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1 – 10 of 174Faiza Akhtar, Suleman Aziz Lodhi and Safdar Shah Khan
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of ecological sustainability is attracting attention of global business community as neoclassical approach continues to fail in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of ecological sustainability is attracting attention of global business community as neoclassical approach continues to fail in delivery. There is now an emerging need to explore new approaches towards balancing ecological and economic returns. The paper extends the philosophy of Permaculture into business domain and explores its compatibility to be integrated with strategic management perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
The study primarily conducts a review of Permaculture and Strategic Management domains and uncovers the compatibility between the two domains while arguing that the integration of Permaculture philosophy in business strategy would achieve sustainability.
Findings
Permaculture philosophy is compatible with Strategic Management process for developing business strategies. It can incorporate ecological and social aspects for developing integrated strategy process for sustainability in organizations.
Research limitations/implications
Focusing on financial and non-financial value addition contributed by organizations towards community would lead to long-term sustainability of the organization and the community which supports it.
Originality/value
The study extends the emerging philosophy of Permaculture into the established domain of Strategic Management. Arguing that simultaneous equilibrium of capacities, resources and demands of stakeholders must be maintained for sustained economic success in business world.
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Claudio Vitari and Christophe David
Exploring the ways in which innovation can serve to create better and more integrated social, environmental, and economic enterprises is a key challenge. How firms innovate and…
Abstract
Purpose
Exploring the ways in which innovation can serve to create better and more integrated social, environmental, and economic enterprises is a key challenge. How firms innovate and change depends strongly on their management models. Permaculture concepts and principles could help the transition toward more sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to understand how management models could rely on Permaculture principles to facilitate innovations and changes toward sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper helps meet this challenge by exploring possible innovative management models that could help in pursuing sustainability by aligning enterprises with socio-ecological realities. The possible innovative management models built on the Permaculture concepts will be the object of analysis for this study.
Findings
The literature review shows that there could be innovative management models built on the Permaculture concepts, a potential alternative to western “traditional” management models. They would give preference to long-term objectives, intrinsic motivation, emergent coordination, and collective wisdom in decision making.
Originality/value
It is strategically important to find new concepts, models, methods, and practices that will lead society to be ecologically sustainable and socially responsible, besides being economically efficient. These socio-cultural and economic challenges are central to the design and construction of a society in which all individuals feel integrated and responsible.
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Permaculture, as a design science supporting “permanent culture,” has developed experience globally in ecologically regenerative design. The Aral Sea watershed provides a unique…
Abstract
Permaculture, as a design science supporting “permanent culture,” has developed experience globally in ecologically regenerative design. The Aral Sea watershed provides a unique opportunity to apply a relevant design process aiming at restoration of ecological function. Permacultural practice follows a core of ethics and principles and a basic design process based on such factors as stakeholder analysis, water harvesting principles, and the scale of permanence. The focus of permacultural interventions is on water, forests, and perennial vegetation, balanced with human needs. This chapter highlights key elements of the design process and summarizes the process of permaculture rehabilitation. Given success in similar situations working at a smaller-scale suggests a potential approach for regeneration in the Aral Sea Basin.
Cordelia Mason and Wan Mohd Hilmi Wan Ahmad
This is a case study about the green agenda of Urban Hijau, a social enterprise which promotes urban farming as a way to a foster sustainability. It narrates how it started and…
Abstract
This is a case study about the green agenda of Urban Hijau, a social enterprise which promotes urban farming as a way to a foster sustainability. It narrates how it started and progressed through the introduction of various sustainable farming systems. The landscape of farming with its opportunities and challenges such as embracing permaculture as a farming philosophy, and food security are presented. The case ends with questions which Urban Hijau has to address in order to sustain its social enterprise. Can a small urban farm contribute significantly to the food industry? If so, how? Is Urban Hijau on the right track?
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Justin Larner, Keith Cheverst, Matthew MacDonald, Cefn Hoile and Angus Soutar
The purpose of this paper is to report on an action research project with two emergent micro-businesses that explored how their business model connected with the principles of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on an action research project with two emergent micro-businesses that explored how their business model connected with the principles of open source.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first gained initial qualitative data to establish the core values of each micro-business, which the authors then explored in the context of open source and business models in two design workshops with each organisation.
Findings
The authors developed the open source guild business model, which has the elements of: building a focal micro-business with resources secured through the guild, promoting learning and development through apprenticeship, promoting shared values through a commons of experience and capturing value by protecting key intellectual property.
Research limitations/implications
This research was undertaken with two emergent micro-businesses in the North West of England. Further research will be needed to establish the wider applicability of the open source guild model.
Practical implications
The open source guild model can be a mechanism for an emergent micro-business to create a community around their values and grow their business without conventional external investment of resources.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the literature on business models based on open source and how these models can be sustainable in terms of the quadruple bottom line, which extends the triple bottom line to include personal values and meaning.
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Moira Beery, Rachel Adatia, Orsola Segantin and Chantal-Fleur Skaer
– The purpose of this paper is to respond to food insecurity and environmental sustainability through school food gardens in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to respond to food insecurity and environmental sustainability through school food gardens in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
Permaculture is a method of organic agriculture where the garden design maintains a stable and productive ecosystem, mimicking natural processes and thereby creating a more natural and sustainable environment. Organic permaculture food gardens were established and integrated with the curriculum at two schools over the course of one year. A nutrition study of dietary intake and assessment of dietary diversity score was undertaken with a sample of 68 children.
Findings
Permaculture food gardens can contribute to children ' s physical, mental, and emotional health and can be a resource for teachers and learners. To achieve sustainability, practical and cultural challenges must be addressed.
