yield of an aquifer must be considerably less than recharge if adequate amounts of water are to be available to sustain both the quantity and quality of streams, springs, wetlands, and ground-water-dependent ecosystems. To ensure sustainability, it is imperative that water limits be established based on hydrologic principles of mass balance. To establish water-use policies and planning horizons, the transition curves of aquifer systems from ground-water storage depletion to induced recharge of surface water need to be developed. Present-day numerical models are capable of generating such transition curves. Several idealized examples of aquifer systems show how this could be done. Because of the complexity of natural systems and the uncertainties in characterizing them, the current philosophy underlying sustainable management of water resources is based on the interconnected systems approach and on adaptive management. Examples of water-resources management from Kansas illustrate some of these concepts in a real-world setting. Some of the hallmarks of Kansas water management are the formation of local ground-water management districts, the adoption of minimum streamflow standards, the use of modified safe-yield policies in some districts, the implementation of integrated resource planning by the City of Wichita, and the subbasin water-resources management program in potential problem areas. These are all appropriate steps toward sustainable development. The Kansas examples show that local decision-making is the best way to fully account for local variability in water management. However, it is imperative that public education and involvement be encouraged, so that system complexities and constraints are better

  8. Natural recharge to sustainable yield from the barind aquifer: a tool in preparing effective management plan of groundwater resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monirul Islam, Md; Kanungoe, P

    2005-01-01

    This paper presents the results of water balance study and aquifer simulation modeling for preliminary estimation of the recharge rate and sustainable yield for the semi arid Barind Tract region of Bangladesh. The outcomes of the study are likely to be useful for planning purposes. It is found from detailed water balance study for the area that natural recharge rates in the Barind Tract vary widely year to year. It may have resulted from the method used for the calculation. If the considered time interval had been smaller than the monthly rainfall, the results could have been different. Aquifer Simulation Modeling (ASM) for the Barind aquifer is used to estimate long-term sustainable yield of the groundwater considering limiting drawdown from the standpoint of economic pumping cost. In managing a groundwater basin efficiently and effectively, evaluation of the maximum annual groundwater yield of the basin that can be withdrawn and used without producing any undesirable effect is one of the most important issues. In investigating such recharge rate, introduction of certain terms such as sustainable yield and safe yield has been accompanied. Development of this area involves proper utilization of this vast land, which is possible only through ensured irrigation for agriculture. The Government of Bangladesh has a plan to develop irrigation facilities by optimum utilization of available ground and surface water. It is believed that the groundwater table is lowering rapidly and the whole region is in an acute state of deforestation. Indiscriminate groundwater development may accelerate deforestation trend. In this context estimation of actual natural recharge rate to the aquifer and determination of sustainable yield will assist in proper management and planning of environmentally viable abstraction schemes. It is revealed from the study that the sustainable yield of ground water (204 mm/y) is somewhat higher than the long-term annual average recharge (152.7 mm) to the

  9. Closing Yield Gaps: How Sustainable Can We Be?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pradhan, Prajal; Fischer, Günther; van Velthuizen, Harrij; Reusser, Dominik E.; Kropp, Juergen P.

    2015-01-01

    Global food production needs to be increased by 60–110% between 2005 and 2050 to meet growing food and feed demand. Intensification and/or expansion of agriculture are the two main options available to meet the growing crop demands. Land conversion to expand cultivated land increases GHG emissions and impacts biodiversity and ecosystem services. Closing yield gaps to attain potential yields may be a viable option to increase the global crop production. Traditional methods of agricultural intensification often have negative externalities. Therefore, there is a need to explore location-specific methods of sustainable agricultural intensification. We identified regions where the achievement of potential crop calorie production on currently cultivated land will meet the present and future food demand based on scenario analyses considering population growth and changes in dietary habits. By closing yield gaps in the current irrigated and rain-fed cultivated land, about 24% and 80% more crop calories can respectively be produced compared to 2000. Most countries will reach food self-sufficiency or improve their current food self-sufficiency levels if potential crop production levels are achieved. As a novel approach, we defined specific input and agricultural management strategies required to achieve the potential production by overcoming biophysical and socioeconomic constraints causing yield gaps. The management strategies include: fertilizers, pesticides, advanced soil management, land improvement, management strategies coping with weather induced yield variability, and improving market accessibility. Finally, we estimated the required fertilizers (N, P2O5, and K2O) to attain the potential yields. Globally, N-fertilizer application needs to increase by 45–73%, P2O5-fertilizer by 22–46%, and K2O-fertilizer by 2–3 times compared to the year 2010 to attain potential crop production. The sustainability of such agricultural intensification largely depends on the way

  10. Toward an Economic Definition of Sustainable Yield for Coastal Aquifers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenson, J. W.; Habana, N. C.; Lander, M.

    2016-12-01

    The concept of aquifer sustainable yield has long been criticized, debated, and even disparaged among groundwater hydrologists, but policy-makers and professional water resource managers inevitably ask them for unequivocal answers to such questions as "What is the absolute maximum volume of water that could be sustainably withdrawn from this aquifer?" We submit that it is therefore incumbent upon hydrologists to develop and offer valid practical definitions of sustainable yield that can be usefully applied to given conditions and types of aquifers. In coastal aquifers, water quality—in terms of salinity—is affected by changes in the natural water budget and the volume rate of artificial extraction. In principle, one can identify a family of assay curves for a given aquifer, showing the specific relationships between the quantity and quality of the water extracted under given conditions of recharge. The concept of the assay curve, borrowed from the literature of natural-resource extraction economics, has to our knowledge not yet found its way into the literature of applied hydrology. The relationships between recharge, extraction, and water quality that define the assay curve can be determined empirically from sufficient observations of groundwater response to recharge and extraction and can be estimated from models that have been reliably history-matched ("calibrated") to such data. We thus propose a working definition of sustainable yield for coastal aquifers in terms of the capacity that ultimately could be achieved by an ideal production system, given what is known or can be assumed about the natural limiting conditions. Accordingly, we also offer an approach for defining an ideal production system for a given aquifer, and demonstrate how observational data and/or modeling results can be used to develop assay curves of quality vs. quantity extracted, which can serve as reliable predictive tools for engineers, managers, regulators, and policy

  11. Sustainability issues for resource managers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel L. Bottom; Gordon H. Reeves; Martha H. Brookes

    1996-01-01

    Throughout their history, conservation science and sustainable-yield management have failed to maintain the productivity of living resources. Repeated overexploitation of economic species, loss of biological diversity, and degradation of regional environments now call into question the economic ideas and values that have formed the foundation of scientific management...

  12. The sustainable project management: A review and future possibilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V.K. Chawla

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability in project operations such as financial, social and environmental sustainability is one of the most prominent issues of the present times to address. The increased focus on sus-tainable business operations has changed the viewpoint of researchers and corporate community towards the project management. Today sustainability in business operations along with sustain-ability of natural and environmental resources are of paramount significance which has further caused a huge impact on conception, planning, scheduling and execution of the project manage-ment activities. In this paper, a literature review between 1987 and 2018 on different issues af-fecting the sustainability in project management is carried out. The present study also identifies and discusses the future possibilities to apply computational procedures in order to estimate and optimize the sustainability issues in the management of projects, for example the computational evolutionary algorithms can be applied to formulate the multi-objective decision-making problem after considering critical factors of sustainability in the projects and then yielding optimized solu-tions for the formulated problem to achieve sustainability in the projects. A new integrated framework with the inclusion of feedback function for assessment of each decision and actions taken towards the sustainability of the projects is also identified and presented.

  13. Sustainable management in crop monocultures: the impact of retaining forest on oil palm yield.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Felicity A; Edwards, David P; Sloan, Sean; Hamer, Keith C

    2014-01-01

    Tropical agriculture is expanding rapidly at the expense of forest, driving a global extinction crisis. How to create agricultural landscapes that minimise the clearance of forest and maximise sustainability is thus a key issue. One possibility is protecting natural forest within or adjacent to crop monocultures to harness important ecosystem services provided by biodiversity spill-over that may facilitate production. Yet this contrasts with the conflicting potential that the retention of forest exports dis-services, such as agricultural pests. We focus on oil palm and obtained yields from 499 plantation parcels spanning a total of ≈23,000 ha of oil palm plantation in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. We investigate the relationship between the extent and proximity of both contiguous and fragmented dipterocarp forest cover and oil palm yield, controlling for variation in oil palm age and for environmental heterogeneity by incorporating proximity to non-native forestry plantations, other oil palm plantations, and large rivers, elevation and soil type in our models. The extent of forest cover and proximity to dipterocarp forest were not significant predictors of oil palm yield. Similarly, proximity to large rivers and other oil palm plantations, as well as soil type had no significant effect. Instead, lower elevation and closer proximity to forestry plantations had significant positive impacts on oil palm yield. These findings suggest that if dipterocarp forests are exporting ecosystem service benefits or ecosystem dis-services, that the net effect on yield is neutral. There is thus no evidence to support arguments that forest should be retained within or adjacent to oil palm monocultures for the provision of ecosystem services that benefit yield. We urge for more nuanced assessments of the impacts of forest and biodiversity on yields in crop monocultures to better understand their role in sustainable agriculture.

  14. Maximum sustainable yield and species extinction in a prey-predator system: some new results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Bapan; Kar, T K

    2013-06-01

    Though the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) approach has been legally adopted for the management of world fisheries, it does not provide any guarantee against from species extinction in multispecies communities. In the present article, we describe the appropriateness of the MSY policy in a Holling-Tanner prey-predator system with different types of functional responses. It is observed that for both type I and type II functional responses, harvesting of either prey or predator species at the MSY level is a sustainable fishing policy. In the case of combined harvesting, both the species coexist at the maximum sustainable total yield (MSTY) level if the biotic potential of the prey species is greater than a threshold value. Further, increase of the biotic potential beyond the threshold value affects the persistence of the system.

  15. Evolution of Sustainability in American Forest Resource Management Planning in the Context of the American Forest Management Textbook

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas J. Straka

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available American forest resource management and planning goes back to the European roots of American Forestry. Timber management plans, documents based on forest regulation for timber production, were the foundation of American forestry. These types of management plans predominated until World War II. Multiple use forestry developed after World War II and issues like recreation, wildlife, water quality, and wilderness became more important. In the 1970’s harvest scheduling became part of the planning process, allowing for optimization of multiple goals. By 2001 social, environmental, and economic goals were integrated into the timber production process. American forestry experienced distinct historical periods of resource planning, ranging from classic sustained yield timber production, to multiple use-sustained yield, to sustainable human-forest systems. This article traces the historical changes in forest management planning philosophy using the forest management textbooks of the time. These textbooks provide insight into the thought process of the forestry profession as changes in the concept of sustainability occurred.

  16. Assessing potential sustainable wood yield

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert F. Powers

    2001-01-01

    Society is making unprecedented demands on world forests to produce and sustain many values. Chief among them is wood supply, and concerns are rising globally about the ability of forests to meet increasing needs. Assessing this is not easy. It requires a basic understanding of the principles governing forest productivity: how wood yield varies with tree and stand...

  17. Responses of the sustainable yield of groundwater to annual rainfall and pumping patterns in the Baotou Plain, North China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Z.; LONG, Y., Sr.; Wei, Y.; Guo, Z.

    2017-12-01

    Serious water deficits and deteriorating environmental quality are threatening the sustainable socio-economic development and the protection of the ecology and the environment in North China, especially in Baotou City. There is a common misconception that groundwater extraction can be sustainable if the pumping rate does not exceed the total natural recharge in a groundwater basin. The truth is that the natural recharge is mainly affected by the rainfall and that groundwater withdrawal determines the sustainable yield of the aquifer flow system. The concept of the sustainable yield is defined as the allowance pumping patterns and rates that avoid adverse impacts on the groundwater system. The sustainable yield introduced in this paper is a useful baseline for groundwater management under all rainfall conditions and given pumping scenarios. A dynamic alternative to the groundwater sustainable yield for a given pumping pattern and rate should consider the responses of the recharge, discharge, and evapotranspiration to the groundwater level fluctuation and to different natural rainfall conditions. In this study, methods for determining the sustainable yield through time series data of groundwater recharge, discharge, extraction, and precipitation in an aquifer are introduced. A numerical simulation tool was used to assess and quantify the dynamic changes in groundwater recharge and discharge under excessive pumping patterns and rates and to estimate the sustainable yield of groundwater flow based on natural rainfall conditions and specific groundwater development scenarios during the period of 2007 to 2014. The results of this study indicate that the multi-year sustainable yield only accounts for about one-half of the average annual recharge. The future sustainable yield for the current pumping scenarios affected by rainfall conditions are evaluated quantitatively to obtain long-term groundwater development strategies. The simulation results show that sufficient

  18. Achieving maximum sustainable yield in mixed fisheries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ulrich, Clara; Vermard, Youen; Dolder, Paul J.; Brunel, Thomas; Jardim, Ernesto; Holmes, Steven J.; Kempf, Alexander; Mortensen, Lars O.; Poos, Jan Jaap; Rindorf, Anna

    2017-01-01

    Achieving single species maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in complex and dynamic fisheries targeting multiple species (mixed fisheries) is challenging because achieving the objective for one species may mean missing the objective for another. The North Sea mixed fisheries are a representative example

  19. Sustainable Facilities Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Elle, Morten; Hoffmann, Birgitte

    2004-01-01

    The Danish public housing sector has more than 20 years of experience with sustainable facilities management based on user involvement. The paper outlines this development in a historical perspective and gives an analysis of different approaches to sustainable facilities management. The focus...... is on the housing departments and strateies for the management of the use of resources. The research methods used are case studies based on interviews in addition to literature studies. The paper explores lessons to be learned about sustainable facilities management in general, and points to a need for new...

  20. Sustainable flood risk management – What is sustainable?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørup, Hjalte Jomo Danielsen; Brudler, Sarah; Lerer, Sara Maria

    2016-01-01

    Sustainable flood risk management has to be achieved since flood protection is a fundamental societal service that we must deliver. Based on the discourse within the fields of risk management and sustainable urban water management, we discuss the necessity of assessing the sustainability of flood...... risk management, and propose an evaluation framework for doing so. We argue that it is necessary to include quantitative sustainability measures in flood risk management in order to exclude unsustainable solutions. Furthermore, we use the concept of absolute sustainability to discuss the prospects...... of maintaining current service levels without compromising future generation’s entitlement of services. Discussions on the sustainability of different overall flood risk schemes must take place. Fundamental changes in the approaches will require fundamental changes in the mind-sets of practitioners as well...

  1. Applicability and methodology of determining sustainable yield in groundwater systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalf, Frans R. P.; Woolley, Donald R.

    2005-03-01

    There is currently a need for a review of the definition and methodology of determining sustainable yield. The reasons are: (1) current definitions and concepts are ambiguous and non-physically based so cannot be used for quantitative application, (2) there is a need to eliminate varying interpretations and misinterpretations and provide a sound basis for application, (3) the notion that all groundwater systems either are or can be made to be sustainable is invalid, (4) often there are an excessive number of factors bound up in the definition that are not easily quantifiable, (5) there is often confusion between production facility optimal yield and basin sustainable yield, (6) in many semi-arid and arid environments groundwater systems cannot be sensibly developed using a sustained yield policy particularly where ecological constraints are applied. Derivation of sustainable yield using conservation of mass principles leads to expressions for basin sustainable, partial (non-sustainable) mining and total (non-sustainable) mining yields that can be readily determined using numerical modelling methods and selected on the basis of applied constraints. For some cases there has to be recognition that the groundwater resource is not renewable and its use cannot therefore be sustainable. In these cases, its destiny should be the best equitable use. sostenible. Las razones son: (1) los conceptos y definiciones actuales son ambiguos y sin base física de modo que no pueden usarse para aplicación cuantitativa, (2) existe necesidad de eliminar interpretaciones variables y mal interpretaciones y aportar bases sanas para aplicación, (3) la noción de que todos los sistemas de aguas subterráneas son o pueden ser sostenibles no esvalida, (4) frecuentemente existen un numero excesivo de factores ligados a la definición de producción sostenible los cuales no son fácil de cuantificar, (5) frecuentemente existe confusión entre la producción optima de un establecimiento y la

  2. Managing Sustainability in Management Education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lystbæk, Christian Tang

    2014-01-01

    Sustainability has until relatively recently been seen as irrelevant to business practice and, hence, has been largely missing from management education. But, environmental issues are increasingly becoming a key business concern at local, national, international and global levels. This conceptual...... paper addresses the question: How can sustainability be addresses within management education? It engages in a critical discussion of traditional models for teaching sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in order to develop an advanced framework that addresses the limitations...... concerning trade-offs and complexity. Thus, the paper proposes an approach to sustainability in management education which help to initiate such critical reflection and discussion by drawing attention to the complex network of relations in which a given business or industry is embedded....

  3. LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SUPPLIES OF BIOENERGY FEEDSTOCK AND ENHANCED SOIL QUALITY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Douglas L. Karlen; David J. Muth, Jr.

    2012-09-01

    yields are less than 11 Mg ha-1 (175 bu ac-1) unless more intensive landscape management practices are implemented. Furthermore, although non-irrigated corn grain yields east and west of the primary Corn Belt may not consistently achieve the 11 Mg ha-1 yield levels, corn can still be part of an overall landscape approach for sustainable feedstock production. Another option for producers with consistently high yields (> 12.6 Mg ha-1 or 200 bu ac-1) that may enable them to sustainably harvest even more stover is to decrease their tillage intensity which will reduce fuel use, preserve rhizosphere carbon, and/or help maintain soil structure and soil quality benefits often attributed to no-till production systems. In conclusion, I challenge all ISTRO scientists to critically ask if your research is contributing to improved soil and crop management strategies that effectively address the complexity associated with sustainable food, feed, fiber and fuel production throughout the world.

  4. PATHWAYS TO SUSTAINABLE BANKING MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan (Santamarian Oana Raluca

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes one of the major challenges of the future: the sustainable development of the society. Sustainability is now increasingly recognized as central to the growth of emerging market economies. For the banking sector, this represents both a demand for greater social and environmental responsibility as well as a new landscape of business opportunity. Several years ago, the main part of the banks did not consider the social and environmental problems relevant for their operations. Recently, the banks began to realize the major impact of the sustainable development over the way of ulterior development of the society and, implicitly over the way of creating of the banking value in the future. In this context, the development of a banking management system, based on sustainable principles represents one of the provocations of these days.Starting from literature in the sustainable banking management field in this paper are presented several relevant issues related to risk management in the context of sustainable banking financing: the need to implement the sustainable management principles in financial and banking industry; the role of banks in sustainable development of society; social and environmental risk management policies, events that have shaped the role of the banking sector in sustainable development; international standards regarding sustainable banking management such us: Equator Principles for sustainable investment projects’ financing or GRI principles for sustainable reporting. Furthermore, we developed a practical case study related to the implementation of sustainable banking management at Bank of America.

  5. Principles and practices of sustainable water management

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Bixia Xu

    2010-01-01

    Literature related to sustainable water management is reviewed to illustrate the relationship among water management, sustainability (sustainable development), and sustainable water management. This review begins with the explanation on the definition of sustainable water management, followed by a discussion of sustainable water management principles and practices.

  6. Managing sustainability in management education policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lystbæk, Christian Tang

    Sustainability with regards to environmental issues has until recently been seen as irrelevant to business and management practice and, consequently, has been largely missing from business and management education. But the last decades has seen increasingrecognition of environmental problems...... such as climate change and resource depletion. The main policy instruments used to promote sustainability have been regulation, market-based instruments and voluntary agreements, but in recent years, policies have started tofocus on education. Many different actors, such as business schools, businesses...... and governments, interact in shaping management education. These actors derive their conception of sustainability from a range of meanings, practices, and norms. Drawing on Connolly´s analytical framework regarding “essentially contested concepts” (1994), this paper interrogates management education policy...

  7. Sustainable Soil Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Green, Ole; Evgrafova, Alevtina; Kirkegaard Nielsen, Søren

    Linket til højre henviser til rapporten i trykt format til download. This report provides an overview on new technologies for integrate sustainable and resilient management practices in arable ecosystems for advanced farmers, consultants, NGOs and policy makers. By following sustainable soil...... and soil quality in short- and long-terms. This report also illustrates the importance to combine a system approach for plant production by assessing field readiness, managing in-field traffic management, implementing the sitespecific controlled as well as sensor-controlled seedbed preparation, seeding...

  8. Effectiveness of sustainable land management measures in West Usambara highlands, Tanzania

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wickama, Juma; Okoba, Barrack; Sterk, Geert|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/157276465

    2014-01-01

    Soil erosion is a serious problem that affects food security and social livelihoods in the highlands of East Africa. Sustainable land management (SLM) measures have been widely promoted to reduce erosion and increase crop yield, but the adoption of SLM measures has remained low. In order to

  9. Sustainable Dry Land Management Model on Corn Agribusiness System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yulia Pujiharti

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The study aimed at building model of dry land management. Dynamic System Analysis was used to build model and Powersim 2.51 version for simulating. The parameter used in model were fertilizer (urea, SP-36, ACL, productivity (corn, cassava, mungbean, soil nutrient (N, P, K, crop nutrient requirements (corn, cassava, mungbean, mucuna, price (corn, cassava, mungbeans corn flour, feed, urea, SP-36, KCl, food security credit, area planted of (maize, cassava, mungbean, area harvested of (maize, cassava, mungbean, (corn, cassava, mungbean production, wages and farmer income. Sustainable indicator for ecology aspect was soil fertility level, economic aspects were productivity and farmer income, and social aspects were job possibility and traditions. The simulation result indicated that sustainable dry land management can improve soil fertility and increase farmer revenue, became sustainable farming system and farmer society. On the other hand, conventional dry land management decreased soil fertility and yield, caused farmer earnings to decrease and a farm activity could not be continued. Fertilizer distribution did not fulfill farmer requirement, which caused fertilizer scarcity. Food security credit increased fertilizer application. Corn was processed to corn flour or feed to give value added.

  10. Managing Sustainability in Fruit Production

    OpenAIRE

    Taragola, N.; Van Passel, S.; Zwiekhorst, W.

    2012-01-01

    As fruit growers are faced with a growing need for sustainable development, it is important to integrate sustainability into their management processes. This research applies and evaluates a self-analysis tool for entrepreneurs called the ‘sustainability scan’. The scan identifies 23 sustainability themes, divided according to the 3P-framework (People, Planet and Profit). In the scan, it is assumed that the management of these themes is at the core of sustainable entrepren...

  11. Facility Management's Role in Organizational Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Gregory K.

    2013-01-01

    Facility managers have questions about sustainability. How do an organization's physical facilities--its built environment--and the management of them, influence the sustainability of the organization or institution as a whole? How important is Facility Management (FM) to the overall sustainability profile of an organization? Facility managers…

  12. Sustainable Soil Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Green, Ole; Evgrafova, Alevtina; Kirkegaard Nielsen, Søren

    management strategies, which consider the site- and field-specific parameters and agricultural machinery’s improvements, it is possible to maximize production and income, while reducing negative environmental impacts and human health issues induced by agricultural activities as well as improving food......Linket til højre henviser til rapporten i trykt format til download. This report provides an overview on new technologies for integrate sustainable and resilient management practices in arable ecosystems for advanced farmers, consultants, NGOs and policy makers. By following sustainable soil...... and soil quality in short- and long-terms. This report also illustrates the importance to combine a system approach for plant production by assessing field readiness, managing in-field traffic management, implementing the sitespecific controlled as well as sensor-controlled seedbed preparation, seeding...

  13. CLAIMS OF SUSTAINABLE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev

    Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to provide an overview of current practices within the emergent management discipline: Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM). Background: To develop a sustainable society, facilities managers must become change agents for sustainability in the built...... environment. Facilities Management (FM) is contributing to the environmental, social and economical problems, but can at the same time also be a part of the solution. However, to integrate sustainability in FM is still an emergent niche within FM, and the examples of SFM so far seems to come out of very......-creating of new socio-technical services and technologies These SFM understandings are concluded to be coexisting claims of SFM definitions. Practical Implications: Facilities managers will be able to identify the mindset behind different services and technologies that are promoted as SFM. But maybe just...

  14. Towards Sustainable Flow Management - Introduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moss, Timothy; Elle, Morten

    2001-01-01

    Outlines the conditions for the three Local Agenda 21 case-studies in the Sustainable Flow Management project......Outlines the conditions for the three Local Agenda 21 case-studies in the Sustainable Flow Management project...

  15. Towards Sustainable Flow Management - Introduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moss, Timothy; Elle, Morten

    1998-01-01

    Outlines the conditions for the three Local Agenda 21 case-studies in the Sustainable Flow Management Project......Outlines the conditions for the three Local Agenda 21 case-studies in the Sustainable Flow Management Project...

  16. Sustainable Materials Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    To introduce businesses, NGOs, and government officials to the concept of Sustainable Materials Management (SMM). To provide tools to allow stakeholders to take a lifecycle approach managing their materials, & to encourage them to join a SMM challenge.

  17. Possible ecosystem impacts of applying maximum sustainable yield policy in food chain models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Bapan; Kar, T K

    2013-07-21

    This paper describes the possible impacts of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and maximum sustainable total yield (MSTY) policy in ecosystems. In general it is observed that exploitation at MSY (of single species) or MSTY (of multispecies) level may cause the extinction of several species. In particular, for traditional prey-predator system, fishing under combined harvesting effort at MSTY (if it exists) level may be a sustainable policy, but if MSTY does not exist then it is due to the extinction of the predator species only. In generalist prey-predator system, harvesting of any one of the species at MSY level is always a sustainable policy, but harvesting of both the species at MSTY level may or may not be a sustainable policy. In addition, we have also investigated the MSY and MSTY policy in a traditional tri-trophic and four trophic food chain models. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Sustainable development and energy supply

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levi, H.W.

    1997-01-01

    'Sustainable' is an old established term which has made a political career in the past ten years. The roots of this career extend back into the 18th century, when an economic concept of forest management was developed to replace yield maximization achieved by means of complete deforestation by yield optimization attained by conservative forest management. This latter type of forest management was termed 'sustainable'. The language used in today's sustainability debate was based on the idea of preserving the capital provided by nature and living on the interest. As a consequence, the term 'sustainable' became one of the key points in environmental policy and economic policy after the Brundtland report had been published (V. Hauff, 1987), which also constitutes the background to this article. (orig.) [de

  19. Managing sustainability in management education

    OpenAIRE

    Lystbæk, Christian Tang

    2014-01-01

    Environmental issues are increasingly becoming a key business concern at local, national, international and global levels. Consequently, environmental issues and sustainability have found their way into management education in terms of business ethics, corporate social or sustainability responsibilities (CSR), etc.. Dominant conceptions of CSR identify a series of different types of corporate responsibilities, fx. economic, legal, social, environmental, etc. (e.g. Crane & Matten, 2010). A...

  20. Global achievements in sustainable land management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Motavalli

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Identification and development of sustainable land management is urgently required because of widespread resource degradation from poor land use practices. In addition, the world will need to increase food production to meet the nutritional needs of a growing global population without major environmental degradation. Ongoing climate change and its impacts on the environment is an additional factor to consider in identifying and developing sustainable land use practices. The objectives of this paper are to: (1 provide a background to the need for sustainable land management, (2 identify some of its major components, and (3 discuss some examples of sustainable land management systems that are being practiced around the world. Some common components of this type of management are: (1 understanding the ecology of land management, (2 maintenance or enhancement of land productivity, (3 maintenance of soil quality, (4 increased diversity for higher stability and resilience, (5 provision of economic and ecosystem service benefits for communities, and (6 social acceptability. Several examples of sustainable land management systems are discussed to illustrate the wide range of systems that have been developed around the world including agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and precision agricultural systems. Improved technology, allowing for geater environmental measurement and for improved access and sharing of information, provides opportunities to identify and develop more sustainable land management practices and systems for the future.

  1. Managment oriented analysis of sediment yield time compression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smetanova, Anna; Le Bissonnais, Yves; Raclot, Damien; Nunes, João P.; Licciardello, Feliciana; Le Bouteiller, Caroline; Latron, Jérôme; Rodríguez Caballero, Emilio; Mathys, Nicolle; Klotz, Sébastien; Mekki, Insaf; Gallart, Francesc; Solé Benet, Albert; Pérez Gallego, Nuria; Andrieux, Patrick; Moussa, Roger; Planchon, Olivier; Marisa Santos, Juliana; Alshihabi, Omran; Chikhaoui, Mohamed

    2016-04-01

    The understanding of inter- and intra-annual variability of sediment yield is important for the land use planning and management decisions for sustainable landscapes. It is of particular importance in the regions where the annual sediment yield is often highly dependent on the occurrence of few large events which produce the majority of sediments, such as in the Mediterranean. This phenomenon is referred as time compression, and relevance of its consideration growths with the increase in magnitude and frequency of extreme events due to climate change in many other regions. So far, time compression has ben studied mainly on events datasets, providing high resolution, but (in terms of data amount, required data precision and methods), demanding analysis. In order to provide an alternative simplified approach, the monthly and yearly time compressions were evaluated in eight Mediterranean catchments (of the R-OSMed network), representing a wide range of Mediterranean landscapes. The annual sediment yield varied between 0 to ~27100 Mg•km-2•a-1, and the monthly sediment yield between 0 to ~11600 Mg•km-2•month-1. The catchment's sediment yield was un-equally distributed at inter- and intra-annual scale, and large differences were observed between the catchments. Two types of time compression were distinguished - (i) the inter-annual (based on annual values) and intra- annual (based on monthly values). Four different rainfall-runoff-sediment yield time compression patterns were observed: (i) no time-compression of rainfall, runoff, nor sediment yield, (ii) low time compression of rainfall and runoff, but high compression of sediment yield, (iii) low compression of rainfall and high of runoff and sediment yield, and (iv) low, medium and high compression of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield. All four patterns were present at inter-annual scale, while at intra-annual scale only the two latter were present. This implies that high sediment yields occurred in

  2. A pathway to a more sustainable water sector: sustainability-based asset management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marlow, D R; Beale, D J; Burn, S

    2010-01-01

    The water sectors of many countries are faced with the need to address simultaneously two overarching challenges; the need to undertake effective asset management coupled with the broader need to evolve business processes so as to embrace sustainability principles. Research has thus been undertaken into the role sustainability principles play in asset management. As part of this research, a series of 25 in-depth interviews were undertaken with water sector professionals from around Australia. Drawing on the results of these interviews, this paper outlines the conceptual relationship between asset management and sustainability along with a synthesis of the relevant opinions voiced in the interviews. The interviews indicated that the participating water authorities have made a strong commitment to sustainability, but there is a need to facilitate change processes to embed sustainability principles into business as usual practices. Interviewees also noted that asset management and sustainability are interlinked from a number of perspectives, especially in the way decision making is undertaken with respect to assets and service provision. The interviews also provided insights into the research needed to develop a holistic sustainability-based asset management framework.

  3. Management of Business Transformation to Sustainable Business

    OpenAIRE

    Grunda, Rokas

    2011-01-01

    Having examined the concepts of sustainable business and advantages and disadvantages of business sustainability management models, the objective of the dissertation is to formulate a management model of business transformation to sustainable business and to verify it in present business conditions in Lithuania. In the dissertation, the essence of the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability is characterized, the criteria of sustainable society are distinguished and the concept ...

  4. Corporate Sustainability Management and Environmental Ethics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schuler, Douglas; Rasche, Andreas; Etzion, Dror

    2017-01-01

    This article reviews four key orientations in environmental ethics that range from an instrumental understanding of sustainability to one that acknowledges the intrinsic value of sustainable behavior (i.e., sustainable resource use, conservation and preservation, rights-based perspectives, and deep...... ecology). It then shows that the current scholarly discourse around corporate sustainability management—as reflected in environment management (EM), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate political activity (CPA)—mostly favors an instrumental perspective on sustainability. Sustainable...... business practices are viewed as anthropocentric and are conceptualized as a means to achieve competitive advantage. Based on these observations, we speculate about what corporate sustainability management might look like if it applied ethical orientations that emphasize the intrinsic value of nature...

  5. Design and management of sustainable built environments

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    Climate change is believed to be a great challenge to built environment professionals in design and management. An integrated approach in delivering a sustainable built environment is desired by the built environment professional institutions. The aim of this book is to provide an advanced understanding of the key subjects required for the design and management of modern built environments to meet carbon emission reduction targets. In Design and Management of Sustainable Built Environments, an international group of experts provide comprehensive and the most up-to-date knowledge, covering sustainable urban and building design, management and assessment. The best practice case studies of the implementation of sustainable technology and management from the BRE Innovation Park are included. Design and Management of Sustainable Built Environments will be of interest to urban and building designers, environmental engineers, and building performance assessors.  It will be particularly useful as a reference book ...

  6. Managing Transportation Infrastructure for Sustainable Development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Akinyemi, Edward O.; Zuidgeest, M.H.P.

    Major requirements for operationalization of the concept of sustainable development in urban transportation infrastructure operations management are presented. In addition, it is shown that the current approach to management is incompatible with the requirements for sustainable urban development.

  7. Sustainability in Project Management: Reality Bites

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gilbert Gilbert Silvius; Ron Schipper; Snezana Nedeski

    2012-01-01

    The relationship between project management and sustainable development is rapidly gaining interest from both practitioners and academics. Studies on the integration of the concepts of sustainability into project management, approach this topic mostly from a conceptual, logical or moral point of

  8. Ecohydrology of managed ecosystems: Linking rainfall unpredictability, agronomic performance, and sustainable water use

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vico, Giulia; Porporato, Amilcare

    2014-05-01

    The field of ecohydrology, traditionally focusing on natural ecosystems, can offer the necessary quantitative tools to assess and compare the sustainability of agriculture across climates, soil types, crops, and irrigation strategies, including rainfall unpredictability. In particular, irrigation is one of the main strategies to enhance and stabilize agricultural productivity, but represents a cost in terms of often scarce water resources. Here, the sustainability of irrigated and rainfed agriculture is assessed by means of water productivity (defined as the ratio between yield and total supplied water), yields, water requirements, and their variability. These indicators are quantified using a probabilistic description of the soil water balance and crop development. Employing this framework, we interpret changes in water productivity as total water input is altered, in two staple crops (maize and wheat) grown under different soils, climates, and irrigation strategies. Climate change scenarios are explored by using the same approach and altering the rainfall statistics. For a given irrigation strategy, intermediate rainfall inputs leads to the highest variability in yield and irrigation water requirement - it is under these conditions that water management is most problematic. When considering the contrasting needs of limiting water requirements while ensuring adequate yields, micro-irrigation emerges as the most sustainable strategy at the field level, although consideration should be given to its profitability and long-term environmental implications.

  9. Towards Sustainable Water Management in a Country that Faces Extreme Water Scarcity and Dependency: Jordan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schyns, J.; Hamaideh, A.; Hoekstra, A. Y.; Mekonnen, M. M.; Schyns, M.

    2015-12-01

    Jordan faces a great variety of water-related challenges: domestic water resources are scarce and polluted; the sharing of transboundary waters has led to tensions and conflicts; and Jordan is extremely dependent of foreign water resources through trade. Therefore, sustainable water management in Jordan is a challenging task, which has not yet been accomplished. The objective of this study was to analyse Jordan's domestic water scarcity and pollution and the country's external water dependency, and subsequently review sustainable solutions that reduce the risk of extreme water scarcity and dependency. We have estimated the green, blue and grey water footprint of five different sectors in Jordan: crop production, grazing, animal water supply, industrial production and domestic water supply. Next, we assessed the blue water scarcity ratio for the sum of surface- and groundwater and for groundwater separately, and calculated the water pollution level. Finally, we reviewed the sustainability of proposed solutions to Jordan's domestic water problems and external water dependency in literature, while involving the results and conclusions from our analysis. We have quantified that: even while taking into account the return flows, blue water scarcity in Jordan is severe; groundwater consumption is nearly double the sustainable yield; water pollution aggravates blue water scarcity; and Jordan's external virtual water dependency is 86%. Our review yields ten essential ingredients that a sustainable water management strategy for Jordan, that reduces the risk of extreme water scarcity and dependency, should involve. With respect to these, Jordan's current water policy requires a strong redirection towards water demand management. Especially, more attention should be paid to reducing water demand by changing the consumption patterns of Jordan consumers. Moreover, exploitation of fossil groundwater should soon be halted and planned desalination projects require careful

  10. Sustainability partnerships and viticulture management in California.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hillis, Vicken; Lubell, Mark; Hoffman, Matthew

    2018-07-01

    Agricultural regions in the United States are experimenting with sustainability partnerships that, among other goals, seek to improve growers' ability to manage their vineyards sustainably. In this paper, we analyze the association between winegrape grower participation in sustainability partnership activities and practice adoption in three winegrowing regions of California. Using data gathered from a survey of 822 winegrape growers, we find a positive association between participation and adoption of sustainable practices, which holds most strongly for practices in which the perceived private benefits outweigh the costs, and for growers with relatively dense social networks. We highlight the mechanisms by which partnerships may catalyze sustainable farm management, and discuss the implications of these findings for improving sustainability partnerships. Taken together, we provide one of the most comprehensive quantitative analyses to date regarding the effectiveness of agricultural sustainability partnerships for improving farm management. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Sustainable operations management: A typological approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lawrence Michael Corbett

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the nature of sustainability and sustainable development as they relate to operations management. It proposes a typology for sustainable operations management that is based on the life cycle stages of a product and the three dimensions of corporate social responsibility. The aim is to show how this typology development could provide a useful approach to integrating the diverse strands of sustainability in operations, using industrial ecology and carbon neutrality as examples. It does this by providing a focused subset of environmental concerns for an industrial ecology approach, and some research propositions for the issue of carbon neutrality.

  12. Effect of management practices on milk yield and live weight ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ADEYEYE

    0.05). Milk yield was less sustained on farm. Week of lactation affected milk yield ( P<0.01). In experiment 2, five goats of each of Red Sokoto or Sahelian breeds were randomly assigned to either groundnut haulms or concentrate as supplement.

  13. Comparing Sustainable Forest Management Certifications Standards: A Meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Rawson. Clark

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available To solve problems caused by conventional forest management, forest certification has emerged as a driver of sustainable forest management. Several sustainable forest management certification systems exist, including the Forest Stewardship Council and those endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, such as the Canadian Standards Association - Sustainable Forestry Management Standard CAN/CSA - Z809 and Sustainable Forestry Initiative. For consumers to use certified products to meet their own sustainability goals, they must have an understanding of the effectiveness of different certification systems. To understand the relative performance of three systems, we determined: (1 the criteria used to compare the Forest Stewardship Council, Canadian Standards Association - Sustainable Forestry Management, and Sustainable Forestry Initiative, (2 if consensus exists regarding their ability to achieve sustainability goals, and (3 what research gaps must be filled to improve our understanding of how forest certification systems affect sustainable forest management. We conducted a qualitative meta-analysis of 26 grey literature references (books, industry and nongovernmental organization publications and 9 primary literature references (articles in peer-reviewed academic journals that compared at least two of the aforementioned certification systems. The Forest Stewardship Council was the highest performer for ecological health and social sustainable forest management criteria. The Canadian Standards Association - Sustainable Forestry Management and Sustainable Forestry Initiative performed best under sustainable forest management criteria of forest productivity and economic longevity of a firm. Sixty-two percent of analyses were comparisons of the wording of certification system principles or criteria; 34% were surveys of foresters or consumers. An important caveat to these results is that only one comparison was based on

  14. Contradictions Between Risk Management and Sustainable Development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olsen, Odd Einar; Langhelle, Oluf; Engen, Ole A.

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to discuss how risk management as a methodology and mindset influence on priorities and decisions concerning sustainable development. Management of risks and hazards often rely on partial analysis with a limited time frame. This may lead to a paradoxical situation where risk management and extended use of risk analysis could hamper long term sustainable development. The question is: Does the use of risk and vulnerability analysis (RaV-analysis) hamper or contribute to sustainable development? Because risk management and assessment has a more narrow scope and a limited time perspective based on well established methodologies, the tangible impacts of risk reducing measures in a project is easier to calculate than long-term and intangible impacts on global development. Empirical evidence is still scarce, but our preliminary conclusion is that mainstream risk management and assessments is counterproductive to sustainable development

  15. Contradictions Between Risk Management and Sustainable Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olsen, Odd Einar; Langhelle, Oluf; Engen, Ole A. [Univ. of Stavanger (Norway). Dept. of Media, Culture and Social Science

    2006-09-15

    The aim of this paper is to discuss how risk management as a methodology and mindset influence on priorities and decisions concerning sustainable development. Management of risks and hazards often rely on partial analysis with a limited time frame. This may lead to a paradoxical situation where risk management and extended use of risk analysis could hamper long term sustainable development. The question is: Does the use of risk and vulnerability analysis (RaV-analysis) hamper or contribute to sustainable development? Because risk management and assessment has a more narrow scope and a limited time perspective based on well established methodologies, the tangible impacts of risk reducing measures in a project is easier to calculate than long-term and intangible impacts on global development. Empirical evidence is still scarce, but our preliminary conclusion is that mainstream risk management and assessments is counterproductive to sustainable development.

  16. OPTIMAL CONTROL THEORY FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

    Science.gov (United States)

    With growing world population, diminishing resources, and realization of the harmful effects of various pollutants, research focus in environmental management has shifted towards sustainability. The goal of a sustainable management strategy is to promote the structure and operati...

  17. Principles of root water uptake, soil salinity and crop yield for optimizing irrigation management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dirksen, C.

    1983-01-01

    The paper reviews the principles of water and salt transport, root water uptake, crop salt tolerance, water quality, and irrigation methods which should be considered in optimizing irrigation management for sustained, viable agriculture with protection of the quality of land and water resources. In particular, the advantages of high-frequency irrigation at small leaching fractions with closed systems are discussed, for which uptake-weighted mean salinity is expected to correlate best with crop yields. Optimization of irrigation management depends on the scale considered. Non-technical problems which are often much harder to solve than technical problems, may well be most favourable for new projects in developing countries. (author)

  18. Delivering Sustainable Facilities Management in Danish Housing Estates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Jesper Ole; Jensen, Per Anker

    2009-01-01

    Housing plays a central role in sustainable development due to large resource consumption and as transition agent towards sustainable lifestyles. The aim is to evaluate current practice of housing administration in Denmark in order to evaluate if and how sustainable facilities management is suppo......Housing plays a central role in sustainable development due to large resource consumption and as transition agent towards sustainable lifestyles. The aim is to evaluate current practice of housing administration in Denmark in order to evaluate if and how sustainable facilities management...... is supporting social, economical and environmental sustainable development. Sustainable facility management (SFM) is as an 'umbrella' for various ways of reducing flows of energy, water and waste in the daily operation of the buildings, for instance by regular monitoring the consumption, by using 'green......-setting including the ownership of the building, the organisation of daily operation, the roles and relation between stakeholders are equally important in order to utilise the monitoring as a mean for transformation towards sustainable buildings and lifestyles....

  19. Assessing the Sustainability of Farm-land Management in the Eastern Azerbaijan Province (Case of Malekan County

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siamak Nabizadeh

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to assess sustainable farmlands management in the Malekan County. The target population consisted of wheat growers among which 162 farmers were selected according to the multistage cluster selection method. The research tool used was a questionnaire whose face validity was confirmed by comments from faculty members and experts in the Malekan Agri- Jihad and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha (average 0.71. Sustainability was measured by establishing composite index for six components of sustainable land management. The results of assessing sustainable land management revealed that 19.1% of the farmers were in an unsustainable situation, 34% of them were in a fairly unsustainable situation, 26.5% of them were in a fairly sustainable situation and 20.4% of them were in a sustainable situation. The results of correlation coefficient showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between age and farming experience with “stability and acceptability”, land size and farm income with “stability, acceptability and technical knowledge”, wheat yield and consumed fertilizer with “security”, land plots with “acceptability” and using farm machinery with “productivity, stability, acceptability and technical knowledge”. There is also a negative and significant relationship between non-farm income and “productivity” and consumed fertilizers and “security”.

  20. Managing for Sustainable Development Impact

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kusters, C.S.L.; Batjes, Karen; Wigboldus, S.A.; Brouwers, J.H.A.M.; Dickson Baguma, Sylvester

    2017-01-01

    This guide is about managing development initiatives and organizations towardssustainable development impact. It builds on the work of Guijt and Woodhill inthe 2002 IFAD publication Managing for Impact in Rural Development: A Guide for Project M&E. Since then, the managing for sustainable

  1. Stakeholder Thinking in Sustainability Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gjerdrum Pedersen, Esben Rahbek; Hove Henriksen, Morten; Frier, Claus

    2013-01-01

    Purpose – The objective of the paper is to describe and discuss how the biotech company Novozymes integrates stakeholder thinking into everyday sustainability practices. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on first-hand experiences as well as secondary information from Novozymes' sta...... to make sense of stakeholder thinking. Originality/value – The contribution of this paper is to provide a detailed analysis of how various stakeholder relations management methods can be used in practice to integrate sustainability in an organisation.......' stakeholder-oriented sustainability activities. Findings – The paper illustrates how a company is striving to transform the general stakeholder principles into concrete, manageable actions. Moreover, the paper describes some of the needs, challenges, and paradoxes experienced by an organisation that is trying...

  2. Study on National Sustainable Development Strategy Management Based on Stakeholders Management Theory

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Chen Huarong; Wang Xiaoming

    2012-01-01

    Based on the stakeholders management theory, this pa- per provides a new strategic management method for the National Sustainable Development Strategy. By taking China＇s National Sustainable Development Strategy Management as an example, this paper identifies all the stakeholders involved and then as- sesses stakeholders from two dimensions, namely ＂Importance＂ and ＂Attitude＂, by which all of the stakeholders are divided into six categories. On this basis, further analysis is made to work out strategic management programme by scheduling the strate- gic emphases, steps and management countermeasures for dif- ferent types of stakeholders so as to provide theortical evidence for the practice of National Sustainable Developnent Strategy management.

  3. No-tillage and fertilization management on crop yields and nitrate leaching in North China Plain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Manxiang; Liang, Tao; Wang, Lingqing; Zhou, Chenghu

    2015-01-01

    A field experiment was performed from 2003 to 2008 to evaluate the effects of tillage system and nitrogen management regimes on crop yields and nitrate leaching from the fluvo-aquic soil with a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–maize (Zea mays L.) double-cropping system. The tillage systems consisted of conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT). Three nitrogen management regimes were included: 270 kg N ha−1 of urea for wheat and 225 kg N ha−1 of urea for maize (U), 180 kg N ha−1 of urea and 90 kg N ha−1 of straw for wheat and 180 kg N of urea and 45 kg N ha−1 of straw for maize (S), 180 kg N ha−1 of urea and 90 kg N ha−1 of manure for wheat and 180 kg N ha−1 of urea and 45 kg N ha−1 of manure for maize (M). An array of tension-free pan lysimeters (50 cm × 75 cm) were installed (1.2 m deep) to measure water flow and -N movement. No significant effect of the N management regime on yields of winter wheat and maize grain was found in the 5-year rotation. Tillage systems had significant influences on -N leaching from the second year and thereafter interacted with N management regimes on -N loads during all maize seasons. The average yield-scaled -N leaching losses were in order of CTS leaching losses while sustaining crop grain yields. Considering the lower costs, NTS could be a potential alternative to decrease yield-scaled -N leaching losses and improve soil fertility while maintaining crop yield for the winter wheat–maize double-cropping systems in the North China Plain. PMID:25859321

  4. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods: Uniting ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2003-07-31

    Jul 31, 2003 ... Management of local resources has a greater chance of a ... Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods: Uniting Science and Participation ... innovative approaches for establishing and sustaining participation and ... A new IDRC-supported project will help improve water conservation and ...

  5. Sustainability Management in Agribusiness: Challenges, Concepts, Responsibilities and Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina Friedrich

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The idea of sustainable management has recently gained growing attention in the agribusiness sector. This is mainly due to a widespread discontent with the industrialization of agricultural production and food processing and growing public pressure on agribusiness firms to implement more sustainable management practices. In this paper we present the results of an explorative empirical study of sustainability management in German agribusiness firms. The study shows that agribusiness firms have developed a broad understanding of sustainability management and perceive a multi-facetted spectrum of societal demands they have to meet. The most important arguments for implementing more sustainable management practices are that companies have to make sure that they are trusted by society in the long run and that the perception of a company by external stakeholders has become more and more important. The companies surveyed know quite a number of sustainability programmes and standards, but the number of companies that actually participate in these initiatives is much smaller. Nonetheless, the majority of the respondents feels that their company is more successful with regard to sustainability management than industry average.

  6. Sustainable Management of Food

    Science.gov (United States)

    To provide information to organizations to help them implement sustainable food management, including joining the Food Recovery Challenge. To provide education and information to communities and concerned citizens.

  7. Sustaining self-management in diabetes mellitus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell-Brown, Fay

    2014-01-01

    Successful management of diabetes depends on the individual's ability to manage and control symptoms. Self-management of diabetes is believed to play a significant role in achieving positive outcomes for patients. Adherence to self-management behaviors supports high-quality care, which reduces and delays disease complications, resulting in improved quality of life. Because self-management is so important to diabetes management and involves a lifelong commitment for all patients, health care providers should actively promote ways to maintain and sustain behavior change that support adherence to self-management. A social ecological model of behavior change (McLeroy, Bibeau, Steckler, & Glanz, 1988) helps practitioners provide evidence-based care and optimizes patients' clinical outcomes. This model supports self-management behaviors through multiple interacting interventions that can help sustain behavior change. Diabetes is a complex chronic disease; successful management must use multiple-level interventions.

  8. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods: Uniting ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    31 juil. 2003 ... Management of local resources has a greater chance of a sustainable outcome when there is partnership between local people and external agencies, and agendas relevant to their aspirations and circumstances. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods analyses and extends this premise ...

  9. Is current irrigation sustainable in the United States? An integrated assessment of climate change impact on water resources and irrigated crop yields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanc, Elodie; Caron, Justin; Fant, Charles; Monier, Erwan

    2017-08-01

    While climate change impacts on crop yields has been extensively studied, estimating the impact of water shortages on irrigated crop yields is challenging because the water resources management system is complex. To investigate this issue, we integrate a crop yield reduction module and a water resources model into the MIT Integrated Global System Modeling framework, an integrated assessment model linking a global economic model to an Earth system model. We assess the effects of climate and socioeconomic changes on water availability for irrigation in the U.S. as well as subsequent impacts on crop yields by 2050, while accounting for climate change projection uncertainty. We find that climate and socioeconomic changes will increase water shortages and strongly reduce irrigated yields for specific crops (i.e., cotton and forage), or in specific regions (i.e., the Southwest) where irrigation is not sustainable. Crop modeling studies that do not represent changes in irrigation availability can thus be misleading. Yet, since the most water-stressed basins represent a relatively small share of U.S. irrigated areas, the overall reduction in U.S. crop yields is small. The response of crop yields to climate change and water stress also suggests that some level of adaptation will be feasible, like relocating croplands to regions with sustainable irrigation or switching to less irrigation intensive crops. Finally, additional simulations show that greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation can alleviate the effect of water stress on irrigated crop yields, enough to offset the reduced CO2 fertilization effect compared to an unconstrained GHG emission scenario.

  10. Towards Sustainable Flow Management: Local Agenda 21 - Conclusions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moss, Timothy; Elle, Morten

    1998-01-01

    Concluding on the casestudies of Local Agenda 21 as an instrument of sustainable flow management......Concluding on the casestudies of Local Agenda 21 as an instrument of sustainable flow management...

  11. Sustainable Flow Management in a Danish Perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Elle, Morten

    1998-01-01

    The paper discusses the basic results of the Sustainable Flow Management project in relation to future planning of energy and resource flows in municipalities......The paper discusses the basic results of the Sustainable Flow Management project in relation to future planning of energy and resource flows in municipalities...

  12. Toward A Science of Sustainable Water Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, C.

    2016-12-01

    Societal need for improved water management and concerns for the long-term sustainability of water resources systems are prominent around the world. The continued susceptibility of society to the harmful effects of hydrologic variability, pervasive concerns related to climate change and the emergent awareness of devastating effects of current practice on aquatic ecosystems all illustrate our limited understanding of how water ought to be managed in a dynamic world. The related challenges of resolving the competition for freshwater among competing uses (so called "nexus" issues) and adapting water resources systems to climate change are prominent examples of the of sustainable water management challenges. In addition, largely untested concepts such as "integrated water resources management" have surfaced as Sustainable Development Goals. In this presentation, we argue that for research to improve water management, and for practice to inspire better research, a new focus is required, one that bridges disciplinary barriers between the water resources research focus on infrastructure planning and management, and the role of human actors, and geophysical sciences community focus on physical processes in the absence of dynamical human response. Examples drawn from climate change adaptation for water resource systems and groundwater management policy provide evidence of initial progress towards a science of sustainable water management that links improved physical understanding of the hydrological cycle with the socioeconomic and ecological understanding of water and societal interactions.

  13. Upland rice yield as affected by Brachiaria coverage management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriano S. Nascente

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available An important point in no-tillage system is the time between cover crop glyphosate desiccation and rice sowing. This study aimed to verify the effect of Brachiaria ruziziensis management time before rice sowing on rice yield and its components. The experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions and consisted of four types of B. ruziziensis management: with Brachiaria and with herbicide (WBWH, without Brachiaria shoots and with herbicide (NBWH, without Brachiaria shoots and without herbicide (NBNH, and with Brachiaria and without herbicide (WBNH, at four times: 30, 20, 10, and 0 days, preceding the rice sowing. The amount of B. ruziziensis dry matter increased as the management was done closer to the rice sowing date. The WBWH and WBNH managements (this one causes the lowest rice grain yield must be done 30 days before rice sowing; while NBWH management must be done ten or more days before rice sowing. On the other hand, NBNH management (this one favors the best rice grain yield can be done until rice sowing day. Despite some reduction in rice yield caused by the B. ruziziensis management, when it was done at the proper time the rice grain yield was similar to the control (without Brachiaria sowing and without herbicide application.

