Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
are predicted to be enormous, changing the whole ecology of the planet. A
technical solution is to replace fossil fuel with renewable resources such as
biofuel derived from agricultural crops. Policy-makers in Europe can see
a wide range of benei ts from this move: meeting commitments under the
Kyoto Protocol, improved security of fuel supplies, enhanced European
integration through agricultural subsidies to new European partners and a
strong market for biofuels from developing countries, which can help meet
the Millennium Development Goals. Set against these potential benei ts
are environmentally negative changes in land use such as the destruction
of tropical rainforest for biofuel crops and the introduction of large-scale
mono-cultures. The future will reveal if 'second generation' biofuels
from wood products are the answer, or if biofuels of er a false dawn for
maintaining our fuel dependence in light of global warming.
Each of the chapters in this handbook provides practical examples
of the ways in which insights from the social sciences can complement
knowledge from the natural sciences to make environmental management
more ef ective. Sustainable development presents the dual challenge of
maintaining environmental quality whilst improving the livelihoods of
the people who rely on natural resources. In the past, implementation
of environmental management has been hampered by a tendency to rely
on technical solutions without understanding the socioeconomic context
within which these technical solutions were applied. The complementary
application of dif erent social science techniques in combination with
ecology-based management thinking, as demonstrated in this handbook,
provides practical solutions to overcoming this problem. Such an inter-
disciplinary approach to environmental management, working across the
social and natural sciences, is integral to developing ef ective management
solutions and achieving sustainable development.
References
Hardin, G. (1968), 'The tragedy of the commons', Science , 162 (3859), 1243-8.
Leach, M. and R. Mearns (1996), The Lie of the Land. Challenging Received Wisdom on the
African Environment , Oxford, UK: James Currey.
Ockwell, D.G. (2008), '“Opening up” policy to rel exive appraisal: a role for Q Methodology?
A case study of i re management in Cape York, Australia', Policy Sciences , 41 (4), 263-92.
Ockwell, D. and Y. Rydin (2006), 'Conl icting discourses of knowledge: understanding the
policy adoption of pro-burning knowledge claims in Cape York Peninsula, Australia',
Environmental Politics , 15 (3), 379-98.
Snow, C.P. (1998), The Two Cultures , Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
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