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1
Jordan, Matthew. "Procuring industrial pollution control : the South Australian case, 1836-1975." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2001. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phj816.pdf.
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Burroughs, Gary Leslie. "The response to environmental economic drivers by civil engineering contractors in South Australia." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2000. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ENV/09envb972.pdf.
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Bibliography: leaves 91-93. Examines the response of two civil engineering construction contractors in South Australia to environmental economic conditions and market requirements using primarily an action research methodology whilst the researcher was engaged as the environmental manager at both corporations.
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Page, Andre Paul. "The barriers and opportunities of resource efficiency and cleaner production within a South African context." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2800.
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Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.This research study investigates how environmental tools such as Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production (RECP) can contribute to sustaining and supporting economic growth in South Africa. Resource optimisation is crucial when considering the concept of sustainable development. It also contributes to addressing the challenges of global warming and climate change, which in turn threaten industrial growth and sustainability in the long term. The study places emphasis on the barriers that prevent industry from implementing RECP recommendations, and identifies opportunities that could potentially reposition businesses should they consider implementation. It also promotes other sustainability tools that are available through collaboration with international entities, and this could be of great benefit to the South African industry. Factors of unemployment and urbanisation restricts national growth to some degree, hence the study explores how RECP can contribute to job retention by introducing new resource optimisation methodologies for the manufacturing sector, Moreover, it examines the imbalance between the demand as well as limitations of these resources. Through the compilation of data collated from questionnaires completed by industry, government and civil society participants, this study looks at achieving a balance between environmental sustainability and growth. It also looks at aligning this balance with the integration of specific economic and environmental policies, which also includes social aspects. What comes through significantly in this research is the lack of awareness within industry in terms of RECP, as well as the importance of prioritising the uptake of environmental initiatives to ensure that industry is compliant with the stringent policies and legislation designed by government to drive the sustainability process. Consequently the study shows that communication between public and private sector, as well as the awareness raising and marketing of sustainability to consumers need to be improved. An analysis of the various government support mechanisms is conducted, in respect of how industry could potentially leverage growth and drive positive change within their businesses. In addition to RECP, emphasis is placed on other Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) initiatives and tools that could possibly entrench sustainable practices and help with their incorporation into their business strategies.
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Walsh, Lauren Arlene. "Investigating the effectiveness of environmental sustainability initiatives at General Motors South Africa." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020996.
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There is a consensus globally that climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing operations. Immediate actions are required to reduce the carbon footprint in order for the environment to endure future logistics processes and activities (The National Treasury department of South Africa, 2010). Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are emissions generated from manufacturing processes, distribution networks and treatments processes (Verfaillie and Bidwell, 2000). Companies globally are expected to monitor pollution and focus on reducing the discharge of pollutants. Logistics Managers are therefore pressured to reduce the carbon footprint as it affects the environment and our health. Companies are becoming more concerned with the impact of various activities and processes on the environment. Traditional logistics models, primarily focuses on minimising cost with little focus on the environmental impact and sustaining operations for the future (Sbihi and Eglese, 2009) General Motors (GM) is a multi-national vehicle manufacturer with operations in various countries. GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009 resulting in the formation of the new GM; one of the focus areas was to ensure sustainability which resulted in the introduction of the ‘Sustainability in motion’ program in 2009 (New York Times, 2009). General Motors South Africa (GMSAf) is a vehicle assembler with manufacturing facilities and head offices located in Port Elizabeth. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational General Motors Company. The aim of the research is to determine whether a culture that promotes environmentally conscious behaviour exists within employees and their relationships within a team, with management, stakeholders and suppliers. The study will assist in highlighting areas which need improvement to enable the creation of environmentally sustainable initiatives and implementation thereof. The empirical study revealed that the following management commitment, education and training, performance management and participation and involvement were important factors in the effective implementation of an environmental sustainability program.
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Xongo, Nosipho. "The impact of mining on infrastructure development and poverty reduction in mining communities." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018576.
