Sustainability has been characterized and explored mostly from an environmental standpoint, with relatively less attention paid to social and economic dimensions. Because many sustainability organizations have grown out of the environmental movement, they tend to emphasize environmental priorities and retain many of the organizational strategies that were pioneered when the focus was on environmental conservation. However, to attain a more socially and economically informed environmental practice, broader procedural aspects, including recognition and participation, and substantive aspects, including issues of social need, distribution of wealth, and economic opportunity, need to be addressed as these matters are intimately linked to environmental concerns. In this thesis, I examined sustainability organizations against the concept of ‘just sustainability’, with specific consideration paid to uniting the substantive concerns of sustainability with the procedural concerns of environmental justice. I focused my examination on model forests and UNESCO biosphere reserves located in the Maritime Provinces of Canada, an area of high economic vulnerability and low political power. By looking to governance directives from environmental justice, entrepreneurship, and community development, I conducted a multi-case study analysis with organizations that have a mandate to address the environmental, social and economic imperatives of sustainability. Through engaging these organizations in a comparative learning situation, I was able to achieve the following objectives, to: i) assess the governance strategies used within these organizations against just sustainability theory; ii) understand the challenges faced by place-based organizations and examine strategies to better improve local understanding, community empowerment, as well as sustainability outcomes; and iii) assess the feasibility - conceptually and empirically – of incorporating social entrepreneurship into the governance practices of sustainability organizations to bring together the benefits of both approaches. The findings of this thesis make valuable contributions to the empirical evidence needed to advance our understanding of just sustainability, both conceptually and in practice. Overall, my findings point to the importance of understanding and improving our practice of sustainability governance through identifying and offering examples of innovative governance arrangements that are better able to address procedural and substantive concerns. Findings show that the stakeholder model typically used by biosphere reserves and model forests contributes to systemic challenges that limit procedural justice in these organizations. By looking to other literatures, including community development and social entrepreneurship, and to lessons learned from other place-based organizations, I propose ways to adapt governance strategies to improve community engagement and organizational outcomes, including a framework to inform place-based governance for just sustainability and a “hybrid model” that captures the benefits of stakeholder representation and social enterprise. This study speaks to the need for researchers and practitioners seeking to advance sustainability governance to extend their understanding beyond environmental sustainability to embrace more social dimensions. This thesis demonstrates the value of looking to broad literatures and new models to inform sustainability governance and encourage the adoption of new ways of thinking, new strategies, and new tools to help advance sustainability.

No description available.

Natural protected areas are places intended to protect nature, but it is now accepted that their social impact must be compatible with the ideals of 'sustainable development': they must conserve nature while improving, or at least not injuring, the socio-economic status of human communities. In Mexico, recent conservation policy has emphasized the creation of biosphere reserves, a type of protected area designed as a practical application of the concept of sustainable development. Previous research has shown that in Mexico and elsewhere, such reserves are often created in areas that are environmentally marginal and where, therefore, the lives and livelihoods of inhabitants are precarious at best. This makes the dual challenges of protecting nature and aiding social and economic development particularly acute. This study explores these challenges by considering the socio-economic patterns within protected areas along the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of central Mexico. The study measured sustainable development, as indexed by the Mexican government, at both the regional and local scales, combining census data and interviews with residents in the Sierra Gorda Reserve. This combination of methodologies allowed for a fuller description of the social impacts of protected areas at different scales. The study found that while overall the lives of residents in or near natural protected areas improved steadily between 1990 and 2000, these areas are also characterized by high migration levels and an aging population, which may threaten the future sustainability of these communities. The study concludes by suggesting that migration is a key factor which should be included in Mexico's assessments of sustainable development, and that the concept of a community's social resilience is extremely useful in informing future studies.

The establishment of a UNESCO Biosphere indicates a shift from traditional conservation of individual areas towards a more regional approach and an inclusive planning and management regime. This study sets out to investigate the effects of the Biosphere Reserve designation in Mount Carmel, Israel, with special regard to settlement development and stakeholder management. The implications of the Biosphere Reserve designation have been explored through GIS analysis, using LANDSAT satellite data, and through interviews, observations and participatory checking. The empirical findings were analysed in relation to the Biosphere Reserve Statutory Framework, and to theories on territorialisation, space production and participatory planning. The findings suggest that the Biosphere Reserve designation have had very limited effects in the case of Mount Carmel. Settlements have continued to expand into protected areas, and there is no organised structure for stakeholder participation. This study underlines the value of considering context and history in the establishment of protected areas, and the importance of establishing the Biosphere Reserve concept among the different stakeholders. / GLEAN - A Global Survey of Learning, Participation and Ecosystem Management in Biosphere Reserves

