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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
211

Essays on Transportation: Considering Multiple Modes and Land Use Interactions

Campbell, Kayleigh Bierman January 2017 (has links)
This dissertation provides three examples of how considering interactions across transport modes as well as land use systems is important for addressing the biggest challenges in sustainable development, particularly climate change and growing inequality. In the first essay, I explore path dependency in urban form for U.S. cities built around rail transit prior to the automobile. I find that these cities continue to be denser and have lower per capita transportation emissions than cities that came of age after the automobile. I estimate the size of the effect and how long it lasts. The built environment is durable, and urban infrastructure is costly to alter post-construction, so land use and transport decisions made early in a city’s history can have a lasting environmental impact. The second essay exploits a natural experiment to quantify the impact of bikesharing on bus transit ridership in New York City. This work demonstrates one way in which shared modes impact pre-existing public transit systems, which is particularly important as these systems are expanding and operating outside of traditional public agencies. The way these modes work together determines the overall quality of the transport network. The third essay discusses the concept of accessibility and how accessibility measures can be used in the case of Nairobi to explore the dynamics of social exclusion across modes, residential location, and income. This dissertation provides three examples of how sustainability goals may fall short if transportation is not viewed as a multimodal system that interacts with and shapes urban form.
212

Zoneamento sÃcio ambiental participativo do lugar denominado caÃa e pesca-Fortaleza/Ce, contribuiÃÃo ao desenvolvimento sustentÃvel da capital cearense / Participative socioenvironmental diagnosis of the called place Hunting and Fishes - Fortaleza/Ce:contribution to the sustainable development of the pertaining to the state of Cearà capital

Marco Antonio Krichanà da Silva 29 October 2004 (has links)
CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Esta pesquisa objetivou produzir, em bases preliminares, documentaÃÃo organizada sobre o lugar denominado CaÃa e Pesca â que abrange praia, estuÃrio de um rio que atravessa boa parte da RegiÃo Metropolitana de Fortaleza, capital do Estado do Cearà e ainda manguezal, campo de dunas e matas de transiÃÃo em uma Ãrea do litoral Leste da cidade â, dada a escassez de informaÃÃes atualizadas a respeito. à desejÃvel que o corpo de conhecimentos aqui representado possa instrumentar a concretizaÃÃo de iniciativas destinadas a integrar relaÃÃes sustentÃveis entre a comunidade assentada naquela Ãrea, o meio ambiente e a dinÃmica urbana da capital cearense. Seus resultados sÃo de ordem a permitir, à administraÃÃo pÃblica competente, o planejamento de aÃÃes de educaÃÃo ambiental e o adequado monitoramento, recomendavelmente pela prÃpria comunidade, da conservaÃÃo dos ecossistemas presentes na Ãrea de estudo, tanto devido à urgente necessidade de sua preservaÃÃo, como da premÃncia pela definiÃÃo, na Ãrea, de parÃmetros capazes de balizar um turismo de carÃter sustentÃvel. Para tanto, a elaboraÃÃo do Zoneamento sÃcio-ambiental participativo, caracterizando a evoluÃÃo espaÃo-temporal da ocupaÃÃo do lugar, inclui a realizaÃÃo de um diagnÃstico geoambiental que destaca as unidades ambientais a partir dos seus aspectos sÃcio-econÃmicos, sÃcio-ambientais, geomorfolÃgicos, hidrogeolÃgicos e de cobertura vegetal. Este conjunto de informaÃÃes tambÃm originou a ediÃÃo de uma cartilha, dirigida primariamente à comunidade local. / This research aimed the production of organized information, in an elementary level, concerning the CaÃa e Pesca neighbourhood â which comprehends ocean beaches, the estuary of a river crossing a considerably large area within the Metropolitan Area of the capital of the State of CearÃ, in Northeast Brazil, and also a vast mangrove camp, dune fields and a stretch of transition forest â, located in the Eastern coast of the city of Fortaleza, due to the lack of organized relevant and updated data. Nonetheless, it constitutes a body of knowledge that can operate as a tool to promote initiatives destined to ensue a sustainable relationship between the local people, the environment and the urban development dynamics verified. The results shall provide the public administration with some essential data to subsidize environmental education actions and the adequate monitoring, desirably performed by the community itself, of the existing ecosystems, in relation to the urgent need of their preservation and, also imperative, the definition of sustainable tourism standards specially designed to fit the wholeness characterized by that area. The construction of a participative socioenvironmental diagnosis thus detaches the human occupation of that neighbourhood in space and time, complemented by a mapping approach of the geomorphological, hydrogeological and vegetal covering specificities of the region, in close relationship with the current socio-economic and socio-environmental aspects. A booklet following these results was published, in order to display basic data to the local community involved.
213

