The purpose of the thesis at hand is to shed light on factors that will have impact on the future development of the tourism industry and the importance of preparing for them.  The main issue is the future availability of oil and the subsequent behaviour of consumers. In order to answer the questions posed for the purpose of the thesis at hand a number of interviews were carried out with people working in the tourism industry as well as people working within administrative authorities focused on environmental issues. In order to deepen the understanding for the topic of the thesis at hand extensive literary reviews were made and out of that material a state of the art was composed. In addition to this a number of theories on consumption and consumerism were used.  The empirical material showed that there were a number of factors that need to be dealt with in order for the tourism industry to be prepared for what might happen in the future. The future of the tourism industry is bright at least when considering the predictions of increasing arrival numbers and the revenue it will bring. On the other hand the tourism industry is facing many challenges in the future some of which cause more concern than others. For example tourism is greatly dependent on various forms of transportation in order to function. And transportation, especially aviation, is dependent on fuel to function. This means that when tourism increases so does transportation and with it oil consumption. Researchers are now predicting that the oil reserves are running out and that the risk of reaching a peak in oil production is drawing closer. At the moment the solutions to this problem are few and the fact that tourism is increasing steadily is not helping. The suggestion put forth in the thesis at hand is that consumption behaviours of tourists need to change in order to secure a sustainable future.   Tourism is a form of consumption and consumption is a natural part of human life and a function that is continuous. The way we consume naturally has consequences on many different levels in society. However the negative consequences related to consumption of tourism are shaping what our future will look like. Thus it is time for change.

The aim of this study was to make an assessment on rural water supply management with particular focus in sub-Saharan African countries because of the water crisis that has plagued them for decades now. Most sub-Sahara African countries lack potable water supply as a result of mismanagement of resource and / or inadequate infrastructure provided by their governments. The last two decades saw the stagnation of rural water supply with long term break down of many infrastructures because of lack of technical personnel and resource. The concept of participation was widely introduce in the early 1970s to address this issue as it is believed that involving people having problem in the problem solving mechanism will provide better results (participatory approach). This paper focus on community involvement in water supply and management, working along side with other stakeholders and seeks to evaluate the level of participation of the stakeholders and to see if participation in reality is working in solving this problem. A case study was done at Bambui – Tubahin Cameroon, assessing the involvement of the various stakeholders in the management of their water scheme. This work was done through literature, interviews, discussion and observations, and from results gotten from field. It was obvious that the success of the scheme which has been running for decades now can be attributed to the collaborative actions of the various stakeholders working together. From the survey it was apparent that participation in reality was instrumental for sustainability of the scheme with decentralization being a key factor in enhancing this phenomenon.

Sustainability is today a current topic and companies are more or less forced to work with it even though it contradicts the historical role of companies, which is to generate a profit for shareholders. In recent years there has been a rising interest from banks to work with sustainability but research has shown a growing dissatisfaction among customers even though banks are spending a lot of money and time working with sustainability. This shows that there is an asymmetry between how the banks act and what their customers demand. The purpose of this paper is to create an understanding of how business customers perceive banks´ CSR-reports by investigating customers’ interest in these reports. The purpose of this paper is also to investigate in what way banks CSR-reports have an effect on customers confidence to the banks. Using a qualitative approach, customers perceptions of banks CSR-reports where examined. Interviews were conducted with respondents from both banks and companies to obtain a better understanding of CSR-reports. The analysis of the empirical data has been conducted using the institutional theory and legitimacy theory together with previous research. The conclusion of this paper is that the customers have relatively low knowledge and little interest in banks CSR-reports. However, they all have an expectation that banks should report. There is no indication that the customers trust to the bank can be created by the banks CSR-reports. But there is an indication that customers perceive banks, that don’t do their reports, in a negative manner and in that way the trust can be harmed. / Hållbarhet är idag ett aktuellt ämne och företag är mer eller mindre tvingade att arbeta med detta även om det motsäger den roll som företag alltid har haft i samhället, vilket är att generera vinst till aktieägarna. På senare tid har banker börjat intressera sig mer för hållbarhet men det har trots detta visats att missnöje bland kunder ökar trots att banker spenderar mycket tid och pengar på att arbeta med hållbarhet och dess redovisning. Det finns alltså en asymmetri mellan hur banken agerar och vad kunden efterfrågar. Syftet med uppsatsen är att skapa en förståelse för företagskundernas upplevelse av bankernas hållbarhetsredovisningar genom att utreda kundernas intresse för dessa. Vidare studeras även vilken påverkan bankens hållbarhetsredovisning kan ha på förtroendet mellan företag och bank. