This thesis explores Neighbourhood and Building Environmental Assessment Tools’ (NBEATs’) function as assessment tools and decision support, and their relation to environment, architecture and architects. This is done by analysing, testing, and discussing a number of NBEATs (LEED-NC, Code for Sustainable Homes, EcoEffect, LEED-ND, BREEAM-C, and ENSLIC-tool), their manuals and use. Moreover, professionals’ (architects’) self-rated opinions regarding use and knowledge of NBEATs and environmental aspects are surveyed. Similarities and differences in NBEATs are found regarding: content, structure, weighting and indicators used. Indicators distinguished as procedure, performance and feature are used to varying extents to assess social, environmental and technical aspects. NBEATs relation to environmental sustainability has limitations due to: non-transparency, tradable indicators, relative measures, low criteria levels, limited life cycle perspective, and exclusion of relevant environmental aspects, such as embedded toxic substances, nutrient cycles, land use change, and ecosystem services. Ratings and architecture are influenced by NBEATs in varying ways. Higher criteria levels would probably increase their impact on architecture. Thus more research regarding NBEATs and links to architectural design, theory and practice is welcomed. There is limited use of NBEATs as decision support in early design phases such as in architectural competitions. Architects rate the importance of environmental aspects high, but few rate their skill in handling environmental aspects high. This calls for increasing knowledge and know-how of environmental strategies and solutions among architects and adaptation of NBEATs to early design processes. The values NBEATs reflect and the values we want them to create is also important. To support ‘environmental’ architecture, an increased socio-eco-technological system perspective is put forward, and other measures besides NBEATs are needed. / <p>QC 20160926</p>

Current food production methods in the United States contribute to environmental degradation as well as food insecurity. Food production by means of community gardens has the potential to reduce the deleterious effects of current production methods. However, many community gardens face challenges that hinder their longevity, thereby reducing the likelihood of the support they might provide for environmentally sustainable food production and decreased food insecurity for community members. A behavioral systems science approach was combined with ethnographic research methods, matrix analysis, and a literature review regarding best practices for community gardens to study the cultural practices of three established community gardens in the southwest region of the US. The results of the analyses conducted are presented in terms of recommendations to support each target community garden's sustainability. Recommendations regarding future research include environmental manipulations to identify functional relations and potential outcome measures for improving the longevity of community gardens are provided.

