Accessibility Planning tools for sustainable and integrated Land Use/Transport (LUT) development: an application to Rome

The paper fits into the themes of sustainable accessibility planning in urban areas, that can be defined as the integration of transport and land use planning to achieve sustainable development. In particular the study proposes a tool to support the choices of activities location, which is based on a new aggregate (zone-specific) indicator: the ‘Marginal Activity Access Cost’, providing estimation in monetary terms of the impacts on mobility and on the environment of locating one new activity in a specific zone of the urban area. The proposed indicator is validated through an application to the urban area of Rome.

The placebo effect: international patent law and the protection of traditional plant medicine

Une préoccupation essentielle traverse cette thèse: l'indifférence systémique de la Loi internationale sur la propriété intellectuelle a l'égard des savoirs traditionnels autochtones. De manière générale, un écart semble d'ailleurs croissant entre l'importance des accords internationaux sur les questions d'intérêt commercial et ceux de nature sociale. Les savoirs traditionnels autochtones sur les plantes médicinales sont particulièrement désavantagés dans ce système dichotomique puisqu'ils sont non seulement à l'origine d'énormes profits commerciaux mais se trouvent aussi au cœur de multiples croyances propres à ces sociétés. L'Accord sur les aspects des droits de propriété intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce (ADPIC) de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) a cristallisé le souci de la législation internationale à l'égard d'une protection efficace des intérêts commerciaux. Deux années auparavant, la Convention sur la diversité biologique (CDB) était signée, traduisant une préoccupation à l'égard du développement durable, et elle devenait le premier accord international à tenir compte des savoirs traditionnels autochtones. On considère souvent que ces deux accords permettent l'équilibre du développement commercial et durable, requis par l'économie internationale. Après plus ample examen, on a plutôt l'impression que l'idée d'une CDB défendant, avec succès et efficacité, la nécessité du développement durable et des savoirs traditionnels autochtones contre les pressions opposées de l'ADPIC et de l'OMC est, au mieux, simpliste. La thèse explore également la fonction de la Loi sur les brevets dans la création d’industries, notamment pharmaceutique, et la manière dont ces industries influencent la législation nationale et en particulier internationale. De même, elle traite du rôle que jouent les brevets dans l'affaiblissement et la dépossession des peuples autochtones dotés de savoirs traditionnels sur les plantes médicinales, conduisant à une situation ou ces savoirs sont marginalisés ainsi que leurs détenteurs. La thèse aborde les failles institutionnelles du système juridique international qui permet une telle situation et indique l'urgente nécessité d'examiner attentivement les inégalités économiques et sociales au Nord comme au Sud, et non seulement entre eux. Finalement, la thèse suggère que la législation internationale gagnerait à s'inspirer des diverses traditions juridiques présentes à travers le monde et, dans ce cas particulier, peut être les détenteurs des connaissances traditionnelles concernant les plantes médicinales seront mieux servi par le droit des obligations.

Support for renewable energy and WTO Law : the actionability of Ontario and Québec renewable energy support mechanisms

Le Traité de Marrakech stipule que le commerce et le développement économique devraient être orientés de manière à permettre l’utilisation optimale des ressources mondiales, conformément à l’objectif de développement durable. Combiné aux dispositions du Protocole de Kyoto et du Traité de Copenhague, les gouvernements poursuivent de politiques nationales favorisant les producteurs nationaux au détriment des étrangers. Cette mémoire propose une analyse des règles de l’OMC, dans le but de déterminer les mesures disciplinaires possibles contre le Canada à l'égard de ses mécanismes de support de l’énergie renouvelable. Une analyse des règles énoncées dans le GATT, l’Accord sur les subventions et les mesures compensatoires et divers accords multilatéraux conclus dans le cadre de l’OMC permet de déterminer si elles pourraient s’appliquer aux mécanismes de support de l’énergie renouvelable. Une analyse des programmes du Québec et de l’Ontario permet une prise de position quant à leur conformité aux règles commerciales de l’OMC.

Securing Tenure for Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case of Women Land Ownership in Anglophone Cameroon

The majority of women in Third World countries depend on land for their livelihood. Security of tenure is important for them to ensure sustainable development, especially in rural areas. In most parts of Africa, land ownership is affected by traditional values, inheritance rights, and government influence. These forces have provided varying types of tenure which are detrimental to the women in rural and urban areas. Land acquisition and its development has been an emotive issue due to traditional pressures and the law as regards the process of land certification. The government and traditional administrations are highly involved in the way women own land and subsequently develop it in Anglophone Cameroon. State authority over land acquisition is important, but the process for obtaining land title is herculean especially for the rural woman. This study illustrates that land acquisition and development by women constitute a problem because of traditional pressures and the law guiding the process of land certification. There is need to exhume the barriers of government’s legal instrument (The Land Consultative Board) that regulates the ownership of land and to revisit some traditional practices as regards land ownership that impact negatively on women in a changing and globalizing world. A compromise approach is advocated for land acquisition that can transcend traditional barriers as well as render the process of land registration more realistic especially for women.

