...REPORT ON THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON WOMEN AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BEIJING, CHINA 9 – 11 NOVEMBER 2011 BACKGROUND International Forum on Women and Sustainable Development was organized by the All China Women’s Federation in Beijing, China. The All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF) was founded on April 3rd, 1949. It is a mass organization of Chinese women of all ethnic groups in all walks of life, striving for women’s advancement. Its mission is to represent and safeguard women’s rights and interests and to promote equality between women and men. ACWF is also a member of the National Working Committee on Women and Children under the State Council. It is in consultative status with the ECOSOC of the United Nations. INTRODUCTION Sustainable development, as a visionary development paradigm shift, represents a big step forward in the progress of human society. It demonstrates the resolve and efforts of people around the world to ensure sound development and the well-being of the current and future generations. Sustainable development can neither be achieved nor sustained without the participation of women who are an important driving force. The United Nations and member states have already initiated different kinds of activities to prepare for the Rio+20 Summit. Both sustainable development and empowerment of women are considered a priority of the United Nations in 2011. As such, it is of special significance to reflect women’s needs and concerns and heed women’s...
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...Sustainable development (SD) is a pattern of economic growth in which resource use aims to meet human needs while preserving theenvironment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come (sometimes taught as ELF-Environment, Local people, Future[citation needed]). The term 'sustainable development' was used by the Brundtland Commission which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."[1][2] Alternatively, sustainability educator Michael Thomas Needham referred to 'Sustainable Development' "as the ability to meet the needs of the present while contributing to the future generations’ needs."[3] There is an additional focus on the present generations responsibility to improve the future generations life by restoring the previous ecosystem damage and resisting to contribute to further ecosystem damage. Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social challenges faced by humanity. As early as the 1970s, "sustainability" was employed to describe an economy "in equilibrium with basic ecological support systems."[4]Ecologists have pointed to The Limits to Growth,[5] and presented the alternative of a "steady state economy"[6] in order to address environmental concerns. The concept of sustainable development is often...
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...Running Head: TOURISM DEVELOPMENT Tourism Development and Planning [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institute] Tourism Development and Planning Introduction Tourism is defined as those friendly tourist activities with the natural, cultural and social and community values, which allows you to enjoy a positive exchange of experience among residents and visitors, where the relationship between tourists and the community is fair and benefits the activity is distributed fairly, and where visitors have a truly participatory attitude in their travel experience. Tourism is fundamental for the economy of many regions, like Thailand. Because tourism involves attracting foreign exchange, it is generally the only means of economic development for some nations. It provides an opportunity for development, employment marketing and sale of local goods etc. It also helps in creating service industries, which are crucial for the development of a region. Many evolving nations like the overview of tourism as a vehicle for financial development, granted its promise to profit from foreign exchange, decrease earnings and paid work disparities, reinforce linkages amidst financial parts and assist to alleviate poverty. The dispute opposite policy maker is to have a broader viewpoint and better comprehending, that there can be both affirmative and contradictory consequences from tourism development. Tourism, in fact, has a number of features that make it an activity to be...
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...responsibility (CSR) as conducting transparent business practices that are based on ethical values, compliance with legal requirement, and respect for people, communities, and the environment. According to the Social Responsibility of the Businessman, CSR is defined as “the obligations of business to pursue those policies, to make those decisions or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society” (Bowen, 1953). 2.0 The potential of CSR in creating sustainable development The previous driving force had a great potential of exploiting the sustainability of this world at large. This is solely because when a company’s only purpose is to maximize profit at any economic, environmental or social cost. According to the Brundtland report sustainable development is interpreted as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The definition given by Brundtland report is built under two main concepts; needs and limitation. Needs in a sense is attributed to the essential needs of the majority of the current population, the poor people, to which the main priority should be given. Similarly, the concept of limitation measures the environment’s ability to meet present and future need. The reason to this is, our plant...
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...1.0 Introduction Companies around the world are focussing on incorporating sustainability policy and practices in their supply chain (Ageron et al, 2011). The topic of sustainability has been of great interest for the last decade and businesses have adopted a certain level of commitment towards sustainability practices (Hassini et al, 2012), yet some business tycoons suffer in developing an effective supply chain model. This report primarily discusses the issues that Wal-Mart is facing in establishing and maintaining a sustainable supply chain. The report outlines the company's origin and its progress in the years, followed by describing the issue it is faces. The issue described is related to Wal-Mart's failure to develop a Green sustainable process and the effects it has on the environment. 2.0 Company Background - Wal-Mart The idea of retail business grew very popular in the United States in the early 1950's, and Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart was convinced that people wanted more than just retail showrooms. Hence he opened his own retail store providing large discounts (Reuters, 2013). Over the years he spread his business across the United States and set up his first Wal-Mart store in 1962. In the next five years he opened 24 more stores and in 1969 Wal-Mart established itself as an incorporated company under the official name, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Wal-Mart Corporate, 2013). Phenomenal transformation of national retail business into global retail chains were witnessed...
