Selected Topics - Sustainable Development

Global policies and related documents

• Millennium Development Goals
  "The International Development Goals set targets for reductions in poverty, improvements in health and education, and protection of the environment. They distill the experience of many years, expressed in the resolutions of major United Nations conferences. The goals have been adopted by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the members of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD, and many other agencies. They found a new expression in the Millennium Declaration of the United Nations, adopted by the General Assembly in September 2000. The goals measure progress from 1990 and look to what can be accomplished by 2015. Their ambitious targets provide a formidable challenge to the international community."
• UN Economic and Social Development Website

Reports, guidelines and projects

• Communicating research for evidence-based policymaking: A practical guide for researchers in socio-economic sciences and humanities
  "The social and economic challenges which we face require policymaking at all levels – regional, national and European – to move beyond traditional paradigms and create responses which offer sustainable solutions now and in the future. The European Economic Recovery Plan (1) and the EU 2020 strategy (2) create the broad policy context for this approach. ‘Smart’ investment, which focuses on the skills that are needed for the future, is seen as a major pillar of Europe’s strategy to respond to the challenges it faces. The research projects funded under the Framework Programmes can play a major role in giving shape to this approach. The Directorate-General for Research is supporting researchers and project coordinators in meeting these challenges. In wide-ranging discussions with policymakers and researchers it has explored how to best ensure dialogue between both areas. This dialogue is crucial if the policy messages provided by the research supported by the EU are to contribute to the development of the strategies and approaches necessitated by the realities we face. This guide is the most recent stage of this process of identifying needs and developing appropriate support. It builds on the work undertaken in our earlier publication ‘Scientific evidence for policymaking’ which identified the key priorities for deepening communication and strengthening the transfer of knowledge and experience between research and policymaking. This publication is designed to offer an easy-to-read guide which identifies the most important stages in the development of a dynamic communication strategy and which will ensure that the projects funded under the Framework Programmes make a real difference in enabling policymakers to respond to the significant challenges we face. Divided into three parts – Concept, Policy Briefs and Practical Means – this guide is intended to help exploit research concepts into genuine policy action." [publication summary] [Directorate-General for Research, Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg 2010 (EUR 24230 EN)]
• Human Development and Sustainability
  The literatures and debates on human development on the one hand and sustainability on the other share much in common. Human development is essentially what sustainability advocates want to sustain and without sustainability, human development is not true human development. Yet the two strands of research have largely been separate and this paper shows how they can learn from each other. I put forward a concrete proposal on how human development and its measurement in the form of the Human Development Index (HDI) can be linked with measures of both weak and strong sustainability. Weak sustainability is built on the assumption that different forms of capital are substitutable, whereas strong sustainability rejects the notion of substitutability for certain critical forms of natural capital. Empirical results over the period 1980 to 2006 show that many of the lowest performing countries on the HDI also face problems of weak unsustainability, as measured by genuine savings. Countries with high to very high HDI performance, on the other hand, typically appear to be strongly unsustainable, as measured by ecological footprints, mostly because of unsustainably large carbon dioxide emissions. Two of the biggest challenges facing mankind this century will be to break the link between high human development and strongly unsustainable damage to natural capital on the one hand, requiring a very significant and rapid decarbonisation of their economies, and assisting countries with very low human development to overcome weak unsustainability by raising their investment levels into all forms of capital on the other. [publication abstract] [Human Development Research Paper 2010/05, United Nations Development Programme UNDP, June 2010]
• Human Development Report 2010: 20th Anniversary Edition — The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development
  "This 20th anniversary milestone presents an opportunity to review human development achievements and challenges systematically at both the global and national levels — a task not attempted since the first Report — and to analyse their implications for policy and future research. On one crucial point the evidence is compelling and clear: there is much that countries can do to improve the quality of people’s lives even under adverse circumstances. Many countries have made great gains in health and education despite only modest growth in income, while some countries with strong economic performance over the decades have failed to make similarly impressive progress in life expectancy, schooling and overall living standards. Improvements are never automatic — they require political will, courageous leadership and the continuing commitment of the international community. Data from the past 40 years also reveal an enormous diversity of pathways to human development achievement: there is no single model or uniform prescription for success. This Report shows significant progress by most countries in most areas, with the poorest countries often showing the largest gains. While perhaps not a surprise to statisticians, it was far from universally assumed four decades ago that most low-income nations would make the strong strides forward that the record now shows in health, education and (to a lesser extent) income. Not all the trends are positive, as we know too well. Sadly, several countries have moved backwards in absolute HDI achievement since the 1990 Report. These countries offer lessons on the devastating impact of conflict, the AIDS epidemic and economic and political mismanagement. Most suffered from more than one if not all these factors… In this Report we introduce three measures to the HDR family of indices — the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the Gender Inequality Index and the Multidimensional Poverty Index. These state-of-the art measures incorporate recent advances in theory and measurement and support the centrality of inequality and poverty in the human development framework. We introduce these experimental series with the intention of stimulating reasoned public debate beyond the traditional focus on aggregates." [United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – 4 November 2010]