  14. Sustainable energy management - a prerequisite for the realization Kyoto Protocol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirjana Golušin

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Energy management can be defined as the process of planning, directing, implementing and controlling the process of generation, transmission and energy consumption. Energy management is a kind of synthesis of phenomena and concepts of modern energy management (management, or the use of modern settings management in the energy sector. Furthermore, when outlining the basic settings for power management Modern management is based on the assumptions of sustainability and conservation of energy stability for present and future generations. Therefore, modern energy management can be seen as a kind of synthesis of three actuarial sciences: energy, sustainable development and management. Sustainable Energy Management is a unique new concept, idea and approach that require many changes in the traditional way of understanding and interpretation of energy management at all levels. Sustainable energy management concept can not therefore be construed as an adopted and defined the concept, but must be constantly modified and adjusted in accordance with changes in the three areas that define it, and in accordance with the specific country or region where applicable. Accordingly, sustainable energy management can be defined as the process of energy management that is based on fundamental principles of sustainable development.

  15. Modeling Factors with Influence on Sustainable University Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oana Dumitrascu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to present the factors with influence on the sustainable university management and the relationships between them. In the scientific approach we begin from a graphical model, according to which the extracurricular activities together with internal environmental factors influence students’ involvement in such activities, the university attractiveness, their academic performance and their integration into the socially-economic and natural environment (components related with sustainable development. The model emphasizes that individual performances, related to students’ participation in extracurricular activities, have a positive influence on the sustainability of university management. The results of the study have shown that the university sustainability may be influenced by a number of factors, such as students’ performance, students’ involvement in extracurricular activities or university’s attractiveness and can in turn influence implicitly also the sustainability of university management. The originality of the paper consists in the relationships study using the modeling method in general and informatics tools of modeling in particular, as well as through graphical visualization of some influences, on the sustainability university management.

  16. Achieving maximum sustainable yield in mixed fisheries: a management approach for the North Sea demersal fisheries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ulrich, Clara; Vermard, Youen; Dolder, Paul J.

    2017-01-01

    . An objective method is suggested that provides an optimal set of fishing mortality within the range, minimizing the risk of total allowable catch mismatches among stocks captured within mixed fisheries, and addressing explicitly the trade-offs between the most and least productive stocks........ Recent paths towards operationalizing MSY at the regional scale have suggested the expansion of the concept into a desirable area of “pretty good yield”, implemented through a range around FMSY that would allow for more flexibility in management targets. This article investigates the potential of FMSY...... ranges to combine long-term single-stock targets with flexible, short-term, mixed-fisheries management requirements applied to the main North Sea demersal stocks. It is shown that sustained fishing at the upper bound of the range may lead to unacceptable risks when technical interactions occur...

  17. Management innovation driving sustainable supply management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koster, Mieneke; Vos, Bart; Schroeder, Roger

    2017-01-01

    Although research in the area of sustainable supply management (SSM) has evolved over the past few decades, knowledge about the processes of emergence and innovation of SSM practices within organizations is surprisingly limited. These innovation processes are, however, important because of the

  18. Sustainability assessment in forest management based on individual preferences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martín-Fernández, Susana; Martinez-Falero, Eugenio

    2018-01-15

    This paper presents a methodology to elicit the preferences of any individual in the assessment of sustainable forest management at the stand level. The elicitation procedure was based on the comparison of the sustainability of pairs of forest locations. A sustainability map of the whole territory was obtained according to the individual's preferences. Three forest sustainability indicators were pre-calculated for each point in a study area in a Scots pine forest in the National Park of Sierra de Guadarrama in the Madrid Region in Spain to obtain the best management plan with the sustainability map. We followed a participatory process involving fifty people to assess the sustainability of the forest management and the methodology. The results highlighted the demand for conservative forest management, the usefulness of the methodology for managers, and the importance and necessity of incorporating stakeholders into forestry decision-making processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Economic Sustainability of Payments for Water Yield in Slash Pine Plantations in Florida

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andres Susaeta

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Forests play an important role with respect to water resources, and can be managed to increase surface- and groundwater recharge. With the creation of a forest water yield payment system, privately-owned forests, which comprise the majority of forest area in the Southeastern US, could become an important potential source of additional water supply. The economic tradeoffs between timber revenues and water yield are not well understood. To address this, we use the example case of slash pine production in Florida, and employ a forest stand-level optimal rotation model that incorporates forest management, and assessed a range of feasible water yield prices on forest profitability. Our analysis was limited to a range of water yield prices ($0.03, $0.07, and $0.30 kL−1 that would make water yield from slash pine economically competitive with water supply alternatives (e.g., reservoir construction. Even at relatively low water prices, we found that managing slash pine forests for both timber and water yield was preferred to managing just for timber when assuming an initial tree density less than 2200 trees·ha−1. However, with higher levels of initial tree planting density and low water prices, managing slash pine for timber production alone was more profitable unless stands are heavily-thinned, suggesting that even mid-rotation stands could be included in a forest water yield payments program. Compared to low-tree planting density and lightly thinned slash pine forests, an intensive approach of planting a lot of trees and then heavily thinning them generated 8% to 33% higher profits, and 11% more ($192 ha−1 on average. We conclude that payments for water yield are economically feasible for slash pine stands in Florida, and would benefit forest landowners, particularly with higher prices for water yield.

  20. Important features of Sustainable Aggregate Resource Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solar, Slavko V.; Shields, Deborah J.; Langer, William H.

    2004-01-01

    Every society, whether developed, developing or in a phase of renewal following governmental change, requires stable, adequate and secure supplies of natural resources. In the latter case, there could be significant need for construction materials for rebuilding infrastructure, industrial capacity, and housing. It is essential that these large-volume materials be provided in a rational manner that maximizes their societal contribution and minimizes environmental impacts. We describe an approach to resource management based on the principles of sustainable developed. Sustainable Aggregate Resource Management offers a way of addressing the conflicting needs and interests of environmental, economic, and social systems. Sustainability is an ethics based concept that utilizes science and democratic processes to reach acceptable agreements and tradeoffs among interests, while acknowledging the fundamental importance of the environment and social goods. We discuss the features of sustainable aggregate resource management.

  1. Important Features of Sustainable Aggregate Resource Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Slavko V. Šolar

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available Every society, whether developed, developing or in a phase of renewal following governmental change, requires stable, adequate and secure supplies of natural resources. In the latter case, there could be significant need for construction materials for rebuilding infrastructure, industrial capacity, and housing. It is essential that these large-volume materials be provided in a rational manner that maximizes their societal contribution and minimizes environmental impacts. We describe an approach to resource management based on the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable Aggregate Resource Management offers a way of addressing the conflicting needs and interests of environmental, economic, and social systems. Sustainability is an ethics based concept that utilizes science and democratic processes to reach acceptable agreements and tradeoffs among interests, while acknowledging the fundamental importance of the environment and social goods. We discuss the features of sustainable aggregate resource management.

  2. Sustainable forest management in Serbia: State and potentials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Medarević Milan

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Starting from the internationally adopted definition of sustainable forest management, this paper points to the demands of sustainable forest management that can be satisfied by meeting the definite assumptions. The first part presents the objectives of forest and woodland management planning and utilisation, hunting management, and protection of protected areas, as well as the all-inclusive compatible goals of forest policy in Serbia. The second part presents the analysis of the present state of forests in Serbia, in relation to the Pan-European criteria for the assessment of sustainability, and the potentials of our forests to meet all the demands.

  3. Sustainability and the facilities management in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asbollah Asra Zaliza

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Facilities Management (FM in the industry of environment involves numerous expertise, especially from the management side. Other than that, technology and finance are the other factors involved as well. One essential aspect of FM, other than the emphasis on technical operation, is its performance. In parallel, the performance does impact occupant behaviour and, at the same time, this performance does affect the environment. In short, this indicates that FM is in a key position to participate in delivering a sustainable environment for the industry of built environment. Sustainable facilities Management (SFM is crucial because buildings consume more resources which will, in consequence, negatively impact the environment and generate large amounts of waste. This justifies the importance of sustainability under the umbrella of facilities management. However, FM is quite new in Malaysia’s environment. Government agencies, such as JKR, have adopted and are practicing FM at the moment. Fortunately, there has been an increasing trend and awareness of SFM adoption. Therefore, this paper aims to understand and identify the contribution and practices of Sustainable Facilities Management (SFM in Malaysia; focusing on the development taken in regards to SFM.

  4. Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: Aggregate Planning from Sustainability Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Türkay, Metin; Saraçoğlu, Öztürk; Arslan, Mehmet Can

    2016-01-01

    Supply chain management that considers the flow of raw materials, products and information has become a focal issue in modern manufacturing and service systems. Supply chain management requires effective use of assets and information that has far reaching implications beyond satisfaction of customer demand, flow of goods, services or capital. Aggregate planning, a fundamental decision model in supply chain management, refers to the determination of production, inventory, capacity and labor usage levels in the medium term. Traditionally standard mathematical programming formulation is used to devise the aggregate plan so as to minimize the total cost of operations. However, this formulation is purely an economic model that does not include sustainability considerations. In this study, we revise the standard aggregate planning formulation to account for additional environmental and social criteria to incorporate triple bottom line consideration of sustainability. We show how these additional criteria can be appended to traditional cost accounting in order to address sustainability in aggregate planning. We analyze the revised models and interpret the results on a case study from real life that would be insightful for decision makers.

  5. Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: Aggregate Planning from Sustainability Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Türkay, Metin; Saraçoğlu, Öztürk; Arslan, Mehmet Can

    2016-01-01

    Supply chain management that considers the flow of raw materials, products and information has become a focal issue in modern manufacturing and service systems. Supply chain management requires effective use of assets and information that has far reaching implications beyond satisfaction of customer demand, flow of goods, services or capital. Aggregate planning, a fundamental decision model in supply chain management, refers to the determination of production, inventory, capacity and labor usage levels in the medium term. Traditionally standard mathematical programming formulation is used to devise the aggregate plan so as to minimize the total cost of operations. However, this formulation is purely an economic model that does not include sustainability considerations. In this study, we revise the standard aggregate planning formulation to account for additional environmental and social criteria to incorporate triple bottom line consideration of sustainability. We show how these additional criteria can be appended to traditional cost accounting in order to address sustainability in aggregate planning. We analyze the revised models and interpret the results on a case study from real life that would be insightful for decision makers. PMID:26807848

  6. Sustainable Capture: Concepts for Managing Stream-Aquifer Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davids, Jeffrey C; Mehl, Steffen W

    2015-01-01

    Most surface water bodies (i.e., streams, lakes, etc.) are connected to the groundwater system to some degree so that changes to surface water bodies (either diversions or importations) can change flows in aquifer systems, and pumping from an aquifer can reduce discharge to, or induce additional recharge from streams, springs, and lakes. The timescales of these interactions are often very long (decades), making sustainable management of these systems difficult if relying only on observations of system responses. Instead, management scenarios are often analyzed based on numerical modeling. In this paper we propose a framework and metrics that can be used to relate the Theis concepts of capture to sustainable measures of stream-aquifer systems. We introduce four concepts: Sustainable Capture Fractions, Sustainable Capture Thresholds, Capture Efficiency, and Sustainable Groundwater Storage that can be used as the basis for developing metrics for sustainable management of stream-aquifer systems. We demonstrate their utility on a hypothetical stream-aquifer system where pumping captures both streamflow and discharge to phreatophytes at different amounts based on pumping location. In particular, Capture Efficiency (CE) can be easily understood by both scientists and non-scientist alike, and readily identifies vulnerabilities to sustainable stream-aquifer management when its value exceeds 100%. © 2014, National Ground Water Association.

  7. Incorporating permaculture and strategic management for sustainable ecological resource management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akhtar, Faiza; Lodhi, Suleman A; Khan, Safdar Shah; Sarwar, Farhana

    2016-09-01

    Utilization of natural assets to the best efficient level without changing natural balance has become a critical issue for researchers as awareness on climate change takes central position in global debate. Conventional sustainable resource management systems are based on neoclassical economic approach that ignores the nature's pattern and therefore are not actually capable of sustainable management of resources. Environmentalists are lately advocating incorporation of Permaculture as holistic approach based on ethics, equitable interaction with eco-systems to obtain sustainability. The paper integrates philosophy of permaculture with strategic management frameworks to develop a pragmatic tool for policy development. The policy design tool augments management tasks by integrating recording of natural assets, monitoring of key performance indicators and integration of sectorial policies in real time, bringing out policy as a truly live document. The tool enhances the edifice process, balancing short term viewpoints and long term development to secure renewability of natural resources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Sustainable mining management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tejera Oliver, J. L.

    2009-01-01

    Mining activities are carried out by the older man and have provided resources, since ancient times, for their development and progress. With the discovery of fire will show the first metals that have marked the civilizations of copper, bronze and iron, and is the prehistory of the Stone Age tools that man has made from the exploitation of quarries first. The industrial revolution of the nineteenth century is linked to coal and steel, and could not conceiver of todays society without oil and gas, without silicon and coltan. But the mines are often aggressive and, despite their need and what they contribute to the development are answered by the societies where are made. during recent years there has been growing international efforts to try to make the minimum requirements of sustainable exploitation (European Directives, GMI, GRI, etc.) In AENOR, and within the Technical Committee of Standardization 22 Mining and Explosives, chaired by AITEMIN, was established the subcommittee 3, chaired by IGME, where, with the participation of all stake holders, have developed some standards on sustainable mining management sustainable mining that will be a tool available to mining companies to demonstrate their sustainable use to Society. (Author)

  9. Impact of marine reserve on maximum sustainable yield in a traditional prey-predator system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Prosenjit; Kar, T. K.; Ghorai, Abhijit

    2018-01-01

    Multispecies fisheries management requires managers to consider the impact of fishing activities on several species as fishing impacts both targeted and non-targeted species directly or indirectly in several ways. The intended goal of traditional fisheries management is to achieve maximum sustainable yield (MSY) from the targeted species, which on many occasions affect the targeted species as well as the entire ecosystem. Marine reserves are often acclaimed as the marine ecosystem management tool. Few attempts have been made to generalize the ecological effects of marine reserve on MSY policy. We examine here how MSY and population level in a prey-predator system are affected by the low, medium and high reserve size under different possible scenarios. Our simulation works shows that low reserve area, the value of MSY for prey exploitation is maximum when both prey and predator species have fast movement rate. For medium reserve size, our analysis revealed that the maximum value of MSY for prey exploitation is obtained when prey population has fast movement rate and predator population has slow movement rate. For high reserve area, the maximum value of MSY for prey's exploitation is very low compared to the maximum value of MSY for prey's exploitation in case of low and medium reserve. On the other hand, for low and medium reserve area, MSY for predator exploitation is maximum when both the species have fast movement rate.

  10. Sustainable Forest Management in Cameroon Needs More than Approved Forest Management Plans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paolo Omar. Cerutti

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available One of the main objectives of the 1994 Cameroonian forestry law is to improve the management of production forests by including minimum safeguards for sustainability into compulsory forest management plans. As of 2007, about 3.5 million hectares (60% of the productive forests are harvested following the prescriptions of 49 approved management plans. The development and implementation of these forest management plans has been interpreted by several international organizations as long awaited evidence that sustainable management is applied to production forests in Cameroon. Recent reviews of some plans have concluded, however, that their quality was inadequate. This paper aims at taking these few analyses further by assessing the actual impacts that approved management plans have had on sustainability and harvesting of commercial species. We carry out an assessment of the legal framework, highlighting a fundamental flaw, and a thorough comparison between data from approved management plans and timber production data. Contrary to the principles adhered to by the 1994 law, we find that the government has not yet succeeded in implementing effective minimum sustainability safeguards and that, in 2006, 68% of the timber production was still carried out as though no improved management rules were in place. The existence of a number of approved management plans cannot be used a proxy for proof of improved forest management.

  11. Is environmental management an economically sustainable business?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotschol, Antje; De Giovanni, Pietro; Esposito Vinzi, Vincenzo

    2014-11-01

    This paper investigates whether environmental management is an economically sustainable business. While firms invest in green production and green supply chain activities with the primary purpose of reducing their environmental impact, the reciprocal relationships with economic performance need to be clarified. Would firms and suppliers adjust their environmental strategies if the higher economic value that environmental management generates is reinvested in greening actions? We found out that environmental management positively influences economic performance as second order (long term) target, to be reached conditioned by higher environmental performance; in addition, firms can increase their performance if they reinvest the higher economic value gained through environmental management in green practices: While investing in environmental management programs is a short term strategy, economic rewards can be obtained only with some delays. Consequently, environmental management is an economically sustainable business only for patient firms. In the evaluation of these reciprocal relationships, we discovered that green supply chain initiatives are more effective and more economically sustainable than internal actions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Nordic Management and Sustainable Business

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Preuss, Bjørn

    2017-01-01

    of the Nordics and from that wants to answer if this management approach fosters a sustainable business culture. For defining the management and cultural approach applied in Nordic companies, the method of text mining in relation with machine learning will be used. Among European companies, the Nordic companies...

  13. Evaluating Water Management Practice for Sustainable Mining

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiangfeng Zhang

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available To move towards sustainable development, the mining industry needs to identify better mine water management practices for reducing raw water use, increasing water use efficiency, and eliminating environmental impacts in a precondition of securing mining production. However, the selection of optimal mine water management practices is technically challenging due to the lack of scientific tools to comprehensively evaluate management options against a set of conflicting criteria. This work has provided a solution to aid the identification of more sustainable mine water management practices. The solution includes a conceptual framework for forming a decision hierarchy; an evaluation method for assessing mine water management practices; and a sensitivity analysis in view of different preferences of stakeholders or managers. The solution is applied to a case study of the evaluation of sustainable water management practices in 16 mines located in the Bowen Basin in Queensland, Australia. The evaluation results illustrate the usefulness of the proposed solution. A sensitivity analysis is performed according to preference weights of stakeholders or managers. Some measures are provided for assessing sensitivity of strategy ranking outcomes if the weight of an indicator changes. Finally, some advice is given to improve the mine water management in some mines.

  14. Practical Implementation of Sustainable Urban Management Tools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Jesper Ole; Hoffmann, Birgitte

    2006-01-01

    The paper discusses how to promote the use of decision support tools for urban sustainable development. The interest in decision support tools based on indicators is increasing among practitioners and researchers. The research has so far focused on indicator types and systems of indicators...... and goals for urban sustainability whereas less focus has been on the context of implementation and even less on what we can learn from practical experiences about the usefulness of urban sustainable indicator tools. This paper explores the practical implementation of urban sustainable management tools....... It is generally agreed that in order to make indicators and other sustainability management tools work it is necessary that they are integrated in the relevant urban organisational levels, in a way that creates commitment to the subsequent goals. This includes involvement of organisations, individuals and other...

  15. Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: Aggregate Planning from Sustainability Perspective.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Metin Türkay

    Full Text Available Supply chain management that considers the flow of raw materials, products and information has become a focal issue in modern manufacturing and service systems. Supply chain management requires effective use of assets and information that has far reaching implications beyond satisfaction of customer demand, flow of goods, services or capital. Aggregate planning, a fundamental decision model in supply chain management, refers to the determination of production, inventory, capacity and labor usage levels in the medium term. Traditionally standard mathematical programming formulation is used to devise the aggregate plan so as to minimize the total cost of operations. However, this formulation is purely an economic model that does not include sustainability considerations. In this study, we revise the standard aggregate planning formulation to account for additional environmental and social criteria to incorporate triple bottom line consideration of sustainability. We show how these additional criteria can be appended to traditional cost accounting in order to address sustainability in aggregate planning. We analyze the revised models and interpret the results on a case study from real life that would be insightful for decision makers.

  16. Review of yield gap explaining factors and opportunities for alternative data collection approaches

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beza, E.A.; Vasco Silva, João; Kooistra, Lammert; Reidsma, Pytrik

    2017-01-01

    Yield gap analysis is gaining increased scientific attention, as estimating and explaining yield gaps shows the potential for sustainable intensification of agricultural systems. Explaining yield gaps requires detailed information about the biophysical environment, crop management as well as

  17. A Patent Analysis for Sustainable Technology Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junhyeog Choi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Technology analysis (TA is an important issue in the management of technology. Most R&D (Research & Development policies have depended on diverse TA results. Traditional TA results have been obtained through qualitative approaches such as the Delphi expert survey, scenario analysis, or technology road mapping. Although they are representative methods for TA, they are not stable because their results are dependent on the experts’ knowledge and subjective experience. To solve this problem, recently many studies on TA have been focused on quantitative approaches, such as patent analysis. A patent document has diverse information of developed technologies, and thus, patent is one form of objective data for TA. In addition, sustainable technology has been a big issue in the TA fields, because most companies have their technological competitiveness through the sustainable technology. Sustainable technology is a technology keeping the technological superiority of a company. So a country as well as a company should consider sustainable technology for technological competition and continuous economic growth. Also it is important to manage sustainable technology in a given technology domain. In this paper, we propose a new patent analysis approach based on statistical analysis for the management of sustainable technology (MOST. Our proposed methodology for the MOST is to extract a technological structure and relationship for knowing the sustainable technology. To do this, we develop a hierarchical diagram of technology for finding the causal relationships among technological keywords of a given domain. The aim of the paper is to select the sustainable technology and to create the hierarchical technology paths to sustainable technology for the MOST. This contributes to planning R&D strategy for the sustainability of a company. To show how the methodology can be applied to real problem, we perform a case study using retrieved patent documents related to

  18. Community-based management: under what conditions do Sami pastoralists manage pastures sustainably?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vera H Hausner

    Full Text Available Community-based management (CBM has been implemented in socio-ecological systems (SES worldwide. CBM has also been the prevailing policy in Sámi pastoral SES in Norway, but the outcomes tend to vary extensively among resource groups ("siidas". We asked why do some siidas self-organize to manage common pool resources sustainably and others do not? To answer this question we used a mixed methods approach. First, in the statistical analyses we analyzed the relationship between sustainability indicators and structural variables. We found that small winter pastures that are shared by few siidas were managed more sustainably than larger pastures. Seasonal siida stability, i.e., a low turnover of pastoralists working together throughout the year, and equality among herders, also contributed to more sustainable outcomes. Second, interviews were conducted in the five largest pastures to explain the relationships between the structural variables and sustainability. The pastoralists expressed a high level of agreement with respect to sustainable policies, but reported a low level of trust and cooperation among the siidas. The pastoralists requested siida tenures or clear rules and sanctioning mechanisms by an impartial authority rather than flexible organization or more autonomy for the siidas. The lack of nestedness in self-organization for managing pastures on larger scales, combined with the past economic policies, could explain why CBM is less sustainable on the largest winter pastures. We conclude that the scale mis-match between self-organization and the formal governance is a key condition for sustainability.

  19. How Does Implementation of Environmental Management System Contribute to Corporate Sustainability Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucie Vnoučková

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Corporate sustainability management (CSM appears to be an important issue for current management. The aim of the paper is to identify what determinants of sustainability management are examined in the literature and discuss the contribution of environmental management system (EMS to CSM based on experiences of selected Czech organizations with implemented EMS according to ISO 14001. The data for the survey was gathered from 222 organizations (N = 1265 who have already implemented EMS. The results show there is a basic knowledge of sustainability concept in the surveyed Czech organizations. Perceived improvements of EMS implementation in Czech organizations are mainly in the area of environmental performance, economic performance, relationship with involved parties and social issues. Based on the implementation of EMS, the organizations take care about corporate sustainability (about the areas of environmental aspects and impacts of the organization. Improved environmental performance has been linked with process and product cost improvements and lower risk factors.

  20. Public Facilities Management and Action Research for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galamba, Kirsten Ramskov

    Current work is the main product of a PhD study with the initial working title ‘Sustainable Facilities Management’ at Centre for Facilities Management – Realdania Research, DTU Management 1. December 2008 – 30. November 2011. Here the notion of Public Sustainable Facilities Management (FM......) is analysed in the light of a change process in a Danish Municipal Department of Public Property. Three years of Action Research has given a unique insight in the reality in a Municipal Department of Public Property, and as to how a facilitated change process can lead to a more holistic and sustainable...

  1. Navigating Sustainability Embeddedness in Management Decision-Making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine Le Roux

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is an essential theme for business. In order to compete, strategies need to be improvised and efficient and effective decisions need to be made for improved sustainability performance. Despite management’s apparent knowledge of this, it appears that challenges persist with sustainability’s embeddedness in decision-making and its implementation in practice. In this study we propose a metaphor applying an integrative view of sustainability as support for management. We offer six antecedents of sustainability embeddedness in decision-making that contribute to building and confirming theory, and also provide a better understanding of current practice around sustainability embeddedness so that strategies can be developed for improved sustainability performance. Employees on all management levels in a stock exchange listed company provided rich empirical data for the study. Through the analysis of data in a case study, antecedents were inductively identified, conceptualized, and presented as using descriptive labels, namely: A True North Destination—a vision of sustainability embeddedness; Mountains—three obstacles; Fog—confusion and complexity; Myopia—shortsightedness; Navigation Necessities—requirements for the journey; and finally, the Chosen Team—selected stakeholders. Sustainability embeddedness was found to be dependent on leadership, the strategy message and structures, performance measures, and policies that support a unified culture for sustainability embeddedness.

  2. A review of sustainable facilities management knowledge and practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baaki Timothy Kurannen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is seen as a far-reaching issue now, and one which the facilities management [FM] profession cannot overlook. This paper explores current sustainable facilities management [SFM] knowledge and practice with specific focus on performance as part of a research focus toward proposing a sustainable FM performance management framework for sustainable healthcare waste management in Malaysia. This paper utilized a review of extant literature on the subject of SFM, FM performance and FM development in Malaysia as source of information. Findings reflect the increasing recognition of the need for the strategic FM function, and how facilities managers are best positioned to drive organizations’ sustainability agendas. In Malaysian context, this recognition is barely evident as findings show FM practice is still immature and predominantly operational. Unlike developed FM markets, FM relevance in Malaysia is being driven by the public sector. Also findings show a disharmony between organizations’ sustainability priority areas and the responsibilities for facilities managers to execute them where the sustainability policy of organizations prioritize one FM service and the facilities managers’ responsibilities prioritize another. As most of SFM implementation is driven by legislation this seems to strengthen the position that, organizations continue to view support services as non-value-adding, as unavoidable liabilities. The implication of this is the pressure on the FM function to continually express its strategic relevance to organizations by tangible value-adding performance output. This creates a new perspective to measuring and managing facilities performance. This paper therefore elevates the importance of FM performance management in SFM context taking into account the peculiar position of the facilities manager. This is seen as a way forward for FM to better express its value to the organization

  3. Ecosystem services in sustainable groundwater management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuinstra, Jaap; van Wensem, Joke

    2014-07-01

    The ecosystem services concept seems to get foothold in environmental policy and management in Europe and, for instance, The Netherlands. With respect to groundwater management there is a challenge to incorporate this concept in such a way that it contributes to the sustainability of decisions. Groundwater is of vital importance to societies, which is reflected in the presented overview of groundwater related ecosystem services. Classifications of these services vary depending on the purpose of the listing (valuation, protection, mapping et cetera). Though the scientific basis is developing, the knowledge-availability still can be a critical factor in decision making based upon ecosystem services. The examples in this article illustrate that awareness of the value of groundwater can result in balanced decisions with respect to the use of ecosystem services. The ecosystem services concept contributes to this awareness and enhances the visibility of the groundwater functions in the decision making process. The success of the ecosystem services concept and its contribution to sustainable groundwater management will, however, largely depend on other aspects than the concept itself. Local and actual circumstances, policy ambitions and knowledge availability will play an important role. Solutions can be considered more sustainable when more of the key elements for sustainable groundwater management, as defined in this article, are fully used and the presented guidelines for long term use of ecosystem services are respected. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. ROI on yield data analysis systems through a business process management strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rehani, Manu; Strader, Nathan; Hanson, Jeff

    2005-05-01

    The overriding motivation for yield engineering is profitability. This is achieved through application of yield management. The first application is to continually reduce waste in the form of yield loss. New products, new technologies and the dynamic state of the process and equipment keep introducing new ways to cause yield loss. In response, the yield management efforts have to continually come up with new solutions to minimize it. The second application of yield engineering is to aid in accurate product pricing. This is achieved through predicting future results of the yield engineering effort. The more accurate the yield prediction, the more accurate the wafer start volume, the more accurate the wafer pricing. Another aspect of yield prediction pertains to gauging the impact of a yield problem and predicting how long that will last. The ability to predict such impacts again feeds into wafer start calculations and wafer pricing. The question then is that if the stakes on yield management are so high why is it that most yield management efforts are run like science and engineering projects and less like manufacturing? In the eighties manufacturing put the theory of constraints1 into practice and put a premium on stability and predictability in manufacturing activities, why can't the same be done for yield management activities? This line of introspection led us to define and implement a business process to manage the yield engineering activities. We analyzed the best known methods (BKM) and deployed a workflow tool to make them the standard operating procedure (SOP) for yield managment. We present a case study in deploying a Business Process Management solution for Semiconductor Yield Engineering in a high-mix ASIC environment. We will present a description of the situation prior to deployment, a window into the development process and a valuation of the benefits.

  5. Environmental Sustainability Change Management in SMEs: Learning from Sustainability Champions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chadee, Doren; Wiesner, Retha; Roxas, Banjo

    2011-01-01

    This study identifies the change management processes involved in undertaking environmental sustainability (ES) initiatives within Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and relate these to the main attributes of learning organisations. Using case study techniques, the study draws from the change management experiences of a sample of 12 ES…

  6. Sustainable agriculture: a challenge in Bangladesh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.A.A. Faroque

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The sustainability of conventional agriculture in Bangladesh is under threat from the continuous degradation of land and water resources, and from declining yields due to indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals. Government is pursuing efforts to promote sustainable agriculture with emphasis on better use of on-farm resources and the reduction of external inputs. This paper presents four dimensions of agricultural sustainability as productivity, environmental stability, economical profitability, and social and economic equity. Six characters were selected to evaluate sustainability. Significant differences were found between the two systems (conventional and sustainable agriculture in crop diversification, soil fertility management, pests and diseases management, use of agro-chemicals and environmental issues. However, no significant variations were found in other indicators such as land-use pattern, crop yield and stability, risk and uncertainties, and food security. Although crop yield and financial return were found to be slightly higher in the conventional system, the economic return and value addition per unit of land did not show any difference. It can be suggested that sustainable agriculture has a tendency towards becoming environmental, economically and socially more sound than conventional agriculture, as it requires considerably less agro-chemicals, adds more organic matter to the soil, provides balanced food, and requires higher local inputs without markedly compromising output and financial benefits. Broad-policy measures, including the creation of mass awareness of adverse health effects of agrochemical-based products, are outlined for the promotion of sustainable agriculture.

  7. Landscape management for sustainable supplies of bio energy feedstock and enhanced soil quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Douglas, K.; Muth, D.

    2013-01-01

    Agriculture can simultaneously address global food, feed, fiber, and energy challenges provided our soil, water, and air resources are not compromised in doing so. Our objective is to present a landscape management concept as an approach for integrating multiple bio energy feedstock sources into current crop production systems. This is done to show how multiple, increasing global challenges can be met in a sustainable manner. We discuss how collaborative research among Usda-Agricultural Research Service (ARS), US Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL), several university extension and research partners, and industry representatives [known as the Renewable Energy Assessment Project (Reap) team] has led to the development of computer-based decision aids for guiding sustainable bio energy feedstock production. The decision aids, known initially as the Corn Stover Tool and more recently as the Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework (Leaf) are tools designed to recognize the importance of nature s diversity and can therefore be used to guide sustainable feedstock production without having negative impacts on critical ecosystem services. Using a 57 ha farm site in central Iowa, USA, we show how producer decisions regarding corn (Zea mays L.) stover harvest within the US Corn Belt can be made in a more sustainable manner. This example also supports Reap team conclusions that stover should not be harvested if average grain yields are less than 11 Mg ha-1 unless more balanced landscape management practices are implemented. The tools also illustrate the importance of sub-field management and site-specific stover harvest strategies

  8. Food for thought: pretty good multispecies yield

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rindorf, Anna; Dichmont, C. M.; Levin, P.S.

    2017-01-01

    good multidimensional yield to accommodate situations where the yield from a stock affects the ecosystem, economic and social benefits, or sustainability. We demonstrate in a European example that PGMY is a practical concept. As PGMY provides a safe operating space for management that adheres...... that broader ecosystem, economic, and social objectives are addressed. We investigate how the principles of a “pretty good yield” range of fishing mortalities assumed to provide >95% of the average yield for a single stock can be expanded to a pretty good multispecies yield (PGMY) space and further to pretty...

  9. The implementation of sustainability principles in project management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gilbert Gilbert Silvius; Debby Goedknegt

    2012-01-01

    It is becoming clear that the project management practice must embrace sustainability in order to develop into a 'true profession' (Silvius et al., 2012). In project management, sustainability can be gained in both the product of the project and in the process of delivering the product. (Gareis et

  10. Sustainable Materials Management Challenge Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. It represents a change...

  11. Forest tenure and sustainable forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.P. Siry; K. McGinley; F.W. Cubbage; P. Bettinger

    2015-01-01

    We reviewed the principles and key literature related to forest tenure and sustainable forest management, and then examined the status of sustainable forestry and land ownership at the aggregate national level for major forested countries. The institutional design principles suggested by Ostrom are well accepted for applications to public, communal, and private lands....

  12. Sustainable Soil Water Management Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Basch, G.; Kassam, A.; Friedrich, T.; Santos, F.L.; Gubiani, P.I.; Calegari, A.; Reichert, J.M.; dos Santos, D.R.

    2012-01-01

    Soil quality and its management must be considered as key elements for an effective management of water resources, given that the hydrological cycle and land management are intimately linked (Bossio et al. 2007). Soil degradation has been described by Bossio et al. (2010) as the starting point of a negative cycle of soil-water relationships, creating a positive, self-accelerating feedback loop with important negative impacts on water cycling and water productivity. Therefore, sustainable soil...

  13. Sustainable Waste Management for Green Highway Initiatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Husin Nur Illiana

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Green highway initiative is the transportation corridors based on sustainable concept of roadway. It incorporates both transportation functionality and ecological requirements. Green highway also provides more sustainable construction technique that maximizes the lifespan of highway. Waste management is one of the sustainable criterias in the elements of green highway. Construction of highway consumes enormous amounts of waste in term of materials and energy. These wastes need to be reduce to sustain the environment. This paper aims to identify the types of waste produced from highway construction. Additionally, this study also determine the waste minimization strategy and waste management practiced.. This study main focus are construction and demolition waste only. The methodology process begin with data collection by using questionnaire survey. 22 concession companies listed under Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia acted as a respondent. The questionnaires were distributed to all technical department staffs. The data received was analyzed using IBM SPSS. The results shows the most production of waste is wood, soil, tree root and concrete. The least production of waste is metal. For waste minimization, the best waste minimization is reuse for all type of waste except for tree root and stump. Whereas, the best waste management is providing strategic plan. The least practice for waste management is recording the quantity of waste.

  14. Management of Sustainable Innovation in an Internationalized Company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uiara Gonçalves De Menezes

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to identify the main forms of management of sustainable technological innovation and examine the relation of these practices with the increased competitiveness of the Brazilian chemical industry in the international market. To conduct this research, we examined the management practices of a chemical industry located in southern Brazil through the descriptive and qualitative case study, using semi-structured interviews with those responsible for the company’s innovation management and analyzing secondary data. The analyses of the survey results with respect to the relation between the sustainable technological innovation management and the increased international competitiveness of the chemical industry were not conclusive. The data only show that the management practices of sustainable innovation may represent motivations for seeking international partnerships and innovations that can be converted into business opportunities in the domestic and international market.

  15. Sustainable Materials Management Web Academy

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Web Academy series is a free resource for SMM challenge participants, stakeholders, and anyone else interested in learning more about SMM principles from experts in the field.

  16. A web-based application to simulate alternatives for sustainable forest management: SIMANFOR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bravo, F.; Rodriguez, F.; Ordonez, C.

    2012-11-01

    Growth and yield models at different scales are useful tools for forest stake holders. Adequate simulation of forest stand conditions after different silviculture scenarios allows stake holders to adopt appropriate actions to maintain forest integrity while forest products and services are obtained to benefit society as a whole. SIMANFOR is a platform to simulate sustainable forest management alternatives, integrating different modules to manage forest inventories, simulate and project stand conditions and maintain systems security and integrity. SIMANFOR output is compatible with an Office environment (Microsoft or Open), allowing users to exchange data and files between SIMANFOR and their own software. New developments are being planned under a web 2.0 environment to take advantage of user input to improve SIMANFOR in the future. (Author) 9 refs.

  17. Sustainable exploitation and management of aquatic resources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Neuenfeldt, Stefan; Köster, Fritz

    2014-01-01

    DTU Aqua conducts research, provides advice,educates at university level and contributes toinnovation in sustainable exploitation andmanagement of aquatic resources. The vision of DTUAqua is to enable ecologically and economicallysustainable exploitation of aquatic resourcesapplying an integrated...... management. Marineecosystems aims at understanding the mechanisms that govern the interaction between individuals,species and populations in an ecosystem enabling us to determine the stability and flexibility of theecosystem.Marine living resources looks at the sustainable utilization of fish and shellfish...... stocks.Ecosystem effects expands from the ecosystem approach to fisheries management to an integratedapproach where other human activities are taken into consideration. Fisheries management developsmethods, models and tools for predicting and evaluating the effects of management measures andregulations...

  18. [Effect of long-term application of NPK fertilizer on maize yield and yellow soil nutrients sustainability in Guizhou, China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yan Ling; Li, Yu; Zhang, Ya Rong; Huang, Xing Cheng; Zhang, Wen An; Jiang, Tai Ming

    2017-11-01

    A long-term fertilization field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilizer on maize relative yield, yield-increasing effect and the changes of nutrients in yellow soil in Guizhou Province. Five fertilizer combinations were evaluated, including balanced fertilization (NPK) and nutrient deficiency treatments (N, NK, NP, and PK). The maize relative yield, contribution efficiency of N, P, K fertilizer application, sustainability index of soil N, P, K nutrients, and other indicators were measured. The results revealed that the balanced fertilization (NPK) significantly increased maize yield, and the average yield under each treatment ranked as: NPK>NP>NK>PK>CK. The contribution efficiency and agronomic efficiency of N, P, K fertilizer application was N>P>K. The fertilization dependence was ranked as: combined application of N, P and K>N>P>K. But in the lack of P treatment (NK), the maize relative yield significantly decreased at a speed of 1.4% per year, with the contribution efficiency and fertilization dependence of applied P significantly increasing at a speed of 2.3% per year and 1.4% per year, respectively. Over time, the effect of P fertilizer on maize yield gradually became equal to that of N fertilizer. The pH and soil organic matter content were the lowest in the P-lack treatment (NK), while they were higher in the N-lack treatment (PK). The application of chemical P significantly improved the sustainability index of soil P, but the application of chemical N and K did not significantly change the sustainability index of soil N and K nutrients compared to the N- and K-lack treatments, respectively. In summary, the use of balanced fertilizer application is critical for achieving high maize yield in typical yellow soil regions in Guizhou Province. P and N fertilizers are equally important for improving maize yield, and long-term application of unbalanced chemical fertilizer, especially the lack

  19. Sustainable Environmental Management Indicators in South African Primary Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiza O. de Sousa

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This research explores sustainable environmental management indicators in South African primary schools. Of key interest is the comparison of a township, farm and urban primary school that identify indicators that promote education for sustainable development in schools that implement an environmental management system. Data are drawn from one-on-one interviews, focus group interviews, observations and document analysis from 35 participants in three schools. A comparison of the three schools was done by content and thematic analysis of a within-case analysis. Data from the township school revealed that socioeconomic factors and organisational structure promote education for sustainable development. The farm school data revealed that health promotion can be managed within an environmental management system within a hierarchical school structure. The urban school data revealed that an economic inducement brings a school to realise that it can reduce its carbon footprint, gain financially and utilize its resources with innovation. A case is made that the four pillars of sustainable development (environment, society, economy, and governance endorse education for sustainable development. Furthermore, the objectives of environmental education ought to remain nested in an environmental management system to ensure that the global goal of quality education is achieved.

  20. ACTION LEVERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FARMLAND MANAGEMENT IN NIGER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahamadou Roufahi Tankari

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to contribute to the understanding of factors influencing the sustainable farmland management in Niger. Specifically, it examines the determinants of adoption of sustainable land management practices including measures to combat erosion, and the use of manure, residues and fertilizer with a view to support the formulation of efficient land use policies based on evidences given fact that the impact of factors influencing farmland management appears to be specific to each context. The study is based on data from the National Survey of Household Living Conditions and Agriculture of 2011 (ECVMA-2011 analyzed within the framework of multivariate Probit model. The results show that there are unobservable interdependences between the decisions on farmland management practices. Furthermore, several types of factors related to access to physical, human, financial and biophysical capitals as well as infrastructure and services seem to play an important role. In addition, it appears that more security is needed in land tenure for a sustainable farmland management while farmland defragmentation can act negatively on sustainable farmland management.

  1. Sustainable agricultural water management across climates

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeVincentis, A.

    2016-12-01

    Fresh water scarcity is a global problem with local solutions. Agriculture is one of many human systems threatened by water deficits, and faces unique supply, demand, quality, and management challenges as the global climate changes and population grows. Sustainable agricultural water management is paramount to protecting global economies and ecosystems, but requires different approaches based on environmental conditions, social structures, and resource availability. This research compares water used by conservation agriculture in temperate and tropical agroecosystems through data collected from operations growing strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, and pistachios in California and corn and soybeans in Colombia. The highly manipulated hydrologic regime in California has depleted water resources and incited various adaptive management strategies, varying based on crop type and location throughout the state. Operations have to use less water more efficiently, and sometimes that means fallowing land in select groundwater basins. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the largely untouched landscape in the eastern plains of Colombia are rapidly being converted into commercial agricultural operations, with a unique opportunity to manage and plan for agricultural development with sustainability in mind. Although influenced by entirely different climates and economies, there are some similarities in agricultural water management strategies that could be applicable worldwide. Cover crops are a successful management strategy for both agricultural regimes, and moving forward it appears that farmers who work in coordination with their neighbors to plan for optimal production will be most successful in both locations. This research points to the required coordination of agricultural extension services as a critical component to sustainable water use, successful economies, and protected environments.

  2. Evaluation of Sustainable Practices within Project Management Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shah Satya

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research study is to investigate some of the sustainable practices within projects with a focus on social projects. The different research methodologies applied through this research consisted both primary and secondary research, including literature review and through case study. The stakeholder’s behavioural needs towards acting and implementing sustainable practices led to the adoption of sustainable practices within projects which are managed across profit and non-profit organisations. Nevertheless, lack of sustainable behaviour was outlined, and henceforth the integration of sustainable development within social projects is crucially important as such projects were identified as the drivers toward educating the society in order to help to produce generations of people who would be more sustainably aware. Currently, sustainable development is very often taken into account when it comes to managing projects. Nevertheless, if the adoption of sustainable practices is well established in some sectors such as construction, literature tends to demonstrate a lack of information regarding other sectors, especially within social projects. This research aims to investigate the adoption of sustainable practices within social projects and therefore to satisfy a literature gap.

  3. Rapid and sustained cost management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanson, D.

    2009-01-01

    Accenture helps clients develop comprehensive, process-driven strategies for rapid and sustained cost management that leverage deep insights and analytics. This approach enables companies to gain operating cost advantages by rationalizing, simplifying and automating current operating capabilities. It drives structural cost advantages by optimizing business mix, capital structure, organizational structure and geographic presence. This paper discussed how successful companies achieve high performance during times of economic turmoil. It also discussed the value of the winner's strategy in terms of rapid and sustained cost management (RSCM). It discussed how Accenture operates and its leveraged capabilities, improved efficiency, margins and cash flow while maintaining customer service levels. Building structural advantage and the Accenture difference were also discussed. It was concluded that RSCM is one vital way that Accenture can help companies achieve success. 4 figs

  4. Efficiency of management of sustainable development – challenges, problems, barriers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zięba K.

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses such issues as the importance of efficiency management of sustainable development. In the authors’ opinion, this matter is currently topical subject due to, among others, on the still high costs of irrational management in the field. Dynamically changing environment forces to search for new solutions for efficiency management of sustainable development, and unfortunately, in many countries it is still a significant problem. For some countries, the efficiency management of sustainable development is difficult. It should be noted that the problem with the inaction of relevant activities of the countries in the field of development of efficiency management of sustainability development will grow, because globalization makes it necessary to generate new solutions emerging to date problems. Facing each country there are so many challenges in the field. However, some countries are aware of the seriousness of the problem and therefore take a number of measures in this regard, often regardless of the amount of costs. This has an impact on their competitiveness. Apparent is also increasing incorporation of new original solutions in the field of sustainable development management.

  5. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanessa Cuzziol Pinsky

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The sustainable development, global competitiveness and rapid technological change increasingly challenge companies to innovate with a focus on sustainability. The objectives of this study were to identify the critical success factors in business management and identify the challenges to implement sustainable products. This is an exploratory, descriptive and qualitative research, using the case study method. Data were collected through semi-structured and in-depth interviews with executives from the marketing and innovation departments, complemented by secondary sources, including sustainability reports, websites and other company documents. The content analysis revealed the critical success factors to implement sustainable products, highlighting the involvement of senior leadership, setting goals and long term vision, the involvement of the value chain in the search for sustainable solutions and have a area of innovation with sustainability goals. The key challenges identified are related to the involvement of the supply chain, using the principles of the life cycle assessment, marketing communication and measurement of results and environmental benefits.

  6. Proceedings of the 1999 Sustainable Forest Management Network conference: science and practice : sustaining the boreal forest

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veeman, S.; Smith, D.W.; Purdy, B.G.; Salkie, F.J.; Larkin, G.A. [eds.

    1999-05-01

    The wide range and complex nature of research in sustainable forest management, supported cooperatively by the forest products industry, governments, the universities, First Nations and other groups, is reflected in the 128 papers presented at this conference. The range of topics discussed include historical perspectives of forest disturbances, including fires and harvesting, biological diversity, gaseous, liquid and solid wastes, community sustainability, public involvement, land aquatic interfaces, forest management planning tools, contaminant transfer, First Nations issues, certification, monitoring and resource trade-offs. The theme of the conference {sup S}cience and practice: sustaining the boreal forest` was selected to identify the key efforts of the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Network on boreal forest research. The objective of the conference was to exchange knowledge and integrate participants into a better working network for the improvement of forest management. refs., tabs., figs.

  7. Sustainable nanotechnology decision support system: bridging risk management, sustainable innovation and risk governance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subramanian, Vrishali; Semenzin, Elena; Hristozov, Danail; Zabeo, Alex; Malsch, Ineke; McAlea, Eamonn; Murphy, Finbarr; Mullins, Martin; Harmelen, Toon van; Ligthart, Tom; Linkov, Igor; Marcomini, Antonio

    2016-01-01

    The significant uncertainties associated with the (eco)toxicological risks of engineered nanomaterials pose challenges to the development of nano-enabled products toward greatest possible societal benefit. This paper argues for the use of risk governance approaches to manage nanotechnology risks and sustainability, and considers the links between these concepts. Further, seven risk assessment and management criteria relevant to risk governance are defined: (a) life cycle thinking, (b) triple bottom line, (c) inclusion of stakeholders, (d) risk management, (e) benefit–risk assessment, (f) consideration of uncertainty, and (g) adaptive response. These criteria are used to compare five well-developed nanotechnology frameworks: International Risk Governance Council framework, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, Streaming Life Cycle Risk Assessment, Certifiable Nanospecific Risk Management and Monitoring System and LICARA NanoSCAN. A Sustainable Nanotechnology Decision Support System (SUNDS) is proposed to better address current nanotechnology risk assessment and management needs, and makes. Stakeholder needs were solicited for further SUNDS enhancement through a stakeholder workshop that included representatives from regulatory, industry and insurance sectors. Workshop participants expressed the need for the wider adoption of sustainability assessment methods and tools for designing greener nanomaterials.

  8. Sustainable nanotechnology decision support system: bridging risk management, sustainable innovation and risk governance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Subramanian, Vrishali, E-mail: vrishali.subramanian@unive.it; Semenzin, Elena; Hristozov, Danail; Zabeo, Alex [University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (Italy); Malsch, Ineke [Malsch TechnoValuation (Netherlands); McAlea, Eamonn; Murphy, Finbarr; Mullins, Martin [University of Limerick, Kemmy Business School (Ireland); Harmelen, Toon van; Ligthart, Tom [TNO (Netherlands); Linkov, Igor; Marcomini, Antonio, E-mail: marcom@unive.it [University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (Italy)

    2016-04-15

    The significant uncertainties associated with the (eco)toxicological risks of engineered nanomaterials pose challenges to the development of nano-enabled products toward greatest possible societal benefit. This paper argues for the use of risk governance approaches to manage nanotechnology risks and sustainability, and considers the links between these concepts. Further, seven risk assessment and management criteria relevant to risk governance are defined: (a) life cycle thinking, (b) triple bottom line, (c) inclusion of stakeholders, (d) risk management, (e) benefit–risk assessment, (f) consideration of uncertainty, and (g) adaptive response. These criteria are used to compare five well-developed nanotechnology frameworks: International Risk Governance Council framework, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, Streaming Life Cycle Risk Assessment, Certifiable Nanospecific Risk Management and Monitoring System and LICARA NanoSCAN. A Sustainable Nanotechnology Decision Support System (SUNDS) is proposed to better address current nanotechnology risk assessment and management needs, and makes. Stakeholder needs were solicited for further SUNDS enhancement through a stakeholder workshop that included representatives from regulatory, industry and insurance sectors. Workshop participants expressed the need for the wider adoption of sustainability assessment methods and tools for designing greener nanomaterials.

  9. Organising Sustainability Competencies through Quality Management: Integration or Specialisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanajah Siva

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available A significant step in integrating environmental sustainability into daily operations is through product development. One way to achieve such integration of environmental considerations into product development is by relating sustainability competencies to practices of Quality Management. However, practices seem to vary for how competencies within environmental sustainability are organised in order to make sustainability more actionable. This study explores two ways of organising sustainability competencies in product development: integration and specialisation. The organisation of sustainability competency is illustrated through two cases; one case in which sustainability is integrated with the quality management competency, and the other in which a new competency focusing on sustainability has been added as a separate function in product development. It is suggested that the organisation of sustainability competency influences the extent of environmental impact. Further, trade-offs, such as material source versus weight may not be exploited when sustainability is integrated as one area of responsibility for another specialty competency, suggesting a lack of sufficient competency within environmental sustainability to recognise potential trade-offs between—for example—quality and environmental impact.

  10. Achieving sustainable plant disease management through evolutionary principles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhan, Jiasui; Thrall, Peter H; Burdon, Jeremy J

    2014-09-01

    Plants and their pathogens are engaged in continuous evolutionary battles and sustainable disease management requires novel systems to create environments conducive for short-term and long-term disease control. In this opinion article, we argue that knowledge of the fundamental factors that drive host-pathogen coevolution in wild systems can provide new insights into disease development in agriculture. Such evolutionary principles can be used to guide the formulation of sustainable disease management strategies which can minimize disease epidemics while simultaneously reducing pressure on pathogens to evolve increased infectivity and aggressiveness. To ensure agricultural sustainability, disease management programs that reflect the dynamism of pathogen population structure are essential and evolutionary biologists should play an increasing role in their design. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. The impact of sustainability on project management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Adri Köhler; Gilbert Gilbert Silvius; Jasper van den Brink

    2011-01-01

    Chapter 11 in The Project as a Social System: Asia-Pacific Perspectives on Project Management. Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. How can we develop prosperity without compromising the life of future generations? Companies are integrating ideas of sustainability in

  12. Managing for Multifunctionality in Urban Open Spaces: Approaches for Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenzheng Shi

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT: Landscape management plays a key role in improving the quality of urban environments and enhancing the multifunctionality of green infrastructure. It works to guide the efficient and effective management of green spaces for sustainability and the well-being of users. However, while most researchers have emphasised spatial planning as a basis for developing green infrastructure to promote new strategic connections in urban green space, they have simultaneously ignored the impact of management. Against this background, this paper argues that if our towns and cities seek to maintain the well-being of citizens while also achieving sustainable environments, they must engage in effective landscape management to improve their green infrastructure. It is not enough to simply design or maintain parks and green spaces so as to keep up their physical condition; rather, green infrastructure work should be adapted to the understanding and implementation of managers, users and stakeholders in an integrated management process in order to provide more services for sustainable development. A selected study in Sheffield investigated the management planning required for sustainable development. It is beneficial to learn the experiences of management planning in Sheffield, a city which has rich management practices for green and open spaces. This study will analyse how management planning helps local authorities and managers to improve multifunctional green and open spaces in the context of sustainable development. As a result, the study also explores the framework of management planning with regard to the transferability of the existing practices in Sheffield. It also attempts to provide a primer for sustainability impact assessments in other cities with a considered knowledge exchange. KEYWORDS: Management planning, green infrastructure, multifunctionality, sustainability, knowledge exchange

  13. INTEGRATED SUSTAINABLE MANGROVE FOREST MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecep Kusmana

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Mangrove forest as a renewable resource must be managed based on sustainable basis in which the benefits of ecological, economic and social from the forest have to equity concern in achieving the optimum forest products and services in fulfill the needs of recent generation without destruction of future generation needs and that does not undesirable effects on the physical and social environment. This Sustainable Forest Management (SFM practices needs the supporting of sustainability in the development of social, economic and environment (ecological sounds simultaneously, it should be run by the proper institutional and regulations. In operational scale, SFM need integration in terms of knowledge, technical, consultative of stakeholders, coordination among sectors and other stakeholders, and considerations of ecological inter-relationship in which mangroves as an integral part of both a coastal ecosystem and a watershed (catchment area. Some tools have been developed to measure the performent of SFM, such as initiated by ITTO at 1992 and followed by Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia (1993, CIFOR (1995, LEI (1999, FSC (1999, etc., however, the true nuance of SFM’s performance is not easy to be measured. 