Research limitations/implications
The project was implemented at only school sites, findings may not be applicable to all schools in all settings. This assessment was conducted after one year of implementation, impacts, and sustainability would be best assessed after three years. Conclusions are therefore based both on this case study and on the wider literature.
Practical implications
When implementing a school food garden there must be long-term support and mentoring for school staff.
Social implications
The value of a school food garden goes beyond the provision of nutrition and addressing food insecurity. Participation in gardening can increase students’ interactions with the natural world, and contribute to skills development, academic achievement, and well-being.
Originality/value
This paper informs discussion and practice related to school food gardens’ influence on holistic health and broader educational benefits. It is of relevance to health promotion and education practitioners, school garden developers, and funders.
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Giovanna Bertella and Benjamin Vidmar
The purpose of this paper is to provoke reflections on the potential contribution of food tourism experiences to achieving the sustainable development goals for eradicating hunger…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provoke reflections on the potential contribution of food tourism experiences to achieving the sustainable development goals for eradicating hunger and malnutrition.
Design/methodology/approach
In line with the creative analytic practice in scientific inquiry, this study develops and discusses a futuristic scenario inspired by a factual company. The case is based on ideas derived from studies on educational and food tourism and entrepreneurship, more precisely ecopreneurship.
Findings
Food tourism can offer an opportunity for discussing food challenges in the context of ideas and projects to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. This study shows that imagining such possibilities and projects is challenging because of the complexity of the issue.
Practical implications
This study suggests that despite some limitations, educational food tourism experiences might go well beyond the issues of regional development, localism and authenticity. Practitioners, including tourism entrepreneurs and private and public food and tourism organisations, might be essential to exploring alternative food tourism futures in ways that truly contribute to urgent global challenges.
Originality/value
The value of this paper lies in the use of a scenario to imagine and to reflect on the future of food tourism in relation to the global challenges of hunger and malnutrition. The paper suggests that the ideas from tourism studies and ecopreneurship can offer interesting perspectives on future developments in the sector.
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Bruno S. Ferreira, Duarte B. Morais, Gene L. Brothers, Craig Brookins and Susan Jakes
Permatourism is a holistic approach to the study and design of equitable tourism development strategies, which leverages adaptive complex systems thinking and permaculture design…
Abstract
Permatourism is a holistic approach to the study and design of equitable tourism development strategies, which leverages adaptive complex systems thinking and permaculture design principles. Permatourism advocates for the symbiosis between the formal and informal sectors of the tourism system, through creating and nurturing meaningful, functional relations among multiple actors. The formal tourism sector must embrace the sociocultural characteristics of the host community and grassroots business development strategies must be pursued to align local microentrepreneurs with expected business opportunities generated by big tourism investments. This chapter provides an overview of the conceptual foundation of this new approach as well as examples illustrating its pertinence to destination stewardship.
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Expanding on the findings of the SOPIFF research project, this paper aims to identify eight futures schools of thought, which are analyzed and critiqued through an integral…
Abstract
Purpose
Expanding on the findings of the SOPIFF research project, this paper aims to identify eight futures schools of thought, which are analyzed and critiqued through an integral framework. As “Part II” of a previous publication, it seeks to focus on the lower (plural) quadrants.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adapts Ken Wilber's integral theory to clarify various philosophical orientations to the future. It also adapts Fredrich Polak's approach to futures as a matter of “social critique and reconstruction”; however, the approach is global, civilizational, and integral, so it proposes civilizational critique and integral reconstruction as a method for evaluating futures schools of thought.
Findings
The IF framework is found to be a valuable theoretical and analytical tool for clarifying images of the future; it shows lines of development within each quadrant and interactions between quadrants, illustrating the effectiveness of the four‐quadrant approach.
Research limitations/implications
It further illuminates the “global problematique” expressed in the SOPIFF project and proposes the IF framework as a way to interpret those research findings.
Practical implications
This approach to futures/foresight studies broadens the range and offers more depth to conceptions of the future, so it should help to develop/improve futures methodologies/practices in general.
Social implications
Civilizational critique and integral reconstruction of images of the future imply unprecedented social change.
Originality/value
The paper should help futurists to see and interpret the “bigger picture” of civilizational futures through revealing the “crack” of the modern image of the future, how it relates to the current world crisis, and what is needed to heal the crack, so a new vision of a preferred future can emerge.
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Senem Zeybekoglu and Hossein Sadri
Learning from traditional miniature painting and from recent studies on their modern and creative applications, the purpose of this paper is to identify the key qualifications of…
Abstract
Purpose
Learning from traditional miniature painting and from recent studies on their modern and creative applications, the purpose of this paper is to identify the key qualifications of miniature and possible ways for using miniature in urban design studios. Following discussions on the pedagogical and professional effects of using miniature in a design studio, the paper introduces De-Urban Design Studio’s philosophy and its experience in employing miniature as a way of representation as the case study.
Design/methodology/approach
Different from the urban design’s professional role which materialized in conventional architectural presentation, miniature appears as a representation way in the search for the appropriate media for the de-urban design’s activist model.
Findings
Expressing the philosophy of transition design and de-urbanization, and studying some of the miniatures produced in the De-Urban Design studio, this paper sheds light on the possibilities created by the usage of miniature in urban design studio as a communication medium in making the processes of design more inclusiveness, participatory and democratic.
Originality/value
The term miniatecture is used for the first time as a representation technique developed in the De-Urban Design Studio co-instructed by the authors of this paper.
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