Participation In Sustainable Development Research Articles

A “Hong Kong” model of sustainable development

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss a Coasian interpretation of a model of sustainable development for Hong Kong that incorporates three segments, namely economy, society, and environment.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is analytical, using concepts of property rights informed by Coasian neo‐institutional economics and Yu's ideas on the Schumpeterian process in innovation.FindingsFirst, the sustainable development criteria must be non‐dictatorial, decentralized, and compatible with market economics. The emphasis is contractarian rather than legislative or administrative. Second, the essence of segment cooperation is to create a win‐win situation rather than an “integrated” rent seeking game, which will likely result in more values being created. Third, the requirement that it be progressive over time implies that programs and policies that are duplicative need to be avoided, and innovations are to be encouraged. Fourth, the requirement of satisfying only two aspects of the three segments of cooperation implies a less stringent standard of making stepwise improvements, and thus makes entrepreneurial efforts more likely. Last, the three segments of cooperation, if practiced simultaneously and improved over time, can achieve most, if not all, the principles in the Rio Declaration without aiming at a specific principle in the Declaration.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper should focus on a “win‐win” rather than a mutually exploitative approach to public participation in sustainable development promotion.Practical implicationsThis paper should assist policymakers and politicians in understanding how sustainable development may be conceptually modelled.Originality/valueThe paper is the first paper that defines for Hong Kong a model of sustainable development on the basis of Coasian economics, and contrasts it with other proposed models.

Promoting learning processes for public participation in sustainable development: lessons and experiences from action research in Southern Thailand

The Masters Program in Environmental Education at the Prince of Songkla University in Southern Thailand has adopted an approach to combining environmental education with community learning. Students are encouraged to take environmental education by conducting participatory action research in collaboration with communities and schools. It includes development of a learning process to suit target groups and facilitation of related community activities. The degree of success depends on the community capital: natural resources; monetary, social, and human capital; and community wisdom. Environmental educators should be aware of the importance of community capital when developing action processes for sustainable development.

Renovating dependency and self-reliance for participatory sustainable development

Dependency stands for manygrievances and is generally considered asymptom of oppression. An opposing concept,offered as the preferred state, isself-reliance. Dependency and self-reliance arekey concepts in sustainable developmentprograms that feature participatory approaches.Some of the ways in which development projectsemploy the concepts of dependency andself-reliance, however, are troubling.Dependency and self-reliance in two programsfor participatory sustainable development areexamined, one in Canada and the other in NewZealand. Frameworks for dependency and self-reliance aredrawn from social psychology and philosophy toexamine problematic aspects associated with theconcepts. Analysis produced a proposal foruse of the term situatedinterdependence as a way to cast the outcomesof participatory sustainable development moreprecisely. The location of the cases (Canadaand New Zealand) centers the discussion withina context of industrialized agriculture, butalso points to issues pertinent to developingcountries.

The Politics of Amazonian Conservation: The Struggles of Rubber Tappers

The social movement of the Amazonian rubber tappers started as a marginal group which initially claimed land rights, and ultimately succeeded in establishing extractive reserves, territories designed for the sustainable use of traditional populations under rhe Brazilian system of nature conservation. In short, they became exemplary of grassroots participation in sustainable development. I try to show in this article how this transition was possible by narrating a series of political actions taking place at the local and national levels, as well as at the regional setting which links both. With these narratives I will try account for the way local action and beliefs interact with wider powers and worldviews, in a "combined and uneven development."

FORUM: A Context for Participation in Sustainable Development.

/ The relevant literature is abound with different definitions for sustainability, but the most meaningful definition is set within an evolutionary framework. Mechanistic and evolutionary frameworks for sustainable development are discussed. Evolution and adaptation are characteristics of complex adaptive systems, and a new understanding of sustainable development can be gleaned by using the complex adaptive systems framework. This approach to sustainable development issues implicitly requires proactive involvement by the public. This paper supports that bottom-up participation needs to be nurtured. Appropriate processes to enable participation need to be designed and implemented.

