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Science

Sustainable Development


Class
Phares Parayno
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About

This course examines the concept of sustainable development in theory and application. It will analyze the mainstream and alternative views of sustainable development as framed by various prominent authors. The course will also discuss the various events that led to the use of sustainable development. The course will analyze sustainable development from various issues arising from the global, to national, and to local level. The course will provide students a better understanding of the reasons and circumstances behind the present state of the environment, economic condition, and the socio-political system that countries are in at present.

Course Objectives

  1. To introduce the students to the historical development of the problem of sustainability
  2. To appreciate the different perspectives on sustainable development
  3. To develop an integrative understanding of sustainable development
  4. To understand the different tools used in the analysis of sustainability problems
  5. To apply these perspectives and tools to the Philippine situation in the diagnosis of the country's sustainability problem.
Module Theme Readings Submission
1 Defining the Development Sustainability Problem
  1. Hulse, Joseph. 2007. Definitions and Concepts. Chapter 2 of Sustainable Development at Risk, Ignoring the Past. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press Inda Pvt. Ltd.
  2. Meadows, D. H. et al. 1972. The Limits to Growth. New York: Universe Books.
 Reflection Paper 1
2 History of Sustainable Development
  1. htt://www.unep.org/Documents.Mutilingual/Default.asp?documentID=97
  2. Our Common Future [URL http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.html ]
  3. Agenda 21
  4. Various websites for Rio Summit and Johannesburg Summit
  5. various websites on Millennium Development Goals
 Reflection Paper 2
3

Views and Approaches to the Problem of Sustainable Development I

Neoclassical economics / reductionist science view of sustainable development

Ecological /ecosystem view of sustainable development

 
  1. Banerjee, S. B. 2003. "Who Sustains Whose Development?  Sustainable Development and Reinvention of Nature." Organization Studies 24 (1):143-180.
  2. Castro, Carlos J. 2004. "Sustainable Development: Mainstream and Critical Perspectives." Organization and Environment. 17(2): 195-225.
  3. Kates, Robert W. et al. 2005. "What is Sustainable Development? Goals, Indicators, Values, and Practice," Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 47(3): 8-21
 Reflection Paper 3
 4

Views and Approaches to the Problem of Sustainable Development II

Integral View of Sustainable Development

Alternative Paradigms and ideologies to understand and manage sustainable development
  1. Clark, W. C. and N. M. Dickson. 2003. Sustainability Science: The emerging research program. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 100(14): 8059-8061.
  2. Fiskel, Joseph. 2006. "Sustainability and Resilience: Towards a Systems Approach."  Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy 2(2): 14-21.
  3. Folke, Carl et al. 2002. Resilience and Sustainable Development: Building Adaptive Capacity in a World of Transformation.
  4. Martens, Pim. 2006. "Sustainability: Science or Fiction?" Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy 2(1): 36-41.
  5. Modvar and Gallopin. 2005. Sustainable Development: Epistemological Challenges to Science and Technology.
  6. Van der Leeuw and Aschan-Leygonie. 2000. A long-term perspective on resilience in socio-natural systems.
  Reflection Paper 4
 5 Measuring Sustainable Development
  1. Bossel, Hartmut. 1999. Indicators for Sustainable Development: Theory, Method, Applications.
  2. Bossel, Hartmut. 2001. "Assessing viaiblity and sustainability: a systems-based approach for deriving comprehensive indicator sets." Conservation Ecology 5(2): 12.
  3. Dasgupta, P. 2007. "Measuring Sustainable Development: Theory and Application." Asian Development Review 24(1): 1-10.
  4. Meadows, Donella.  1998. Indicators and Information Systems for Sustainable Development. Hartland, VT: The Sustainability Institute.
  5. Wackernagel, Mathis et al. 2002. "Tracking the Ecological Overshoot of the Human Economy," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 9, 2002.
 Reflection Paper 5
 6 Sustainable Development for the Philippines
  1. Tarradell, Mireia. Philippine Case Study: Analysis of National Strategies for Sustainable Development
  2. Philippine Council for Sustainable Development
  3. Palawan Council for Sustainable Development
  4. Philippine Agenda 21
 Reflection Paper 6
 7 Transforming Whole Systems for Sustainability
  1. Meadowcroft, James. 1999. The Politics of Sustainable Development: Emergent Arenas and Challenges for Political Science.  International Political Science Review. 20(2): 219-237.
  2. Parris, Thomas M. and Robert W. Kates. 2003. "Characterizing a Sustainability Transition: Goals, Targets, Trends, and Driving Forces," (July 2003)
  3. Raskin, Paul et al., Great Transitions: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead 
  4. Senge, Peter et al. Systems Thinking Primer on Natural Capitalism: The Four Basic Shifts
 Reflection Paper 7

 These reading materials are available in the RESOURCES section of this site.