Organisational development : values and the sustainable workplace

Zhang, Xiaoxing January 2009 (has links)
Organisations exist. An organisation is not just a group of people, a workplace, a structure or system; it is a combination of these and many other aspects involved in its operation. In recent years, the nature and needs of organisations have changed dramatically, challenging them to rethinking how they organise themselves and accomplish their goals in a sustainable manner. This is an important, but not easy, task. The research presented in this thesis aims to contribute to organisational development theory and practice, in terms of how to articulate collective organisational values, and upon which to establish a sustainable workplace framework to govern and improve organisational performance. The research was undertaken in two phases. Phase 1 focused on researching organisational values, which is considered as a critical step towards the development of sustainable workplaces. A values and behaviours study was conducted in the UK offices of the sponsoring company. Schwartz's values survey instrument and values theory are, for the first time, applied extensively in an organisational context, as opposed to the comparative intercultural research conducted at the national/cultural level. The study used a structured, mixed methods approach which Involved virtually all employees, whose values profiles were collected and analysed through an organisation-wide survey. Follow-up workshops and post workshop activities with a company Values Group faCilitated the sharing of common values; they then helped staff representatives develop their own organisational values statements, independent of senior management, before a final stage of negotiation. Meanwhile, a set of core-values-related workplace behaviours and relevant mechanisms were identified and communicated across the whole organisation. The core organisational values are fundamental in governing the workplace behaviours, and the mechanisms represented desirable work practices. This values-based approach facilitated the identification of the grassroots demand for continuous improvement of workplace environmental, social and economic performances, hence formed a foundation for the development of sustainable workplaces. The findings from the first phase revealed the core values of the organisation, highlighted the importance of applying the principles of sustainable development to the workplace context, which prompted further research into the nature of a sustainable workplace (phase 2). Although there is an increasing interest in sustainable workplace development, as an emerging and fast developing area, the body of research is still fragmented and unbalanced. In order to establish a holistic and balanced approach to the development of sustainable workplaces, available guidance documents were systematically categorised, compared and synthesised within a clear framework, to facilitate easy understanding and practice. This revealed that, at present, emphasis tends to be placed on environmental impacts arising from workplace activities, and hence the promotion of environmental awareness among the workforce. Whilst this may be appropriate in itself, it is of concern that other key aspects of sustainable development (Le. social and economic aspects) have been overlooked to a significant extent. A sustainable workplace framework was therefore established which provides a balanced approach for governing all aspects of the workplace development. The data obtained from phase 1 not only highlighted the need for such a balanced approach, but also inform the identification and prioritisation of the indicators within the framework, which offer useful measures for organisational behaviours. Meanwhile, the framework can be used as a tool to facilitate the integration of values into workplace development. The research concludes that to develop an organisation in a sustainable manner, a set of collective organisational values must be articulated, which will serve as guiding principles of work place behaviours and practices, and therefore dictate workplace performance. The shaping of collective organisational values should be based on a clear understanding and communication of employees' personal values, and that Schwartz's circumplex model of human values and associated survey instrument are helpful neutral framing devices to initiate and structure such a debate. As all the elements of sustainability are rooted in values, the identification of the collective organisational values could be considered as a critical step towards the development of sustainable workplaces. Furthermore, the research highlighted that the sustainable workplace is a multidimensional concept which requires holistic thinking. The conceptual framework developed in this research joins together the key aspects/criteria of sustainable workplaces, with the aim to balance the workplace environmental, social and economic performances. By linking the organisational values and related key business issues to workplace sustainable development criteria, the development towards sustainable workplaces could consequently enhance organisational values, therefore improving organisational perfonnance as well as employees' quality of life at work.
214