• Improving the Odds of Achieving the MDGs: Heterogeneity, Gaps, and Challenges
  "The findings from this year’s report offer reason for both hope and concern. Two-thirds of developing countries are on target or close to being on target for all the MDGs. Among developing countries that are falling short, half are close to becoming on track; with improved policies and faster growth, these countries could still achieve the targets in 2015 or soon after. Yet even those middle-income countries on track to achieve the MDGs are home to indigenous and socially excluded groups that are still very poor and often well behind in reaching the goals. Moreover, progress could stall without stronger global growth, expanded access to export markets for developing countries, and adequate assistance from donors. We are making headway against poverty: based on our best economic projections, the world remains on track to reduce by half the number of people living in extreme poverty. We project that by 2015, 882.7 million people will be living on less than $1.25 a day, compared with 1.4 billion in 2005 and 1.8 billion in 1990. Yet a substantial portion of this progress reflects rapid growth in China and India, while many African countries are lagging behind: 17 countries are far from halving extreme poverty, even as the aggregate goals will be reached." [World Bank Global Monitoring Report, 2011]
• "Knowledge to Policy": Making the Most of Development Research
  "Does research influence public policy and decision-making and, if so, how? This book is the most recent to address this question, investigating the effects of research in the field of international development. It starts from a sophisticated understanding about how research influences public policy and decision-making. It shows how research can contribute to better governance in at least three ways: by encouraging open inquiry and debate; by empowering people with the knowledge to hold governments accountable; and by enlarging the array of policy options and solutions available to the policy process. 'Knowledge to Policy' examines the consequences of 23 research projects funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre. Key findings and case studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America are presented in a reader-friendly, journalistic style, giving the reader a deeper grasp and understanding of approaches, contexts, relationships, and events."
• Moving sustainable development from theory to practice in the US (USA)
  "Sustainable development, which includes community development, environmental protection, natural resource conservation, and local economic development, is becoming more widely practiced in Europe, while lagging behind as a US development strategy. Since sustainable development planning requires civic planners and private developers to understand a number of new disciplines and to address their interconnections, it has been difficult for working professionals to gain an overview and access to specific implementation strategies. The author presents an outline of the key features of sustainable development that should be considered in new development, with extensive web references for more in-depth information on each topic."
• Population, poverty, and sustainable development: a review of the evidence
  There is a very large but scattered literature debating the economic implications of high fertility. This paper reviews the literature on three themes: (a) Does high fertility affect low-income countries’ prospects for economic growth and poverty reduction? (b) Does population growth exacerbate pressure on natural resources? and (c) Are family planning programs effective at lowering fertility, and should they be publicly funded? The literature shows broad consensus that while policy and institutional settings are key in shaping the prospects of economic growth and poverty reduction, the rate of population growth also matters. Recent studies find that low dependency ratios (as fertility declines) create an opportunity for increasing productivity, savings and investment in future growth. They find that lower fertility is associated with better child health and schooling, and better health and greater labor-force participation for women. They also indicate that rapid population growth can constrain economic growth, especially in low-income countries with poor policy environments. Population growth also exacerbates pressure on environmental common property resources. Studies highlight the deep challenges to aligning divergent interests for managing these resources. However, part of the pressure on these resources can be mitigated by reducing the rate of population growth. Although family planning programs are only one policy lever to help reduce fertility, studies find them effective. Such programs might help especially in the Sub-Saharan African region, where high fertility and institutional constraints on economic growth combine to slow rises in living standards. [author abstract] [The World Bank, June 2011]
• Sustainable Development: From Brundtland to Rio 2012
  "The term, sustainable development, was popularized in Our Common Future, a report published by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. Also known as the Brundtland report, Our Common Future included the 'classic' definition of sustainable development: 'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' Acceptance of the report by the United Nations General Assembly gave the term political salience; and in 1992 leaders set out the principles of sustainable development at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is generally accepted that sustainable development calls for a convergence between the three pillars of economic development, social equity, and environmental protection… Yet the concept remains elusive and implementation has proven difficult. Unsustainable trends continue and sustainable development has not found the political entry points to make real progress. As a result, climate change has become the de facto proxy for implementation of the sustainable development agenda; but the framework of the climate change negotiations are not always the appropriate forum for broader strategic discussions of sustainable development. While sustainable development is intended to