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod har kundernas upplevelse av bankernas hållbarhetsredovisningar undersökts. Intervjuer har genomförts med respondenter från både banker och företag för att på så sätt få en bättre förståelse för hållbarhetsredovisningen. Analysen av empirin har genomförts med hjälp av den institutionella teorin och legitimitetsteorin tillsammans med tidigare forskning. I slutsatsen framgår att kunderna har relativt låg kunskap och lite intresse för bankernas hållbarhetsredovisningar. Dock har de alla en förväntan att banken ska redovisa. Det finns ingen antydan om att kundernas förtroende till banken kan skapas genom att banken hållbarhetsredovisar. Däremot upplevs det som negativt om banker inte redovisar och förtroendet skulle på så sätt kunna skadas.

This study focuses on environmental commitment in the tourist accommodation industry, with particular emphasis on a case study of Sanya, Hainan, China. Both the beneficial and detrimental attributes of tourism accommodations are discussed in this thesis. On a worldwide basis, negative environmental and social impacts associated with the accommodation industry have spurred the formation of many non-regulatory initiatives aimed at improving the sustainability of accommodations and their related activities. Furthermore, as China is a country that is relatively new to tourism and is affected by burgeoning growth, it is imperative to determine the level of environmental commitment in the industry. Through this analysis, potential methods can be assessed that can be imperative in moving the tourism accommodation industry in Sanya, and subsequently worldwide, towards sustainable action. In order for the latter to occur, a study was conducted in 2004-05 to identify the motivating, organizational and impeding factors that affect the level of environmental commitment in the Sanya accommodation industry. These factors were assessed using qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis in an attempt to provide insight into the gap between attitude and action in relation to sustainability in the tourist accommodation industry. This thesis discusses the major conclusions derived from this study and provides insight as well as recommendations as to what affects the level of environmental commitment in an accommodation facility and how this information can be utilized to motivate sustainability.

This study investigated the human perception of certain social values to improve national well-being. It focused on the relative importance of two values, innovation and sustainability. Finally, it examined the possibility of a perceived trade-off between these two values by identifying whether a value change occurred among people from developed and developing countries under both constrained (forced-choice) and unconstrained (free-choice) rating conditions. The perceived importance of social values was measured in a survey using an eleven point rating scale. The perceived trade-off and the value change were identified by analyzing rating responses of the survey from test to retest. The analysis found that participants experienced a significant value change from test to retest and participants had different value preference depending on their country type, either developed or developing. This study consisted of two parts. The exploratory pilot study was conducted based on the Management Sciences Student Survey. This survey gathered information about the importance of selected social values from sixteen graduate students in the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo. The confirmatory main study was conducted using a web-based survey, Global Representative Value Change Survey. It collected information about the importance of the social values from close to three hundred students at the university at both test (Time One) and retest (Time Two). In this way, it enabled the researcher to identify a value change over time that was primarily attributed to a salience manipulation of innovation and sustainability trade-off. With a focus on the trade-off, the results revealed that all participants from developed and developing countries experienced a significant value change under the unconstrained condition, while very few significant value changes took place under the constrained condition. This study implies that people tend to maintain their value consistency and are not inclined to trade-off innovation for sustainability. If these values can co-exist in harmony and without compromise, people are prepared to give due consideration to sustainability, but not at the compromise to innovation. Implications are highlighted for educators, policy makers, and managers of technological innovation and change.

