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1 – 10 of over 91000Regional development programmes in the European Union are increasingly being prepared by multi‐disciplinary teams whose official responsibilities now include environmental…
Abstract
Regional development programmes in the European Union are increasingly being prepared by multi‐disciplinary teams whose official responsibilities now include environmental integration. Key determinants affecting team performance in this context include programme objectives, the status of environmental specialists in team composition, nterdisciplinary challenges and the diversity of objectives facing the team leader, and the need to maintain a proactive orientation towards environmental factors. Programmes currently operational reveal clear progress towards integration and environmental gain, particularly by teams in France, Wales and Scotland. Key issues emerging include that team leaders must accommodate and reconcile development and environment priorities, that national authorities are both supporting and providing environmental expertise as external and core team members, that team progress towards integration necessarily varies according to location, and that team performance will increasingly be judged on the basis of environmental factors.
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The department of geography and environmental studies of the University of South Africa recently played a pivotal role in implementing an inter‐ and multidisciplinary…
Abstract
The department of geography and environmental studies of the University of South Africa recently played a pivotal role in implementing an inter‐ and multidisciplinary undergraduate programme in environmental management. This programme prepares students for entry‐level occupations, and equips them with the knowledge, skills and values needed to contribute to sustainable development. Both BA and BSc students are catered for, which contributes to the broadening of undergraduate education. This programme is unique because of its inclusion at undergraduate level and because it is offered through distance education. The teaching approach acknowledges that the causes of environmental problems are not simple, and are rooted in the nature of political, social and economic systems. It acknowledges that the solutions to environmental problems are equally complex, requiring not only specialist inputs, but also value and structural shifts. In line with the latest trends in education, a student‐activating approach is followed, with emphasis on real case studies, the flexible application of knowledge, and formative and integrated assessment. An overview is given of the experience that has been gained through designing and implementing this programme. This experience may serve to stimulate discussion on how to improve education and training in this field. The results of a pilot survey conducted among the students enrolled for this programme are presented. Their responses reflect a positive attitude to the programme, especially concerning the interconnectedness of modules, the fostering of environmental awareness, and its usefulness for career objectives.
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Adowa Boatemaa Darko‐Mensah and Chukwumerije Okereke
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse Ghana's AKOBEN programme which is the first environmental performance rating and public disclosure programme in Africa…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse Ghana's AKOBEN programme which is the first environmental performance rating and public disclosure programme in Africa. Furthermore, by means of a SWOT analysis, the article assesses the suitability of AKOBEN as a veritable tool for promoting good environmental governance in Ghana specifically and Africa in general.
Design/methodology/approach
The description of the design, scope and operation of the AKOBEN programme is based on 42 semi structured interviews and series of informal interactions with officials of Ghana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – the organisation that runs the AKOBEN project, industry participants, civil society representatives and other stakeholders. This extensive interaction with relevant actors and stakeholders and the analysis of extant literature on environmental disclosure projects provided the basis for a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) analysis of Ghana's AKOBEN programme.
Findings
AKOBEN possesses several elements that make it capable of being an effective environmental governance tool in Ghana. These include inter alia high level political support, comprehensive rating criteria and transparency in the design of the programme. However, certain weaknesses such as the absence of a specific legal and institutional framework among others could undermine the chances of the programme attaining its full potential. Other African countries can reasonably copy the AKOBEN model with success.
Originality/value
Assessment of Africa's first ever environmental rating programme provides insight that can help Ghana to consolidate on the strengths while addressing the weaknesses of the rating programme. Other African governments considering the establishment of a similar rating programme can learn a lot from the analysis of Ghana's EPA's AKOBEN programme.
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Reviews trends in environmental protection and sustainability in Latvia and introduces a programme in this field at the University of Latvia in Riga. Concludes that regional…
Abstract
Reviews trends in environmental protection and sustainability in Latvia and introduces a programme in this field at the University of Latvia in Riga. Concludes that regional changes are necessary.
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Sue Rodway-Dyer and Stewart Barr
The purpose of this research was to discover the impacts of taught environmental sustainability-focused geography postgraduate programmes on student attitudes, behaviours and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research was to discover the impacts of taught environmental sustainability-focused geography postgraduate programmes on student attitudes, behaviours and practices in relation to environmental awareness within two research-intensive universities in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study involved online surveys to measure environmental attitudes, behaviours and practices at the start and end of four taught geography postgraduate programmes.
Findings
There was widespread attitudinal change and an increasing prioritisation of environmental issues reported among participants after they had completed their programme. However, behavioural change was limited, and there was little evidence of greater awareness being translated into changed practices. The learning benefits included a greater focus on interdisciplinarity, holistic thinking and critical self-reflection.
Practical implications
The findings demonstrate that postgraduate taught (PGT) programmes in sustainability improve student awareness and concern about environmental issues but do not necessarily lead to widespread behavioural change. This raises questions for programme convenors about how education for sustainability can be truly transformational and avoid leading students to develop eco-anxieties over the scale of change required.