encompass three pillars, over the past 20 years it has often been compartmentalized as an environmental issue. Added to this, and potentially more limiting for the sustainable development agenda, is the reigning orientation of development as purely economic growth. This has been the framework used by developed countries in attaining their unprecedented levels of wealth, and major and rapidly developing countries are following the same course. The problem with such an approach is that natural resources are in imminent peril of being exhausted or their quality being compromised to an extent that threatens current biodiversity and natural environments. Addressing this challenge calls for changes at the consumer level in developed countries. Developed countries have the wealth and technical capacity to implement more sustainable policies and measures, yet the required level of political leadership and citizen engagement is still a long way off. The lack of action in developed countries is compounded by economic growth in developing countries that follows the resource-intensive model of developed countries. Without change and real action to address levels of consumerism and resource use in developed countries, one can hardly expect a receptive audience among developing countries when attempts are made to direct attention to their economic development practices… There is a huge gap between the multilateral processes, with their broad goals and policies; and national action, which reflects domestic political and economic realities. A huge constituency around the world cares deeply and talks about sustainable development, but has not taken serious on-the-ground action. Deep structural changes are needed in the ways that societies manage their economic, social, and environmental affairs; and hard choices are needed to move from talk to action...The needed systemic changes will require a revolution in the way the world does business. This will have an impact on lifestyles and consumption patterns — especially so in developed countries, but also for the growing middle class in developing countries. The recent financial crisis and the beginning of the decline of trust in the liberalization and globalization model could mean some renewed receptivity for a new sustainable development paradigm. A new model could chart a development path that truly is concerned with equity, poverty alleviation, reducing resource use, and integrating economic, environmental, and social issues in decision making." [UN: Background Paper, prepared for consideration by the High Level Panel on Global Sustainability at its first meeting, 19 September 2010]
• Sustainable development - Public health
  "This article provides an overview of statistical data on sustainable development in the area of public health. They are based on the set of sustainable development indicators the European Union (EU) agreed upon for monitoring its sustainable development strategy. Together with similar indicators for other areas, they make up the report 'Sustainable development in the European Union - 2009 monitoring report of the EU sustainable development strategy', which Eurostat draws up every two years to provide an objective statistical picture of progress towards the goals and objectives set by the EU sustainable development strategy and which underpins the European Commission’s report on its implementation." [European Commission: Eurostat – Data from 2009]
• Toward Sustainable Development in Public Health
  "By developing holistic concepts such as population health, by working with partners on strategies such as health goals, by addressing long-term and short-term public health issues such as epidemics and emergency preparedness, PHAC also serves sustainable development. Public health is therefore both a pre-condition to, and an outcome of, sustainable development." [Public Health Agency of Canada: Sustainable Development Strategy 2007- 2010]
• Urban Sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean
  "Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has the highest rate of urbanization in the developing world. The proportion of the region’s population living in cities almost doubled between 1950 (41%) and 2010 (80%). Likewise, economic activity in the region is significantly concentrated in its cities. Between 60% and 70% of the regional gross domestic product (GDP) is currently produced in urban areas. Despite this generation of wealth, two out of every three people in Latin American and Caribbean cities live in poverty. These circumstances, together with the growing importance of cities’ impact on the environment and the high vulnerability of Latin American and Caribbean cities to climate change, natural disasters, and financial limitations, create a need for reflection on the concepts of sustainability and urban development in LAC… This work presents a comprehensive analysis of urban sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean. The document is composed of six sections, including this introduction. Providing the theoretical and empirical elements of the analysis, the following section briefly reviews the relationship between urbanization and economic development at the international and regional levels. The third section delineates the evolution of the concept of sustainability in the urban sphere in recent years. The fourth section discusses the principal problems that currently affect the sustainability of Latin American and Caribbean cities, and the fifth section provides the foundations of a methodological proposal for approaching the comprehensive study of the sustainability of Latin American and Caribbean cities, including their components, the interactions of those components, and the horizontal and vertical integration of the analysis process. The work culminates in some final reflections." [Inter-American Development Bank IADB/BID, 2011]
• World development report 2012: gender equality and development
  The lives of girls and women have changed dramatically over the past quarter century. The pace of change has been astonishing in some areas, but in others, progress toward gender equality has been limited—even in developed countries. This year's World Development Report: Gender Equality and Development argues that gender equality is a core development objective in its own right. It is also smart economics. Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative. The Report also focuses on four priority areas for policy going forward: (i) reducing excess female mortality and closing education gaps where they remain, (ii) improving access to economic opportunities for women (iii) increasing women's voice and agency in the household and in society and (iv) limiting the reproduction of gender inequality across generations. [publication overview] [The World Bank, September 2011]

