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.

<p> This dissertation investigates the dairy farming industry in the Northeastern United States and, in particular, the key drivers of economic viability and competitive advantage for small and midscale commercial dairy producers. The research approach employed was a literature review combined with primary case study observation and data collection. Historical perspective has been presented to provide an overarching contextual framework for this study. Four dairy farms were purposefully selected for case study research because they represented various aspects of a pre-defined set of variables and because they demonstrated relevant similarities as well as significant differences in terms of alternative business strategy. The classical business opportunity analytical process has been customized for practical use application by small and midscale dairy farmers. This tailored process has been validated using research findings; it offers a fresh way of identifying a strategic approach in pursuit of economic viability and competitive advantage that best fits an operation's unique set of characteristics. This process is intended for practical use application on a broader scale by dairy farmers in the Northeast to facilitate their understanding of challenging industry dynamics, of emergent market opportunity and inherent potency, and of both internal and external hurdles to be overcome. Finally, recommendations for next steps have been presented.</p>

With the general global decline in the popularity and profitability of traditional orchestras, ways to build new audiences, develop new repertoires and create new networks and business partnerships are being explored. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the various elements of a proposed Orchestral Sustainability Framework and determine if and how these elements contribute to an increased audience connection with the music performance experience. Three main elements are explored in this Orchestral Sustainability Framework: 1. Social aspects of audience connection such as performer/audience interaction and ways of emotional engagement 2. Artistic aspects of audience connection such as the impact of poly-stylistic genres, blend of instruments and sounds and the importance of inter-sensory perception using visuals, theatre and music 3. Economic aspects of audience connection such as networking with business partnerships, impact of branding and marketing and the importance of distribution channels Audience reactions are central to this approach. Audiences from a variety of existing orchestral models have been researched through case studies, interviews, surveys, focus groups and participant observation. An orchestra, formed specifically for this project, performed to selected audiences and at the Brisbane Festival of Arts in 2006 and is now achieving commercialisation. The style of this orchestra is characterised by audience and performer interactivity, theatrical staging, visuals, spontaneity and less formality. Research has been conducted on this orchestral model, with contributions from the musicians, directors, producers, promoters and audiences. The research hypothesis proposes that a greater connectivity with the audience results in a more sustainable product, where sustainability is indicated by the orchestras’ ability to generate a sufficient amount of box office revenue and sponsorship. A variety of different models are considered which demonstrate orchestras that can achieve their mission of satisfying their audience, while being financial viable. The findings from the literature and the case studies clearly demonstrate the importance of many elements in the sustainability framework to achieve a greater level of audience connection with the orchestra.

Rural renewable electrification programs are increasingly being used as a means of providing the rural poor in developing countries with access to electricity. Those programs have varied significantly in design and implementation, as well as in their degrees of success. The explanations for the lack of success and the non-sustainability of the earliest programs are widely accepted as these tended to be technical demonstration projects that relied totally on funding from donor organisations or governments. These projects ignored or overlooked the vital question of how ongoing operational, maintenance and replacement costs would be met. Many genuine programs, however, also met with limited success and much effort has been invested in attempting to understand the reasons for this lack of success. To increase the rates of success of these programs, best practice guidelines were developed. Despite these efforts, many programs have continued to meet with limited success. These points required better explanations of the reasons for program success and failure, which requires a greater understanding of these programs. This thesis looks more closely at solar PV electrification programs being undertaken in the Asia-Pacific region to understand why some programs continue to be more successful than others. It aims to understand the decisions behind the planning and implementation of the programs and the reasons that are being implemented in the way that they are, the selection of program objectives, the actual benefits of the programs the and causes of any factors that contribute to their apparent success or lack of success. This understanding is obtained by undertaking in-depth comprehensive field surveys to obtain the views of all program stakeholders. The outcomes of these field surveys are then used to develop a comprehensive set of success criteria and a set of indicators that can be used to measure the success of rural renewable electrification programs. A roadmap that could be followed by the program planners and implementers to ensure program success is also provided.