Diante da perspectiva de entender como o conceito de sustentabilidade ambiental pode ser aplicado à urbanização das cidades, encontramos em Bertioga caso ilustrativo da associação entre natureza e crescimento urbano. A cidade sofreu, em seu ambiente natural, as conseqüências do crescimento intenso do litoral paulista, que são evidentes tanto na cidade legal quanto em ocupações ilegais. O objeto desta dissertação é a urbanização de Bertioga: uma relação entre o ambiente natural e as formas de produção do espaço urbano, incluindo a construção de espaços ambientalmente precários, que suprem os déficits de infraestrutura e habitação. O objetivo principal é interpretar os impactos gerados pela ocupação humana sobre áreas consideradas ambientalmente frágeis, no contexto de desenvolvimento e sustentabilidade ambiental, debatidos mundialmente. Da perspectiva do planejamento urbano e tendo um território politicamente delimitado município como elemento empírico, aprofundamos duas abordagens: a interpretação de conceitos utilizados no discurso ambiental e a análise territorial urbana. Como base teórica, utilizamos bibliografia ligada à conceituação da sustentabilidade e da problemática ambiental. Além disso, apresentamos levantamento bibliográfico sobre o histórico da internacionalização do debate ambiental e das Conferências Mundiais que influenciaram a ênfase na política ambiental dos Estados Nacionais, base da atual política ambiental adotada no Brasil. Foram considerados importantes os pontos de vista diversos sobre sustentabilidade e crise ambiental que contribuíram para desconstruir os conceitos mais difundidos sobre esses temas, adotados no consenso político, na maior parte dos países ocidentais. O desenvolvimento sustentável não pode ser uma caracterização genérica de limitação de uso de recursos nem mera denominação de programas políticos e sociais, mas, devido à complexidade das questões sociais e de uso dos recursos naturais, são necessárias definições específicas do que seja a sustentabilidade ecológica necessária dentro de um contexto social e cultural preexistente. Alcançar a sustentabilidade socioambiental, no contexto do crescimento urbano, demanda a superação dos conflitos identificados, por meio da determinação de prioridades nas políticas públicas. Em Bertioga, constatamos tanto conflitos internos ao município quanto aqueles referentes aos diversos objetivos propostos pela política ambiental das esferas de poder público estadual e federal. É notável que as políticas públicas municipais, voltadas para o atendimento da demanda social de Bertioga, devem se sobrepor ao atendimento dos interesses privados de uso e ocupação do espaço urbano. / From the perspective of understanding how the concept of environmental sustainability can be applied to the urbanization of the cities, in Bertioga we see an illustrative case on the association between nature and urban growth. This city has suffered in its natural environment consequences of the intense growth of the paulista coastal zone, evident in the official area of the city and in the illegally occupied areas. The object of this dissertation is the urbanization of Bertioga: a relation between natural environment and how urban spaces are produced; including spaces constructed under precarious way due to supply the deficit of infrastructure and housing. The main objective is to interpret the impacts generated by human occupancy over fragile environmental areas, in the context of development and environmental sustainability, as it is debated worldwide. In the vision of town planning and considering a political territory as an empirical element the city we studied two subjects: the interpretation of the concepts used in the environmental discourse and urban space analysis. We used bibliography about sustainability and environmental problems, as a theoretical basis. Besides that we presented bibliographical survey on the historic of the international environmental debate and on the World Conferences that influenced the Nations environmental politics, basis of the Brazilian Environmental Politics. We considered as important the different points of view about sustainability and environmental crisis, that contributed to deconstruct the concepts mostly disseminated about those subjects, adopted in the political consensus, in most part of the western countries. Sustainable development can not be a general characterization to restrict the use of natural resources, not even simply a denomination to political and social programs; but, due to the complexity of social problems and natural resources access, it is necessary to define specific concepts on ecological sustainability in a social and cultural preexistent context. To reach social and environmental sustainability, in the context of urban growth, it is necessary to overcome the identified conflicts by determining the effective priorities on public policies. In Bertioga we could see that there are internal conflicts of the city and conflicts about different proposals in the same subject by state and federal governments. It is remarkable that city public policies to social requests of Bertioga must become most important than the supply of private interests on the use of urban space.

As the number of global problems is proliferating, the issue of sustainability is gaining increasing recognition. One of the most imperative aspects of sustainable development is environmental sustainability. Since multinational corporations are the main drivers of global economy, maintaining the balance between economic interests and the health of natural ecosystems would have been impossible without drastic transformation of organizational business practices. The focus of this paper is oriented at the corporate greening undertaken by companies in the country with a huge potential to influence the state of the world ecology: the Russian Federation. The purpose of the study is to gain deeper understanding of the motives of Russian firms to make their operations more environmentally sustainable and of the challenges embedded in the Russian setting that hinder that process. We test the relevance of factors discussed in the greening literature on the Russian context i.e. financial and market-based incentives, stakeholders’ pressure, regulatory setting and leadership perspective and ethical considerations. Within the data collected from 8 business leaders, it was found that the main motives to go “green” were the financial one and the ethical stance of the leaders. Additionally, companies were motivated to go “green” due to forecasts on the future development of the Russian market, i.e. explaining their “green” initiatives as a part of strategic planning programs. Among the main challenges mentioned by the study participants were weak environmental regulatory apparatus and low participation of the Russian civil society. The study concludes by putting forward recommendations of how to facilitate the corporate greening process in Russia stating that legislation should be solidified, transparency of the economy should be strengthened, market-based instruments shall be further developed and educational events for raising environmental awareness should be get wider application.

Environmental sustainability is the most important issues in today’s business. They alsoinfluenced the fashion industry and elicit demand for eco-friendly clothes. Although thedemand for sustainable products is rapidly growing, quite few of sustainable materials areknown in fashion industry. Therefore, the thesis investigates one potential sustainable fabric,fabric Hanji and suggests strategies to improve awareness of the fabric in Swedish marketwhich has potential for being a huge market for the sustainable fabrics.The thesis studies characters of Swedish general market as well as fashion market andalso surveys consumer behaviour related to Hanji and Korean fashion’s image. As a result,the thesis figures out that unawareness of Korean fashion and Korean negative image arechallenges for Hanji business to be known Swedish consumers although Swedish market hasvarious attractive features. Based on the results, this thesis provides two methods to increasethe awareness of the fabric—providing the fabric for student designers and holdingworkshops for senior consumers.The two suggestions are definitely an important and meaningful start to introduce fabricHanji to the market. In addition, they will inspire those who are trying to market the fabric. / Program: Magisterutbildning i fashion management med inriktning modemarknadsföring