Educational resources

• Community Tool Box
  Provided by the University of Kansas, this website has exciting resources and is strongly recommended.
• devMEDIA
  "devMEDIA began as an e-mail listserve in 1994 to help exchange information on "Media for Development and Democracy." Now, with the devMEDIA web site we have a variety of new ways to stay informed and share information. devMEDIA listserve members and devMEDIA web site users generally include people interested in participatory and community uses of media: radio, video, TV, telecommunication tools, and the Internet. devMEDIA is a program of the Don Snowden Program for Development Communication at the School of Rural Extension Studies, University of Guelph, Canada."
• Education for Sustainable Development Kit
  Rosalyn McKeown, the author of the Kit, writes: "the toolkit is based on the idea that communities and educational systems within communities need to dovetail their sustainability efforts. As communities develop sustainability goals, local educational systems can modify existing curriculums to reinforce those goals. As we developed the toolkit, it became apparent that many communities do not have sustainability goals or action plans on which to base educational change. As a result, I included some exercises to help communities develop such goals. I also included a few exercises to explain sustainable development in case some community members are not familiar with the concept."
• Eurofound
  Eurofound is a tripartite EU agency that provides expertise on living and working conditions, industrial relations and managing change in Europe.
• HORIZON Communications Solutions
  The purpose of the site is to provide a forum for the presentation of solutions to vital concerns in the areas of health, population, development and the environment. Initiatives are gathered through a number of different means, including direct user submissions, the substantial efforts of partner institutions (United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF, HORIZON's colleagues at Harvard University, Yale University, and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada), and HORIZON's own research activities.
• Right-to-Know Network
  "The Right-to-Know Network [helps] advocates push for improved access to government-held information on the environment, health, and safety."
• The Environment: A Global Challenge
  "The web's most comprehensive site on the environment. With 400 articles and 811 pages, the site covers every aspect of the environment and provides many interactive features. This site is ideal for educational purposes, though everyone will find the content and special features that are spread out through twenty sections to be interesting and useful. We encourage visitors to contribute to the site, use it as an educational tool, and try the interactive features."
• WWW Virtual Library: Sustainable development

Organisations and Networks

UN and multinational

• Earth Charter Initiative
  “'The Earth Charter Initiative' is an extraordinarily diverse, global network of people, organizations, and institutions that participate in promoting and implementing the values and principles of the Earth Charter. The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It seeks to inspire in all people a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the whole human family, the greater community of life, and future generations. It is a product of a decade-long, worldwide, cross cultural dialogue on common goals and shared values." The website contains a Virtual Library.

Government

• Overseas Development Institute (ODI)
  Located in Great Britain and being a governmental organisation, the Institute is engaged in a wide range of policy-related research based around the following groups: Natural Resources, International Economic Development, and Human Security and Development.