In Melbourne, Australia, current debates regarding the ongoing provision of suburban residential development to meet housing demand tend to focus on its capacity to contribute to the overall achievement of sustainable development at the metropolitan scale. Within this context, sustainability issues are framed as an environmental problem, and the legislative proposals to address them, in general, are technology focused. However there is growing evidence that deeper changes in human behaviour and understanding are required to achieve a sustainable outcome at the residential scale, and that these 'sustainability issues' are in fact environmental symptoms of a wider human problem. This thesis presents the results of an investigation of domestic architecture, as experienced by thirteen people, eleven of whom have voluntarily chosen to design, build and live in sustainable houses in and around Melbourne. The respondents' complex, multidimensional lived experiences of house, home, place and sustainability are explored within a framework based on theories of place. The first of these theories is Heidegger's concept of Being, especially Being-in-the-World, and the way in which this relates to the human experience of place. The second is the related concept of Dwelling, which for Heidegger is the basic character of Being and is intimately connected with building. The third perspective draws heavily from Heidegger's concepts of Being and Dwelling to define place as the experience of rootedness, authenticity, and insidedness, and the absence of these as placelessness. The fourth theory is the genius loci of place, also referred to as the spirit of place. Dwelling is the point of departure for this theory which discusses the way in which architecture concretises the spirit of place, so place may be experienced as an integrated totality. The final theory, articulated by Bachelard, suggests that place, as memory, is the conflation of intimate experience, memory, and imagination. This perspective is explored through the experience of home, especially the memories of home. Using phenomenography as a research approach, the qualitatively different ways the respondents describe their understanding and experience of house, home, place and sustainability, and the relationships between these, are explored. Insight into these understandings and experiences is achieved through the use of unstructured, in-depth interviews and a purposefully designed mixed-media package (cultural probe) which aims to provoke inspirational, creative and emotional responses. Conclusions are drawn regarding the interplay of notions of house, home and place and sustainability, and the ways in which the relationships between these phenomena influence sustainable behaviour.

Premature failure or abandonment of water or sanitation interventions in developing communities is a common phenomenon and one which is preventing potential benefits from being fully realised. While the causes of project failure are complex and varied, the literature addressing project failure implicates poor planning in many unsustained small-scale projects. In particular, a number of authors criticise planning that fails to include consideration of key sustainability areas. This thesis explores the relationship between planning for rural water and sanitation development projects and their sustainability using both ??depth?? of information gathered through a case study in rural Philippines and ??breadth?? of information gathered from key informants representing a range of regions and organisational types. Key informant interviews show the case study findings to be generally transferable between regions. Both methods illustrate the need for interpersonal relationships of trust and unity, commitment and integrity in project personnel, significant time spent in data-gathering and consensus development, creative modes of communication, ongoing contact and detailed long-term financial planning. A critical evaluation of 17 prominent, existing planning frameworks for rural water supply and sanitation projects is presented with respect to key attributes of good planning practice as identified during the case study and interviews. The evaluation reveals both strengths and inadequacies in current planning frameworks, illuminating possible causes of persistent poor planning. Finally, methods are identified by which planning processes can be improved so as to reduce the incidence of early water and sanitation project failure. An existing decision framework, the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) Sustainability Framework, was trialled during the Philippines Case Study. The new Planning Framework for Rural Water and Sanitation was developed as a result of the trial, the case study and the interviews. The new framework employs the primary sustainability criteria in the decision process in the form of constraints developed using participatory processes, thereby defining a safe space within which the beneficiaries may have freedom and confidence to select their desired technical solutions. Other key elements of good planning practice are incorporated, including those typically omitted by existing frameworks in the rural water and sanitation development sector.

