There has been a profound change within the sphere of government and societal regulation in recent years. Traditional hierarchical government has been challenged by new governance instruments relying on negotiations instead of command and control. Alongside this development there has been a change in the time-framing of politics and steering. Traditional politics implicitly has been based on stability and permanence while new forms of governance explicitly are based on just-in-time actions such as projects and issue-based collaborations in networks and programs. This book analyses the implications of this shortening of time frames, focusing particularly on spatial policy interventions. Spatial policies have a special relevance when it comes to governance and new forms of societal steering. On the one hand, the local (geographical) level in politics is the principal battleground for the struggle between top down and bottom up approaches and aspirations. On the other hand, many of the most burning issues of our time require a global, strategic approach, for example, climate change, resource depletion, population growth are anchored in space and the physical world. Whether and how short-term spatial approaches can achieve sustainable development outcomes is thus a critical question, and forms the focus of this volume. The book examines the characteristics of temporary policy measures across a range of rural, urban and regional contexts, in four continents: Europe, North America, Oceania and Africa. The outcomes and effects of these policies and interventions are analysed, particularly focusing on the tension between short-term interventions and long-term effects.

What has prompted the shift toward sustainability in numerous financial areas? Can investors' mindsets be changed to embrace a long-term view? Can shareholders and activists play a greater role in encouraging financial actors to behave more responsibly? These are some of the relevant topics that are explored in this forward-looking set of essays.

This book deals with short-term and long-term issues associated with directions of economic development in developing as well as industrialized countries. It examines various aspects of the interrelationships among the environment, energy requirements, and economic development-- a topic much discussed since the Rio Earth Summit. It emphasizes the increasing environmental stress arising from such human activities as growing energy consumption associated with economic development; the risk of further environmental degradation due to economic development in developing countries; the importance of global environmental problems such as climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions; the significance of impacts of deforestation and desertification on rural societies in the developing world; the role of new technologies in addressing the trilemma of energy demand, economic development, and the environment; the opportunity for the developing economies through implementing technological leapfrogging and phased approaches; and the need for removing technological, economic, and social barriers to achieving sustainable development. It underscores the need for further scientific information and analytical studies, such as improved climate and econometric modelling. The book will be of tremendous value to experts and policy makers dealing with energy and sustainable development issues.

This edition of the OECD Sovereign Borrowing Outlook reviews developments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for government borrowing needs, funding conditions and funding strategies in the OECD area.

A complete guide to sustainability policy at the federal, state, and local levels Sustainability Policy: Hastening the Transition to a Cleaner Economy is a fundamental guide for public sector professionals new to sustainability policy development, implementation, strategy, and practice. Featuring detailed cases highlighting innovative sustainability initiatives, this book explores the elements that constitute effective policy, and the factors that can help or hinder implementation and adoption. Readers gain insight into policies in effect at the federal, state, and local levels, in the areas of water, energy, material use, and waste management, and the reasons why local policies are often the most innovative and successful. Discussion surrounding monitoring and measurement addresses the lack of standardization, as well as the government's critical role in leading the field toward generally accepted sustainability metrics, while outlining the reasons why certain policies are more feasible than others. This book is an introductory resource, written in non-technical language, and organized in a coherent manner that establishes foundational knowledge before introducing more complex issues. Even readers with little background in sustainability will gain insight into the current state of the field and the issues at hand. Understand sustainability in public and private enterprises, including the role of government and public policy Learn the current standing federal, state, and local policies surrounding sustainability Discover what makes an effective sustainability policy, including measurement and evaluation metrics Explore the politics and future of sustainability, and the barriers to change Sustainability is a hot topic in both the public and private sector, with vocal advocates on both sides of every issue, so developing effective policy is crucial. For public sector professionals entering the sustainability field, Introduction to Sustainability Policy & Management is a valuable resource.

This book results from a pioneering effort to organize a productive interdisciplinary research program on sustainable development policy in a small country not previously recognized as a world leader in environmental social science. The results are very promising, considering the short time frame and the high barriers to success for such an enterprise - differences in concepts and terminology, disciplinary myopia, and the inherent difficulty of the problem. In the USA, where I work, these barriers continue to pose major challenges after some 30 years of effort. Switzerland has made noteworthy progress in only five. I hope this book represents the beginning of a long term effort at problem-oriented interdisciplinary collaboration among Swiss researchers and prac titioners. The Swiss group has succeeded in developing a unifying framework that makes a major contri bution to environmental policy analysis. The framework broadens policy thinking by giving se rious treatment to underutilized strategies that rely on communication and informal influence as well as to well-studied ones that rely on technological change, regulation, and economic forces. This broad typology makes it easier for an analyst to escape the tendency to presume that the po licy instrument currently in fashion, whether it be market-based instruments, voluntary measures, or whatever, is the right strategy for all problems. It also encourages discipline-based analysts to consider how their favored strategies might be combined with other strategies less familiar to them, and thus to craft strategies that can take advantage of the strengths of various policy instruments.

This book analyses international Green Infrastructure (GI) planning and design strategies. The GI strategy is widely recognized for its multifunctionality (as a tool for ecological, economic and social enhancement) and multiscalarity. Starting from this assumption, the book intends to implement the concept of GI and blue networks in planning strategies and their linked urban projects. New urban and regional paradigms of the latest years, such as urban sprawl, ecosystem services, biodiversity, urban resilience, climate change and health emergencies, have made it necessary to rethink cities and territories and their related plans and projects. To satisfy these paradigms, worldwide plans and projects have started to focus both on short-term and long-term processes and strategies which integrate environmental, landscape and ecological elements. Chapters 1 and 6 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.