The path: sustainable development in conjunction with meeting the demands of a changing environment.

In the context of severe economic recession, the Library is compelled to adapt to this changing environment, in order to meet the requirements and demands of users with very specific needs. Taking the pillars of sustainable development as a reference point, and extrapolating them to our domain, we establish the next main goals

Re-Engineering CTE in Iowa: Aligning Career and Technical Education Reform, Workforce Development and Economic Development, August 2007

Iowa is a relatively small state and is on the rebound economically. It has an overall population that is stable, but which is shifting within the state from more rural areas to suburban and urban centers. There is a very tight labor market with high levels of employment. Iowa now has a time-sensitive opportunity to exert global leadership in renewable energy, while maintaining its leadership in other key industries like finance and agriculture.

Games in Education and Process Development

The aim of the thesis is to devise a framework for analyzing simulation games, in particular introductory supply chain simulation games which are used in education and process development. The framework is then applied to three case examples which are introductory supply chain simulation games used at Lappeenranta University of Technology. The theoretical part of the thesis studies simulation games in the context of education and training as well as of process management. Simulation games can be seen as learning processes which comprise of briefing, micro cycle, and debriefing which includes observation and reflection as well as conceptualization. The micro cycle, i.e. the game itself, is defined through elements and characteristics. Both briefing and debriefing ought to support the micro cycle. The whole learning process needs to support learning objectives of the simulation game. Based on the analysis of the case simulation games, suggestions on how to boost the debriefing and promote long term effects of the games are made. In addition, a framework is suggested to be used in designing simulation games and characteristics of introductory supply chain simulation games are defined. They are designed for general purposes, are simple and operated manually, are multifunctional interplays, and last about 2.5 4 hours. Participants co operate during a game run and competition arises between different runs or game sessions.

Integrating environmental education in primary school education in Tanzania : teachers’ perceptions and teaching practices

The study focuses on primary school teachers’ perceptions of environmental education, its integration into primary school education and teachers’ teaching practices in Tanzania. The thesis is based on empirical research. The theoretical underpinnings of the study are based on Palmer’s (1998) model of environmental education. According to the model, meaningful environmental education should include education about, in or through and for the environment. The study is supported by national and international literature from research done on environmental education and education for sustainable development and policy statements. The study is qualitative in nature, adopting phenomenography and phenomenology as points of departure. The empirical data was collected from four primary schools in Morogoro region in Tanzania. The study sample consisted of 31 primary school teachers. Data was collected through interviews and lesson observations. According to the results of the study, primary school teachers expressed variations in their perceptions of environmental education and education for sustainable development. Most of the teachers focused on the aspect of knowledge acquisition. According to Tanzanian education and training policy, environmental education has to be integrated into all subjects. Although there is environmental education in the primary school curriculum, it is not integrated on an equal footing in all subjects. Some subjects like science, social studies and geography have more environmental content than other subjects. Teachers claim that the approach used to integrate environmental education into the school curriculum was not favoured because many claimed that what is to be taught as environmental education in the various subjects is not shown clearly. As a result, many teachers suggested that to ensure that it is taught properly it should be included in the curriculum as an independent subject or as specific topics. The study revealed that teachers’ teaching practices in integrating environmental education varied from one subject to another. Although most of the teachers said that they used participatory methods, lesson observations showed that they limited themselves to question and answer and group discussion. However, the teachers faced a number of barriers in the teaching of environmental education, some of which include lack of teaching and learning resources, time and large class size. The role of teachers in the implementation of environmental education in developing an environmentally literate citizenry is of great significance. The responsibility of the government in developing a curriculum with clear goals and content, developing teachers’ capacity in the teaching of environmental education and provision of teaching and learning materials needs to be taken seriously by the government in educational plans and programs.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Oil and Gas Industry: Environmental Management Systems as a Source of Sustainable Development

The environmental aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expressed through the process of the EMS implementation in the oil and gas companies is identified as the main subject of this research. In the theoretical part, the basic attention is paid to justification of a link between CSR and environmental management. The achievement of sustainable competitive advantage as a result of environmental capital growth and inclusion of the socially responsible activities in the corporate strategy is another issue that is of special significance here. Besides, two basic forms of environmental management systems (environmental decision support systems and environmental information management systems) are explored and their role in effective stakeholder interaction is tackled. The most crucial benefits of EMS are also analyzed to underline its importance as a source of sustainable development. Further research is based on the survey of 51 sampled oil and gas companies (both publicly owned and state owned ones) originated from different countries all over the world and providing reports on sustainability issues in the open access. To analyze their approach to sustainable development, a specifically designed evaluation matrix with 37 indicators developed in accordance with the General Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines for non-financial reporting was prepared. Additionally, the quality of environmental information disclosure was measured on the basis of a quality – quantity matrix. According to results of research, oil and gas companies prefer implementing reactive measures to the costly and knowledge-intensive proactive techniques for elimination of the negative environmental impacts. Besides, it was identified that the environmental performance disclosure is mostly rather limited, so that the quality of non-financial reporting can be judged as quite insufficient. In spite of the fact that most of the oil and gas companies in the sample claim the EMS to be embedded currently in their structure, they often do not provide any details for the process of their implementation. As a potential for the further development of EMS, author mentions possible integration of their different forms in a single entity, extension of existing structure on the basis of consolidation of the structural and strategic precautions as well as development of a unified certification standard instead of several ones that exist today in order to enhance control on the EMS implementation.

Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment : Prosperity, competitiveness, sustainable development

Broschure of Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.

Lecythidaceae Poit. in the Tupé Sustainable Development Reserve, Manaus, Brazil

Lecythidaceae is the family of the Brazil nut, and comprises about 300 species belonging to 17 genera with pantropical distributions. One hundred and twenty-two species belonging to nine genera are distributed throughout Brazil, demonstrating its greatest diversity in the Amazon rainforest where Lecythidaceae is also one of the most abundant families. It is usually difficult to collect fertile material from these trees because of their canopy heights, and species determinations using sterile material can be complex because of their morphological similarities. There have been relatively few studies of this family even though it is one of the most important groups in the Amazon region, and a detailed taxonomic treatment of the species of Lecythidaceae in the Tupé Sustainable Development Reserve was therefore the goal of the present work. Ten species were found, Allantoma lineata (Mart. ex O.Berg) Miers, Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl., Couratari tenuicarpa A.C.Sm., Lecythis poiteaui O. Berg; and six species of Eschweilera, the richest genus. The descriptions and identification keys of the species used 56 characters. The main reproductive characters useful for distinguishing the species were the pubescence of the inflorescence rachis, pedicel length and trichomes presence, floral symmetry, hood type, filament shape, stigma shape, fruit shape and size, and aril type. The most diagnostic vegetative characters were the type and color of the outer bark, inner bark color, midrib prominence, and petiole shape and pubescence.

Sustainable Development – the Key to Competitiveness CSR as an added value to Alstom’s corporate performance

Corporate social responsibility or CSR is today a widely recognized concept which is receiving in- creasing popularity extremely rapidly, especially in the business world. The pressure on companies to carry out their business practices in ethical manners, which promote the wellbeing of the environment and society, is coming from all directions and all stakeholders. Alstom, a French multinational conglomerate operating in the rail transport and energy industry, is no exception to this norm. This company, which will be used as the case example in this thesis, is being brought to bay in terms of engaging in CSR practices and practicing business with high ethics. It is surely not a negatively conceived phenomenon that CSR is being put on a pedestal – quite the opposite. Instead of corporations practicing CSR only to meet their stakeholder requirements through practicing window dressing, many corporations actually strive to benefit from the practice of corporate social business. In addition to bringing benefit to externals a corporation such as Alstom itself can benefit from being involved in CSR. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the current strategic values and the future perspectives of CSR at Alstom and moreover the added value which the practice of CSR could bring Alstom as a business. A set of perspectives from a futures studies viewpoint is looked at, with critical examination of the company’s current corporate practices as well as the CSR related studies and theories written for corporations. Through this, some solutions and practices will be suggested to Alstom in order for it to fully utilize the potential of corporate social business and the value it can bring in the most probable futures that the company is expected to face. By utilizing the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), a method mainly used in organizations to solve problematic issues in management and policy contexts, a process is developed to see what improvements could be of help in improving Alstom and its way towards involving CSR in its business practices even more than it currently does. Alstom is already deeply involved in the practicing of CSR and its vision has a strong emphasis on this popular concept of today. In order to stay in the game and to use CSR as a competitive advantage to the company, Alstom ought to embed corporate social practices even deeper in its organizational culture by using them as a tool to reduce risk and costs, increasing employee commitment and customer loyalty and to attract socially responsible investors, just to name a few. CSR as a concept is seen to have great potential in the future, an opportunity Alstom will not miss.

Sustainable development: conceptualizations and measurement

The paper builds up from a review of some expected, but other quite surprising results regarding country estimates for the year 2000 of genuine saving, a sustainability indicator developed by a World Bank research team. We examine this indicator, founded on neoclassical welfare theory, and discuss one of its major problems. Theoretical developments from ecological economics are then considered, together with insights from Georgescu-Roegen's approach to the production process, in search for an alternative approach. A model with potentially fruitful contributions in this direction is reviewed; it points the course efforts could take enable sustainability evaluations based on a more realistic set of interrelated monetary and biophysical indicators.