Managing sustainable development

The emergence of worldwide environmental threats such as global warming and ozone depletion has brought a growing realisation of the overwhelming need for 'sustainable development. But there is little discussion of how this elusive process might be achieved and managed. What kind of organisation is best suited to the task of sustainable environmental management? How can consensus be forged on reconciling development and environmental quality? What kind of management is needed in a world where environmental problems spill across political, administrative and disciplinary boundaries?

This book examines the managerial and organisational dimension of sustainable development. It analyses the challenges posed by environmental problems to political culture and organisational structure in industrial societies, and identifies the roots of ecological problems in our economic and social systems. New approaches are needed, and the authors identify the action-centred network as a key innovation in environmental management. This flexible form of organisation is based on partnership between diverse sectors and interests and aims to foster consensus and learning. The book describes four initiatives in integrated environmental management, from the local to the national level, that show how the network approach can offer progress towards development that is sustainable.