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...What is Sustainable Development? The concept of Sustainable Development has been staged globally as a political and ethical guideline for dealing with the world’s environmental and social crisis in the last two decades. Its growth is often associated with the numerous environmental movements, more popularly by the World Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission in 1987. But some studies have found out that its history can be further traced back as early as the European Enlightenment when German Kameralists began to be concerned about handing down “undiminished” dynasties to future generations. In the 1987 Brundtland Report dubbed as Our Common Future, Sustainable Development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For the business enterprise, sustainable development means adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future. Just like a system, the world we live in connects us in space and time. America’s decisions a long time ago, for instance, will not just affect its present and future generations but also even people outside of its continent. Hence, most definitions of sustainable development emphasize the need to recognize how our decisions and actions affect...
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...market while protecting the capital base. The balance of power has shifted between corporations and it is important to balance economic prosperity along with environmental and social dimensions. Sustainable business strategy represents a marked shift in traditional business practices and companies who do not adapt to the changes in these practices in order to achieve sustainable profitability will be more likely to face the brand value decline or even extinction in the future. For instance, the change represents the need to understand how all three dimensions affect each other and companies ought to consciously create new consumer preferences. However, a lot of companies still are missing guidelines to implementing a marketing strategy of sustainability as an essential part, which is at the core of ensuring organizational, social, economic and environment growth while managing overconsumption issues (White, 2011). Current researches tend to focus on developing a more sustainable approach on product design, pricing, promotion and distribution when it comes to the sustainable business strategy and companies are widely integrating this approach. On the other hand, the theoretical practices of promoting sustainable consumption in customer-citizens are an emerging potential for further development of sustainability. As a...
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...2007 Sustainable World In the late twentieth century, rapid development of information technology and products such as the PC, satellite and Internet became a driving force of globalization. The impact of globalization is reflected on weakening world governments in terms of decision-making and influence, and on the increasing power of multinationals. Data from the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that among the largest 100 global economies, 51 of them are transnational groups and the rest are national states. Although businesses represent the lifeblood of a nation's economy, they place excessive demand on the natural environment in pursuit of growth and stress the earth's ecosystems. As a result, earth-protection groups are calling on transnational groups to take up environmental, moral and social responsibilities. "Sustainable Development" is widely considered the challenge facing corporations in the 21st century. One of the prerequisites to achieving sustainable development is by sincerely carrying out corporate social responsibility (CSR). In the past, a company’s responsibility was about maximizing profits for shareholders and fulfilling CSR through the tax paying mechanism; that was all about social responsibility. Nowadays the definition of CSR has shifted from acting egoistic to altruistic. For example, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) defines CSR as "a business' commitment to contributing to sustainable economic development, working...
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...UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION EDUCATING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE A TRANSDISCIPLINARY VISION FOR CONCERTED ACTION EPD-97/CONF.401/CLD.1. November 1997. Original: English. Also available in French and Spanish. Other language versions are foreseen. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNESCO EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION I. WHAT IS ‘SUSTAINABILITY’? * BEHIND THE HEADLINES * Population * Poverty * Environmental degradation * Democracy, human rights and peace * Development * Interdependence * NORTH-SOUTH DIFFERENCES * TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABILITY * A dynamic balance * An emerging vision * EDUCATION: THE FORCE OF THE FUTURE II. PUBLIC AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING: THE FUEL FOR CHANGE * THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION * CONFRONTING VESTED INTERESTS * COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES * COMPLEX MESSAGES * THE MESSENGERS * REASON FOR OPTIMISM III. REORIENTING EDUCATION TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABILITY * IMPORTANCE OF BASIC EDUCATION * WHAT CHANGES DOES SUSTAINABILITY REQUIRE? * Curriculum reform * Structural reform * EDUCATIONAL REFORM: A CASE STUDY * REFORM AT DIFFERENT SCALES * CONTRIBUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION * INTERDISCIPLINARITY IV. SHIFTING TO SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES: CHANGING CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION PATTERNS * INDIVIDUAL CHOICES AND LIFESTYLES * COLLECTIVE DECISION-MAKING ...
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...INVITATION: VALIDATION WORKSHOP ON THE PREPARATION OF NATIONAL HABITAT III REPORT Subsequent to Habitat II, the United Nations General Assembly will decide to convene the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development (Habitat III) in 2016. Habitat III will be one of the first global Conferences after the Post 2015 Urban Development Agenda and is intended to provide the opportunity to discuss and chart new pathways in response to the challenges of urbanization and the opportunities it offers for the implementation of the sustainable development goals. 2. A major pre-condition for the event is all Member States to prepare a comprehensive country report bordering on urban demography, land and urban planning, environment and urbanization, urban governance and legislation, urban economy, housing and basic services, indicator and case study and policy document, which will feed into the global report 3. The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and Partners have initiated the process towards fulfilling this important criterion. This includes a consultative workshop which was successfully organized on the 5th of November, 2014 at the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) to elicit inputs for the Draft Report. 4. The Consultants have successfully submitted the Final Draft Report to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for review and validation. 6. You are therefore kindly invited to a one day (1) Validation...