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There is a growing concern from government, communities, civil society and mining companies on the sustained development of the impact of mining on communities and the benefits of mineral development. Communities are more vocal in expressing their expectations for benefits and on the other hand mines are concerned about profits and maintaining a social licence to operate. This study critically evaluates the impact mining has on socio-economic development in mining communities. The focus area of the study is the West Rand District Municipality in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The ‘impact’ refers to the mine’s contribution to infrastructure development and poverty reduction projects in areas where the mine is operating and sourcing labour from. Forecasts for better performance in the future will be assessed. Issues such as community consultation, identification of projects, development forums, the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and partnerships are addressed. The literature was reviewed from existing national and international research on the topic. The study starts from two assumptions. The first is that minerals are potentially a great resource of wealth for poor countries. The second assumption is that minerals have the potential to benefit the local population through the creation of indirect employment, skills transfer, enhancing the capacity of health and education services, improved infrastructure and small and medium business opportunities. Poverty levels are viewed on a national and international scale. The study reveals problems, with existing approaches, on mine community development. It concludes that the impact of mining on infrastructure development and poverty reduction projects can be huge, but only if a variety of demanding preconditions are met. The study concludes that the reality of mineral led development in mine communities has not lived up to a roaring promise.
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Babalola, Adewumi Joseph. "Influence of the macro-economic environment on the construction sector's contribution to the South African economy, 1984 to 2011." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5618.
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The construction sector serves as the engine of growth to the South Africa economy because of its catalytic role in the growth and development of the country. This study focuses mainly on the influence of the macro-economic environment on the contribution of the private sector to construction in the South Africa economy from 1984 to 2011. Government construction work is considered to be an injection into the economy; in this regard, state construction is regarded as public investment in the economy; and therefore, it is anti-cyclic (Keynes, 1936). The aim of this study has been to develop an econometric model for predicting the influence of the macroeconomic environment on the contribution of the private sector to the construction sector in the South Africa economy. The research design adopted in this study was an “ex-post facto” type, otherwise known as a causal-comparative design. The data were extracted from the published sources of the South African National Statistics, namely SARB, Stats SA and Quantec SA. The estimation technique used in this study was the ARDL model using quarterly data from 1984 to 2011. This is because in the construction sector, the influence of the independent variables is always felt over time – rather than all at once. The results of this study show that there is a long run causal relationship between inflation rate, interest rate, real exchange rate, GDP and gdp in the construction sector. The descriptive statistical analysis shows that there is a negative relationship between variables inflation rate and interest rate and the private sector spending in construction. However, economic growth as well as growth in the construction sector has a positive relationship with the private sector spending in construction. Likewise, the real exchange rate and labour productivity in construction have a negative relationship with the private sector’s spending in construction and they are statistically insignificant. The variance decomposition analysis show that the private sector spending in construction explains about 75 per cent of it variations, followed by inflation rate that explains 21 per cent on the average; while the remaining variations, comprising about 4 per cent, were shared among the other independent variables, such as GDP, GDP in construction, the interest rate and the real exchange rate. It was discovered that only the inflation rate does Granger-cause the private sector spending in construction. From the finding it can be concluded that inflation rate is a significant explanatory variable in explaining the variation in the dependent variable during period under review. Policy recommendations are as follows: firstly, the monetary authorities in South Africa should embark on sound policies that would bring about low prices of the construction materials. This would ensure growth and development in the construction sector; secondly, a stimulating development plan that would encourage private sector investment in properties and infrastructural development must be instituted; thirdly, an alternative policy to the present inflation targeting is recommended that would bring about low inflation, high growth, low unemployment and stable exchange rate; fourthly, the present policy on interest rate must be reviewed to allow for more participation in construction projects by the private sectors of the economy; fifthly, due to the fact that fluctuation in the crude oil prices in the international market is one of the major factors causing high inflation rate in South Africa, government must source local alternative products that would bring down prices of construction materials.
