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How to obtain and measure sustainability within project organizationCerbach, Caroline, Wedin, Sofie January 2010 (has links)
Theewaterskloof is a community with several faces. Situated right outside Cape Town, South Africa, the community of Theewaterskloof is distinguished by a low socio-economic standard. Housing and jobs are the main issues that concern the inhabitants of Theewaterskloof. Since 2004 the Theewaterskloof Development Project is run by students and by the Theewaterskloof Development Project Organization. The overall project aims are Service-Learning for students and sustainable rural community development, which in turn should result in increased entrepreneurship, work opportunities and self-sufficiency for the inhabitants in Theewaterskloof.With the complex conditions that characterize the project we found it very valuable to have a sustainable organization representing a strong base and clear concept. We came to understand that the power and motivation to make changes within the organization lies within the organization itself. With this in mind we began researching the project by interviewing involved parties and observing the project in field. The first conclusion we made was that the aims of the Theewaterskloof Development Project in theory and practice were not coherent. We then came to focus on areas within the organization that we perceived to be complex. As a result four themes were identified and processed; 1) Communication, cohesion and will to co-operate, 2) Project office, administration, organization and project management, 3) Enjoyable work assignments, the importance of every person involved and clearer vision on what every person is contributing with, and 4) Clear vision and aim, clarify the purpose of the whole project and clarify the approach to reach the aims. To simplify the themes and make them more applicable we came to our second conclusion; the need of finding a suitable approach for transforming the themes into normative principles. This approach is presented as the Seven Step Approach in which the results are four normative principles; Communication, Project management, Motivation and Strategy, all important for a sustainable organization and the further development of the project. As a final outcome we produced a guide with the base of the Seven Step Approach suited to fit the needs and conditions of Theewaterskloof Development Project. The guide has the purpose of assisting the project organization in achieving the principles to better reach the aims of the project.
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Between altruism and self-interest: Beyond EU’s normative power. An analysis of EU’s engagement in sustainable ocean governanceKuznia, Aleksandra January 2019 (has links)
With the majority of the oceans lying outside the borders of national jurisdiction, it is not easy to preserve them healthy and secure as the ‘shared responsibility’ is not recognized unambiguously in the global world. The recent turn to the maritime sphere is visible in the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development that has been widely advocated by the EU. The latter’s commitment to sustainable ocean governance involves action beyond borders, which has a considerable impact on the global maritime sphere as well as on developing countries depending on the seas. On the one hand, the EU’s pursuit of sustainable ocean governance is informed by the norms and values that the organization possesses and tries to promote in its response to global challenges. On the other, the normative principles and the EU’s flowery rhetoric serve as a mean to rationalize Union’s pursuit of self-interest. This study analyses both dimensions of the organization’s engagement in the maritime sphere, considering oceans as a ‘placeful’ environment that has to be treated in the same way as the land is. By exploring the external dimension of EU’s action in the field, the thesis allows to see that EU’s pursuit of sustainable ocean governance has to be understood as a process in which the strategic aims are imbued with genuine moral concerns. Nevertheless, those can sometimes be undermined by the material policy outcomes visible in the West African coastal states such as Mauritania and Senegal.
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Hållbar Stadsutveckling enligt principerna för Cradle to Cradle - Från teori till praktik i Kilen, RonnebyFälth, Erik, Thulin, Jens January 2012 (has links)
Vad är egentligen hållbar stadsutveckling och kommer vi i framtiden att kunna planerastadsmiljöer som har en positiv inverkan, på både natur och människa, i stället för en negativ?En av de grundläggande principerna för designteorin Cradle to Cradle är att vi skaagera hållbart i stället för mindre ohållbart. Dock är teorin ännu relativt outforskad inomfysisk planering.Utöver att undersöka Cradle to Cradle som designteori för hållbar stadsutveckling är syftetmed uppsatsen att dess resultat och slutsatser ska kunna utgöra verktyg för hållbarfysisk planering. Uppsatsen syftar också till att inspirera med innovativa idéer och lösningari den byggda miljön.Uppsatsen inleds med en teoretiskt grundad diskussion kring vad som kan utgöra normativaprinciper för hållbar stadsutveckling. Efter en grundlig objektiv översikt av Cradle toCradle ställs designteorin i relation till de normer som ställts upp.Intentionerna med Cradle to Cradle är goda men designteorin är i dag främst inriktadmot ekologisk och ekonomisk hållbarhet och den viktiga sociala aspekten är inte utvecklad.För ett förverkligande av teorins visioner skulle en övergång till Cradle to Cradle,som står för det vi kallar ekologisk modernisering, behöva ske parallellt med beteendeförändringgenom ett ifrågasättande av de normer, för till exempel produktion och konsumtion,som vi lever efter i dag. Ekologisk modernisering i kombination med normativaprinciper för beteendeförändring kan således vara en väg till hållbar stadsutveckling.Uppsatsens analysresultat överförs sedan från teori till praktik i utvecklingsområdet Kileni