Small-scale, conservation-based agrarianism provides a model for sustainable human habitation within heterogeneous landscapes. Thoreau's Transcendentalism and the historical roots of American Agrarianism are explored as influences for wilderness preservation and the New Agrarian movement. Idealizing a distant wilderness too often means overlooking the ecological and socio-economic environment where people live. Middle landscapes between nature and culture, or between wilderness and cities, can either increase or reduce ecological and social functioning within the landscape matrix. Managing middle landscapes by agrarian principles helps move both nature and culture towards ecological, economic, and social sustainability. This thesis ends with a discussion of agrarian themes, such as supporting decentralized local economies and increasing community connectivity, applied in urban, rural, and wilderness landscapes.

This thesis investigates how hotels communicate their sustainability efforts to their customers on their websites. As sustainability is becoming more known and more expected, businesses feel more pressure to have sustainable initiatives. However, sustainability has no international standards, meaning that businesses can have quite different ideas of what sustainability entails. Therefore, this study looks into different sustainable initiatives that hotels have. The thesis uses discourse analysis to compare what sustainability issues are addressed and how they are presented on the websites. This is done by comparing six theoretical perspectives: sustainability, marketing, storytelling, implementation, and certification. The study was conducted by investigating the websites of 75 hotels in four different cities across the world: Helsinki, Berlin, Los Angeles, and Wellington. In addition, eight international hotel chains were investigated. The hotels are first compared within countries and, afterwards, the countries are compared with each other. The study finds that the most common sustainable initiatives in hotels are environmental changes within the hotels. Furthermore, it is found that there is a lot of variation between how hotels present their sustainability initiatives. While some hotels present their initiatives clearly, some others only vaguely mention them or hide them away. While many hotels have certification, they do not show the certificates clearly. Furthermore, none of the international chains have certification. The thesis concludes in suggesting a possible future study that would examine how the sustainable initiatives on the websites differ from reality.

Thesis (MDEV.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Industrial development without proper environmental management is likely to have an environmental effect by impacting negatively on community sustainable development, the biological environment such as fauna and flora, heritage resources such as Modjadji cycard trees, the baobab and the physical environment, such as air, water and land. It could also potentially impact the quality of life and the natural resources, while, on the other hand, contributing positively to economic development. Exposure to environmental pollution remains a major source of health risk throughout the world. Risks are however generally higher in most developing countries where there is lack of knowledge of modern technologies, cleaner production. Furthermore, there is also often non-compliance with environmental legislation. The above challenges have stimulated the current researcher to embark on this research study. The study seeks to investigate the impact of environmental management of the industrial sector on sustainable community development in selected municipalities of Mopani District in Limpopo Province. Despite major efforts over recent years to clean the environment; pollution remains a major problem and poses continuous risks to health of the people. This study is concerned with how community sustainable development is impacted negatively by poor environmental management of industrial sectors. The study uses selected municipalities in Mopani District of Limpopo Province as the study area. Mopani District is a very sensitive area as it consists of protected areas, indigenous forests, biospheres, wetlands, endangered species (Modjadji cycads), as well as cultural heritage sites. Most people in the area depend on agricultural activities that are likely to be affected by climate change as a result of industrial pollution and non-compliance with environmental management. In this study, the researcher adopts the mixed methods approach which includes both qualitative and quantitative research. The methods enabled the researcher to critically analyse the impact of environmental management of industrial sector on sustainable community development in selected municipalities of Mopani District in Limpopo Province. Both interviews and questionnaires were employed to conduct the study. The objectives of the analysis are to identify and appraise aspects of environmental management that impact negatively on sustainable community development. Challenges that hamper the effectiveness of environmental management were also investigated. The findings showed that bad odours emanating from the industries result in a lack of sustainability as well as symptoms of illness amongst community members. The study further finds that poor environmental management impacts negatively on local economic development. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made to assist stakeholders with environmental management and sustainable community development: Owners of the industries should be encouraged to avoid issues that may have a negative impact on matters related to natural and human disaster, so as to achieve sustainable community development. They should be encouraged to adhere to environmental laws, so as to curb the generation of toxic waste. Policy makers should be encouraged to develop interventions and environmental strategies to compel owners of industries to adhere to all legislations related to environmental management. This process could assist local municipalities to achieve sustainable development in the Mopani District.

Problem: Currently, there are two definitions of nudging, one that is connected to sustainable development and another one that is not. This can create confusion for researchers and customers and could potentially lead to greenwashing when the incentive of the nudge does not match with the best outcome of the person being nudged. Purpose: The purpose is to explore how organisations interpret nudging and how their underlying incentives affect the use of nudging in practice. Aim: This research aims to explore the incentives behind organisations use of nudging for sustainable marketing in practice. The organisations incentives will be connected to any of the dualistic definitions of nudging in order to see which of the definitions that are aligned to practice. Method: This research is a qualitative study and has been conducted under an interpretivist paradigm. It has made use of semi-structured interviews to collect primary data, as well as newspaper articles and web sites to collect secondary data. To analyse the data, a general analytical procedure was used. The data was presented in a within-case analysis together with a cross-case analysis where the empirical data was compared with the theoretical framework to discuss and answer the research questions. Result and Conclusions: The comparisons showed that three out of five organisations have the main incentive of earning money from their nudge despite their sustainability agenda. Another finding was that only one organisation exclusively uses the definition of nudging that is connected to libertarian paternalism. These findings contribute to the literature and informs customers that nudges can be used for several purposes.