Originality/value
There is a lack of research engaging with students on PGT programmes, especially in understanding their impacts on environmental attitudes, behaviours and practices. The research provides an evidence base for understanding the effects of PGT programmes in challenging student values, attitudes and practices and by implication knowledge transfer post-graduation, with the potential to help protect the environment and identify ways of living better with the ever-changing planet.
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On joining the EU in 1995 Finland had to adopt its national agricultural policies to follow the principles of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), its accompanying measures…
Abstract
On joining the EU in 1995 Finland had to adopt its national agricultural policies to follow the principles of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), its accompanying measures and the environmental legislation of the EU. This led to changes in the national decision making processes, administrative procedures and operational practices. In this paper institutional analysis is used to describe and interpret these changes and the significance of these changes for policy development. The results show that learning is a key for successful policy process.
Kazuaki Miyamoto, Surya Raj Acharya, Mohammed Abdul Aziz, Jean-Michel Cusset, Tien Fang Fwa, Haluk Gerçek, Ali S. Huzayyin, Bruce James, Hirokazu Kato, Hanh Dam Le, Sungwon Lee, Francisco J. Martinez, Dominique Mignot, Kazuaki Miyamoto, Janos Monigl, Antonio N. Musso, Fumihiko Nakamura, Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Omar Osman, Antonio Páez, Rodrigo Quijada, Wolfgang Schade, Yordphol Tanaboriboon, Micheal A. P. Taylor, Karl N. Vergel, Zhongzhen Yang and Rocco Zito
Lee D. Parker and Lai Hong Chung
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the construction of social and environmental strategies and the related implementation of management control by a key organisation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the construction of social and environmental strategies and the related implementation of management control by a key organisation located in a pivotal Asian location in the global hospitality industry. In doing so, it sets out to elucidate the forms and processes of strategic social and environmental control as well their relationship to the traditional financial control system.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs field-based case study of a single case operating in both regional and global context. Drawing upon documentary, survey and interview sources, the study employs structuration theory to inform its design and analysis.
Findings
The findings reveal the interaction of top-down global corporate framing and bottom-up local-level staff initiatives that combine to develop a locally focussed and differentiated social and environmental programme and expedite an associated management control and accountability system. The study also reveals the dominance of the traditional financial control system over the social and environmental management control system and the simultaneously enabling and constraining nature of that relationship.
Practical implications
Signification and legitimation structures can be employed in building social and environmental values and programmes which then lay the foundations for related discourse and action at multiple levels of the organisation. This also has the potential to facilitate modes of staff commitment expressed through bottom-up initiatives and control, subject to but also facilitated by the dominating influence of the organisation’s financial control system.
Social implications
This study reveals the importance of national and regional governmental, cultural and social context as both potential enablers and beneficiaries of organisational, social and environmental strategy and control innovation and implementation.
Originality/value
The paper offers an intra-organisational perspective on social and environmental strategising and control processes and motivations that elucidates forms of action, control and accountability and the relationship between social/environmental control and financial control agendas. It further reveals the interaction between globally developed strategic and control frameworks and locally initiated bottom-up strategic initiatives and control.
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Benjamin Cohen, Kira T. Lawrence, Andrea Armstrong, Miranda Wilcha and Alexa Gatti
A coalition of students, professors, administrators and operational staff at Lafayette College designed an environmental module to integrate in-class curricular education with…
Abstract
Purpose
A coalition of students, professors, administrators and operational staff at Lafayette College designed an environmental module to integrate in-class curricular education with out-of-class environmental engagement. The purpose of this study was to improve the ethos of sustainability across campus.
Design/methodology/approach
The research reported here draws from qualitative and quantitative assessments to corroborate previous evidence that institution-wide collaboration is a necessary prerequisite for the successful development of such environmental campus programming.
Findings
It adds to those prior conclusions with the finding that three intertwined factors are critical keys to success. One is attention in the design process to coalition building between the academic, administrative and operational units of campus; second is a strong focus on organizational capacity; and third is explicit attention to preparing long-term management.
Practical implications
The particularities of college campuses, where student residence is temporary while the campus environment is continuous, require attention to organizational sustainability as much as the more common technical features of sustainability (e.g. energy, water, food, transportation systems, etc.). For small colleges seeking to implement similar programming to foster a culture of sustainability on their campuses, that commitment to organizational sustainability demonstrates that maintenance, durability and invested personnel are essential factors when similarly seeking interdisciplinary environmental education initiatives.
Originality/value
This paper describes the original program structure of Greening Lafayette. The program was built on the campus of Lafayette College through specific co-curricular, administrative, academic and facilities efforts. The paper details the approach Lafayette College students and faculty took to draw from best practices in campus sustainability, analyze their campus’ baseline engagement in and awareness of sustainability and leverage their college’s structures to design a program that generates a campus ethos of sustainability. It further elucidates the importance of ensuring the organizational sustainability of the program itself. While Greening Lafayette was designed for the context of a specific undergraduate campus, the program offers a model for faculty, students and administrators of other colleges and universities to build coalitions, design sustainability programming and develop an ethos of sustainability on their campuses.
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