Environmental Sustainability in U.S. Assisted Living Facilities

Population aging and environmental sustainability appear to be on a collision course. Concurrent with the increasing needs of older adults for more goods, services, and housing, concern for the environmental impact of this population is growing. Environmental sustainability efforts by assisted living facilities (ALFs) were queried using an online survey focusing on the following four areas: facility information, sustainable practices, motivations to green, and views of sustainable certification. The survey was sent to 800 ALFs from 34 states. The results indicated movement toward environmental sustainability, primarily connection to community, interaction with nature, and quality of life improvement for residents and staff. This study also depicts the challenges of greening while keeping human well-being a top priority. Furthermore, administrators of ALFs were largely uninformed about greening but viewed the costs and paperwork as barriers to greening and certification. Suggestions for future research, education, and the promotion of greening in ALFs are proposed.     

Building the Sustainable Community: Is Social Capital the Answer?

Over the past decade, environmental sustainability has emerged as a prominent theme in the community development literature. In fact, the concept has become a standard feature of most economic and social development plans. Most models of sustainable community development stress the importance of widespread participation in the decision-making process. Unfortunately, community studies document numerous barriers to broad involvement and the high level of activeness envisioned by proponents of sustainable community development. In searching for ways to overcome these barriers, scholars and policymakers have embraced the idea that we can enhance efforts to create more sustainable communities by increasing the local stock of social capital. We examine this line of reasoning in light of what we view as the most important conceptual issues surrounding the relationship between social capital and sustainable community development. We conclude that before social capital is endorsed as a central component of public policy, much work remains to be done in terms of developing a more precise definition of the concept, situating it within extant theories of community, constructing better measures of social capital, documenting the activities and networks most important in building social capital, and gaining a better understanding of the forms of social capital that are most important in developing sustainable communities.     

Sustainable communities,economic development,and social change: Two case studies of 'garrison communities' in Jamaica

Although the concept of sustainable communities is often referred to as being closely allied to environmental sustainability, it also embodies notions of sustainable development, empowerment and increase in community autonomy. The concept of sustainability assumes a process of social and/or economic development that has as a high priority the needs of the future generation. However, models of social and economic development employed in developing countries must rely heavily on political, social and psychological empowerment techniques being employed at the community level, in order to warrant any type of sustainability becoming apparent. Two case studies taken from Kingston, Jamaica, demonstrate the process of community economic development (CED) employed and provide a source for analysis of one writer's criteria for sustainable development. Conclusions are subsequently drawn as to the usefulness of this particular CED model in contributing to sustainable community-driven action. The analysis also points to improvement in the quality of life, acceptance of a 'third-party' support mechanism, the creation of an atmosphere for continued community decision making and continued visible government support as important factors in the struggle to maintain a responsible, viable community which will be acceptable to present and future generations. A pesar de que con frecuencia se refiere al concepto de las comunidades autosuficientes como muy vinculadas con mantenimiento del medio ambiente, tambien contiene nociones de desarollo sustentable, transferencia de poder y aumento de la autonoma de la comunidad. El concepto de la sustentabilidad asume un proceso de desarollo social y/o económico que tiene como su maxima prioridad las necesidades de la generación futura. Sin embargo, los modelos del desarollo social y económico empleados en los paises en desarollo, deben depender en gran medida de que las técnicas del autorizamiento póltieo, social y sicológico esten implementadas al nivel de comunidad para garantizar que cualquier tipo de sustentabilidad sea aparente. Dos estudios, hechos en Kingston, Jamaica demuestran que el proceso del desarollo económico de la comunidad (CED) emplearon y facilitaron un fuente para el análisis de los criterios de un escritor sobre el desarollo sustentable. En consecuencia, se han extrá´ do concluciones referentes a la utilidad de este modelo espe? fico (CED) para contribuir a la acción originada por la comunidad sustentable. El análisis tambien apunta a una mejora de la calidad de vida, la a ceptación de un mecanismo de apoyo a terceros, la creación de un ambiente para la toma de decisiones comunitanas y el continuo apoyo gubernamental visible como factores importantes en la lucha para mantener una comunidad viable y responsable que sea aceptable para las generaciones presentes y futuras.     

