Basically, both partnership and leadership can be seen in a positive and negative way: for example, as far as partnership is concerned, we can assume that the path towards sustainability can be paved by parties coming together, taking some initiative collaborating. On the opposite, partnership and consensus-based decisions can be seen as an obstacle to foster radical changes in production and consumption patterns. Similarly, leadership can be seen as an obstacle to sustainable development if leaders form close circles and are not willing to share experiences with other actors; but leadership could also be considered as an important element to keep concepts and practices forward. The book holds this double perspective: explaining, mapping and analyzing different goals/formats/methods of more and less collaborative approaches, but at the same time taking a critical approach to the theme by understanding related risks, effects, prospects and corrective actions.
Next to a conceptual part, the book brings together case-studies from around the world. The focus is in describing and understanding various formats of collaboration and critically evaluating its effects and prospects. A concluding chapter discusses the role of partnership and leadership in realizing various levels of environmental innovations: optimization and re-design, that usually affect only a small part of the production/consumption structure, and much more complicated, radical innovations that have to deal with societal (sub)systems.
The book is in part an edited version of selected papers presented during the 1998 Greening of Industry Conference in Rome on the subject, enriched with contributions of other invited authors.
This book gives a comprehensive coverage of the state of the art. It presents a number of EMA frameworks that companies can take as a basis for implementing their own specific EMA structures. Besides discussing environmental accounting issues within conventional management accounting, it gives a detailed picture of materials flow (cost) accounting as an alternative way of looking at the ecology-economy relationships at the corporate level. A fascinating case study shows how a large company (Siemens) applies materials flow accounting and what benefits it entails.
Applying EMA in an effective way may require the use of information systems. The book discusses the pros and cons of different strategies in this area: one may opt for a total integrated solution, partially integrated solutions or for a stand-alone system.
Governments may have good reasons to promote the application of EMA. The use of economic instruments to internalise environmental externalities (norms, ecotaxes and tradable permits) can be much more effective if the incentives they produce are not frustrated by a lack of adequate cost accounting. EMA can be of great importance here. The book discusses a number of these issues, gives information on how international and national organisations (such as in Japan) have taken steps to promote the adoption of EMA by the business community.
A final section presents a number of different topics such as how environmental costs can be of help in defining environmental management strategies, how to take environmental performance indicators a step further by developing sustainability indicators for product chains. A final chapter explores a possible theoretical foundation for research on why, how and to what extent companies adopt EMA. Such research may help to turn available insights as to what EMA should be into effective EMA strategies.
The book has been developed under the auspices of the Environmental Management Accounting Network (EMAN-EU). The chapters derive from a selection of papers presented at different EMAN meetings. The authors comprise a truly international group of EMA experts, among whom are the most prominent ones in the field.
This book shows for the first time how mental models and values influence this attribution in the life cycle inventory step of LCA. One of the key findings is that the different management rules for a sustainable use of materials must be taken into account for the attribution of material and energy flows to a product. Otherwise, improvement options recommended by an LCA might turn out to even worsen the environmental situation if reassessed from a meta-perspective.
As a consequence of this book, the claim of unambiguitiy (‘objectivity’) of the life cycle inventory must be abandoned. A group-model building process for LCA is developed that allows one to grasp the decision makers' mental models and values in the inventory analysis on a case- and situation-specific basis. Only by this, LCA results will become relevant in a decision-making process.
Two case studies on the modelling of recycling and other end-of-life options of aluminium windows and beech wood railway sleepers in LCA complement the methodological part.
This book is a ‘must have’ for researchers, consultants and practitioners in the fields of decision-oriented life cycle assessment as well as product-related environmental management, modelling and decision-making.
User Behavior and Technology Development explores the relationships between technology and behavior from an interdisciplinary perspective. It includes contributions from cognitive psychology, industrial design, public administration, marketing, sociology, ergonomics, science and technology studies, and philosophy. The book aims to create a conceptual basis for analyzing interactions between technology and behavior, and to provide insights that are relevant to technology design and environmental policy.