  14. Yield analysis at a poultry processing plant in Harare, Zimbabwe ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This investigation was conducted to establish the yield of parts or organs of chickens brought for slaughter at a poultry processing plant in Harare. Results of the study will furnish management and other poultry farmers with information that will enable them to identify yield losses and sustainable ways of minimizing resultant ...

  15. Sustainable energy development as an integral part of hydroelectric business management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, W.; Yu, M.; Young, C.

    1996-01-01

    Elements of Ontario Hydro's strategy for sustainable energy development were discussed, highlighting key developments in the business management practices in Ontario Hydro's Hydroelectric Business Unit. Sustainable development considerations are now integral part of any business case analysis; management of the environment also has been integrated into the Utilities' business management process. Several environmental management practices intended to enhance sustainability have been introduced, including a full-fledged environmental management system based on ISO 14001 standards. Energy efficiency opportunities are aggressively pursued, including turbine upgrades, and energy efficient lighting. Experience to date indicates that business performance and progress towards sustainable energy development need not be mutually exclusive

  16. Sustainable supply chain management: Review and research opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudheer Gupta

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Anthropogenic emissions likely pose serious threat to the stability of our environment; immediate actions are required to change the way the earth’s resources are consumed. Among the many approaches to mitigation of environmental deterioration being considered, the processes for designing, sourcing, producing and distributing products in global markets play a central role. Considerable research effort is being devoted to understanding how organisational initiatives and government policies can be structured to facilitate incorporation of sustainability into design and management of entire supply chain. In this paper, we review the current state of academic research in sustainable supply chain management, and provide a discussion of future direction and research opportunities in this field. We develop an integrative framework summarising the existing literature under four broad categories: (i strategic considerations; (ii decisions at functional interfaces; (iii regulation and government policies; and (iv integrative models and decision support tools. We aim to provide managers and industry practitioners with a nuanced understanding of issues and trade-offs involved in making decisions related to sustainable supply chain management. We conclude the paper by discussing environmental initiatives in India and the relevance of sustainability discussions in the context of the Indian economy.

  17. Resilience and sustainability: Similarities and differences in environmental management applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchese, Dayton; Reynolds, Erin; Bates, Matthew E; Morgan, Heather; Clark, Susan Spierre; Linkov, Igor

    2018-02-01

    In recent years there have been many disparate uses of the terms sustainability and resilience, with some framing sustainability and resilience as the same concept, and others claiming them to be entirely different and unrelated. To investigate similarities, differences, and current management frameworks for increasing sustainability and resilience, a literature review was undertaken that focused on integrated use of sustainability and resilience in an environmental management context. Sustainability was defined through the triple bottom line of environmental, social and economic system considerations. Resilience was viewed as the ability of a system to prepare for threats, absorb impacts, recover and adapt following persistent stress or a disruptive event. Three generalized management frameworks for organizing sustainability and resilience were found to dominate the literature: (1) resilience as a component of sustainability, (2) sustainability as a component of resilience, and (3) resilience and sustainability as separate objectives. Implementations of these frameworks were found to have common goals of providing benefits to people and the environment under normal and extreme operating conditions, with the best examples building on similarities and minimizing conflicts between resilience and sustainability. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  18. BIM: enabling sustainability and asset management through knowledge management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kivits, Robbert Anton; Furneaux, Craig

    2013-11-10

    Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry.

  19. Does Sustainability Reporting have Sustenance? A Marketing Ploy or Management Tool

    OpenAIRE

    Halil D. Kaya; Julia S. Kwok; Elizabeth C. Rabe

    2015-01-01

    Sustainability efforts encompass economic, social and environmental management. After decades of promoting such causes, sustainability finally has moved up to the boardroom agenda per PricewaterhouseCooper 2012 report. As companies incorporate sustainability into business strategy, it is crucial for accountants and financial managers to capture the financial implications of those sustainable practices. This case provides an in-depth review of current reporting and measurement of sustainable p...

  20. Effect of Integrated Weed Management Methods on Yield and Yield Components of Corn (Zea mays L. in Kermanshah Province, Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Amini

    2017-08-01

    vetch+ cultivator treatments. The highest corn grain yield was obtained in 2, 4-D + MCPA+ cultivator (8.37 ton.ha-1, nicosulfuron + cultivator (6.5 ton.ha-1 and hairy vetch+ cultivator (6.3 ton.ha-1 treatments, respectively. Also, the lowest grain yield was obtained in mulch application in the fall (1.95 ton.ha-1, intercropping with chickpea (1.96 ton.ha-1 and hairy vetch+ intercropping with chickpea (2.1 ton.ha-1 that were not significantly different with weed infested treatment. Generally we can conclude that application of cultivator with herbicides had the highest efficacy in weed management of corn. Conclusion: Among the weed management treatments application of 2,4-D + MCPA+ cultivator, nicosulfuron + cultivator and hairy vetch + cultivator treatments had the most efficiency in corn weed management. This result indicates the importance of cultivator in corn weed management and also it should be used 40 days after corn emergence for high efficacy in weed control. The treatments of intercropping with chickpea and straw mulch had no enough efficacy in corn weed management and should be integrated with other methods. Using non-chemical methods in corn weed management may be causes yield loss but reduces application of herbicides and environmental pollution that is consistent with sustainable agriculture.

  1. Sustainable cost reduction by lean management in metallurgical processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Todorut

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the need for sustainable cost reduction in the metallurgical industry by applying Lean Management (LM tools and concepts in metallurgical production processes leading to increased competitiveness of corporations in a global market. The paper highlights that Lean Management is a novel way of thinking, adapting to change, reducing waste and continuous improvement, leading to sustainable development of companies in the metallurgical industry. The authors outline the main Lean Management instruments based on recent scientific research and include a comparative analysis of other tools, such as Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain (5S, Visual Management (VM, Kaizen, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM, Single-Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED, leading to a critical appraisal of their application in the metallurgical industry.

  2. Strategic grazing management towards sustainable intensification at tropical pasture-based dairy systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Congio, Guilhermo F S; Batalha, Camila D A; Chiavegato, Marília B; Berndt, Alexandre; Oliveira, Patrícia P A; Frighetto, Rosa T S; Maxwell, Thomas M R; Gregorini, Pablo; Da Silva, Sila C

    2018-05-01

    Agricultural systems are responsible for environmental impacts that can be mitigated through the adoption of more sustainable principles. Our objective was to investigate the influence of two pre-grazing targets (95% and maximum canopy light interception during pasture regrowth; LI 95% and LI Max , respectively) on sward structure and herbage nutritive value of elephant grass cv. Cameroon, and dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield, stocking rate, enteric methane (CH 4 ) emissions by Holstein × Jersey dairy cows. We hypothesized that grazing strategies modifying the sward structure of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) improves nutritive value of herbage, increasing DMI and reducing intensity of enteric CH 4 emissions, providing environmental and productivity benefits to tropical pasture-based dairy systems. Results indicated that pre-sward surface height was greater for LI Max (≈135 cm) than LI 95% (≈100 cm) and can be used as a reliable field guide for monitoring sward structure. Grazing management based on LI 95% criteria improved herbage nutritive value and grazing efficiency, allowing greater DMI, milk yield and stocking rate by dairy cows. Daily enteric CH 4 emission was not affected; however, cows grazing elephant grass at LI 95% were more efficient and emitted 21% less CH 4 /kg of milk yield and 18% less CH 4 /kg of DMI. The 51% increase in milk yield per hectare overcame the 29% increase in enteric CH 4 emissions per hectare in LI 95% grazing management. Thereby the same resource allocation resulted in a 16% mitigation of the main greenhouse gas from pasture-based dairy systems. Overall, strategic grazing management is an environmental friendly practice that improves use efficiency of allocated resources through optimization of processes evolving plant, ruminant and their interface, and enhances milk production efficiency of tropical pasture-based systems. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) WasteWise Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA??s WasteWise encourages organizations and businesses to achieve sustainability in their practices and reduce select industrial wastes. WasteWise is part of EPA??s sustainable materials management efforts, which promote the use and reuse of materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. All U.S. businesses, governments and nonprofit organizations can join WasteWise as a partner, endorser or both. Current participants range from small local governments and nonprofit organizations to large multinational corporations. Partners demonstrate how they reduce waste, practice environmental stewardship and incorporate sustainable materials management into their waste-handling processes. Endorsers promote enrollment in WasteWise as part of a comprehensive approach to help their stakeholders realize the economic benefits to reducing waste. WasteWise helps organizations reduce their impact on global climate change through waste reduction. Every stage of a product's life cycle??extraction, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal??indirectly or directly contributes to the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere and affects the global climate. WasteWise is part of EPA's larger SMM program (https://www.epa.gov/smm). Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources

  4. Managing Knowledge And Information In The Sustainable Organization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grecu, Valentin

    2015-09-01

    Knowledge and information management are essential for the success of organizations and bring significant competitive advantages. There has been significant investments in setting up technological platforms that support business processes and increase the efficiency of operational structure in many organizations through an efficient management of knowledge and information. This research highlights the importance of using knowledge and information management in order to increase the competitiveness of organizations and to foster the transition towards the sustainable organization, as nowadays an organization that wants to be competitive needs to be sustainable.

  5. Sustainable management for the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berberoglu, Süha

    2003-03-01

    The objective of this article is to propose a program for the integrated coastal zone management that is required to stimulate and guide sustainable development of the Mediterranean coastal zone of Turkey. Improved data collection, quality control, analysis, and data management will provide a firm basis for future scientific understanding of the East Mediterranean coast of Turkey and will support long-term management. Various innovative procedures were proposed for a promising ecosystem-based approach to manage coastal wetlands in the Mediterranean: remote data acquisition with new technologies; environmental quality monitoring program that will provide a baseline for monitoring; linking a Geographic Information System (GIS) with natural resource management decision routines in the context of operational wetlands, fisheries, tourism management system; environmental sensitivity analysis to ensure that permitted developments are environmentally sustainable; and use of natural species to restore the wetlands and coastal dunes and sustain the system processes. The proposed management scheme will benefit the scientific community in the Mediterranean and the management/planning community in Eastern Turkey.

  6. The Practice of Sustainable Facilities Management: Design Sentiments and the Knowledge Chasm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abbas Elmualim

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The construction industry with its nature of project delivery is very fragmented in terms of the various processes that encompass design, construction, facilities and assets management. Facilities managers are in the forefront of delivering sustainable assets management and hence further the venture for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. A questionnaire survey was conducted to establish perceptions, level of commitment and knowledge chasm in practising sustainable facilities management (FM. This has significant implications for sustainable design management, especially in a fragmented industry. The majority of questionnaire respondents indicated the importance of sustainability for their organization. Many of them stated that they reported on sustainability as part of their organization annual reporting with energy efficiency, recycling and waste reduction as the main concern for them. The overwhelming barrier for implementing sound, sustainable FM is the lack of consensual understanding and focus of individuals and organizations about sustainability. There is a knowledge chasm regarding practical information on delivering sustainable FM. Sustainability information asymmetry in design, construction and FM processes render any sustainable design as a sentiment and mere design aspiration. Skills and training provision, traditionally offered separately to designers and facilities managers, needs to be re-evaluated. Sustainability education and training should be developed to provide effective structures and processes to apply sustainability throughout the construction and FM industries coherently and as common practice. Published in the Journal AEDM - Volume 5, Numbers 1-2, 2009 , pp. 91-102(12

  7. Sustainability in Supply chain management is not enough

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haas, Henning de

    2009-01-01

    To be or not to be - sustainable, that is the question. To be sustainable or green, seems to be the new mantra in supply chain management. Nearly every conference and SCS magazine has the topic on the agenda. The topic of sustainability is not new in a supply chain context. For some years Corporate...

  8. Individual competencies for managers engaged in corporate sustainable management practices

    OpenAIRE

    Wesselink, R.; Blok, V.; Leur, van, S.; Lans, T.; Dentoni, D.

    2015-01-01

    Corporations increasingly acknowledge the importance of sustainable practices. Corporate social responsibility is therefore gaining significance in the business world. Since solving corporate social responsibility issues is not a routine job, every challenge in corporate social responsibility requires its own approach; and management competencies are crucial for designing appropriate approaches towards the realization of sustainable solutions. On the basis of seven corporate social responsibi...

  9. Sustainable Ecotourism Management in Kenya | Okech | Ethiopian ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study of ecotourism impacts and their management offers many opportunities to reflect on the importance of sustainability and the possibilities of implementing approaches which move us in a new direction. Sustainability, then, is about the struggle for diversity in all its dimensions. The concern for biodiversity, in its ...

  10. A preliminary framework for corporate real estate sustainable management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fauzi Nurul Sahida

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The global warming issue has motivated corporations to go green in their business operations including transforming from conventional real estate to green features real estate. However green CRE is more complex to manage due to a building’s significant impact on environmental, social and economic aspects. Thus the need to have a best practice guide or framework as reference is crucial. Unfortunately, no best practice guidelines on CRE management have been found to be sufficient as much uncertainty still exists on the sustainable performance measurement components. This research aims to explore and then summarize the present sustainable CREM practices and components relating to sustainable performance measurement integrating a sustainable theory that balances environmental, economic and social impacts. These act as indicators to measure the outcomes of the practice in the form of a generic model on sustainability preliminary framework for CRESM. The objectives of this research include identifying corporate real estate sustainable management (CRESM practice and components of sustainable performance measurement. The research uses content analysis method to analyse data gathered from literature and previous studies. The findings will be demonstrated in the form of a framework model on CRESM that will include14 CREM strategies and 15 components derived from analysis.

  11. Shaping a sustainable energy future for India: Management challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhattacharyya, Subhes C.

    2010-01-01

    Most of the studies on the Indian energy sector focus on the possible future scenarios of Indian energy system development without considering the management dimension to the problem-how to ensure a smooth transition to reach the desired future state. The purpose of this paper is to highlight some sector management concerns to a sustainable energy future in the country. The paper follows a deductive approach and reviews the present status and possible future energy outlooks from the existing literature. This is followed by a strategy outline to achieve long-term energy sustainability. Management challenges on the way to such a sustainable future are finally presented. The paper finds that the aspiration of becoming an economic powerhouse and the need to eradicate poverty will necessarily mean an increase in energy consumption unless a decoupling of energy and GDP growth is achieved. Consequently, the energy future of the country is eminently unsustainable. A strategy focussing on demand reduction, enhanced access, use of local resources and better management practices is proposed here. However, a sustainable path faces a number of challenges from the management and policy perspectives.

  12. Sustainable Transportation - Indicators, Frameworks, and Performance Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik; Hall, Ralph P.; Marsden, Greg

    This textbook provides an introduction to the concept of sustainability in the context of transportation planning, management, and decision-making. The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, indicators and frameworks for measuring sustainable development in the transportation sector...... are developed. In the second, the authors analyze actual planning and decision-making in transportation agencies in a variety of governance settings. This analysis of real-world case studies demonstrates the benefits and limitations of current approaches to sustainable development in transportation. The book...... concludes with a discussion on how to make sustainability count in transportation decision-making and practice....

  13. BIM: Enabling Sustainability and Asset Management through Knowledge Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robbert Anton Kivits

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Building Information Modeling (BIM is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry.

  14. BIM: Enabling Sustainability and Asset Management through Knowledge Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction industry. There are several important qualifiers and some disadvantages of the current suite of technologies. This paper outlines the benefits, enablers, and barriers associated with BIM and makes suggestions about how these issues may be addressed. The paper highlights the advantages of BIM, particularly the increased utility and speed, enhanced fault finding in all construction phases, and enhanced collaborations and visualisation of data. The paper additionally identifies a range of issues concerning the implementation of BIM as follows: IP, liability, risks, and contracts and the authenticity of users. Implementing BIM requires investment in new technology, skills training, and development of new ways of collaboration and Trade Practices concerns. However, when these challenges are overcome, BIM as a new information technology promises a new level of collaborative engineering knowledge management, designed to facilitate sustainability and asset management issues in design, construction, asset management practices, and eventually decommissioning for the civil engineering industry. PMID:24324392

  15. Are federal sustained yield units equitable? A case study of the Grays Harbor unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Con H Schallau; Wilbur R. Maki

    1986-01-01

    The Grays Harbor Federal Sustained Yield Unit (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service) was established in 1949 to enhance the economic stability of the forest products industry and dependent communities in Grays Harbor County, Washington. Provisions of the unit's charter require that all logs harvested from the Quinault Ranger District of the Olympic...

  16. Sustainability Management Program for Industries- A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Long Su Weng Alwin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This research studied the effectiveness of Sustainability Management Program in improving production efficiency of the manufacturing site with verified result using the regression analysis. For this study, a dairy manufacturing industry located in Malaysia was selected and major energy consuming equipment in the industryplant were identified. Sustainability Management Program (SMP was carried out for three years and energy consumption and product has improved regression coefficients of 0.625 in 2013, 0.826 in 2014, and 0.878 in 2015 as the manufacturing site becomes more energy efficient. This suggests that the energy management should be carried out in a continuous manner with energy management team responsible for energy saving practices.

  17. Supply Chain Management and Sustainability : Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Brito, M.P.; Van der Laan, E.A.

    2010-01-01

    Research has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations management

  18. Design for Sustainability and Project Management Literature – A Review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ali, Faheem; Boks, Casper; Bey, Niki

    2016-01-01

    management literature has hardly been considered in design for sustainability research, this article attempts to review the points of intersection between these two fields, and explores the potential that knowledge from project management literature has in improving efficiency and effectiveness...... of development and implementation of design for sustainability tools.......The growing pressure on natural resources and increasing global trade have made sustainability issues a prime area of concern for all businesses alike. The increased focus on sustainability has impacted the way projects are conceived, planned, executed and evaluated in industries. Since project...

  19. Sustainable Pest Management : Achievements and Challenges

    OpenAIRE

    World Bank

    2005-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to: (a) review World Bank's pest management activities during 1999-2004; (b) assess those in view of the changes in the external and internal contexts; (c) identify appropriate opportunities of engagement on pest and pesticide issues; and (d) suggest means to further promote sound pest management in the World Bank operations. The importance of sound pest management for sustainable agricultural production is being recognized by many developing countries. Many cou...

  20. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR in Sustainable Urban Water Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Declan Page

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available To meet increasing urban water requirements in a sustainable way, there is a need to diversify future sources of supply and storage. However, to date, there has been a lag in the uptake of managed aquifer recharge (MAR for diversifying water sources in urban areas. This study draws on examples of the use of MAR as an approach to support sustainable urban water management. Recharged water may be sourced from a variety of sources and in urban centers, MAR provides a means to recycle underutilized urban storm water and treated wastewater to maximize their water resource potential and to minimize any detrimental effects associated with their disposal. The number, diversity and scale of urban MAR projects is growing internationally due to water shortages, fewer available dam sites, high evaporative losses from surface storages, and lower costs compared with alternatives where the conditions are favorable, including water treatment. Water quality improvements during aquifer storage are increasingly being documented at demonstration sites and more recently, full-scale operational urban schemes. This growing body of knowledge allows more confidence in understanding the potential role of aquifers in water treatment for regulators. In urban areas, confined aquifers provide better protection for waters recharged via wells to supplement potable water supplies. However, unconfined aquifers may generally be used for nonpotable purposes to substitute for municipal water supplies and, in some cases, provide adequate protection for recovery as potable water. The barriers to MAR adoption as part of sustainable urban water management include lack of awareness of recent developments and a lack of transparency in costs, but most importantly the often fragmented nature of urban water resources and environmental management.

  1. Does participatory forest management promote sustainable forest utilisation in Tanzania?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Treue, Thorsten; Ngaga, Y.M.; Meilby, Henrik

    2014-01-01

    Over the past 20 years, Participatory Forest Management (PFM) has become a dominant forest management strategy in Tanzania, covering more than 4.1 million hectares. Sustainable forest use and supply of wood products to local people are major aims of PFM. This paper assesses the sustainability...... of forest utilisation under PFM, using estimates of forest condition and extraction rates based on forest inventories and 480 household surveys from 12 forests; seven under Community Based Forest Management (CBFM), three under Joint Forest Management (JFM) and two under government management (non......-PFM). Extraction of products is intense in forests close to Dar es Salaam, regardless of management regime. Further from Dar es Salaam, harvesting levels in forests under PFM are, with one prominent exception, broadly sustainable. Using GIS data from 116 wards, it is shown that half of the PFM forests in Tanzania...

  2. Conference Summary Report from ENS`95. Sustainable Resource Management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Holdgate, M [ed.

    1996-12-31

    This publication gives a survey of the ENS`95 conference held in Stavanger (Norway). The publication presents a conference summary and lists of papers for each of the main themes covering sustainable energy production and consumption (challenges and opportunities), international trade and sustainable development, sustainable resource management and economic development in the northern circumpolar region together with sustainable forestry and food production

  3. Conference Summary Report from ENS`95. Sustainable Resource Management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Holdgate, M. [ed.

    1995-12-31

    This publication gives a survey of the ENS`95 conference held in Stavanger (Norway). The publication presents a conference summary and lists of papers for each of the main themes covering sustainable energy production and consumption (challenges and opportunities), international trade and sustainable development, sustainable resource management and economic development in the northern circumpolar region together with sustainable forestry and food production

  4. Sustainable supply chain management: current debate and future directions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Silvestre

    Full Text Available Abstract This paper is a research brief on sustainable supply chain management and covers some of the key elements of literature’s past debate and trends for future directions. It highlights the growth of this research area and reinforces the importance of a full consideration of all three key dimensions of sustainability when managing sustainable supply chains, i.e., the financial, environmental and social dimensions. Therefore, supply chain decision makers need to unequivocally assess the impact of their decisions on the financial, environmental and social performances of their supply chains. This paper also argues that risks and opportunities are the key drivers for supply chain decision makers to adopt sustainability within their operations, and that barriers to sustainability adoption exist. This research highlights that, depending on the focus adopted, supply chains can evolve and shift from more traditional to more sustainable approaches over time. The paper concludes with some promising avenues for future investigation.

  5. The Effect of Different Fertilizer Management on Yield and Yield Components of Black Seed (Nigella sativa L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P rezvani moghaddam

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Given the importance of nitrogen for improving the quantitative and qualitative yield of crops (Rodrigues et al., 2006 and the need for application of chemical fertilizers in intensive agriculture to get the maximum production, nitrogen supply in adequate amounts by ecologically avowed resources is known as one of the main challenges during transition from conventional to organic farming (Rodrigues et al., 2006. Considering the sustainable nitrogen management, reconstruction and rehabilitation of agroecosystems depends on reduction the nitrogen losses due to leaching, soil erosion and volatilization (Kizilkaya, 2008. For this purpose, the use of eco-friendly bio based fertilizers that are derived from natural origin, known as effective and enforceable approaches. In this regards, the proper use of manure and free-living aerobic bacteria of soils, such as Azotobacter and Azospirillum as well as mycorrhizal inoculation which can be used as a biological fertilizers, can particularly be considered (Kizilkaya, 2008. With regard to all mentioned above, the current study was aimed to evaluate the effects of biological, organic and inorganic resources of nitrogen on yield and yield components of black seed (Nigella sativa L.. Materials and methods The field experiment was conducted at Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in years of 2009-2010. Experimental site was located in a semi-arid region, Khorasan Province, Northeast of Iran. The soil texture was silty loam, pH 8.36, electrical conductivity 3.72 dS.m-1, total N 0.095% and 0.195% organic carbon. The available P and K contents were 5.76 and 0.378 ppm, respectively. Experimental design was arranged by using a completely randomized block design with three replications. Experimental treatments included chemical fertilizer (urea, urea + nitroxin, urea + mycorrhizae, urea + nitroxin + mycorrhizae, urea + biosulfur, manure, manure + nitroxin, manure + mycorrhizae

  6. Grazing animal husbandry based on sustainable nutrient management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hermans, C.; Vereijken, P.H.

    1995-01-01

    Sustainable husbandry systems for grazing animals (cattle and sheep) can be achieved by sustainable nutrient management (SNM). This implies the tuning of inputs to outputs of nutrients, to achieve and maintain optimum ranges of agronomically wanted and ecologically acceptable reserves of single

  7. Innovation Management for Sustainable Development Practices in the Internalization Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clandia Maffini Gomes

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available To provide new inferences on the relation between the management of technology information, sustainable development and the innovative performance of firms, a survey was carried out among Brazilian industrial enterprises with innovative characteristics. The study sought to understand how technological innovation management practices that take social and environmental responsibility into account influence firms’ internationalization process. The independent and dependent variables suggest that there is a connection between managing technology for sustainable development and innovative performance. We tried to identify the main technological management practices that reflect commitment to sustainable development. The results suggest that firms’ international success and high degree of competitiveness are based on offering innovative technology solutions that show commitment to the environment. The study identifies important elements of an emerging area of knowledge in the field of management sciences.

  8. Perceptions of Sustainable Marketing Management by Export Companies in Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoran I Čajka

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The present research paper deals with perceptions of sustainable marketing management in the strategies of export companies in Serbia. The objectives in this paper are manifold. They are to emphasize the importance of green marketing management in export activities of domestic companies which pursue their green management plan; to evaluate the company’s share in specific marketing segments, and to highlight the significance of successful green marketing management in modern business. Domestic green-oriented companies, which export their products to many different countries, look into the possibility of increasing their sales volumes. The findings in the paper support the hypotheses that domestic companies are perceptive of sustainable marketing issues in their business activities, and sustainable marketing management is becoming an important factor in business activities of modern companies.

  9. Decision support modeling for sustainable food logistics management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Soysal, M.

    2015-01-01

    Summary

    For the last two decades, food logistics systems have seen the transition from traditional Logistics Management (LM) to Food Logistics Management (FLM), and successively, to Sustainable Food Logistics Management (SFLM). Accordingly, food industry has been subject to the recent

  10. Business Sustainability and Undergraduate Management Education: An Australian Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Josie; Bonn, Ingrid

    2011-01-01

    The academic literature arguing that there is an urgent requirement for businesses to become more sustainable is rapidly expanding. There is also a demonstrated need for managers to develop a better understanding of sustainability and the appropriate strategies required to improve business sustainability. In addition, there have been international…

  11. Sustainable construction building performance simulation and asset and maintenance management

    CERN Document Server

    2016-01-01

    This book presents a collection of recent research works that highlight best practice solutions, case studies and practical advice on the implementation of sustainable construction techniques. It includes a set of new developments in the field of building performance simulation, building sustainability assessment, sustainable management, asset and maintenance management and service-life prediction. Accordingly, the book will appeal to a broad readership of professionals, scientists, students, practitioners, lecturers and other interested parties.

  12. Barriers and commitment of facilities management profession to the sustainability agenda

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elmualim, Abbas; Shockley, Daniel [ICRC, The School of Construction Management and Engineering University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO BOX 219 (United Kingdom); Valle, Roberto [ICRC, The School of Construction Management and Engineering University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO BOX 219 (United Kingdom); British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) (United Kingdom); Ludlow, Gordon [British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) (United Kingdom); Shah, Sunil [Jacobs, Reading (United Kingdom)

    2010-01-15

    The practice of sustainable facilities management (FM) is rapidly evolving with the increasing interest in the discourse of sustainable development. This paper examines a recent survey of the experiences of facilities managers in the rapidly growing and evolving industry in regard to the barriers and their commitment to the sustainability agenda. The survey results show that time constraints, lack of knowledge and lack of senior management commitment are the main barriers for the implementation of consistent and comprehensive sustainable FM policy and practice. The paper concludes that the diversity of the FM role and the traditional undervaluation of the contribution it makes to the success of organisations are partially responsible for lack of success in achieving sustainable facilities. The overwhelming barrier for sustainable FM practice is the lack of understanding, focus and commitment of senior executives in appreciating the opportunities, threats and need for strategic leadership and direction in driving essential change, and hence further the sustainability agenda. (author)

  13. Sustainable waste management via incineration system: an Islamic ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Sustainable waste management via incineration system: an Islamic outlook for conservation of the environment. ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences ... Abstract. This paper would firstly examine solid waste management currently ...

  14. A guideline for interpersonal capabilities enhancement to support sustainable facility management practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarpin, Norliana; Kasim, Narimah; Zainal, Rozlin; Noh, Hamidun Mohd

    2018-04-01

    Facility management is the key phase in the development cycle of an assets and spans over a considerable length of time. Therefore, facility managers are in a commanding position to maximise the potential of sustainability through the development phases from construction, operation, maintenance and upgrade leading to decommission and deconstruction. Sustainability endeavours in facility management practices will contribute to reducing energy consumption, waste and running costs. Furthermore, it can also help in improving organisational productivity, financial return and community standing of the organisation. Facility manager should be empowered with the necessary knowledge and capabilities at the forefront facing sustainability challenge. However, literature studies show a gap between the level of awareness, specific knowledge and the necessary skills required to pursue sustainability in the facility management professional. People capability is considered as the key enabler in managing the sustainability agenda as well as being central to the improvement of competency and innovation in an organisation. This paper aims to develop a guidelines for interpersonal capabilities to support sustainability in facility management practice. Starting with a total of 7 critical interpersonal capabilities factors identified from previous questionnaire survey, the authors conducted an interview with 3 experts in facility management to assess the perceived importance of these factors. The findings reveal a set of guidelines for the enhancement of interpersonal capabilities among facility managers by providing what can be done to acquire these factors and how it can support the application of sustainability in their practice. The findings of this paper are expected to form the basis of a mechanism framework developed to equip facility managers with the right knowledge, to continue education and training and to develop new mind-sets to enhance the implementation of sustainability

  15. Sustainable Supply Chain Management in Small and Medium Enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sebastian Kot

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The sector of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs plays a key role in the economies of all of the countries in the world. These entities constitute the basis for the development of the national and global economies. In a contemporary complex and competitive business environment, the adaptation of appropriate strategies is a particularly important effort to furthering the development of companies from the SMEs sector. In this context, the application of the concept of sustainable supply chain management (SCM in the operation strategy of SMEs seems to be a very important function. This supply chain also covers all three aspects of sustainable development: business, environmental, and social. The purpose of this article is to present the current state of the research in sustainable development in relation to managing the supply chain of SMEs, as well as the empirical findings in this area. The results found that all of the sustainability areas were very important in the supply chain management practices of the studied SMEs, despite the imbalance described in the literature. The study also presents the most important elements in the particular sustainability areas of SCM and SMEs.

  16. Sustainable land management practices as providers of several ecosystem services under rainfed Mediterranean agroecosystems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almagro, María; de Vente, Joris; Boix-Fayós, Carolina; García-Franco, Noelia; Melgares de Aguilar, Javier; González, David; Solé-Benet, Albert; Martínez-Mena, María

    2015-04-01

    Little is known about the multiple impacts of sustainable land management practices on soil and water conservation, carbon sequestration, mitigation of global warming, and crop yield productivity in semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystems. We hypothesized that a shift from intensive tillage to more conservative tillage management practices (reduced tillage optionally combined with green manure) leads to an improvement in soil structure and quality and will reduce soil erosion and enhance carbon sequestration in semiarid Mediterranean rainfed agroecosystems. To test the hypothesis, we assessed the effects of different tillage treatments (conventional (CT), reduced (RT), reduced tillage combined with green manure (RTG), and no tillage (NT)) on soil structure and soil water content, runoff and erosion control, soil CO2 emissions, crop yield and carbon sequestration in two semiarid agroecosystems with organic rainfed almond in the Murcia Region southeast Spain). It was found that reduction and suppression of tillage under almonds led to an increase in soil water content in both agroecosystems. Crop yields ranged from 775 to 1766 kg ha-1 between tillage 18 treatments, but we did not find a clear relation between soil water content and crop yield. RT and RTG treatments showed lower soil erosion rates and higher crop yields of almonds than under CT treatment. Overall, higher soil organic carbon contents and aggregate stability were observed under RTG treatment than under RT or CT treatment. It is concluded that conversion from CT to RTG is suitable to increase carbon inputs without enhancing soil CO2 emissions in semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystems.

  17. Evolution of sustainability in supply chain management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rajeev, A.; Pati, Rupesh K.; Padhi, Sidhartha S.

    2017-01-01

    have urged several researchers and industry experts to work on Sustainable Production and Consumption issues within the context of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM). This paper comprehensively covers the exponential growth of the topic through an evolutionary lens. This article attempts...... to understand the evolution of sustainability issues by analysing trends across industries, economies, and through the use of various methodologies. A comprehensive thematic analysis was performed on 1068 filtered articles from 2000 to 2015, highlighting the development and importance of the body of knowledge....... The study proposes a conceptual framework to classify various factors along the triple bottom line pillars of sustainability issues in the context of supply chains. An in-depth study is conducted on 190 articles covering all pillars of sustainability (as per the proposed conceptual framework) on SSCM. We...

  18. Soil mapping and processes modelling for sustainable land management: a review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Paulo; Brevik, Eric; Muñoz-Rojas, Miriam; Miller, Bradley; Smetanova, Anna; Depellegrin, Daniel; Misiune, Ieva; Novara, Agata; Cerda, Artemi

    2017-04-01

    Soil maps and models are fundamental for a correct and sustainable land management (Pereira et al., 2017). They are an important in the assessment of the territory and implementation of sustainable measures in urban areas, agriculture, forests, ecosystem services, among others. Soil maps represent an important basis for the evaluation and restoration of degraded areas, an important issue for our society, as consequence of climate change and the increasing pressure of humans on the ecosystems (Brevik et al. 2016; Depellegrin et al., 2016). The understanding of soil spatial variability and the phenomena that influence this dynamic is crucial to the implementation of sustainable practices that prevent degradation, and decrease the economic costs of soil restoration. In this context, soil maps and models are important to identify areas affected by degradation and optimize the resources available to restore them. Overall, soil data alone or integrated with data from other sciences, is an important part of sustainable land management. This information is extremely important land managers and decision maker's implements sustainable land management policies. The objective of this work is to present a review about the advantages of soil mapping and process modeling for sustainable land management. References Brevik, E., Calzolari, C., Miller, B., Pereira, P., Kabala, C., Baumgarten, A., Jordán, A. (2016) Historical perspectives and future needs in soil mapping, classification and pedological modelling, Geoderma, 264, Part B, 256-274. Depellegrin, D.A., Pereira, P., Misiune, I., Egarter-Vigl, L. (2016) Mapping Ecosystem Services in Lithuania. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 23, 441-455. Pereira, P., Brevik, E., Munoz-Rojas, M., Miller, B., Smetanova, A., Depellegrin, D., Misiune, I., Novara, A., Cerda, A. (2017) Soil mapping and process modelling for sustainable land management. In: Pereira, P., Brevik, E., Munoz-Rojas, M., Miller, B

  19. Estimating Sustainable Live-Coral Harvest at Kamiali Wildlife Management Area, Papua New Guinea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longenecker, Ken; Bolick, Holly; Langston, Ross

    2015-01-01

    Live coral is harvested throughout the Indo-West Pacific to make lime, used in the consumption of the world's fourth-most consumed drug, betel nut. Coral harvesting is an environmental concern; however, because lime-making is one of the few sources of income in some areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG), the practice is unlikely to stop. To better manage coral harvest, we used standard fishery-yield methods to generate sustainable-harvest guidelines for corymbose Acropora species found on the reef flat and crest at Lababia, PNG. We constructed a yield curve (weight-specific net annual-dry-weight production) by: 1) describing the allometric relationship between colony size and dry weight, and using that relationship to estimate the dry weight of Acropora colonies in situ; 2) estimating annual growth of Acropora colonies by estimating in situ, and describing the relationship between, colony dry weight at the beginning and end of one year; and 3) conducting belt-transect surveys to describe weight-frequencies and ultimately to predict annual weight change per square meter for each weight class. Reef habitat covers a total 2,467,550 m2 at Lababia and produces an estimated 248,397 kg/y (dry weight) of corymbose Acropora, of which 203,897 kg is produced on the reef flat/crest. We conservatively estimate that 30,706.6 kg of whole, dry, corymbose, Acropora can be sustainably harvested from the reef flat/crest habitat each year provided each culled colony weighs at least 1805 g when dry (or is at least 46 cm along its major axis). Artisanal lime-makers convert 24.8% of whole-colony weight into marketable lime, thus we estimate 7615.2 g of lime can be sustainably produced annually from corymbose Acropora. This value incorporates several safety margins, and should lead to proper management of live coral harvest. Importantly, the guideline recognizes village rights to exploit its marine resources, is consistent with village needs for income, and balances an equally strong village

  20. Estimating Sustainable Live-Coral Harvest at Kamiali Wildlife Management Area, Papua New Guinea.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ken Longenecker

    Full Text Available Live coral is harvested throughout the Indo-West Pacific to make lime, used in the consumption of the world's fourth-most consumed drug, betel nut. Coral harvesting is an environmental concern; however, because lime-making is one of the few sources of income in some areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG, the practice is unlikely to stop. To better manage coral harvest, we used standard fishery-yield methods to generate sustainable-harvest guidelines for corymbose Acropora species found on the reef flat and crest at Lababia, PNG. We constructed a yield curve (weight-specific net annual-dry-weight production by: 1 describing the allometric relationship between colony size and dry weight, and using that relationship to estimate the dry weight of Acropora colonies in situ; 2 estimating annual growth of Acropora colonies by estimating in situ, and describing the relationship between, colony dry weight at the beginning and end of one year; and 3 conducting belt-transect surveys to describe weight-frequencies and ultimately to predict annual weight change per square meter for each weight class. Reef habitat covers a total 2,467,550 m2 at Lababia and produces an estimated 248,397 kg/y (dry weight of corymbose Acropora, of which 203,897 kg is produced on the reef flat/crest. We conservatively estimate that 30,706.6 kg of whole, dry, corymbose, Acropora can be sustainably harvested from the reef flat/crest habitat each year provided each culled colony weighs at least 1805 g when dry (or is at least 46 cm along its major axis. Artisanal lime-makers convert 24.8% of whole-colony weight into marketable lime, thus we estimate 7615.2 g of lime can be sustainably produced annually from corymbose Acropora. This value incorporates several safety margins, and should lead to proper management of live coral harvest. Importantly, the guideline recognizes village rights to exploit its marine resources, is consistent with village needs for income, and balances an equally

  1. Sustainable Nutrient Management in Chinese Agriculture:Challenges and Perspective

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    无

    2006-01-01

    China has to raise agricultural productivity in its limited and shrinking farmland to guarantee food security for its huge and ever-growing population. Sustainable soil nutrient management is of paramount importance to the world's most populous country. Critical challenges the country is facing in sustaining soil fertility and in alleviating the hazardous impact of intensive fertilizer use are discussed in this paper. It is emphatically pointed out that national strategies as well as area-specific action plans with respect to scientific nutrient management are urgently needed to balance productivity and sustainability in the future. Relevant proposals for addressing those challenges are also presented.

  2. Sustainable apple breedings needs sustainable marketing and management

    OpenAIRE

    Weber, M.

    2008-01-01

    Apple breeding programmes are currently in the middle of transition in terms of ownership and management. Until now most of them were funded by the public. Breeding took place by traditional methods since decades in a very sustainable way to develop better apple varieties. Today, increasing loss of national boundaries and globalisation, less interest by national bodies and institutions and rising cost levels for high tech breeding methods entire programmes are nowadays urged to...

  3. Integrated nutrient management (INM) for sustaining crop productivity and reducing environmental impact: A review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Wei; Ma, Baoluo

    2015-01-01

    The increasing food demands of a growing human population and the need for an environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable agricultural development require significant attention when addressing the issue of enhancing crop productivity. Here we discuss the role of integrated nutrient management (INM) in resolving these concerns, which has been proposed as a promising strategy for addressing such challenges. INM has multifaceted potential for the improvement of plant performance and resource efficiency while also enabling the protection of the environment and resource quality. This review examines the concepts, objectives, procedures and principles of INM. A comprehensive literature search revealed that INM enhances crop yields by 8–150% compared with conventional practices, increases water-use efficiency, and the economic returns to farmers, while improving grain quality and soil health and sustainability. Model simulation and fate assessment further reveal that reactive nitrogen (N) losses and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions are reduced substantially under advanced INM practices. Lower inputs of chemical fertilizer and therefore lower human and environmental costs (such as intensity of land use, N use, reactive N losses and GHG emissions) were achieved under advanced INM practices without compromising crop yields. Various approaches and perspectives for further development of INM in the near future are also proposed and discussed. Strong and convincing evidence indicates that INM practice could be an innovative and environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable agriculture worldwide. - Highlights: • The increasing pressure to meet global cereal demand poses great challenge. • A changing environment further threatens cereal production. • Literature summary shows 8–150% yield advantage from use of INM method. • INM contributions to mitigation of environmental costs are remarkable. • High crop productivity and less environmental impact can be

  4. Integrated nutrient management (INM) for sustaining crop productivity and reducing environmental impact: A review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Wei, E-mail: weiwu@nwsuaf.edu.cn [College of Agronomy, Northwest A& F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100 (China); Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC), Ottawa, ON K1A 0C6 (Canada); Ma, Baoluo, E-mail: Baoluo.Ma@AGR.GC.CA [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC), Ottawa, ON K1A 0C6 (Canada)

    2015-04-15

    The increasing food demands of a growing human population and the need for an environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable agricultural development require significant attention when addressing the issue of enhancing crop productivity. Here we discuss the role of integrated nutrient management (INM) in resolving these concerns, which has been proposed as a promising strategy for addressing such challenges. INM has multifaceted potential for the improvement of plant performance and resource efficiency while also enabling the protection of the environment and resource quality. This review examines the concepts, objectives, procedures and principles of INM. A comprehensive literature search revealed that INM enhances crop yields by 8–150% compared with conventional practices, increases water-use efficiency, and the economic returns to farmers, while improving grain quality and soil health and sustainability. Model simulation and fate assessment further reveal that reactive nitrogen (N) losses and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions are reduced substantially under advanced INM practices. Lower inputs of chemical fertilizer and therefore lower human and environmental costs (such as intensity of land use, N use, reactive N losses and GHG emissions) were achieved under advanced INM practices without compromising crop yields. Various approaches and perspectives for further development of INM in the near future are also proposed and discussed. Strong and convincing evidence indicates that INM practice could be an innovative and environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable agriculture worldwide. - Highlights: • The increasing pressure to meet global cereal demand poses great challenge. • A changing environment further threatens cereal production. • Literature summary shows 8–150% yield advantage from use of INM method. • INM contributions to mitigation of environmental costs are remarkable. • High crop productivity and less environmental impact can be

  5. Managing Southeastern US Forests for Increased Water Yield

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acharya, S.; Kaplan, D. A.; Mclaughlin, D. L.; Cohen, M. J.

    2017-12-01

    Forested lands influence watershed hydrology by affecting water quantity and quality in surface and groundwater systems, making them potentially effective tools for regional water resource planning. In this study, we quantified water use and water yield by pine forests under varying silvicultural management (e.g., high density plantation, thinning, and prescribed burning). Daily forest water use (evapotranspiration, ET) was estimated using continuously monitored soil-moisture in the root-zone at six sites across Florida (USA), each with six plots ranging in forest leaf-area index (LAI). Plots included stands with different rotational ages (from clear-cut to mature pine plantations) and those restored to more historical conditions. Estimated ET relative to potential ET (PET) was strongly associated with LAI, root-zone soil-moisture status, and site hydroclimate; these factors explained 85% of the variation in the ET:PET ratio. Annual water yield (Yw) calculated from these ET estimates and a simple water balance differed significantly among sites and plots (ranging from -0.12 cm/yr to > 100 cm/yr), demonstrating substantive influence of management regimes. LAI strongly influenced Yw in all sites, and a general linear model with forest attributes (LAI and groundcover), hydroclimate, and site characteristics explained >90% of variation in observed Yw. These results can be used to predict water yield changes under different management and climate scenarios and may be useful in the development of payment for ecosystem services approaches that identify water as an important product of forest best management practices.

  6. Perspective: The challenge of ecologically sustainable water management

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Bernhardt, E

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable water resource management is constrained by three pervasive myths; that societal and environmental water demands always compete with one another; that technological solutions can solve all water resource management problems...

  7. Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marisa P. de Brito

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Research has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations management issues. In this paper, we make use of behavioral theory to explain the current lack of integration. We conclude through abductive reasoning that the reasons for procrastinating integration of sustainability in supply chain and operations management research are the conflicting nature of the task and the inherent context, which is the focus on operations rather than environmental or social issues.

  8. Soil management practices for sustainable crop production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abalos, E.B.

    2005-01-01

    In a sustainable system, the soil is viewed as a fragile and living medium that must be protected and nurtured to ensure its long-term productivity and stability. However, due to high demand for food brought about by high population as well as the decline in agricultural lands, the soil is being exploited beyond its limit thus, leading to poor or sick soils. Sound soil management practices in the Philippines is being reviewed. The technologies, including the advantages and disadvantages are hereby presented. This includes proper cropping systems, fertilizer program, soil erosion control and correcting soil acidity. Sound soil management practices which conserve organic matter for long-term sustainability includes addition of compost, maintaining soil cover, increasing aggregates stability, soil tilt and diversity of soil microbial life. A healthy soil is a key component to sustainability as a health soil produce healthy crop plants and have optimum vigor or less susceptible to pests. (author)

  9. Sustainable Human Resource Management in Religiously Diverse Regions: The Podlasie Case

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Mazur

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The concept of sustainability seems fundamental for companies operating worldwide. Human resources are acknowledged to be among the most valuable assets for them. Even though literature shows that Sustainable Human Resource Management is an upcoming topic there is still limited research on the concept due to its initial state. Prior literature reveals a lack in the consideration of systematic links between sustainability and HRM. The purpose of the study is to present the sociological approach to Sustainable Human Resource Management. The paper contributes to the literature linking sustainability to the issues researched in HRM literature. In the introduction it discusses how the notion of sustainability has emerged and developed. Then the sociological approach to Sustainable Human Resource Management is briefly depicted. Next, Diversity Management is presented as the manifestation of the social approach to Sustainable Human Resource Management. To illustrate this approach, the empirical research is presented. It has been conducted among 32 companies operating in Podlasie region (northeastern part of Poland. The research tried to uncover the companies’ knowledge and consciousness of cultural (religious diversity. It also aimed at finding out whether this diversity was seen as an advantage and taken opportunity of or rather neglected in the companies. The results show the reception of diversity among larger and smaller enterprises in the Podlasie region. In general, smaller companies tend to know the religion of the worker more often, and therefore are able to take advantage of it. The larger companies tend to treat faith as a personal matter.

  10. Closing yield gaps in China by empowering smallholder farmers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Weifeng; Cao, Guoxin; Li, Xiaolin; Zhang, Hongyan; Wang, Chong; Liu, Quanqing; Chen, Xinping; Cui, Zhenling; Shen, Jianbo; Jiang, Rongfeng; Mi, Guohua; Miao, Yuxin; Zhang, Fusuo; Dou, Zhengxia

    2016-09-01

    Sustainably feeding the world’s growing population is a challenge, and closing yield gaps (that is, differences between farmers’ yields and what are attainable for a given region) is a vital strategy to address this challenge. The magnitude of yield gaps is particularly large in developing countries where smallholder farming dominates the agricultural landscape. Many factors and constraints interact to limit yields, and progress in problem-solving to bring about changes at the ground level is rare. Here we present an innovative approach for enabling smallholders to achieve yield and economic gains sustainably via the Science and Technology Backyard (STB) platform. STB involves agricultural scientists living in villages among farmers, advancing participatory innovation and technology transfer, and garnering public and private support. We identified multifaceted yield-limiting factors involving agronomic, infrastructural, and socioeconomic conditions. When these limitations and farmers’ concerns were addressed, the farmers adopted recommended management practices, thereby improving production outcomes. In one region in China, the five-year average yield increased from 67.9% of the attainable level to 97.0% among 71 leading farmers, and from 62.8% to 79.6% countywide (93,074 households); this was accompanied by resource and economic benefits.

  11. THE ROLE OF SUPPLY CHAIN COLLABORATION ON SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE

    OpenAIRE

    Ince, Huseyin; Ince, Andac Sahinbey

    2015-01-01

    Sustainable supply chain management and collaboration have taken big attention from academicians and practitioners. The extensive literature review is conducted to analyse the relationship between Sustainable Supply Chain Management and collaboration and its effects on performance of SSCM dimensions. Then, a framework is proposed to explain the relationship between sustainable supply chain management and collaboration. For further studies the proposed framework should be tested empirically.

  12. Building Theory at the Intersection of Ecological Sustainability and Strategic Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borland, Helen; Ambrosini, Véronique; Lindgreen, Adam

    2016-01-01

    This article builds theory at the intersection of ecological sustainability and strategic management literature—specifically, in relation to dynamic capabilities literature. By combining industrial organization economics–based, resource-based, and dynamic capability–based views, it is possible...... to develop a better understanding of the strategies that businesses may follow, depending on their managers’ assumptions about ecological sustainability. To develop innovative strategies for ecological sustainability, the dynamic capabilities framework needs to be extended. In particular, the sensing...... sustainability. Finally, this approach offers opportunities for managers and academics to identify, categorize, and exploit business strategies for ecological sustainability....

  13. Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus; Pope, Jenny

    2013-01-01

    One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

  14. Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus, E-mail: A.Morrison-Saunders@murdoch.edu.au [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University (Australia); Pope, Jenny [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); Integral Sustainability (Australia); Curtin University (Australia)

    2013-01-15

    One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

  15. Towards sustainable water management in Algeria

    KAUST Repository

    Drouiche, Nadjib; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Naceur, Mohamed Wahib; Lounici, Hakim; Drouiche, Madani

    2012-01-01

    Algeria aspires to protect its water resources and to provide a sustainable answer to water supply and management issues by carrying out a national water plan. This program is in line with all projects the Algerian Government is implementing

  16. Natural Resources Management for Sustainable Food Security in ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Natural Resources Management for Sustainable Food Security in the Sahel ... as well as strategies for managing the resource base with a view to improving food security. ... InnoVet-AMR grants to support development of innovative veterinary ...

  17. Is sustainable development attainable? Challenges facing forestry and the forest products industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wrist, P.E.

    1991-01-01

    The challenges that face the forest industry in achieving sustainable development are reviewed. Sustainable development is not the same as sustained yield forest management. While sustained yield limits harvesting to an estimate of a forest's incremental annual growth, it is a policy which neither takes into account how improved forest management practices can increase future growth rates nor gives guidance on how multiple uses for the forest resource can be made compatible with periodic harvesting of that resource. Forests, in addition to meeting demands for timber production, must also meet demands for watershed management, recreation, preservation of wildlife and genetic diversity, moderation of climates, carbon sequestration, and land reclamation. Information is lacking from which to develop improved forest management programs that take these demands into account. Questions remain about such matters as the role of plantations in sustainable forestry and the maintenance of natural diversity. Some recent research being undertaken to generate better information for future forestry decision making is outlined, including work on gene pool maintenance, the interdependence of forest ecology and climate, the symbiotic role of mycorrhiza, forest fertilization, and the interdependence of sustainable forestry and sustainable fisheries. In the forest products industry, engineered wood products have been developed that meet tight specifications and require less raw material, and process changes have been introduced that greatly reduce pollutants from pulp manufacture

  18. Waste management in a sustainable society

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ascari, Sergio; Milan, Univ. ''Bocconi''

    1997-01-01

    This paper summarises the environmental economics debate about sustainable management of solid wastes. Sustainable levels of solid waste generation, recycling and disposal cannot be set by general criteria, but priorities are better defined locally. Preferable solutions are mostly determined by market forces once economic instruments are introduced in order to compel agents to incorporate environmental costs and benefits into their decisions. Greater care should be devoted to dangerous wastes, where schemes may be devised to subsidize not only recovery and recycling but environmentally safe disposal as well; these may be financed by raw materials levies

  19. Lean Management as an Instrument of Sustainable Development of Enterprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sikora, Marcin; Kwiatkowski, Maciej; Prosół, Hanna; Nowicka, Daria; Lorenc, Karolina; Pham, Laurena

    2016-03-01

    The aim of the paper is to present the philosophy of Lean Management as an instrument of improving sustainable management of enterprises. The article presents the origins, characteristics of the broadly understood concept of Lean Management and describes the idea of Sustainable Development (SD). At the same time implications for the application and development of the instruments which operationalize the assumptions of SD at the level of enterprises are discussed. The paper specifies those areas of functioning of contemporary companies in which Lean Management can be implemented and compares them with the features of traditional management in particular subjects.

  20. Sustainability of Evidence-Based Acute Pain Management Practices for Hospitalized Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shuman, Clayton J; Xie, Xian-Jin; Herr, Keela A; Titler, Marita G

    2017-11-01

    Little is known regarding sustainability of evidence-based practices (EBPs) following implementation. This article reports sustainability of evidence-based acute pain management practices in hospitalized older adults following testing of a multifaceted Translating Research Into Practice (TRIP) implementation intervention. A cluster randomized trial with follow-up period was conducted in 12 Midwest U.S. hospitals (six experimental, six comparison). Use of evidence-based acute pain management practices and mean pain intensity were analyzed using generalized estimating equations across two time points (following implementation and 18 months later) to determine sustainability of TRIP intervention effects. Summative Index scores and six of seven practices were sustained. Experimental and comparison group differences for mean pain intensity over 72 hours following admission were sustained. Results revealed most evidence-based acute pain management practices were sustained for 18 months following implementation. Further work is needed to identify factors affecting sustainability of EBPs to guide development and testing of sustainability strategies.

