Fossils are a non-renewable natural resource and impart many different kinds of value including scientific, educational, aesthetic and via practical uses such as construction. They provide an entirely irreplaceable record of life on Earth yet ensuring their sustainable use has often been overlooked. Ten case examples of fossil sites, with a European focus but from around the world, are documented in a framework of economic, social and environmental spheres typically used in sustainable development theory. The sustainability of the way fossils are treated at the sites is examined, compared and discussed. Non-extractive uses are generally found to be most straightforwardly sustainable, but concerns such as pollution must be born in mind. Extractive uses (commercial collecting, quarrying) present more challenges but can be made sustainable by involvement of science and investment of profits. Without a coordinated global policy for sustainable development in all areas fossil use cannot be sustainable globally.

Kosovo has gone through an unfortunate turn of events in its recent history. Wars, oppression years, and economic depression have had a staining influence in the society at large. However, women and the environment have been affected the most. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ecofeminist hypothesis that links the subordination of women to the degradation of the environment. The methods employed for the study are descriptive, where interviews, observations, conversations with woman were carried out, and laws, reports, press releases of the government were reviewed. With ecofeminism as the cupola of the study, one side of the analysis looks at women’s position in the Kosovar society, through Schwartz’s seven cultural value orientations theory, and the other investigates the discursive actions of the Kosovo government, through Dryzek’s discourse analysis framework. The results obtained reveal a picture of women’s subordination by the society, a subordination that is met with administrative measures for remediation but which fall short of tangible results. In the environmental dimension, a discourse of administrative rationalism is discovered, rationalism that deals superficially with EU’s directives and acquis communautaire.

Technology and policy play a twofold role in international environmental laws. Strongerenvironmental policies encourage new green technologies and likewise, better technologies makeit easier to regulate. “Technology transfer” refers to the transfer from one party, an association orinstitution that developed the technology, to another that adopts, adapts, and uses it. As differentkinds of threats posed by climate change are continuously increasing all over the world the issueof “technology transfer” especially the transfer of environmentally sound technologies hasbecome one of the key topics of international environmental debates.This thesis addresses, firstly, the possible methods of technology transfer and secondly, howcurrent international environmental laws play its role to facilitate the transfer. Accordingly, Ihave focused on the concerned provisions of Kyoto Protocol and its subsequent implementationmeasures. I have also taken in to account the decisions of the annual meetings of the Conferenceof the parties (COPs) of the UNFCCC.The thesis has also made a brief comparative discussion between the provisions of internationalenvironmental laws and the provisions of intellectual property rights in terms of technologytransfer.However, at the last stage of the thesis, some potential recommendations are mentioned andbriefly discussed in view to come up with a sustainable solution.In addition to the international environmental law, I have also tried to figure out some otherinternational or multinational instruments which concern the transfer of environmentally soundtechnologies.

Global climate change, environmental degradation and demographic changes has emphasizedthe sustainable development of Mekong river basin. The research uses the theoreticalframework that sustainable development in the transboundary water resource management ismost likely to be achieved through the policy making based on the ‘regional approach’ andthe ‘alternative development strategy.’ The aim of this research is to investigate themanagement of Mekong river basin within the theoretical framework and to assess theprospect of sustainable development. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) and itsprograms, hydropower development in the upstream and the downstream and the geopoliticalsituation of the Mekong region are reviewed for the analysis. In result, although MRC hasstressed the principle of sustainable development, the limitations such as the damconstructions in the both upstream and downstream, donor influence, legal restrictions of the1995 Mekong Agreement and limited implementation of the participatory approach indevelopment programs remain as the constraints to achieve sustainable development. TheBuild-Own-Transfer type of privatized hydropower development in the downstream is achallenge to the environmental and social sustainability by accelerating the process of thedam building process. MRC’s the most prioritized strategy to introduce the ‘Integrated WaterResource Management’ implies the basin-wide management of water resource management,yet the complexity of respective national interests have to be added as a concern in thetransboundary context. The absence of China and Burma in MRC is a critical weakness toapply the regional-approach in the development policy. In the case of the upstreamhydropower development, the decision making has been done unilaterally without theaccountable and transparent process. As China considers the Mekong in the relation to theenergy production and oil transportation, the securitization of the Mekong will affectnegatively on the future participation of China in MRC. A positive trend can be derived fromChina’s ambition to become a regional power to replace the donors in MRC, and thisstrategic realism will strengthen the regional cooperation between China and other riparianstates though MRC.

Rapid climate change is one of the most pressing environmental issues in the world, with Scandinavia andthe Arctic among those projected to be most strongly affected. Faced with a changing environment,organisms may respond in three ways – by adaptation, migration or extinction. Adaptation can occurthrough phenotypic plasticity or microevolution, and while phenotypic responses to climate change arewell described, examples showing microevolution are rare. To be able to predict the effects of climatechange, an assessment of a species’ evolutionary potential to increased temperature is necessary.I studied whether snail populations subjected to a 30 year warming experiment have been able to adapt tothe new climate regimen. Two populations of Stagnicola palustris originating from areas affected bycooling water discharge from the nuclear power plant in Forsmark, Sweden (with increased watertemperatures by 4-10 °C) and two control populations from unaffected areas were used in thisexperiment. Laboratory reared F3 offspring were raised for 28 weeks in a common garden setup at fourdifferent temperature treatments (12-24 °C) and shell length, snail mass and higher survival weremeasured.Both warm-origin populations appeared able to have adapted to the increased temperatures, though bydifferent means. Snail growth showed evidence of co-gradient variation (after 6 and 18 weeks) and localadaptation (after 28 weeks) in one of the warm-origin populations. The other warm-origin population, onthe other hand, appeared to have acquired adaptation by increasing its survival to the higher temperaturescompared to the other three populations.My results suggest that organisms can adapt rapidly to a warmer environment. However, the effects ofimproved growth and survival on population fitness and persistence remain unclear and need to be studied further.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide an analysis of how agrofuel discourses inArgentina represent particular economic and political interests. The chosen period (2007-2010)obeys to the fact that 2007 was the year where the law for Promotion of Sustainable Agrofuelwas enforced.The methodological approach of the thesis suggests that discourses represent a systematicway of ordering meanings, practices and knowledge. What can be understood from this studyis that the interest shown on agrofuels lies ultimately not in the care of the environment, butrather to generate agri-industrial production centers that can give added value to rawmaterials for export.

This thesis explores how power relations are reflected on society in the act of surveillance basedon Michel Foucault’s discourse in the light that events that happen in the arrangement of certaintime and place reveal the context in situation in history and things happen as a consequence ofsuch situational events even at the time when technology advances at a remarkable pace andstate-of-the-art technologies do not rest to surprise us.In that regard, I start by presenting motivation and historical background of surveillance. Then Idescribe current surveillance technology and state in three aspect; biometrics which is adominating off-line surveillance methodology, internet which is a dominating on-line surveillanceframeset, and the centralization of big data for the utilization of these all. Then I analyze socialcondition for surveillance by investigating current and recent history, the impact ofscience/technology on society, and how the mindset and culture of contemporary times hasformed itself. In the conclusion and discussion, I analyze what will happen if such trend ofmachine culture continues and present suggestion about what can be done.

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Thesis (M.A.)--California State University, Chico. / Includes abstract. "Located in the chico Digital Repository." Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-109).

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.