This book demonstrates how environmental concerns are becoming increasingly central to social policy and discusses the roles of central and local government in realtion to environmental issues.

​ ​This book argues that social and environmental policy should be synthetically treated as one and the same field, that both are but two aspects of the same coin – if sustainability is the goal. Such a paradigm shift is indicated, important, and timely to effectively move towards sustainability. This book is the first to take this approach and to give examples for it. Not to synthetically merge the two fields has been and will continue to be highly insufficient, inefficient and contradictory for policy and public administration aiming for a transformation towards a sustainable world. In general, social problems are dealt with in one “policy corner” and environmental problems in another. Rarely is social policy (at large) concerned with its impact on the environment or its connection with and relevance to environmental policy. Equally, environmental problems are generally not seen in conjunction with social policy, even though much environmental policy directly relates to health, nutrition, migration and other issues addressed by social policy. This book intends to correct the pattern to separate these very significant and large policy fields. Using examples from diverse academic and applied fields, it is shown how environmental policy can (and should) be thought of as social policy – and how social policy can (and should) simultaneously be seen as environmental policy. Tremendous benefits are to be expected.

Environment and Society explores ways to promote the behavioural shifts necessary for creating a 'sustainable society'. Through a critical approach to the links between sustainability, policy and citizen engagement, the book argues that sustainability policy needs to move towards a positive perspective, utilizing the well-known techniques of segmentation and social marketing. Such 'mainstreaming' of sustainable lifestyles is likely to be the only effective means of engaging the majority of citizens in the environmental debate, given the major influence of the consumer society on individual aspirations and beliefs. Comprised of three substantive elements, Environment and Society explores the context for behaviour change policy, the approaches adopted by politicians and academic researchers, and the application of such approaches using empirical data from two major research projects. The book is richly illustrated using both theoretical and empirical data and provides an excellent companion to all researchers interested in sustainable lifestyles.

Environmental change is central to the global social policy challenges of the twenty-first century. This comprehensive Handbook brings together leading experts from around the world to address the most important questions and issues we face. How should

The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.

"Tony Fitzpatrick has assembled a very thoughtful collection of chapters which examine the various ways in which social and environmental concerns intersect with one another. At a very general level, sustainability offers a neat and tidy way to reconcile them. But as this book, sustainability offers neat and tidy way to reconcile them. But as this book usefully revels, in practice they interact in ways that are far from straightforward. "Professor Andrew Jordan, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia "The intersection of social policy and environmental policy is strategically and morally vital yet has remained a strangely neglected area. No longer. This comprehensive book covers real world challenges, sustainable ethics, a host of applied policy issues, and some bigger questions about the possibility of a green welfare state." Ian Gough, Emeritus Professor, University of Bath Environmental issues are central to the social and political reforms of the 21st century. Bringing together leading experts, this textbook explorers the social, political, economic and moral challenges that environmental problems pose for social policy in a global context. Combining theory and practice with an interdisciplinary approach, the book reviews the current strategies and provides a critique of proposed future developments. Understanding the environment and social policy guides the reader through the subject in an accessible way using chapter summaries, further reading, recommended websites, a glossary and questions for discussion. Providing a much-needed overview of environmentalism and social policy, the book will be invaluable reading for students, teachers, activits, practitioners and policy markers.

Focusing on human welfare and the environment from a social policy perspective, this text shows how environmental concerns are becoming increasingly central to policy-making and discusses the roles of central and local government in relation to environmental issues. The Environment and Social Policy covers the following contemporary topics: sustainability, Local Agenda 21, green ideas, environmental health, housing and urban development, food, work and globalisation. Each chapter starts with an overview of the topic and ends with a list of key points and a guide to further reading. Core concepts are clearly explained and illustrated throughout this text which provides students with a concise and up-to-date summary of what they need to know.