  1. Evaluating Water Management Practice for Sustainable Mining

    OpenAIRE

    Xiangfeng Zhang; Lei Gao; Damian Barrett; Yun Chen

    2014-01-01

    To move towards sustainable development, the mining industry needs to identify better mine water management practices for reducing raw water use, increasing water use efficiency, and eliminating environmental impacts in a precondition of securing mining production. However, the selection of optimal mine water management practices is technically challenging due to the lack of scientific tools to comprehensively evaluate management options against a set of conflicting criteria. This work has pr...

  2. Regulating N application for rice yield and sustainable eco-agro development in the upper reaches of Yellow River basin, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Aiping; Liu, Ruliang; Gao, Ji; Yang, Shiqi; Chen, Zhe

    2014-01-01

    High N fertilizer and flooding irrigation applied to rice on anthropogenic-alluvial soil often result in N leaching and low recovery of applied fertilizer N from the rice fields in Ningxia irrigation region in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, which threatens ecological environment, food security, and sustainable agricultural development. This paper reported the regulating N application for rice yield and sustainable Eco-Agro development in the upper reaches of Yellow River basin. The results showed that reducing and postponing N application could maintain crop yields while substantially reducing N leaching losses to the environment and improving the nitrogen use efficiency. Considering the high food production, the minimum environmental threat, and the low labor input, we suggested that regulating N application is an important measure to help sustainable agricultural development in this region.

  3. Impact of supply chain management practices on sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Govindan, Kannan; Azevedo, Susana G.; Carvalho, Helena

    2014-01-01

    elimination," "supply chain risk management" and "cleaner production." The following lean, resilient and green supply chain management practices do not have a significant impact on supply chain sustainability: "flexible transportation," "flexible sourcing," "ISO 14001 certification," and "reverse logistics...

  4. An overview of the sustainability of solid waste management at military installations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Borglin, S.; Shore, J.; Worden, H.; Jain, R.

    2009-08-15

    Sustainable municipal solid waste management at military solutions necessitates a combined approach that includes waste reduction, alternative disposal techniques, and increased recycling. Military installations are unique because they often represent large employers in the region in which they are located, thereby making any practices they employ impact overall waste management strategies of the region. Solutions for waste sustainability will be dependent on operational directives and base location, availability of resources such as water and energy, and size of population. Presented in this paper are descriptions of available waste strategies that can be used to support sustainable waste management. Results presented indicate source reduction and recycling to be the most sustainable solutions. However, new waste-to-energy plants and composting have potential to improve on these well proven techniques and allow military installations to achieve sustainable waste management.

  5. Life Cycle Thinking, Measurement and Management for Food System Sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelletier, Nathan

    2015-07-07

    Food systems critically contribute to our collective sustainability outcomes. Improving food system sustainability requires life cycle thinking, measurement and management strategies. This article reviews the status quo and future prospects for bringing life cycle approaches to food system sustainability to the fore.

  6. Integrating Sustainability into Management Education: A Dean's Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walck, Christa

    2009-01-01

    The integration of sustainability and environmental ethics into management education has improved in the past decade. This is partly a response to external pressure, as societal concerns about sustainability grow and businesses have made greater efforts to green their processes and products. But it is also a response to internal pressure from…

  7. Sustainability reporting in public sector organisations: Exploring the relation between the reporting process and organisational change management for sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domingues, Ana Rita; Lozano, Rodrigo; Ceulemans, Kim; Ramos, Tomás B

    2017-05-01

    Sustainability Reporting has become a key element in different organisations. Although there have been a number of academic publications discussing the adoption of sustainability reports in the public sector, their numbers have been quite low when compared to those focussing on corporate reports. Additionally, there has been little research on the link between sustainability reporting in Public Sector Organisations (PSOs) and Organisational Change Management for Sustainability (OCMS). This paper focuses on the contribution of sustainability reporting to OCMS. A survey was sent to all PSOs that have published at least one sustainability report based on the GRI guidelines. The study provides a critical analysis of the relation between sustainability reporting and OCMS in PSOs, including the drivers for reporting, the impacts on organisation change management, and the role of stakeholders in the process. Despite still lagging in sustainability reporting journey, PSOs are starting to use sustainability reporting as a communication tool, and this could drive organisational changes for sustainability. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Integration of Agronomic Practices with Herbicides for Sustainable Weed Management in Aerobic Rice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anwar, M. P.; Juraimi, A. S.; Mohamed, M. T. M.; Uddin, M. K.; Samedani, B.; Puteh, A.; Man, Azmi

    2013-01-01

    Till now, herbicide seems to be a cost effective tool from an agronomic view point to control weeds. But long term efficacy and sustainability issues are the driving forces behind the reconsideration of herbicide dependent weed management strategy in rice. This demands reappearance of physical and cultural management options combined with judicious herbicide application in a more comprehensive and integrated way. Keeping those in mind, some agronomic tools along with different manual weeding and herbicides combinations were evaluated for their weed control efficacy in rice under aerobic soil conditions. Combination of competitive variety, higher seeding rate, and seed priming resulted in more competitive cropping system in favor of rice, which was reflected in lower weed pressure, higher weed control efficiency, and better yield. Most of the herbicides exhibited excellent weed control efficiency. Treatments comprising only herbicides required less cost involvement but produced higher net benefit. On the contrary, treatments comprising both herbicide and manual weeding required high cost involvement and thus produced lower net benefit. Therefore, adoption of competitive rice variety, higher seed rate, and seed priming along with spraying different early-postemergence herbicides in rotation at 10 days after seeding (DAS) followed by a manual weeding at 30 DAS may be recommended from sustainability view point. PMID:24223513

  9. The Concept Of A Sustainable Approach To Corporate Real Estate Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ziemba Ewa

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper is conceptual in nature and presents the assumptions of a holistic approach to corporate real estate management. The approach is based on the imperative of sustainability, which has become a determinant of the proposed Sustainable Corporate Real Estate Management (SCREM model. Moreover, the authors indicate that in addition to the presence of the sustainability imperative, corporate real estate management requires the integration and formalization of knowledge about the concepts of corporate real estate management (CREM with those of corporate social responsibility (CSR. This approach is intended to enable the identification and improvement of real estate management processes and, as a result, contribute to more efficient and effective corporate real estate management and continuous and flexible development of enterprises, as well as boosting economic growth and building prosperity for present and future generations.

  10. Ecological dynamics of age selective harvesting of fish population: Maximum sustainable yield and its control strategy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jana, Debaldev; Agrawal, Rashmi; Upadhyay, Ranjit Kumar; Samanta, G.P.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Age-selective harvesting of prey and predator are considered by multi-delayed prey-predator system. • System experiences stable coexistence to oscillatory mode and vice versa via Hopf-bifurcation depending upon the parametric restrictions. • MSY, bionomic equilibrium and optimal harvesting policy are also depending upon the age-selection of prey and predator. • All the analytic results are delay dependent. • Numerical examples support the analytical findings. - Abstract: Life history of ecological resource management and empirical studies are increasingly documenting the impact of selective harvesting process on the evolutionary stable strategy of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In the present study, the interaction between population and their independent and combined selective harvesting are framed by a multi-delayed prey-predator system. Depending upon the age selection strategy, system experiences stable coexistence to oscillatory mode and vice versa via Hopf-bifurcation. Economic evolution of the system which is mainly featured by maximum sustainable yield (MSY), bionomic equilibrium and optimal harvesting vary largely with the commensurate age selections of both population because equilibrium population abundance becomes age-selection dependent. Our study indicates that balance between harvesting delays and harvesting intensities should be maintained for better ecosystem management. Numerical examples support the analytical findings.

  11. A Special Issue of the Journal of Forestry—Tribal Forest Management: Innovations for Sustainable Forest Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael J. Dockry; Serra J. Hoagland

    2017-01-01

    Native American forests and tribal forest management practices have sustained indigenous communities, economies, and resources for millennia. These systems provide a wealth of knowledge and successful applications of long-term environmental stewardship and integrated, sustainable forest management. Tribal forestry has received an increasing amount of attention from...

  12. Environmental Education and Sustainability: Reflections in a Management Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leandro Petarnella

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to reflect and discuss on Environmental Education (EE and Sustainability Education in Management, particularly stricto sensu Postgraduate Programmes. For this, it studies the history and the subject longevity in its transience, therefore it is a review article. This study was conducted through an exploratory approach, with a qualitative method of inductive reasoning, based on literature and document review for conceptual appropriation. Its relevance addresses two inter, multi and transdisciplinary issues, which reveal and complement each other in a broader social understanding. The reflections here discussed under the administration context, point to the challenge of the respective area. This should devise and disseminate scientific knowledge from and related to management that can operate under changes in the current social paradigm in which this science is linked to the others paradigm that is expected in the future: management contextualized and articulated with the sustainability paradigm. The study’s conclusion is that the challenge of incorporating sustainability into the teaching of stricto sensu Postgraduation in Management should be addressed through environmental education.

  13. Business Management in Sustainable Buildings: Ankara-Turkey Case

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kutay Karaca, Neşet; Burcu Gültekin, Arzuhan

    2017-10-01

    The concept of the sustainability is described as efficiently and effectively consuming of exhaustible and recyclable sources of the world. A sustainable building implements sustainability criteria in its life cycle, and business management is the process by which an organization uses its resources in the most efficient way to reach its goal. From the beginning, sustainable building proves their differences from the conventional buildings. Sustainable buildings are resource-efficient and environmentally responsible structures in terms of energy consumption, construction principles, siting, renovation and maintenance throughout its life cycle while conventional buildings are more traditional in these matters. The differences are observable especially in costs and expenditures. It is possible and feasible to compare and contrast the design, construction and management costs of both types of structures. Thence, contributions of sustainable buildings are priced favourably in terms of ecological and sociological aspects. In this context, a prospective projection can be made considering the extra costs of sustainable structures, as well as the consumption profits due to the use of less energy than conventional construction. Considering this, it is possible to project consumption savings in long term. By calculating a forward-looking net cash flow projection, it can be forecasted how much time it will take to cover the extra cost. When making decisions, investors always contemplate maximum profitability. Within the scope of this study, costs of sustainable and conventional buildings will be compared and contrasted through precedence of a sustainable building certificated and non-certificated building. It will be analysed in which time period the initial cost difference between them will be compensated totally and partially. Furthermore, an efficiency analyses will be done in the scope of the necessities and expenses of these businesses.

  14. Community participatory sustainable land management byelaw ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Widespread adoption of sustainable land management (SLM) innovations by land users is considered key in addressing the rampant land degradation in the high rainfall and densely populated highlands of eastern and southern Africa. However, absence of enabling policy environments hamperes massive adoption of SLM ...

  15. Managing cumulative impacts: A key to sustainability?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hunsaker, C.T.

    1994-12-31

    This paper addresses how science can be more effectively used in creating policy to manage cumulative effects on ecosystems. The paper focuses on the scientific techniques that we have to identify and to assess cumulative impacts on ecosystems. The term ``sustainable development`` was brought into common use by the World Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Commission) in 1987. The Brundtland Commission report highlighted the need to simultaneously address developmental and environmental imperatives simultaneously by calling for development that ``meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations.`` We cannot claim to be working toward sustainable development until we can quantitatively assess cumulative impacts on the environment: The two concepts are inextricibally linked in that the elusiveness of cumulative effects likely has the greatest potential of keeping us from achieving sustainability. In this paper, assessment and management frameworks relevant to cumulative impacts are discussed along with recent literature on how to improve such assessments. When possible, examples are given for marine ecosystems.

  16. Entrepreneurship And Business Management - Exploring Linkages For Sustainable Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr Serah K Mbetwa

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Entrepreneurs have emerged as market leaders in todays business world amidst the numerous economic turmoil constantly affecting economies on a global scale. This research paper is on entrepreneurship and business management and its linkages to other business stakeholders. The research paper therefore discusses entrepreneurship and business management exploring the linkages to available financing and potential institutions for startup capital by linking entrepreneurs to the government financiers and the public clientele. It is believed that this can bring about achievement of sustainable development goals translating into sustainable development and hence economic growth. The idea of funding is echoed by Robert Rice 2016 An entrepreneur without funding is like a musician with no instruments. Sustainability and entrepreneurship sustainopreneurship is made possible with availability of information on linkages between entrepreneurs and financial lending institutions as well as government policy. It is hoped that the research will add to the existing knowledge and help entrepreneurs with funding options for their business ideas to come to life. Findings show that the government financial lending institutions and the public are the major linkages between entrepreneurship and business management and are critical for attaining sustainable development goals and achieving economic growth.

  17. The workers role in knowledge management and sustainability policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolis, Ivan; Brunoro, Claudio; Sznelwar, Laerte Idal

    2012-01-01

    Based on the concepts of sustainability and knowledge management, this article seeks to identify points of contact between the two themes through an exploratory study of existing literature. The first objective is to find, in international literature, the largest number of papers jointly related to the theme of knowledge management and sustainability. In these documents, the authors looked at the kind of relationship existing between the two themes and what the benefits introduced in organizations are. Based on an ergonomic point of view, the second objective of this article is to analyze the role of the worker (whether at the strategic or operational level) and his importance in this context. The results demonstrate that there is very little literature that addresses the two themes together. The few papers found, however, can be said to show the many advantages of introducing sustainability policies supported by adequate knowledge management. Very little has been studied with regards to the role of workers, which could be interpreted as meaning that little importance is given to the proactive role they may play. On the other hand, there is a high potential for future research in these areas, based on the high level of consideration of workers in knowledge management and sustainability literature, as well as in literature in the areas of ergonomics and sociology.

  18. An Overview of Management Education for Sustainability in Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yen-Chun Jim; Shen, Ju-Peng; Kuo, Tsuang

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to explore the holistic picture of sustainability curricula in Asian higher education. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis was conducted based on Asian management education for sustainability in higher education. Online courses arrangement, teaching methods, instructors' educational background and…

  19. Structural capital management creates sustainable competitiveness and prolonged first-mover advantage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. R. Van Zyl

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available Structural (SC capital is part of the intellectual capital that is owned by an organisation and its efficient and dedicated management is essential for the creation of shareholder value, sustainable competitive advantage, and prolonged first-mover advantage. SC consists of three types of capital, namely: innovation, organisational and process capital. Organisational capital consists of organisational culture, management philosophies etc. and has received a large amount of management attention. However, organisational capital is not as valuable towards the creation of sustainable competitiveness and first-mover advantage as innovation and process capital are. It is the purpose of this article to demonstrate how a thorough understanding and the efficient management of innovation and process capital enables organisations to achieve the afore-mentioned benefits. Innovation capital management consists primarily of patent and brand management, which are particularly important as patent management forms a high-margin justification for the implementation of organisation-wide intellectual property management, and the management of high-equity brands secures a loyal customer base and associative sustainable competitiveness and first-mover advantage benefits. Although not as obviously valuable as innovation capital, the article also explores the value that the efficient management of unique organisational processes and methodologies contribute towards the achievement of prolonged first-mover advantage and the provision of protection against competitor actions. This exploration involved an examination of contemporary literature, theories and business cases and subsequently revealed that SCM is a vital discipline/philosophy that must be implemented by any organisation wishing to achieve greater sustainable competitiveness. Innovation and process capital are of particular importance as these assets can be made tangible, leveraged and integrated into existing

  20. Human resource management for sustainable microfinance ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Microfinancing in Nigeria has developed from the traditional informal groups through direct government intervention to domination by private sector owned and managed institutions. Despite its long history, the sector has not witnessed the existence of sustainable institutions. This prompted the Obasanjo regime to adopt a ...

  1. Exploring an innovative watershed management approach: From feasibility to sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Said, A.; Sehlke, G.; Stevens, D.K.; Sorensen, D.; Walker, W.; Hardy, T.; Glover, T.

    2006-01-01

    Watershed management is dedicated to solving watershed problems on a sustainable basis. Managing watershed development on a sustainable basis usually entails a balance between the needs of humans and nature, both in the present and in the future. From a watershed or water resources development basis, these problems can be classified into five general categories: lack of water quantity, deterioration in water quality, ecological impacts, weak public participation, and weak economic value. The first three categories can be combined to make up physical sustainability while the last two categories can be defined as social and economic sustainability. Therefore, integrated watershed management should be designed to achieve physical sustainability utilizing, to the greatest extent possible, public participation in an economically viable manner. This study demonstrates an innovative approach using scientific, social, and motivational feasibilities that can be used to improve watershed management. Scientific feasibility is tied to the nature of environmental problems and the scientific means to solve them. Social feasibility is associated with public participation. Motivational feasibility is related to economic stimulation for the stakeholders to take actions. The ecological impacts, lack of water quantity and deterioration in water quality are problems that need scientific means in order to improve watershed health. However, the implementation of these means is typically not achievable without the right public participation. In addition, public participation is typically accelerated by economic motivation for the stakeholders to use the resources in a manner that improves watershed health. The Big Lost River in south-central Idaho has been used as an illustration for implementing scientific, social and motivational feasibilities and in a manner that can achieve sustainability relative to water resources management. However, the same approach can be used elsewhere after

  2. Exploring an innovative watershed management approach: From feasibility to sustainability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Said, A. [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620 (United States); Sehlke, G. [Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 (United States); Stevens, D.K.; Sorensen, D.; Walker, W.; Hardy, T. [Civil and Environmental Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84321 (United States); Glover, T. [Economics Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84321 (United States)

    2006-10-15

    Watershed management is dedicated to solving watershed problems on a sustainable basis. Managing watershed development on a sustainable basis usually entails a balance between the needs of humans and nature, both in the present and in the future. From a watershed or water resources development basis, these problems can be classified into five general categories: lack of water quantity, deterioration in water quality, ecological impacts, weak public participation, and weak economic value. The first three categories can be combined to make up physical sustainability while the last two categories can be defined as social and economic sustainability. Therefore, integrated watershed management should be designed to achieve physical sustainability utilizing, to the greatest extent possible, public participation in an economically viable manner. This study demonstrates an innovative approach using scientific, social, and motivational feasibilities that can be used to improve watershed management. Scientific feasibility is tied to the nature of environmental problems and the scientific means to solve them. Social feasibility is associated with public participation. Motivational feasibility is related to economic stimulation for the stakeholders to take actions. The ecological impacts, lack of water quantity and deterioration in water quality are problems that need scientific means in order to improve watershed health. However, the implementation of these means is typically not achievable without the right public participation. In addition, public participation is typically accelerated by economic motivation for the stakeholders to use the resources in a manner that improves watershed health. The Big Lost River in south-central Idaho has been used as an illustration for implementing scientific, social and motivational feasibilities and in a manner that can achieve sustainability relative to water resources management. However, the same approach can be used elsewhere after

  3. A Framework of Sustainable Service Supply Chain Management: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weihua Liu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, the interdisciplinary research of supply chains and sustainability has received extensive, yet gradual, attention; when compared to the rapid economic growth of the service industry, however, sustainable supply chain management has not been systematically explored yet. It has not only great theoretical significance, but also positive practical significance to provide a framework for the operation of a sustainable service supply chain from a sustainable development point of view. Based on the triple bottom line (TBL, we have analyzed related sustainable supply chain management research between 2006 and 2015, reviewed papers involving two or three bottom lines as well, and then introduced some classical frameworks for manufacturing supply chain management and service supply chain management. Afterward, by analyzing the differences between the manufacturing and service industries, we propose a framework of sustainable service supply chain management (SSSCM. Based on the impacts of sustainable development TBL on service supply chain participants, we have finally made a framework for sustainable operation facing triads service supply chain and proposed a future research agenda.

  4. Sustainable Management of Construction and Demolition Materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    This web page discusses how to sustainably manage construction and demolition materials, Information covers, what they are, and how builders, construction crews, demolition teams,and deign practitioners can divert C&D from landfills.

  5. Greening Operations Management: An Online Sustainable Procurement Course for Practitioners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Helen L.; Gough, Stephen; Bakker, Elmer F.; Knight, Louise A.; McBain, Darian

    2009-01-01

    In the Operations Management field, sustainable procurement has emerged as a way to green the purchasing and supply process. This paper explores issues in sustainable procurement training. The authors formed an interdisciplinary team to design, deliver and evaluate a training programme to promote and develop sustainable procurement in the United…

  6. A New Approach for Assessing Aquifer Sustainability and the Impact of Proposed Management Actions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, J. J., Jr.; Whittemore, D. O.; Wilson, B. B.

    2015-12-01

    Aquifers are under stress worldwide as a result of large imbalances between inflows and outflows. These imbalances are particularly severe in aquifers in semi-arid regions that are heavily pumped for irrigation, such as the High Plains aquifer (HPA) in the United States. The water resources community has responded by placing an increasing emphasis on more sustainable management plans. To aid in the formulation of such plans, we have developed a simple, water-balance-based approach for rapid assessment of the impact of proposed management actions and the prospects for aquifer sustainability. This theoretically sound approach is particularly well suited for assessing the short- to medium-term (years to a few decades) response to management actions in seasonably pumped aquifers. The net inflow (capture) term of the aquifer water balance can also be directly calculated from water-level and water-use data with this approach. Application to the data-rich portion of the HPA in the state of Kansas reveals that practically achievable reductions in annual pumping would have a large impact. For example, a 22% reduction in average annual water use would have stabilized areally averaged water levels across northwest Kansas from 1996 to 2013 because of larger-than-expected and near-constant net inflows. Whether this is a short-term phenomenon or a path to long-term sustainability, however, has yet to be determined. Water resources managers are often in a quandary about the most effective use of scarce funds for data collection in support of aquifer assessment and management activities. This work demonstrates that a strong emphasis should be placed on collection of reliable water-use data; greater resources devoted to direct measurement of pumping will yield deeper insights into an aquifer's future. The Kansas HPA is similar to many other regional aquifers supporting critically needed agricultural production, so this approach should prove of value far beyond the borders of Kansas.

  7. Making Forest Values Work: Enhancing Multi-Dimensional Perspectives towards Sustainable Forest Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Doni Blagojević

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Sustainability, sustainable development and sustainable forest management are terms that are commonly, and interchangeably used in the forest industry, however their meaning take on different connotations, relative to varying subject matter. The aim of this paper is to look at these terms in a more comprehensive way, relative to the current ideology of sustainability in forestry. Materials and Methods: This paper applies a literature review of the concepts of: i sustainable development; ii sustainable forest management; and iii economic and non-economic valuation. The concepts are viewed through a historical dimension of shifting paradigms, originating from production- to service-based forestry. Values are discussed through a review of general value theory and spatial, cultural and temporal differences in valuation. Along the evolution of these concepts, we discuss their applicability as frameworks to develop operational guidelines for forest management, relative to the multi-functionality of forests. Results and Conclusions: Potential discrepancies between the conceptual origins of sustainable development and sustainable forest management are highlighted, relative to how they have been interpreted and diffused as new perceptions on forest value for the human society. We infer the current paradigm may not reflect the various dimensions adequately as its implementation is likely to be more related to the distribution of power between stakeholders, rather than the value stakeholders’ place on the various forest attributes.

  8. Sustainable Innovation, Management Accounting and Control Systems, and International Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ernesto Lopez-Valeiras

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This study analyzes how Management Accounting and Control Systems (MACS facilitate the appropriation of the benefits of sustainable innovations in organizations. In particular, this paper examines the moderating role of different types of MACS in the relationships between sustainable innovation and international performance at an organizational level. We collected survey data from 123 Spanish and Portuguese organizations. Partial Least Square was used to analyze the data. Results show that the effect of sustainable innovations on international performance is enhanced by contemporary rather than traditional types of MACS. Overall our findings show that MACS can help managers to develop and monitor organizational activities (e.g., costumer services and distribution activities, which support the appropriation of the potential benefits from sustainable innovation. This paper responds to recent calls for in-depth studies about the organizational mechanism that may enhance the success of sustainable innovation.

  9. A Study of Sustainable Material Management Approach in Taiwan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Su Mingchien; Chou Chenpei; Chen Yizih

    2009-01-01

    Sustainable material management (SMM) has been initiated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2005. SMM is an approach to promote resource conservation, reducing negative environmental impacts and preserving the natural capital of material and the balance of economic efficiency and social equity. Life cycle assessment and material flow analysis have been widely used to estimate the environmental impacts for resource consumption, but economic development has not been taken into account. Before 1984, improper garbage disposal was not an important issue in Taiwan. But over the past three decades, the Taiwan Government has accomplished not only waste disposal but also resource recycling, which are conducive to the essence of SMM. This study is the first research project to develop a SMM conceptual model for policy and strategy in Taiwan. SMM is the suitable waste management concept for the next era. This study reviewed the policy and strategy that has been applied in Taiwan's waste management, and compares the efficiency of waste management policy in Taiwan with the concept of SMM. A case study of the waste flow will be used to prove that the sustainable material policy can be a suitable management system to achieve sustainable development. This study will open a new chapter of research on global SMM for Taiwan.

  10. Addressing Organisational Pressures as Drivers towards Sustainability in Manufacturing Projects and Project Management Methodologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fotios Misopoulos

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The concept of sustainability continues to rapidly grow in interest from disparate academic and industrial fields. This research aims to elucidate further the implications of the sustainability drivers upon project management methodological approaches specifically in the manufacturing industry. This paper studies the three prevalent dialogues in the field of sustainability, relevant to the environmental and social aspects of the Triple Bottom Line, and utilises Institutional Theory to propose organisational pressures as affecting sustainability efforts in industrial manufacturing project management. Furthermore, the literature bodies of Lean and Life Cycle Analysis in manufacturing project management guided our reflection that the various drivers of sustainability put forward that do not consider the distinctive organisational pressures fail to address institutional and systemic project management issues holistically. The authors further conduct and draw on a systematic literature review on the constructs of sustainability in the manufacturing industry and their adopted methodologies, evaluating academic articles published from the year 2001 to 2017. The findings indicate that normative pressures prevail over coercive and mimetic pressures and are seen as the main drivers of sustainability in the manufacturing industry. In an incremental reductionist approach, project management knowledge areas are analysed, and the study posits that Stakeholder and Communications Management are two of the knowledge areas that need to integrate the above pressures to achieve cohesive sustainable industrial results. The principle contribution is to offer a new conceptual perspective on integrating project management knowledge areas with Institutional Theory pressures for more sustainable project management methodologies.

  11. Priorities for sustainable turfgrass management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Strandberg, M.; Blombäck, K.; Jensen, Anne Mette Dahl

    2012-01-01

    government demands for greater environmental regulation, the increasing pressure on natural resources (notably water, energy and land), the emerging role of turf management in supporting ecosystem services and enhancing biodiversity, the continued need to promote integrated pest management, and the looming...... and opportunities available for promoting and achieving more sustainable turfgrass management within the sports, landscape and amenity sectors. The analysis confirms that there are a number of key areas where a concerted research and industrial effort is required. These include responding to the pressures from...... challenges posed by a changing climate, and urgent need to adapt. Whilst many of these externalities appear to be risks to the sports turf industry, there will also be significant opportunities, for those where the labour, energy and agronomic costs are minimized and where the drive to adopt...

  12. Urban stormwater - greywater management system for sustainable urban water management at sub-watershed level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh Arora, Amarpreet

    2017-11-01

    Urban water management involves urban water supply (import, treatment and distribution of water), urban wastewater management (collection, treatment and disposal of urban sewage) and urban storm water management. Declining groundwater tables, polluted and declining sources of water, water scarcity in urban areas, unsatisfactory urban water supply and sanitation situation, pollution of receiving water bodies (including the ground water), and urban floods have become the concerns and issues of sustainable urban water management. This paper proposes a model for urban stormwater and sewage management which addresses these concerns and issues of sustainable urban water management. This model proposes segregation of the sewage into black water and greywater, and urban sub-watershed level stormwater-greywater management systems. During dry weather this system will be handling only the greywater and making the latter available as reclaimed water for reuse in place of the fresh water supply. During wet weather, the system will be taking care of (collection and treatment) both the storm water and the greywater, and the excess of the treated water will be disposed off through groundwater recharging. Application of this model in the Patiala city, Punjab, INDIA for selected urban sub-watersheds has been tried. Information and background data required for the conceptualization and design of the sub-watershed level urban stormwater-greywater management system was collected and the system has been designed for one of the sub-watersheds in the Patiala city. In this paper, the model for sustainable urban water management and the design of the Sub-watershed level Urban Stormwater-Greywater Management System are described.

  13. Towards sustainable use of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Sustainable use of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) has become equated with wise exploitation of wildlife resources therein and ownership devolution of WMAs to the local people by the Government. Demand for sustainability is often driven by the severity of overexploitation of wildlife resources and perceived conflict ...

  14. Sustainable Land Management in Mining Areas in Serbia and Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vesna Popović

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper analyzes the impacts of mining activities on sustainable land management in mining areas in the Republic of Serbia and Romania and discusses the main challenges related to the management of these issues in legislation and practice. Particular attention is paid to land disturbance, mine waste management and land reclamation, as well as access to land for mining purposes, the transfer of mining royalties and the partnerships of the mining industry, governments, communities and civil society for sustainable mining. Both governments are willing to provide the adequate role to mining in strengthening the national economies, but they face numerous constraints in this matter. Sustainable mining practices and consistent implementation of the mining for the closure planning approach, within an improved legislative framework and in cooperation with stakeholders at all levels, create conditions for the development of creative, profitable, environmentally-sound and socially-responsible management and reuse of mine lands.

  15. Management ethics and strategies towards sustainable tourism ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Management ethics and strategies towards sustainable tourism development in ... embark on tourism because of the huge economic benefits, which it accrues on ... The park was gazzetted in 1972 for the purposes of conservation, education ...

  16. Mathematical Methods of Managing Economic Sustainability of the Construction Company

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostuchenko, Vasiliy; Zdanov, Andrej; Rodionov, Anatolij

    2017-10-01

    This article presents a long-term research in developing innovative mathematical techniques of managing the contractor’s economic sustainability proven by some experimental studies. The article aims at presenting some practical results of applying these techniques to the scientific community. This research presents a description of some applied mathematical models, views, and some results of their practical application in the applied field for the purposes of evaluating operational sustainability and minimizing losses in the process of managing the company. The authors have put the technology they have developed to practical use, and the article presents the results of such application. The authors have put the developed technology to practical use. Company management also means the management of power consumption, which is highly vital both for the construction and maintenance of buildings and structures. The articles also dwell on some possible improvements of managing energy consumption within the framework of the general management of company’s economic sustainability, because these phenomena have a tight organic interdependence. The authors continue researching this direction in order to improve the production efficiency of the proposed technologies as well as to eliminate some drawbacks they have spotted.

  17. Sustainability management for operating organizations of research reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kibrit, Eduardo; Aquino, Afonso Rodrigues de, E-mail: ekibrit@ipen.br, E-mail: araquino@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNE-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

    2017-07-01

    Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In a country like Brazil, where nuclear activity is geared towards peaceful purposes, any operating organization of research reactor should emphasize its commitment to social, environmental, economic and institutional aspects. Social aspects include research and development, production and supply of radiopharmaceuticals, radiation safety and special training for the nuclear sector. Environmental aspects include control of the surroundings and knowledge directed towards environment preservation. Economic aspects include import substitution and diversification of production. Institutional aspects include technology, innovation and knowledge. These aspects, if considered in the management system of an operating organization of research reactor, will help with its long-term maintenance and success in an increasingly competitive market scenario. About this, we propose a sustainability management system approach for operating organizations of research reactors. A bibliographical review on the theme is made. A methodology for identifying indicators for measuring sustainability in nuclear research reactors processes is also described. Finally, we propose a methodology for sustainability perception assessment to be applied at operating organizations of research reactors. (author)

  18. Sustainability management for operating organizations of research reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kibrit, Eduardo; Aquino, Afonso Rodrigues de

    2017-01-01

    Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In a country like Brazil, where nuclear activity is geared towards peaceful purposes, any operating organization of research reactor should emphasize its commitment to social, environmental, economic and institutional aspects. Social aspects include research and development, production and supply of radiopharmaceuticals, radiation safety and special training for the nuclear sector. Environmental aspects include control of the surroundings and knowledge directed towards environment preservation. Economic aspects include import substitution and diversification of production. Institutional aspects include technology, innovation and knowledge. These aspects, if considered in the management system of an operating organization of research reactor, will help with its long-term maintenance and success in an increasingly competitive market scenario. About this, we propose a sustainability management system approach for operating organizations of research reactors. A bibliographical review on the theme is made. A methodology for identifying indicators for measuring sustainability in nuclear research reactors processes is also described. Finally, we propose a methodology for sustainability perception assessment to be applied at operating organizations of research reactors. (author)

  19. Sustainable-energy managment practices in an energy economy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darkwa, K.

    2001-10-01

    The economic survival of any nation depends upon its ability to produce and manage sufficient supplies of low-cost safe energy. The world's consumption of fossil fuel resources currently increasing at 3% per annum is found to be unsustainable. Projections of this trend show that mankind will exhaust all known reserves in the second half of the coming century. Governments, industrialists, commercial organizations, public sector departments and the general public have now become aware of the urgent requirements for the efficient management of resources and energy-consuming activities. Most organizations in the materials, manufacturing and retail sectors and in the service industries have also created energy management departments, or have employed consultants, to monitor energy consumption and to reduce wastage. Conversely, any sustained attempt to reduce rates of energy consumption even by as little as 0.1% per annum ensures relatively an eternal future supply as well as reduction on environmental and ecological effect. Thus, there is no long- term solution to energy flow problem other than systematic and effective energy management and the continuous application of the techniques of energy management. Essential energy management strategies in support of a sustainable energy- economy are discussed.

  20. Growth and yield model application in tropical rain forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    James Atta-Boateng; John W., Jr. Moser

    2000-01-01

    Analytical tools are needed to evaluate the impact of management policies on the sustainable use of rain forest. Optimal decisions concerning the level of management inputs require accurate predictions of output at all relevant input levels. Using growth data from 40 l-hectare permanent plots obtained from the semi-deciduous forest of Ghana, a system of 77 differential...

  1. Asset management strategies and sustainability in Dutch social housing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nieboer, N.E.T.

    2004-01-01

    With 35% of the total housing stock in the Netherlands (Ministry of VROM, 2004), the social rented sector plays an important role in Dutch housing, and its management can be of great importance to the success or failure of sustainability programs. Although sustainable building has been high on the

  2. Cacao Crop Management Zones Determination Based on Soil Properties and Crop Yield

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Perla Silva Matos de Carvalho

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT: The use of management zones has ensured yield success for numerous agricultural crops. In spite of this potential, studies applying precision agricultural techniques to cacao plantations are scarce or almost nonexistent. The aim of the present study was to delineate management zones for cacao crop, create maps combining soil physical properties and cacao tree yield, and identify what combinations best fit within the soil chemical properties. The study was conducted in 2014 on a cacao plantation in a Nitossolo Háplico Eutrófico (Rhodic Paleudult in Bahia, Brazil. Soil samples were collected in a regular sampling grid with 120 sampling points in the 0.00-0.20 m soil layer, and pH(H2O, P, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, H+Al, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, SB, V, TOC, effective CEC, CEC at pH 7.0, coarse sand, fine sand, clay, and silt were determined. Yield was measured in all the 120 points every month and stratified into annual, harvest, and early-harvest cacao yields. Data were subjected to geostatistical analysis, followed by ordinary kriging interpolation. The management zones were defined through a Fuzzy K-Means algorithm for combinations between soil physical properties and cacao tree yield. Concordance analysis was carried out between the delineated zones and soil chemical properties using Kappa coefficients. The zones that best classified the soil chemical properties were defined from the early-harvest cacao yield map associated with the clay or sand fractions. Silt content proved to be an inadequate variable for defining management zones for cacao production. The delineated management zones described the spatial variability of the soil chemical properties, and are therefore important for site-specific management in the cacao crop.

  3. Using soil quality indicators for monitoring sustainable forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    James A. Burger; Garland Gray; D. Andrew Scott

    2010-01-01

    Most private and public forest land owners and managers are compelled to manage their forests sustainably, which means management that is economically viable,environmentally sound, and socially acceptable. To meet this mandate, the USDA Forest Service protects the productivity of our nation’s forest soils by monitoring and evaluating management activities to ensure...

  4. Urban sustainable development from public participation in urban management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Karimifard

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Urban management in any context has a different economic, social and political structure, which is in harmony with the existing models of organization. In spite of these differences, in order to reach a sustainable urban development, several different conferences should be referred to. In the “Brundtland Commission 1987” about urban sustainable development these definitions have been given: “preservation and promotion of the quality level of city life. This consists of ecology, culture, politics, economies, and social participation. However, this development should in no case weigh on and create any problems for the future generations”. In all the definitions of urban management and urban sustainable development and in any political context citizens’ participation in decision making and insistence on social justice are mentioned. The aim of this article is a descriptive, analytic, and comparative study of different models of popular participation in different developed countries. Each of these countries has different social and political structure. However they all have the same aim which is the citizens’ empowerment. To reach the ideal urban management model it is necessary to have a clear image of the place and participation of citizens in order to create a socially, economically and politically sustainable developed society.

  5. The Reputation Crisis: Risk Management Based Logical Framework to the Corporate Sustainability

    OpenAIRE

    Yilmaz, Ayse Kucuk; Kucuk, Ferziye

    2010-01-01

    Risk is a constituent part of both the business and the society in which we survive. Reputation is valuable assest for corporates in sustainable way. Integrating risk management with strategy-setting, such as an enterprise risk management (ERM) approach, helps an organization manage its risks to protect and enhance enterprise value in three ways. First, it helps to establish sustainable competitive advantage. Second, it optimizes the cost of managing risk. Third, it helps management improve b...

  6. Impact of integrated nutrient management on growth and grain yield of wheat under irrigated cropping system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nawab, K.; Amanullah, A.; Shah, P.; Arif, M.; Khan, A.M.

    2011-01-01

    Field study was conducted during 2001-02 and 2002-03 to investigate the effect of cropping patterns and farm yard manure, potassium and zinc on the grain yield of wheat. Trials were conducted at Agricultural Research Farm, KPK Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan. Two factors cropping patterns and manures/fertilizers were studied in the experiment. Randomized complete block design was used with split plot arrangements and four replications having net plot size of 12 m/sup 2/. Wheat variety Ghaznavi-98 was sown in November soon after ploughing the soil at proper moisture level suitable for wheat seed germination. Five cropping patterns were allotted to main plots and the eight combinations of FYM, K and Zn to the sub-plots. Same plots were used for next year sowing. Effects of five cropping patterns i.e., rice-wheat, maize-wheat, sunflower-wheat, sorghum-wheat and pigeon pea-wheat and three organic and in-organic fertilizers (Farmyard Manure, Potassium and Zinc) on subsequent wheat crop were observed. Highest grain yield was obtained when wheat was planted after pigeon pea. Manures/fertilizer application (Farmyard Manure, Potassium and Zinc) produced significantly higher grain yield than the control plots. The findings of the present study revealed that leguminous crops can significantly increase the yield of succeeding crops. Thus use of Farmyard Manure, Potassium and Zinc should be included in integrated crop management approaches for sustainable agriculture. (author)

  7. Can we manage ecosystems in a sustainable way?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rice, Jake

    Fisheries have often become unsustainable, despite efforts of policy, management, and science. FAO has reviewed this undesirable pattern and identified six major factors contributing to unsustainability: inappropriate incentives, high demand for limited resources, poverty and lack of alternatives, complexity and lack of knowledge, lack of effective governance, and interactions of fisheries sector with other sectors and the environment. It also identified eight classes of actions that provide pathways to addressing the factors causing unsustainability of fisheries: allocation of rights; transparent, participatory management; support for science, enforcement and planning; equitable distribution of benefits; integrated policy development; application of precaution; building capacity and public understanding; and market incentives and economic instruments. The review highlighted that "sustainability" is a multi-dimensional concept (economic, social, ecological, and institutional), and measures implemented to address problems on one dimension of sustainability will move the fishery in a negative direction in at least one other dimension. In this paper I apply the FAO framework to the whole ecosystem. For each factor of unsustainability, I consider whether redefining the sustainability problem to the greater ecosystem makes the factor more or less serious as a threat to sustainability. For each pathway to improvement I consider whether the redefinition of the problem makes the pathway more or less effective as a management response to the threat. Few of the factors of unsustainability becomes easier to address at the ecosystem scale, and several of them become much more difficult. Of the combinations of pathways of responses and factors of unsustainability, more than two thirds of them become more difficult to apply, and/or have even greater negative impacts on other dimensions of sustainability. Importantly, the most promising pathways for addressing unsustainability of

  8. Management of sustainable tourism destination through stakeholder cooperation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Božena Krce Miočić

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Destination presents a set of different organizations and individuals who can work towards realising the same objectives or their objectives can be diametrically opposed. Harmonisation of such objectives in a unique strategic development of the entire destination is usually taken over by destination management organization (DMO established to accomplish the mentioned objective. The opposed interests in such a system as complex as tourism result in the degradation of space and society in which tourism takes place. Therefore sustainable development in tourism represents a primary concept of development today. Tourism is a fast growing phenomenon and its sustainable development represents a necessity. Besides the positive economic outputs of tourism, we should also mention its negative impact on the particular destination, the environmental degradation to some extent, as well as socio-economic elements of local community. Accordingly, multi-stakeholder concept in destination management should include all interest and influential groups in tourism development planning. Such integrated destination management connects all stakeholders independent from influence or interest powers to participate directly or indirectly in creating and implementing the quality tourism development. This concept’s basic function is connecting and coordinating stakeholders with different interests within a tourism destination, in order to create quality product and a recognizable destination image, and to achieve a long-term sustainable competitiveness on the market. However, based on the stakeholder approach, the most emphasized issue in sustainable tourism development concept is the government that holds a key role in socio-economic development. In this paper, we analysed current involvement of stakeholders in Zadar County tourism development and examined their interest in future involvement in sustainable destination development. Based on the analysis of focus group

  9. Multifaceted Impacts of Sustainable Land Management in Drylands: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Jose Marques

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Biophysical restoration or rehabilitation measures of land have demonstrated to be effective in many scientific projects and small-scale environmental experiments. However circumstances such as poverty, weak policies, or inefficient scientific knowledge transmission can hinder the effective upscaling of land restoration and the long term maintenance of proven sustainable use of soil and water. This may be especially worrisome in lands with harsh environmental conditions. This review covers recent efforts in landscape restoration and rehabilitation with a functional perspective aiming to simultaneously achieve ecosystem sustainability, economic efficiency, and social wellbeing. Water management and rehabilitation of ecosystem services in croplands, rangelands, forests, and coastlands are reviewed. The joint analysis of such diverse ecosystems provides a wide perspective to determine: (i multifaceted impacts on biophysical and socio-economic factors; and (ii elements influencing effective upscaling of sustainable land management practices. One conclusion can be highlighted: voluntary adoption is based on different pillars, i.e. external material and economic support, and spread of success information at the local scale to demonstrate the multidimensional benefits of sustainable land management. For the successful upscaling of land management, more attention must be paid to the social system from the first involvement stage, up to the long term maintenance.

  10. Reorienting land degradation towards sustainable land management: linking sustainable livelihoods with ecosystem services in rangeland systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, M S; Stringer, L C; Dougill, A J; Perkins, J S; Atlhopheng, J R; Mulale, K; Favretto, N

    2015-03-15

    This paper identifies new ways of moving from land degradation towards sustainable land management through the development of economic mechanisms. It identifies new mechanisms to tackle land degradation based on retaining critical levels of natural capital whilst basing livelihoods on a wider range of ecosystem services. This is achieved through a case study analysis of the Kalahari rangelands in southwest Botswana. The paper first describes the socio-economic and ecological characteristics of the Kalahari rangelands and the types of land degradation taking place. It then focuses on bush encroachment as a way of exploring new economic instruments (e.g. Payments for Ecosystem Services) designed to enhance the flow of ecosystem services that support livelihoods in rangeland systems. It does this by evaluating the likely impacts of bush encroachment, one of the key forms of rangeland degradation, on a range of ecosystem services in three land tenure types (private fenced ranches, communal grazing areas and Wildlife Management Areas), before considering options for more sustainable land management in these systems. We argue that with adequate policy support, economic mechanisms could help reorient degraded rangelands towards more sustainable land management. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  11. Exploring Reasons for the Resistance to Sustainable Management within Non-Profit Organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claus-Heinrich Daub

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The numerous empirical and conceptual studies that have been conducted over recent years concerning the social responsibility of enterprises and their contributions towards sustainable development have given very little consideration to non-profit organizations (NPOs. This is surprising, because NPOs are confronted with very similar challenges to profit-orientated enterprises regarding their evolution into sustainable organizations. This paper is a preliminary conceptual study and explores the question of why the corporate social responsibility, or corporate sustainability, of NPOs has to date been both neglected by research establishments and also extensively ignored by the NPOs during their day-to-day practical management. The example of church and pastoral institutions in Germany is used to demonstrate the extent to which they take account of ecological and social aspects in their management systems and processes and, thus, implement sustainable management within their day-to-day practice. The paper concludes with some proposals for further empirical and conceptual research projects, which are designed to analyze developments within NPOs with relation to the integration of sustainability into their management systems and processes.

  12. Toward Knowledge Systems for Sustainability Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaks, D. P.; Jahn, M.

    2011-12-01

    Managing ecosystems for the outcomes of agricultural productivity and resilience will require fundamentally different knowledge management systems. In the industrial paradigm of the 20th century, land was considered an open, unconstrained system managed for maximum yield. While dramatic increases in yield occurred in some crops and locations, unintended but often foreseeable consequences emerged. While productivity remains a key objective, we must develop analytic systems that can identify better management options for the full range of monetized and non-monetized inputs, outputs and outcomes that are captured in the following framing question: How much valued service (e.g. food, materials, energy) can we draw from a landscape while maintaining adequate levels of other valued or necessary services (e.g. biodiversity, water, climate regulation, cultural services) including the long-term productivity of the land? This question is placed within our contemporary framing of valued services, but structured to illuminate the shifts required to achieve long-term sufficiency and planetary resilience. This framing also highlights the need for fundamentally new knowledge systems including information management infrastructures, which effectively support decision-making on landscapes. The purpose of this initiative by authors from diverse fields across government and academic science is to call attention to the need for a vision and investment in sustainability science for landscape management. Substantially enhanced capabilities are needed to compare and integrate information from diverse sources, collected over time that link choices made to meet our needs from landscapes to both short and long term consequences. To further the goal of an information infrastructure for sustainability science, three distinct but interlocking domains are best distinguished: 1) a domain of data, information and knowledge assets; 2) a domain that houses relevant models and tools in a curated

  13. Commitment to and preparedness for sustainable supply chain management in the oil and gas industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan Ahmad, Wan Nurul K; Rezaei, Jafar; Tavasszy, Lóránt A; de Brito, Marisa P

    2016-09-15

    Our current dependency on the oil and gas (O&G) industry for economic development and social activities necessitates research into the sustainability of the industry's supply chains. At present, studies on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices in the industry do not include firm-internal factors that affect the sustainability strategies employed by different functional areas of its supply chains. Our study aims to address this gap by identifying the relevant internal factors and exploring their relationship with SSCM strategies. Specifically, we discuss the commitment to and preparedness for sustainable practices of companies that operate in upstream and downstream O&G supply chain. We study the impact of these factors on their sustainability strategies of four key supply chain functions: supplier management, production management, product stewardship and logistics management. The analyses of data collected through a survey among 81 companies show that management preparedness may enhance sustainable supply chain strategies in the O&G industry more than commitment does. Among the preparedness measures, management of supply chain operational risks is found to be vital to the sustainability of all supply chain functions except for production management practices. The findings also highlight the central importance of supplier and logistics management to the achievement of sustainable O&G supply chains. Companies must also develop an organizational culture that encourages, for example, team collaboration and proactive behaviour to finding innovative sustainability solutions in order to translate commitment to sustainable practices into actions that can produce actual difference to their SSCM practices. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Specifics of tourism system as a basis for yield management implementation

    OpenAIRE

    Ivo Županović

    2014-01-01

    Purpose – Purpose of the paper creation is the fact that without unit measurement of profit cannot be defined efficiency of any part of the tourism sector. Implementation of yield management allows the aforementioned premise, but primarily from the marketing aspect, where the financial aspect only occurs as a consequence. Also, the purpose of this paper is to prove the connection between operating part of yield management, more precisely price differentiation and strategic level (four predomi...

  15. Intergovermental Cooperation Initiative on Sustainable Transportation Management in Jabodetabek

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hidayat Chusnul Chotimah

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The main issues in Jabodetabek concerning the management of transportation are related to the increased use of private vehicles and the decreased use of public transportation, overcrowding daily traffic in Jabodetabek, the high congestion followed by insecurity in traffic, environmental pollution, uncontrolled growth of and underdeveloped infrastructure, and irregularities in land use. To overcome these problems, sustainable transportation management becomes very important in which the government should be able to cope with environmental, economic and social factors under the decision making related to transportation in Jabodetabek. Therefore, through interactive planning, this study will examine intergovernmental cooperation initiatives on sustainable transportation management in Jabodetabek. This study uses qualitative and descriptive method through literature study and existing statistics as the resources to apply the interactive planning approach. The result shows that there are found a number of problems and gaps in the management of transportation in Jabodetabek that needs to be reduced because it has the same scope of other gaps. From these problems can be made further action programs and policies in accordance with the resources owned, and then, the design of implementation made and controlled whether in accordance with the purpose or not. Thus, sustainable transportation management in the Jabodetabek needs to be done jointly in an institutional or policyframework involving governments Jabodetabekpunjur, BKSP Jabodetabekpunjur, and the private sector.

  16. Barriers to sustainable water resources management : Case study in Omnogovi province, Mongolia

    OpenAIRE

    Enkhtsetseg, Mandukhai

    2017-01-01

    This study examines the barriers to sustainable water resources management in water vulnerable, yet a mining booming area. The case study is conducted in Omnogovi province of Mongolia in Nov-Dec 2016. This study presents how the Omnogovi province manages its water with increased mining and examines what hinders the province from practicing sustainable water resources management and examines the involvement of residents in the water resources management of Omnogovi province. Qualitative approa...

  17. Sustainable mining management; Gestion minera sostenible

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tejera Oliver, J. L.

    2009-07-01

    Mining activities are carried out by the older man and have provided resources, since ancient times, for their development and progress. With the discovery of fire will show the first metals that have marked the civilizations of copper, bronze and iron, and is the prehistory of the Stone Age tools that man has made from the exploitation of quarries first. The industrial revolution of the nineteenth century is linked to coal and steel, and could not conceiver of todays society without oil and gas, without silicon and coltan. But the mines are often aggressive and, despite their need and what they contribute to the development are answered by the societies where are made. during recent years there has been growing international efforts to try to make the minimum requirements of sustainable exploitation (European Directives, GMI, GRI, etc.) In AENOR, and within the Technical Committee of Standardization 22 Mining and Explosives, chaired by AITEMIN, was established the subcommittee 3, chaired by IGME, where, with the participation of all stake holders, have developed some standards on sustainable mining management sustainable mining that will be a tool available to mining companies to demonstrate their sustainable use to Society. (Author)

  18. Water management for sustainable and clean energy in Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibrahim Yuksel

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Water management has recently become a major concern for many countries. During the last century consumption of water and energy has been increased in the world. This trend is anticipated to continue in the decades to come. One of the greatest reasons is the unplanned industrial activities deteriorating environment in the name of rising standard of life. What is needed is the avoidance of environmental pollution and maintenance of natural balance, in the context of sustainable development. However, Turkey’s geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of the renewable energy resources. There is a large variation in annual precipitation, evaporation and surface run-off parameters, in Turkey. Precipitation is not evenly distributed in time and space throughout the country. There are 25 hydrological basins in Turkey. But the rivers often have irregular regimes. In this situation the main aim is to manage and use the water resources for renewable, sustainable and clean energy. This paper deals with water management for renewable, sustainable and clean energy in Turkey.

  19. Human resource management in the construction industry – Sustainability competencies

    OpenAIRE

    Renard Yung Jhien Siew

    2014-01-01

    While environmental sustainability has been the subject of much debate in the last decade, it was not until recently that attention started to shift towards human resource management as an enabler for sustainability.  Yet, this is still a relatively under researched area.  Much is still unknown about the role of an individual worker in contributing towards sustainable development.  This paper addresses the gap by proposing a framework to measure sustainability competencies of employees within...

  20. Sustainability Learning in Natural Resource Use and Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. David Tàbara

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available We contribute to the normative discussion on sustainability learning and provide a theoretical integrative framework intended to underlie the main components and interrelations of what learning is required for social learning to become sustainability learning. We demonstrate how this framework has been operationalized in a participatory modeling interface to support processes of natural resource integrated assessment and management. The key modeling components of our view are: structure (S, energy and resources (E, information and knowledge (I, social-ecological change (C, and the size, thresholds, and connections of different social-ecological systems. Our approach attempts to overcome many of the cultural dualisms that exist in the way social and ecological systems are perceived and affect many of the most common definitions of sustainability. Our approach also emphasizes the issue of limits within a total social-ecological system and takes a multiscale, agent-based perspective. Sustainability learning is different from social learning insofar as not all of the outcomes of social learning processes necessarily improve what we consider as essential for the long-term sustainability of social-ecological systems, namely, the co-adaptive systemic capacity of agents to anticipate and deal with the unintended, undesired, and irreversible negative effects of development. Hence, the main difference of sustainability learning from social learning is the content of what is learned and the criteria used to assess such content; these are necessarily related to increasing the capacity of agents to manage, in an integrative and organic way, the total social-ecological system of which they form a part. The concept of sustainability learning and the SEIC social-ecological framework can be useful to assess and communicate the effectiveness of multiple agents to halt or reverse the destructive trends affecting the life-support systems upon which all humans

  1. Transition Management: new mode of governance for sustainable development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D.A. Loorbach (Derk)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractThis book introduces transition management as a new mode of governance for sustainable development. Transition management combines a conceptual approach on social complexity, governance and long-term structural societal change with an operational governance model to actually work

  2. Product Lifecycle Management and Sustainable Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caruso, Pamela W.; Dumbacher, Daniel L.; Grieves, Michael

    2011-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the use of product lifecycle management (PLM) in the general aerospace industry, its use and development at NASA and at Marshall Space Flight Center, and how the use of PLM can lead to sustainable space exploration.