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Van, der Merwe Schalk Willem Jacobus. "Local and sub-regional socio-economic and environmental impact of large-scale resort development." Thesis, Link to the online version, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10019/1658.
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Harris, Peter-Dirk. "South African environmental taxes and investment incentives in practice." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/95565.
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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African economy is faced with a number of challenges as an upper-middle income country that is highly resource-intensive, with an open economy. It has a number of developmental goals that must be achieved in order to maintain environmentally conscious sustainable development. The country will have to find pioneering ways to address the poverty problems faced by a large proportion of its people, while still ensuring economic growth at a reduced cost to the environment. In an effort to promote the shift to a “green” economy, the South African state and its related entities have developed a number of incentive programmes aimed at easing the transition. These incentives primarily support businesses in their efforts to become more energy-efficient, or to convert to renewable energy sources. The objective of this study is to critically evaluate what the South African government is doing with regard to environmental instruments aimed at assisting the country to reduce carbon emissions. This case study follows a quantitative approach, considering the financial effects that the different environmental instruments could have on South African manufacturers. Through the study the researcher will be able to make certain recommendations to businesses in the manufacturing industry who are interested in investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The results of the study will also give the researcher insight into the South African environmental incentives, which will allow him to make informed comments on the proposals that government has tabled regarding future environmental taxes and incentives. The research questions that the researcher tried to answer were based on the current and future policy measures that the South African government has implemented, or will implement, in order to move the country to a low-emissions trajectory. These policies were then also compared to international measures in order to determine if the policies chosen by the South African government are appropriate for the this country’s economy. This study has led the researcher to discover a number of issues relating to the status of environmental policy in South Africa. These discoveries have allowed him to make certain recommendations to businesses investing in this realm, as well as to government which develops these policy measures. The main findings of the study are that with the assistance of the South African government and related entities, investments in renewable energy have become viable. When considering the current status of South African environmental policy, the researcher has also come to realise that the country is lagging behind the rest of the world with regard to policy development. The South African economy is unique, thus policies have to be structured in a way that will not be detrimental to the country.
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Stands, Sarah Reed. "Utility-scale renewable energy job creation : an investigation of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP)." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/96791.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African Government developed the REIPPPP to ensure the implementation of Green Economy and job creation policies, while mitigating the current power crises with the short lead times of RE technologies. Current South African literature is ambiguous when discussing the legitimacy of the REIPPPP and the overall understanding of the programme and its associated outcomes in terms of job creation, are therefore, vague. A need therefore exists to unpack the quantitative job creation submissions of the REIPPPP and to carry out an investigation into the opportunities and challenges associated with meaningful job creation. Through a non-linear iterative exploratory design, hinging on the researcher’s position within industry, this empirical research comprises of two components. Firstly, a literature study informs the development of a meaningful job creation framework which is used to analyse the programme’s bid documentation and publicly available data. Secondly, mixed-methods are utilised to collect quantitative data from the DoE and qualitative data from job creation stakeholders. The result is an enriched understanding of the REIPPPP in terms of meaningful job creation, identifying trends, similarities and unexpected outcomes across methods. The study concludes that the programme does create meaningful jobs yet data is misaligned and currently unavailable to the public. Secondly, since job creation is a feature of South African Government development policy, a more robust emphasis is required in the REIPPPP weighting and auditing process, which includes further research of intended benefits and suggested improvements to align job creation data.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Suid-Afrikaanse regering het die hernubare energie onafhanklike kragprodusent verkrygingsprogram ontwikkel om die voorsiening van die werksskeppingsbeleid en groen-ekonomiebelied te verseker. Huidige Suid-Afrikaanse letterkunde is dubbelsinnig wanneer die wettigheid van die program bespreek word. Die algehele begrip van die program en sy geassosieerde uitkoms is dus vaag. Daar is n behoefte om die kwantitatiewe werkskeppingvoorleggings te analiseer en om ondersoek in te stel in die geleenthede en uitdagings wat geassosieer word met betekenisvolle werkskepping. Deur n nie- lineêre iteratiewe ondersoekende ontwerp, wat gebaseer is op die navorser se posisie in die industrie, bestaan hieride empiriese navorsing, uit twee komponente. Eerstens, lig n literatuurstudie die ontwikkeling van n betekenisvolle werkskeppingsraamwerk in, en word gebruik om die program se boddokumentasie en publieke data te analiseer. Tweedens, word gemengde metodes gebruik om kwantitatiewe data van die departement van energie te versamel asook kwalitatiewe data van werkskeppingbelanghebbendes. Die resultaat is n meer verrykende verstandhouding van die hernubare energie onafhanklike kragprodusent verkrygingsprogram in terme van betekenisvolle werkskepping asook die identifisering van tendense en onverwagse uitkomste. Die studie kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die program nie betekenisvolle werk skep nie en is tans onbeskikbaar vir die publiek. Tweedens, aangesien werkskepping 'n kenmerk is van die Suid-Afrikaanse regering se ontwikkelingsbeleid, word 'n meer robuuste klem vereis op die hernubare energie onafhanklike kragprodusent verkrygingsprogram se ouditeringsproses en verdere navorsing van die beoogde voordele word voorgestel.
