A sustainable alternative to globalization

 

Peter McManners author of Green Outcomes in the Real World published by Gower.

Watch this conversation between Gower Commissioning Editor Jonathan Norman and author of Green Outcomes in the Real World - Peter McManners. In this first three minute extract they discuss the aspects of Challenges of Economic Globalization and Sustainability, the limits to resources and the effect on the environment, along with engaging your people to buy-in to sustainability and localism.Carry on and watch part two  (4 mins) where Peter discusses the diminishing power of traditional Nation States  and the growth of huge multinationals - is that a threat to sustainability? He also discusses cradle to cradle production systems and how it is being driven by sustainability.  In part three (3 mins) Peter  looks at other forms of payment apart from money – swapping work – is this a black economy or does it energise communities?

 

Energy Efficiency in Buildings Whitepaper

Gower Author Kit Oung has been commissioned by Camfil UK Energy to write a Whitepaper on Efficiency Performance in Buildings.

He will also be speaking on 23 Jan 2013 at a joint Energy Institute and British Standard organised seminar  ”Energy Efficiency: What do we need to scale it up?”  His presentation is titled ”Energy Management and ISO 50001″.

Kit Ong is author of Energy Management in Business published in January 2013 by Gower.

Other books on sustainability in business can be found in our new Sustainability & Green Economics catalogue.

Time to think about both sides of the energy industry … supply AND demand

Sometimes we can overlook the simplest of questions because we become mesmerised by the scale or complexity of a particular issue; the energy industry is a case in point. Steven Fawkes’ article ‘Electricity Market Reform and the Demand Side’ offers a perspective on the dangers of a government focusing on one side of the equation (supply or demand) that is easy to grasp and hugely important, whether you are in the industry, an investor or just a UK citizen. Stephen Fawkes is author of Outsourcing Energy Management(2007) and Energy Efficiency: A Definitive Guide to the Fastest, Cheapest, Cleanest Forms of Energy (2013)

Global Sustainability CofP for Project Managers

Nearly 700 participants registered for the PMI Webinar on Sustainability in Project Management by Gilbert Silvius this week. For those who missed it and would like to see the presentation, it is available via this link.

Gilbert Silvius is co-author of the critically acclaimed Sustainability in Project Management published by Gower - to read the reviews and sample chapters please follow the link.

The Importance of People in Energy Reduction

Kit Oung’s Guardian Professional article The Importance of People in Energy Reduction accurately reflects my own experience. We have done a lot since we moved to our new premises to reduce our energy consumption and pretty much all of that has been motivated by the employee team who make up our green committee. The message is unequivocal: spend time thinking about the human factors, they are far and away more significant than technology-based solutions for most businesses. Kit Oung is author of the forthcoming Energy Management in Business: The Manager’s Guide to Maximizing and Sustaining Energy Reduction.

Green mega-projects sorely needed in Asia, report finds:

The Asian Development Bank this week urged Asian countries to implement green infrastructure projects to cope with the region’s explosive growth. Asia is urbanising at an unprecedented scale and speed, and if this trend continues it will pose enormous environmental challenges and degradation warned its Chief Economist, Changyong Rhee, at the launch of the Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2012 Green Urbanisation in Asia report. According to the report, since the 1980s Asia has been urbanising faster than anywhere else with the region, which is already home to almost half of the worlds city dwellers. In just over a decade it will be home to 21 of 37 mega-cities worldwide and in the coming generation 11 billion more people are expected to join Asia’s spiraling urban ranks. This  expansion has been accompanied by a sharp rise in pollution, slum dwelling and widening economic and social inequalities, causing rapid environmental degradation.

It is in response to issues like these that many of the world’s leading authors on Sustainability and Green Economics are calling for change. Latest research, ideas and practical expertise can be found amongst Gower’s Green Economics books at www.gowerpublishing.com/businessenvironment or www.gowerpublishing.com/environmentaleconomics which includes further titles from Ashgate.

As one reviewer of Gower’s Plan for the Planet comments:

“As the world struggles with increasing threats to sustainability, caused by population growth, overuse of fresh water resources, depletion of biodiversity, reliance on non-renewable energy sources, rising prices of food, and climate disruptions, there is an urgent need for a Plan for the Planet…..”

William N. Ryerson, President, Population Media Center and Population Institute, USA

Planet in a Pickle!

There will be plenty who criticize business for lack of social responsibility or simply failing to connect with the lives of people on the planet. Take a look at Ian Chamber’s Planet in a Pickle song; here’s a serious business person who’s not afraid to engage the future generations in the business sustainability message. Hat’s off to you, Ian! Ian Chambers is co-author of Plan for the Planet.

The Third Industrial Revolution

A recent post on Gower Author Peter McManners’ Blog discusses why the third industrial revolution, driven by the capabilities of highly versatile robots and new automated processes,  will have problems that need mitigating. The first of these is increased environmental damage, ushered in by the first industrial revolution…read more here.

Peter is the author of Green Outcomes in the Real World  considered as:

 ”excellent…provides a unique perspective on sustainability and globalisation” by Professor Emilio Herbolzheimer, Henley Business School

“ground-breaking book, Peter McManners shines a spotlight on some of the most intractable and important issues of the current age…should be compulsory reading for policy makers and students of international affairs.” by Paul Taylor, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics

and as a: 

“valuable and incisive book…makes challenging proposals for a new balance of responsibility and partnership in world affairs. These are indeed critical issues which will determine the future of humanity in the twenty-first century.” by Martin Lees, Secretary General, Club of Rome

PMI Global Congress EMEA 2012: Sustainability in Project Management

Gower Author Professor A.J.Gilbert Silvius (Sustainability in Project Management), will be joining a panel of presenters at the PMI Global Congress EMEA in Marseille 7-9 May 2012.

Titled ‘Sustainability in Project Management: The Future is Now’ the research working session on Sunday 6 May 8.30–16.00, will focus on current global issues and initiatives surrounding sustainability in all aspects of project management.

The panel of presenters will include both practitioners and researchers, including members of PMI’s Academic Member Advisory Group and other subject matter experts in the field. Other topics on the agenda include:

• Summary of current research on sustainable projects
• Considering the environmental impact and implications of projects
• Integrating sustainability initiatives as key components of project management life cycle
• What project managers and organisations can do better in terms of sustainable/green initiatives
• Sustainability initiatives in project management moving forward/for the future

This programme provides researchers, academics and advanced practitioners the opportunity to exchange ideas on new research and its application.

Sustainability in Project Management will be published in May 2012 by Gower.