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This is a challenging book. It tests the reader on a number of fronts including a series of intensive theoretical discourses on the political economy of the green economy, a critique of the neoliberal green growth agenda, and the uncomfortable proposition that the trajectory offered by the green economy has significant implications for the equitable development of society. The ultimatum of the book suggests that the proposed solutions are politically difficult and involve radical social change.

This is a challenging book. It tests the reader on a number of fronts including a series of intensive theoretical discourses on the political economy of the green economy, a critique of the neoliberal green growth agenda, and the uncomfortable proposition that the trajectory offered by the green economy has significant implications for the equitable development of society. The ultimatum of the book suggests that the proposed solutions are politically difficult and involve radical social change.

The combined impacts of the financial crisis and climate change are driving the evolution of sustainable business and changing the way that governments plan for development. Markets are emerging for a range of environmentally orientated products and services as societies move (or lurch) towards reducing impacts and adapt to changing conditions. National governments are actively formulating policy and providing investment to develop green economies as one of the responses to the global financial crisis. Many of the political and economic drivers have been focused at the international and national scale, and while critical for setting the national framework for development, it often neglects the key role that regions and localities can play in ecological modernization. This paper explores two regional case studies in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, that are initiating shifts towards networks of sustainable businesses and communities and offers recommendations for further policy development. The focus of this paper is on the evolving regional sustainability market and its relationship to other social institutions including governments, communities and the individual. The unifying concept is the idea of the 'natural advantage', a model that integrates innovation and sustainability as a part of the regional development policy agenda. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The management of European seas is undergoing a process of major reform. In the past, oceans and coastal policy has traditionally evolved in a fragmented and uncoordinated manner, developed by different sector-based agencies and arms of government with competing aims and objectives. Recently, the call for integrated and ecosystem-based approaches has driven the conceptualization of a new approach. At the scale of Europe through the Integrated Maritime Policy and Marine Strategy Framework Directive and in national jurisdictions such as the Marine and Coastal Access Act in the United Kingdom, ecosystem-based planning is becoming the norm. There are major challenges to this process and this paper explores, in particular, the opportunities inherent in building truly integrated approaches that cross different sectors of activity, integrate across scales, incorporate public involvement and build a sense of oceans citizenship.

Thank you to all the participants in this study and to Dr Sophie Elliot and Dr Joanne Clark for assistance in facilitation. Thank you to the reviewers of this manuscript for their insights. This research was supported and funded by ClimateXChange (referenceno:A10431853). ClimateXChange is a collaborative initiative between Scottish research and higher education institutes and is funded by the Scottish Government. The participant workshop was supported by a MASTS Small Grant SG215. ; Peer reviewed ; Postprint

Acknowledgements This research was supported and funded by Climate XChange (reference no: A10431853). Climate XChange is a collaborative initiative between Scottish research and higher education institutes and is funded by the Scottish Government. The authors would like to thank Marine Scotland, JNCC and SNH for their permission to reproduce their figures of the Scottish MPA process and maps of the Scottish MPA network. ; Peer reviewed ; Postprint