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Makabeni, Yonela. "Environmental impacts of informal economic activities in a low cost housing development, case study of Dunoon, Cape Town." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2874.
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Thesis (Master of Environmental Management)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018.Over the past decades, environmental problems associated with low-cost housing developments have been reported on a national and global scale (see Sowman and Urquhart, 1998 and also Norville, 2003). Poor community participation in the early stages of project design and lack of public involvement in decision making regarding low cost housing development are said to have contributed to these environmental issues. The environmental issues that have been reported so far relate to escalating water quality due to poor storm water management and improper waste disposal which poses a threat to the natural environment. While there is as emerging view that the nature of environmental problems experienced in these settlements are due to a lack of participation by local people in decision making, there is virtual no studies that have located this analysis within the theoretical debate of modernist planning. The issue that has been ignored thus far is the fact that low cost housing development (in generally) still resembles the spatial pattern of both the modernist and apartheid planning orthodox. It is thus from this context that the local people are increasingly excluded from participating in decision making. This form of modernist development is contrary to the ethos of sustainable development. In essence, sustainable development, as a new development theory, also adheres to the notion of local citizenry involvement in development for the benefits of the future generation. The research study further argues that poor people need to participate in decision making regarding the design and delivery of these houses (Oelefse, 1997). Therefore, the study investigated the underlying environmental implications associated with informal economic activities in a low cost housing establishment. The research study adopted a qualitative research design and an inductive approach. Dunoon was used as a case study for the research. The study used two sampling techniques, purposive sampling and random sampling,were used. Interviews, questionnaires and observations were used to collect data from the residents, informal businesses in Dunoon and key stakeholders from the Department of Environmnental Affairs as well as City of Cape Town. The findings of the thesis illustrate that long-term environmental impacts that are visible in the low-cost housing development of Dunoon are triggered by informal economic activities that are practised by the local people to make a living. In this regard, this thesis argues that local people need to be involved in the early planning and design stages of low-cost housing development. They need to be involved in all development stages to ensure that they drive the vision of the development. Lack of involvement of the local people in the initial stages of decision-making on the project triggered severe long term environmental impacts. The study then concludes that long-term environmental impacts in Dunoon are intertwined with the escalation of informal economic activities initiated by the local people in order to cope with harsh economic realities. These informal activities are a form of reaction to the imposed version of development. Thus, the environmental problems that emerged out of this pattern of human activities must be analysed by means of conceptualising the Dunoon low-cost housing as a product of modernist planning philosophy. Based on the information gathered and discussed in this thesis, it is concluded that the low-cost housing development is a product of modernist planning.
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Boyce, Marlene. "Perceptions of organisations on how the ward committee impacts on their participation on environmental sustainability in Ward 5 Knysna Municipality." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020393.