  3. Barriers in Sustainable Knowledge Management Model in Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gratiela Dana BOCA

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper present a comprehensive model in education using the data base collected from 101 students from Turkey. The target group was students involved in academic life system. Results are used to design a model where education transfer of knowledge it is investigated in function of possible barriers as internal, external and knowledge management factors of influence in education selection and students vision for education development. As a conclusion, the evaluation of the barriers in sustainable knowledge management in education present a cross-educational model which seems to indicate its highly effective resource for environmental education focused on sustainability, and favours the development of knowledge, attitudes and future intentions of inspiring educational environment. The model can be useful on passing of knowledge from one generation to the next generation, managing succession and distributing the competencies and responsibilities to a repetitive change.

  4. Towards sustainable groundwater use: Setting long-term goals, backcasting, and managing adaptively

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gleeson, T.; Alley, W.M.; Allen, D.M.; Sophocleous, M.A.; Zhou, Y.; Taniguchi, M.; Vandersteen, J.

    2012-01-01

    The sustainability of crucial earth resources, such as groundwater, is a critical issue. We consider groundwater sustainability a value-driven process of intra- and intergenerational equity that balances the environment, society, and economy. Synthesizing hydrogeological science and current sustainability concepts, we emphasize three sustainability approaches: setting multigenerational sustainability goals, backcasting, and managing adaptively. As most aquifer problems are long-term problems, we propose that multigenerational goals (50 to 100 years) for water quantity and quality that acknowledge the connections between groundwater, surface water, and ecosystems be set for many aquifers. The goals should be set by a watershed- or aquifer-based community in an inclusive and participatory manner. Policies for shorter time horizons should be developed by backcasting, and measures implemented through adaptive management to achieve the long-term goals. Two case histories illustrate the importance and complexity of a multigenerational perspective and adaptive management. These approaches could transform aquifer depletion and contamination to more sustainable groundwater use, providing groundwater for current and future generations while protecting ecological integrity and resilience. ?? 2011, The Author(s). Ground Water ?? 2011, National Ground Water Association.

  5. Tradeoffs between vigor and yield for crops grown under different management systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simic Milas, Anita; Keller Vincent, Robert; Romanko, Matthew; Feitl, Melina; Rupasinghe, Prabha

    2016-04-01

    Remote sensing can provide an effective means for rapid and non-destructive monitoring of crop status and biochemistry. Monitoring pattern of traditional vigor algorithms generated from Landsat 8 OLI satellite data represents a robust method that can be widely used to differentiate the status of crops, as well as to monitor nutrient uptake functionality of differently treated seeds grown under different managements. This study considers 24 factorial parcels of winter wheat in 2013, corn in 2014, and soybeans in 2015, grown under four different types of agricultural management. The parcels are located at the Kellogg Biological Station, Long-Term Ecological Research site in the State of Michigan USA. At maturity, the organic crops exhibit significantly higher vigor and significantly lower yield than conventionally managed crops under different treatments. While organic crops invest in their metabolism at the expense of their yield, the conventional crops manage to increase their yield at the expense of their vigor. Landsat 8 OLI is capable of 1) differentiating the biochemical status of crops under different treatments at maturity, and 2) monitoring the tradeoff between crop yield and vigor that can be controlled by the seed treatments and proper conventional applications, with the ultimate goal of increasing food yield and food availability, and 3) distinguishing between organic and conventionally treated crops. Timing, quantity and types of herbicide applications have a great impact on early and pre-harvest vigor, maturity and yield of conventionally treated crops. Satellite monitoring using Landsat 8 is an optimal tool for coordinating agricultural applications, soil practices and genetic coding of the crop to produce higher yield as well as have early crop maturity, desirable in northern climates.

  6. Supply Chain Management and Business Sustainability Synergy: A Theoretical and Integrated Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zabihollah Rezaee

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Global business organizations face the challenges of adapting proper sustainability strategies and practices to effectively respond to social, ethical, environmental, and governance issues while improving financial performance in creating value for their shareholders. Business sustainability enables the integration of financial economic sustainability performance and non-financial environmental, social, ethical, and governance sustainability performance dimensions into the corporate culture, supply chain management and business models in creating shared value for all stakeholders. Business literature has provided mixed evidence of the tension, and possible link, between financial and non-financial sustainability performance dimensions and sustainability theories have yet to sufficiently address this tension. This paper attempts to fill this void by shedding light on the link between various dimensions of sustainability performance, their integrated effect on creating shared value for all stakeholders and their implications for supply chain sustainability. This paper examines the synergy between business sustainability and supply chain management by presenting a framework consisting of sustainability theories, sustainability performance dimensions, sustainability shared value concept, and sustainability best practices. Companies can use the suggested framework in integrating both financial and non-financial sustainability initiatives into their supply chain sustainability from production design, purchasing and inbound logistics, and manufacturing process to distribution and outbound logistics.

  7. Researching of green finance management to promote sustainable development in group

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ning Jing

    2014-01-01

    The scientific development of society is the basic idea of a national development in the new period, but also on the management of the enterprise, and the new requirement sproposed by financial management. Financial management should meet the development needs of the times, pay attention to the theory and practice of innovation. In the background of the national sustainable development and environmental protection, setting up the green concept of financial management, the construction of green financial management system, will promote the enterprise development comprehensively, coordinatly, sustainably, and strive to build the core competitiveness of the future to adapt to social development of enterprise. (author)

  8. Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.P. de Brito (Marisa); E.A. van der Laan (Erwin)

    2010-01-01

    textabstractResearch has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations

  9. A Review on Quantitative Models for Sustainable Food Logistics Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Soysal

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The last two decades food logistics systems have seen the transition from a focus on traditional supply chain management to food supply chain management, and successively, to sustainable food supply chain management. The main aim of this study is to identify key logistical aims in these three phases and analyse currently available quantitative models to point out modelling challenges in sustainable food logistics management (SFLM. A literature review on quantitative studies is conducted and also qualitative studies are consulted to understand the key logistical aims more clearly and to identify relevant system scope issues. Results show that research on SFLM has been progressively developing according to the needs of the food industry. However, the intrinsic characteristics of food products and processes have not yet been handled properly in the identified studies. The majority of the works reviewed have not contemplated on sustainability problems, apart from a few recent studies. Therefore, the study concludes that new and advanced quantitative models are needed that take specific SFLM requirements from practice into consideration to support business decisions and capture food supply chain dynamics.

  10. Transition scenarios towards sustained Pu-management in China - 5504

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, C.; Drevon, C.; Favet, D.; Avrin, A.P.; Carlier, B.

    2015-01-01

    The Chinese nuclear reactor park is growing rapidly with already some 250 GWe projected to be operational by mid-century and with even larger nuclear reactor parks during the second half of this century to match the energy demand in a sustainable way. Such a large and fast growing nuclear reactor park goes with anticipated challenges with regard to the fuel cycle with essentially a focus on the rapidly growing inventory of used nuclear fuel. China is considering various options towards a more sustainable nuclear energy park with the recycling of fissile materials in various types of reactors being the backbone towards such sustainable nuclear future. This paper briefs on an analysis of the transition towards a continued responsible and flexible management of plutonium and uranium in this Chinese nuclear reactor park highlighting the results of nuclear energy systems scenario technical-economic analysis for LWR-MOX and LWR-SFR scenarios. Preliminary analysis show that the 2 described options lead to a sustainable closed cycle system while implementing early a responsible management of fast growing generated used fuel inventory

  11. A SUSTAINABLE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REQUIRES MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kanellopoulos Dimitros

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available In order to be the health care system sustainable , management transformations must be based on very precise diagnostic analysis that includes complete and current information. It is necessary to implement an information system that collects information in real time, that watches the parameters that significantly influence the sustainability of the system. Such an information system should point out a radiography(a scan of the system at some time under following aspects:: 1. An overview of system; 2 An overview of the economic situation; 3 A technical presentation ;4. A legal overview; 5. A social overview ; 6. A management overview .Based on these Xrays of the health system, it outlines a series of conclusions and recommendations together with a SWOT analysis that highlights the potential internal (strengths and weaknesses and external potential (opportunities and threats. Based on this analysis and recommendations, the management is going to redesign the system in order to be adapted to the changing environmental requirements. Management transformation is recommended to be by following steps. :1. The development of a new management system that would make a positive change in the health care system 2. Implementation of the new management system 3. Assessment of the changes

  12. How to manage sustainable supply chain? The issue of maturity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agata Rudnicka

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: The issue of managing sustainability in supply chain seems to be more and more complex. There are many aspects that need to be taken into consideration when planning, implementing and monitoring environmental and social conditions of supply chains. Despite many works, already published, on the concept of sustainable development (SD is seems that the issue of assessment and especially the issue of maturity in the light of the SD concept is still not developed enough. Methods: The general aim of the paper is the analysis of the maturity issue in the context of sustainability. The main objective is to conceptualize the idea of maturity in sustainable supply chain. Beside the literature research the own proposition of theoretical model was described. Results: The article describes the issue of maturity as an element of managing sustainable development in the supply chain. The author presented a theoretical model of the maturity. Moreover the author gave some recommendations how to manage the sustainability issues in supply chain in more mature approach and introduced some useful tools among which are: certification, code of conduct and code of ethics, audits, projects etc. Conclusions: The issue of maturity seems to be very useful for proper understanding the idea of sustainable development in supply chain. The developed model can be used as self-assessment method to check at which level of implementation the idea of SD is analyzed in supply chain. Furthermore, the next phase of the planned research in form of practical verification of the model was advised as well as a research of identification of new factors and tools in analyzed area.

  13. An econometric investigation of impacts of sustainable land management practices on soil carbon and yield risk: A potential for climate change mitigation

    OpenAIRE

    Kato, Edward; Nkonya, Ephraim; Place, Frank; Mwanjalolo, Majaliwa

    2010-01-01

    We investigate the impacts of sustainable land management practices on soil carbon stocks and also impacts of soil carbon on the mean and variance of crop production using econometric tools. Using a cross-sectional plot-level dataset collected from three agroecological zones of Uganda with soil carbon measured at a depth of 0 to 15 centimeters, our results have robustly shown that irrigation, fertilizers, improved fallow, crop residues, mulching, and trash lines are positively and significant...

  14. AGRONOMIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABILITY: CHARACTERISTICS AND MEASUREMENT IN Agave tequilana Weber IN THE SIERRA DE AMULA REGION, JALISCO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arturo Moreno Hernández

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available This article qualitative evaluation of the sustainable management in blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber agroecosystems, in Sierra Amula region of the Jalisco state, Mexico. Sixteen sites were evaluated in an altitudinal gradient ranging from 777 to 1345 masl. Six principles considered by Altieri (1999 as the basic elements of a sustainable management of the agroecosystem, were used to construct an Index of Agroecosystem Sustainable Management (IMSA. Four levels of this index were identified: values lower than 50 % were considered unsustainable management, 51 to 66.6 % scarcely sustainable management, 66.7 to 83.2 % mediumly sustainable management and 83.3 to 100 % highly sustainable management. Of the 16 sites evaluated, two were classified as unsustainable management, six was scarcely sustainable management, five as medially sustainable management and three as highly sustainable management.

  15. Assessing Sustainability in Environmental Management: A Case Study in Malaysia Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina; Lanang, Wan Nurul Syahirah Wan; Asmanizam, Asmadianatasha

    2017-08-01

    The scarcity in measuring the sustainability accomplishment has been restrained most of the companies in Malaysian industry. Currently, there are variety types of the measurement tools of the sustainability assessment that have been implemented. However, there are still not achieving the inclusive elements required by the worldwide claim. In fact, the contribution to the sustainability performance are only highlighted on the nature, financial along with society components. In addition, some of the companies are conducting their sustainability implementation individually. By means, this process approaching type is needed to be integrated into a systematic system approach. This paper is focussing on investigating the present sustainability tools in the environmental management system for Malaysian industry prior to the quantification of the sustainability parameters. Hence, the parameters of the sustainability have been evaluated then in order to accomplish this project. By reviewing on the methodology of this research it comprises of three phases where it starts with the analyzation of the parameters in environmental management system according to the Malaysian context of industry. Moving on to the next step is the quantification of the criterion and finally the normalisation process will be done to determine the results of this research either it is succeeded or vice versa. As a result, this research has come to the conclusion where the level of the sustainability compliance does not achieve the standard level of the targeted objectives though it has already surpassed the average level of the sustainability performance. In future, the understanding towards the sustainability assessment is acquired to be aligned unitedly in order to integrated the process approach into the systematic approach. Apart, this research will be able to help to provide a measurable framework yet finally bestowing the Malaysian industry with a continuous improvement roadmap in achieving

  16. Resource management as a key factor for sustainable urban planning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Agudelo Vera, C.M.; Mels, A.R.; Keesman, K.J.; Rijnaarts, H.H.M.

    2011-01-01

    Due to fast urbanization and increasing living standards, the environmental sustainability of our global society becomes more and more questionable. In this historical review we investigate the role of resources management (RM) and urban planning (UP) and propose ways for integration in sustainable

  17. Environmental management as a pillar for sustainable development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikulčić, Hrvoje; Duić, Neven; Dewil, Raf

    2017-12-01

    There is a growing concern about how to minimize the impact of human activities on the environment. Already nowadays, in some places adaptation efforts are needed in order to avoid the irreversibility of negative human activities. Due to climate changes, and corresponding environmental and social changes, there is a great need for a more sustainable development of mankind. Over the years, research studies that analyzed the sustainable development of different communities with a multi-disciplinary approach, stressed the necessity of preserving the environment for next generations. Therefore, responsible and conscientious management of the environment is a pillar of the sustainable development concept. This review introduction article provides an overview of the recent top scientific publications related to sustainable development that mostly originated from previous SDEWES conferences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. FUNCTIONING OF SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT IN THE ENTERPRISE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ileana (BADULESCU ANASTASE

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper addresses issues related to education management operation that determines the principles and requires an interdisciplinary approach, studying events that occur in the decision to organize a determined pedagogical activity and the management of educational programs. Managerial leadership involves emphasis on ideas, on a systematic approach, on change, innovation strategy, proposing a method of analyzing the functioning of sustainable educational management and positive effects. In this context, the article provides the principles, functions, methods and rules that a school must comply in order to ensure a sustainable future.The teaching staff represents an inexhaustible managerial resource valued at its social ladder of the system and education program.In the content of the paper are highlighted prominent school organization management functions as steps preceding decision making of their training where are presented applied studies on financial issues facing directors of schools who seek solutions to them.

  19. Integrated weed management for sustainable rice production: concepts, perspectives and options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amartalingam Rajan

    2002-01-01

    Weed management has always been in some way integrated with cultural and biological methods, probably occurring more fortuitously than purposefully. Experience has shown that repeated use of any weed control technique especially in monocultures production systems results in rapid emergence of weeds more adapted to the new practice. In intensive high input farming systems, heavy selection pressure for herbicide tolerant weeds and the environmental impacts of these inputs are important tissues that require a good understanding of agroecosystem for successful integration of available options. Rice culture, in particular flooded rice culture has always employed integration through an evolution of management practices over the generations. However, a vast majority office farmers in Asia have yet to achieve the high returns realised by farmers elsewhere, where a near optimum combination of high inputs are being effectively integrated for maximum productivity. In addition to technological and management limitations, farmers in developing countries are faced with social, economic and policy constraints. On the other hand, farmers who had achieved considerable increases in productivity through labour replacing technologies, in particular direct seeding with the aid of herbicides, are now faced with issues related to environmental concerns due to high levels of these inputs. The issues facing weed scientists and farmers alike in managing weeds effectively and in a manner to ensure sustainability have become more challenging than ever before. In the last two decades, no issue has been discussed so. intensively as Sustainable Farming, Sustainable Agriculture or Alternative Agriculture within the broader global concept of Sustainable Development. To address these challenges a clear perspective of sustainable farming is essential. This paper addresses these concepts, perspectives and options for choices in weed management for sustainable rice production. (Author)

  20. Yield gap mapping as a support tool for risk management in agriculture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lahlou, Ouiam; Imani, Yasmina; Slimani, Imane; Van Wart, Justin; Yang, Haishun

    2016-04-01

    The increasing frequency and magnitude of droughts in Morocco and the mounting losses from extended droughts in the agricultural sector emphasized the need to develop reliable and timely tools to manage drought and to mitigate resulting catastrophic damage. In 2011, Morocco launched a cereals multi-risk insurance with drought as the most threatening and the most frequent hazard in the country. However, and in order to assess the gap and to implement the more suitable compensation, it is essential to quantify the potential yield in each area. In collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a study is carried out in Morocco and aims to determine the yield potentials and the yield gaps in the different agro-climatic zones of the country. It fits into the large project: Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas: http://www.yieldgap.org/. The yield gap (Yg) is the magnitude and difference between crop yield potential (Yp) or water limited yield potential (Yw) and actual yields, reached by farmers. World Food Studies (WOFOST), which is a Crop simulation mechanistic model, has been used for this purpose. Prior to simulations, reliable information about actual yields, weather data, crop management data and soil data have been collected in 7 Moroccan buffer zones considered, each, within a circle of 100 km around a weather station point, homogenously spread across the country and where cereals are widely grown. The model calibration was also carried out using WOFOST default varieties data. The map-based results represent a robust tool, not only for drought insurance organization, but for agricultural and agricultural risk management. Moreover, accurate and geospatially granular estimates of Yg and Yw will allow to focus on regions with largest unexploited yield gaps and greatest potential to close them, and consequently to improve food security in the country.

  1. Global climate change mitigation and sustainable forest management--The challenge of monitoring and verification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Makundi, Willy R.

    1997-12-31

    In this paper, sustainable forest management is discussed within the historical and theoretical framework of the sustainable development debate. The various criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management put forth by different institutions are critically explored. Specific types of climate change mitigation policies/projects in the forest sector are identified and examined in the light of the general criteria for sustainable forest management. Areas of compatibility and contradiction between the climate mitigation objectives and the minimum criteria for sustainable forest management are identified and discussed. Emphasis is put on the problems of monitoring and verifying carbon benefits associated with such projects given their impacts on pre-existing policy objectives on sustainable forest management. The implications of such policy interactions on assignment of carbon credits from forest projects under Joint Implementation/Activities Implemented Jointly initiatives are discussed. The paper concludes that a comprehensive monitoring and verification regime must include an impact assessment on the criteria covered under other agreements such as the Biodiversity and/or Desertification Conventions. The actual carbon credit assigned to a specific project should at least take into account the negative impacts on the criteria for sustainable forest management. The value of the impacts and/or the procedure to evaluate them need to be established by interested parties such as the Councils of the respective Conventions.

  2. Beyond greed and fear: sustainable financial management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boersma-de Jong, Margreet F.

    2013-01-01

    A research programme into ethical, socially responsible thought as a precondition for our financial actions.

    Speech of Dr. Margreet Boersma of Hanze University of Applied Sciences at her installation as a professor of Sustainable Financial Management.
    There is little room for what's

  3. Sustainable management indicators and implications of public policies for forestry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peyron, Jean-Luc; Bonheme, Ingrid

    2012-01-01

    Since 1995, in the framework of the Pan-European process of Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe, every five years France establishes sustainable management indicators for forests in metropolitan France. The four successive publications now available provide information, according to the six criteria for sustainable forest management formulated in Helsinki in 1993, on developments over time in the state of French forests and the activities they generate. They also give rise to questions about the extent to which this follow-up meet the needs of forests in the area of public policies, including the fight against the greenhouse effect and adaptation to climate change. In addition, they suggest improvements for the short, medium and long term aimed at enhancing the switch from a statistical description to a strategic vision, as well as harmonisation and coherence of information, and extending the legal, political, institutional and geographic scope of sustainable forest management indicators. (authors)

  4. Transition management as a model for managing processes of co-evolution towards sustainable development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R. Kemp (René); D.A. Loorbach (Derk); J. Rotmans (Jan)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractSustainable development requires changes in socio-technical systems and wider societal change - in beliefs, values and governance that co-evolve with technology changes. In this article we present a practical model for managing processes of co-evolution: transition management. Transition

  5. Urban water sustainability: an integrative framework for regional water management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzales, P.; Ajami, N. K.

    2015-11-01

    Traditional urban water supply portfolios have proven to be unsustainable under the uncertainties associated with growth and long-term climate variability. Introducing alternative water supplies such as recycled water, captured runoff, desalination, as well as demand management strategies such as conservation and efficiency measures, has been widely proposed to address the long-term sustainability of urban water resources. Collaborative efforts have the potential to achieve this goal through more efficient use of common pool resources and access to funding opportunities for supply diversification projects. However, this requires a paradigm shift towards holistic solutions that address the complexity of hydrologic, socio-economic and governance dynamics surrounding water management issues. The objective of this work is to develop a regional integrative framework for the assessment of water resource sustainability under current management practices, as well as to identify opportunities for sustainability improvement in coupled socio-hydrologic systems. We define the sustainability of a water utility as the ability to access reliable supplies to consistently satisfy current needs, make responsible use of supplies, and have the capacity to adapt to future scenarios. To compute a quantitative measure of sustainability, we develop a numerical index comprised of supply, demand, and adaptive capacity indicators, including an innovative way to account for the importance of having diverse supply sources. We demonstrate the application of this framework to the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Our analyses demonstrate that water agencies that share common water supplies are in a good position to establish integrative regional management partnerships in order to achieve individual and collective short-term and long-term benefits.

  6. Sustainability indices as a tool for urban managers, evidence from four medium-sized Chinese cities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dijk, Meine Pieter van; Zhang Mingshun

    2005-01-01

    This research in four medium-sized Chinese cities aims at measuring urban sustainability in China and focuses on three issues. First, the situation in these four cities with regard to urban sustainability is evaluated. Secondly, a number of relations between different aspects of urban sustainability is explored. Finally, it is indicated how urban managers can improve with sustainability indices as tools currently ineffective urban management practices. Although all four cities are moving towards sustainable development, the current situation shows still weak sustainability in three, and even non-sustainability in one city. The social and, in particular, the economic dimensions of urban sustainability make significant positive contributions to overall urban sustainability. However, the decline of natural resources and environmental degradation are influencing it negatively. It is therefore suggested that more priority should be assigned to urban environmental protection and management in China. The fundamental reason for environmental degradation is believed to be inefficient urban management. To implement effective urban management in China, there is an urgent need to redefine the role of local government, reform local organizational structure, enhance local participatory institutional capacity, properly distribute the urban welfare, and thus integrate economic, social and environmental objectives local strategic and action plans

  7. Land Resource Management as the Ground for Mining Area Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solovitskiy, Aleksander; Brel, Olga; Nikulin, Nikolai; Nastavko, Ekaterina; Meser, Tatayna

    2017-11-01

    It is established that the problem of sustainable development of Kuzbass cities is their being tied to a single production and income from other sources is not considered. Therefore, their economy is underdeveloped, depends entirely on one city-forming enterprise (singleindustry city), which causes response to the slightest changes in the economic situation. In Kuzbass, all cities, except Kemerovo, are monodependent, including Kiselevsk, which economy mainly consists of coal mining enterprises. In the circumstances, there is a need to develop a set of measures for management the urban land, primarily aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of Kiselevsk city. The development of principles and management mechanism of the urban territory land fund determines its effectiveness. Establishing the dependence of rational use of land resources and sustainable development characterizes a new level of information interaction between sciences (land management and economy). Practical use of this theory is to overcome the mono-urban development of mining cities, taking into account effective subsoil management.

  8. Integrated crop management practices for maximizing grain yield of double-season rice crop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Depeng; Huang, Jianliang; Nie, Lixiao; Wang, Fei; Ling, Xiaoxia; Cui, Kehui; Li, Yong; Peng, Shaobing

    2017-01-01

    Information on maximum grain yield and its attributes are limited for double-season rice crop grown under the subtropical environment. This study was conducted to examine key characteristics associated with high yielding double-season rice crop through a comparison between an integrated crop management (ICM) and farmers’ practice (FP). Field experiments were conducted in the early and late seasons in the subtropical environment of Wuxue County, Hubei Province, China in 2013 and 2014. On average, grain yield in ICM was 13.5% higher than that in FP. A maximum grain yield of 9.40 and 10.53 t ha-1 was achieved under ICM in the early- and late-season rice, respectively. Yield improvement of double-season rice with ICM was achieved with the combined effects of increased plant density and optimized nutrient management. Yield gain of ICM resulted from a combination of increases in sink size due to more panicle number per unit area and biomass production, further supported by the increased leaf area index, leaf area duration, radiation use efficiency, crop growth rate, and total nitrogen uptake compared with FP. Further enhancement in the yield potential of double-season rice should focus on increasing crop growth rate and biomass production through improved and integrated crop management practices.

  9. DEVELOPING SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN TIETÊ-JACARÉ BASIN, BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele de Almeida Corrêa

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a tool to assist in developing water resources management, focusing on the sustainability concept, by a Basin Committee. This tool consists of a Set of Sustainability Indicators for Water Resources Management denominated CISGRH, which was identified by a conceptual and empirical review to meet the specific needs of the study herein - the Basin Committee of Tietê-Jacaré Rivers (CBH-TJ. The framework of CISGRH came about through consecutive consultation processes. In the first consultation the priority problems were identified for the study objectives, listing some possible management sustainability indicators. These preliminary indicators were also submitted to academic specialists and technicians working in CBH-TJ for a new consultation process. After these consultation stages, the CISGRH analysis and structuring were introduced. To verify the indicators’ adaptation and to compose a group as proposed by the study, these were classified according to specific sustainability principles for water resources management. The objective of the CISGRH implementation is to diagnose current conditions of water resources and its management, as well as to evaluate future conditions evidenced by tendencies and interventions undertaken by the committee.

  10. DEVELOPING SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN TIETÊ-JACARÉ BASIN, BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele de Almeida Corrêa

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a tool to assist in developing water resources management, focusing on the sustainability concept, by a Basin Committee. This tool consists of a set of sustainability indicators for water resources management denominated CISGRH, which was identified by a conceptual and empirical review to meet the specific needs of the study herein - the basin committee of Tietê-J acaré Rivers (CBH-TJ. The framework of CISGRH came about through consecutive consultation processes. In the first consultation, the priority problems were identified for the study objectives, listing some possible management sustainability indicators. These preliminary indicators were also submitted to academic specialists and technicians working in CBH-TJ for a new consultation process. After these consultation stages, the CISGRH analysis and structuring were introduced. To verify the indicators’ adaptation and to compose a group as proposed by the study, these were classified according to specific sustainability principles for water resources management. The objective of the CISGRH implementation is to diagnose current conditions of water resources and its management, as well as to evaluate future conditions evidenced by tendencies and interventions undertaken by the committee.

  11. Green knowledge management to support environmental sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dornhoefer, Mareike-Jessica

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability, environmental management and green initiatives are topics which gradually developed into trends since the late 1980s, not only in research institutions, but also in public and private organizations. While the usage of energy and other resources are increasing, these organizations search for new possibilities to reduce the economic, ecologic and social burdens and consequences of office and production environments for employees and nature. While certified environmental management systems were established already in the 1990s, green approaches and technologies are only about 10 years old and steadily developing. Decisions about a fitting strategy and the support of suitable measures inside an organization always require knowledge provided for the decision makers. Furthermore it is of importance to record the environmental consequences of the operational business and to not only record data and information, but to create a context and deduce the knowledge for future activities. Based on this situation, the work addresses the main research question of how �classical'' knowledge management might be further developed or transformed into Green Knowledge Management and how it addresses the goals of sustainability, especially ecological sustainability, environmental management and green approaches alike? The definition of Green Knowledge Management consists of five factors, which are discussed systematically, explored conceptually and documented with the help of practical examples. Different knowledge management models and their respective building blocks are analyzed to deduce how knowledge processes might interact with environmental ones as well as green aspects. Also different types of knowledge management systems are analysed for their application possibilities. A planning and decision making tool in form of a three dimensional cube, the ''Green Knowledge Management Cube'' is introduced on a conceptual level and documented

  12. Transformation towards more sustainable soil management on Dutch arable farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Claus, Sebastien; Egdom, van Ilona; Suter, Bruno; Sarpong, Clara; Pappa, Aikaterini; Miah, Imtiaz; Luppa, Caterina; Potters, J.I.

    2017-01-01

    Currently a debate is ongoing in the Netherlands on how to increase soil sustainable management in general and specifically in short term lease. Sustainable practices may not be adopted by farmers because of an interplay between EU, national and provincial legislation, short-term land lease system,

  13. The impact of sustainability on project management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Adri Köhler; Jasper van den Brink; Gilbert Gilbert Silvius

    2012-01-01

    Full text via link Chapter 11 in The Project as a Social System: Asia-Pacific Perspectives on Project Management Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. How can we develop prosperity without compromising the life of future generations? Companies are integrating ideas of

  14. Knock on wood: Is wood production sustainable in the Pacific Northwest?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonathan Thompson

    2006-01-01

    The Pacific Northwest is one of the world’s major timber-producing regions, and its capacity to produce wood on a sustained-yield basis is widely recognized. Nonetheless, there has been increasing public interest in assuring that forests are being sustainably managed, as well as a desire by landowners to demonstrate their commitment to responsible stewardship.

  15. Roles of Eco-labeling in Fisheries Conservation and Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olaniyi Alaba Olopade

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available An important goal of fisheries management is to ensure that fish stocks are harvested at sustainable levels of fishing pressure. However, the classical maximum sustainable yield theory and its derivatives have not worked for fisheries management. A number of mitigating measures have been suggested of which eco -labeling is one. An ecolabel on a fish product is a distinctive mark or statement indicating that it has been harvested in compliance with preset sustainability standards. This paper examines eco labeling in fisheries as the new strategy to achieve fisheries conservation and sustainability. It emphasizes the importance of fish as critical food resources and new approach to fisheries management through the use of certification programs. It considers the benefits and problems that may accrue from eco-certification of fish harvesting and trade practices in fisheries. This paper, attention is focused on examining the likely option for development of eco-labeling scheme in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the increase awareness amongst stakeholders of the potential role of eco-labeling in conservation and sustainability tools should be established.   Keywords: Fisheries management, fish, conservation, eco-certification

  16. Sustainable smallholder intensification through improved water management requires adjusted fertilizer recommendation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gedfew, Muluye; Schmitter, Petra; Nakawuka, Prossie; Tilahun, Seifu A.; Steenhuis, Tammo; Langan, Simon

    2017-04-01

    found for pepper. The N and K balances were less negative when farmers used organic fertilizers aside from inorganic fertilizers compared to those farmers who only applied Urea and Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP). Furthermore, the largest negative nutrient balances were obtained for the water management leading to the highest crop and water productivity (i.e. CWR). Hence, introducing sustainable water management practices in irrigation requires associated fertilizer recommendations to compensate for the increased yields obtained, avoiding land degradation in the long term.

  17. Novel Agricultural Conservation System with Sustained Yield and Decreased Water, Nutrient, Energy, and Carbon Footprints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, K.; Shukla, S.; Holt, N.; Hendricks, G.; Sishodia, R. P.

    2017-12-01

    Fresh fruits and vegetables are conventionally grown in raised bed plasticulture (RBP), a high intensity, high input, and high output production system. In 2016, the fresh market plasticulture industry covered 680,000 ha in the US, producing crops (e.g. tomato, peppers, melons, and strawberries) valued at ten billion dollars. To meet the increasing future demand for fresh fruits and vegetables and sustain the production potential of croplands, a transformation of the conventional food-water-energy nexus is essential. A novel agricultural conservation system, compact bed geometry, has been proposed to shift the paradigm in RBP, sustaining yield and decreasing inputs (e.g. water, nutrients, energy, and carbon). Compact bed geometries fit the shape of the wetting front created when water is applied through drip irrigation on the production soil, creating a taller (23-30 cm) and thinner bed (66-41 cm). Two seasons of tomato (single row) and pepper (double row) production, in the environmentally fragile watershed of the Florida Everglades, highlight the potential impact of compact bed geometry on environmental sustainability in agricultural production. No difference in plant growth or yield was detected, with a reduction of 5-50% in irrigation water, up to 20% less N application, 12% less P, 20% less K, and 5-15% less carbon dioxide emissions. The hydrologic benefits of compact bed geometry include 26% less runoff generation, decreased need for active drainage pumping, and increased residence time for irrigation water within the bed, overall decreasing instances of nutrient leaching. A water related co-benefit observed was a reduction in the occurrences of Phytophthora capsici in pepper, which has the potential to reduce yield by as much as 70%. Non-water co-benefits include up to a 250/ ha reduction in production cost, with the potential to save the industry 200 million dollars annually. This economic benefit has led to rapid industry adoption, with more than 20

  18. Indigenous Practices of Water Management for Sustainable Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beshah M. Behailu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article explores the possibility of incorporating traditional water management experiences into modern water management. After the literature review, two case studies are presented from Borana and Konso communities in southern Ethiopia. The study was conducted through interviews, discussions, and observations. The two cases were selected due to their long existence. Both communities have their own water source types, depending on local hydrogeological conditions. Borana is known for the so-called Ella (wells and Konso for Harta (ponds, which have been managed for more than five centuries. All government and development partners strive to achieve sustainable services in water supply and sanitation. Therefore, they design various management packages to engage the communities and keep the systems sustainable. However, the management components are often designed with little attention to local customs and traditions. The cases in the two communities show that traditional knowledge is largely ignored when replaced by modern one. However, the concepts of cost recovery, ownership experience, equity, enforcement, integrity, and unity, which are highly pronounced in modern systems, can also be found in the traditional water managements of Borana and Konso. Naturally, one shoe never fits all. Borana and Konso experiences are working for their own community. This research implies that when we plan a project or a program for a particular community, the starting point should be the indigenous practices and thoughts on life.

  19. Challenges in managing and sustaining urban slum health ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Challenges in managing and sustaining urban slum health programmes in Kenya. ... These were hardly implemented in the projects, according to the data gathered. ... Conclusion: Land and income were big issues according to the responses.

  20. Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program(SANREM CRSP)

    OpenAIRE

    Moore, Keith M.

    2007-01-01

    This presentation describes the history and current program of the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP). SANREM Objectives include increasing stakeholder income generation capacity, empowering stakeholders, particularly women, enhancing decentralized resource management, strengthening local institutions, improving market access for smallholders and communities, and promoting sustainable and environmentally sound developme...

  1. Sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Chein-Chi; DiGiovanni, Kimberly; Mei, Ying; Wei, Li

    2016-10-01

    This review on Sustainability covers selected 2015 publications on the focus of Sustainability. It is divided into the following sections : • Sustainable water and wastewater utilities • Sustainable water resources management • Stormwater and green infrastructure • Sustainability in wastewater treatment • Life cycle assessment (LCA) applications • Sustainability and energy in wastewater industry, • Sustainability and asset management.

  2. A framework for sustainable invasive species management: environmental, social and economic objectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Diane L.; Phillips-Mao, Laura; Quiram, Gina; Sharpe, Leah; Stark, Rebecca; Sugita, Shinya; Weiler, Annie

    2011-01-01

    Applying the concept of sustainability to invasive species management (ISM) is challenging but necessary, given the increasing rates of invasion and the high costs of invasion impacts and control. To be sustainable, ISM must address environmental, social, and economic factors (or *pillars*) that influence the causes, impacts, and control of invasive species across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Although these pillars are generally acknowledged, their implementation is often limited by insufficient control options and significant economic and political constraints. In this paper, we outline specific objectives in each of these three *pillars* that, if incorporated into a management plan, will improve the plan's likelihood of sustainability. We then examine three case studies that illustrate how these objectives can be effectively implemented. Each pillar reinforces the others, such that the inclusion of even a few of the outlined objectives will lead to more effective management that achieves ecological goals, while generating social support and long-term funding to maintain projects to completion. We encourage agency directors and policy-makers to consider sustainability principles when developing funding schemes, management agendas, and policy.

  3. SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA

    OpenAIRE

    Tascioglu, Mertcan

    2015-01-01

    Sustainability has become a subject of increasing concern to academics and practitioners in recent years. Increasing demand for environmentally and socially responsible products and services encouraged supply chains to put increasing emphasis on sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to review research in Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) and to identify gaps in the current body of knowledge. Future research directions are also provided which may help to stimulate more intensiv...

  4. SOME ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AREAS WITHIN THE TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kapinos N.

    2016-05-01

    should include withdrawal from intensive land use, which in its modal properties can not ensure sustainability of land use. In this respect, proposed to use as a criterion factor environmental sustainability of land use and anthropogenic load factor. Assessing the impact of land in the sustainability area council, which depends on the stability of agricultural development area, and tillage intensity of land, construction work is characterized by a coefficient of environmental sustainability of land use. Proved that the crucial part of the ecological optimization of land use on the territory of local communities is a balanced structure of land on the basis of ecologically appropriate use. It is important that quality indicators improve the structure of agricultural land in the optimization occurs within the environmental feasibility, increases the stability of land use and contributes to sustainable and balanced agrolandscapes territory. Economic optimization based on the requirements of the environmental is the next stage will determine on the basis of performance indicators such structure of land crops, which will be harmonized achieved high performance, yield and profitability management.

  5. Market Demand for Sustainability in Management Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gitsham, Matthew; Clark, Timothy S.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing debate about the relevance of sustainability in management education through exploration of the needs and expectations of a key group of business schools' stakeholders--senior executives of leading corporations. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents findings from a survey regarding…

  6. Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Each year EPA releases the Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures report, formerly called Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: Facts and Figures. It includes information on Municipal Solid Waste generation, recycling, an

  7. Understanding Innovation for Sustainable Business Management Capabilities and Competencies under Uncertainty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuo-Jui Wu

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, many firms have come to understand that innovation is an important issue in sustainable business management, as it helps improve firm capabilities and competencies. Because of the fiercely competitive environment in the hotel industry, innovation has become a critical factor in the process of hotel differentiation, leading to sustainable business success. However, the literature has not thoroughly examined the role of innovation or the hierarchical structure of the capabilities and competencies in sustainable business management. This study adopts interval-valued triangular fuzzy numbers and grey relational analysis to provide a competitive priority ranking for the aspects and criteria that assist firms in decision-making. The study results indicate that innovation in technology capabilities and networking and social capabilities—in addition to competencies in systemic thinking—are the most important aspects of sustainable business management. In particular, this study indicates that to succeed in building a sustainable business in the hotel industry, firms should upgrade and integrate their business technologies, collaborate with actors inside and outside the firm, build trust as well as a shared vision that includes common agreement, and develop competencies in inventive thinking to support innovation and foster changes in strategy, structure, administrative procedures, and systems when necessary.

  8. Beyond yields: Climate change effects on specialty crop quality and agroecological management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Selena Ahmed

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Climate change is impacting the sustainability of food systems through shifts in natural and human dimensions of agroecosystems that influence farmer livelihoods, consumer choices, and food security. This paper highlights the need for climate studies on specialty crops to focus not only on yields, but also on quality, as well as the ability of agroecological management to buffer climate effects on quality parameters. Crop quality refers to phytonutrient and secondary metabolite profiles and associated health and sensory properties that influence consumer buying decisions. Through two literature reviews, we provide examples of specialty crops that are vulnerable to climate effects on quality and examples of climate-resilient agroecological strategies. A range of specialty crops including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, stimulants, and herbs were identified to respond to climate variables with changes in quality. The review on climate-resilient strategies to mitigate effects on crop quality highlighted a major gap in the literature. However, agricultural diversification emerged as a promising strategy for climate resilience more broadly and highlights the need for future research to assess the potential of diversified agroecosystems to buffer climate effects on crop quality. We integrate the concepts from our literature review within a socio-ecological systems framework that takes into account feedbacks between crop quality, consumer responses, and agroecosystem management. The presented framework is especially useful for two themes in agricultural development and marketing, nutrition-sensitive agriculture and terroir, for informing the design of climate-change resilient specialty crop systems focused on management of quality and other ecosystem services towards promoting environmental and human wellbeing.

  9. A Review on Quantitative Models for Sustainable Food Logistics Management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Soysal, M.; Bloemhof, J.M.; Meuwissen, M.P.M.; Vorst, van der J.G.A.J.

    2012-01-01

    The last two decades food logistics systems have seen the transition from a focus on traditional supply chain management to food supply chain management, and successively, to sustainable food supply chain management. The main aim of this study is to identify key logistical aims in these three phases

  10. Sustainable supply chain management practices in Indian automotive industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mathivathanan, Deepak; Kannan, Devika; Haq, A. Noorul

    2018-01-01

    As one of the largest manufacturing sectors, the automotive industry has a deep impact on the society and environment. Automotive products provide mobility to millions and create jobs, but also threaten the environment. Consumer pressure, government regulations, and stakeholder demands for a comp......As one of the largest manufacturing sectors, the automotive industry has a deep impact on the society and environment. Automotive products provide mobility to millions and create jobs, but also threaten the environment. Consumer pressure, government regulations, and stakeholder demands...... into the traditional supply chain and that help an industry shift towards a sustainable supply chain are called SSCM practices. Firms have difficulty identifying the most useful practices and learning how these practices impact each other. Unfortunately, no existing research has studied the interrelated influences...... stakeholder perspectives are identified. The results reveal that management commitment towards sustainability and incorporating the triple bottom line approach in strategic decision making are the most influential practices for implementing the sustainable supply chain management. This study provides...

  11. Understanding Economic and Management Sciences Teachers' Conceptions of Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    America, Carina

    2014-01-01

    Sustainable development has become a key part of the global educational discourse. Education for sustainable development (ESD) specifically is pronounced as an imperative for different curricula and regarded as being critical for teacher education. This article is based on research that was conducted on economic and management sciences (EMS)…

  12. OFFSHORING FOR SUSTAINABLE VALUE MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thaddeus Oforegbunam Ebiringa

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper evaluates offshoring as a strategic value management initiative using Cadbury Nigeria Plc as a case study. Through offshoring risks associated with inventory holding are hedged. A comparative analysis of in-house and offshored cost profiles as well as critical risk factors that affect firm value are evaluated. The result shows that offshoring led to immediate costs saving, freeing of funds previously held in inventory for other working capital investments as well as profitability for vendors. However, aside financial benefits to partners, it leads to increased stakeholders awareness, shared values, partnerships, teamwork and risk mitigation. It therefore follows that for sustainability of financial benefits of offshoring, concerted effort must be made by partners to ensure that critical drivers of value management are not compromised.

  13. Patent Keyword Extraction for Sustainable Technology Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jongchan Kim

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Recently, sustainable growth and development has become an important issue for governments and corporations. However, maintaining sustainable development is very difficult. These difficulties can be attributed to sociocultural and political backgrounds that change over time [1]. Because of these changes, the technologies for sustainability also change, so governments and companies attempt to predict and manage technology using patent analyses, but it is very difficult to predict the rapidly changing technology markets. The best way to achieve insight into technology management in this rapidly changing market is to build a technology management direction and strategy that is flexible and adaptable to the volatile market environment through continuous monitoring and analysis. Quantitative patent analysis using text mining is an effective method for sustainable technology management. There have been many studies that have used text mining and word-based patent analyses to extract keywords and remove noise words. Because the extracted keywords are considered to have a significant effect on the further analysis, researchers need to carefully check out whether they are valid or not. However, most prior studies assume that the extracted keywords are appropriate, without evaluating their validity. Therefore, the criteria used to extract keywords needs to change. Until now, these criteria have focused on how well a patent can be classified according to its technical characteristics in the collected patent data set, typically using term frequency–inverse document frequency weights that are calculated by comparing the words in patents. However, this is not suitable when analyzing a single patent. Therefore, we need keyword selection criteria and an extraction method capable of representing the technical characteristics of a single patent without comparing them with other patents. In this study, we proposed a methodology to extract valid keywords from

  14. A shell-neutral modeling approach yields sustainable oyster harvest estimates: a retrospective analysis of the Louisiana state primary seed grounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soniat, Thomas M.; Klinck, John M.; Powell, Eric N.; Cooper, Nathan; Abdelguerfi, Mahdi; Hofmann, Eileen E.; Dahal, Janak; Tu, Shengru; Finigan, John; Eberline, Benjamin S.; La Peyre, Jerome F.; LaPeyre, Megan K.; Qaddoura, Fareed

    2012-01-01

    A numerical model is presented that defines a sustainability criterion as no net loss of shell, and calculates a sustainable harvest of seed (<75 mm) and sack or market oysters (≥75 mm). Stock assessments of the Primary State Seed Grounds conducted east of the Mississippi from 2009 to 2011 show a general trend toward decreasing abundance of sack and seed oysters. Retrospective simulations provide estimates of annual sustainable harvests. Comparisons of simulated sustainable harvests with actual harvests show a trend toward unsustainable harvests toward the end of the time series. Stock assessments combined with shell-neutral models can be used to estimate sustainable harvest and manage cultch through shell planting when actual harvest exceeds sustainable harvest. For exclusive restoration efforts (no fishing allowed), the model provides a metric for restoration success-namely, shell accretion. Oyster fisheries that remove shell versus reef restorations that promote shell accretion, although divergent in their goals, are convergent in their management; both require vigilant attention to shell budgets.

  15. Knowledge Management for Sustainable Development: The Case ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper seeks to demonstrate that knowledge management (KM) is a function of sustainable development (SD). The authors define the two concepts and discuss both the factors that make for successful SD process and the challenges that characterize KM. The conclusion reached is hat KM is emerging as a powerful ...

  16. MANAGING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF MEAT PROCESSING PLANTS AS PART OF THE MECHANISM OF STRATEGIC PLANNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. S. Gusev

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Studies have proven that, at present one of the priority research areas as part of the Development Strategy of the Food Processing Industry of the Russian Federation until 2020 is to develop effective mechanisms for sustainable socio-economic development of industrial enterprises. This article investigated the logic of strategic planning within the framework of sustainable economic growth, analyzed the structure of strategic planning, study the subject of strategic planning in the management of sustainable development of enterprises, justified the basic principles of strategic planning for the effective management of sustainable development of industrial enterprises, as well as the complex of organizational tactical activities of operational management strategy for sustainable development of the enterprise. The observation revealed that currently there was a high need for the framework of the branch, departmental and state programs implemented in industrial management of scientific and methodological approaches of strategic planning. Studies have shown that these approaches in its conceptual entity should be based on the growth potential of the sustainable development of meat processing plants in space and time in order to achieve high competitive advantages. Conducted a systematic analysis of industry conditions proved that the problem of sustainable operation and development of meat processing enterprises as a problem of management and control is relatively new, unexplored and highly relevant. On the contrary, it is the basis of modern management strategy and management is a concept and methodology of the so-called adaptive enterprise development under the action of various external and internal factors, risks that may threaten its economic stability and sustainability.

  17. Coupling and quantifying resilience and sustainability in facilities management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cox, Rimante Andrasiunaite; Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Rode, Carsten

    2015-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider how to couple and quantify resilience and sustainability, where sustainability refers to not only environmental impact, but also economic and social impacts. The way a particular function of a building is provisioned may have significant repercus......Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider how to couple and quantify resilience and sustainability, where sustainability refers to not only environmental impact, but also economic and social impacts. The way a particular function of a building is provisioned may have significant...... repercussions beyond just resilience. The goal is to develop a decision support tool for facilities managers. Design/methodology/approach – A risk framework is used to quantify both resilience and sustainability in monetary terms. The risk framework allows to couple resilience and sustainability, so...... that the provisioning of a particular building can be investigated with consideration of functional, environmental, economic and, possibly, social dimensions. Findings – The method of coupling and quantifying resilience and sustainability (CQRS) is illustrated with a simple example that highlights how very different...

  18. Water Hyacinth in China: A Sustainability Science-Based Management Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Jianbo; Wu, Jianguo; Fu, Zhihui; Zhu, Lei

    2007-12-01

    The invasion of water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes) has resulted in enormous ecological and economic consequences worldwide. Although the spread of this weed in Africa, Australia, and North America has been well documented, its invasion in China is yet to be fully documented. Here we report that since its introduction about seven decades ago, water hyacinth has infested many water bodies across almost half of China’s territory, causing a decline of native biodiversity, alteration of ecosystem services, deterioration of aquatic environments, and spread of diseases affecting human health. Water hyacinth infestations have also led to enormous economic losses in China by impeding water flows, paralyzing navigation, and damaging irrigation and hydroelectricity facilities. To effectively control the rampage of water hyacinth in China, we propose a sustainability science-based management framework that explicitly incorporates principles from landscape ecology and Integrated Pest Management. This framework emphasizes multiple-scale long-term monitoring and research, integration among different control techniques, combination of control with utilization, and landscape-level adaptive management. Sustainability science represents a new, transdisciplinary paradigm that integrates scientific research, technological innovation, and socioeconomic development of particular regions. Our proposed management framework is aimed to broaden the currently dominant biological control-centered view in China and to illustrate how sustainability science can be used to guide the research and management of water hyacinth.

  19. Watershed management and sustainable development: Lessons learned and future directions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karlyn Eckman; Hans M. Gregerson; Allen L. Lundgren

    2000-01-01

    Fundamental belief underlying the direction and content of this paper is that the paradigms of land and water management evolving into the 21st century increasingly favor a watershed focused approach. Underlying that approach is an appreciation of the processes of sustainable development and resource use. The increasing recognition that sustainable development and...

  20. The Sustainable Management of a Tourism Destination in Ireland: A Focus on County Clare

    OpenAIRE

    CONAGHAN, Aíne; HANRAHAN, James; McLOUGHLIN, Emmet

    2015-01-01

    Tourism destination management has significant importance in controlling many impacts of tourism, thus insuring its sustainability. Destination management requires the integration of different planning tools, approaches and concepts that help shape the management and daily operation of tourism related activities. This study examines the sustainable management of a tourism destination, focusing on County Clare, Ireland. Qualitative interviews were conducted with tourism stake...

  1. Implementing Environmental Practices for Accomplishing Sustainable Green Supply Chain Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minkyun Kim

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available With the emergence of environmental protection as a global issue, implementing environmental practices for sustaining green supply chain management (GSCM has received a lot of attention. This study investigates the impact of integration with suppliers and supply disruption risk on environmental practices. It also examines the role of supplier integration and supply disruption risk on performance. Finally, it investigates the relationship between environmental practices and performance in order to sustain green supply chains. Based on 272 survey responses from supply and purchase managers, our research results support the positive impact of integration with suppliers and the negative impact of supply disruption risk on the adoption of environmental practices. Furthermore, they provide empirical evidence that environmental practices and integration with suppliers are positively associated with performance, while supply disruption risk is negatively associated with performance. This study identifies antecedents and establishes a research framework of GSCM. More importantly, it provides meaningful insights to managers regarding the implementation of environmental practices related to other supply chain practices for sustaining green supply chains.

  2. Integrated farm sustainability assessment for the environmental management of rural activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stachetii Rodrigues, Geraldo; Aparecida Rodrigues, Izilda; Almeida Buschinelli, Claudio Cesar de; Barros, Inacio de

    2010-01-01

    Farmers have been increasingly called upon to respond to an ongoing redefinition in consumers' demands, having as a converging theme the search for sustainable production practices. In order to satisfy this objective, instruments for the environmental management of agricultural activities have been sought out. Environmental impact assessment methods are appropriate tools to address the choice of technologies and management practices to minimize negative effects of agricultural development, while maximizing productive efficiency, sound usage of natural resources, conservation of ecological assets and equitable access to wealth generation means. The 'system for weighted environmental impact assessment of rural activities' (APOIA-NovoRural) presented in this paper is organized to provide integrated farm sustainability assessment according to quantitative environmental standards and defined socio-economic benchmarks. The system integrates sixty-two objective indicators in five sustainability dimensions - (i) Landscape ecology, (ii) Environmental quality (atmosphere, water and soil), (iii) Sociocultural values, (iv) Economic values, and (v) Management and administration. Impact indices are expressed in three integration levels: (i) specific indicators, that offer a diagnostic and managerial tool for farmers and rural administrators, by pointing out particular attributes of the rural activities that may be failing to comply with defined environmental performance objectives; (ii) integrated sustainability dimensions, that show decision-makers the major contributions of the rural activities toward local sustainable development, facilitating the definition of control actions and promotion measures; and (iii) aggregated sustainability index, that can be considered a yardstick for eco-certification purposes. Nine fully documented case studies carried out with the APOIA-NovoRural system, focusing on different scales, diverse rural activities/farming systems, and contrasting

  3. Choosing a sustainable demolition waste management strategy using multicriteria decision analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roussat, Nicolas; Dujet, Christiane; Mehu, Jacques

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents an application of the ELECTRE III decision-aid method in the context of choosing a sustainable demolition waste management strategy for a case study in the city of Lyon, France. This choice of waste management strategy takes into consideration the sustainable development objectives, i.e. economic aspects, environmental consequences, and social issues. Nine alternatives for demolition waste management were compared with the aid of eight criteria, taking into account energy consumption, depletion of abiotic resources, global warming, dispersion of dangerous substances in the environment, economic activity, employment, and quality of life of the local population. The case study concerned the demolition of 25 buildings of an old military camp. Each alternative was illustrated with different waste treatments, such as material recovery, recycling, landfilling, and energy recovery. The recommended solution for sustainable demolition waste management for the case study is a selective deconstruction of each building with local material recovery in road engineering of inert wastes, local energy recovery of wood wastes, and specific treatments for hazardous wastes

  4. Integrating Sustainable Development into Operations Management Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fredriksson, Peter; Persson, Magnus

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: It is widely acknowledged that aspects of sustainable development (SD) should be integrated into higher level operations management (OM) education. The aim of the paper is to outline the experiences gained at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden from integrating aspects of SD into OM courses. Design/methodology/approach: The paper…

  5. Sustainable Water Management in Urban, Agricultural, and Natural Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tess Russo

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable water management (SWM requires allocating between competing water sector demands, and balancing the financial and social resources required to support necessary water systems. The objective of this review is to assess SWM in three sectors: urban, agricultural, and natural systems. This review explores the following questions: (1 How is SWM defined and evaluated? (2 What are the challenges associated with sustainable development in each sector? (3 What are the areas of greatest potential improvement in urban and agricultural water management systems? And (4 What role does country development status have in SWM practices? The methods for evaluating water management practices range from relatively simple indicator methods to integration of multiple models, depending on the complexity of the problem and resources of the investigators. The two key findings and recommendations for meeting SWM objectives are: (1 all forms of water must be considered usable, and reusable, water resources; and (2 increasing agricultural crop water production represents the largest opportunity for reducing total water consumption, and will be required to meet global food security needs. The level of regional development should not dictate sustainability objectives, however local infrastructure conditions and financial capabilities should inform the details of water system design and evaluation.