Planning for sustainability through cleaner production

Aschner, Andrew, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW January 2004 (has links)
The concept of sustainable development is receiving a great deal of attention in industry. However, the operational processes for industrial environmental management are still at an early stage of development and despite the best efforts of operations management and environmental specialists a great many products and services continue to be unsustainable. This presents threats to society and risks for survival to manufacturers. The purpose of the Thesis is to accelerate environmental improvements through the uptake of Cleaner Production concepts by developing a methodology for guiding manufacturing enterprises. The tenets of the proposed methodology include: o oo Reliance on a strategic approach ooo Development of an implementation path similar to those used in introducing other major culture and technology changes ooo Culture and policy change are strategically generated from within manufacturing organisations Specifically, the main objectives of the Project are: 1. to invent a relatively easily implementable methodology for planning for sustainability for manufacturing enterprises of all sizes 2. to address the major industrial environmental management issues at all levels within the enterprise as one seamless process 3. to configure the methodology so that it may be incorporated into an existing body of knowledge, e.g., manufacturing management/manufacturing engineering 4. to minimise complexities by standardising key concepts and terminology The Thesis integrates Sustainability and Cleaner Production concepts, systems and technologies and performance indicators with a planning model to arrive at what has been termed as &quot the Strategy Development and Implementation with Cleaner Production&quot process. This solution addresses the key point of integrating Cleaner Production concepts ii with the manufacturing planning processes, but just as importantly, it also establishes the links between the steps from strategy initiation through to implementation, from the boardroom down to the factory floor. The main modules of the work are: o oo establishing relationships between strategic, business and manufacturing plans using the concepts of Sustainability, Eco-efficiency and Cleaner Production ooo development of links between planning and operations using the concepts of Industrial Ecology and Life Cycle Management ooo development of a classification system, referred to as a Cleaner Production toolkit, to promote optimum selection of hard and soft systems and technologies ooo development of appropriate Cleaner Production Indicators to complete the loop.
215

Economy of nature: a genealogy of the concepts 'growth' and 'equilibrium' as artefacts of metaphorical exchange between the natural and the social sciences.

Walker, Jeremy R. January 2007 (has links)
Presently, the more or less global political consensus is that the primary task of government is to perpetually maximise a quantity called 'economic growth'. Given the decline of 'socialist' models of industrialisation, the economic consensus is that economic growth is best achieved through the deregulation of markets, industry and trade, as free markets are self-regulating institutions that automatically and efficiently optimise growth through their tendency to reach 'equilibrium.' Another word for this consensus might be 'neoliberalism'. This cosy situation, however, is increasingly under challenge from the recent transformation of global warming from a deniable proposition to a clear and present danger. As ecologists and earth scientists have long argued, global warming (an unforeseen side effect of what was called the 'energy crisis' in the 1970s) is just one of many aspects of a generalised global ecological crisis. The biosphere, environmentalists tell us, is radically 'out of balance'. Given this impasse, it appears that the science of social systems (economics) and the science of living systems (ecology) are incommensurable. This incommensurability is the starting point of the thesis, which seeks to provide a genealogy of the concepts of equilibrium and growth as they appear in the claims of both disciplines to represent 'hard' science. Drawing from debates in the philosophy of science, studies in the history of ideas, the anthropology of technology, and political economy, the thesis charts the mutual exchange of metaphors and analogies between the natural and the social sciences, and traces a surprisingly parallel trajectory in the separate histories of economics and ecology. Beginning with early historicist and organicist conceptual frameworks, both sciences embraced 'mechanism' in their bid to attain the mantle of Science. For both sciences, the attainment of this status was associated with the incorporation of the language of energetics and an insistent identification of 'equilibrium' with the central scientific object of inquiry, 'the market' and 'the ecosystem' respectively. What is ironic in these claims is that the acceptance of the machine metaphor effecti vely screened out the study of actual machinery from the pure states of nature called 'the market' or 'the economy.' This history is taken up to the climactic moment of the early 1970s, when, it is argued, the ontological foundations of ecology and economics collided. This is the moment from which the political discourses of neoliberal globalisation and global environmental crisis both date, and since then we see the rise of hybrid discourses that attempt to address and overcome the deep contradictions of disciplinary specialisation. The thesis concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of this conceptual legacy, and in analysing the interactions of the 'new ecology' and the 'new economy', offers suggestions as to why what appeared in 1971 as a fundamental and obvious contradiction between 'growth' and 'equilibrium', no longer attracts debate.
216

The development of a multi-criteria approach for the measurement of sustainable performance for built projects and facilities