Eco-tourism continues to experience fast growth, as the desire for more sustainable tourism amongst tourists increases and as economic situations in developing countries demand new avenues for development. In many Caribbean and other developing countries, tourism serves as a promising alternative for development in the face of struggling primary industries and is identified as a possible means through which sustainable development can be achieved. However, not many Caribbean islands are developing and benefiting from an eco-tourism defined as tourism which demands a high level of human responsibility involving “active contribution towards conservation and/or the improvement of host community welfare” (Stone, 2002:16). The Caribbean island of Dominica will benefit greatly from an assessment of its present approach to eco-tourism development and recommendations for realizing more positive contributions to sustainability. The case study of Dominica was used, together with information from a sustainability and sustainable tourism literature review, to (1) develop a comprehensive eco-tourism sustainability framework, and (2) test its application by exploring the current practice of eco-tourism on the island. The literature review revealed the current trends and debates surrounding sustainability and sustainable tourism. This was used to create an initial framework for sustainable tourism, which was subsequently elaborated to reflect the island’s situation. Key informant interviews from the public and private sectors ensured varied perspectives, which were corroborated by participant observations and other secondary research to highlight key issues affecting tourism on the island. This research has revealed that early attempts at conservation and sustainability by the Forestry Division, though not driven by tourism, contributed to preservation of the physical attractions on the island. The major factors affecting the potential for sustainable eco-tourism in Dominica were identified as the geo-physical setting, political/economic motivations, trade agreements, culture, social capital, attitudes, behaviour, habits and customs, environmental considerations, public awareness, outreach, human resource development, and education, site development, and external assistance/ collaboration for research. Continued growth and development of tourism are hindered by limited resources (financial, physical, and human), insufficient collaboration between and among private and public sectors, weak law and enforcement, poor physical planning, conflicting Government priorities, the rugged topography, the dilemma of needing to increase number of visitors while also protecting the environment, the challenge of partitioning the resources between traditional and recreational users while maintaining sustainable use of resources, climate change, changes in the world economy, and the intrinsic vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In light of the myriad of challenges to sustainable eco-tourism development and key considerations from the eco-tourism sustainability framework, the recommendations are focused on addressing the most significant challenges, by suggesting an action plan geared towards improving solid waste management planning and disaster management planning; developing a national stewardship plan to build awareness about environmental protection, conservation and responsibility; and a literacy training programme for tourism service providers who may be illiterate. The eco-tourism sustainability framework and recommendations emerging from the test of its application can guide planning and management within this field and improve the capacity for eco-tourism to make more positive contributions to sustainability on the island of Dominica and more generally, throughout other Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Despite enough food production to feed everyone on the planet, there are 850 million people around the world who are food insecure. This includes people in developing and industrialized countries. Food insecurity may not be just “not having enough amounts of food” but “not having food that is appropriate according to culture and religion”. The global agri-food system has restricted access to food and resulted in environmental damage by displacing family farming, and leading to the establishment of industrial monocultures. Canada, being a multicultural society, has immigrants from around the world with different ethno-cultural backgrounds and religions. This study takes a different perspective on food insecurity by linking food to culture and religion and the food system. The study has devised criteria based on sustainable food security criteria developed by Lima (2008). The criteria include physical and economic access to food, religious and cultural adequacy of food and the food system’s environmental and social effects. The criteria were applied to the case study of Waterloo Region by examining existing policies and initiatives to address food insecurity in the Region. The case study analysis explores barriers and opportunities to foster sustainable food security for immigrants in Waterloo Region. The case study includes an embedded case study of South Asian Muslim community of immigrants in Cambridge, Waterloo Region. The analysis of the case study findings reveals that in most cases the current food system of Waterloo Region is largely industrial and contains major gaps in fulfilling the criteria of access, sustainability, social justice, and cultural and spiritual attitudes. This food system only partially meets or even fails to meet the criteria. As evidenced in the case study, current governance arrangements to address the issue of food insecurity result in exclusion of immigrant populations. The issue goes beyond food and emerges in other planning decisions like the allocation of public spaces. Finally, this study recommends broader multicultural policy at the regional government level to include the issues of immigrants.