Forest and the Law

Forest is essential for the healthy subsistence of human being on earth. Law has been framed to regulate exploitation of forest.This study is an analysis of the law relating to forest from an environmental perspective.Practical suggestions are also made for the better protection of forest .Forest is a valuable component of human environment.For healthy subsistence of human beings on earth it is essential that at least one third of the land area on earth should be under forest cover. Forest helps in keeping air and water fresh and climate good.The Indian Forest Act 1927 and State legislation relating to forest impose Governmental control over forests by classifying them into reserved forests. Protected forests and village forests.Effective environmental impact studies facilitate adoption of the practice of sustainable development.Permission should not be granted for a project before examination of its impact on the flora and fauna in forest.Kerala, much of the vested forest remains under the control of the State Government and are managed like reserved forests.Infrastructural facilities require improvement in almost all States for protecting forest.Inter-State problems can be minimised if a central forest legislation is applied uniformly throughout India.Voluntary organisations should be encouraged to taxe part actively in the programmes for conserving forest and wildlife.The new Forest Act should provide for effective environmental impact study before development projects are undertaken in forest areas. The guidelines for this should be clearly laid down in the Act.The law relating to forest should also clearly lay down the guidelines for implementing social forestry programmes. The Forest Department should be authorised to lease lands for planting useful trees. The new forest legislation should also recognise the traditional tribal rights in forest. The Indian Forest Act 1927 and the State legislation relating to forest with their outdated revenue policy and scheme should be replaced by such a new forest legislation framed with an environmental peres-pective. The new law should be uniformly applied throughout India .

Indian Law on Control of Vessel Sourced Pollution in Maritime Ports

Maritime ports are inevitable for India’s economic development. The very existence and sustainable development of ports depend on clean port environment. There is a notion that shipping is an over regulated industry. But in India, it is being operated under sub- standard conditions, raising crucial issues of environmental pollution in the country’s ports. The negative impacts of vessel sourced pollution on the eco-fragile coastal peninsula can be detrimental to the living conditions, health and interests of the coastal population. It can disturb marine life and imbalance the aquatic ecosystem. The present study analyses control of vessel sourced pollution in Indian ports from an economic and ecological perspective. The study investigates legal reasons behind the weak control, regulation and monitoring over vessel sourced pollution in Indian ports. The loopholes in the legal system are identified and suggestion made to implement stronger enforcement. Unless, vessel operations are properly regulated in ports, the trade and economic prospects of India will be jeopardized.

Evaluating the role of environmental quality in the sustainable rural economic development of England

The issue of the sustainable development of rural economies in England has recently received considerable attention. This is because many of the poorest areas in the country are rural, often of high environmental quality, but suffering from high unemployment and a lack of services and facilities. The rapid decline in agricultural incomes and in-migration of affluent urban workers since 1990 has exacerbated economic inequality in such areas. A number of factors have the potential to drive rural development and this paper applies, and considers, the feasibility of a method from the USA for combining economic and environmental variables in a regional growth model to examine the hypothesis that environmental quality is an important determinant of sustainable rural development in England. The model output suggests that, although environmental quality does play a role in sustainable rural development in England there are other, more important, factors driving development. These include business and communications infra-structure, the degree and opportunities for commuting and underlying employment prospects. The robustness and limitations of the method for combining economic and environmental variables is discussed in relation to the spatial interrelatedness of Local Authority Districts in England, and conclusions are drawn about areas for refinement and improvement of the method.

Sustainable land management and development: the role of the chartered surveyor

Despite the growing intensity of the debate about environmental management, it is only recently that rural practice surveyors have become aware of its significance and potential. Consequently, few surveyors are yet in a position to offer professional advice, despite evidence from the RICS's client needs survey that nearly half of all existing clients require more advice on environmental matters. As a prerequisite to becoming involved in environmental management, it is clear that chartered surveyors have to develop new skills alongside new perceptions of their work. Rather than being conterminous, however, the alignment of these attributes reflects a fundamental tension. This is focused on the dichotomy between the strategic construction of the environment as a basis for realigning corporate policy and the more limited evocation of environmentalism as potential new business. This paper seeks to explore the nature and policy context of sustainable development, in the process examining its significance for rural chartered surveyors. In doing so, the paper will seek to contrast the essentially anthropocentric utilitarianism of surveyors' current attitudes with the radical agenda inferred by a more ecocentric, sustainable development approach to professional management and advice. The paper will conclude with a discussion about how far the principles of sustainable development can be incorporated into the management of surveying businesses, and what this implies for the future of the rural practice chartered surveyor as land manager.

The property development industry and sustainable urban brownfield regeneration in England: an analysis of case studies in Thames Gateway and Greater Manchester

The property development industry is a key actor in UK brownfield regeneration projects. UK policy has attempted to interlink ‘sustainable development’ and ‘sustainable brownfield’ policy agendas, which have found an additional focus through the UK government’s ‘Sustainable Communities Plan’, part of a growing international emphasis on sustainable development. This paper examines the emergence of these agendas and related policies, and the role of the property development industry in the regeneration of six differing brownfield sites, based in Thames Gateway and Greater Manchester. Using a conceptual framework, the paper investigates aspects of the sustainability of these projects and highlights key lessons from them for both the UK and overseas. The research is based on structured interviews with a variety of stakeholders, including developers, planners, consultants and community representatives to highlight emerging best practice and related policy implications.