The presence of inhabitants in protected areas, a common occurrence in developing countries, represents a major challenge for conservation. This MA thesis questions the state's strategy in the case of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, in Mexico, a strategy which is officially based on the implementation of sustainable development through the participation of local communities. Working with the assumption that sustainable development is a political concept that implies a competition between different actors in order to define what has to be sustained, for whom, by whom, why, and how, I first analyze the factors that, until now, have impeded local inhabitants' participation. I argue that the subordination of civil society by the state during the last century is a historical burden that has debilitated civil society's capacity for effective participation. Second, I discuss the state's vision of sustainable development and the weight given to the two conflicting visions held, on the one hand, by local inhabitants and, on the other, by the environmentalists and biologists. I conclude that the state's appeal for the participation of local communities is not in recognition of the fact that local inhabitants have the right to greater input in the definition of sustainable development in the region, but needs to be understood as a strategy to achieve rule compliance. Unfortunately, then, while the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve may be managed according to a vision of sustainable development, this is not a vision that has emerged from a dialogue between the state and civil society. Local support is thus unlikely since transforming local communities into allies would rather require achieving a compromise based upon genuine dialogue.

The implementation of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BR) in Canada is strongly dependent on grassroots community-based support and understanding. The recent calls for the Oak Ridges Moraine and adjacent Greenbelt lands (ORMGB) to be designated a BR require that a communications strategy be created to garner local support. Taking into consideration complex systems theory, this study looked to build a communications framework that combined higher-scale social organizing literature like social movement and environmental campaigns more detail-focused group dynamics and strategic communications research. Applying this framework to the ORMBG landscape revealed key target audience groups and messaging for the BR communications strategy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-276). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-120). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Les virus sont les entités les plus abondantes dans les océans et ces parasitoïdes interagissent avec chaque composante de la biosphère marine, soit par la sélection des communautés d'hôte, soit en influençant les cycles biogéochimiques. Cependant, l'impact des conditions environnementales sur ces assemblages viraux complexes est encore mal compris. L'objectif de ce travail est de comprendre comment les assemblages viraux sont influencés par les facteurs environnementaux. Durant un suivi mensuel des communautés de mars 2013 à avril 2014, nous nous sommes intéressés à un système hôte-virus abondant et largement répandu, les communautés de microalgues Mamiellophyceae et leurs Prasinovirus. Durant ces études, des approches de PCR quantitative et de séquençage massif ont été développées afin de décrire les populations environnementales présentes au sein du Golfe du Lion. Les populations de Mamiellophyceae dominent le compartiment des picoeucaryotes photosynthétiques, avec des dynamiques fortes au cours de l'année. Les communautés de Prasinovirus reflètent les dynamiques de leurs hôtes, elles-mêmes en lien avec les facteurs environnementaux. En revanche, la dispersion ainsi que le maintien des virions semblent directement impacté par les conditions environnementales, comme la température et l'hydrodynamisme. Certains groupes viraux, comme les virus d'Ostreococcus, sont inféodés aux lagunes et aux zones côtières, suggérant ainsi que la dispersion des populations virales est limitées par la présence des hôtes. / Viruses are the most abundant biological entities in oceans and they every member of the marine biosphere is affected by them, they influence the composition of communities and influence biogeochemical cycles. However, the influence of environmental conditions on complex viral populations is still poorly understood. The aim of this study is to understand how environmental factors influence viral communities. We followed viral communities monthly from March 2013 to April 2014 and investigated the host-virus system of Mamiellophyceae communities and their prasinoviruses, a model sytem that is abundant and widespread. Prasinovirus-host populations from the Gulf of Lion were quantified by PCR amplification and analysis of genetic marker genes and high throughput sequencing. Photosynthetic populations of picoeukaryotes were dominated by populations of Mamiellophyceae showing high levels of quantitative and qualitative annual variations that were related to environmental factors. Prasinovirus communities mimed host dynamics, but viral dispersion and persistence appeared to be impacted directly by environmental conditions such as temperature and hydrodynamics. Several viral groups, such as Ostreococcus viruses, were specific to lagoonal and coastal areas, suggesting that their dispersal is limited by host occurrence.

UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserve model reflects a shift from segregating towards more integrating area protection. This is attempted to be achieved through combining environmental protection with sustainable development, acknowledging hereby also human interests. The model is conceptually appealing and gaining popularity, which is indicated by the growing number of reserves worldwide. However, to successfully implement the desired goals in practice is challenging and substantial evidence of the concept’s effects is scarce. The aim of this thesis is, therefore, to investigate on the basis of the Swedish Biosphere Reserves what actual effects they have on local development, with a special focus on tourism. This was accomplished through analysis of general development indicators and a negative binomial regression to investigate the effect of Biosphere Reserves on the number of guest nights in the municipalities. In addition, to determine if stakeholder perceptions and the obtained results coincide, a survey amongst stakeholders in the lodging sector of Kristianstad has been carried out. The results suggest that being a municipality with a Biosphere Reserve may have no effect on general development regarding the chosen key variables and no effect on tourism development in terms of guest nights. Regarding stakeholder perceptions in Kristianstad, the Biosphere Reserve did not seem to be perceived as such an important asset, rather the single tourist attractions located in the Biosphere Reserve area were of interest. Overall, the standpoint that Biosphere Reserves are an ideal concept for sustainable development has been challenged in regard to the studied aspects and an objective view in the future on the matter is advised.