Global sustainability : the impact of local cultures : a new perspective for science and engineering, economics and politics / edited by Peter A. Wilderer, Edward D. Schroeder, Horst Kopp.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

History and mandate of sustainability : from local forestry to global policy -- 2. Sustainable development : exploring the cross-cultural dimension -- 3. Sustainable development and cultural diversity -- 4. Technological progress in different cultures and periods : historical evolution projected into the future -- 5. Views of sustainability : elements of a synthesis -- 6. A new way of thinking about sustainability, risk and environmental decision-making -- 7. Humility and establishing the sustainable environment -- 8. Conflicts and conflict-solving as chances to make the concept of sustainable development work -- 9. Sustainability through science-technology-society education -- 10. Sustainability and consumption of raw materials in Germany -- 11. Sustainability, culture and regional scales : some remarks from human geography -- 12. Sustainable development in Asia : traditional ideas and irreversible processes -- 13. Sustainability of development and valuation of non-renewable resources : an analysis in the context of local cultures -- 14. Sustainability in Latin American countries : challenge and opportunities for Argentina -- 15. On the roles engineers may play in the attempt to meet basic demands of man and nature -- 16. Integrating cultural aspects in the implementation of large water projects -- 17. Sustainability from an entrepreneurial point of view seen from the particular standpoint of a company active in the water industry -- 18. Synthesis.

This first book to focus on cultural diversity as a key element of sustainable development in the context of science and engineering provides cross-disciplinary information and assistance in understanding our world in transition. As such, it furnishes the global scientific community and decision makers in governmental and non-governmental institutions as well as in industry with much-needed information on how the various factors affecting sustainable development -- including culture -- depend on and interfere with each other.
Featuring a contribution by the President of the Club of Rome, HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal, this is vital reading for all (natural) scientists, engineers, economists, ecologists, environmental organizations, and consultants.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Professor Peter A. Wilderer is in charge of the Institute an Advanced Studies on Sustainability, funded by the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He teaches at the German Institute of Science and Technology, Singapore, in Industrial Ecology and Industrial Chemistry. Besides he serves as honorary professor at the Advanced Wastewater Management Center of the University of Queensland, Australia. In 2003, he became the first German recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize, internationally the highest award in the field of water and environment. He has authored and co-authored over 300 scientific publications.

Professor Edward D. Schroeder is a member of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of California, Davis. He has authored or co-authored over 120 papers and two textbooks on various aspects of environmental engineering.

Professor Horst Kopp is working at the Institute for Geography at the Friederich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. He is co-editor of The Arab World Geographer.