Diante da perspectiva de entender como o conceito de sustentabilidade ambiental pode ser aplicado à urbanização das cidades, encontramos em Bertioga caso ilustrativo da associação entre natureza e crescimento urbano. A cidade sofreu, em seu ambiente natural, as conseqüências do crescimento intenso do litoral paulista, que são evidentes tanto na cidade legal quanto em ocupações ilegais. O objeto desta dissertação é a urbanização de Bertioga: uma relação entre o ambiente natural e as formas de produção do espaço urbano, incluindo a construção de espaços ambientalmente precários, que suprem os déficits de infraestrutura e habitação. O objetivo principal é interpretar os impactos gerados pela ocupação humana sobre áreas consideradas ambientalmente frágeis, no contexto de desenvolvimento e sustentabilidade ambiental, debatidos mundialmente. Da perspectiva do planejamento urbano e tendo um território politicamente delimitado município como elemento empírico, aprofundamos duas abordagens: a interpretação de conceitos utilizados no discurso ambiental e a análise territorial urbana. Como base teórica, utilizamos bibliografia ligada à conceituação da sustentabilidade e da problemática ambiental. Além disso, apresentamos levantamento bibliográfico sobre o histórico da internacionalização do debate ambiental e das Conferências Mundiais que influenciaram a ênfase na política ambiental dos Estados Nacionais, base da atual política ambiental adotada no Brasil. Foram considerados importantes os pontos de vista diversos sobre sustentabilidade e crise ambiental que contribuíram para desconstruir os conceitos mais difundidos sobre esses temas, adotados no consenso político, na maior parte dos países ocidentais. O desenvolvimento sustentável não pode ser uma caracterização genérica de limitação de uso de recursos nem mera denominação de programas políticos e sociais, mas, devido à complexidade das questões sociais e de uso dos recursos naturais, são necessárias definições específicas do que seja a sustentabilidade ecológica necessária dentro de um contexto social e cultural preexistente. Alcançar a sustentabilidade socioambiental, no contexto do crescimento urbano, demanda a superação dos conflitos identificados, por meio da determinação de prioridades nas políticas públicas. Em Bertioga, constatamos tanto conflitos internos ao município quanto aqueles referentes aos diversos objetivos propostos pela política ambiental das esferas de poder público estadual e federal. É notável que as políticas públicas municipais, voltadas para o atendimento da demanda social de Bertioga, devem se sobrepor ao atendimento dos interesses privados de uso e ocupação do espaço urbano. / From the perspective of understanding how the concept of environmental sustainability can be applied to the urbanization of the cities, in Bertioga we see an illustrative case on the association between nature and urban growth. This city has suffered in its natural environment consequences of the intense growth of the paulista coastal zone, evident in the official area of the city and in the illegally occupied areas. The object of this dissertation is the urbanization of Bertioga: a relation between natural environment and how urban spaces are produced; including spaces constructed under precarious way due to supply the deficit of infrastructure and housing. The main objective is to interpret the impacts generated by human occupancy over fragile environmental areas, in the context of development and environmental sustainability, as it is debated worldwide. In the vision of town planning and considering a political territory as an empirical element the city we studied two subjects: the interpretation of the concepts used in the environmental discourse and urban space analysis. We used bibliography about sustainability and environmental problems, as a theoretical basis. Besides that we presented bibliographical survey on the historic of the international environmental debate and on the World Conferences that influenced the Nations environmental politics, basis of the Brazilian Environmental Politics. We considered as important the different points of view about sustainability and environmental crisis, that contributed to deconstruct the concepts mostly disseminated about those subjects, adopted in the political consensus, in most part of the western countries. Sustainable development can not be a general characterization to restrict the use of natural resources, not even simply a denomination to political and social programs; but, due to the complexity of social problems and natural resources access, it is necessary to define specific concepts on ecological sustainability in a social and cultural preexistent context. To reach social and environmental sustainability, in the context of urban growth, it is necessary to overcome the identified conflicts by determining the effective priorities on public policies. In Bertioga we could see that there are internal conflicts of the city and conflicts about different proposals in the same subject by state and federal governments. It is remarkable that city public policies to social requests of Bertioga must become most important than the supply of private interests on the use of urban space.