In the lead-up to the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, several documents were published by the mining industry declaring the important role that public sustainability reporting had to play in driving sustainable development and pointing to the Global Reporting Initiative???s (GRI) 2002 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines as a suitable vehicle for this. With the aim of finding ways to improve the quantity and quality of public sustainability reporting within the Australian coal mining industry, this study set out to investigate the current sustainability reporting practices of companies involved in the industry. A survey was conducted of the public financial and non-financial reporting practices of all companies with a significant interest in a New South Wales or Queensland coal mine. Three survey cycles were completed covering the 2001, 2002 and 2003 calendar years and the 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2003/04 financial years. The reporting practices were determined both in terms of frequency of report production and contents of reports. A GRI-based content analysis tool was used to measure the amount of sustainability information contained in the company reports. It was found that only around a quarter of companies produced a nonfinancial report and that almost half did not produce any public reports, with the number of unlisted companies publicly reporting particularly low. Whilst a wide range of reporting practices were observed with regard to content, the frequency of Economic, Environmental and Social Performance Indicators in reports was generally found to be low. An investigation of the regulatory reporting requirements on companies was then conducted to determine what sustainability information companies could report with data that they already had at hand. The same GRI-based content analysis tool was used to analyse a variety of regulatory documents. It was found that companies did not publicly disclose a significant amount of the environmental data that they are required to report to regulators. The study also evaluated the reporting capacity of non-reporters and found that, with the exception of Governance Structure and Management Systems elements, large unlisted companies had similar regulatory reporting requirements to listed companies. However, smaller unlisted companies had fewer requirements to report Profile and Economic elements. Finally, the influences of company ownership structure, non-financial reporting status, industrial sector, nationality and participation in voluntary initiatives on sustainability reporting practices were investigated. It was concluded that in order for public sustainability reporting to be a useful tool in driving sustainable development, focus needed to shift from ???best practice??? to ???common practice??? so that a critical mass of reporters is amassed to allow benchmarking of performance.

This thesis develops suitable approaches to conduct environment-related research in organisations, as well as systematic means for understanding the emergent phenomenon of ecological modernisation in industrialised societies. The study is organised in two distinct parts: While Part I deals with environment-related theories and practices in (and around) modern organisations, Part II situates such theories and practices in an analysis of the context of the European automobile industry. The research problem is defined through several stages. The research questions driving Part I are premised on the exploratory nature of the study, developed in an unfolding interplay between the review of the literature, the collection of secondary and (exploratory) primary data, and the analysis and interpretation of the data. As the initial question is answered by reviewing the literature and interpreting the primary and secondary data, another question arises from the process, which then requires further research. Part II of the study departs from a proposition based on ecological modernisation theory, that pro-active environmental practices in corporations are part of a broader emergent sociological phenomenon, typical of modern industrialised societies. It analyses a specific socio-technical context that, hypothetically, is undergoing such process - that of the European automobile industry. Hence, the development of Part II aims at answering the following principal research question: Why is the European automobile industry undergoing ecological modernisation? Analytically, the concept of automobile field is proposed to establish a link between the product (automobile) and the context embedding its systems of production and consumption (field). The exploratory character of the study implied that the most adequate research procedures were of a qualitative nature. A combination of grounded theory and reflexive methodology is used to orientate the overall research process, which introduces a novel approach for the triangulation of qualitative data. Together, the chapters forming Part II of the thesis answer the principal research question. The fundamental technologies of the current technological regime of the automobile, as well as the economic and environmental implications of this regime are analysed. Then, an analysis of selected pilot programs to develop and commercialise electric vehicles, as well as schemes for the management of end-of-life vehicles in the Western European context is developed. Through the interplay between data collection and analysis, the thesis designs an analytical framework, built upon contingent factors, as well as circuits of political ecology, that foster or inhibit ecological modernisation in the automobile field. The study showed that the auto industry has developed incremental technological innovations and practices that resemble the pre-requisites for ecological modernisation. Radical innovations, however, are more likely to be initiated by outsiders. The concepts inherited from the past and reproduced in the present practice of car design explains such a situation as one that imposes a specific set of technologies on car manufacturing that require high levels of investment in systems of production. Such design paradigm not only imposes high break-even points for most car models; they also result in vehicles with extremely low environmental performance and entail serious limitations for increasing recycling rates of non-metallic parts. The characteristics of ecological modernisation in the European automobile industry are used to evaluate whether this phenomenon is conducive to sustainable industrial development. As an implication of this analysis, the concluding chapter presents suggestions for the enhancement of ecological modernisation theory. Fallibility is proposed as both a source of reflection about the appropriation of knowledge and a principle that can be used for the definition of eco-modernising strategies and actions. The acceptance of fallibility as an immanent characteristic of human action is critical for the approximation of the countervailing theories of ecological modernisation and risk society. Finally, if ecological modernisation is expected to facilitate sustainable industrial development, radical technological innovations may be necessary. Such radicalism in technology may need, however, an incremental institutional reform of modern societies. Together, radical technological innovations and incremental institutional reform constitute the concept of radical reformism, which is suggested for enhancement of the ecological modernisation theory, as well as for the development of its normative programmes.