January 2004 (has links)
It has long been recognised that environmental matters are important to the survival of the construction industry. Yet, in general, the construction industry continues to degrade the environment, exploiting resources and generating waste, and is reluctant to change its conventional practices to incorporate environmental matters as part of the decisionmaking process. Building development involves complex decisions and the increased significance of external effects has further complicated the situation. Cost benefit analysis (CBA) is one of the conventional tools used widely by public and private sectors when appraising projects. It sets out to measure and compare the total costs and benefits of different projects that are competing for scarce resources in monetary terms. However, there are growing concerns that the values of environmental goods and services are often ignored or underestimated in the CBA approach which has led to the overuse and depletion of environmental assets. Consequently, CBA's usefulness and relevance in this respect is increasingly controversial. Project development is not just concerned with financial return, but is also conscious of the long-term impacts on living standards for both present and future generations. Sustainable development is an important issue in project decision-making and environmental effects need to be incorporated into the evaluation process. A multi- dimensional evaluation approach attracts increasing attention around the world as the way to incorporate environmental issues in the decision-making process. This approach uses the conventional market approach to monetarise economic aspects of a development, whilst using a non-monetary approach to evaluate the environmental matters. The purpose of this thesis is to critically examine the impact of construction activities on the environment and methods of quantifying environmental matters. This thesis also evaluates the principal sustainable development determinants for modelling, and evaluating long-term environmental performance of buildings during the project appraisal stage. Projects can be assessed using an index system that combines the principal determinants of sustainable development. The four criteria as identified in this research are financial return, energy consumption, external benefits and environmental impact. The derived sustainability index combines the four identified attributes into a single decision-making tool. The attributes are each expressed in units that are best suited to their quantitative assessment. The development of a sustainability index is a way of combining economic and environmental criteria into the decision-making framework. The sustainability index has also been developed into computer software called SINDEX to be used as a benchmarking tool to aid design and the sustainability assessment of projects. SINDEX is a sustainability modelling tool used to calculate and benchmark sustainable performance of proposed buildings, new and existing facilities. Conventional project appraisal techniques measure net social gain to select a project, whilst the sustainability index measures the relative ranking of projects from a sustainable development view. Buildings have a long life, so any improvement in appraisal techniques for choosing the best option amongst the alternatives will significantly reduce their future environmental impact. As such, a methodology that embraces various criteria in relation to project development is crucial in this respect. The development of a sustainability index is a way to combine multiple criteria measured using different units. Using the sustainability index will greatly assist the construction industry to realise sustainable development goals, and thereby make a positive contribution to identifying optimum design solutions.
217

Economy of nature: a genealogy of the concepts 'growth' and 'equilibrium' as artefacts of metaphorical exchange between the natural and the social sciences.

Walker, Jeremy R. January 2007 (has links)
Presently, the more or less global political consensus is that the primary task of government is to perpetually maximise a quantity called 'economic growth'. Given the decline of 'socialist' models of industrialisation, the economic consensus is that economic growth is best achieved through the deregulation of markets, industry and trade, as free markets are self-regulating institutions that automatically and efficiently optimise growth through their tendency to reach 'equilibrium.' Another word for this consensus might be 'neoliberalism'. This cosy situation, however, is increasingly under challenge from the recent transformation of global warming from a deniable proposition to a clear and present danger. As ecologists and earth scientists have long argued, global warming (an unforeseen side effect of what was called the 'energy crisis' in the 1970s) is just one of many aspects of a generalised global ecological crisis. The biosphere, environmentalists tell us, is radically 'out of balance'. Given this impasse, it appears that the science of social systems (economics) and the science of living systems (ecology) are incommensurable. This incommensurability is the starting point of the thesis, which seeks to provide a genealogy of the concepts of equilibrium and growth as they appear in the claims of both disciplines to represent 'hard' science. Drawing from debates in the philosophy of science, studies in the history of ideas, the anthropology of technology, and political economy, the thesis charts the mutual exchange of metaphors and analogies between the natural and the social sciences, and traces a surprisingly parallel trajectory in the separate histories of economics and ecology. Beginning with early historicist and organicist conceptual frameworks, both sciences embraced 'mechanism' in their bid to attain the mantle of Science. For both sciences, the attainment of this status was associated with the incorporation of the language of energetics and an insistent identification of 'equilibrium' with the central scientific object of inquiry, 'the market' and 'the ecosystem' respectively. What is ironic in these claims is that the acceptance of the machine metaphor effecti vely screened out the study of actual machinery from the pure states of nature called 'the market' or 'the economy.' This history is taken up to the climactic moment of the early 1970s, when, it is argued, the ontological foundations of ecology and economics collided. This is the moment from which the political discourses of neoliberal globalisation and global environmental crisis both date, and since then we see the rise of hybrid discourses that attempt to address and overcome the deep contradictions of disciplinary specialisation. The thesis concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of this conceptual legacy, and in analysing the interactions of the 'new ecology' and the 'new economy', offers suggestions as to why what appeared in 1971 as a fundamental and obvious contradiction between 'growth' and 'equilibrium', no longer attracts debate.
218