In this study, the current picture of fashion design education and the implementation of sustainable methods, at the university of Boras were reviewed. Sustainable fashion is a global challenge, and there is a lack of consumer knowledge of sustainability, which is a huge issue. In order to move towards a sustainable future in general, it is important to educate citizens so that they can better understand and develop positive attitudes towards sustainability. The types of sustainable practices offered by universities and how they are implemented are also important, as good practices and implementation may shape the long-term responsible attitudes of design students towards sustainability.

Earth is an living organism where every living creature is an important part of a bigger whole. Our ancestors lived in symbiosis with the nature, today we are trying to tame the nature. Cities are expanding and the nature is being pushed into the periferi. Free flow of elements such as water, air, earth and plants are being controlled, disstorted, polluted and manipulated. Our political and economical systems are built upon the mind-set that we are separate from the nature and above the nature, but we are a part of the nature just like every other speecies on this planet. Our fast paced city-lives are creating a huge gap between the nature and ourselves and massproduction has replaced traditional craft and sustainable food production. Where is this going to end? How will it end? How can architecture help us reconnect with the nature and ourselves and inspire to a more sustainable lifestyle? Prana is not a building, it is a site. It consists of a multifunctional garden area with several buildings that together creates a whole. Prana is sanskrit meaning breath, energy or life force and has given the site its’ name because it is a platform for recreation, contemplation and knowledge exchange. We need to slow down, reflect and learn in order to feel the force and make a change, no matter if it is your lifestyle, your mind-set or your goal, no matter if you do it for the climate or for yourself. Prana is about reconnecting with the nature and yourself though arts, crafts, activities, food and food production. Prana welcomes everyone for a close nature experience of hot and cold, of fire and earth and community based learning.

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Since the middle of the 20th century the car has been a permanent focus in urban planning. However, in recent years, the negative consequences of the car have become more obvious and there has been a shift towards a more sustainable approach. To reach the sustainable goals more people need to bicycle or walk instead of driving. In Sweden, it is the municipalities that have the responsibility for the bicycle planning, however a lot of focus still shines on the car. The aim of this study was to analyze and describe how Swedish municipalities promote cycling in their urban planning, focusing on the municipalities of Hudiksvall and Håbo. One municipality that had been praised for their bicycle planning and one which had got some critique. The study is based on both interviews with people working with planning at each municipality as well as planning document regarding bicycling. After analyzing the material, it emerged that Håbo already has a well-developed bicycle network, especially in the urban areas. While the bicycle network in Hudiksvall is quite deficient. Regardless of the different stages the of bicycle infrastructure development, they both face similar problems. The car norm. Therefore, both municipalities have to actively work to get their citizens to choose the bicycle over the car. Furthermore, both municipalities struggle with the financial support that is needed to promote bicycling instead of taking the driving.

No / This book contributes to our understanding of a neglected and poorly-understood concept within the development field: ‘capacity development’ in the context of human and organisational sustainable development. Relating ‘capacity development’ to other perspectives in development thinking and practice and giving an account of the concept’s genesis, the book introduces readers to recent empirical research initiatives that help to elucidate the concepts of capacity, capacity development, and capacity management. While capacity development initiatives and programmes have been used by most international and national agencies over the course of the last five decades, the term means different things to different people and especially to different major players in the international community. This weakens its effectiveness. This book therefore strives first of all to set ground rules that can be utilised by international aid providers such as UNDP, OECD, World Bank, and CIDA and practitioners alike.

After more than a century, there are very few examples of excellent interdisciplinary work in landscape architecture, like the "Emerald Necklace" designed by Frederick Law Olmsted or Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord by Peter Latz. Most of the projects still have only one purpose: they are either reserved for conservation as are the great national parks, or are planned for recreation or development that ignores natural systems. "Most...landscape designers are still inspired by and primarily focused on aesthetics; society's other major objectives are secondary for them" (Richard Forman 2002, p: 85). In 1993, American Society of Landscape Architects defined sustainable development as, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the future." Thus designers need to understand how natural and human systems work and design for the protection of our environmental as an integral part of any development. Landscape architects can achieve this by borrowing principles of legendary works like the "Emerald Necklace" and combining those with new technology to meet changing cultural and ecological needs. This thesis asserts that sustainable development should be achieved by reconciling human systems and its effects on the surrounding environment by using and revealing natural systems to spread consciousness and earn attention and care for our environment. Suitability analysis by Ian McHarg, Bioregionalism by Clair Reiniger, Regenerative design process by Lyle, and Framework for ecological design by Prof. Carl Steinitz are various design processes to create developments, which can respond to both natural and human needs. The thesis project, Riverside Park and Biomedical Complex in the South Jefferson Redevelopment Area in Roanoke, VA, explores how a design process, consisted of framework for ecological design and principals of eco-revelatory design, can help to plan a sustainable development, which uses and reveals natural systems to reconciling human systems and its effects on the surrounding environment. The project demonstrates how a multidisciplinary approach towards landscape design can help to create a multifunctional design that meets the, ecological and cultural, needs of the present without compromising the future. / Master of Landscape Architecture