Ergonomics and design for sustainability in healthcare: ambient assisted living and the social-environmental impact of patients lifestyle

This work presents considerations on Ergonomics and Design for Sustainability in the healthcare field based on research experiences of the Technology and Design for Healthcare (TeDH) research group of INDACO (Industrial design, communication, arts and fashion) department of Politecnico di Milano. In order to develop a multidisciplinary approach to design able to answer to specific user needs such as elderly in an environmental sustainable way (1) this paper shows the results we achieved concerning ergonomics and environmental impact in product development (2), the extension of this approach to interior and home design and the advantage of the application of Information Communication Technologies (ICT). ICT can help people with special needs to make their everyday life easier and more safe, at the same time, ICT can make social-environmental impact of everyday behavior evident and can be applied to manage sustainability. The specific theme is thus to integrate ergonomics and sustainability competences in the development of Ambient Assisted Living through a Product- Service System approach. The concept of product service system has the potential to improve product performances and services, establish new relations and networks with different actors in order to satisfy user needs and apply a systems approach considering environmental, social and economic factors in the users' environment.     

Conventionalization, civic engagement, and the sustainability of organic agriculture

It is often assumed that organic farming is synonymous with sustainable agriculture. The broad goals of sustainable agriculture include economic profitability, environmental stewardship, and community vitality. However, the “question of sustainability” (Ikerd, 2008) can be asked of any type of farming, including organic production. One way to assess sustainability is to consider farmers’ perceptions of the sustainability of their operations. I draw on data from a survey of certified organic producers in Washington State to broaden our understanding of the sustainability of organic agriculture. Specifically, I consider certified organic producers’ perceptions of the degree to which their operations contribute to broad sustainable agriculture goals. Moreover, I use multiple regression to investigate how these perceived contributions are influenced by farm conventionalization variables (e.g., organic acreage, non-organic sales, and specialization) and civic engagement variables (e.g., direct marketing, community group membership, and participation in sustainable/organic agriculture organizations) while controlling for farmer demographics and farm location. Farm conventionalization appears to have a significant negative effect on perceived contributions to environmental and social sustainability, but a significant positive effect on perceived contribution to economic sustainability. Civic engagement appears to have a significant positive effect on perceived contributions to environmental and social sustainability, but no effect on perceived contribution to economic sustainability.     

Social housing estates and sustainable community development in South Korea

The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics and problems of social housing estates in South Korea, and to explore sustainable community development issues. In order to examine the social housing situation, a survey of the three social housing communities in Seoul was conducted. The survey evidence demonstrates that there is a growing stigma against the poor and social exclusion. This kind of social bias is likely to escalate the construction of social housing estates, which the poor concentrates in. Residents recognized that mixing public and private housing would be an issue and problematic. Public housing was thought to have a negative impact on the neighborhood. It is important to examine why these kinds of social problems arise. Applying the concept of social sustainability to low-income communities in urban Korea requires mobilizing residents and their governments to strengthen all forms of community capital.     

Working for God and Sustainability: The Activities of Faith-Based Organizations in Kenya

Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have long played a role in international development, and are increasingly involved in environmental sustainability initiatives. Despite these contributions they have, until recently, been largely ignored in scholarship and by secular agencies. This article adds to the growing recognition of FBOs, exploring the identity and function of FBOs doing environmental and development work in Kenya through document review, qualitative questionnaires and participant observation. A diverse group of FBOs with varied identities and engaged in a broad range of activities revealed several strengths and challenges of faith-based environmental and development work. Of particular note is the key role churches and faith-based agencies can play in effecting sustainable and holistic change in Global South countries, due to their rootedness in the community, the social capital they help to produce, and the respect they receive from the people.     

Planning for urban life: A new approach of sustainable land use plan based on transit-oriented development

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is an integration of transportation systems with land use and has been given priority in sustainability strategies. However, most of the existing studies on TOD emphasize the economic and environmental perspectives of sustainability, paying little attention to social equity. Moreover, despite governments worldwide are gradually trying to address unsustainable issues associated with dramatic urbanization through a framework of TOD development, the improvement of land use planning necessary to achieve variegated sustainability within a safe trajectory is not being targeted or achieved. This paper aims to establish a framework of TOD planning in China's context that could be applied beyond the concept to planning experts and policymakers on how to integrate land use planning with TOD to achieve sustainability. We further applied an empirical study of Jiaomei, China to demonstrate the application of the designed framework. The study provided a new framework for understanding sustainable transportation development with land use management as applied to the urban planning process and for exploring new paths in practice toward sustainability.     