This research focuses on the role of water governance in building resilience and fostering sustainability in socio-ecological systems (SES). Water governance refers to the structures, processes and actors – and the dynamic interactions among them – that facilitate and influence decisions affecting water resources and aquatic ecosystems in terms of their collective influence on sustainability of SES. As human water demands grow and the impacts of climate change set in, water governance regimes are increasingly challenged to provide sufficient water to support livelihood and economic activities while also protecting the life-supporting functions of freshwater ecosystems. The objective of this thesis was to understand and assess whether governance arrangements for water allocation in Ontario are effectively addressing this challenge. A broad literature review focused on three overlapping bodies of literature – (1) sustainability, resilience and systems thinking, (2) governance and planning, and (3) water policy and management. From this review, a conceptual framework was developed to guide understanding and assessing the effectiveness of water governance arrangements to enhance resilience and foster sustainability. The framework includes seven criteria: socio-ecological system integrity; equity; efficiency; transparency and accountability; participation and collaboration; precaution and adaptation; and, integration. A case study of water allocation was undertaken in Whiteman’s Creek watershed, a sub-watershed of the Grand River in southwestern Ontario, where water scarcity is a persistent concern and where conditions are anticipated to worsen under climate change, posing problems for both human livelihoods and the integrity of the creek ecosystem. Data for the case study were collected through content analysis of documents, records and websites and through semi-structured interviews with key informants. The conceptual framework was used to synthesize the data into a narrative from which recommendations for strengthening water governance were proposed. Water governance is increasingly taking on forms more distributed or polycentric in structure and more inclusive, collaborative and participatory than previous models built largely on top-down, centralized decision making. This shift is viewed by many as a critical element for building resilience and sustainability. While the governance regime for water allocation in Whiteman’s Creek reflects these general trends, the case study findings suggest that Ontario’s existing water governance system is not capable to deal effectively with more frequent and prolonged drought conditions anticipated in Whiteman’s Creek as the climate changes. Introduction of decentralized governance arrangements over the past decade, primarily the Ontario Low Water Response (OLWR) plan, has enhanced capacity in Whiteman’s Creek to cope with recurring low water conditions. Yet when pressed with extreme drought conditions, as experienced during the period of field work for this thesis, the challenge of satisfying both instream water needs and withdrawal uses reveals weaknesses in the governance system, including unclear decision-making criteria (e.g., related to hydrological thresholds), uncertainty related to roles and responsibilities of various actors, and generally limited capacity for precaution and adaptation. Recommendations are proposed for improving water governance in Whiteman’s Creek, and in Ontario more broadly. Ecologically-based thresholds should be integrated into water management regimes to ensure sufficient water is secured to sustain aquatic ecosystem integrity and to provide clarity on limits to permitted allocation and OWLR thresholds. More broadly, a focus on building adaptive capacity and engaging in anticipatory planning will be central to building resilience and fostering sustainability in Whiteman’s Creek.

