Sustaining our Environment for Better Future: Challenges and Opportunities

Description

This book covers a variety of topics regarding environmental practices in our day-to-day lives, as well as topics concerning sustainable development as a broader concept embracing ecological, social, and economic aspects to improve the quality of life for people around the world. Starting with the traditional controversy between the neoclassical economy and sustainable economy, which may be overcome by scientific progress due to more intensive scientific studies of the sustainability paradigm, the book proceeds to discuss various problems and challenges regarding environmental protection and sustainable development in different countries and on different continents. This includes analyses of recent, sometimes fatal mining disasters in South and North America, challenges and opportunities for rural development in Africa and Australia, an exploration of the role of women for sustainable development in Palestine, water safety and water security issues in Asia and Australia, the environmental exploitation of popular tourism destinations like Acapulco, and deforestation in Malaysia, suggesting innovative approaches to turn challenges into opportunities to effectively tackle these problems. Other topics addressed involve sustainable energy creation for future generations, a research survey among Romanian students on sustainable consumption behavior, validity testing for a heat transfer model in a greenhouse, and a case study on sustainability risk management practices at Malaysia’s environmentally sensitive companies. The book closes with an examination of highly digitalized Smart Cities as a potentially valuable complement to conventional urban and rural lifestyles in connection with achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Front Matter ....Pages i-xxiv Progress in Economic Thought: Neoclassical Economics Versus Sustainable Economics (Michael von Hauff)....Pages 1-16 Mining Environmental Disasters in North and South America: The Current Practices and the Way Forward (Odile Schwarz-Herion, Abdelnaser Omran)....Pages 17-31 Rural Development in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities (Abdullahi Nafiu Zadawa, Abdelnaser Omran)....Pages 33-42 Regenerating the Pearl of the Pacific: A Destination Capitals Approach to Acapulco’s Tourism Development (Mark Speakman, Alejandro Díaz Garay)....Pages 43-61 Relationship Between Women and Environment Toward Sustainable Development: A Case Study from Palestine (Abdelnaser Omran, Fulla Ismail Sharaf)....Pages 63-73 Water Contamination and Health Hazards in Pakistan: An Overview of the Current Scenario and Contemporary Challenges (Hafiz Waqas Kamran, Abdelnaser Omran)....Pages 75-84 Water Security: Challenges to the Irrigation Water-Energy Nexus in Australia (Stefanie Schulte, Georgina Davis, Jennifer Brown)....Pages 85-116 Sustaining Queensland’s Agricultural Sector: Challenges and Opportunities from the Bioeconomy and the Circular Economy (Georgina Davis)....Pages 117-144 Creating Sustainable Energy for Future Generations (Dumitru-Alexandru Bodislav, Florina Bran, Carmen Valentina Rădulescu)....Pages 145-157 Sustainable Consumption Behavior Among Romanian Students (Rodica Ianole-Călin, Magdalena Rădulescu, Elena Druică)....Pages 159-174 Deforestation in Malaysia: The Current Practice and the Way Forward (Abdelnaser Omran, Odile Schwarz-Herion)....Pages 175-193 Meeting the Stakeholder Needs and Sustaining Business Through Sustainability Risk Management Practices: A Case Study of Malaysian Environmentally Sensitive Companies (Nazliatul Aniza Abdul Aziz, Norlida Abdul Manab)....Pages 195-208 The Role of Smart Cities for the Realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (Odile Schwarz-Herion)....Pages 209-257