Explains how designing and constructing sustainable, environmentally friendly school buildings does not have to be a costly venture. Provides advice for selecting building materials, developing energy efficiency, and minimizing toxins. Reviews the status of national sustainable design standards. (GR)

There is a tendency to use case-study research methodology for research issues aiming at simply describing a complex situation, and to draw conclusions with insufficient rigour. Sound case-study research, however, follows discriminate rules which can be described in all the dimensions of a full case-study research process. This paper examines…

Globalization, as a technological and economic phenomenon, asserts specific models for the governance of common resources. In particular, the technological and economic impulses of globalization further the capitalization of nature. This process is evident in the regionalization of bioprospecting efforts in Mesoamerica.

In the decades to come, the authors expect growing pressures to reform current production systems to make them more compatible with the biosphere. A proactive approach to this pressure involves consideration of an alternate value chain based on a comprehensive engineering and marketing approach to recover value from end-of-life products. To…

Sustainable development demands institutions manage the conflicts and struggles that inevitably arise over material and ideal interests. While current cooperative theory privileges the economic element, a political economy of cooperation emphasizes cooperatives' tentative bridging of economic and political spheres with a democratic ethos. The…

Free-choice learning and, derivatively, free-choice environmental learning emerges as a powerful vehicle for supporting diversity in learning styles (Falk and Dierking, 2002). In this article, I argue that free-choice environmental learning holds great potential for enabling us to understand what is at stake in environmental learning and thus help…

The American public is now faced with a baffling array of new environmental issues--much more complicated than the problems people faced 30 years ago. Scientists recognize new threats to the biosphere, the fabric of natural ecosystems, and the diversity of plants and animals that inhabit them. Unlike the obvious, toxic pollutants that spurred the…

This paper begins by weighing the term sustainability and considering its meaning in "common culture" terms as people outside the academy might understand it. The first implication is that none of our current behaviour meets the simplest criteria of sustainability. The question "why?" is raised. In responding to this question I suggest that our…

Sustainability does not have the same connotations for the Brazilian people as it does for many Europeans or North Americans. For the poorest communities of Brazil, sustainability means having enough food, safe shelter, and access to health services, and these depend upon getting a job, and having a job depends on education--to be able to learn…

A sustainability audit of Holme Lacy College is described. The approach adopted a "triple bottom line" assessment, comprising a number of key steps: a scoping review utilising a revised Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors project appraisal tool; an environmental impact assessment based on ecological footprinting and a social and…

Purpose: Laboratories typically consume 4-5 times more energy than similarly-sized commercial space. This paper adds to a growing dialogue about how to "green" a laboratory's design and operations. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is divided into three sections. The first section reviews the background and theoretical issues. A…

Sustainability is a contested concept. Whilst the "triple bottom line" is sometimes used to describe the economic, social and ecological dimensions of sustainability, there are differing conceptions of what this notion implies. There are nevertheless some recurring themes that are outlined in this paper. There has also been some…

For many children across the globe, whether in low or high income nations, growing up in the 21st century will mean living in overcrowded, unsafe and polluted environments which provide limited opportunity for natural play and environmental learning. Yet Agenda 21, the Habitat Agenda and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child…

This article describes initiatives at the University of Costa Rica, which, in combination with national programs, have strengthened the country's commitment to sustainable development over the past 15 years. It discusses the University's role in defining a national perspective on sustainability starting in 1987, as well as the evolution of the…

The Philippines is one of the signatories to the historic Agenda 21 and was the first country to establish a National Council for Sustainable Development. Ten years after Rio, global society is again confronted with the question of whether sustainable development as a concept, philosophy and practice has improved the lives of peoples in different…