Part 1 Theoretical Approaches/ Theoretical Approaches to sustainability issues -- Theoretical and methodological pluralism in sustainability science -- Approaches for framing sustainability challenges: experiences from Swedish sustainability science education -- Part 2 Practical Approaches / Practical Approaches to sustainability issues -- The value of grey -- Framing in place making when envisioning a sustainable rural community in the time of aging and shrinking societies in Japan -- Role of Framing in sustainability science: The case of Minamata disease -- Time scales in framing disaster risk reduction in sustainability -- Food security framing and poverty alleviation -- Part 3 Conclusion/ Epilogue -- Linking framing to actions for sustainability
Chapter 1. Next Generation Researchers in Education for Sustainable Development in Africa Program -- Chapter 2. Developing Doctoral Education to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: The Case of Commonwealth African countries -- Chapter 3. Institutional Challenges to Sustainable Governance of Community-Based Irrigation Management: Case from Sagada, Philippines -- Chapter 4. Corruption and the Imbalance in Climate Finance Flows in Sub Sahara Africa: The Case of Cross River, Nigeria and Lessons for Social Science Researchers -- Chapter 5. Political Ecology: What is its Value in the Era of Sustainable Development Goals? -- Chapter 6. Business Contributions to Climate Change Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood: The Role of the Shadows of Hierarchy and Anarchy -- Chapter 7. Contextualising the Relationship Between Climate Change Perception and Proactive Actions: Thailand as a Case Study -- Chapter 8. Sustainability of Off-grid Small Hydro Power Electricity in the Vu Gia Thu Bon River Basin of Vietnam -- Chapter 9. Food Security: Remodelling the Equations for Future African Agricultural Sustainability.
In recent years, population aging has been recognized as an emerging challenge in many parts of the world. Earlier studies discussed its impacts on the sustainability of social security systems and national economic growth; however, they tended to focus on the issues at the national level and were limited to developed countries. With the knowledge that population aging will be a predominant trend in both developed and developing countries, this paper aims to: (i) describe the global population aging trend and its regional demography; (ii) provide a structural review of population aging challenges at the national, communal and individual levels; and (iii) elaborate future research topics on population aging with a particular emphasis on developing countries. Several indicators suggest rapid population aging in the coming decades, especially in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The structural review presents the diverse challenges that affect both young and older population groups. Finally, the need for linking population aging with the sustainable development concept and the possible rural decline caused by rapid urbanization are suggested as future research topics. Further studies to establish a body of knowledge on population aging in developing countries are required to place population aging on the agenda of future sustainable development discussions.
Purpose This paper aims to describe how a sustainability-focused program in higher education can provide training and key experiences for implementing transdisciplinary approaches. The case is a fieldwork-based training course called the Global Field Exercise (GFE) at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science, The University of Tokyo. The GFE is a methodological training course that emphasizes generating locally relevant research questions on sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach This research is a case study regarding how a sustainability science program can offer a fieldwork-based training course that focuses on a transdisciplinary approach. Five students from diverse academic disciplines and cultural backgrounds participated in the GFE in QwaQwa where they conducted semi-structured interviews with six local entrepreneurs to identify the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship. The authors investigated the learning process and outcomes of the students through participatory observation in preparatory meetings, daily reflection sessions during fieldwork and a content analysis of feedback reports.
Findings Four learning outcomes of the students were suggested: the reexamination of assumptions, managing misunderstanding and miscommunication, mutual learning and being empathic toward the local people.
Research limitations/implications This paper suggests three key opportunistic experiences for the transdisciplinary approach: discuss the normative dimension of sustainability; build intersubjectivity among team members and adopt methodological pluralism; and become empathetic to diverse stakeholder groups to facilitate the cogeneration of knowledge.
Originality/value How to design training on a transdisciplinary approach in educational programs remains an area for further exploration. This study addresses this knowledge gap by establishing a link between sustainability education and sustainability in practice.
A growing number of educational programs in sustainability science has paralleled the rise of the field itself. The educational approach of these programs follows the problem-driven, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary nature of the field itself. However, its effectiveness has yet to be systematically evaluated. Similarly, while ad-hoc evaluation schemes have attempted to monitor the quality of the educational programs, there is no standard method that accounts for the particularities of sustainability science programs. This study thus addresses the need for an assessment of the problem-driven approach of educational programs in sustainability science. We have conducted student self-assessments of field courses in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science (GPSS-GLI) at The University of Tokyo, which positions its field courses at the center of its curriculum. The self-assessments were based on five key competencies identified as particularly important for sustainability professionals. Workshops and questionnaires engaged students in a reflection of the six field courses and of their own personal development through the activities offered. Our questionnaire results indicate that the majority of participants were satisfied with how the courses furthered their personal development. While some participants expressed frustration at being unable to sufficiently address the respective field's sustainability challenges due to time constraints, students generally recognized the five key competencies as important for addressing sustainability issues after participating in the courses. Moreover, participants attributed much of their learning to their active engagement in planned field research activities, rather than to passive learning. Variations in results across different course units provide material for further analysis and development of the curriculum. This study is an initial attempt at assessment, with room for ongoing improvement and further research to address additional requirements for fostering the next generation of sustainability professionals.
Livability is a concept being applied to cities, even though it is vague. Worldwide, there are several livable city ranking schemes in use, which compare the livability of cities by making use of standardized indicator sets. The research presented here recognizes, as a point of departure, that each city is unique, implying that comparisons of cities by standardized categories only does not adequately reflect the reality of each city. A qualitative approach to identify context-specific categories of livability is proposed and employed to the case of Malmo ̈ in Sweden. Through interviews, nine context-specific categories were identified and visualized. The findings of the study demonstrate that a qualitative approach enables a more in-depth description of livability categories because it can capture and illustrate relationships among the categories. An explicit awareness of such relationships may provide a more holistic perspective to city officials and planners as they aim to improve the livability of their cities. The study concludes that a qualitative approach in identifying context-specific categories can complement existing assessment schemes and allow a better grasp of livability challenges to cities.
