Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The System Dynamics Perspective
- 3 In Search of Sustainability: Past Civilisations
- 4 The World in the Past 300 Years: The Great Acceleration
- 5 Sustainability: Concerns, Definitions, Indicators
- 6 Quality of Life: On Values, Knowledge and Worldviews
- 7 Energy Fundamentals
- 8 On Knowledge and Models
- 9 Land and Nature
- 10 Human Populations and Human Behaviour
- 11 Agro-Food Systems
- 12 Renewable Resources: Water, Fish and Forest
- 13 Non-Renewable Resources: The Industrial Economy
- 14 Towards a Sustainable Economy?
- 15 Outlook on Futures
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- Plate Section
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The System Dynamics Perspective
- 3 In Search of Sustainability: Past Civilisations
- 4 The World in the Past 300 Years: The Great Acceleration
- 5 Sustainability: Concerns, Definitions, Indicators
- 6 Quality of Life: On Values, Knowledge and Worldviews
- 7 Energy Fundamentals
- 8 On Knowledge and Models
- 9 Land and Nature
- 10 Human Populations and Human Behaviour
- 11 Agro-Food Systems
- 12 Renewable Resources: Water, Fish and Forest
- 13 Non-Renewable Resources: The Industrial Economy
- 14 Towards a Sustainable Economy?
- 15 Outlook on Futures
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- Plate Section
Summary
This book is the outcome of eight years of teaching the course Sustainability Science for students of the M.Sc. in Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. Its aim is to give a broad overview of what the sciences have to say about sustainable development. To this purpose, it offers a mixture of concepts, theories, models and facts and an invitation to the student to become a critical, independent thinker and to act accordingly.
The book can be used at the B.Sc. level as part of an introductory course or at the M.Sc. level as context for other courses and M.Sc. theses. For most chapters, a high school or college background should be sufficient, but some capacity for abstract thinking is needed. As an introduction into the concept of sustainability and sustainable development issues, it is useful for people in NGOs, government agencies and business who are interested in framing the discourse from multiple perspectives and different scientific disciplines. It can help them to make better decisions for life on a finite planet.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sustainability Science , pp. xv - xviiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012