Most land use plans and policies, including those concerning growth management, are created in urban hubs (Afshar, 1994; Summer, 2005). My interest in this thesis started by asking the question: What are the criteria that ensure that land use plans and related policies serve rural livelihoods and stewardship under the lens of sustainability and resilience? Being a citizen residing in Niagara Region, I was inspired to find out the criteria to judge plans and policies in rural Niagara as a case study. This thesis uncovers the categories of consideration for rural areas close to urban centres in developed countries, and the context-specific criteria pertaining to rural Niagara. The eight context-specific categories, merged with sustainability and resilience imperatives, are presented as evaluation criteria in a brief form as follows: 1. Plans and policies should provide for building communities’ capacity in participative and collaborative governance including overlap in governance; 2. provide means for reconciling different interests in a way that celebrates diversity and ensures sufficiency and opportunity for all towards intragenerational equity while supporting community solidarity to acknowledge slow variables and feedback signals; 3. provide for the support of viable farming by fostering livelihood sufficiency and preserving resources for future generations within a regional character; 4. provide for strengthening the socio-economic base integrity in ways that also maintain/ rehabilitate the socio-ecological base by reducing threats to its long-term integrity while encouraging diversity and innovation. 5. Plans and policies are to be used as tools to reduce intragenerational and intergenerational inequities in livelihood sufficiency and opportunity through collective responsibility, and innovative solutions to the local poverty problems. 6. Plans and policies should allot specific clauses to alleviate land stressors through institutionalized adoption of the precautionary principle, socio-ecological system integrity and the application of all sustainability imperatives while rewarding voluntary stewardship. 7. Plans and policies should acknowledge and foster multi-functionality in agriculture as one of the means to foster livelihoods, socio-ecological system integrity, and sustainable use of resources through the integration of all sustainability imperatives. Multi-functionality entails fostering diversification, the building of a regional modular character while acknowledging slow variables and system feedbacks through innovative local solutions 8. Plans and policies should cater for Preparedness for the Future by institutionalizing the adoption of precaution and adaptation as one of the means to prepare for uncertainty and applying all sustainability imperatives to seek mutually supportive benefits while nurturing a resilient Niagara character through all resilience imperatives The above eight categories relate to all the sustainability imperatives (listed in appendix C) and all the resilience imperatives (listed in appendix D) in various ways. The research used the technique of triangulation for corroborating evidence. By reviewing a purposeful sample of Niagara government and non-government documents, the presence of the eight categories was confirmed. A sample of articles in a local paper also confirmed the presence of the categories. By counting the number of mentions for each category, the priority order was inferred. In the case of Niagara the top priority is given to “Viable Farming” as concerns grow over the mounting challenges faced by family farms. “Stewardship” is the second priority to enable the rural and farming communities to play the role of land stewards.

Background and purpose: Large and micro companies in the clothing industry are working with CSR in different ways and to different extent. There are clear differences between large and micro clothing companies in regard to how their CSR work looks like. This study is about to find out what the differences are between the large and micro companies and what underlying motives they have for working with CSR.Method: The method that is used during this study is a qualitative method. The qualita-tive method involves making a thorough investigation, which also results in in-depth answers and not just answers like yes or no. Results of a qualitative research are often presented as quotations or as a narrative text.In this study interviews are used in order to fulfill the purpose. Answers of how compa-nies work with CSR cannot be gathered just by asking a few standardized questions. In-stead an interview will allow us to come close to the company and understand the whole concept of their CSR work. The companies that have been interviewed are KappAhl, Intersport, Crazy Horse and Alinas.Conclusion: There is a lack of knowledge in the CSR field between large and micro companies. Micro companies do not have the same knowledge, resources or time as large companies have. A difference that has been shown is that the micro companies do engage in CSR activities, although in a small scale compared to the large companies, even if they do not know it themselves. Large companies engage far more in CSR activ-ities and spend a lot of resources on these kinds of activities.The large and the micro companies also have different motives for working with CSR questions. There is a difference between newly established micro companies and micro companies that have been around for a while. The new companies do actually thinkabout CSR and believe that it is important that they are socially responsible, even if they do not have the resources to actually engage in different activities in order to do so. The well established micro company on the other hand does not think that much about CSR and use the same suppliers as they have always done.A clear motive why large companies as KappAhl and Intersport work with CSR is that they want to give something back to the world. Therefore they engage in activities where they have their operations in order to create a better environment. They take their responsibility even externally and not just internally, as the micro companies do.