Non Government

• Australian Council for International Developpment (ACFID)
  The coordinating body for some 90 Australian non-government organisations working in the field of overseas aid and development.
• Both ENDS: Environment and Development Service for NGOs (Netherlands)
  This website aims "to contribute to responsible management of nature and the natural environment by strenghtening fellow NGOs and community groups working on these issues, especially in developing countries"
• Community Development Society International (CDS)
  "Founded in 1969, [CDS] is a professional association for community development practitioners and citizen leaders around the world. CDS members represent a variety of fields: education, health care, social services, government, utilities, economic development practitioners, citizen groups, and more. We are all united in our belief that community is the basic building block of society."
• Development and Peace Foundation (Germany)
  This irganisation was "founded in 1986, on the initiative of Willy Brandt. As a cross-party, non-profit-making organization, it argues for the creation of a new political order in a world that is increasingly dominated by economic and technological globalization and where democratically grounded politics is in danger of disappearing. The work of the Foundation is based on three principles: global responsibility, an interdisciplinary perspective, and cross-party dialogue."
• Green CrossRoads
  Green Cross International (GCI) is a global, non-aligned networking organization working in the area of environment and sustainable development. It creates partnerships to promote global value change.
• International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
  The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) supports research in developing countries to promote growth and development. The result is innovative, lasting local solutions that aim to bring choice and change to those who need it most.
• Loka Institute (USA)
  This is "a non-profit research and advocacy organization concerned with the social, political, and environmental repercussions of science and technology."
• Second Nature (USA)
  Second Nature is a nonprofit organization working to help colleges and universities expand their efforts to make environmentally sustainable and just. Its mission is "to accelerate movement toward a sustainable future by serving and supporting senior college and university leaders in making healthy, just, and sustainable living the foundation of all learning and practice in higher education."
• Sustainable Development Communications Network
  "Sustainable Development Communications Network is a group of leading civil society organizations seeking to accelerate the implementation of sustainable development through broader, integrated information and communications about what we know. The network focuses its efforts on integrating Internet communications into broader communication strategies."
• Women's Environment & Development Organization
  "WEDO’s mission is to empower women as decision makers to achieve economic, social and gender justice, a healthy, peaceful planet, and human rights for all. Through programmatic initiatives on climate change, corporate accountability, UN reform, and women’s political participation and leadership, WEDO emphasizes gender equality and women’s critical role in social, economic and political spheres."

Academic Institutions with particular focus in this area

• Centre for Environment and Human Settlements
  "The Centre for Environment and Human Settlements (CEHS) is an international centre providing teaching and training, research and knowledge transfer services in the fields of planning, housing and environments for the rapidly urbanising world. This is targeted to a wide range of international, governmental, private sector, non-governmental and community organizations. It has a strong focus on policy issues, institutional development, civil society roles and good practices in regional and urban development, urban management, and housing in conditions of rapid urbanisation."
• International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
  This is "the first international organization to make a commitment to improve the living conditions of mountain communities in a sustainable way, helping them to live and not merely exist upon the highest wonders on earth. The Centre is multidisciplinary, area-focussed and mountain-based; it focusses mainly on the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region (HKH). ICIMOD has much to offer, to the HKH as well as to other mountain regions facing similar problems. In the context of sharing its knowledge with all those who need it and can use it, we have attempted here to provide you with a fairly comprehensive searchable of information resources on ICIMOD and sustainable development issues in mountain areas, including catalogues, databases, and links to the global information network."
• International Institute for Communication and Development (The Netherlands)
  "IICD has been commissioned to assist key players in developing countries to obtain access to ICT markets, become involved in decision making processes, to use these technologies to foster sustainable development and to reflect on potential negative impacts of ICT applications on traditional cultures. The Institute has its background in Europe. It was established originally by the Netherlands Minister for Development Co-operation in 1997."
• International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
  "The International Institute for Environment and Development is a global leader in sustainable development. As an independent international research organisation, we are specialists in linking local to global. In Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, the Middle East and the Pacific, we work with some of the world's most vulnerable people to ensure they have a say in the policy arenas that most closely affect them — from village councils to international conventions. Our mission is to build a fairer, more sustainable world, using evidence, action and influence in partnership with others.”
• Róbinson Rojas Archive
  "Created and managed by Dr. Róbinson Rojas, this academic site promotes excellence in teaching and researching economics and sustainable development, and the advancing of describing, understanding, explaining and theorizing."
• World Institute of Development, University of the UN
  "World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) is the first research and training centre of the United Nations University (UNU), established in Helsinki, Finland in 1984. UNU-WIDER undertakes applied research and policy analysis on global development and poverty issues."

Key Conferences, conference and workshop reports

• Health and Sustainable Development – Meeting of Senior Officials and Ministers of Health: Summary Report – Johannesburg, South Africa, 19-22 January 2002
  Includes a background paper on Health and sustainable development: "This background introductory paper, adopted at the Ministerial meeting on Health and Sustainable Development, outlines how health is a product of sustainable development, and how improvements in health, and indeed health services, contribute to sustainable development. After outlining health trends, it explores the links between health and poverty, economic growth and equity (particularly with regard to the process of globalisation), natural resources and the environment, and health services. While the links with health are addressed separately for purposes of elucidation, it cannot be overemphasised that they do not happen independently of one another. Rather, they are all interconnected, with sustainable development in one area positively influencing the others, and vice versa, setting up a virtuous cycle." [WHO, 2002]

Conference reports

Journals, Newsletters, Forums

Bibliographies, Libraries

Public health bookshops

• Public Health bookshop