Suchergebnisse

This paper identifies the main references, authors and journals influencing the sustainable development literature. The task is accomplished by means of a citation analysis based on the records of ISI Web of Science. We found that the core of sustainability thinking is framed by a pattern of landmark studies published around every 5 years. Only 380 publications have been cited at least ten times. References with the highest influence are those with a global dimension and large diffusion, such as Brundtland Commission's ''Our common future'' (1987) and classics such as Meadows' et al. ''Limits to growth'' (1972). The list of the most influential references over the period 1960–2005 is dominated by contributions from economics (particularly ecological economics) and environmental science, but includes many other disciplines such as urban planning, political sciences and sociology. References are also made to policy documents such as ''Agenda 21'', one of the main outcomes of the Rio Summit in 1992. In analyzing citation trends, we found that 'classics', because of their high rates of citations per year, seem to have a more enduring and stable influence. ; This paper was written as part of a PhD research. The authors would like to credit the financial support provided by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (the Portuguese research foundation) under scholarship SFRH/BD/18588/2004 and project ...

Published online 15 June 2009 in Wiley Online Library. ; This paper describes the global political milestones of greater importance to the emergence and evolution of sustainable development. In addition, it depicts the cyclical patterns of political activity dealing with sustainability and identifi es the main sustainability goals and targets endorsed by several political initiatives. These tasks are accomplished through a literature review and an assessment of indicators dealing with political will. It is concluded that global sustainability governance followed an intermittent path characterized by two periods of signifi cant accomplishments (until 1979; 1987–1995) and by two others less suc- cessful (1980–1986; 1995 onwards, interrupted by a peak around 2000). Peaks in political activity coincide with the decennial Earth Summits, suggesting their major infl uence as catalysts of more profound societal and political action. Sustainability concerns and goals shifted from an emphasis on pollution control and availability of natural resources to a more balanced position that puts human development at the ...

The concept of Local Agenda 21 comprises a process of participatory development by which the consensus between the authorities and several stakeholders is created, to agree on the common development and implementation of a "plan of action" in which environmental protection should be integrated, dealing with the local problems and priorities as well as economic prosperity and the social entity of the community. The council of São João de Madeira has started implementing the Local Agenda 21 by a co-operation between the City Council and the Portuguese Catholic University of Porto. Besides sustainable development one of the main goals of this process is the promotion of democratic participation. In this report the implementation of Local Agenda 21 in this council is described on the level of instruments and media used in this process: forums of discussion, strategic co-operations, direct questioning of the public, support of opinion leaders in particular teachers and the publishing of information material. The results are presented and the pros and cons of the instruments are discussed. In this report it will also be analyzed whether the perception measured among the population, about how much potential and what problems they observe in the council and whether this corresponds to the points identified by the politicians and technicians of the City Council. Identifying the diverging opinions helps to show the importance of public participation and therefore supports the decision-making process.