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This guided research report presents the findings of a study on how conservancies perceive the impact of the ward committee on their participation. The research was conducted with the objective of gaining insight into participation in sustainable development in Ward 5 in Knysna Municipality. The study was qualitative and involved a mix of methods including interviews, a survey and documentary review. The analysis shows that the impact of the ward committee on participation is indirect, in that there is a rigid approach to participation by the municipality which focusses only on participation through the ward committees. A change in paradigm that will extend the participation space and accommodate changing media in communication is recommended. The research results will be shared with all the stakeholders in this particular participation relationship, with the view to enhancing participation in sustainable development issues in the ward.
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Gogi, Andile. "An investigation of the role of community development workers: Bitou municipality." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1015689.
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This treatise investigates the role of Community DevelopmentWorkers, with reference to the Bitou Municipality. The treatise comprises five chapters. The concept of Community Development Programme is fairly new in South Africa; therefore, further research is needed on the subject. A literature review was done to establish the concept and the background of the CDWP. A questionnaire was developed in order to obtain primary data from a selected sample group. The data obtained from the questionnaire was statistically analysed and interpreted. The core findings from the analysed questionnaire indicated the following: (a) CDWs clearly understand their role and responsibility, but there is a need for roles and functions to be clearly defined, with detailed terms of reference, to ensure a common understanding with other stakeholders, e.g. Ward Committees, Councillors, Non-governmental organisations, Communitybased organisations, and members of the community. (b) living conditions in the wards improved following the introduction of the CDWP. (c) there is a good relationship between CDWs, Ward Committees and Ward Councillors, but there is also a perception that Ward Committees and Community Development Workers constantly clash or compete in the wards in which they serve. (d) CDWs should not be affiliated to the ruling or any political party. (e) CDWs are confused regarding who is responsible for their remuneration (the Municipality or the Provincial Department of Local Government).
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Mamouni, Limnios Elena Alexandra. "Incorporating complex systems dynamics in sustainability assessment frameworks : enhanced prediction and management of socio-ecological systems performance." University of Western Australia. Faculty of Business, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2009.0012.
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[Truncated abstract] The application of reductionism, breaking down problems to simpler components that can be solved and then aggregating the results, is one of the bases of classical science. However, living organisms, ecosystems, social and economic structures are complex systems, characterised by non-linear interactions between their elements and exhibit emergent properties that are not directly traceable to their components. Sustainability assessment frameworks oversimplify system interactions, achieving limited predictive capacity and causing managerial behavior that may reduce system's ability to adapt to external disturbance. Intrigued by the importance of complexity, we explore the central theme of how complex thinking can influence the understanding and progress towards sustainability. The purpose is to conceptualize the relationship of key terms (such as sustainability, functionality and resilience), and consecutively develop new or adjust existing sustainability frameworks to take into account complex systems interactions. We aim at developing theory and frameworks that can be used to raise awareness of the pitfalls of the growth paradigm and direct towards modest positions when managing complex systems. We seek to define the structural elements that influence system adaptive capacity, allowing identification of early signs of system rigidity or vulnerability and the development of knowledge and techniques that can improve our predictive and managerial ability. The focus has been on a variety of system scales and dynamics. At the collective community level, a number of stakeholder engagement practices and frameworks are currently available. However, there is limited awareness of the complexity challenges among stakeholders, who are commonly directed to a triple bottom line analysis aiming at maximizing a combination of outputs. An attempt is conducted to measure the functionality of the processes underlying a standing stock, in contrast to sustainability measures that only assess the variations of the standing stock itself. We develop the Index of Sustainable Functionality (ISF), a framework for the assessment of complex systems interactions within a large-scale geographic domain and apply it to the State of Western Australia. '...' Finally, we focus on smaller systems scales and develop a methodology for the calculation of Product Ecological Footprint (PEF) including elements from the accounting method of activity based costing. We calculate PEF for three apple production systems and identify significant differences from first stage calculations within the same industry. Cross-industry application will provide a practical way to link individuals' consumption with their ecological impact, reduce misperceptions of products' ecological impacts and develop a market-driven approach to internalizing environmental externalities. At the firm level PEF can be compared with investment costs, resulting in the opportunity to optimize both functions of financial cost and ecological impact in decision making. We have developed methods for incorporating complexity in sustainability assessment frameworks. Further work is required in testing and validating these methodologies at multiple system scales and conditions. Integrating such tools in decision making mechanisms will enhance long-term management of socioecological systems performance.