Pacific business sustainability in New Zealand is important for the economic and social wellbeing of the Pacific Island people who have chosen New Zealand as their home. As with many ethnic minorities businesses overseas, Pacific businesses struggle to survive in a foreign commercial environment that is often not aligned to the value systems and customs of their country of origin. This study seeks to determine the key financial and entrepreneurial drivers of business sustainability for Tongan businesses as a specific group within the Pacific Island business sector. The study takes an ethnic specific view of business sustainability drawing on the experiences of twenty Tongan businesses, three Pacific business consultants and the wider Tongan community. The data was captured in a series of talanoa sessions (a traditional and preferred form of communication based on face to face discussion) carried out in 2006 and 2007. Throughout the study, attention was given to Tongan protocols, cultural nuances and sensitivities to ensure the context in which these Tongan businesses operate was captured. The study concludes by making several contributions to the literature. The first includes the contribution to methodology through to use of talanoa in a business context. The second is the contribution to embeddedness theory through the analysis of specific Tongan business experiences and lastly the empirical contribution to the Pacific Island business literature. The findings have been analysed from a number of perspectives including; financial accounting, business finance, management accounting and business related challenges. The empirical findings highlight that differences in culture and traditional Tongan protocols influence business practice. The impact of Tongan culture on business sustainability is both complementary and inimical. Tongan business sustainability in New Zealand is therefore a product of business practices that incorporate embedded Tongan culture and the western commercial paradigms within which they operate.

The contemporary notion of sustainability is emerging as a political response to ecological and social problems associated with human development. It is a contested concept - eco-modernists interpret it as a call to rethink or adjust industrial production systems while others interpret it as a fundamental challenge to the dominant development paradigm. Corporations are playing a key role in shaping the discourse. Many argue that since corporations have enormous influence in the global political economy, they must take the lead in the search for sustainability. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) promotes eco-efficiency - an eco-modernist stance - as the primary business contribution to sustainability. However, the potential of the corporate focus on efficiency to contribute to sustainability is a subject of debate. In this thesis, I use a heterogeneous methodological approach to explore the interaction between corporations (with a focus on multinational corporations) and the discourse of sustainability in order to identify the potential for positive outcomes. I consider the compatibility of aspects of corporate identity and organisational structure to the ethos of sustainability. This leads to an examination of the meeting between corporations and sustainability as a reflexive process, paying particular attention to the ways in which language and mythology serve to uphold or transform existing power relations. I also explore forms of knowledge relevant to sustainability, comparing those that are typically emphasized in corporate enterprise with traditional, Indigenous and local ways of knowing that are essential to sustainability. The knowledge of classical equestrianism is used as an example in this analysis. Practical ways of including all these essential perspectives in the discourse are considered. The thesis concludes that certain aspects of corporate identity, structure and function are incompatible with the ideals of sustainability and that these disparities must be borne in mind as corporations attempt to embrace sustainability. I contend that sustainability requires network approaches that integrate strong and weak relations as well as diverse values and forms of knowledge. Sustainability can only be achieved with broad civic engagement that allows the synergistic combination of all values and knowledges relevant to sustainability. Furthermore, I argue that while corporations’ orientation towards market-based strategies has significant potential to support sustainability, it is limited since the market is fundamentally constituted by a network of weak ties. Therefore the thesis argues that while corporations can provide significant benefits in terms of sustainability, they cannot be expected to lead the sustainability agenda as it requires discursive plurality. The efficacy of the corporate contribution to sustainability will be greatly enhanced if companies are guided by strong democratic processes of deliberation and community engagement.