  6. Donor management parameters and organ yield: single center results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, George Ryne; Mangus, Richard S; Powelson, John A; Fridell, Jonathan A; Kubal, Chandrashekhar A; Tector, A Joseph

    2014-09-01

    Management of organ donors in the intensive care unit is an emerging subject in critical care and transplantation. This study evaluates organ yield outcomes for a large number of patients managed by the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization. This is a retrospective review of intensive care unit records from 2008-2012. Donor demographic information and seven donor management parameters (DMP) were recorded at admission, consent, 12 h after consent, and before procurement. Three study groups were created: donors meeting 0-3, 4, or 5-7 DMP. Active donor Organ Procurement Organization management began at consent; so, data analysis focuses on the 12-h postconsent time point. Outcomes included organs transplanted per donor (OTPD) and transplantation of individual solid organs. Complete records for 499 patients were reviewed. Organ yield was 1415 organs of 3992 possible (35%). At 12 h, donors meeting more DMP had more OTPD: 2.2 (0-3) versus 3.0 (4) versus 3.5 (5-7) (P organ except intestine. Oxygen tension, vasopressor use, and central venous pressure were the most frequent independent predictors of organ usage. There were significantly more organs transplanted for donors meeting all three of these parameters (4.5 versus 2.7, P organs, with analysis of individual parameters suggesting that appropriate management of oxygenation, volume status, and vasopressor use could lead to more organs procured per donor. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Cost benefit analysis, sustainability and long-lived radioactive waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berkhout, F.

    1994-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to examine how far the sustainability concept and the technique of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can be applied to the problem of radioactive waste management. The paper begins with a slightly altered definition of the problem to the one carried in the Nea's background document (Nea 1994). A preliminary attempt is then be made to ascribe burdens to the various phases of long-lived radioactive waste management. The appropriateness of CBA and the sustainability concept for making decisions about long-term waste management policy is then discussed. The author ends with some conclusions about the appropriateness of systematic assessment approaches in the political process of constructing social consent for technological decisions. (O.L.). 12 refs., 1 tab

  8. Managing Sustainability with the Support of Business Intelligence Methods and Tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrini, Maira; Pozzebon, Marlei

    In this paper we explore the role of business intelligence (BI) in helping to support the management of sustainability in contemporary firms. The concepts of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are among the most important themes to have emerged in the last decade at the global level. We suggest that BI methods and tools have an important but not yet well studied role to play in helping organizations implement and monitor sustainable and socially responsible business practices. Using grounded theory, the main contribution of our study is to propose a conceptual model that seeks to support the process of definition and monitoring of socio-environmental indicators and the relationship between their management and business strategy.

  9. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Federal Green Challenge (FGC) Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Federal Green Challenge (FGC) is a national effort under EPA's Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Program, challenging EPA and other federal agencies...

  10. Greening academia: Developing sustainable waste management at Higher Education Institutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, N.; Williams, I.D.; Kemp, S.; Smith, N.F.

    2011-01-01

    Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are often the size of small municipalities. Worldwide, the higher education (HE) sector has expanded phenomenally; for example, since the 1960s, the United Kingdom (UK) HE system has expanded sixfold to >2.4 million students. As a consequence, the overall production of waste at HEIs throughout the world is very large and presents significant challenges as the associated legislative, economic and environmental pressures can be difficult to control and manage. This paper critically reviews why sustainable waste management has become a key issue for the worldwide HE sector to address and describes some of the benefits, barriers, practical and logistical problems. As a practical illustration of some of the issues and problems, the four-phase waste management strategy developed over 15 years by one of the largest universities in Southern England - the University of Southampton (UoS) - is outlined as a case study. The UoS is committed to protecting the environment by developing practices that are safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly and has developed a practical, staged approach to manage waste in an increasingly sustainable fashion. At each stage, the approach taken to the development of infrastructure (I), service provision (S) and behavior change (B) is explained, taking into account the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental (PESTLE) factors. Signposts to lessons learned, good practice and useful resources that other institutions - both nationally and internationally - can access are provided. As a result of the strategy developed at the UoS, from 2004 to 2008 waste costs fell by around Pounds 125k and a recycling rate of 72% was achieved. The holistic approach taken - recognizing the PESTLE factors and the importance of a concerted ISB approach - provides a realistic, successful and practical example for other institutions wishing to effectively and sustainably manage their waste.

  11. Climate Change Impact Assessment for Sustainable Water Quality Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ching-Pin Tung

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The goal of sustainable water quality management is to keep total pollutant discharges from exceeding the assimilation capacity of a water body. Climate change may influence streamflows, and further alter assimilation capacity and degrade river sustainability. The purposes of this study are to evaluate the effect of climate change on sustainable water quality management and design an early warning indicator to issue warnings on river sustainability. A systematic assessment procedure is proposed here, including a weather generation model, the streamflow component of GWLF, QUAL2E, and an optimization model. The Touchen creek in Taiwan is selected as the study area. Future climate scenarios derived from projections of four global climate models (GCMs and two pollutant discharge scenarios, as usual and proportional to population, are considered in this study. The results indicate that streamflows may very likely increase in humid seasons and decrease in arid seasons, respectively. The reduction of streamflow in arid seasons may further degrade water quality and assimilation capacity. In order to provide warnings to trigger necessary adaptation strategies, an early warning indicator is designed and its 30-year moving average is calculated. Finally, environmental monitoring systems and methods to prioritize adaptation strategies are discussed for further studies in the future.

  12. Technology management for environmentally sound and sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zaidi, S.M.J.

    1992-01-01

    With the evolutionary change in the production activities of human societies, the concept of development has also been changing. In the recent years the emphasis has been on the environmentally sound and sustainable development. The environmentally sound and sustainable development can be obtained through judicious use of technology. Technology as a resource transformer has emerged as the most important factor which can constitute to economic growth. But technology is not an independent and autonomous force, it is only an instrument which needs to be used carefully, properly and appropriately which necessitates technology management. (author)

  13. Food security and sustainable resource management

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLaughlin, Dennis; Kinzelbach, Wolfgang

    2015-07-01

    The projected growth in global food demand until mid-century will challenge our ability to continue recent increases in crop yield and will have a significant impact on natural resources. The water and land requirements of current agriculture are significantly less than global reserves but local shortages are common and have serious impacts on food security. Recent increases in global trade have mitigated some of the effects of spatial and temporal variability. However, trade has a limited impact on low-income populations who remain dependent on subsistence agriculture and local resources. Potential adverse environmental impacts of increased agricultural production include unsustainable depletion of water and soil resources, major changes in the global nitrogen and phosphorous cycles, human health problems related to excessive nutrient and pesticide use, and loss of habitats that contribute to agricultural productivity. Some typical case studies from China illustrate the connections between the need for increased food production and environmental stress. Sustainable options for decreasing food demand and for increasing production include reduction of food losses on both the producer and consumer ends, elimination of unsustainable practices such as prolonged groundwater overdraft, closing of yield gaps with controlled expansions of fertilizer application, increases in crop yield and pest resistance through advances in biotechnology, and moderate expansion of rain fed and irrigated cropland. Calculations based on reasonable assumptions suggest that such measures could meet the food needs of an increasing global population while protecting the environment.

  14. Resource potential of bamboo, challenges and future directions towards sustainable management and utilization in Ethiopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Getachew Desalegn

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Aim of study: Bamboo, the fastest growing and high yielding perennial plant of the world has more than 1500 species and 1500 versatile socio-economic uses and ecological services. Ethiopia has two indigenous bamboo species namely Yushania alpina and Oxytenantheria abyssinica, covering about one million ha with a wide distribution. The objective of this paper is to highlight the potential of bamboo resources, challenges including biodeterioration damage, opportunities and future research directions towards its sustainable management and rational utilization.Area of study: Bamboo resources of EthiopiaMaterial and Methods: Reconnaissance survey was done to some parts of the bamboo growing potential areas in Ethiopia besides the literature review. Main results: The bamboo resource, despite its socio-economic and environmental benefits, currently, in most areas has been under high pressure due to land use changes, bamboo mass- flowering, poor processing with low value addition, and damage by biodeteriorating agents (termites, beetles and fungi. The preservative tests on Ethiopian bamboos revealed low natural durability and highlighted the paramount importance of appropriate protection measures such as Tanalith and vehicles used motor oil to increase durability, service life and rational utilization of bamboo-based products and structures as potential alternative construction and furniture material.Research highlights: Therefore, integrated research and development interventions involving different propagation and managements techniques, harvesting season, processing, value addition including proper seasoning and preservation technologies and marketing are recommended to fill the information and technological gaps on sustainable management and rational utilization of this fast growing and multipurpose bamboo resources in Ethiopia.Key words: Bamboo; challenges; management; socio-economic and environmental significance; utilization.

  15. Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management on Yield and Yield ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Declining soil fertility is one of the major problems causing yield reduction of barley ... (VC) with inorganic NP on growth, yield and yield components of food barley. ... The experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with ...

  16. Innovation, Management and Sustainability - change processes in the food service sector

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Niels Heine; Dahl, Astrid; Mikkelsen, Bent Egberg

    2005-01-01

    Kristensen NH, Thorsen AV, Dahl A, Engelund EH, Mikkelsen BE (2005): Innovation, Management and Sustainability - change processes in the food service sector. Chapter in "Culinary Arts and Sciences V - Global and National Perspectives". Bournemouth University. ISBN 1-85899-179-X......Kristensen NH, Thorsen AV, Dahl A, Engelund EH, Mikkelsen BE (2005): Innovation, Management and Sustainability - change processes in the food service sector. Chapter in "Culinary Arts and Sciences V - Global and National Perspectives". Bournemouth University. ISBN 1-85899-179-X...

  17. Managing uncertainty for sustainability of complex projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brink, Tove

    2017-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reveal how management of uncertainty can enable sustainability of complex projects. Design/methodology/approach – The research was conducted from June 2014 to May 2015 using a qualitative deductive approach among operation and maintenance actors in offshore...... wind farms. The research contains a focus group interview with 11 companies, 20 individual interviews and a seminar presenting preliminary findings with 60 participants. Findings – The findings reveal the need for management of uncertainty through two different paths. First, project management needs...... to join efforts. Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed to reveal the generalisability of the findings in other complex project contexts containing “unknown unknowns”. Practical implications – The research leads to the development of a tool for uncertainty management...

  18. Developing Sustainable Spacecraft Water Management Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Evan A.; Klaus, David M.

    2009-01-01

    It is well recognized that water handling systems used in a spacecraft are prone to failure caused by biofouling and mineral scaling, which can clog mechanical systems and degrade the performance of capillary-based technologies. Long duration spaceflight applications, such as extended stays at a Lunar Outpost or during a Mars transit mission, will increasingly benefit from hardware that is generally more robust and operationally sustainable overtime. This paper presents potential design and testing considerations for improving the reliability of water handling technologies for exploration spacecraft. Our application of interest is to devise a spacecraft wastewater management system wherein fouling can be accommodated by design attributes of the management hardware, rather than implementing some means of preventing its occurrence.

  19. Sustainable System for Residual Hazards Management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kevin M. Kostelnik; James H. Clarke; Jerry L. Harbour

    2004-01-01

    Hazardous, radioactive and other toxic substances have routinely been generated and subsequently disposed of in the shallow subsurface throughout the world. Many of today's waste management techniques do not eliminate the problem, but rather only concentrate or contain the hazardous contaminants. Residual hazards result from the presence of hazardous and/or contaminated material that remains on-site following active operations or the completion of remedial actions. Residual hazards pose continued risk to humans and the environment and represent a significant and chronic problem that require continuous long-term management (i.e. >1000 years). To protect human health and safeguard the natural environment, a sustainable system is required for the proper management of residual hazards. A sustainable system for the management of residual hazards will require the integration of engineered, institutional and land-use controls to isolate residual contaminants and thus minimize the associated hazards. Engineered controls are physical modifications to the natural setting and ecosystem, including the site, facility, and/or the residual materials themselves, in order to reduce or eliminate the potential for exposure to contaminants of concern (COCs). Institutional controls are processes, instruments, and mechanisms designed to influence human behavior and activity. System failure can involve hazardous material escaping from the confinement because of system degradation (i.e., chronic or acute degradation) or by external intrusion of the biosphere into the contaminated material because of the loss of institutional control. An ongoing analysis of contemporary and historic sites suggests that the significance of the loss of institutional controls is a critical pathway because decisions made during the operations/remedial action phase, as well as decisions made throughout the residual hazards management period, are key to the long-term success of the prescribed system. In fact

  20. Sustainable water management under future uncertainty with eco-engineering decision scaling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poff, N. Leroy; Brown, Casey M.; Grantham, Theodore E.; Matthews, John H.; Palmer, Margaret A.; Spence, Caitlin M.; Wilby, Robert L.; Haasnoot, Marjolijn; Mendoza, Guillermo F.; Dominique, Kathleen C.; Baeza, Andres

    2016-01-01

    Managing freshwater resources sustainably under future climatic and hydrological uncertainty poses novel challenges. Rehabilitation of ageing infrastructure and construction of new dams are widely viewed as solutions to diminish climate risk, but attaining the broad goal of freshwater sustainability will require expansion of the prevailing water resources management paradigm beyond narrow economic criteria to include socially valued ecosystem functions and services. We introduce a new decision framework, eco-engineering decision scaling (EEDS), that explicitly and quantitatively explores trade-offs in stakeholder-defined engineering and ecological performance metrics across a range of possible management actions under unknown future hydrological and climate states. We illustrate its potential application through a hypothetical case study of the Iowa River, USA. EEDS holds promise as a powerful framework for operationalizing freshwater sustainability under future hydrological uncertainty by fostering collaboration across historically conflicting perspectives of water resource engineering and river conservation ecology to design and operate water infrastructure for social and environmental benefits.

  1. Sustainable operations management and benchmarking in brewing: A factor weighting approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel P. Bumblauskas

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The brewing industry has been moving towards more efficient use of energy, water reuse and stewardship, and the tracking of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions to better manage environmental and social responsibility. Commercial breweries use a great deal of water and energy to convert one gallon (liter of water into one gallon (liter of beer. An analysis was conducted on sustainable operations and supply chain management at various United States and international breweries, specifically Europe, to benchmark brewery performance and establish common metrics for sustainability in the beer supply chain. The primary research questions explored in this article are whether water reclamation and GHG emissions can be properly monitored and measured and if processes can be created to help control waste (lean and emissions. Additional questions include how we can use operations management strategies and techniques such as the Factor-Weighted Method (FWM in industries such as brewing to develop sustainability scorecards.

  2. Sustainable water management under future uncertainty with eco-engineering decision scaling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poff, N LeRoy; Brown, Casey M; Grantham, Theodore E.; Matthews, John H; Palmer, Margaret A.; Spence, Caitlin M; Wilby, Robert L.; Haasnoot, Marjolijn; Mendoza, Guillermo F; Dominique, Kathleen C; Baeza, Andres

    2015-01-01

    Managing freshwater resources sustainably under future climatic and hydrological uncertainty poses novel challenges. Rehabilitation of ageing infrastructure and construction of new dams are widely viewed as solutions to diminish climate risk, but attaining the broad goal of freshwater sustainability will require expansion of the prevailing water resources management paradigm beyond narrow economic criteria to include socially valued ecosystem functions and services. We introduce a new decision framework, eco-engineering decision scaling (EEDS), that explicitly and quantitatively explores trade-offs in stakeholder-defined engineering and ecological performance metrics across a range of possible management actions under unknown future hydrological and climate states. We illustrate its potential application through a hypothetical case study of the Iowa River, USA. EEDS holds promise as a powerful framework for operationalizing freshwater sustainability under future hydrological uncertainty by fostering collaboration across historically conflicting perspectives of water resource engineering and river conservation ecology to design and operate water infrastructure for social and environmental benefits.

  3. Impact of Sowing Date Induced Temperature and Management Practices on Development Events and Yield of Mustard

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MSA Khan, MA Aziz

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The experiment was conducted at the research field of the Agronomy Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI, Joydebpur, Gazipur, during rabi season of 2014-2015 to find out the relationship between different development events of mustard crop and sowing dates induced temperature as well as to minimize the yield reduction of the crop by adopting appropriate management practices. The mustard var. BARI Sarisha-15 was sown on 06, 25 November and 14 December 2014. Crop accumulated lower growing degree days (GDD i.e., 72.15, 521.10 and 1070 to 1154 °C were observed for the events of emergence, 50 % flowering and maturity on 14 December sowing. Late sown plants took minimum time from flowering to maturity (36 days due to increased temperature and high variability in both maximum and minimum temperature. The highest seed yield (1569 kg ha-1 was recorded from 06 November sowing with high management practices while the lowest seed yield (435 kg ha-1 from 14 December sowing with low management practices. At high management practices the crop yielded 1183 kg ha-1 at 14 December sowing. Yield reduction at late sowing condition was reduced to some extent with high management practices. The seed yield reductions at 14 December sowing as compared to high management practices at 06 November sowing were 72, 43 and 25% under low, medium and high management, respectively.

  4. Managing product returns to achieve supply chain sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shaharudin, Mohd Rizaimy; Govindan, Kannan; Zailani, Suhaiza

    2015-01-01

    returns management as part of a comprehensive sustainability effort. The study is exploratory in nature based on five case studies of participating manufacturers in the automotive, and electrical and electronics industry in Malaysia. The interview results reveal that the five participating companies...

  5. Effects of different agricultural management on a stagnic Luvisol in Lower Saxony, Germany - Factors for sustainable soil protection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenz, Marco; Brunotte, Joachim; Ortmeier, Berthold

    2017-04-01

    Regarding increasing pressures by global societal and climate change, for example, the assessment of the impact of land use and land management practices on land productivity, land degradation and the related decrease in sustainable food production and the provision of ecosystem services gains increasing interest. Regarding international research on land use and soil threats, main problems in agricultural land use on global scale are erosion by water and wind, soil organic matter loss, salinization, depletion of nutrients, chemical and physical deterioration, including e.g. soil compaction. When coming to soil sciences, basically soil functions are affected negatively by intensive food production and field traffic. Management based negative changes in soil functions and a suboptimal soil structure have multiple negative effects on physical, biological and chemical soil functions, like a poor water balance, air and water permeability, disturbed soil fauna, impeded root penetration etc. and in consequence on the achievable yields. The presentation deals with the multiple effects of different agricultural machinery and technologies and different agricultural soil tillage (e.g. no-till, conservation tillage, ploughing), on various soil properties of a stagnic Luvisol in Lower Saxony, Germany. These are e.g. bulk density, air capacity, saturated water permeability, changes in pore size distribution and water retention curve as well as crop yields. Furthermore results of a long term study of bulk density and total pore size on more then 20 farms in Lower Saxony since the year 1952 will be presented. Finally, key factors and first recommendations for sustainable agricultural soil protection will be derived from the results.

  6. Assessing Sediment Yield and the Effect of Best Management Practices on Sediment Yield Reduction for Tutuila Island, American Samoa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leta, O. T.; Dulai, H.; El-Kadi, A. I.

    2017-12-01

    Upland soil erosion and sedimentation are the main threats for riparian and coastal reef ecosystems in Pacific islands. Here, due to small size of the watersheds and steep slope, the residence time of rainfall runoff and its suspended load is short. Fagaalu bay, located on the island of Tutuila (American Samoa) has been identified as a priority watershed, due to degraded coral reef condition and reduction of stream water quality from heavy anthropogenic activity yielding high nutrients and sediment loads to the receiving water bodies. This study aimed to estimate the sediment yield to the Fagaalu stream and assess the impact of Best Management Practices (BMP) on sediment yield reduction. For this, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was applied, calibrated, and validated for both daily streamflow and sediment load simulation. The model also estimated the sediment yield contributions from existing land use types of Fagaalu and identified soil erosion prone areas for introducing BMP scenarios in the watershed. Then, three BMP scenarios, such as stone bund, retention pond, and filter strip were treated on bare (quarry area), agricultural, and shrub land use types. It was found that the bare land with quarry activity yielded the highest annual average sediment yield of 133 ton per hectare (t ha-1) followed by agriculture (26.1 t ha-1) while the lowest sediment yield of 0.2 t ha-1 was estimated for the forested part of the watershed. Additionally, the bare land area (2 ha) contributed approximately 65% (207 ha) of the watershed's sediment yield, which is 4.0 t ha-1. The latter signifies the high impact as well as contribution of anthropogenic activity on sediment yield. The use of different BMP scenarios generally reduced the sediment yield to the coastal reef of Fagaalu watershed. However, treating the quarry activity area with stone bund showed the highest sediment yield reduction as compared to the other two BMP scenarios. This study provides an estimate

  7. Integrated waste management and the tool of life cycle inventory : a route to sustainable waste management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McDougall, F.R.; White, P.R. [Procter and Gamble Newcastle Technical Centre, Newcastle (United Kingdom). Corporate Sustainable Development

    2000-07-01

    An overall approach to municipal waste management which integrates sustainable development principles was discussed. The three elements of sustainability which have to be balanced are environmental effectiveness, economic affordability and social acceptability. An integrated waste management (IWM) system considers different treatment options and deals with the entire waste stream. A life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to determine the environmental burdens associated with IWM systems. LCIs for waste management are currently available for use in Europe, the United States, Canada and elsewhere. LCI is being used by waste management companies to assess the environmental attributes of future contract tenders. The models are used as benchmarking tools to assess the current environmental profile of a waste management system. They are also a comparative planning and communication tool. The authors are currently looking into publishing, at a future date, the experience of users of this LCI environmental management tool. 12 refs., 3 figs.

  8. Modelling management process of key drivers for economic sustainability in the modern conditions of economic development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pishchulina E.S.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The text is about issues concerning the management of driver for manufacturing enterprise economic sustainability and manufacturing enterprise sustainability assessment as the key aspect of the management of enterprise economic sustainability. The given issues become topical as new requirements for the methods of manufacturing enterprise management in the modern conditions of market economy occur. An economic sustainability model that is considered in the article is an integration of enterprise economic growth, economic balance of external and internal environment and economic sustainability. The method of assessment of economic sustainability of a manufacturing enterprise proposed in the study allows to reveal some weaknesses in the enterprise performance, and untapped reserves, which can be further used to improve the economic sustainability and efficiency of the enterprise. The management of manufacturing enterprise economic sustainability is one of the most important factors of business functioning and development in modern market economy. The relevance of this trend is increasing in accordance with the objective requirements of the growing volumes of production and sale, the increasing complexity of economic relations, changing external environment of an enterprise.

  9. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Food Recovery Challenge (FRC) Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — As part of EPA's Food Recovery Challenge (FRC), organizations pledge to improve their sustainable food management practices and report their results. The FRC is part...

  10. Effect of ecological management of weed control on economical income, yield and yield components of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Zare Feizabadi

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available In order to compare of ecological management of weed control on economical income, yield and yield components of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L., a Randomized Complete Block design with 12 treatments and four replications was conducted in Mahvelat of Khorasan Razavi province, Iran. Treatments consisted of weeding, harrowing, burning, two times weeding, weeding + harrowing, weeding + burning, harrowing + harrowing, harrowing + weeding, harrowing + burning, weeding+ harrowing+ burning, weed free and weedy as a check treatment. Investigated traits were plant height, number of boll in plant, 20 boll weight, 20 boll cotton lint weight, cotton lint yield per plant, cotton yield, number and biomass of weeds, outcome, net and gross income. The result showed that treatments had significant effect (p

  11. Incentivizing secondary raw material markets for sustainable waste management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schreck, Maximilian; Wagner, Jeffrey

    2017-09-01

    Notwithstanding several policy initiatives in many countries over a number of years, there remains a general sense that too much municipal solid waste is generated and that too much of the waste that is generated is landfilled. There is an emerging consensus that a sustainable approach to waste management requires further development of secondary raw material markets. The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical economic model that focuses upon this stage of a sustainable waste management program and explores policy options that could motivate efficiency in secondary raw material markets. In particular, we show how firm profit and social welfare optimizing objectives can be reconciled in a two-product market of waste management processes: landfilling and material reclamation. Our results provide theoretical support for building out recent Circular Economy initiatives as well as for the relatively recent emergence of landfill mining as a means for procuring secondary raw materials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Scaling issues in sustainable river basin management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timmerman, Jos; Froebich, Jochen

    2014-05-01

    Sustainable river basin management implies considering the whole river basin when managing the water resources. Management measures target at dividing the water over different uses (nature, agriculture, industry, households) thereby avoiding calamities like having too much, too little or bad quality water. Water management measures are taken at the local level, usually considering the sub-national and sometimes national effects of such measures. A large part of the world's freshwater resources, however, is contained in river basins and groundwater systems that are shared by two or more countries. Sustainable river basin management consequently has to encompass local, regional, national and international scales. This requires coordination over and cooperation between these levels that is currently compressed into the term 'water governance' . Governance takes into account that a large number of stakeholders in different regimes (the principles, rules and procedures that steer management) contribute to policy and management of a resource. Governance includes the increasing importance of basically non-hierarchical modes of governing, where non-state actors (formal organizations like NGOs, private companies, consumer associations, etc.) participate in the formulation and implementation of public policy. Land use determines the run-off generation and use of irrigation water. Land use is increasingly determined by private sector initiatives at local scale. This is a complicating factor in the governance issue, as in comparison to former developments of large scale irrigation systems, planning institutions at state level have then less insight on actual water consumption. The water management regime of a basin consequently has to account for the different scales of water management and within these different scales with both state and non-state actors. The central elements of regimes include the policy setting (the policies and water management strategies), legal setting

  13. Sustainable agriculture, soil management and erosion from prehistoric times to 2100

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanwalleghem, Tom; Gómez, Jose Alfonso; Infante Amate, Juan; González Molina, Manuel; Fernández, David Soto; Guzmán, Gema; Vanderlinden, Karl; Laguna, Ana; Giráldez, Juan Vicente

    2015-04-01

    The rational use of soil requires the selection of management practices to take profit of the beneficial functions of plant growth, water and nutrient storage, and pollutants removal by filtering and decomposition without altering its properties. However, the first evidence of important and widespread erosion peaks can generally be found with the arrival of the first farmers all over the world. In areas with a long land-use history such as the Mediterranean, clear signs indicating the advanced degradation status of the landscape, such as heavily truncated soils, are visible throughout. Soil conservation practices are then aimed at reducing erosion to geological rates, in equilibrium with long-term soil formation rates, while maximizing agricultural production. The adoption of such practices in most areas of the world are as old as the earliest soil erosion episodes themselves. This work firstly reviews historical evidence linking soil management and soil erosion intensity, with examples from N Europe and the Mediterranean. In particular, work by the authors in olive orchards will be presented that shows how significant variations in soil erosion rates between could be linked to the historical soil management. The potential of historical documents for calibrating a soil erosion model is shown as the model, in this case RUSLE-based and combining tillage and water erosion, adequately represents the measured erosion rate dynamics. Secondly, results from present-day, long-term farm experiments in the EU are reviewed to evaluate the effect of different soil management practices on physical soil properties, such as bulk density, penetration resistance, aggregate stability, runoff coefficient or sediment yield. Finally, we reflect upon model and field data that indicate how future global climate change is expected to affect soil management and erosion and how the examples used above hold clues about sustainable historical management practices that can be used successfully

  14. Urban sustainable development from public participation in urban management

    OpenAIRE

    L. Karimifard

    2016-01-01

    Urban management in any context has a different economic, social and political structure, which is in harmony with the existing models of organization. In spite of these differences, in order to reach a sustainable urban development, several different conferences should be referred to. In the “Brundtland Commission 1987” about urban sustainable development these definitions have been given: “preservation and promotion of the quality level of city life. This consists of ecology, culture, polit...

  15. Assessment of the indicator of sustainable development for radioactive waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, J. H.; Park, W. J.

    2003-01-01

    As a follow up to the agenda 21's policy statement for safe management of radioactive waste adopted at Rio Conference held in 1992, the UN invited the IAEA to develop and implement indicators of sustainable development for the management of radioactive waste. The IAEA finalized the indicators in 2002, and is planning to calculate the member states' values of indicator in connection with operation of its Net-Enabled Waste Management Database system. In this paper, the basis for introducing the indicators into the radioactive waste management was analyzed, and calculation methodology and standard assessment procedure were simply depicted. According to the proposed standard procedure, the indicators for some countries including Korea were calculated and compared, by use of each country's radioactive waste management framework and its practices. In addition, a series of measures increasing the values of the indicators was derived so as to enhance the sustainability of domestic radioactive waste management program

  16. Sustainable management measures for healthcare waste in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Yang; Li Peijun; Lupi, Carlo; Sun Yangzhao; Xu Diandou; Feng Qian; Fu Shasha

    2009-01-01

    This paper discusses actions aimed at sustainable management of healthcare wastes (HCW) in China, taking into account the current national situation in this field, as well as the requirements deriving from the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the WHO recommendations. By the end of 2005, there were 149 low-standard HCW disposal facilities in operation in China, distributed throughout different areas. According to the National Hazardous Waste and Healthcare Waste Disposal Facility Construction Plan, 331 modern, high-standard, centralized facilities will be built up in China in municipal level cities. Although incineration is still the main technical option for HCW disposal in China, it is expected that, especially for medium and small size facilities, non-incineration technologies will develop quickly and will soon become the main technical option. The basic management needs - both from the point of view of pollution control and final disposal - have been defined, and a system of technical and environmental standards has been formulated and implemented; however, there are still some shortages. This is particularly true when considering the best available techniques and best environmental practices developed under the Stockholm Convention, with which the present technological and managing situations are not completely compliant. In this framework, the lifecycle (from generation to final disposal of wastes) of HCW and holistic approaches (technology verification, facilities operation, environmental supervision, environmental monitoring, training system, financial mechanism, etc.) towards HCW management are the most important criteria for the sustainable and reliable management of HCW in China.

  17. Forest Management Challenges for Sustaining Water Resources in the Anthropocene

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ge Sun

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The Earth has entered the Anthropocene epoch that is dominated by humans who demand unprecedented quantities of goods and services from forests. The science of forest hydrology and watershed management generated during the past century provides a basic understanding of relationships among forests and water and offers management principles that maximize the benefits of forests for people while sustaining watershed ecosystems. However, the rapid pace of changes in climate, disturbance regimes, invasive species, human population growth, and land use expected in the 21st century is likely to create substantial challenges for watershed management that may require new approaches, models, and best management practices. These challenges are likely to be complex and large scale, involving a combination of direct and indirect biophysical watershed responses, as well as socioeconomic impacts and feedbacks. We discuss the complex relationships between forests and water in a rapidly changing environment, examine the trade-offs and conflicts between water and other resources, and propose new management approaches for sustaining water resources in the Anthropocene.

  18. Evaluating sustainable water quality management in the U.S.: Urban, Agricultural, and Environmental Protection Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Oel, P. R.; Alfredo, K. A.; Russo, T. A.

    2015-12-01

    Sustainable water management typically emphasizes water resource quantity, with focus directed at availability and use practices. When attention is placed on sustainable water quality management, the holistic, cross-sector perspective inherent to sustainability is often lost. Proper water quality management is a critical component of sustainable development practices. However, sustainable development definitions and metrics related to water quality resilience and management are often not well defined; water quality is often buried in large indicator sets used for analysis, and the policy regulating management practices create sector specific burdens for ensuring adequate water quality. In this research, we investigated the methods by which water quality is evaluated through internationally applied indicators and incorporated into the larger idea of "sustainability." We also dissect policy's role in the distribution of responsibility with regard to water quality management in the United States through evaluation of three broad sectors: urban, agriculture, and environmental water quality. Our research concludes that despite a growing intention to use a single system approach for urban, agricultural, and environmental water quality management, one does not yet exist and is even hindered by our current policies and regulations. As policy continues to lead in determining water quality and defining contamination limits, new regulation must reconcile the disparity in requirements for the contaminators and those performing end-of-pipe treatment. Just as the sustainable development indicators we researched tried to integrate environmental, economic, and social aspects without skewing focus to one of these three categories, policy cannot continue to regulate a single sector of society without considering impacts to the entire watershed and/or region. Unequal distribution of the water pollution burden creates disjointed economic growth, infrastructure development, and policy

  19. Management of crop residues for sustainable crop production. Results of a co-ordinated research project 1996-2001

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-05-01

    Since ancient times, farmers have recognized the importance of organic matter inputs to enhance crop yields. Organic matter contributes to plant growth through beneficial effects on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil, including (i) provision of a carbon and energy source for soil microbes, (ii) improvement of soil aggregation, thus reducing the hazard of erosion, (iii) retaining of nutrients and water, (iv) provision of nutrients through decomposition, and (v) reduction of soil compaction. The amount of soil organic matter is controlled by the balance between additions of plant and animal materials and losses by decomposition. Both additions and losses are directly affected by management practices. This CRP supported national efforts in eleven Member States to identify options managing crop residues for sustainable agricultural production and environmental preservation in a wide range of soils and cropping systems. Various options for the recycling of crop residues that are sustainable and economically attractive to farmers were examined using isotopic techniques. The specific options of this CRP were: to increase the quantity of nutrients available to crops from organic sources and for more effective recycling of those nutrients; to enhance the efficiency of use of nutrients by crops, and minimize losses through improved synchrony between process-level understanding of carbon and nutrient flow through the use of isotopic techniques so that management recommendations can be extrapolated to a wide range of environments using models. A simple mathematical model, descriptive in nature, was developed to synthesize information collected from all experimental sites, allowing comparisons between treatments and sites. Most of the fertilizer N was lost during the first cropping season and only insignificant losses occurred in the following seasons. The losses of N from applied fertilizer ranged from 45 to 85% irrespective of crop

  20. Nuclear waste management and sustainable development: the complexity of a decision in a controversial universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Dars, A.

    2002-01-01

    This PhD dissertation intends to demonstrate in what extent the concept of sustainable development applied to nuclear waste management requires a novel scientific approach. High-level and long-lived radioactive waste management needs to make decisions in taking into account multiple dimensions, characterised by uncertainty, irreversibility, and long term, and which are much debated. These scientific controversies often induce social conflicts due to the divergence in stakeholders point of views, values or interests. Therefore, nuclear waste management in a sustainable development constitutes a complex decision-making problem. This thesis focuses on high-level and long-lived radioactive waste management in the French context because this country is confronted with the most severe conflicts. Researches are operating in the 30 December 1991 law framework, and in 2006 a Parliament decision could be made concerning the choice of a long-term nuclear waste management solution. This survey studies in what extent economics can open to other scientific disciplines in using evaluation tools and decision-making procedures which better integrate several conflicting criteria. This work deals with the criticism of the epistemological and methodological foundations of economic evaluation, notably in questioning the realism of its hypothesis, and a qualitative survey directly made close to stakeholders goes deeper into the analysis of their complex relationships. The first part of this thesis puts in evidence the complexity of a sustainable nuclear waste management. Chapter 1 shows that sustainable nuclear waste management is a health and ecological problem irreducible to a technical solution, and Chapter 2 explains why sustainable nuclear waste management constitutes a social choice problem irreducible to an economic evaluation. The second part of this thesis shows that a concerted decision-making process seems to be a good procedure to overcome this complexity. Chapter 3 analyses

  1. Land degradation causes and sustainable land management practices in southern Jordan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khresat, Saeb

    2014-05-01

    Jordan is one of the world's most water-deficit countries with only about 4% of the total land area considered arable. As a consequence agricultural production is greatly constrained by limited natural resources. Therefore, a major challenge for the country is to promote the sustainable use of natural resources for agricultural purposes. This challenge is being made harder by the ongoing processes of degradation due to increased population pressure, which undermine any social and economic development gains. In the southern plains of Jordan, sustainability of farming practices has worsened in the past three decades, exacerbating pressure on land and increasing land degradation processes. Non-sustainable land use practices include improper ploughing, inappropriate rotations, inadequate or inexistent management of plant residues, overgrazing of natural vegetation, random urbanization, land fragmentation and over-pumping of groundwater. The root cause is the high population growth which exerts excessive pressure on the natural resources to meet increased food and income demand. The poorest farmers who are increasingly growing cereals on marginal areas. Wheat and barley are now grown with little to no rotation, with no nutrient replenishment, and at places avoiding even fallow. Small landholding sizes and topographic features of the area tend to oblige longitudinal mechanized tillage operations along the slopes. Overall, the constraints facing the deprived land users such as, poor access to technology, capital and organization are the factors that lead into unsustainable practices. The main bottlenecks and barriers that hinder mainstreaming of sustainable land management in Jordan can be grouped into three main categories: (i) Knowledge, (ii) Institutional and Governance, and (iii) Economic and Financial. In this case study, the key challenge was to create a knowledge base among local stakeholders - including planners, extension officers, NGO/community leaders, teachers

  2. A Risk Management Approach for a Sustainable Cloud Migration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alifah Aida Lope Abdul Rahman

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Cloud computing is not just about resource sharing, cost savings and optimisation of business performance; it also involves fundamental concerns on how businesses need to respond on the risks and challenges upon migration. Managing risks is critical for a sustainable cloud adoption. It includes several dimensions such as cost, practising the concept of green IT, data quality, continuity of services to users and clients, guarantee tangible benefits. This paper presents a risk management approach for a sustainable cloud migration. We consider four dimensions of sustainability, i.e., economic, environmental, social and technology to determine the viability of cloud for the business context. The risks are systematically identified and analysed based on the existing in house controls and the cloud service provider offerings. We use Dempster Shafer (D-S theory to measure the adequacy of controls and apply semi-quantitative approach to perform risk analysis based on the theory of belief. The risk exposure for each sustainability dimension allows us to determine the viability of cloud migration. A practical migration use case is considered to determine the applicability of our work. The results identify the risk exposure and recommended control for the risk mitigation. We conclude that risks depend on specific migration case and both Cloud Service Provider (CSP and users are responsible for the risk mitigation. Inherent risks can evolve due to the cloud migration.

  3. The sustainable management of a productive natural capital

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Daubanes, Julien Xavier

    is relevant, among other examples, to the case of naturebased tourism. I study the sustainable management of a productive natural capital: the conditions under which its exploitation generates maximum long-run social benefits; the various ways in which a regulator can implement such an exploitation; the rent...

  4. Sustainable Water Management under Climate Change in Small ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Sustainable Water Management under Climate Change in Small Island States of the Caribbean. In the Caribbean islands, climate change is affecting freshwater availability and other ecosystem services in complex ways. For example, freshwater supply is diminished by droughts and affected by saline intrusion due to sea ...

  5. The Sustainable Management of a Tourism Destination in Ireland: A Focus on County Clare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aine CONAGHAN

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Tourism destination management has significant importance in controlling many impacts of tourism, thus insuring its sustainability. Destination management requires the integration of different planning tools, approaches and concepts that help shape the management and daily operation of tourism related activities. This study examines the sustainable management of a tourism destination, focusing on County Clare, Ireland. Qualitative interviews were conducted with tourism stakeholders. Additionally a theoretical framework incorporating the various elements that emerged from the theory was also utilised to examine existing tourism strategies and plans. Stakeholders all agreed it would be an advantage to have a Destination Management Office (DMO lead that would coordinate destination management. However, it was found many tourism visions lack consistency and a timeframe with only a few addressing sustainability itself. Also the multiple regulations and guidelines identified by the framework were not communicated effectively to both stakeholders and policy makers when managing tourism in County Clare.

  6. Annual variations in seed yield and implications for multiple use of crabwood

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helio Tonini

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to evaluate the annual variation in seed yield of crabwood, and discuss implications for multiple use management of the species. Data were collected in a forest area in the southern of Roraima State in a permanent plot of 9 ha (300 m x 300 m with a natural population of crabwood. Seed production was monitored of 115 trees during four years. Seed yield varied among years. May to July was the period of bigger yield. Few trees (22.6% concentrated the bigger part of seeds yield (80.7% and the most productive trees had diameter at 1.30 m above ground level between 40 cm - 70 cm. Therefore we recommend 70 cm as minimum cutting diameter for wood exploitation. For sustainable crabwood seed management we recommend to restrict seed collection from the most productive trees and only during the period of maximum seed dispersal.

  7. Sustainable rice production in the Muda area of Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ho Nai Kin; Foong Kam Chong; Kamarudin Dahuli

    2002-01-01

    The Green Revolution has generated both positive as well as negative effects on the rice agroecosystem in the Muda area. The major obstacles to sustainable rice production are water shortage, natural hazards, disease epidemics, pest outbreaks, urban and industrial development, as well as structural changes in the farming community. The Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) has adopted a proactive approach in addressing these problems. The improvement in management in the Muda area comprises the following strategies: i) Improvement in water use efficiency through intensification of tertiary irrigation systems, ii) Optimisation of drainage water utilisation through recycling, iii) Establishment of a Management Information System to support operational decisions, iv) Conservation of catchment vegetation for sustainable water resources, v) Implementation of Integrated Pest Management programmes, vi) Mobilisation of farmers in dynamic group activities, vii) Integration of farmers participatory experiments in the extension programmes. The above mentioned approaches have contributed to the attainment of high cropping intensity yield enhancement, and sustainability of rice production in the Muda area. (Author)

  8. Major ecosystems in China: dynamics and challenges for sustainable management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lü, Yihe; Fu, Bojie; Wei, Wei; Yu, Xiubo; Sun, Ranhao

    2011-07-01

    Ecosystems, though impacted by global environmental change, can also contribute to the adaptation and mitigation of such large scale changes. Therefore, sustainable ecosystem management is crucial in reaching a sustainable future for the biosphere. Based on the published literature and publicly accessible data, this paper discussed the status and trends of forest, grassland, and wetland ecosystems in China that play important roles in the ecological integrity and human welfare of the nation. Ecological degradation has been observed in these ecosystems at various levels and geographic locations. Biophysical (e.g., climate change) and socioeconomic factors (e.g., intensive human use) are the main reasons for ecosystem degradation with the latter factors serving as the dominant driving forces. The three broad categories of ecosystems in China have partially recovered from degradation thanks to large scale ecological restoration projects implemented in the last few decades. China, as the largest and most populated developing nation, still faces huge challenges regarding ecosystem management in a changing and globalizing world. To further improve ecosystem management in China, four recommendations were proposed, including: (1) advance ecosystem management towards an application-oriented, multidisciplinary science; (2) establish a well-functioning national ecological monitoring and data sharing mechanism; (3) develop impact and effectiveness assessment approaches for policies, plans, and ecological restoration projects; and (4) promote legal and institutional innovations to balance the intrinsic needs of ecological and socioeconomic systems. Any change in China's ecosystem management approach towards a more sustainable one will benefit the whole world. Therefore, international collaborations on ecological and environmental issues need to be expanded.

  9. Beyond Magnet® Designation: Perspectives From Nurse Managers on Factors of Sustainability and High-Performance Programming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayden, Margaret A; Wolf, Gail A; Zedreck-Gonzalez, Judith F

    2016-10-01

    The aim of this study was to identify patterns of high-performing behaviors and nurse manager perceptions of the factors of Magnet® sustainability at a multidesignated Magnet organization. The Magnet program recognizes exemplary professional nursing practice and is challenging to achieve and sustain. Only 10% (n = 42) of Magnet hospitals sustained designation for 12 years or longer. This study explored the perspectives of Magnet nurse managers regarding high-performing teams and the sustainability of Magnet designation. A qualitative study of nurse managers was conducted at 1 multidesignated Magnet organization (n = 13). Interview responses were analyzed using pattern recognition of Magnet model domains and characteristics of high-performing teams and then related to factors of Magnet sustainability. Transformational leadership is both an essential factor for sustainability and a potential barrier to sustainability of Magnet designation. Transformational nursing leaders lead high-performing teams and should be in place at all levels as an essential factor in sustaining Magnet redesignation.

  10. Integrated Nutrient and Water Management for Sustainable Food ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Integrated Nutrient and Water Management for Sustainable Food Production in the Sahel (CIFSRF). In the Sahel, agricultural production is strictly limited by drought and low soil fertility. In 2005 and 2010, these two factors led to food scarcity in Niger. However, innovative technologies such as microdose fertilization ...

  11. Specification aggregate quarry expansion: a case study demonstrating sustainable management of natural aggregate resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langer, William H.; Tucker, M.L.

    2003-01-01

    Many countries, provinces, territories, or states in the European Union, Australia, Canada, the United States, and elsewhere have begun implementing sustainability programs, but most of those programs stop short of sustainable management of aggregate resources. Sustainable practices do not always have to be conducted under the title of sustainability. This case study describes how Lafarge, a large multinational construction materials supplier, implemented the principles of sustainability even though there was an absence of existing local government policies or procedures addressing sustainable resource management. Jefferson County, Colorado, USA, is one of three counties in the six-county Denver, Colorado, region that has potentially available sources of crushed stone. Crushed stone comprises 30 percent of the aggregate produced in the area and plays a major role in regional aggregate resource needs. Jefferson County is home to four of the five crushed stone operations in the Denver region. Lafarge operates one of those four quarries. Lafarge recently proposed to expand its reserves by exchanging company-owned land for existing dedicated open space land adjacent to their quarry but owned by Jefferson County. A similar proposal submitted about 10 years earlier had been denied. Contrary to the earlier proposal, which was predicated on public relations, the new proposal was predicated on public trust. Although not explicitly managed under the moniker of sustainability, Lafarge used basic management principles that embody the tenets of sustainability. To achieve the goals of sustainable aggregate management where no governmental policies existed, Lafarge not only assumed their role of being a responsible corporate and environmental member of the community, but also assumed the role of facilitator to encourage and enable other stakeholders to responsibly resolve legitimate concerns regarding the Lafarge quarry proposal. Lafarge successfully presented an enlightened

  12. Climate change and maize yield in southern Africa: what can farm management do?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rurinda, Jairos; van Wijk, Mark T; Mapfumo, Paul; Descheemaeker, Katrien; Supit, Iwan; Giller, Ken E

    2015-12-01

    There is concern that food insecurity will increase in southern Africa due to climate change. We quantified the response of maize yield to projected climate change and to three key management options - planting date, fertilizer use and cultivar choice - using the crop simulation model, agricultural production systems simulator (APSIM), at two contrasting sites in Zimbabwe. Three climate periods up to 2100 were selected to cover both near- and long-term climates. Future climate data under two radiative forcing scenarios were generated from five global circulation models. The temperature is projected to increase significantly in Zimbabwe by 2100 with no significant change in mean annual total rainfall. When planting before mid-December with a high fertilizer rate, the simulated average grain yield for all three maize cultivars declined by 13% for the periods 2010-2039 and 2040-2069 and by 20% for 2070-2099 compared with the baseline climate, under low radiative forcing. Larger declines in yield of up to 32% were predicted for 2070-2099 with high radiative forcing. Despite differences in annual rainfall, similar trends in yield changes were observed for the two sites studied, Hwedza and Makoni. The yield response to delay in planting was nonlinear. Fertilizer increased yield significantly under both baseline and future climates. The response of maize to mineral nitrogen decreased with progressing climate change, implying a decrease in the optimal fertilizer rate in the future. Our results suggest that in the near future, improved crop and soil fertility management will remain important for enhanced maize yield. Towards the end of the 21st century, however, none of the farm management options tested in the study can avoid large yield losses in southern Africa due to climate change. There is a need to transform the current cropping systems of southern Africa to offset the negative impacts of climate change. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Sustainable supply chain management implementation-enablers and barriers in the textile industry

    OpenAIRE

    Oelze, Nelly

    2017-01-01

    The distinct definition of accordance in the perceived barriers and enablers for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) policy implementation has been the subject of various research studies, but a distinct focus on the textile sector has been the object of limited previous attention. However, it has been found that it affects the approach to developments in company approaches to sustainable supply chain management within that industry. This article presents the results of an in-depth com...

  14. Dependence of the endangered black-capped vireo on sustained cowbird management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conservation-reliant species depend on active management for sustained protection from persistent threats. For species that are listed as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, being conservation-reliant means that they require continued management even ...

  15. Sustainable forest management in Poland – theory and practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kruk Hanna

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The conception of sustainable development has been implemented into practice in numerous economic sectors, including forestry. Forest ecosystems are extremely important in the global ecological system, therefore maintenance and appropriate management of forest resources according to sustainable development principles have engaged a great deal of attention. The concept of sustainable forest management (SFM encompasses three dimensions: ecological, economic and social. A powerful tool to promote SFM are criteria and indicators. The aim of the article was evaluation of SFM in Poland, using one of the methods proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO. According to data available, Polish forestry has a number of advantages: Poland has avoided the problem of deforestation, forest area has been permanently increasing, there has been observed improvement of forest health and vitality as well as a significant share of forests has carried out protective functions with no impact on timber production. Poland’s model of SFM is an adaptive process of balancing the ever-changing set of economic, environmental and social expectations. Such a complicated undertaking requires constant assessing and adjusting forest practices, in response to new circumstances, scientific advances and societal input

  16. Integrated Systems Health Management for Sustainable Habitats (Using Sustainability Base as a Testbed)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Rodney A.

    2017-01-01

    Habitation systems provide a safe place for astronauts to live and work in space and on planetary surfaces. They enable crews to live and work safely in deep space, and include integrated life support systems, radiation protection, fire safety, and systems to reduce logistics and the need for resupply missions. Innovative health management technologies are needed in order to increase the safety and mission-effectiveness for future space habitats on other planets, asteroids, or lunar surfaces. For example, off-nominal or failure conditions occurring in safety-critical life support systems may need to be addressed quickly by the habitat crew without extensive technical support from Earth due to communication delays. If the crew in the habitat must manage, plan and operate much of the mission themselves, operations support must be migrated from Earth to the habitat. Enabling monitoring, tracking, and management capabilities on-board the habitat and related EVA platforms for a small crew to use will require significant automation and decision support software.Traditional caution and warning systems are typically triggered by out-of-bounds sensor values, but can be enhanced by including machine learning and data mining techniques. These methods aim to reveal latent, unknown conditions while still retaining and improving the ability to provide highly accurate alerts for known issues. A few of these techniques will briefly described, along with performance targets for known faults and failures. Specific system health management capabilities required for habitat system elements (environmental control and life support systems, etc.) may include relevant subsystems such as water recycling systems, photovoltaic systems, electrical power systems, and environmental monitoring systems. Sustainability Base, the agency's flagship LEED-platinum certified green building acts as a living laboratory for testing advanced information and sustainable technologies that provides an

  17. Levee Setbacks: An Innovative, Cost Effective, and Sustainable Solution for Improved Flood Risk management

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-06-30

    ER D C/ EL S R- 17 -3 Levee Setbacks: An Innovative , Cost-Effective, and Sustainable Solution for Improved Flood Risk Management En vi...EL SR-17-3 June 2017 Levee Setbacks: An Innovative , Cost-Effective, and Sustainable Solution for Improved Flood Risk Management David L. Smith...alternative view point is necessary. ERDC/EL SR-17-3 4 Levee setbacks are a relatively recent innovation in Corps flood risk management practice

  18. Using Quality Management as a Bridge in Educating for Sustainability in a Business School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusinko, Cathy A.