Sustainable development and ecological modernization – the limits to a hegemonic policy knowledge

The implementation problems of effective global environmental politics have essentially to do with the fact that approaches to and the knowledge about sustainability remain sectoralized. There is a gap between the dominant or even hegemonic forms of environmental policy knowledge which are embodied in the concept of sustainable development, on the one hand, and the socially dominant forms of environmental knowledge concerning the appropriation of nature on the other. Until now, the policy knowledge of sustainable development has not been able to question the main assumptions and to shape existing practices of dominant forms of the appropriation of nature. This is shown along five crucial dimensions; of particular importance is the existence of the so-called valorization paradigm. Theoretically, the article is informed by the theory of societal relationships with nature and it focuses on the role of knowledge in social reproduction, innovation, and transformation.     

The usability of a product can be an ally of sustainability

Few steps like turning off the tap while brushing your teeth, turn off the lights when leaving a room, recycle waste or using recycling bags are considered sustainable attitudes. Sustainable development is one that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the future generations and it doesn't deplete resources for the future. Consume with conscious is a sustainable habit and usability of products contributes to this. The goal of this paper is to prove that the usability of software contributes positivity or negativity for sustainability. By calculating the amount of electrical power dissipated by an electronic device, you can discover the amount of energy lost by it, and consequently, to relate this quantity with the amount charged by the concessionaire for each kWh of energy used. It was concluded that a software with low usability cause users to lose a lot of time interacting with it and thus spend more energy and money that goes against the concept of sustainability.     

Sustainable housing applications and policies for low-income self-build and housing rehab

Recent years have seen an increased focus on the role of house construction and retrofitting within the broader agenda of sustainable development and climate change. To date this focus has largely targeted middle- and upper-income residential neighborhoods in urban areas. However, in the United States, and in middle developing countries such as Brazil and Mexico, there is growing recognition that urban sustainability will only gain traction if widespread applications are also incorporated into self-help and do-it-yourself housing construction and home improvements, especially those that address lower-income housing markets. Here we explore some of the potential ways in which contemporary sustainable housing applications may be integrated into the existing housing stock in low-income and informal settlements in the United States and in Latin America. We document the range of sustainable housing applications that are increasingly available in the U.S. as a baseline for discussion and evaluation of the potential application to lower-income segments of the housing market in both developed and developing countries. A heuristic model is presented to assess the extent to which policy makers, NGOs and low-income owner households may realistically participate in sustainable home building. Beyond physical development applications we close by emphasizing that sustainable housing agendas must adopt a holistic approach: one that embraces community and social organizational development, as well as fiscal and juridical policy dimensions.     

From ‘sustainable rural communities’ to ‘social sustainability': giving voice to diversity in Mangakahia Valley, New Zealand

Despite widespread interest in the notion of sustainability, little progress has been made towards an understanding of its social dimensions. Nonetheless, the concept of ‘sustainable rural communities’ is embedded in popular, policy and academic discourses, where the needs of ‘rural communities’ are usually equated with those of farm families. Our ethnographic research in Northland, New Zealand illustrates the diverse interests to be found within ‘rural communities'. Interviews and participant observation were undertaken between August 1995 and July 1996 in the Mangakahia Valley. The increasing divergence in the ethnic, class and occupational makeup of the population has brought with it complexities in terms of what can be said to contribute to ‘sustainable rural communities'. We suggest that ‘sustainable rural communities’ be treated as a folk category, and instead, social science discourse should resort to the broader concept of social sustainability, which will have a locally defined content, not a universal definition, but will include elements of livelihood, social participation, justice and equity.     

Indicators of socio-economic sustainability: An application to remote rural Scotland

Although commonly used and relatively clearly defined in an environmental context, the concept of sustainability tends to be rather nebulous and confusing in the context of rural socio-economic development. In this paper it is defined in terms of three dimensions, structure, performance and dependence. These dimensions are assessed across three groups of socio-economic attributes, those concerned with demographic development, those relating to economic activity, and those associated with community and culture. The resulting sustainability matrix is a potentially valuable tool for assessing the socio-economic status of rural areas in developed countries. This is demonstrated by its application to remote rural areas in Scotland. In countries such as the U.K., which have a relatively long history of regional assistance, the true demographic and economic sustainability constraints of remote rural areas are to a large degree obscured by substantial transfers from more prosperous regions. This dependence is identified as the most important dimension of rural socio-economic sustainability in the Scottish context.     