Sustainable Development at University : comparison of students’ knowledge, awareness and actions

Yao, Zhilei, He, Yin January 2010 (has links)
<p>After the Rio United Nations Conference on Enviroment and Development, the need of sustainable development obtained recognition from the vast majority of countries and organization. Human society entered a new development period. More and more people know about sustainable  development. Education for sustainable development is a concern for the world where university can make a  contribution. Students who are the majority in a university, their knowledge, awarenss and action will play an important role to promote sustainable development.  </p><p>The purpose if this thsis is to study if there is any difference in students' knowledge and awareness on sustainable development in university, based on the comparison betweet freshmen and seniors. Through the comparison, this will explore if students' knowledge and awareness is influence  to their action. This thesis does a literature review to understand deeply about sustainable development and explores students' knowledge, awareness and actions of sustainable development through questionnaire. </p><p>The analysis of data from the questionnaire indicates that their knowledge and awareness influences their actions. The freshmen and seniors have difference in knowledge and awareness. Knowledge of students on sustainable development appears to have increased slightly during years study. However, as the knowledge increased, there is not much difference in their knowledge and awareness of sustainable development. Based on the different degree of knowledge and awareness, seniors appear to do better than freshmen in their actions.</p>
219

Cape Scene & the path to a conscientious tourism product

Sykes, Kimberly M. 24 June 2003 (has links)
Many countries around the world are looking to tourism as a sustainable solution for economic development and many individuals seek business opportunities in the tourism industry. Researchers in the field of anthropology and other disciplines alike have recorded findings of the environmental, economic and cultural impacts of tourism development that are useful both to tourism promoters and new business developers. While there are a number of negative examples of environmental degradation, economic dependency and cultural exploitation resulting from tourism, there are so few positive models that scholars are now questioning whether tourism is a truly sustainable strategy for prosperity. In particular, ecotourism and nature-based tourism have burgeoned from a perceived prospect of increased environmental, economic and cultural sensitivity, but a watershed of criticism has followed in the wake of their emergence. Critics claim that what is touted as eco-sensitive is just another marketing strategy to attract more people to areas of the world vulnerable to hosting a growing number of guests. Overuse of the term ecotourism has parties involved at all levels of tourism development from host communities, to tourism planners, to scholars questioning what is sustainable ecotourism. Due to this ambiguity, a new term, conscientious tourism, is suggested as a euphemism in order to clarify what type of tourism most contributes to sustainability. Cape Scene magazine has evolved as a conscientious tourism product informing guests visiting South Africa how best to interact with the wildlife, environment and local people. The magazine has coupled interesting feature stories and helpful information on navigating around the Western Cape and Cape Town and includes a useful fold out map. The magazine reaches a broad audience of mass tourists, small group tourists and individuals and groups interested in nature, wildlife and cultural experiences. The magazine also informs readers of local conservation and community development projects ongoing in South Africa. This emphasis has created a conscientious tourism product that informs tourists of the country they are visiting while promoting conservation and social development causes that can be benefited by overseas awareness. As mass tourism will never completely give way to smaller conservation minded guided tour groups, the magazine helps to propel conscientious tourism by reaching out to even the most undiscerning holiday maker. The magazine was created by drawing on graduate internship experiences from coastal Oregon, the Micronesian island of Kosrae and Costa Rica. These internships give insights on how conservation, economic and cultural concerns have been and can be better addressed by local people and local businesses in an effort to work towards conscientious tourism and sustainable development. This thesis explores several ecotourism related projects encountered on the way to developing a conscientious tourism product, Cape Scene magazine. The existing body of tourism literature is considered in relation to the projects encountered and current work with Cape Scene magazine. / Graduation date: 2004
220

The impact of Hong Kong Disneyland on the sustainable development of Hong Kong's tourism industry

Ho, Chun-on. January 2006 (has links)
Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

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