A framework for ICT-based knowledge sharing in sustainable rural development : the case of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Some 50% of the people in the world live in rural areas, often under harsh conditions and in poverty. The need for knowledge of how to improve living conditions is well documented. In response to this need, new knowledge of how to improve living conditions in rural areas and elsewhere is continuously being developed by researchers and practitioners around the world. People in rural areas, in particular, would certainly benefit from being able to share relevant knowledge with each other, as well as with stakeholders (e.g. researchers) and other organizations (e.g. NGOs). Central to knowledge management is the idea of knowledge sharing. This study is based on the assumption that knowledge management can support sustainable development in rural and remote regions. It aims to present a framework for knowledge management in sustainable rural development, and an inventory of existing frameworks for that. The study is interpretive, with interviews as the primary source for the inventory of stakeholders, knowledge categories and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure. For the inventory of frameworks, a literature study was carried out. The result is a categorization of the stakeholders who act as producers and beneficiaries of explicit and indigenous development knowledge. Stakeholders are local government, local population, academia, NGOs, civil society and donor agencies. Furthermore, the study presents a categorization of the development knowledge produced by the stakeholders together with specifications for the existing ICT infrastructure. Rural development categories found are research, funding, agriculture, ICT, gender, institutional development, local infrastructure development, and marketing & enterprise. Finally, a compiled framework is presented, and it is based on ten existing frameworks for rural development that were found in the literature study, and the empirical findings of the Gilgit-Baltistan case. Our proposed framework is divided in four levels where level one consists of the identified stakeholders, level two consists of rural development categories, level three of the knowledge management system and level four of sustainable rural development based on the levels below. In the proposed framework we claim that the sustainability of rural development can be achieved through a knowledge society in which knowledge of the rural development process is shared among all relevant stakeholders.

Widening development prescriptions: policy implications of an index of sustainable economic welfare (SEW) for Thailand

Over the past three decades, Thailand has recorded consistently high levels of economic growth, making it one of the most successful economies in the world during this period. However, economic growth has associated costs that can also reduce social welfare. This study will estimate an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) for Thailand over a twenty-five year period, 1975–1999. This paper concludes that even low-middle income countries are beginning to approach the point at which economic growth produces both diminishing and, at times, negative welfare returns as the costs of achieving growth begin to outweigh the associated benefits. These results are important for policy makers and highlight the importance of widening policy prescriptions in order to increase social welfare. However, the policy guidelines that are suggested must be critically accepted before being adopted due to possible weaknesses of the ISEW approach.

Categorisation of knowledge management processes in the development of sustainable enterprises

Sustainable development is a growing area of interest in organisations. Particularly those that have large energy demands for processing, use dwindling raw materials or produce a great deal of waste through production. Knowing those processes that can contribute to making an organisation more sustainable provides a great advantage both in terms of project implementation success and in measurable Triple Bottom Line returns.

In previous research we identified that many of the Information Technology processes used to assist organisations in developing sustainable practices were more clearly suited as Knowledge Management processes (Van Der Meer and Sinnappan, 2008), however less empirical study has been done to categorise them meaningfully.

In this study we have taken these Knowledge Management processes and categorised them according to the sustainable development practice where we identify they can be of service based on Waage et al (2003). Through this we are hoping to develop a framework for organisations to determine what Knowledge Management processes are needed to achieve the particular sustainable development. We may also be able to judge what steps an organisation needs to take to develop further sustainable practices in other areas.

Development of a framework for knowledge management tools in sustainable development would assist industries in determining the best processes for these sustainable projects. This framework also contributes to the body of knowledge on sustainable development and Information Technology.

Integrated governance : a pre-requisite for sustainable market-orientated development in Bangladesh

Using agriculture input sector as an exemplar, this article assesses Bangladesh's efforts towards a market-oriented development approach. It examines the changing role of the state following the market-based reforms undertaken in this sector and assesses whether the outcomes of the reforms are sustainable. Findings reveal that, although the current move towards a market-oriented approach has led to a shift away from a state-dominated hierarchical structure, it has not been associated with adequate changes in institutional arrangements, safeguards, and regulation. As a result, despite notable achievements of the reforms, the sustainability of these successes is in question. To facilitate participatory, accountable, and sustainable, market-oriented development, the paper proposes an integrated governance model linking state, business, and civil society.

Sustainable human settlements development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Roundtable discussion on the nature of the regional instrument: Summary of the answers and the comments from experts in public environmental international law

This document summarizes the development and conclusions of the sixth meeting of the working group on access rights and the regional instrument held virtually on August 1st, 2014. The meeting, which was for information purposes only, had the aim of advancing in the discussions on the nature of the regional instrument by holding a round table discussion with the renowned experts in Public International Law.