    2005-01-01

    Purpose: To demonstrate how quality management (QM), a widely accepted management paradigm, can be used to advance education for sustainability in the business curriculum. Design/methodology/approach: The assumptions of QM and environmental sustainability are explored. A class exercise is developed that uses QM tools--and in particular, Deming's…

  19. Sustainable Supply Chain Management Programs in the 21st Century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neureuther, Brian D.; O'Neill, Kevin

    2011-01-01

    One of the most difficult challenges for an undergraduate supply chain management program at smaller universities is to create an environment of sustainability. Supply chain management is not at the tip of tongue for many graduating high school students and few undergraduate curriculums require a course in the content area. This research addresses…

  20. Crop rotation in the Valle Calido del Alto Magdalena a sustainable focus of high yield

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alfaro Rodriguez, Ricardo; Maria Caicedo, Antonio; Amezquita Collazos, Edgar; Castro Franco, Hugo Eduardo

    1996-01-01

    Experiments were carried out during five years at the Nataima Research Center, located at 431 m.a.s.l, with average temperature of 28 Celsius degrades and annual rainfall of 1274 Boyaca mm, on a soil classified as Arenic Haplustalf, to evaluate different crops rotation based on rice and sorghum; the combinations used were as follows; rice-rice (R-R), rice-- soybean (R-SY), rice-crotalaria-sorghum (R-C-S), sorghum-sorghum (S-S), sorghum-soybean (S-SY) and cotton-sorghum (Al-S). Simultaneously it was evaluated the response to four nitrogen levels, which allowed to find out yield functions and optimum economical. The rotations S-SY, R-SY and AI-S have been the best qualified from an environmental perspective. Sorghum-soybean rotation presents increases in yield compared with expected values, which allows thinking that it is a truly sustainable rotation. This rotation also had an excellent profitability and for that reason is considered the best option within the goals of this work

  1. From conventional drainage to sustainable stormwater management: Beyond the technical challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goulden, Shula; Portman, Michelle E; Carmon, Naomi; Alon-Mozes, Tal

    2018-08-01

    Countries and cities are increasingly recognizing the value of adopting Sustainable Stormwater Management (SSWM) goals and measures. SSWM serves multiple hydrological, ecological, social and economic goals and can replace substantial parts of conventional drainage infrastructure. Following international experience in the socio-technical nature of transitions in stormwater management, this research investigates how socio-institutional factors enable the transition from conventional to sustainable stormwater management over time. The research is based on analysing available relevant documents, semi-structured interviews and focus groups, all in a single country case study (Israel). We found significant changes in professional awareness and discourse, some advances in professional standards of work and changes to the regulative system, supporting infiltration practices in particular. We concluded that the three-pillared socio-institutional framework, composed of cultural-cognitive, normative and regulative changes, was insightful for mapping factors supporting transition from conventional drainage to SSWM. Elements within the three pillars can work simultaneously and synergistically to achieve widespread change. At the same time, while SSWM always strives to achieve multiple goals, the order of priority of the various goals may differ from place to place and may change over time. Thus the transition process across the socio-institutional pillars should be renewed if and when the priority of goals changes. The urban and regional planning system can play a crucial role in enhancing the transition process from conventional to sustainable stormwater management. These conclusions may be relevant to other localities and countries that are struggling with such transitions to sustainability. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Sustainable Management of Natural Resources for Socio-Economic ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper studies sustainable management of natural resources for socio economic development in Imo state. This it does with the aim to determine the extent to which the exploration and exploitation of natural resources has affected the ecological and environmental conditions of the area. The research also tends to ...

  3. Slope Controls Grain Yield and Climatic Yield in Mountainous Yunnan province, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duan, X.; Rong, L.; Gu, Z.; Feng, D.

    2017-12-01

    Mountainous regions are increasingly vulnerable to food insecurity because of limited arable land, growing population pressure, and climate change. Development of sustainable mountain agriculture will require an increased understanding of the effects of environmental factors on grain and climatic yields. The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between actual grain yield, climatic yield, and environmental factors in a mountainous region in China. We collected data on the average grain yield per unit area in 119 counties in Yunnan province from 1985 to 2012, and chose 17 environmental factors for the same period. Our results showed that actual grain yield ranged from 1.43 to 6.92 t·ha-1, and the climatic yield ranged from -0.15 to -0.01 t·ha-1. Lower climatic yield but higher grain yield was generally found in central areas and at lower slopes and elevations in the western and southwestern counties of Yunnan province. Higher climatic yield but lower grain yield were found in northwestern parts of Yunnan province on steep slopes. Annual precipation and temperature had a weak influence on the climatic yield. Slope explained 44.62 and 26.29% of the variation in grain yield and climatic yield. The effects of topography on grain and climatic yields were greater than climatic factors. Slope was the most important environmental variable for the variability in climatic and grain yields in the mountainous Yunnan province due to the highly heterogeneous topographic conditions. Conversion of slopes to terraces in areas with higher climatic yields is an effective way to maintain grain production in response to climate variability. Additionally, soil amendments and soil and water conservation measures should be considered to maintain soil fertility and aid in sustainable development in central areas, and in counties at lower slopes and elevations in western and southwestern Yunnan province.

  4. Ecosystem-management-based Management Models of Fast-growing and High-yield Plantation and Its Eco-economic Benefits Analysis

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    无

    2010-01-01

    The paper expounded the basic concept and principles of ecosystem management,and analyzed the state and trend of industrial plantation ecosystem management in other countries.Based on the analysis of typical case studies,the eco-economic benefits were evaluated for the management models of fast-growing and high-yield plantations.

  5. Effect of genotype and applied management on alfalfa yield and quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milić Dragan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available It is essential to apply advanced management for successful production of alfalfa hay with premium quality (high content of protein and minerals. The maximum yield and the best quality of alfalfa in Serbia can be obtained by cutting four or five times per year. In alfalfa stands, use of cutting system with three cuts per year is inefficient and does not allow full exploitation of cultivar genetic potential and environmental conditions. It is possible, and economically beneficial to grow alfalfa on pseudoglay soils after application of lime and organic manure, with recommended rates 2.5 t ha-1 lime and 30 t ha-1 manure. Cutting alfalfa at the beginning of flowering stage (5 cuts per year provides hay with better quality - higher content of crude protein and lower portion of fibre fractions (neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin, and there is no reduction in dry matter yield. There is no differences in alfalfa quality after application of lower (2.5 t ha-1 and higher dose (5.0 t ha-1 of lime + 30 t ha-1 of organic manure, but there is significant increase of dry matter yield and protein yield per hectare followed by higher level of metabolic energy per unit area. Upon the results of this study, base of successful alfalfa production would be to develop management system and cultivars for different environments that would maximize hay yields without significant loses of quality.

  6. Purchasing & supply management for a sustainable world: Introduction to the IPSERA 2013 conference special issue

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johnsen, T. E.; Giannakis, M.; Miemczyk, J.

    2014-01-01

    Special issue of best papers of the 22nd annual IPSERA conference 2013: Purchasing & Supply Management for a Sustainable World......Special issue of best papers of the 22nd annual IPSERA conference 2013: Purchasing & Supply Management for a Sustainable World...

  7. Role of varieties in sustainable rice production in Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Othman Omar; Saad Abdullah

    2002-01-01

    Rice is the staple food of Malaysians. Rice production in Malaysia is concentrated in granary areas, which are provided with irrigation facilities. There is no plan to increase the size or the number of these granary areas, thus productivity per unit area must be increased to sustain the current level of self-sufficiency. Variety determines the potential productivity; environment and crop management determine how much of this potential is realized. Crop management is very important, as any drop in the level of management will effect productivity. However there are characteristics / factors that can be incorporated into varieties which can buffer the effect of environment and crop management. Pests and diseases can result in severe yield loss and lead to non-sustainable production. Varietal resistance to some of these diseases can be incorporated into rice varieties. Active breeding to incorporate rice resistance to blast, PMV (tungro), bacterial blight and brown planthopper is being currently carried out Factors that determine or justify the active breeding status are: importance of Oe pests diseases, resistance sources and the availability of efficient screening procedure. Sheath blight is also an important disease in direct seeded crops as it can cause severe yield loss, but good resistant sources are not available for incorporation and the screening procedure is also not very efficient. Biotechnologists are working hard to introduce resistance from other crops and also develop other resistance mechanisms for sheath blight. Water, shortage or excess, is a major cause of non-sustainable production. The breeding of short-term varieties can overcome water problems or shortages. Negative interaction between varietal characteristics and environment do occur. Finally farmers have to decide which factors of the environment cannot be easily controlled, and choose the correct varieties in order to achieve sustainable production. (Author)

  8. Sensitivity of TRIM projections to management, harvest, yield, and stocking adjustment assumptions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susan J. Alexander

    1991-01-01

    The Timber Resource Inventory Model (TRIM) was used to make several projections of forest industry timber supply for the Douglas-fir region. The sensitivity of these projections to assumptions about management and yields is discussed. A base run is compared to runs in which yields were altered, stocking adjustment was eliminated, harvest assumptions were changed, and...

  9. Evaluation of sustainable supply chain risk management using an integrated fuzzy TOPSIS- CRITIC approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rostamzadeh, Reza; Ghorabaee, Mehdi Keshavarz; Govindan, Kannan

    2018-01-01

    Supply chain risk management research has mainly mistreated the important of sustainability issues. Moreover, there is little knowledge about sustainable management of risk and supply chain and the way they impose losses for firms. Risk management's duty in the supply chain is to identify, analyze......, and provide solutions for accountability, control and monitor the risks in the economic and production cycle. This study aims to develop a framework for the sustainable supply chain risk management (SSCRM) evaluation. To this end, an integrated fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach is proposed...... based on the technique in order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and criteria importance through inter-criteria correlation (CRITIC) methods. The literature was reviewed and the potential criteria were identified. Through an expert panel the criteria were filtered. Seven main...

  10. Institutional Sustainability Barriers of Community Conservation Agreement as a Collaboration Management in Lore Lindu National Park

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudirman Daeng Massiri

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The main problem of forest institutional arrangement is the issue of institutional sustainability in achieving sustainable forest ecosystem. This study aimed to explain the barriers of institutional sustainability Community Conservation Agreement (CCA designed in Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP, in Indonesia, as a collaborative management of national parks. This study is of descriptive which used qualitative approach, i.e. asking open-ended questions, reviewing documentation and analyzing textual of community conservation agreements. We found that the institutional sustainability barriers of CCA were the local decisions on collective-choice level and that the rules at operational level arranged in CCA were not in line with formal rules of national park management at the constitutional level. Furthermore, the low capacity of local institutions in heterogeneous villages with many migrants in controlling and regulating the forest use, especially in rehabilitation zone areas, also became a barrier to institutional sustainability of CCA. Therefore, institutional sustainability of CCA requires support of national park management policy that accommodates the sustainability of livelihoods of local communities in national parks, strengthening local institution's capacity, and ultimately integrating institution of CCA as part of LLNP management.

  11. Sustainable management of natural forests in pantanal region, Brazil.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia Póvoa de Mattos

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available The Pantanal region in Brazil has an area of 140,000 km², with approximately 30 % of natural forests distributed as deciduous, semideciduous, and forested savannas. The subregion of Nhecolandia represents 19 % of this area. There is constant concern about the sustainability of these forested areas, as there is a constant demand for wood for farm maintenance, mainly for making fence poles. The objective of this article is to indicate sustainable forest management practices in the Pantanal region of Nhecolandia. The methodology of this novel approach consisted of the recovery and organization of the available information to calculate the sustainable allowable cut per hectare, considering: cutting cycle, wood stock, periodic annual increment (PAI in percentage of volume from the commercial or interesting species and the stand structure. For forested savannas, the diameter at breast height (DBH of 529 trees per hectare were estimated as follows: 28 % with a DBH lower than 10 cm, 36 % from 10 to 20 cm, 21 % from 20 to 30 cm, 10 % from 30 to 40 cm and only 4 % greater than 40 cm. The estimated total volume per hectare was 84.2 m³ and the estimated basal area was 18.6 m². The forested areas of the Pantanal region present potential for sustainable use. However, due to regional characteristics and the lack of available information, an enhancement in research is recommended to establish a basic management guide to ensure its perpetuation for future generations.

  12. Quantitative models for sustainable supply chain management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brandenburg, M.; Govindan, Kannan; Sarkis, J.

    2014-01-01

    and directions of this research area, this paper provides a content analysis of 134 carefully identified papers on quantitative, formal models that address sustainability aspects in the forward SC. It was found that a preponderance of the publications and models appeared in a limited set of six journals......Sustainability, the consideration of environmental factors and social aspects, in supply chain management (SCM) has become a highly relevant topic for researchers and practitioners. The application of operations research methods and related models, i.e. formal modeling, for closed-loop SCM...... and reverse logistics has been effectively reviewed in previously published research. This situation is in contrast to the understanding and review of mathematical models that focus on environmental or social factors in forward supply chains (SC), which has seen less investigation. To evaluate developments...

  13. Maize yield response to nitrogen as influenced by spatio-temporal variations of soil-water-topography dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reducing N loss from agricultural lands and applying N fertilizer at rates that satisfy both economic and environmental objectives is critical for sustainable agricultural management. This study investigated spatial variability in maize yield response to N and its controlling factors along a typical...

  14. sustainable management of nigeria's oil wealth: legal challenges ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    RAYAN_

    link that may exist between oil resource and economic development, there is the .... examine the impact of revenue allocation on the sustainable management of ... Nigeria, the biggest oil exporter with the largest natural gas reserves in. Africa24 and ..... Issues' (PhD dissertation, the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law Institute,.

  15. Exploring the effects of nitrogen fertilization management alternatives on nitrate loss and crop yields in tile-drained fields in Illinois.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Hanseok; Bhattarai, Rabin

    2018-05-01

    It is vital to manage the excessive use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer in corn production, the single largest consumer of N fertilizer in the United States, in order to achieve more sustainable agroecosystems. This study comprehensively explored the effects of N fertilization alternatives on nitrate loss and crop yields using the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM) in tile-drained fields in central Illinois. The RZWQM was tested for the prediction of tile flow, nitrate loss, and crop yields using eight years (1993-2000) of observed data and showed satisfactory model performances from statistical and graphical evaluations. Our model simulations demonstrated the maximum return to nitrogen (MRTN) rate (193 kgha -1 ), a newly advised N recommendation by the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (INLRS), can be further reduced. Nitrate loss was reduced by 10.3% and 29.8%, but corn yields decreased by 0.3% and 1.9% at 156 and 150 kgha -1 of N fertilizer rate in the study sites A and E, respectively. Although adjustment of N fertilization timing presented a further reduction in nitrate loss, there was no optimal timing to ensure nitrate loss reduction and corn productivity. For site A, 100% spring application was the most productive and 40% fall, 10% pre-plant, and 50% side dress application generated the lowest nitrate loss. For site E, the conventional N application timing was verified as the best practice in both corn production and nitrate loss reduction. Compared to surface broadcast placement, injected N fertilizer in spring increased corn yield, but may also escalate nitrate loss. This study presented the need of an adaptive N fertilizer management due to the heterogeneity in agricultural systems, and raised the importance of timing and placement of N fertilizer, as well as further reduction in fertilizer rate to devise a better in-field N management practice. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Environmental and legislative drivers for sustainable music festival management : why Finnish music festivals should "go green"

    OpenAIRE

    Okolo-Kulak, Aleksandra

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate why Finnish music festivals should "go green". The research was conducted from the aspect of environmental and legal drivers for sustainability. Academic sources on event management, sustainability as well as sustainable event management (SEM) were used to collect information on the subject. Furthermore, secondary sources were used to grasp a deep understanding on the environmental issues as well as legislative drivers for sustainability. The r...

  17. An Integrated Diagnostic Framework to Manage Organization Sustainable Growth: An Empirical Case

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jingxiao Zhang

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to develop a quantitative diagnostic framework by combining the Weisbord six-box model with the growth management model to focus on an organization’s internally driven sustainable management system. The research adopted an instrument developed by Preziosi and an extended Weisbord six-box model. The research employed a survey to collect 180 samples in a Chinese petrol company and applied the comparative method: (a the average score method; and (b the entropy method to confirm the growth level of the company. The survey also attempted to identify corresponding top growth influence factors using the obstacle degree formula. The results showed that the integrated diagnostic framework worked well to diagnose a regional but large Chinese petroleum company. In other words, the research successfully quantified the growth position and top influence factors and helped put forward specific suggestions to drive the organization of sustainable development. The method confirmed this organization during the fourth phase of five phases. In addition, top influence factors hindering the internal growth were (a the lack of task engagement with energy and time; (b the lack of personal work units; and (c a poor division of labor for reaching sustainable growth rates. The research provides a generic theoretical framework support to incorporate growth management models into an organizational diagnosis to obtain sustainable growth. It further highlights and practices guidelines in examining actual growth management levels in companies and discusses top influence factors to design efficient management systems to pursue organizational growth in a multitude of industrial contexts.

  18. Yields of crops on a rhodic ferralsol in southern Brazil in relation to ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Even though no-tillage, crop rotation management systems have been accepted as useful for sustaining crop production, there is the need to identify which crops can be used for such rotations. This study evaluated the dry matter and grain yields of eight winter and two summer crops (maize, Zea mays L. and soybean, ...

  19. Sustainable waste management by production of activated carbon from agroforestry residues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victor Ntuli

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Agroforestry waste presents a problem for disposal and negatively impacts on the environment if left to rot or burn. The aim of this study was to reduce environmental problems associated with agroforestry waste by promoting the innovative use of such waste in the production of activated carbons (ACs using a low-cost production technique, and ultimately delivering more affordable water and effluent treatment adsorbents. Four varieties of ACs from four different agroforestry materials – pine (Pinus contorta cones (PC, Abies (Abies cilicica seeds (AS, maple (Acer ginnala seeds (MS and peach (Prunus persica stones (PS – were prepared by single-step steam pyrolysis and characterised. The raw materials were evaluated for AC yield while the respective ACs were evaluated on the basis of iodine number, phenol specific area, ash content, pH, moisture content and removal of metal ions, nitrates and sulphates from aqueous solution. The AC yields for PS, PC, AS and MS were found to be 23.0%, 18.0%, 17.8% and 14.6%, respectively. The yield for PS (23% is within the specified commercial limits of 20% to 40%. The phenol specific areas of the ACs ranged between 381 m2/g and 415 m2/g higher than the commercial lower limit (300 m2/g generally specified. The ACs also showed the capacity to remove heavy metal ions from their aqueous solutions. Removal of both nitrates and sulphates in raw water was greater than 50%. Although no quantitative analysis has been performed to date, it is envisaged that the production of AC from agroforestry wastes can contribute to the sustainable management of environmental pollution by these residues and the concomitant delivery of cheaper adsorbents.

  20. Sustainable sludge management in developing countries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jimenez, B.; Barrios, J.A.; Mendez, J.M.; Diaz, J.

    2003-07-01

    Worldwide, unsanitary conditions are responsible of more than three million deaths annually. One of the reasons is the low level of sanitation in developing countries. Particularly, sludge from these regions has a high parasite concentration and low heavy metal content even though the available information is limited. Different issues needed to achieve a sustainable sludge management in developing nations are analysed. Based on this analysis some conclusions arise: sludge management plays an important role in sanitation programs by helping reduce health problems and associated risks; investments in sanitation should consider sludge management within the overall projects; the main restriction for reusing sludge is the high microbial concentration, which requires a science-based decision of the treatment process, while heavy metals are generally low; the adequate sludge management needs the commitment of those sectors involved in the development and enforcement of the regulations as well as those that are directly related to its generation, treatment, reuse or disposal; current regulations have followed different approaches, based mainly on local conditions, but they favour sludge reuse to fight problems like soil degradation, reduced crop production, and the increased use of inorganic fertilizers. This paper summarises an overview of theses issues. (author)

  1. Transition management and the sustainable nutrients economy in the Netherlands: positioning paper

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoppe, Thomas; Arentsen, Maarten J.; Mikkila, M.; Linnanen, L.

    2012-01-01

    In this positioning paper transition management (TM) and the sustainable nutrient economy are addressed. We discuss TM from its scholarly origins in the 1990’s to its implementation as a comprehensive sector-wide policy program on sustainability in The Netherlands during the first decade of the

  2. Challenges for Sustainable Land Management through Climate-Smart Agriculture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dougill, Andrew; Stringer, Lindsay

    2017-04-01

    There are increasing pushes for agricultural land management to be both sustainable and climate-smart (in terms of increasing productivity, building resilience to climate change and enhancing carbon storage). Climate-smart agriculture initiatives include conservation agriculture, based on minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotation, and agroforestry. Such efforts address key international goals of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but as yet have not seen widespread uptake. Based on analyses of different project interventions from across a range of southern African countries, we outline the inter-related challenges that are preventing adoption of climate-smart agriculture initiatives. We then identify routes to building multi-stakeholder partnerships and empowering communities through participatory monitoring with the aim of increasing uptake of such sustainable land management practices. Good practice examples remain largely restricted to local-level project interventions with significant donor (or private-sector) support, aligned to short-term community priorities relating to access to inputs or reduced labour requirements. Scaling-up to district- and national-level initiatives is yet to be widely successful due to problems of: limited policy coherence; a lack of communication between stakeholders at different levels; and limited understanding of long-term benefits associated with changes in agricultural practices. We outline opportunities associated with improved communication of climate information, empowerment of district-level adaptation planning and diversification of agricultural livelihood strategies as key routes to guide farmers towards more sustainable, and climate-smart, land management practices. Recent experiences in Malawi, which has experienced significant floods and an El Niño drought year in the last two years, are used to

  3. Natural Resources Management and Food Security in the Context of Sustainable Development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    John, H.

    2011-01-01

    This paper elaborates on the inseparable link between sustain ability of natural resources and food security. A strategic framework that envisages conservation, improvement and sustainable uses of natural resources is proposed which meets the essential requirements for food security. Sustainability has traditionally been accepted as encompassing three dimensions, namely environment, economics and society but it is necessary to widen this approach for a more complete understanding of this term. Environmental degradation curtails ecosystem services, leading to impoverishment of vulnerable communities and insecurity. Food, whether derived from land or sea, is a product of complex environmental linkages, and biodiversity has a pivotal role to play in producing it. Technology, production methods and management requirements are different for food derived from land and sea, but essentially all foodstuffs utilize environmental resources whose sustain ability is crucial for food security. This analysis necessitates consideration of the basic concepts of sustainable development and food security, the strength of the link between these and differences in the patterns of sustainable management of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture. The growing role of genetically engineered organisms has been included because of the immense possibilities these offer for maximizing food production despite the environmental and ethical concerns raised. (author)

  4. Significance of social networks in sustainable land management in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Prof. Adipala Ekwamu

    multi-stakeholder Innovation Platforms (IPs) necessary for catalysing wide adoption of SLM innovations. This paper analyses the significance of SNs in sustainable land management (SLM), focusing on stakeholders' characteristics and their association among agricultural rural communities in central Ethiopia and eastern ...

  5. Assessment of management of a golf course by means of sustainability indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaio Cesare Pacini

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Golf courses are supposed to produce remarkable negative effects on the environment, due to some techniques involved in their management. To provide data useful for the proper assessment of the agro-environmental sustainability of a golf course, the framework agro-environmental sustainability information system (AESIS was used, utilizing a set of indicators suitable to evaluate different dimensions of sustainability (physical, ecological, productive and social. The management of areal golf course located in Tuscany (central Italy was compared to an alternative land use of the same area represented by an ordinary farm based on a sunflower-wheat rotation. Assessment indicators were selected by applying a conceptual model based on ecology theory and were calculated considering site-specific production and pedo-climatic features of the area. Different weighting scenarios were hypothesized in order to have different management options assessed and to carry out a targeted sensitivity analysis. Main results confirmed the significant impact of golf management on some ecological characteristics but the holistic assessment of AESIS approach permitted an overall evaluation that comprised a wide range of different issues. AESIS demonstrated to be a practical and adaptive tool able to perform an efficient comparison of possible land destinations.

  6. Use of multicriteria analysis (MCA) for sustainable hydropower planning and management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vassoney, Erica; Mammoliti Mochet, Andrea; Comoglio, Claudio

    2017-07-01

    Multicriteria analysis (MCA) is a decision-making tool applied to a wide range of environmental management problems, including renewable energy planning and management. An interesting field of application of MCA is the evaluation and analysis of the conflicting aspects of hydropower (HP) exploitation, affecting the three pillars of sustainability and involving several different stakeholders. The present study was aimed at reviewing the state of the art of MCA applications to sustainable hydropower production and related decision-making problems, based on a detailed analysis of the scientific papers published over the last 15 years on this topic. The papers were analysed and compared, focusing on the specific features of the MCA methods applied in the described case studies, highlighting the general aspects of the MCA application (purpose, spatial scale, software used, stakeholders, etc.) and the specific operational/technical features of the selected MCA technique (methodology, criteria, evaluation, approach, sensitivity, etc.). Some specific limitations of the analysed case studies were identified and a set of "quality indexes" of an exhaustive MCA application were suggested as potential improvements for more effectively support decision-making processes in sustainable HP planning and management problems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Capability challenges of facility management (FM) personnel toward sustainability agenda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halim, Ahmad Ilyas Ahmad; Sarpin, Norliana; Kasim, Narimah Binti; Zainal, Rozlin Binti

    2017-10-01

    The industries business play a significant role to contribute toward economic growth in develop and developing country. However, they always face serious problems such as time overrun, waste generation, and cost overrun during their operation and maintenance. Traditional practice is found unable to control that situation. These challenges accent the need for practitioners to rethink and improve their process management. This show that industries business has major potential when applying sustainable development by focusing on three pillars (economic, environment, and social). By adopting sustainability, it can reduce energy consumption and waste, while increasing productivity, financial return and corporate standing in community. FM personnel are most suitable position to lead organizations toward sustainability implementation. However, lack of skill and capability among FM personnel to achieve sustainable goal had become barrier that need to overcome. This paper focus to identify capability challenges of FM personnel toward sustainability. A multiple researches were conducted and data were gathered through literature review from previous studies.

  8. Development of a European Ensemble System for Seasonal Prediction: Application to crop yield

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terres, J. M.; Cantelaube, P.

    2003-04-01

    Western European agriculture is highly intensive and the weather is the main source of uncertainty for crop yield assessment and for crop management. In the current system, at the time when a crop yield forecast is issued, the weather conditions leading up to harvest time are unknown and are therefore a major source of uncertainty. The use of seasonal weather forecast would bring additional information for the remaining crop season and has valuable benefit for improving the management of agricultural markets and environmentally sustainable farm practices. An innovative method for supplying seasonal forecast information to crop simulation models has been developed in the frame of the EU funded research project DEMETER. It consists in running a crop model on each individual member of the seasonal hindcasts to derive a probability distribution of crop yield. Preliminary results of cumulative probability function of wheat yield provides information on both the yield anomaly and the reliability of the forecast. Based on the spread of the probability distribution, the end-user can directly quantify the benefits and risks of taking weather-sensitive decisions.

  9. Integrating irrigation and drainage management to sustain agriculture in northern Iran

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Darzi-Naftchali, Abdullah; Ritzema, Henk

    2018-01-01

    In Iran, as in the rest of the world, land and water for agricultural production is under pressure. Integrating irrigation and drainage management may help sustain intensified agriculture in irrigated paddy fields. This study was aimed to investigate the long-term effects of such management

  10. Environmental Management and Sustainability in Higher Education: The Case of Spanish Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leon-Fernandez, Yolanda; Domínguez-Vilches, Eugenio

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to analyse trends in implementing the main initiatives in the field of environmental management and sustainability in Spanish universities, taking as a reference point the guidelines adopted by a number of universities in countries most committed to sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach: An analysis of…

  11. Industrial training approach using GPM P5 Standard for Sustainability in Project Management: a framework for sustainability competencies in the 21st century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johan, Kartina; Mohd Turan, Faiz

    2016-11-01

    Malaysian Engineering Accreditation (Engineering Programme Accreditation Manual, 2007) requires all bachelor degree in engineering programmes to incorporate a minimum of two months industrial training in order for the programme to be accredited by the council. The industrial training has the objective to provide students on the insights of being an engineer at the workplace hence increasing their knowledge in employability skills prior to graduation. However the current structure of industrial training is not able to inculcate good leadership ability and prepare students with sustainability competencies needed in the era of Sustainable Development (SD). This paper aims to study project management methodology as a framework to create a training pathway in industrial training for students in engineering programs using Green Project Management (GPM) P5 standard for sustainability in project management. The framework involves students as interns, supervisors from both university and industry and also participation from NonProfit Organisation (NPO). The framework focus on the development of the student's competency in employability skills, lean leadership and sustainability competencies using experiential learning approach. Deliverables of the framework include internship report, professional sustainability report using GPM P5 standard and competency assessment. The post-industrial phase of the framework is constructed for students to be assessed collaboratively by the university, industry and the sustainability practitioner in the country. The ability for the interns to act as a change agent in sustainability practices is measured by the competency assessment and the quality of the sustainability report. The framework support the call for developing holistic students based on Malaysian Education Blueprint (Higher Education) 2015-2025 and address the gap between the statuses of engineering qualification to the sustainability competencies in the 21st century in

  12. Innovative Management for Organizational Sustainability in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnard, Zenia; Van der Merwe, Derek

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the innovative management strategies at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) during volatile post-merger years, in its quest for a sustainable future. It illustrates how the institution went from a place of relative uncertainty and volatility to a place of progression and stability by…

  13. Engaging African American landowners in sustainable forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    John Schelhas; Sarah Hitchner; Cassandra Johnson Gaither; Rory Fraser; Viniece Jennings; Amadou Diop

    2016-01-01

    The Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program is a comprehensive effort to address the long-standing problem of underparticipation of African Americans in forest management. We conducted rapid appraisal baseline research for pilot projects in this program in three Southern states using a carefully selected purposive sample to enhance our...

  14. ANALYSIS THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF TOURIST DESTINATION INFLUENCE ON THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. CASE STUDY: ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Virgil NICULA

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In an ever changing and competitive environment, the tourism industry of each country must be developed in a sustainable manner, able to generate substantial economic benefits for key stakeholders and minimize negative environmental impacts. Thus, the pronounced dynamism of the tourism sector currently makes tourist destinations to be in fierce competition where the long-term success is conditioned by the sustainable development strategy adopted and operationalized by management organizations destinations. In this context, the minimum requirements for sustainable tourism development are: supporting the diversity of ecosystems; conservation and management of natural resources; finding ways to reduce uncontrolled population growth and unification of national decisions concerning the environment and the economy. Based on these considerations and the fact that Romania has a valuable ecotourism potential, internationally recognized by profile associations and other stakeholders, this paper presents an overview regarding the way in which sustainable management of tourist destination influence obtaining sustainable competitive advantage.

  15. Visitor Management, a Tool for Sustainable Tourism Development in Protected Areas

    OpenAIRE

    Candrea A. N.; Ispas A.

    2009-01-01

    The article analyzes visitor management techniques as a way to develop sustainable tourism in protected areas. Visitor management is an important tool in recreational and protected areas, as increasing use levels can negatively impact the quality of recreational experience as well as natural resources. To meet the requirements of both nature and visitors, a prudent and careful management is necessary. In order to manage protected areas within acceptable ecological and social carrying capacit...

  16. Sustainability assessment of stormwater management systems and the importance of pollutants in runoff

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brudler, Sarah; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Karsten; Ammitsøe, Christian

    substance groups present in runoff, metals cause the highest impacts. To integrate this method into holistic sustainability assessment, we assess the complete life cycle of a complex stormwater management. We show that runoff discharges have a high relative importance: The impacts exceed the combined......We develop a method to systematically include impacts caused by runoff discharge into the sustainability assessment of stormwater management systems. By defining priority pollutants and calculating mean concentrations, an average ecotoxicity impact per litre of runoff is calculated. Of all assessed...... impacts of implementation, maintenance and decommissioning of the stormwater management system....

  17. Weed sustainable managment in agricultral and non-agricultural areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giovanni Arcangeli

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable agriculture is a way to assure the availability of natural resources for future generations.Weed managementin cultivated and not cultivated areas is part of sustainable agriculture as well, and has to face three important challenges:economical (to increase income and competitiveness of farm sector, social (give rural areas opportunity of economicdevelopment and improvement of living conditions, environmental (promote good agricultural practices andpreserve habitats, biodiversity and landscape. The first two challenges involve the in-depth study of models, the economicthreshold of intervention, the management of herbicide resistance phenomena, the study and development ofnew herbicide molecules, or even modern formulations, leading to the optimization of treatments with possible reductionof distributed doses per hectare. Environmental issues must be set in the studies to assess and manage the factorsleading to phenomena of diffuse or point pollution (i.e. water volumes, soil, etc.. However, a sustainable agricultureproduction must take into account consumers’ needs and concerns, especially about food health and safety withrespect to production methods (traditional, integrated and biological. In this context, the results obtained by the developmentof more advanced active principles, the spread of public and private Integrated Production Specifications(Disciplinari di Produzione Integrata and the greater and greater commitment by the institutions in charge of monitoringthe agro-pharmaceutical residues in agro-food products, can be set. The SIRFI SIRFI (Società Italiana per laRicerca sulla Flora Infestante, thanks to the multi-disciplinarity of the structures supporting it, always takes an activepart into innovation especially aimed to the identification of tools implementing farm activity sustainability.

  18. An Evaluation of Management Perspectives of Sustainability Reporting in the Nigerian Oil Industry

    OpenAIRE

    Uzonwanne, Godfrey; Yekini, Cecilia Olukemi; Yekini, Sina; Otobo, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: This article investigates the perspectives of managers involved in sustainability reporting in the Nigerian oil industry. Design/Methodology: The article adopts a survey methodology in its approach to conduct this investigation. The survey employed a structured interview to investigate five themes built around the motivation for sustainability reporting within these organizations, hierarchical responsibility for sustainability reporting, the organizations objectives relative to t...

  19. Innovative Integrated Management System (IIMS for Sustainable Food Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suttiprasit Prasert

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available It is evident that the long-term survival and growth of global food industry depend on the availability and efficient use of raw materials, energy and water and other facilities under the concept of sustainable practice, i.e. in environment, society and economics. Quality and safety managements are essential to ensure that the industry can continue to support the communities in which it operates. Awarding a number of certifications to show the high standing of international quality and hygiene characteristics are currently necessary, e.g. ISO 9001: 2000, GMP/GHP, HACCP, ISO 22000, BRC and etc. To minimize the cost and maximize the efficiency, the Innovative Integration Management System (IIMS has been implemented effectively under the frameworks of sustainability in a numbers of national and international food production companies in Thailand during the past years. This will allow the organization to integrate all common processes such as management review, document control, record control, training, monitoring & measuring, data analysing, internal audits, and corrective and preventive actions whereas the critical or specific processes required by each standard are still retained harmoniously with the others.

  20. Sustainable sewage management and the inertia to change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Öberg, G.

    2012-12-01

    Increasing economic costs and environmental concerns have led to that planners around the world are progressively questioning the prevailing sewage management paradigm, calling for a shift in the hydrosocial contract to embrace more sustainable solutions, to be based on closed-loops rather than linear end-of-pipe solutions. Despite considerable attention to the technical possibilities for delivering sewage services in a more integrated and sustainable fashion, shifts in planning and management have been slow. Based on an extensive study of Australian cities, Brown et al (2009) have developed a model with six transitional stages and argue that "while there may be cognitive changes (best practice thinking such as water sustainable urban design), there has not been sufficient normative and regulative change to support new practice." They contrast three historic transition stages with three successive sustainable stages. Unfortunately, the study ends in a rather vague outline of "the Water Sensitive City", with little sign-posts indicating how one might transition to this seemingly utopian last stage. In the present paper, we discuss the normative tensions created between the different actors in this increasingly complex playing field, who represent different and often competing values. We suggest that cities have difficulties transitioning from the old contract to one of the newer ones because the hydro-social contract promised by these new stages create normative tensions not only between the new and the old, but also between what one might call different types of environmentalists: naturalists and pragmatists. The naturalists, who for example are very voiced in several cities along the North American west coast, tend to embrace the perception of Nature described by environmental historians as Untouched Wilderness, where technology is pinpointed as the root of the problems. In contrast, the other side lean more on the idea of modernity, with a more pragmatic approach

  1. Sustainable WEE management in Malaysia: present scenarios and future perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rezaul Hasan Shumon, Md; Ahmed, S.

    2013-12-01

    Technological advances have resulted development of a lot of electronic products for continuously increasing number of customers. As the customer taste and features of these products change rapidly, the life cycles have come down tremendously. Therefore, a large volume of e-wastes are now emanated every year. This scenario is very much predominant in Malaysia. On one hand e-wastes are becoming environmental hazards and affecting the ecological imbalance. On the other, these wastes are remaining still economically valuable. In Malaysia, e-waste management system is still in its nascent state. This paper describes the current status of e-waste generation and recycling and explores issues for future e-waste management system in Malaysia from sustainable point of view. As to draw some factual comparisons, this paper reviews the e-waste management system in European Union, USA, Japan, as a benchmark. Then it focuses on understanding the Malaysian culture, consumer discarding behavior, flow of the materials in recycling, e-waste management system, and presents a comparative view with the Swiss e-waste system. Sustainable issues for e-waste management in Malaysia are also presented. The response adopted so far in collection and recovery activities are covered in later phases. Finally, it investigates the barriers and challenges of e-waste system in Malaysia.

  2. Sustainable promotion nuclear power enterprise procurement bidding risk management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Yimin

    2014-01-01

    Nuclear power enterprise procurement bidding work faced with certain risk in recent years, the domestic nuclear power enterprises in the bidding work never stop research and explore the effective ways to guard against legal risks, and has made considerable progress, the eighteenth big country advocates the safety and efficiency of nuclear power development policy, in the face of the subsequent nuclear power construction projects have started, nuclear power enterprise bidding risk management work shoulder heavy responsibilities article through nuclear power enterprise procurement bidding risk management present situation, proposed the sustainable promotion nuclear power enterprise procurement bidding risk management countermeasures. (author)

  3. Analysis of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of best management practices for controlling sediment yield: A case study of the Joumine watershed, Tunisia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mtibaa, Slim; Hotta, Norifumi; Irie, Mitsuteru

    2018-03-01

    Soil erosion can be reduced through the strategic selection and placement of best management practices (BMPs) in critical source areas (CSAs). In the present study, the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used to identify CSAs and investigate the effectiveness of different BMPs in reducing sediment yield in the Joumine watershed, an agricultural river catchment located in northern Tunisia. A cost-benefit analysis (CBA) was used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of different BMP scenarios. The objective of the present study was to determine the most cost-effective management scenario for controlling sediment yield. The model performance for the simulation of streamflow and sediment yield at the outlet of the Joumine watershed was good and satisfactory, respectively. The model indicated that most of the sediment was originated from the cultivated upland area. About 34% of the catchment area consisted of CSAs that were affected by high to very high soil erosion risk (sediment yield >10t/ha/year). Contour ridges were found to be the most effective individual BMP in terms of sediment yield reduction. At the watershed level, implementing contour ridges in the CSAs reduced sediment yield by 59%. Combinations of BMP scenarios were more cost-effective than the contour ridges alone. Combining buffer strips (5-m width) with other BMPs depending on land slope (> 20% slope: conversion to olive orchards; 10-20% slope: contour ridges; 5-10% slope: grass strip cropping) was the most effective approach in terms of sediment yield reduction and economic benefits. This approach reduced sediment yield by 61.84% with a benefit/cost ratio of 1.61. Compared with the cost of dredging, BMPs were more cost-effective for reducing sediment loads to the Joumine reservoir, located downstream of the catchment. Our findings may contribute to ensure the sustainability of future conservation programs in Tunisian regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Weed Diversity Affects Soybean and Maize Yield in a Long Term Experiment in Michigan, USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrero, Rosana; Lima, Mauricio; Davis, Adam S; Gonzalez-Andujar, Jose L

    2017-01-01

    Managing production environments in ways that promote weed community diversity may enhance both crop production and the development of a more sustainable agriculture. This study analyzed data of productivity of maize (corn) and soybean in plots in the Main Cropping System Experiment (MCSE) at the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research (KBS-LTER) in Michigan, USA, from 1996 to 2011. We used models derived from population ecology to explore how weed diversity, temperature, and precipitation interact with crop yields. Using three types of models that considered internal and external (climate and weeds) factors, with additive or non-linear variants, we found that changes in weed diversity were associated with changes in rates of crop yield increase over time for both maize and soybeans. The intrinsic capacity for soybean yield increase in response to the environment was greater under more diverse weed communities. Soybean production risks were greatest in the least weed diverse systems, in which each weed species lost was associated with progressively greater crop yield losses. Managing for weed community diversity, while suppressing dominant, highly competitive weeds, may be a helpful strategy for supporting long term increases in soybean productivity. In maize, there was a negative and non-additive response of yields to the interaction between weed diversity and minimum air temperatures. When cold temperatures constrained potential maize productivity through limited resources, negative interactions with weed diversity became more pronounced. We suggest that: (1) maize was less competitive in cold years allowing higher weed diversity and the dominance of some weed species; or (2) that cold years resulted in increased weed richness and prevalence of competitive weeds, thus reducing crop yields. Therefore, we propose to control dominant weed species especially in the years of low yield and extreme minimum temperatures to improve maize yields

  5. SOIL ECOLOGY AS KEY TO SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Deyn, G B

    2015-01-01

    Sustainable production of food, feed and fiberwarrants sustainable soil management and crop protection. The tools available to achieve this are both in the realm of the plants and of the soil, with a key role for plant-soil interactions. At the plant level we have vast knowledge of variation within plant species with respect to pests and diseases, based on which we can breed for resistance. However, given that systems evolve this resistance is bound to be temporarily, hence also other strategies are needed. Here I plea for an integrative approach for sustainable production using ecological principles. Ecology, the study of how organisms interact with their environment, teaches us that diversity promotes productivity and yield stability. These effects are thought to be governed through resource use complementarity and reduced build-up of pests and diseases both above- and belowground. In recent years especially the role of soil biotic interactions has revealed new insights in how plant diversity and productivity are related to soil biodiversity and the functions soil biota govern. In our grassland biodiversity studies we found that root feeders can promote plant diversity and succession without reducing plant community productivity, this illustrates the role of diversity to maintain productivity. Also diversity within species offers scope for sustainable production, for example through awareness of differences between plant genotypes in chemical defense compounds that can attract natural enemies of pests aboveground- and belowground thereby providing plant protection. Plant breeding can also benefit from using complementarity between plant species in the selection for new varieties, as our work demonstrated that when growing in species mixtures plant species adapt to each other over time such that their resource acquisition traits become more complementing. Finally, in a recent meta-analysis we show that earthworms can stimulate crop yield with on average 25%, but

  6. A Critical Review of Environmental Management System as a Tool for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galamba, Kirsten Ramskov

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The aim of the article is to make a critical review of the environmental management system as a tool for sustainability in local authorities. Background: As a point of departure sustainability is outlined as an ambivalent term that has been interpreted in a number of ways, which...... for sustainability in a local authority FM-context. As a branding tool it might have some potential but there is a risk that the tool legitimizes non-sustainable practices as sustainable, which can lead to frustrations and resignation among employees willing to actually make a difference. Practical Implications...... to alienation and restrict innovative thinking in relation to solutions that could potentially contribute to a sustainable society, as it is very difficult for employees to think beyond the system in their everyday work life. One possible alternative arena for innovation towards sustainability is workshops...

  7. A Critical Review of Environmental Management System as a Tool for Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galamba, Kirsten Ramskov

    Purpose: The aim of the article is to make a critical review of the environmental management system as a tool for sustainability in local authorities. Background: As a point of departure sustainability is outlined as an ambivalent term that has been interpreted in a number of ways, which...... for sustainability in a local authority FM-context. As a branding tool it might have some potential but there is a risk that the tool legitimizes non-sustainable practices as sustainable, which can lead to frustrations and resignation among employees willing to actually make a difference. Practical Implications...... to alienation and restrict innovative thinking in relation to solutions that could potentially contribute to a sustainable society, as it is very difficult for employees to think beyond the system in their everyday work life. One possible alternative arena for innovation towards sustainability is workshops...

  8. Effectiveness of community-based mangrove management for sustainable resource use and livelihood support

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Damastuti, Ekaningrum; Groot, de Dolf

    2017-01-01

    Community-Based Mangrove Management (CBMM) is implemented with different approaches and outcomes. This study examined the effectiveness of various CBMM practices to achieve sustainable management of mangrove resources. We analyzed local mangrove resource management strategies in four coastal

  9. Wait time management strategies for total joint replacement surgery: sustainability and unintended consequences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pomey, Marie-Pascale; Clavel, Nathalie; Amar, Claudia; Sabogale-Olarte, Juan Carlos; Sanmartin, Claudia; De Coster, Carolyn; Noseworthy, Tom

    2017-09-07

    In Canada, long waiting times for core specialized services have consistently been identified as a key barrier to access. Governments and organizations have responded with strategies for better access management, notably for total joint replacement (TJR) of the hip and knee. While wait time management strategies (WTMS) are promising, the factors which influence their sustainable implementation at the organizational level are understudied. Consequently, this study examined organizational and systemic factors that made it possible to sustain waiting times for TJR within federally established limits and for at least 18 months or more. The research design is a multiple case study of WTMS implementation. Five cases were selected across five Canadian provinces. Three success levels were pre-defined: 1) the WTMS maintained compliance with requirements for more than 18 months; 2) the WTMS met requirements for 18 months but could not sustain the level thereafter; 3) the WTMS never met requirements. For each case, we collected documents and interviewed key informants. We analyzed systemic and organizational factors, with particular attention to governance and leadership, culture, resources, methods, and tools. We found that successful organizations had specific characteristics: 1) management of the whole care continuum, 2) strong clinical leadership; 3) dedicated committees to coordinate and sustain strategy; 4) a culture based on trust and innovation. All strategies led to relatively similar unintended consequences. The main negative consequence was an initial increase in waiting times for TJR and the main positive consequence was operational enhancement of other areas of specialization based on the TJR model. This study highlights important differences in factors which help to achieve and sustain waiting times. To be sustainable, a WTMS needs to generate greater synergies between contextual-level strategy (provincial or regional) and organizational objectives and

  10. Toward cropping systems that enhance productivity and sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, R. James

    2006-01-01

    The defining features of any cropping system are (i) the crop rotation and (ii) the kind or intensity of tillage. The trend worldwide starting in the late 20th century has been (i) to specialize competitively in the production of two, three, a single, or closely related crops such as different market classes of wheat and barley, and (ii) to use direct seeding, also known as no-till, to cut costs and save soil, time, and fuel. The availability of glyphosate- and insect-resistant varieties of soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola has helped greatly to address weed and insect pest pressures favored by direct seeding these crops. However, little has been done through genetics and breeding to address diseases caused by residue- and soil-inhabiting pathogens that remain major obstacles to wider adoption of these potentially more productive and sustainable systems. Instead, the gains have been due largely to innovations in management, including enhancement of root defense by antibiotic-producing rhizosphere-inhabiting bacteria inhibitory to root pathogens. Historically, new varieties have facilitated wider adoption of new management, and changes in management have facilitated wider adoption of new varieties. Although actual yields may be lower in direct-seed compared with conventional cropping systems, largely due to diseases, the yield potential is higher because of more available water and increases in soil organic matter. Achieving the full production potential of these more-sustainable cropping systems must now await the development of varieties adapted to or resistant to the hazards shown to account for the yield depressions associated with direct seeding. PMID:17130454

  11. Sustainable Supply Chain Management Implementation–Enablers and Barriers in the Textile Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelly Oelze

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The distinct definition of accordance in the perceived barriers and enablers for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM policy implementation has been the subject of various research studies, but a distinct focus on the textile sector has been the object of limited previous attention. However, it has been found that it affects the approach to developments in company approaches to sustainable supply chain management within that industry. This article presents the results of an in-depth comparative case study analysis, drawing on 23 interviews with managers of 10 companies from the textile industry. The analysis demonstrates that specific modes of collaboration can both enable an effective SSCM and diminish barriers for policy implementation. The width and depth varies between a collaborative management approach for an effective internal SSCM versus industry collaboration and buyer supplier collaboration to address external barriers and enablers.

  12. Realizing Sustainability in Facilities Management: a pilot study at the Technical University of Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Møller, Jacob Steen; Jäschke, Stefan

    2012-01-01

    , qualitative research and the preliminary analysis of a single, pilot case study of The Technical University of Denmark. Progress with the other complementary cases will be included in the presentation. The cases should be supplemented by more research on sustainable facilities management. Originality......, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, usability evaluations and practice-research workshops. The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) is the pilot case of an international collaboration, and more studies are planned to follow. Findings: The paper presents a framework for qualitative research on Sustainable...... Facilities Management (SFM), which can guide future research on Sustainability in FM and increase comparability between case studies. The research identifies the challenges and opportunities for integrating ecological, social and economical sustainability in university FM. The paper presents the analysis...

  13. Effect of Climate and Management Factors on Potential and Gap of Wheat Yield in Iran with Using WOFOST Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A Koocheki

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Human diets strongly rely on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.. Its production has increased dramatically during the past 50 years, partly due to area extension and new varieties but mainly as a consequence of intensified land management and introduction of new technologies. For the future, a continuous strong increase in the demand for agricultural products is expected. It is highly unlikely that this increasing demand will be satisfied by area expansion because productive land is scarce and also increasingly demanded by non-agricultural uses. The role of agricultural intensification as key to increasing actual crop yields and food supply has been discussed in several studies. However, in many regions, increases in grain yields have been declining Inefficient management of agricultural land may cause deviations of actual from potential crop yields: the yield gap. At the global scale little information is available on the spatial distribution of agricultural yield gaps and the potential for agricultural intensification. Actual yield is mostly lower than potential yield due to inefficient management and technological that difference between these yields is considered as yield gap. Understanding of relative share of every management factors in yield gap could be as one of the important keys to reduce gap and close actual yield to potential yield. Materials and Methods In order to evaluate the amount of wheat yield gap and also relative share of management and technological variables in yield gap, frontier production function was used which is a multi-variable regression. The frontier production function to be estimated is a Cobb-Douglas function as proposed by Coelli et al. (2005. Cobb-Douglas functions are extensively used in agricultural production studies to explain returns to scale. We propose a methodology to explain the spatial variation of the potential for intensification and identifying the nature of the constraints for further

  14. New Technologies for Parliaments Managing Knowledge for Sustaining Democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mauro ROMANELLI

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Parliaments as information and knowledge-based organizations are embracing the Internet and new technologies of information and communication for coping with the crisis of legitimacy relying on citizens feeling disenchanted about politics. Parliaments as democratic institutions engaging citizens use technology for better managing sources of knowledge and information and developing public policies as result of knowledge sharing and dialogue between public institutions and citizens. Parliaments dealing with an increasing complexity of governing tend to introduce new technologies following an information or knowledge approach to achieve legitimacy as credible institutions encouraging an active participation of citizens, for building a sustainable and democratic path promoting active citizenship. Parliaments sustain democracy by managing knowledge and information, structuring the e-parliament between merely providing a channel for citizens having access to information and developing active communication for engendering a dialogue with citizens to be included and exert influence in the policy process by encouraging participatory models driving the search of knowledge for building policies.

  15. Effect of different fertilizer resources on yield and yield components of grain maize (Zea mays L. affected by tillage managements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Ghasemi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Due to the development of sustainable agriculture and the reduction of utilizing chemical fertilizers, it is essential to use organic fertilizer. Organic matter is vital to soil fertility and its productivity. To maintain the level of fertility and the strength of soil, organic matter levels should be maintained at an appropriate level. Unfortunately, the level of organic matter in soil is generally less than 1%. One solution to increase the soil’s organic matter content is to use organic fertilizers such as animal manure, green manure, and vermicompost (Nuralvandy, 2011. As a correction factor, green manure can increase water supply and nutrient soil conservation (Tajbakhsh et al., 2005. Materials and methods In order to assess the effects of fertilizer sources (green manure, cow manure, and chemical fertilizer on maize yield and yield components (KSC 704 under tillage management, a field experiment was carried out at Zahak Agricultural and Natural Resource Research Station in two years (from 2013 to 2014. Before corn planting, barley was planted as green manure in the fall of each year. The experiment was conducted as a split plot arranged in a completely randomized block design with three replications. The main plots were tillage and no tillage, whereas the sub plots were: 1-barley green manure (without application of fertilizer, 2-barley green manure with applying 100% chemical fertilizer (NPK to the barley during cultivation, tillering and stemming stages, 3- green manure with 2/3 of chemical fertilizer to the barley and 1/3 to the maize, 4- green manure with 1/3 of chemical fertilizer to the barley and 2/3 to the maize, 5- barley green manure with 50% animal and chemical manures, 6- barley green manure with 40 t ha-1 of animal manure, 7-control (non-fertilizer application. Corn was planted on 15 March each year. Phosphorus, potassium fertilizer, and animal manure were added to the soil as the base fertilizers. At full

  16. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) - Materials and Waste Management in the United States Key Facts and Figures

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Each year EPA produces a report called Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures. It includes information on municipal solid waste (MSW)...

  17. Adaptive exchange of capitals in urban water resources management : an approach to sustainability?

    Science.gov (United States)

    With water availability increasingly restricted by deficiencies in quality and quantity, water resources management is a central issue in planning for sustainability in the Anthropocene. We first offer a definition of sustainability based on the ease with which capitals (e.g., na...

  18. Sustainability Strategy and Management Control Systems in Family Firms. Evidence from a Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabio Caputo

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate how the integration of new forms of sustainable control systems (SCSs and traditional management control systems (MCSs, and the use of these control systems affect the integration of sustainability within organizational strategy. A qualitative case study based on a longitudinal investigation of an Italian family firm operating in an environment-sensitive context, the intermodal transport industry, has been used to trace the company’s pathway to sustainability integration based on the Gond et al. framework. The paper enriches the Gond et al. conceptualization providing evidence of the external and internal factors relevant in affecting the organization’s pathway towards sustainability integration. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first analysis that investigates the integration of sustainability into organizational strategy in the context of family firms, from the point of view of performance management systems (PMSs.

  19. Theoretical and substantive concept of sustainable close-to-nature managed progress

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dušan Plut

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available Implementation of the principles of sustainability in the economic, social and environmental field means that organisation and (material operation of a society is permanently adapted to the environment. Sustainable close-to-naturemanaged development, or in a broader sense progress, means permanent (sustainable and simultaneous improvement of material, social and environmental quality of life, thus a permanent raise of the welfare in its broader sense of all inhabitants within the capacities (limitations of the environment. The opportunity of geography is to take an active part in the realisation of close-to-nature managed patterns of the spatial organisation of human activity.