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Gardener, Roy Dudley. "Sustainable regional development : developing a sustainability assessment framework for district and metropolitan integrated development plans." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/86408.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Achieving the goal of sustainable development (SD) and sustainability has proven to be a difficult task, inter alia, because some definitions of the terms are fuzzy and ambiguous and are interpreted differently depending on the context. The spatial scale, at which sustainability should be addressed, varies from site specific to the global level. The niche area, which has had little attention specifically in the South African context, is the regional scale. Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) are just one means by which sustainability can be mainstreamed into regional development planning within the South African context. IDPs are seen as holistic, multi-sectoral, strategic plans for district, metropolitan and local government, required in terms of national legislation. Legislation and guidelines on IDPs suggest that their purpose should be to contribute to sustainable development, but it is questioned whether this is the case. Sustainability Assessments (SAs) can be seen as instruments to direct decision-making towards sustainability, and the purpose of this literature study was to review current IDP Assessment Frameworks (AFs) used by the national and Western Cape provincial governments to assess IDPs, from a sustainability perspective. A literature review was conducted to establish the meaning of sustainability and sustainable development in the context of regional planning, the challenges facing regional planning, and the issues that need to be addressed in IDPs in order to promote sustainability. The first objective of the literature study was to analyse whether present metropolitan and district IDP assessment frameworks used in the Western Cape address sustainability adequately. The second objective was to develop a Sustainability Assessment Framework (SAF) that addresses relevant sustainability issues, based on new and innovative ways of addressing SD and sustainability at a regional scale. Lessons were also learnt through examining and assessing policies and plans both locally and abroad. The literature review highlighted lessons that can be learnt from systems and complexity thinking, transdisciplinary approach, transition management, resilience and regional innovation. The use of Impact Assessments (IAs) and Sustainability Assessments (SAs) from other countries, as well as South Africa, also proved valuable. A review of existing IDP AFs was performed, to determine where the gaps are and whether the principles of regional sustainability are incorporated into current AFs. It was established that current IDP AFs do not adequately assess sustainability issues in district, metropolitan and cross-border regional plans. Current AFs lack depth from a sustainability perspective, and therefore a new SAF was proposed for metropolitan and district IDPs. This SAF highlights five (5) domains of sustainability that should be used as inputs into IDPs. These are: (1) Environmental Sustainability, (2) Social Sustainability, (3) Economic Sustainability, (4) Built Environment and Technology Sustainability, and (5) Institutional Sustainability. Further inputs into the SAF were four (4) approach-based categories derived from the literature and existing frameworks. These comprise (1) Resilience and Resilient Governance, (2) Transdisciplinary approach, (3) Complexity and Systems Thinking, and (4) Regional Innovation Systems. Different indicators were then developed which were based on these approaches, but are specific to each domain of sustainability. The indicators can be used to rate, weigh and score IDPs based on the scorecard that was developed. The overall ‘sustainability rating’ of the IDP could then be calculated.