Governing Sustainability

Examines the inevitable social and political consequences that will arise from the move to a more sustainable world.

W. Neil Adger (Edited by), Andrew Jordan (Edited by)

9780521732437, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 5 February 2009

358 pages, 7 tables
22.7 x 14.9 x 1.8 cm, 0.53 kg

'Our understandings of citizenship, governance, and government have evolved with the rise of understanding in ecological complexity, the desire for sustainability, and the contradictory but parallel rise of market ideology. All will continue to change with the demise of market fundamentalism, rise of pragmatism, and renewed faith in government. Governing Sustainability deeply explores the past and helps prepare us to both design and adapt with the future.' Richard B. Norgaard, University of California, Berkeley

The crisis of unsustainability is, above all else, a crisis of governance. The transition to a more sustainable world will inevitably require radical changes in the actions of all governments, and it will call for significant changes to the lifestyles of individuals everywhere. Bringing together some of the world's most highly regarded experts on governance and sustainable development, this book examines these necessary processes and consequences across a range of sectors, regions and other important areas of concern. It reveals that the governance of sustainable development is politically contested, and that it will continue to test existing governance systems to their limits. As an assessment of existing policy practices, it will be of great interest to all those who are preparing themselves - or their organisations - for the sustainability transition.

Part I. Overview and Context: 1. Sustainable development: exploring the processes and outcomes of governance W. Neil Adger and Andrew Jordan
2. Human development and environmental governance: a reality check Katrina Brown
Part II. Governance and Government: 3. Government and the pursuit of governance for sustainability Albert Weale
4. How do environmental actors make governance systems more sustainable? The role of politics and ideas in policy change Philip Lowe and Katy Wilkinson
5. Global governance for sustainable capitalism? The political economy of global environmental governance Mat Paterson
Part III. Governance and Civil Society: 6. Citizens, citizenship and governance for sustainability Andy Dobson
7. The governance of science for sustainability Jill Jäger
8. Practitioner evaluations of participatory processes in environmental decision-making Jacquelin Burgess and Judy Clark
Part IV. Governance and Decision Making: 9. Participation, precaution and reflexive governance for sustainable development Andy Stirling
10. Precaution and the governance of risk Ortwin Renn
11. Economics and the governance of sustainable development Simon Dietz and Eric Neumayer
12. Sustainability: welfare, value and time John O'Neill
Part V. Conclusions: 13. Reflections on the pathways to sustainability Tim O'Riordan.

Subject Areas: Pollution & threats to the environment [RNP], Conservation of the environment [RNK], Environmental management [RNF], Central government policies [JPQB], Comparative politics [JPB]