  20. Ecological Sustainability of a Wheat-cotton Agroecosystem in Khorassan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    abdolmajid mahdavi damghani

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available In order to develop a sustainability index (SI for quantifying the sustainability of a wheat-cotton agroecosystem, a study was conducted in 2003 in the Khorassan province. Data of socio-economic, agronomic and ecological indicators were collected using 518 questionnaires. Results showed that only 18.6 percent of farmers gained the half or more of SI scores. The mean SI score was 44.0 which indicate that these agroecosystems are not sustainable. Results of this study are in consistent with other reports in other regions of the country. Livestock production, crop production, and water and irrigation indicators had the lowest score (6, 31, and 37, respectively. The backward stepwise regression analysis indicated that SI can be predicted from a linear combination of field size, wheat yield, crop residue management, crop income and education and extension services, while application of chemical fertilizers did not add to the prediction ability of SI. Results also showed that any progress in farmers’ education, economic viability, crop production management and water use efficiency could improve overall sustainability of these agroecosystems substantially.

  1. The Role of Transacademic Interface Managers in Transformational Sustainability Research and Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Braden Kay

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Working towards sustainable solutions requires involving professionals and stakeholders from all sectors of society into research and teaching. This often presents a challenge to scholars at universities, as they lack capacity and time needed for negotiating different agendas, languages, competencies, and cultures among faculty, students, and stakeholders. Management approaches and quality criteria have been developed to cope with this challenge, including concepts of boundary organizations, transdisciplinary research, transition management, and interface management. However, few of these concepts present comprehensive proposals how to facilitate research with stakeholder participation while creating educational opportunities along the lifecycle of a project. The article focuses on the position of a transacademic interface manager (TIM supporting participatory sustainability research and education efforts. We conceptualize the task portfolio of a TIM; outline the capacities a TIM needs to possess in order to successfully operate; and propose an educational approach for how to train students in becoming a TIM. For this, we review the existing literature on TIMs and present insights from empirical sustainability research and educational projects that involved TIMs in different functions. The article provides practical guidance to universities on how to organize these critical endeavors more effectively and to offer students an additional career perspective.

  2. Environmental Management and Sustainable Labels in the Ski Industry: A Critical Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefano Duglio

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is increasing in importance in relation to the competitiveness of winter tourism, particularly when considering mountain destinations. Exploring in more detail winter tourism related to ski resorts, operators are especially concerned about environmental issues caused by climate change. Therefore, they have gradually become aware of the importance of finding adequate solutions to cope with such issues as well as being able to sensitize tourists. The main goal of this paper is to analyze the different sustainable tools that can be adopted by the ski industry. In this field there appear to be two main approaches. The first line is that of sustainable labels being applied to local ski resorts; whereas the second consists in operators—such as the managers of cable cars—making use of specific labels or management systems that are environmentally oriented.

  3. Moderating the Role of Firm Size in Sustainable Performance Improvement through Sustainable Supply Chain Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Wang

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available In the context of the Chinese government’s strategy for sustainable development, the study of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM for enterprises has important practical significance. Drawing data from 172 Chinese firms, the model studied the moderating role of firm size on the SSCM practices and the sustainable performance of the firms (economic, environmental, and social, using hierarchical regression analysis on SPSS 22.0. The results suggest that SSCM practices and firm size are positively related to the firm’s environmental and social performance. Firm size moderates the effect of SSCM practices on economic performance. Additionally, SSCM internal practices have a significant positive impact on the economic performance of large enterprises, but not so much on the economic performance of the Small and medium enterprises(SMEs. This paper proposes a comprehensive SSCM practice performance model that identifies firm size as a moderating role. Through research on the moderating effect of firm size, the implementation and recommendation of SSCM for different firm size are given.

  4. Integrated Pest Management for Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture in Asia and Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jules Pretty

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Integrated Pest Management (IPM is a leading complement and alternative to synthetic pesticides and a form of sustainable intensification with particular importance for tropical smallholders. Global pesticide use has grown over the past 20 years to 3.5 billion kg/year, amounting to a global market worth $45 billion. The external costs of pesticides are $4–$19 (€3–15 per kg of active ingredient applied, suggesting that IPM approaches that result in lower pesticide use will benefit, not only farmers, but also wider environments and human health. Evidence for IPM’s impacts on pesticide use and yields remains patchy. We contribute an evaluation using data from 85 IPM projects from 24 countries of Asia and Africa implemented over the past twenty years. Analysing outcomes on productivity and reliance on pesticides, we find a mean yield increase across projects and crops of 40.9% (SD 72.3, combined with a decline in pesticide use to 30.7% (SD 34.9 compared with baseline. A total of 35 of 115 (30% crop combinations resulted in a transition to zero pesticide use. We assess successes in four types of IPM projects, and find that at least 50% of pesticide use is not needed in most agroecosystems. Nonetheless, policy support for IPM is relatively rare, counter-interventions from pesticide industry common, and the IPM challenge never done as pests, diseases and weeds evolve and move.

  5. Components of sustainability considerations in management of petrochemical industries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aryanasl, Amir; Ghodousi, Jamal; Arjmandi, Reza; Mansouri, Nabiollah

    2017-06-01

    Sustainability comprises three pillars of social, environmental, and economic aspects. Petrochemical industry has a great inter-related complex impact on social and economic development of societies and adverse impact on almost all environmental aspects and resource depletion in many countries, which make sustainability a crucial issue for petrochemical industries. This study was conducted to propose components of sustainability considerations in management of petrochemical industries.A combination of exploratory study-to prepare a preliminary list of components of sustainable business in petrochemical industries based on review of literature and Delphi-to obtain experts' view on this preliminary list and provide a detailed list of components and sub-components that should be addressed to bring sustainability to petrochemical industries, were used.Two sets of components were provided. First general components, which include stakeholders (staffs, society, and environment) with four sub-components, financial resources with 11 sub-components, improvement of design and processes with nine sub-components, policy and strategy of cleaner production with seven sub-components and leadership with seven sub-components. The second operational components included raw material supply and preparation with five, synthesis with ten, product separation and refinement with nine, product handling and storage with five, emission abatement with eight, and improvement of technology and equipment with 16 sub-components.

  6. SLFP: a stochastic linear fractional programming approach for sustainable waste management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, H; Huang, G H

    2011-12-01

    A stochastic linear fractional programming (SLFP) approach is developed for supporting sustainable municipal solid waste management under uncertainty. The SLFP method can solve ratio optimization problems associated with random information, where chance-constrained programming is integrated into a linear fractional programming framework. It has advantages in: (1) comparing objectives of two aspects, (2) reflecting system efficiency, (3) dealing with uncertainty expressed as probability distributions, and (4) providing optimal-ratio solutions under different system-reliability conditions. The method is applied to a case study of waste flow allocation within a municipal solid waste (MSW) management system. The obtained solutions are useful for identifying sustainable MSW management schemes with maximized system efficiency under various constraint-violation risks. The results indicate that SLFP can support in-depth analysis of the interrelationships among system efficiency, system cost and system-failure risk. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Evaluation of Rgb-Based Vegetation Indices from Uav Imagery to Estimate Forage Yield in Grassland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lussem, U.; Bolten, A.; Gnyp, M. L.; Jasper, J.; Bareth, G.

    2018-04-01

    Monitoring forage yield throughout the growing season is of key importance to support management decisions on grasslands/pastures. Especially on intensely managed grasslands, where nitrogen fertilizer and/or manure are applied regularly, precision agriculture applications are beneficial to support sustainable, site-specific management decisions on fertilizer treatment, grazing management and yield forecasting to mitigate potential negative impacts. To support these management decisions, timely and accurate information is needed on plant parameters (e.g. forage yield) with a high spatial and temporal resolution. However, in highly heterogeneous plant communities such as grasslands, assessing their in-field variability non-destructively to determine e.g. adequate fertilizer application still remains challenging. Especially biomass/yield estimation, as an important parameter in assessing grassland quality and quantity, is rather laborious. Forage yield (dry or fresh matter) is mostly measured manually with rising plate meters (RPM) or ultrasonic sensors (handheld or mounted on vehicles). Thus the in-field variability cannot be assessed for the entire field or only with potential disturbances. Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with consumer grade RGB cameras in-field variability can be assessed by computing RGB-based vegetation indices. In this contribution we want to test and evaluate the robustness of RGB-based vegetation indices to estimate dry matter forage yield on a recently established experimental grassland site in Germany. Furthermore, the RGB-based VIs are compared to indices computed from the Yara N-Sensor. The results show a good correlation of forage yield with RGB-based VIs such as the NGRDI with R2 values of 0.62.

  8. Resource management as a key factor for sustainable urban planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agudelo-Vera, Claudia M; Mels, Adriaan R; Keesman, Karel J; Rijnaarts, Huub H M

    2011-10-01

    Due to fast urbanization and increasing living standards, the environmental sustainability of our global society becomes more and more questionable. In this historical review we investigate the role of resources management (RM) and urban planning (UP) and propose ways for integration in sustainable development (SD). RM follows the principle of circular causation, and we reflect on to what extent RM has been an element for urban planning. Since the existence of the first settlements, a close relationship between RM, urbanization and technological development has been present. RM followed the demand for urban resources like water, energy, and food. In history, RM has been fostered by innovation and technology developments and has driven population growth and urbanization. Recent massive resource demand, especially in relation to energy and material flows, has altered natural ecosystems and has resulted in environmental degradation. UP has developed separately in response to different questions. UP followed the demand for improved living conditions, often associated to safety, good manufacturing and trading conditions and appropriate sanitation and waste management. In history UP has been a developing research area, especially since the industrial era and the related strong urbanization at the end of the 18th century. UP responded to new emerging problems in urban areas and became increasingly complex. Nowadays, UP has to address many objectives that are often conflicting, including, the urban sustainability. Our current urban un-sustainability is rooted in massive resource consumption and waste production beyond natural limits, and the absence of flows from waste to resources. Therefore, sustainable urban development requires integration of RM into UP. We propose new ways to this integration. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Orientation of sustainable management of chemical company with international activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valéria da Veiga Dias

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The search for new business possibilities, either through international activities and capture niche markets appear as a distinct trend among organizations that target growth. For this growing number of organizations intent on investing in new issues related to values such as citizenship, ethics and environmental concerns. There is the adoption of a more responsive to the community or even the acceptance of responsibility for the impacts of their production processes, inserting themselves in what was initially called the Social Responsibility within the business context and developed the concept of Elkington (1998 generated a discussion about a new movement that was called a sustainable paradigm. It was observed generally that sustainable management is still very close to supporting tools and not as part of the construction of corporate strategy although it is possible to realize that they seek a greater involvement in this direction when they start to review their strategies. This question can be perceived at different levels between the companies, but which shows the issue is the lack of direct indicators for investment and sustainable return. Sustainable management proved to be a source of opportunity for overseas business for the companies studied, as preparation for work with environmental legislation, global requirements, raw materials and environmentally friendly processes organizations prepared to market in the global sphere, and Brazil note that the innovative products for their production process and / or alternative raw material still do not get the spotlight. Acting in a sustainable manner enables the development of strategies agreed with conscious posture and changes in cultural terms in general, which can create new opportunities for those who can keep up with the global business scenario.

  10. Making biodiversity-friendly cocoa pay: combining yield, certification, and REDD for shade management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waldron, A; Justicia, R; Smith, L E

    2015-03-01

    The twin United Nations' Millennium Development Goals of biodiversity preservation and poverty reduction both strongly depend on actions in the tropics. In particular, traditional agroforestry could be critical to both biological conservation and human livelihoods in human-altered rainforest areas. However, traditional agroforestry is rapidly disappearing, because the system itself is economically precarious, and because the forest trees that shade traditional crops are now perceived to be overly detrimental to agricultural yield. Here, we show a case where the commonly used agroforestry shade metric, canopy cover, would indeed suggest complete removal of shade trees to maximize yield, with strongly negative biodiversity and climate implications. However, a yield over 50% higher was achievable if approximately 100 shade trees per hectare were planted in a spatially organized fashion, a win-win for biodiversity and the smallholder. The higher yield option was detected by optimizing simultaneously for canopy cover, and a second shade metric, neighboring tree density, which was designed to better capture the yield value of ecological services flowing from forest trees. Nevertheless, even a 50% yield increase may prove insufficient to stop farmers converting away from traditional agroforestry. To further increase agroforestry rents, we apply our results to the design of a sustainable certification (eco-labelling) scheme for cocoa-based products in a biodiversity hotspot, and consider their implications for the use of the United Nations REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) program in agroforestry systems. Combining yield boost, certification, and REDD has the potential to incentivize eco-friendly agroforestry and lift smallholders out of poverty, simultaneously.

  11. Environmental Sustainability and Energy-Efficient Supply Chain Management: A Review of Research Trends and Proposed Guidelines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piera Centobelli

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper conducts a structured review on the topic of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in the supply chain management context to define research trends on the topic and identify research gaps. The review is carried out using the largest databases of peer-reviewed literature (Scopus and Web of Science. A sample of 122 papers focusing on the topic of energy-efficient and sustainable supply chain management was selected and analyzed through descriptive and content analysis. The review highlights that despite there is a growing research trend on the topic, different research gaps remain to be covered. These gaps concern the factors influencing energy efficiency and environmental sustainability initiatives, the classification of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability initiatives, the impact of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability on supply chain performance, the customer perspective in sustainable and energy-efficient supply chain, and the different technologies supporting the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability initiatives. The research gaps and the research questions identified offer the opportunity to identify areas of investigation to design future research directions and propose guidelines in the field of supply chain management.

  12. A Study on Main Actor for Sustainable Forest Management in Korea

    OpenAIRE

    Choi, Soo Im; Oh, Seung Won; Sato, Noriko

    2004-01-01

    According to the estableshment period (1998 to 2007) for sustaineble forest management, the forest basic plan in Korea indicated that a long-term forest management is required to realize the sustainable forest management. In this conditions, most of private forest owners have abandoned or ignored to do the individual management of their forests even through the private forests occupied 70% of total forest land areas, which mean is that the private forest can be the most important main actor f...

  13. A sustainable urban logistics dashboard from the perspective of a group of logistics managers

    OpenAIRE

    Morana , Joëlle; Gonzalez-Feliu , Jesus

    2014-01-01

    Urban logistics has now become a priority issue in both supply chain management and urban planning. However, the different stakeholders involved develop different approaches whose aims and objectives do not always coincide and sometimes present conflicting standpoints. The aim of this paper is to complete existing literature by proposing a sustainable dashboard for evaluating the sustainable performance of urban delivery systems, from the perspective of operational logistics managers, one of ...

  14. Green knowledge management to support environmental sustainability; Green knowledge management zur Unterstuetzung oekologischer Nachhaltigkeit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dornhoefer, Mareike-Jessica

    2017-01-24

    Sustainability, environmental management and green initiatives are topics which gradually developed into trends since the late 1980s, not only in research institutions, but also in public and private organizations. While the usage of energy and other resources are increasing, these organizations search for new possibilities to reduce the economic, ecologic and social burdens and consequences of office and production environments for employees and nature. While certified environmental management systems were established already in the 1990s, green approaches and technologies are only about 10 years old and steadily developing. Decisions about a fitting strategy and the support of suitable measures inside an organization always require knowledge provided for the decision makers. Furthermore it is of importance to record the environmental consequences of the operational business and to not only record data and information, but to create a context and deduce the knowledge for future activities. Based on this situation, the work addresses the main research question of how �classical'' knowledge management might be further developed or transformed into Green Knowledge Management and how it addresses the goals of sustainability, especially ecological sustainability, environmental management and green approaches alike? The definition of Green Knowledge Management consists of five factors, which are discussed systematically, explored conceptually and documented with the help of practical examples. Different knowledge management models and their respective building blocks are analyzed to deduce how knowledge processes might interact with environmental ones as well as green aspects. Also different types of knowledge management systems are analysed for their application possibilities. A planning and decision making tool in form of a three dimensional cube, the ''Green Knowledge Management Cube'' is introduced on a conceptual level and documented

  15. Role of ICT in Managing Higher Education for Sustainable ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    It highlighted the ranking of some factors hindering effective usage of ICT in the management of higher education for sustainable development. In light of these findings, it is recommended that ICT facilities are made available and accessible in higher institutions and that relevant end-user training be provided to enhance ...

  16. Promoting Sustainable Forest Management Among Stakeholders in the Prince Albert Model Forest, Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Glen T Hvenegaard

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Model Forests are partnerships for shared decision-making to support social, environmental, and economic sustainability in forest management. Relationships among sustainable forest management partners are often strained, but the Prince Albert Model Forest (PAMF represents a process of effective stakeholder involvement, cooperative relationships, visionary planning, and regional landscape management. This article seeks to critically examine the history, drivers, accomplishments, and challenges associated with the PAMF. Four key phases are discussed, representing different funding levels, planning processes, research projects, and partners. Key drivers in the PAMF were funding, urgent issues, provincial responsibility, core of committed people, evolving governance, desire for a neutral organisation, role of protected areas, and potential for mutual benefits. The stakeholders involved in the Model Forest, including the forest industry and associated groups, protected areas, Aboriginal groups, local communities, governments, and research groups, were committed to the project, cooperated on many joint activities, provided significant staffing and financial resources, and gained many benefits to their own organisations. Challenges included declining funding, changing administrative structures, multiple partners, and rotating representatives. The PAMF process promoted consultative and integrated land resource management in the region, and demonstrated the positive results of cooperation between stakeholders interested in sustainable forest management.

  17. Long-term conventional and no-tillage effects on field hydrology and yields of a dryland crop rotation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semiarid dryland crop yields with no-till, NT, residue management are often greater than stubble-mulch, SM, tillage as a result of improved soil conditions and water conservation, but information on long-term tillage effects on field hydrology and sustained crop production are needed. Our objective ...

  18. Sustainable solid waste management: An integrated approach for Asian countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shekdar, Ashok V.

    2009-01-01

    Solid waste management (SWM) has been an integral part of every human society. The approaches for SWM should be compatible with the nature of a given society, and, in this regard, Asian countries are no exception. In keeping with global trends, the systems are being oriented to concentrate on sustainability issues; mainly through the incorporation of 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) technologies. However, degree and nature of improvements toward sustainability are varying and depend on the economic status of a country. High-income countries like Japan and South Korea can afford to spend more to incorporate 3R technologies. Most of the latest efforts focus on 'Zero Waste' and/or 'Zero Landfilling' which is certainly expensive for weaker economies such as those of India or Indonesia. There is a need to pragmatically assess the expectations of SWM systems in Asian countries. Hence, in this paper, we analyze the situation in different Asian countries, and explore future trends. We conceptually evaluate issues surrounding the sustainability of SWM. We propose a multi-pronged integrated approach for improvement that achieves sustainable SWM in the context of national policy and legal frameworks, institutional arrangement, appropriate technology, operational and financial management, and public awareness and participation. In keeping with this approach, a generic action plan has been proposed that could be tailored to suit a situation in a particular country. Our proposed concept and action plan framework would be useful across a variety of country-specific scenarios

  19. Systems Reliability Framework for Surface Water Sustainability and Risk Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, J. R.; Yeghiazarian, L.

    2016-12-01

    With microbial contamination posing a serious threat to the availability of clean water across the world, it is necessary to develop a framework that evaluates the safety and sustainability of water systems in respect to non-point source fecal microbial contamination. The concept of water safety is closely related to the concept of failure in reliability theory. In water quality problems, the event of failure can be defined as the concentration of microbial contamination exceeding a certain standard for usability of water. It is pertinent in watershed management to know the likelihood of such an event of failure occurring at a particular point in space and time. Microbial fate and transport are driven by environmental processes taking place in complex, multi-component, interdependent environmental systems that are dynamic and spatially heterogeneous, which means these processes and therefore their influences upon microbial transport must be considered stochastic and variable through space and time. A physics-based stochastic model of microbial dynamics is presented that propagates uncertainty using a unique sampling method based on artificial neural networks to produce a correlation between watershed characteristics and spatial-temporal probabilistic patterns of microbial contamination. These results are used to address the question of water safety through several sustainability metrics: reliability, vulnerability, resilience and a composite sustainability index. System reliability is described uniquely though the temporal evolution of risk along watershed points or pathways. Probabilistic resilience describes how long the system is above a certain probability of failure, and the vulnerability metric describes how the temporal evolution of risk changes throughout a hierarchy of failure levels. Additionally our approach allows for the identification of contributions in microbial contamination and uncertainty from specific pathways and sources. We expect that this

  20. Productivity, quality and sustainability of winter wheat underlong-term conventional and organic management in Switzerland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mayer, Jochen; Gunst, Lucie; Mäder, Paul

    2015-01-01

    Long-term sustainability and high resource use efficiency are major goals for high quality baking wheatproduction throughout the world. Present strategies are low input systems such as organic agriculture orimproved conventional systems (integrated). The fertilisation level and strategy, crop...... was fertilised exclusively minerally at level 2 (CONMIN)and a control remained unfertilised (NOFERT). We compared crop yields, baking quality parameters, thenitrogen use efficiency and the effect of maize and potatoes as preceding crops obtained between 2003and 2010 along with long-term soil sustainability......-bers of ears per m2and the thousand kernel weight. The apparent nitrogen use efficiency decreased withincreasing N fertilisation. Doubling the organic fertilisation in the organic systems only slightly improvedwheat grain yields but was not able to improve grain baking quality, due to low mineral N additions...

  1. Sustainable energy development material management team report. Fossil business unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bird, P.; Keller, P.; Manning, P.; Nolan, M.; Ricci, A.; Turnbull, F.; Varadinek, H.

    1995-01-01

    Report of the Material Management Sustainable Energy Development (SED) Team was presented, outlining strategic directions and initiative for embedding SED principles in the materials management function. Six principles underlying SED were prescribed, accompanied by a framework for analysis. Excerpts from position papers used in the formulation of SED recommendations and initiatives were provided. The general theme of the recommendations was: (1) materials management activities should be review to ensure consistency with SED, (2) strategic alliances should be developed where appropriate and (3) staff in the Fossil Business Unit should promote SED among industry suppliers

  2. Managing Supplier Sustainability Risk

    OpenAIRE

    Harilainen, Hanna-Riitta

    2014-01-01

    Supply chains are increasingly global, often reaching to developing regions. The media pressure brand owners to be responsible, but a product is only as sustainable as the practices of all the companies involved in manufacturing it are. It’s not enough that the brand owner acts responsibly; sustainable practices have to reach component and raw material suppliers upstream. Image risk has often been recognized as reason for investing in sustainability. In the supply chain context, supplier m...

  3. Variability in soybean yield in Brazil stemming from the interaction of heterogeneous management and climate variability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohn, A.; Bragança, A.; Jeffries, G. R.

    2017-12-01

    An increasing share of global agricultural production can be found in the humid tropics. Therefore, an improved understanding of the mechanisms governing variability in the output of tropical agricultural systems is of increasing importance for food security including through climate change adaptation. Yet, the long window over which many tropical crops can be sown, the diversity of crop varieties and management practices combine to challenge inference into climate risk to cropping output in analyses of tropical crop-climate sensitivity employing administrative data. In this paper, we leverage a newly developed spatially explicit dataset of soybean yields in Brazil to combat this problem. The dataset was built by training a model of remotely-sensed vegetation index data and land cover classification data using a rich in situ dataset of soybean yield and management variables collected over the period 2006 to 2016. The dataset contains soybean yields by plant date, cropping frequency, and maturity group for each 5km grid cell in Brazil. We model variation in these yields using an approach enabling the estimation of the influence of management factors on the sensitivity of soybean yields to variability in: cumulative solar radiation, extreme degree days, growing degree days, flooding rain in the harvest period, and dry spells in the rainy season. We find strong variation in climate sensitivity by management class. Planting date and maturity group each explained a great deal more variation in yield sensitivity than did cropping frequency. Brazil collects comparatively fine spatial resolution yield data. But, our attempt to replicate our results using administrative soy yield data revealed substantially lesser crop-climate sensitivity; suggesting that previous analyses employing administrative data may have underestimated climate risk to tropical soy production.

  4. Sustainable solid waste management a systems engineering approach

    CERN Document Server

    Chang, N

    2015-01-01

    Interactions between human activities and the environment are complicated and often difficult to quantify. In many occasions, judging where the optimal balance should lie among environmental protection, social well-being, economic growth, and technological progress is complex. The use of a systems engineering approach will fill in the gap contributing to how we understand the intricacy by a holistic way and how we generate better sustainable solid waste management practices. This book aims to advance interdisciplinary understanding of intertwined facets between policy and technology relevant to solid waste management issues interrelated to climate change, land use, economic growth, environmental pollution, industrial ecology, and population dynamics.

  5. Airline price discrimination : a practice of yield management or customer profiling?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Constantinides, Efthymios; Diercks, Rasha H.J.

    2014-01-01

    Airline ticket prices frequently change, which is usually caused by yield management as price discrimination practice. Recently, buyers of online airline tickets tend to complain about price discrimination based on customer profiling, e.g. by means of cookie data. As cookie data and other directly

  6. Sustainable Airport Waste Management: The Case of Kansai International Airport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Glenn Baxter

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The global air transport industry is predicted to continue its rapid growth. A by-product of air transport operations, however, is the substantial volumes of waste generated at airports. To mitigate the environmental impact of waste and to comply with regulatory requirements, airports are increasingly implementing sustainable waste management policies and systems. Using an in-depth case study research design, this study has examined waste management at Kansai International Airport from 2002 to 2015. Throughout its history the airport has implemented world best practices to achieve its goal of being an eco-friendly airport. The qualitative data gathered for the study were analysed using document analysis. The quantitative data were analysed using t-tests. Statistically significant results were found in the reduction in waste per passenger and aircraft movement (for total waste, incinerated waste, and landfill waste. In addition, a statistically significant increase in the proportion of waste recycled, and a decrease in the proportion of waste sent to landfill was observed. As such, quantitatively speaking, Kansai International Airport has shown significant waste management improvements. The study concludes that Kansai Airport’s waste management approaches and policies can be transferred to other airport facilities. This would greatly improve sustainability across airports, globally.

  7. The evolution of international policies and mechanisms to advance sustainable forest management and mitigate global climate change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bologna, J.; Lyke, J.; Theophile, K.

    1995-01-01

    Scientific findings regarding global climate change and deforestation led industrialized nations to bring both issues to the forefront of an international dialogue on the environment. International institutional attention to deforestation began in 1985 with the Tropical Forestry Action Program which helped countries develop plans for sustainable forest management. A few years later, the International Tropical Timber Organization, though designed to facilitate tropical timber trade, adopted guidelines for sustainable management of tropical production forests. Next, the activities before and after UNCED established a general set of forest principles and regional efforts to define sustainable forest management. The World Bank has also sought to reduce past lending failures that led to deforestation and other environmental degradation, through programmatic redirections and macro-economic policy reforms. Finally, through innovative financial incentives, industrialized and developing countries are identifying opportunities to offset debts and increase economic development without depleting forest resources. Collectively, these efforts have let to some trends that support sustainable forest management and mitigate climate change. The upcoming years will see a proactive set of multilateral programs to address deforestation, an increasing link between trade and the environment, and more uses of financial incentives to encourage sustainable forest management

  8. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Web Academy Webinar: Managing Wasted Food with Anaerobic Digestion: Incentives and Innovations

    Science.gov (United States)

    This is a webinar page for the Sustainable Management of Materials (SMM) Web Academy webinar titled Let’s WRAP (Wrap Recycling Action Program): Best Practices to Boost Plastic Film Recycling in Your Community

  9. A Case Study of Obsolescence Management Constraints During Development of Sustainment-Dominated Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welch, Jonathan

    This case study focused on obsolescence management constraints that occur during development of sustainment-dominated systems. Obsolescence management constraints were explored in systems expected to last 20 years or more and that tend to use commercial off-the-shelf products. The field of obsolescence has received little study, but obsolescence has a large cost for military systems. Because developing complex systems takes an average of 3 to 8 years, and commercial off-the-shelf components are typically obsolete within 3 to 5 years, military systems are often deployed with obsolescence issues that are transferred to the sustainment community to determine solutions. The main problem addressed in the study was to identify the constraints that have caused 70% of military systems under development to be obsolete when they are delivered. The purpose of the study was to use a qualitative case study to identify constraints that interfered with obsolescence management occurring during the development stages of a program. The participants of this case study were managers, subordinates, and end-users who were logistics and obsolescence experts. Researchers largely agree that proactive obsolescence management is a lower cost solution for sustainment-dominated systems. Program managers must understand the constraints and understand the impact of not implementing proactive solutions early in the development program lifecycle. The conclusion of the study found several constraints that prevented the development program from early adoption of obsolescence management theories, specifically pro-active theories. There were three major themes identified: (a) management commitment, (b) lack of details in the statement of work, and (c) vendor management. Each major theme includes several subthemes. The recommendation is future researchers should explore two areas: (a) comparing the cost of managing obsolescence early in the development process versus the costs of managing later, (b

  10. Model of environmental management system for environmentally sustainable universities training in Colombia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rivas Marin, Maria Isabel

    2011-01-01

    Sustainable campuses have become one of the main objectives of the Agendas University as a result of the impacts generated by the activities developed there and affect the environment. Given this, there are environmental management systems which are the set of practices, procedures, processes and resources needed to meet environmental regulations on business and are focused on reducing the impacts on the environment and the efficiency of processes. College- level companies still being considered, these systems do not work efficiently, it is necessary and urgent that the adequacy of a model environmental management system and that, through education and research, will help society to achieve the transition to sustainable lifestyles.

  11. SUSTAINABILITY OF INSECT RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR TRANSGENIC BT CORN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Increasing interest in the responsible management of technology in the industrial and agricultural sectors of the economy has been met through the development of broadly applicable tools to assess the "sustainability" of new technologies. An arena ripe for application of such ana...

  12. Managing European Cross Border Cooperation Projects on Sustainability: A Focus on MESP Project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Corrado Schenone

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available International cooperation is a must to achieve the goal of sustainable development, since only through cross border actions’ complex issues like environmental degradation can be faced. Supranational initiatives and shared objectives are the only path for getting a durable and effective green strategy, which transcends boundaries or governments and fosters a common effort for sustainability through networking. The European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI aims at reinforcing cooperation between the European Union (EU and partner countries’ regions placed along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. To this extent, MESP (Managing the Environmental Sustainability of Ports for a durable development can be considered as a typical cross border cooperation project, willing to create a sustainable environmental management of port in northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean basin. This has been achieved through the development of specific guidelines towards environmental sustainability and the collection of common tools, methodologies, good practices and innovations focused on pollution reduction that can be replicated in Mediterranean ports and further. This was possible through the creation of a strong cooperation network and long-lasting collaborations among partners and stakeholders such as harbour cities, port authorities, universities, research centres and scientific skills.

  13. Maize (Zea mays L.) yield response to nitrogen as influenced by spatio-temporal variations of soil-water-topography dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reducing nitrogen (N) loss from agricultural lands and applying N fertilizer at rates that satisfy both economic and environmental objectives is critical for sustainable agricultural management. This study investigated spatial variability in maize yield response to N and its controlling factors alon...

  14. Relationship of various factors affecting the sustainable private forest management at Pajangan District, Special Regions Yogyakarta, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Widayanto, B.; Karsidi, R.; Kusnandar; Sutrisno, J.

    2018-03-01

    Forests have a role and function in providing good atmosphere with stable oxygen content and affecting global climate stability. Good forest management will provide stable climatic conditions in global climate change. A good forest is managed to provide a sustainable environment condition. This study aims to analyze the relationship of various factors affecting the sustainability of private forests management. This research is a quantitative research with survey method and determination of sampling are was by purposive sampling. Sampling method using multiple stage cluster sampling with 60 samples. From the results it was found that the successful sustainable private forest management influenced by various factors, such as group dynamics, stakeholder support, community institutions, and farmer participation. The continuity of private forest management is determined by the fulfillment of economic, social and environmental dimensions. The most interesting finding is that the group dynamics conditions are very good, whereas the sense of togetherness among community is very strong under limited resources managing private forests. The sense of togetherness resulted creativity to diversify business and thus reduced the pressure in exploiting the forest. Some people think that managing the people's forest as a culture so that its existence can be more sustainable.

  15. Sustainable humanitarian supply chain management: exploring new theory

    OpenAIRE

    Kunz, Nathan; Gold, Stefan

    2015-01-01

    Disaster response operations aim at helping as many victims as possible in the shortest time, with limited consideration of the socio-economic context. During the disaster rehabilitation phase, the perspective needs to broaden and comprehensively take into account the local environment. We propose a framework of sustainable humanitarian supply chain management (SCM) that facilitates such comprehensive performance. We conceptualize the framework by combining literature from the fields of susta...

  16. Forest-related partnerships in Brazilian Amazonia: There is more to sustainable forest management than reduced impact logging

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ros-Tonen, M.A.F.; van Andel, T.; Morsello, C.; Otsuki, K.; Rosendo, S.; Scholz, I.

    2008-01-01

    There is more to sustainable forest management than reduced impact logging. Partnerships between multiple actors are needed in order to create the institutional context for good forest governance and sustainable forest management and stimulate the necessary local community involvement. The idea

  17. Fostering sustainable operations in a natural resource management agency: insights from the field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patricia L. Winter; Shawn M. Burn

    2010-01-01

    Sustainable operations (SO; operating in an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable manner) is consistent with the environmental stewardship mission of natural resource management organizations. This study sought to examine SO practices in the daily work lives of US Forest Service employees, including those primarily stationed in the office and in the...

  18. Distributed GIS Systems, Open Specifications and Interoperability: How do They Relate to the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rafael Moreno-Sanchez

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this is paper is to provide a conceptual framework for the session: “The role of web-based Geographic Information Systems in supporting sustainable management.” The concepts of sustainability, sustainable forest management, Web Services, Distributed Geographic Information Systems, interoperability, Open Specifications, and Open Source Software are defined...

  19. Social Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Textile and Apparel Industry—A Literature Review

    OpenAIRE

    Deniz Köksal; Jochen Strähle; Martin Müller; Matthias Freise

    2017-01-01

    So far, a vast amount of studies on sustainability in supply chain management have been conducted by academics over the last decade. Nevertheless, socially related aspects are still neglected in the related discussion. The primary motivation of the present literature review has arisen from this shortcoming, thus the key purpose of this study is to enrich the discussion by providing a state-of-the-art, focusing exclusively on social issues in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) by consi...

  20. Partial resistance to stripe rust and its effect on sustainability of wheat yield

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qamar, M.; Din, R.U.; Gardazi, D.A.

    2014-01-01

    Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. tritici) poses a serious threat to wheat production in cooler areas of Pakistan. The 70% area of wheat in Pakistan is prone to stripe rust disease. It can cause 10-17% yield losses if susceptible cultivars are planted under favorable conditions. Level of partial plant resistance in bread wheat and its impact on sustainable wheat production was studied at the National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad under natural conditions in the field. Eleven Pakistani commercial wheat cultivars/advance lines including check (Inqalab 91) were assessed for the level of partial resistance against stripe rust using Area Under the Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC), disease severity (DS) and epidemic growth rate in comparison with wheat cultivar, Inqalab 91. During 2007 cropping season, natural epidemic was developed and relative AUDPC was recorded from 0 to 100% whereas the 2008 cropping season was dry and no stripe rust appeared. Two advanced lines (NR 268 and NR 285) showed the infection type (IT) less than 7 (incompatible reaction) to the mixture of prevailing stripe rust inoculums. Very low level of DS and AUDPC were recorded in the remaining cultivars/lines indicating a high level of partial resistance to stripe rust compared to the susceptible check cultivar, Inqalab 91. Among eight cultivars/lines that showed compatible type of reaction (IT greater then equal to 7), one was resistant (relative AUDPC = 20% of Inqalab 91) and six showed very high resistance levels (relative AUDPC greater then equal to 5%). Maximum level of resistance (relative AUDPC = 0.1%) was observed in advanced line, NR 271. The wheat cultivars/lines that showed a slow disease development (low DS and AUDPC), could be considered as -1 partially resistant for stripe rust infection. The yield (2178 kg ha) of susceptible check cultivar Inqalab-91 during 2007 was reduced to 45% as -1 compared to its yield (3945 kg ha) in epidemic free year (2008). Thus the use

  1. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Web Academy Webinar: The Changing Waste Stream

    Science.gov (United States)

    This is a webinar page for the Sustainable Management of Materials (SMM) Web Academy webinar titled Let’s WRAP (Wrap Recycling Action Program): Best Practices to Boost Plastic Film Recycling in Your Community

  2. Sugarcane trash management assessed by the interaction of yield with soil properties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flávio Carlos Dalchiavon

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Currently, sugarcane plays an important global role, particularly with a view to alternative energy sources. Thus, in a sugarcane field of the mill Vale do Paraná S/A Álcool e Açúcar, Rubineia, São Paulo State, managed under two green cane harvest systems (cane trash left on and cane trash removed from the soil, Pearson and spatial correlations between the sugarcane yield (variety RB855035 in the third cut and soil physical and chemical properties were studied to identify the property best correlated with stalk yield and the best harvest method. For this purpose, two geostatistical grids (121 sampling points on 1.30 ha were installed on a eutrophic Red Argisol (homogeneous slope of 0.065 m m-1, in 2011, to determine the properties: stalk yield and sugarcane plant population, and soil resistance to penetration, gravimetric moisture, bulk density, and carbon stock, in the layers 0-0.20 and 0.20-0.40 m. The data were analyzed by descriptive, linear correlation and geostatistical analysis. In both treatments, the property stand density was best correlated with sugarcane yield (r = 0.725 in the trash mulching treatment - TM and r = 0.769 in the trash removal treatment - TR. However, in relation to the soil properties, bulk density (0-0.20 m was best correlated (r = 0.305 in TM, r = 0.211 in TR. Similarly, from the spatial point of view, stand density was the property that best explained the sugarcane yield. However, in the TM treatment the density (0.20-0.40 m was the only soil property spatially correlated with stalk yield. The carbon stock in the soil of the TM was 11.5 % higher than in the TR treatment. Results of the TM treatment were best, also with regard to soil management and conservation.

  3. Examining Socio-Economic Aspects of Sustainable Materials Management - Sustainability assessment and economic optimisation modelling

    OpenAIRE

    Hoogmartens, Rob

    2016-01-01

    This dissertation considers Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) as one of the cornerstones of the future green economy. The basic question regarding SMM is how to shift the behaviour of society towards meeting its material needs without destabilising the natural system nor jeopardising its future, in other words: how to preserve natural capital and reduce the environmental impacts of material life cycles. Taking into consideration the difficulty of identifying appropriate SMM policies, thi...

  4. Forest inventory: role in accountability for sustainable forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lloyd C. Irland

    2007-01-01

    Forest inventory can play several roles in accountability for sustainable forest management. A first dimension is accountability for national performance. The new field of Criteria and Indicators is an expression of this need. A more familiar role for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program is for assessment and...

  5. Community management and sustainability of rural water facilities in Tanzania

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mandara, C.G.; Butijn, C.A.A.; Niehof, Anke

    2013-01-01

    This paper addresses the question of whether community management in water service delivery affects the sustainability of rural water facilities (RWFs) at village level, in terms of their technical and managerial aspects, and what role capacity building of users and providers plays in this process.

  6. 'Wasteaware' benchmark indicators for integrated sustainable waste management in cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, David C; Rodic, Ljiljana; Cowing, Michael J; Velis, Costas A; Whiteman, Andrew D; Scheinberg, Anne; Vilches, Recaredo; Masterson, Darragh; Stretz, Joachim; Oelz, Barbara

    2015-01-01

    This paper addresses a major problem in international solid waste management, which is twofold: a lack of data, and a lack of consistent data to allow comparison between cities. The paper presents an indicator set for integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) in cities both North and South, to allow benchmarking of a city's performance, comparing cities and monitoring developments over time. It builds on pioneering work for UN-Habitat's solid waste management in the World's cities. The comprehensive analytical framework of a city's solid waste management system is divided into two overlapping 'triangles' - one comprising the three physical components, i.e. collection, recycling, and disposal, and the other comprising three governance aspects, i.e. inclusivity; financial sustainability; and sound institutions and proactive policies. The indicator set includes essential quantitative indicators as well as qualitative composite indicators. This updated and revised 'Wasteaware' set of ISWM benchmark indicators is the cumulative result of testing various prototypes in more than 50 cities around the world. This experience confirms the utility of indicators in allowing comprehensive performance measurement and comparison of both 'hard' physical components and 'soft' governance aspects; and in prioritising 'next steps' in developing a city's solid waste management system, by identifying both local strengths that can be built on and weak points to be addressed. The Wasteaware ISWM indicators are applicable to a broad range of cities with very different levels of income and solid waste management practices. Their wide application as a standard methodology will help to fill the historical data gap. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Towards a more responsible sustainable innovation assessment and management culture in Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Popper Rafael

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This article presents new concepts and practical approaches resulting from the piloting of CASI-F - a common framework for the assessment and management of sustainable innovation (SI. Based on lessons learned from action research carried out in the context of the EU funded CASI project, the article focuses on the meta-analysis of 46 action roadmaps produced with 43 innovators supporting the practical application of CASI-F. The applied methodology helped to demonstrate that a multi-level and multi-actor advice approach promotes a shift towards improved understanding of innovations-related critical issues (barriers, drivers, opportunities and threats and stakeholders’ relations, as well as their management, thus promoting the sustainable resilience and transformation of socio-technical systems. This paper first reflects on how we arrived to managerial lessons from the actions roadmaps and how could these lessons be used to assess the current state of affairs and potential way forward for European initiatives and instruments promoting sustainable innovation.

  8. Effect of Weed Management on Weeds and Grain Yield of Haricot ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Weeds are one of the major constraints limiting haricot bean productivity and production. Field experiments were conducted on the effect of weed managements on weeds and grain yield of haricot bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) at Melkassa Agricultural Research Center from 2011 - 2013. The objective was to determine the ...

  9. Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management: an alternative for monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Luis Cué García

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The work was developed in the province of Cienfuegos, Cuba, with the hope of presenting an alternative methodology for monitoring criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management. Participatory workshops were used with actors and makers of SilviculturalUnits in the definition of criteria and indicators, based on the rules set forth by Herrero (2005. The Delphi method was used in the validation of the proposal. A hierarchical system that facilitates standardization of indicators and their aggregation to indices as well as the procedural guide indicators and checklist of them was used. The adequacy of Sustainability Barometer Prescott-Allen, 1997, quoted by Van Bellen (2004 was performed. The results of the analysis of the reliability of the instrument applied to the expert are acceptable because the Hotelling T2 value was 322.46 p = 0.007, there is a strong significant correlation between the elements of the instrument, expressed in an intraclass correlation coefficient from 0.756 to p = 0.038, Alpha reliability coefficient Cronbach 0.806, Spearman-Brown coefficient equal to 0.656 and Guttman split halves coefficient of 0.606. This alternative ensures a more comprehensive and holistic observance of the attributes of a system of sustainability indicators in the field of specialized forest Cuban business sector, enabling the assessment of the trend of sustainable forest management according to the specifics of each forestry unit.

  10. Sustainable semiarid dryland production in relation to tillage effects on Hydrology: 1983-2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semiarid dryland crop yields with no-till, NT, residue management are often greater than stubble-mulch tillage, SM, as a result of improved soil conditions or water conservation, but knowledge of long-term tillage effects on the comprehensive field hydrology and sustained crop production is needed. ...

  11. Evaluation of an organic package of practice towards integrated management of Solanum tuberosum and its comparison with conventional farming in terms of yield, quality, energy efficiency and economics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antara Seal

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available A study was taken up during 2014-16 for evaluating the potential of an organic package of practice towards integrated crop production (green farming in comparison to conventional farmers’ practice in West Bengal, India. Under green farming, compost was integrated with chemical fertilizer for soil management while organic plant/ pest management was undertaken utilizing Inhana Rational Farming (IRF Technology. The study indicated higher yield (9.7 %, higher nutrient use efficiency and economic sustainability under green farming irrespective of study area or potato variety. Higher qualitative expression in terms of starch content, pulp pH, vitamin C etc. under green farming might be due to the organic plant management aimed at energization of plant biochemical functions. Soil quality development as noted under green farming might have been influenced by the on-farm produced compost containing rich self- generated micro flora (in order of 1016 per colony forming unit.. The study indicated that green farming may serve as an efficient substitute of conventional farming towards yield sustenance, abatement of food toxicity and quality end product; through higher use of renewable energy and activation of plant physiological functions.

  12. Effect of integrated forage rotation and manure management on yield, nutrient balance and soil organic matter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cesare Tomasoni

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports results from a field experiment established in 1995 and still on going. It is located in Lodi, in the irrigated lowlands of Lombardy, Northern Italy. The experiment compares two rotations: the annual double cropping system, Italian ryegrass + silage maize (R1; and the 6-year rotation, in which three years of double crop Italian ryegrass + silage maize are followed by three years of alfalfa harvested for hay (R6 Each rotation have received two types of dairy manure: i farmyard manure (FYM; ii semi-liquid manure (SLM. The intent was to apply to each unit land area the excreta produced by the number of adult dairy cows sustained, in terms of net energy, by the forage produced in each rotation, corresponding to about 6 adult cows ha-1 for R1 and 4 adult cows ha-1 for R6. Manure was applied with (N1 or without (N0 an extra supply of mineral N in the form of urea. The objectives of this study were: i to assess whether the recycling of two types of manure in two forage rotation systems can sustain crop yields in the medium and long term without additional N fertilization; ii to evaluate the nutrient balance of these integrated forage rotations and manure management systems; iii to compare the effects of farmyard manure and semi-liquid manure on soil organic matter. The application of FYM, compared to SLM, increased yield of silage maize by 19% and alfalfa by 23%, while Italian ryegrass was not influenced by the manure treatment. Yet, silage maize produced 6% more in rotation R6 compared to rotation R1. The mineral nitrogen fertilization increased yield of Italian ryegrass by 11% and of silage maize by 10%. Alfalfa, not directly fertilized with mineral nitrogen, was not influenced by the nitrogen applied to the other crops in rotation. The application of FYM, compared to SLM, increased soil organic matter (SOM by +37 % for the rotation R1, and by +20% for the rotation R6. Conversely, no significant difference on SOM was observed

  13. Integrating concerns about wood production and sustainable forest management in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    R.W. Haynes

    2007-01-01

    The implementation of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in the United States is strongly influenced by U.S. forest products markets and the numerous management decisions made by individual landowners and managers. These decisions are influenced by a mix of market incentives and regulatory actions reducing predictability in assessing progress towards SFM and causing...

  14. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Web Academy Webinar: Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures 2013 - Assessing Trends in Materials Generation, Recycling and Disposal in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    This is a webinar page for the Sustainable Management of Materials (SMM) Web Academy webinar titled Let’s WRAP (Wrap Recycling Action Program): Best Practices to Boost Plastic Film Recycling in Your Community

  15. A technical investigation on tools and concepts for sustainable management of the subsurface in The Netherlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffioen, Jasper; van Wensem, Joke; Oomes, Justine L M; Barends, Frans; Breunese, Jaap; Bruining, Hans; Olsthoorn, Theo; Stams, Alfons J M; van der Stoel, Almer E C

    2014-07-01

    In response to increasing use of the subsurface, there is a need to modernise policies on sustainable use of the subsurface. This holds in particular for the densely populated Netherlands. We aimed to analyse current practice of subsurface management and the associated pressure points and to establish a conceptual overview of the technical issues related to sustainable management of the subsurface. Case studies on the exploitation of subsurface resources (including spatial use of the subsurface) were analysed, examining social relevance, environmental impact, pressure points and management solutions. The case studies ranged from constructing underground garages to geothermal exploitation. The following issues were identified for the technological/scientific aspects: site investigation, suitability, risk assessment, monitoring and measures in the event of failure. Additionally, the following general issues were identified for the administrative aspects: spatial planning, option assessment, precaution, transparency, responsibility and liability. These issues were explored on their technological implications within the framework of sustainable management of the subsurface. This resulted into the following key aspects: (1) sustainability assessment, (2) dealing with uncertainty and (3) policy instruments and governance. For all three aspects, different options were identified which might have a legal, economic or ethical background. The technological implications of these backgrounds have been identified. A set of recommendations for sustainable management of the subsurface resources (incl. space) was established: (1) management should be driven by scarcity, (2) always implement closed loop monitoring when the subsurface activities are high-risk, (3) when dealing with unknown features and heterogeneity, apply the precautionary principle, (4) responsibility and liability for damage must be set out in legislation and (5) sustainability should be incorporated in all

  16. Principles for a Code of Conduct for the Management and Sustainable Use of Mangrove Ecosystems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Macintosh, Donald; Nielsen, Thomas; Zweig, Ronald

    mangrove forest ecosystems worldwide, the World Bank commissioned a study with the title "Mainstreaming conservation of coastal biodiversity through formulation of a generic Code of Conduct for Sustainable Management of Mangrove Forest Ecosystems". Formulation of these Principles for a Code of Conduct...... and the sustainable use of mangrove resources. It recommends key legislation and enforcement mechanisms (e.g. governmental and/or community based) considered necessary to ensure the effective conservation, protection and sustainable use of mangroves. The Principles for a Code of Conduct for mangroves was prepared......, Africa, and Central and South America. These workshops provided an opportunity to seek expert advice regarding practical examples of sound mangrove management, or problems for management, from each region, and to illustrate them in the working document. A peer review workshop was held in Washington...

  17. Sustainability of the integrated chronic disease management model at primary care clinics in South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asmall, Shaidah

    2016-01-01

    Background An integrated chronic disease management (ICDM) model consisting of four components (facility reorganisation, clinical supportive management, assisted self-supportive management and strengthening of support systems and structures outside the facility) has been implemented across 42 primary health care clinics in South Africa with a view to improve the operational efficiency and patient clinical outcomes. Aim The aim of this study was to assess the sustainability of the facility reorganisation and clinical support components 18 months after the initiation. Setting The study was conducted at 37 of the initiating clinics across three districts in three provinces of South Africa. Methods The National Health Service (NHS) Institute for Innovation and Improvement Sustainability Model (SM) self-assessment tool was used to assess sustainability. Results Bushbuckridge had the highest mean sustainability score of 71.79 (95% CI: 63.70–79.89) followed by West Rand Health District (70.25 (95% CI: 63.96–76.53)) and Dr Kenneth Kaunda District (66.50 (95% CI: 55.17–77.83)). Four facilities (11%) had an overall sustainability score of less than 55. Conclusion The less than optimal involvement of clinical leadership (doctors), negative staff behaviour towards the ICDM, adaptability or flexibility of the model to adapt to external factors and infrastructure limitation have the potential to negatively affect the sustainability and scale-up of the model. PMID:28155314

  18. Finnish policy approach and measures for the promotion of sustainability in contaminated land management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinikainen, Jussi; Sorvari, Jaana; Tikkanen, Sarianne

    2016-12-15

    The importance of sustainability considerations in contaminated land management (CLM) is highlighted in policy frameworks all around the world. It means that while the reduction of risks to human health and the environment remains the main goal of CLM, a variety of other environmental factors as well as economic and social aspects have an increasing role in decision making. The success of finding the right balance between these considerations and incorporating them in the risk management approach defines the overall sustainability of the outcome. Although the concept and principles of sustainable CLM are already widely accepted, they have not been fully realized in national procedures. According to several studies this often results from the lack of explicit policy measures. A sound policy framework in conjunction with functional policy instruments is therefore a prerequisite for the attainment of sustainable practices. In Finland, the environmental administration along with other key stakeholder groups, including regional authorities, landowners, consultants, industries, research institutes and academia, has developed a national strategy and associated policy measures in order to promote sustainable CLM. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Community knowledge and sustainable natural resources management: learning from the Monpa of Arunachal Pradesh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ranjay K. Singh

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available Community knowledge and local institutions play a significant role in sustainable comanagement, use and conservation of natural resources. Looking to the importance of these resources, a project, funded by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF, Ahmedabad, India was implemented to document the community knowledge associated with agriculture and natural resources in few selected Monpa tribe dominating villages of West Kameng and Tawang Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Dynamics of various indigenous practices, gender role, culture and informal rural social institutions, cultural edges significantly contribute in managing and using the natural resources sustainably. Experiential learning and location specific knowledge play a pivotal role in ecosystem sustainability. Study also indicates the synergistic relation existing between local knowledge and ecological edges, thereby helping in sustaining livelihood in high altitude. Indigenous resource management systems are not mere traditions but adaptive responses that have evolved over time.

  20. Contribution of Nuclear Science in Agriculture Sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soliman, S.M.; Galal, Y.G.M.

    2017-01-01

    Sustainable agricultural systems employ natural processes to achieve acceptable levels of productivity and food quality while minimizing adverse environmental impacts. Sustainable agriculture must, by definition, be ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible. Sustainable agriculture must nurture healthy co systems and support the sustainable management of land, water and natural resources, while ensuring world food security. To be sustainable, agriculture must meet the needs of present and future generations for its products and services, while ensuring profitability, environmental health and social and economic equity. The global transition to sustainable food and agriculture will require major improvements in the efficiency of resource use, in environmental protection and in systems resilience. In Mediterrane an environments, crops are grown mainly in the semiarid and sub-humid are as. In arid and semiarid are as dry land farming, techniques are of renewed interest in the view of sustain ability. They are aimed to increase water accumulation in the soil, reduce runoff and soil evaporation losses, choose species and varieties able to make better use of rainwater, and rationalize fertilization plans, sowing dates, and weed and pest control. Fertilization plans should be based on well-defined principles of plant nutrition, soil chemistry, and chemistry of the fertilizer elements. Starting from the calculation of nutrient crop uptake (based on the actually obtainable yield), dose calculation must be corrected by considering the relation ship between the availability of the trace elements in soil and the main physical and chemical parameters of the soil (ph, organic matter content, mineralization rate, C/N, ratio of solubilization of phosphorus, active lime content, presence of antagonist ions, etc.). In the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, Soil and Water Research Department, nuclear techniques including radio and stable isotopes in addition to

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