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Om volhoubaarheid en volhoubare ontwikkeling (VO) te bewerkstellig, is 'n moeilike taak, onder andere omdat sommige definisies vir die verskillende terme vaag en dubbelsinnig is en verskillend geïnterpreteer word, afhangende van die konteks. Die ruimtelike skaal waar volhoubaarheid aangespreek behoort te word, wissel vanaf terrein spesifiek tot by die globale skaal. Die nis-area wat nog min aandag geniet het, veral in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks, is die streek-skaal. Geïntegreerde Ontwikkelingsplanne (GOPe) is net een metode waarmee volhoubaarheid in die hoofstroom opgeneem kan word in streekbeplanning binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. GOPe word gesien as holistiese, multi-sektorale, strategiese planne vir distriks-, metropolitaanse en plaaslike regerings, wat deur nasionale wetgewing vereis word. Wetgewing en riglyne oor GOPe dui daarop dat hul doel is om by te dra tot volhoubare ontwikkeling, maar dit word bevraagteken of dit wel die geval is. Volhoubare evaluering kan beskou word as metodes om besluitneming in die rigting van volhoubaarheid te stuur, en die doel van hierdie studie was om huidige evalueringsraamwerke wat deur die nasionale en Wes-Kaap provinsiale regerings gebruik word om GOPe te evalueer, te ondersoek vanuit ‘n volhoubaarheids-perspektief. ‘n Literatuuroorsig is gedoen om vas te stel wat die uitdagings is wat streekbeplanning in die sig staar, wat die betekenis van volhoubaarheid en volhoubare ontwikkeling in die konteks van streeksbeplanning is en wat die kwessies is wat aangespreek behoort te word om volhoubaarheid te bevorder. Die eerste doel van die literatuur studie was om te analiseer of die huidige plaaslike GOP assessering raamwerke, wat gebruik word in die Wes-Kaap, volhoubaarheid adequaat aanspreek Die tweede doel van die studie was dus om ‘n Volhoubaarheidseveluaringsraamwerk (VER) op te stel, gebaseer op nuwe en innoverende maniere uit die literatuur om VO en volhoubaarheid op streekskaal aan te spreek, sowel as om bestaande beleid en planne, beide plaaslik en in die buiteland, te ondersoek vir lesse wat daaruit geleer kan word. Die literatuur oorsig het ook beklemtoon watter lesse geleer kan word uit stelsels- en kompleksiteitdenke, transdissiplinariteit, oorgangsbestuur, herstellingsvermoë en streeks-innovering. Die gebruik van Impakstudies en Volhoubaarheid-evaluerings vanuit ander lande, sowel as Suid-Afrika, was ook waardevol. Die hersiening van bestaande GOP Evalueringsraamwerke (ERe) vanuit 'n volhoubare perspektief is ook uitgevoer om te bepaal waar daar leemtes bestaan en of die beginsels van streeksvolhoubaarheid ingesluit is in huidige ERe. Daar is vasgestel dat volhoubaarheid nie voldoende aangespreek is in huidige GOP ERe van distriks-, metropolitaanse en streeksplanne nie en 'n nuwe Volhoubaarheidsevalueringsraamwerk (VER) is dus ontwikkel vir metropolitaanse en distrik GOPe. Hierdie VER beklemtoon vyf (5) domeine van volhoubaarheid wat as insette tot GOPe gebruik kan word. Dit sluit in: (1) Omgewingsvolhoubaarheid, (2) Sosiale volhoubaarheid, (3) Ekonomiese volhoubaarheid, (4) Beboude omgewing en Tegnologie volhoubaarheid, en (5) Institusionele volhoubaarheid. Verdere insette tot die VER was vier (4) benaderings-gebaseerde kategorieë, afgelei uit die literatuur en bestaande raamwerke. Dit behels (1) Herstellingsvermoë en herstelbestuur, (2) Transdissiplinêre benadering, (3) Kompleksiteit en Sisteem denke, en (4) Streeks-innoveringstelsels. Verskillende indikatore is daarna ontwikkel wat gebaseer is op elkeen van hierdie benaderings, maar wat spesifiek was tot elke domein van volhoubaarheid. Die indikatore is gebruik om GOPe te evalueer en om gewigte en tellings toe te ken gebaseer op ‘n telkaart wat ontwikkel is.
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Szota, Christopher. "Root morphology, photosynthesis, water relations and development of jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) in response to soil constraints at restores bauxite mines in south-western Australia." University of Western Australia. School of Plant Biology, 2009. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2010.0058.
