The aim of this 2-volume book is to highlight how Sustainability Science approaches can help solve some of the pervasive challenges that Africa faces. The volumes collect a number of local case studies throughout Africa that adopt transdisciplinary and problem-oriented research approaches using methodologies from the natural and the social sciences. These are put into perspective with chapters that introduce key sustainability challenges such using a regional focus. Through this multi-scale and inter/transdisciplinary approach the proposed volume will provide an authoritative source that will pack in a single volume a large amount of information on how Sustainability Science approaches sustainability challenges in African contexts. While there have been general books about sustainability science, none has had a strong African focus. As a result the 2-volume set fills a major gap in the Sustainability Science scholarship. This volume sets the stage for the series. Part I introduces key sustainability challenges in Africa. Parts II‐III highlights specific case studies related to these challenges from West and Central Africa.

The aim of this two-volume book series is to highlight some of the most pervasive sustainability challenges that Sub-Saharan Africa faces. The two volumes contain 20 chapters that illustrate very diverse sustainability challenges throughout the continent, adopting interdisciplinary and problem-oriented research approaches, and methods from the natural and the social sciences. The very diverse case study chapters are put into perspective with chapters that introduce key sustainability challenges using a regional focus. Through this multi-scale and interdisciplinary approach the two volumes provide an authoritative source about the major sustainability challenges in the continent, and how to mobilise such perspectives to develop appropriate solutions. The two volumes have a uniquely broad focus that fills a major gap in the emerging Sustainability Science scholarship. Parts I-II highlight specific case studies on major sustainability challenges from Eastern and Southern Africa. Part III synthesizes the main lessons learnt from the chapters in the two edited volumes.

This book considers the issue of sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa. It assesses the progress that has been made in sustainable development and the challenges that must still be addressed. Most importantly, it focuses on African experiences with sustainable development. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the framework for the analysis, the manuscript traces how the discourse on sustainability has evolved from a cultural, political, economic, and social perspective. It focuses on the goals for climate action, sustainable cities and communities, institutions, and partnerships to examine the vulnerability of Africans to climate change, attitudes towards sustainability, ethical challenges to implementing sustainable development programs, the relationship between governance, poverty, and sustainability, environmental terrorism, sustainable health care, sustainable transportation, and the use of open green space to promote a sustainable urban community. The book integrates the theory, practice, ethics, and policy of sustainability to better understand the implications for problems and responses to sustainable development in Africa. No book has applied the SDGs to an evaluation of sustainable development in Africa. This book fills that gap. Chapters from leading scholars utilize various research methods combined with case study analysis to provide context and a deeper understanding of the critical issues in sustainability in the sub-Saharan African world. The first section of the book examines the theory of sustainability and provides an overview of some of the most important institutional questions in the discourse on environmental policies in the African world. The next section of the book focuses on the issues and challenges that inform our understanding of sustainability and the implementation of best practices. Sustainability is examined in a global context as the difficulties in enforcing international standards and protections in the state-centered international order are considered. The final part of the book engages in a more in-depth examination of several specific examples of sustainability in urban Africa.

This open access book discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by companies in an age that increasingly values sustainability and demands corporate responsibility. Beginning with the historical development of corporate responsibility, this book moves from academic theory to practical application. It points to ways in which companies can successfully manage their transition to a more responsible, sustainable way of doing business, common mistakes to avoid and how the UN Sustainable Development Goals are integral to any sustainability transformation. Practical cases illustrate key points. Drawing on thirty years of sustainability research and extensive corporate experience, the author provides tools such as a Step-by-Step strategic guide on integrating sustainability in collaboration with stakeholders including employees, customers, suppliers and investors. The book is particularly relevant for SMEs and companies operating in emerging markets. From a broader perspective, the value of externalities, full cost pricing, alternative economic theories and circular economy are also addressed.

This book serves the purpose of documenting and promoting African experiences on sustainable development, which encompasses both, formal and non-formal education. Sustainable development is very important to Africa, but there is a paucity of publication which documents and promotes experiences from African countries. Due to their complexity, the interrelations between social, economic and political factors related to sustainable development, especially at universities, need to be better understood. There is also a real need to showcase successful examples of how African institutions are handling their sustainability challenges. It is against this background that this book has been produced. It is a truly interdisciplinary publication, useful to scholars, social movements, practitioners and members of governmental agencies and private companies, undertaking research and/or executing projects focusing on sustainability from across Africa. As African nations strive to pursue the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it is imperative to cater for the information needs seen across the continent and foster the dissemination of experiences and case studies, which may support both, on-going and future efforts. The scope of the book is deliberately kept wide, and we are looking for contributions across the spectrum of sustainable development from business and economics, to arts and fashion, administration, environment, languages and media studies.

Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region. Boxes covering specific themes written by scientists who live and work throughout the region are included in each chapter, together with recommended readings and suggested discussion topics. Each chapter also includes an extensive bibliography. Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the most up-to-date study in the field. It is an essential resource, available on-line without charge, for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a handy guide for professionals working to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.

Based on case studies in Southern Africa, West Africa and East Africa, this book revisits some of the dilemmas and paradoxes associated with the development, management and utilisation of environmental resources, as well as lacklustre official handling of climate change-related challenges, in Sub-Saharan Africa. On the subject of natural resource exploitation, in particular, the book revisits scholarly debates and specific practices around compensation, benefit- and burden-sharing, local participation and space-place dynamics. It highlights fundamental ambiguities in the ways the dominant discourses and policy responses have been framed and mobilised, and examines epistemic and ideational incongruences that have hobbled and sometimes negated the effectiveness of otherwise well-intentioned interventions. On climate change, the book revisits debates around the vulnerability-assets nexus with regard to mitigation and adaptation, as well as the intersection of climate information and livelihoods in agro-based settings. The contradictions, gaps and limitations of climate change policies and strategies in different regions are re-examined based on new data. In the last few years, the Environment and Natural Resources Working Group of the South African Sociological Association (SASA) has intensified efforts to go beyond the annual SASA Congresses and the production of journal articles, in making the research agendas of its members more visible to the global scholarly and policy community. This book is one result of such efforts. It calls for a constant questioning of orthodoxies and the promotion of ethnographically sensitive and epistemologically nuanced scholarly and policy approaches to developmental challenges in Africa, especially in relation to environmental resources and environmental change.