Doctor of Philosophy / This research aimed to develop new cooling methods to replace, or at least minimise, the use of currently used grinding coolants which are known to be harmful to the environment. The methods used involved the application of a cold air and vegetable oil mist mixture (CAOM), and the use of liquid nitrogen as cooling media. Allied research focused on the development of a segmented grinding wheel equipped with a coolant chamber. The feasibility of a grinding system using CAOM was assessed on the surface grinding of plain carbon steel 1045. It was found that at low material removal rates, ground surfaces were obtained with a quality comparable to that from grinding with a conventional coolant in association with a reduction of grinding forces. There was no significant difference in the subsurface hardness of the components using CAOM, although the latter method showed a stronger dependence of surface residual stresses on the depth of cut due to the limit in cooling capacity of CAOM. The effects of using liquid nitrogen as a cooling medium on the microstructure of quenchable steel were explored. It was found that a martensite layer was induced on the ground surface. The microstructure featured a dispersion of very fine carbides within the martensite lattice, resulting in a remarkable increase in hardness and high compressive residual stresses within the layer. The topography of the ground surfaces indicated that the material was predominantly removed by brittle fracture. Furthermore surface oxidisation was suppressed. In the interest of coolant minimisation, a segmented wheel equipped with a pressurized coolant chamber was developed. A higher quality ground surface was obtained in conjunction with a coolant saving of up to 70%. In addition, the adhesion of ground chips on the wheel surface largely disappeared. Furthermore, surface tensile residual stresses caused by thermal deformation were minimised. The mechanism of coolant disintegration to form mists using this type of wheel system was studied. The Weber theory for Newtonian jet instability was applied to quantitatively determine the contribution of coolant flow rate to mist and ligament modes. A semi-analytical model was then developed to predict the mist flow rate by taking into account both grinding parameters and coolant properties. The model prediction was in agreement with experimental measurements. Based on the principles of fluid motion and the mechanisms of spin-off and splash, analytical models for both conventional and segmented wheels were established to provide a physical understanding of the mechanisms of coolant penetration into the grinding zone. Coolant minimisation was evident using the segmented wheel where the coolant pumping power into the grinding zone increased with wheel speed, but for the conventional wheel it decreased. A quantitative analysis was developed that accounted for the coolant properties and system design characteristics governing the penetration mechanism revealed by the theory established above. In conjunction with the mist formation analysis, the developed model offers a practical guideline for the optimal use of grinding coolants in achieving a balance between the demands of productivity and care for the environment.

The thesis focuses on the environmental sustainability ofwater projects. The concept is analysed from the theoreticaland the implementation viewpoints The evolution of the conceptof sustainable development is presented, with an in-depthdiscussion on the present status of the environmentalsustainability of water projects. Several case studies areanalysed on different important aspects of environmentalsustainability. These case studies include the analysis ofissues like the role of institutions, effectiveness of legalframeworks, participation of stakeholders, contributions ofwater development projects to regional development,consideration of environmental and social issues, and impactsof social and environmental movements. The impacts of the Ataturk dam, within the SoutheasternAnatolia (GAP) Project, Turkey, are analysed in terms ofplanning, policy making, institutional arrangements,infrastructural development, and human resources development.Its economic, social and environmental impacts during theconstruction phase and the first seven years of operation arereviewed. The role of large dams in poverty alleviation andsocio-economic development are analysed, especially in terms ofresettlement. The current global thinking on involuntaryresettlement is reviewed, as are the experiences onresettlement of the people affected by water projects. Anassessment of the participatory process that was formulated forthe resettlement of the people affected by the construction ofthe Birecik dam, GAP Project, Turkey, is presented. Institutional arrangements for integrated river basinmanagement in Latin America is analysed, with special emphasison the Brazilian and the Mexican experiences of watermanagement at the river basin level. Brazil and Mexico werechosen since they are by far the most advanced in this area,compared to all the other Latin American countries. It is concluded that economic, social and environmentaldimensions should be considered concurrently within the goalsof water development. Social considerations are essentialbecause poverty is both a cause and an effect of environmentaldegradation, and societies festering with poverty and socialtensions will not have the means, or inclination, to makesustainable development a priority issue. There are noblueprints for a transition to sustainability, but there arepolicy reforms that could reduce environmental degradation,income disparity and persistent poverty. The water sector isnot an exception to this conclusion. There is now considerable discussion on the operationalfeasibility of the sustainable development concept. It issuggested that sustainable development should be considered tobe a journey and not a destination. The world is nothomogeneous, and thus there cannot be one unique path tosustainable development that would be equally valid andapplicable for all countries of the world, and for alldevelopment sectors. Each country will have to base its waterdevelopment agendas depending on their own social, economic,cultural and environmental conditions, available managerial,technical and administrative capacities and societalexpectations and aspirations. For developing countries, as longas water development policies, programmes and projects cancontribute to socio-economic development, reduction in povertyand income disparity, and environmental conservation, they arewell on course in their long journey to sustainabledevelopment. Definitional debates as to what constitutessustainable water development are likely to beunproductive.