Towards Effective Participation in Sustainable Development

Most countries in the world have realized that traditional educational institutions are no longer capable of fulfilling their responsibilities in light of the information revolution and communications technology. Therefore, distance higher education has become the most appropriate educational system that aligns with these requirements, as it provides new opportunities for adults to pursue university studies, offers flexibility in terms of time and place, and reduces educational costs. Despite the quantitative and qualitative development witnessed by higher education in the Arab world, it still falls short of responding to the social, economic, cultural, and political requirements. Among its most prominent problems are: weak capacity to accommodate the growing number of students, standardization in curricula and programs, duality of specializations, rigidity and stagnation in structures and programs, imbalance between the functions of teaching, research, and community service, and weak linkage to development plans. Therefore, the demand for renewing and modernizing higher education has become urgent, and the establishment of distance higher education modalities in Arab institutions is necessary to enable education to respond to development requirements and prepare qualified cadres.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: The World's Savannas: Economic Driving Forces, Ecological Constraints and Policy Options for Sustainable Land Use, edited by M.D. Young and O.T. Solbrig. Policies for a Small Planet: From the International Institute for Environment and Development, edited by Johan Holmberg with a Foreword by Sir Crispin Tickell. Grassroots Environmental Action: Peoples participation in sustainable development, edited by Dharam Ghai and Jessica M. Vivian. Civil Disasters: The Role of Public Libraries following a Crisis in the Community, researched by Marilyn Dover and edited by Sylvia Simmons. Living Conditions, Disasters, and Development: An Approach to Cross‐Cultural Comparisons, by Frederick L. Bates and Walter Peacock. The Role of Indigenous Range Management Knowledge for Desertification Control in Northern Kenya, by Gufu Oba. More People, Less Erosion: Environmental Recovery in Kenya, by Mary Tiffen, Michael Mortimore and Francis Gichuki.

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:Grassroots Environmental Action: People's Participation in Sustainable Development Edited by Dharam Ghai and Jessica M Vivian Routledge Press, New YorkParadise Lost? The Ecological Economics of Biodiversity Edward B Barbier, Joanne C Burgess and Carl Folke Earthscan Publications Limited, LondonWhose Backyard, Whose Risk? Fear and Fairness in Toxic and Nuclear Waste Siting Michael B Gerrard MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USAEnvironment, Growth and Development: The Concepts and Strategies of Sustainability Peter Bartelmus Routledge, London

Book Reviews

Book Reviewed in this article: Robert Beauregard (Ed.) Atop the Urban Hierarchy. G. Cook (Ed.) The Future of Antarctica: Exploitation versus Preservation. K. Suter Antarctica: Private Property or Public Heritage. P. Simpson‐Housley Antarctica: Exploration Perception and Metaphor. Dharam Ghai and Jessica M. Vivian (Eds.) Grassroots Environmental Action: People's Participation in Sustainable Development. A. Parker, M. Russo, D. Sommer and P. Yaeger (Eds.) Nationalisms and Sexualities. and Richard WalkerThe New Social Economy, Reworking the Division of Labor. Andrew Sayer and Richard WalkerThe New Social Economy, Reworking the Division of Labor.

People's Participation for Sustainable Development

People's Participation for Sustainable Development

Grassroots environmental action: people's participation in sustainable development

1. Introduction, Dharam Ghai and Jessica Vivian Part I: Approaches and Concepts 2. Sustainable Development and Popular Participation: A Framework for Analysis Michael Redclift 3. Foundations for Sustainable Development: Participation, Empowerment and Local Resource Management Jessica Vivian Part II: Traditional Systems Of Resource Management 4. The Barabaig Pastoralists of Tanzania: Sustainable Land Use in Jeopardy Charles Lane 5. The Zanjeras and the Ilocos Norte Irrigation Project: Lessons of Environmental Sustainability from Philippine Traditional Resource Management Systems Ruth Ammerman Yabes 6. Sustainable Development and People's Participation in Wetland Ecosystem Conservation in Brazil: Two Comparative Studies Antonio Carlos S. Diegues Part III: Social Action and the Environment 7. Urban Social Organisation and Ecological Struggle in Durango, Mexico Julio Moguel and Enrique Velazquez 8. Strategies for Autochthonous Development: Two Initiatives in Rural Oaxaca, Mexico Jutta Blauert and Marta Guidi 9. Ruining the Commons and Responses of the Commoners: Coastal Overfishing and Fishworkers' Actions in Kerala State, India John Kurien 10. From Environmental Conflicts to Sustainable Mountain Transformation: Ecological Action in the Garhwal Himalaya Jayanta Bandyopadhyay Part IV: Lessons from Environmental Projects 11. Environmental Rehabilitation in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands: Constraints to People's Participation Michael Stahl 12. Local Resource Management and Development: Strategic Dimensions of People's Participation Philippe Egger and Jean Majeres 13. Who Should Manage Environmental Problems? Some Lessons from Latin America Charles A. Reilly.