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Learning Commons
Here you will find reading lists that your friendly library staff have curated. These lists reflect the display that is currently up in the Learning Commons. You can find these and other books within the display.
Ai for the Sustainable Development Goals
What is artificial intelligence? What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How does AI affect the SDGs? Artificial Intelligence has a real impact on our lives and on our environment, and the Sustainable Development Goals enable us to evaluate these impacts in a systematic manner. This book shows that doing so requires us to understand the context of AI - the infrastructure it is built on, who develops it, who owns it, who has access to it, who uses it, and what it is used for - rather than relying on an isolationist theory of technology. By doing so, we can analyze not only the direct effects of AI on sustainability, but also the indirect - or second-order - effects. AI for the Sustainable Development Goals shows how AI potentially affects all SDGs - both positively and negatively.
The Circular Economy
A Circular Economy seeks to rebuild capital, whether this is financial, manufactured, human, social or natural, and offers opportunities and solutions for all organisations. This book, written by Walter Stahel, who is widely recognised as one of the key people who formulated the concept of the Circular Economy, is the perfect introduction for anyone wanting to quickly get up to speed with this vitally important topic for ensuring sustainable development. It sets out a new framework that refines the concept of a Circular Economy and how it can be applied at industrial levels. This concise book presents the key themes for busy managers and policymakers and some of the newest thinking on the topic of the Circular Economy from one of the leading thinkers in the field. Practical examples and case studies with real-life data are used to elucidate the ideas presented within the book.
Dictionary of Sustainability
The Dictionary of Sustainability provides clear and accurate definitions of the extensive vocabulary that has developed in this emerging and interdisciplinary field, saving considerable time from searching through the massive quantity of information of differing degrees of quality that is available through the Internet. Providing authoritative definitions of standard terms used by scholars and practitioners it provides a clear and thorough conceptual framework and ensures those delving into topics for the first time, or returning to them, can quickly find what they need. It also contains careful use of cross-references, and includes several expanded entries to provide readers with nuanced understanding of important topics. The dictionary will be essential reading for all students studying sustainability topics, as well as a handy reference for practitioners wanting to make a sustainable difference in the workplace.
The Earth's Blanket
Renowned ethnobotanist Nancy Turner distills in this volume her decades of experience working with First Nations in the Pacific Northwest. The Earth's Blanket explores the wealth of ecological knowledge and the deep personal connection to the land and its history that is encoded in indigenous stories and lifeways, and what they may be able to teach all of us about living in harmony with our surroundings. Scholarly in its thinking but accessible in its writing, The Earth's Blanket combines first-person research with insightful critiques of Western concepts of environmental management and scientific ecology to propose how systems of traditional ecological knowledge can be recognized and enhanced. It is an important book, a magnum opus, with the power to transform our way of thinking about the Earth and our place within it.
Modeling for Sustainable Development: a Multidisciplinary Approach
Sustainable development is a highly integrated concept that encompasses many disciplines such as economics, social sciences, culture, technologies, natural resources, and environmental domains, while achieving sustainable development is a comprehensive multidisciplinary process involving coordination and function. Through research and teaching, the transdisciplinary science of sustainability is a fundamental part of this approach. This book offers approaches to develop a transdisciplinary perspective that encompasses the natural, social, and human sciences in the search for a sustainable society.
Original Instructions
Indigenous leaders and other visionaries suggest solutions to today's global crisis. Original Instructions are ancient ways of living from the heart of humanity within the heart of nature. Explores the convergence of indigenous and contemporary science and the re-indigenization of the world's peoples. Includes authoritative indigenous voices, including John Mohawk and Winona LaDuke. For millennia the world's indigenous peoples have acted as guardians of the web of life for the next seven generations. They've successfully managed complex reciprocal relationships between biological and cultural diversity. Awareness of indigenous knowledge is reemerging at the eleventh hour to help avert global ecological and social collapse. Indigenous cultural wisdom shows us how to live in peace--with the earth and one another. Original Instructions evokes the rich indigenous storytelling tradition in this collection of presentations gathered from the annual Bioneers conference. It depicts how the world's native leaders and scholars are safeguarding the original instructions, reminding us about gratitude, kinship, and a reverence for community and creation. Included are more than 20 contemporary indigenous leaders--such as Chief Oren Lyons, John Mohawk, Winona LaDuke, and John Trudell. These beautiful, wise voices remind us where hope lies.
Sustainability: What it is and how to measure it
Sustainability: What It Is and How to Measure It begins with a succinct business-focused summary of how to think about the risks and opportunities associated with sustainability. The author then includes his proprietary framework, The Corporate Sustainability ScorecardTM C-suite rating system, including the over 140 key sustainability indicators that are used to rate an organization's sustainability efforts. Each KSI includes examples from organizations around the world, giving the reader a complete and unbiased understanding of all aspects of sustainability. The Scorecard has been developed over the past 20 years and used by more than 70 corporations to rate themselves on sustainability. Gilbert S. Hedstrom illustrates the use of the Scorecard with hundreds of examples. He discusses sustainability transformation, governance, and strategy and execution. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship form important parts of his discourse in this important contribution to the debate on sustainability that will benefit business executives and those interested in sustainability and business. Read the author's related article on the NACD blog here: https://blog.nacdonline.org/posts/pge-lessons-oversight
The Sustainability Handbook
The Sustainability Handbook covers all the challenges, complexities and benefits of sustainability for businesses, governments and other organizations. It provides a blueprint for how organizations can reach or exceed economic, social and environmental excellence. It offers a host of practical approaches and tools including a model sustainability policy for organizations, summaries of sustainability codes and tips on selecting them, an extensive collection of metrics and a wealth of supplementary reference material. This is the essential reference for every organization in pursuit of sustainability.