<p>The thesis focuses on the environmental sustainability ofwater projects. The concept is analysed from the theoreticaland the implementation viewpoints The evolution of the conceptof sustainable development is presented, with an in-depthdiscussion on the present status of the environmentalsustainability of water projects. Several case studies areanalysed on different important aspects of environmentalsustainability. These case studies include the analysis ofissues like the role of institutions, effectiveness of legalframeworks, participation of stakeholders, contributions ofwater development projects to regional development,consideration of environmental and social issues, and impactsof social and environmental movements.</p><p>The impacts of the Ataturk dam, within the SoutheasternAnatolia (GAP) Project, Turkey, are analysed in terms ofplanning, policy making, institutional arrangements,infrastructural development, and human resources development.Its economic, social and environmental impacts during theconstruction phase and the first seven years of operation arereviewed.</p><p>The role of large dams in poverty alleviation andsocio-economic development are analysed, especially in terms ofresettlement. The current global thinking on involuntaryresettlement is reviewed, as are the experiences onresettlement of the people affected by water projects. Anassessment of the participatory process that was formulated forthe resettlement of the people affected by the construction ofthe Birecik dam, GAP Project, Turkey, is presented.</p><p>Institutional arrangements for integrated river basinmanagement in Latin America is analysed, with special emphasison the Brazilian and the Mexican experiences of watermanagement at the river basin level. Brazil and Mexico werechosen since they are by far the most advanced in this area,compared to all the other Latin American countries.</p><p>It is concluded that economic, social and environmentaldimensions should be considered concurrently within the goalsof water development. Social considerations are essentialbecause poverty is both a cause and an effect of environmentaldegradation, and societies festering with poverty and socialtensions will not have the means, or inclination, to makesustainable development a priority issue. There are noblueprints for a transition to sustainability, but there arepolicy reforms that could reduce environmental degradation,income disparity and persistent poverty. The water sector isnot an exception to this conclusion.</p><p>There is now considerable discussion on the operationalfeasibility of the sustainable development concept. It issuggested that sustainable development should be considered tobe a journey and not a destination. The world is nothomogeneous, and thus there cannot be one unique path tosustainable development that would be equally valid andapplicable for all countries of the world, and for alldevelopment sectors. Each country will have to base its waterdevelopment agendas depending on their own social, economic,cultural and environmental conditions, available managerial,technical and administrative capacities and societalexpectations and aspirations. For developing countries, as longas water development policies, programmes and projects cancontribute to socio-economic development, reduction in povertyand income disparity, and environmental conservation, they arewell on course in their long journey to sustainabledevelopment. Definitional debates as to what constitutessustainable water development are likely to beunproductive.</p>

This exploratory study aims to find out the challenges multinational corporations are facing when communicating about the ecological pillar of sustainability internally. By conducting an in-depth investigation of one multinational company, the study identifies three themes which imply potential drawbacks for the company’s goal to become an environmental pioneer within the operating industry. The first obstacle is related to the abstract content and intrinsic character of the sustainability idea. Furthermore, complex international business structures including different target groups hamper the internal sustainability communication, which pursues a peculiarly wide audience and is therefore dependent on the multiplier effect for the spread of information. Moreover, the intrinsic value of sustainability causes a priority lack, perception difficulties of the communicated messages as well as gaps between attitude and behavior. A long time period is required in order for the internal communication to achieve a change. All in all, especially the abstract, voluntary and intrinsic character of sustainability makes the communication uniquely difficult and thus demanding an overall change of the society’s attitude and prospect towards the topic.