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...Question 1(word count 897) From its humble beginnings the McDonalds organisation has continuously looked to engage everyone within the business to help identify and solve problems and has made the elements of leadership, participation, team-based structures, strong adoptive cultures, employee empowerment and the open sharing of information key pillars in which it has built itself from the ground up. Sustainable development has also been at the forefront of the McDonalds organisation and is an integral part of the continued success of the organisation and its ability to weather the storm from critics regarding the quality of its “fast food” in recent years and stay ahead of its competitors. McDonalds has a rich heritage of leadership and investing in its leaders. In 1961 Hamburger University was established in Elk Grove, Ill to train restaurant staff and management in the consistent procedures of the restaurants operations and create a culture that has continued. The 2008 CEO Jim Skinner worked his way up from Trainee Manager. Skinner is also a man of values and ethics: When McDonald’s was blamed for the obesity problem, he helped direct the company to take responsibility and help create a solution rather than pass the blame. Thus, Skinner can be seen as a moral leader. McDonalds prides itself on leading from the top down but also encouraging ideas and innovation from the bottom up. Ray Kroc has encouraged a participative strategy at McDonalds from the beginning with some...
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...Group Sustainability Report 2010 Executive summary 11 Social responsibility Ecological sustainability Delivering value Assurance SuSTainabiliTy manaGEmEnT background Sustainability management and reporting is aligned with the three principles of the AA1000 AccountAbility Principles Standard (2008) 1 : materiality, inclusivity and responsiveness. Members are firmly embedded in governance (both in general, and in sustainability governance specifically) and policy formulation (pages 13 and 14). As such, whilst engagement with wider stakeholders is central, there is an additional focus on how democratic structures are used to ensure that strategies, policies and performance respond to stakeholder concerns. This level of responsiveness is almost certainly unique among large businesses in the UK. materiality and strategy In 2010, following consultation with different stakeholders, the Group Board agreed a new vision: ‘to build a better society by excelling at everything we do’. In pursuit of this, six aims are identified: to be a commercially successful business; to meet the needs of the customers and communities served; to respond to members and to share profits; to be an ethical leader; to be an exemplary employer; and to inspire others through co-operation. The key performance indicators underpinning strategy, together with progress, are presented within the Annual Report and Accounts 2 . The Sustainable Development Policy (page 10)...
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...Murdoch Business School Working Papers Factors Affecting the GRI Disclosures in the Annual Reports of Australian State Government Departments Dr Maria Mucciarone Murdoch Business School Professor Greg Tower - Curtin University Professor Mike Garner - Salisbury University Working Paper No.3 February 2012 The views presented in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Murdoch Business School or Murdoch University. Working papers are considered draft publications for critical comments by colleagues and will generally be expected to be published elsewhere in a more polished form after a period of critical engagement and revision. Comments on this paper should be directed to the authors at m.mucciarone@murdoch.edu.au; Greg.Tower@cbs.curtin.edu.au; rmgarner@salisbury.edu.au © Copyright is held by the author(s) of each working paper: No part of this publication may be republished, reprinted or reproduced in any form without the permission of the paper’s author(s). National Library of Australia. ISSN: 1837-6371 Factors Affecting the GRI Disclosures in the Annual Reports of Australian State Government Departments Abstract Purpose: Growing concern over the environmental impact of climate change and carbon tax has increased demand for public disclosure on how government departments are fulfilling their social and environmental obligations. The purpose of this study is to identify what factors influence Australian State government...
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...Proposal: HUMAN CAPITAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY. Background of the Study Human Capital has been recognized globally as one major factor that is responsible for the wealth of nations. According to Smith (1776) and Folloni & Vittadini (2010), human capital refers to the acquired and useful abilities of all the inhabitants or members of the society. Without adequate investment in developing the human capital which is the process of increasing knowledge, skills and the capacities of people in the country, the possibility of sustainable development might be minimal. Investment in the human resource determines the type, quality, availability and productivity of the nation’s manpower. It involves the socio-economic development strategies (European Commission, 2007) critically needed to facilitate sustainable development. One major challenge facing Nigeria as a nation within the global community, is how to achieve sustainable development. According to the IMF (2002), sustainable development is made of three pillars. They are economic development, social development and environmental development. The essence of these pillars are to maintain and enhance the capacity and capability of future generations while meeting the needs of the present generation. To accomplish these multi-dimensional tasks, human capital should be strategically cultivated and positioned for the preservation of both the present and the future economic growth and development of a nation. Thus,...
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...Nestlé. The company grew significantly during the First World War and again following the Second World War, expanding its offerings beyond its early condensed milk and infant formula products. In 2011, Nestlé was listed No.1 in the Fortune Global 500 as the world’s most profitable corporation. The Nestlé Corporate Business Principles are at the basis of the company’s culture, developed over 140 years, which reflects the ideas of fairness, honesty and long-term thinking. 2. Case analysis from following article : Nestle's commitment to sustainable business practices is part of the company's global business philosophy, Creating Shared Value. Core to the business model is working to ensure that the company is environmentally responsible and mindful of water and the other natural resources. (http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/24226/Nestle- commitment-sustainable-practices). “At Nestlé, we define sustainable development as the process of...
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