Ronneby, Sverige. Den övergripande konceptuella gestaltning som uppsatsen presenterar,ger exempel på hur det är möjligt att fysiskt planera inom Ronneby kommuns olikafokusområden energi, vatten, biologisk mångfald i utemiljön och social mångfald.Samtidigt som det planeras hållbart är det essentiellt att också göra det enkelt och självklartför medborgaren att leva hållbart. Medborgardeltagande i planeringsprocessen är enviktig komponent för att ett område som Kilen ska ge det mervärde som kommunenönskar och spegla de goda intentioner som ligger till grund för utvecklingen. Att planeraett område enligt principerna för Cradle to Cradle kan vid rätt tillvägagångssätt utgöra ettviktigt steg i den hållbara stadsutvecklingen. Inte minst som en manifestation av godaintentioner, en plattform för innovation inom ekologisk modernisering, ett pedagogisktexempel samt en uppmaning till brukaren och betraktaren att också leva hållbart. / What is sustainable urban development and will it in the future be possible to plan urbanenvironments which have a positive impact on both nature and people, instead of negative?One of the basic principles of the design theory Cradle to Cradle is for us to actsustainable, rather than less unsustainable, but the theory is still relatively unexplored inspatial planning.In addition to examining Cradle to Cradle as a design theory for sustainable urban development,the purpose of this paper is that its findings and conclusions should serve astools for sustainable spatial planning. The paper also aims to inspire with innovative ideasand solutions in the built environment. The essay begins with a theoretically baseddiscussion of what may constitute normative principles for sustainable urban development.After an objective review of Cradle to Cradle Design, the theory is set in relationto these standards.The intentions of Cradle to Cradle are good but the main focus of the design theory todayis on ecological and economic sustainability and the important social aspect is notdeveloped. For realization of the visions of the theory, transferring to Cradle to Cradle,which stands for what we call ecological modernization, need to be accompanied by behavioralchange. A comprehensive behavior change requires a questioning of the standards,regarding for example production and consumption, that we live by today. Ecologicalmodernization in combination with normative principles of behavior change can thusbe a path to sustainable urban development.The analytical results of the essay are then transferred from theory to practice in the developmentarea Kilen in Ronneby, Sweden. The overall conceptual design the essay presents,gives examples of how it is possible to physically plan within the municipality ofRonneby's various focus areas - energy, water, biodiversity in the outdoor environmentand social diversity.While planning sustainable, it is also essential to make it easy and natural for people tolive sustainable. Civic participation in the planning process is an important component tomake an area like Kilen provide the added value that the municipality wishes, and to let itreflect the good intentions underlying the development. Designing an area using theprinciples of Cradle to Cradle may, at the right approach, represent an important step inthe sustainable urban development. Not least as a manifestation of good intentions, aplatform for innovation in ecological modernization, a pedagogical example, and a call tothe user and the viewer to also live sustainable.
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Stagnant Nuclear Energy Policy in France: An Issue of Environmental JusticeMcElroy, Emma 01 January 2018 (has links)
My thesis traces policy developments in the nuclear power sector in the Republic of France, which is the most dependent country on nuclear energy in the world. The country’s particular brand of elitism, their highly centralized and technocratic government, their reputation for an extremely low rate of carbon emissions, and their discriminatory treatment of immigrants, refugees, and low-income communities all complicate this issue. I limit the scope of my analysis to changes in nuclear policy during the past ten years, under the leadership of Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande and as of May 2017, Emmanuel Macron. Using a policy science framework, I diagnose the points wherein the nuclear energy policy process has malfunctioned, which has rendered it stagnant and ineffective. By adding an environmental justice lens, I show the ways in which the nuclear industry and its advocates perpetuate social and economic inequities. I begin with Sarkozy and his politicization of nuclear energy during a time in which public resistance was growing, thus reaffirming utilitarian principles, colonial hierarchies, systems of exploitation, and the elitism of government. While Fukushima presented a window of opportunity for the country to advocate and lobby for an energy diversification, Sarkozy used the media exposure to his advantage to propagate the economic benefits of nuclear energy, which are discredited by my research. While the socialist party historically stands in ideological opposition to nuclear energy, their complicated relationship with various nuclear institutions and their poor public image inhibited Hollande’s ability to decrease France’s shares of nuclear energy. France’s newly-elected president, centralist Emmanuel Macron, could very well be the political leader that unpacks and remedies deeply embedded problems in the nuclear energy policy process, but it is perhaps to soon to tell. The institutionalization of neo-colonialism, the principle of value-maximization, the increasing party polarization, and the notions of elitism in the French government constrain it and any of its representatives from disrupting and reinvigorating the corrupted policy process. However previous successes at the local level through grassroots mobilization suggest that the tables could turn under a new government and an urgent need to transition to renewables.
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