Activity at work, innovation and sustainable development

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss a French-Brazilian project (CAPES-COFECUB) centered on the relations between sustainable development, innovation and changes in work activities that accompany these innovations for sustainable development. Sustainable development calls for an integrated approach of three dimensions: social equity, economic viability and environmental sustainability. In order to achieve this integration, considerable innovations efforts are required. However, the work, understood as a productive act, is deeply lacking in the current researches. Starting from the idea that work is a "fundamental need" the goal of this project is to propose innovative methods that can be used for designing production systems from the perspective of sustainable development.     

Evaluating the engagement of universities in capacity building for sustainable development in local communities

Universities have the potential to play a leading role in enabling communities to develop more sustainable ways of living and working however, sustainable communities may only emerge with facilitation, community learning and continual efforts to build their capacities. Elements of programme planning and evaluation on the one hand, and capacity building on the other, are needed. The latter entails approaches and processes that may contribute to community empowerment; universities may either lead such approaches, or be key partners in an endeavour to empower communities to address the challenges posed by the need for sustainable development. Although capacity building and the promotion of sustainable development locally, are on the agenda for universities who take seriously regional engagement, very little is published that illustrates or describes the various forms of activities that take place. Further, there is a paucity of studies that have evaluated the work performed by universities in building capacity for sustainable development at the local level. This paper is an attempt to address this need, and entails an empirical study based on a sample of universities in the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Brazil. The paper examines the extent to which capacity building for sustainable development is being undertaken, suggests the forms that this might take and evaluates some of the benefits for local communities. The paper concludes by reinforcing that universities have a critical role to play in community development; that role has to prioritise the sustainability agenda.     

Southeastern Women's Involvement in Sustainable Development Efforts: Their Roles and Concerns

Summary

Sustainable development takes into account the social and economic needs of people in communities, as well as the urgent concerns for environmental protection. Women's roles in sustainable development are of particular interest in light of the numerous environmentally related grassroots development initiatives taken by women throughout the world. In preparation for a participatory forum addressing women's roles in sustainable development, we conducted a survey among representatives from Southeastern grassroots organizations working on community development projects. The results indicate a sustainable development focus in grassroots women's development efforts, as well as a need for networking, skills training, and opportunities to share project experience.     

A Hypothetical Model of a New Business System Responsive to the Global Environment: A Connected Model

Within developing economies, in particular, but also in underdeveloped economies, current business priorities and practices have appeared to be incongruent with the general discourse of environmental sustainability. It is clear that the different players within the economic framework: government, education system, producers, and consumers—appear to hold differing interests, none of which places any meaningful emphasis on environmental sustainability. Following this observation, this paper seeks to argue for a change of tactics within which current players are treated as stakeholders and co-opted into a new business model that is fundamentally sensitive to the promotion and development of environmental sustainability. This approach is intended to interconnect the key market players’ interests and systematically weave them into a modern environmentally sustainable compliant business ethos.      

Sustainability and cities: a proposal for implementation of a sustainable town

This article presents a literature review on the concept of sustainability applied to cities and a proposal for transforming a town in the south of Brazil into a sustainable town. Improvements in energy, sanitation, waste and water conditions, as well as food, clothing, education and jobs generation were considered to enhance the citizen's quality of life and environmental protection.     

Endogenous preferences and sustainable development

This paper focuses on the relevance of endogenous preferences for the explanation of consumer behavior and its role for sustainable development. The demand side has received far less attention in the sustainability discussion than the production side. There seems, however, little doubt that consumption is equally as important for achieving sustainability (e.g., F. Duchin, G.-M. Lange, The Future of the Environment: Ecological Economics and Technological Change, Oxford University Press, New York, 1994). While the influence of social interaction of preferences has been pointed out by economists for centuries, this link is generally submerged in the standard economic assumption of individual interest maximizing behavior. With reference to a specific type of local food market (community supported agriculture groups, CSA), this paper investigates consumer behavior and its relevance for sustainable development. Several studies have investigated CSAs’ contributions to different aspects of sustainable development and barriers to their expansion. One aspect usually left out is the change in preferences after interaction with the farmer/s and other market participants for several years. This learning aspect may, however, prove crucial to identify paths towards sustainable development.