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Bauxite mining is a major activity in the jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata Donn ex Sm.) forest of south-western Australia. After mining, poor tree growth can occur in some areas. This thesis aimed to determine whether soil constraints, including reduced depth and compaction, were responsible for poor tree growth at low-quality restored bauxite mines. In particular, this study determined the response of jarrah root morphology, leaf-scale physiology and growth/development to soil constraints at two contrasting (low-quality and high-quality) restored bauxite-mine sites. Jarrah root excavations at a low-quality restored site revealed that deep-ripping equipment failed to penetrate the cemented lateritic subsoil, causing coarse roots to be restricted to the top 0.5 m of the soil profile, resulting in fewer and smaller jarrah trees. An adjacent area within the same mine pit (high-quality site) had a kaolinitic clay subsoil, which coarse roots were able to penetrate to the average ripping depth of 1.5 m. Impenetrable subsoil prevented development of taproots at the low-quality site, with trees instead producing multiple lateral and sinker roots. Trees in riplines, made by deep-ripping, at the high-quality site accessed the subsoil via a major taproot, while those on crests developed large lateral and sinker roots. Bauxite mining is a major activity in the jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata Donn ex Sm.) forest of south-western Australia. After mining, poor tree growth can occur in some areas. This thesis aimed to determine whether soil constraints, including reduced depth and compaction, were responsible for poor tree growth at low-quality restored bauxite mines. In particular, this study determined the response of jarrah root morphology, leaf-scale physiology and growth/development to soil constraints at two contrasting (low-quality and high-quality) restored bauxite-mine sites. Jarrah root excavations at a low-quality restored site revealed that deep-ripping equipment failed to penetrate the cemented lateritic subsoil, causing coarse roots to be restricted to the top 0.5 m of the soil profile, resulting in fewer and smaller jarrah trees. An adjacent area within the same mine pit (high-quality site) had a kaolinitic clay subsoil, which coarse roots were able to penetrate to the average ripping depth of 1.5 m. Impenetrable subsoil prevented development of taproots at the low-quality site, with trees instead producing multiple lateral and sinker roots. Trees in riplines, made by deep-ripping, at the high-quality site accessed the subsoil via a major taproot, while those on crests developed large lateral and sinker roots.
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Baartjes, Joan Charlaine. "Exploring the use of mineral corridors and stranded ore deposits in order to alleviate rural poverty and effect environmental and social change through a proposed rural development corridor in South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/389.
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South Africa has less than 1 percent of the global land surface, yet it is ranked highly in terms of remaining mineral resources. Mineral wealth has not translated into a better life for all. Poverty, however, abounds; particularly in the rural areas and this study seeks to identify a solution or partial solution to this situation. The study combines two critical areas, Mineral Based Rural Development, and Mineral Based Enterprise Development and draws from it a model for Mineraldriven Rural Economic Development viable for all parts of South Africa. This study comprised research on a national scale and thus covered a section of each of South Africa‟s nine provinces. It investigated the conditions in rural and urban centres, and geologically, it traversed examples of Archaean, Proterozoic and Phanerozoic formations. The field visits deliberately set out to look at some of the lowest value commodities; typically the only minerals available to the surrounding rural communities. This was done to see if a case could be made for even the lowest value commodities which are often found furthest from the large markets. This study indicates that for a rural area to be able to compete nationally or internationally, it is important to be competitive so that the area can participate in the economy. The creation of regional competitive areas allow for the focusing of strategies and funding for targeted rural projects. Enterprises, typically the product of entrepreneurial activity, are required to increase economic intensity and activity. xxvii The goal of poverty reduction, has been identified by government so that enterprises, as products of economic development, can be focused on the situation. Interviews conducted by the researcher indicated that part of the problem to overcome is the bureaucracy created by government which hinders enterprise development. Recommendations are made that government should exempt rural enterprises from some of the compliance hurdles. This will serve to accelerate rural development. An important aspect of urban enterprises is that they have access to labour without too many problems. Thirteen developed or developing corridors were visited of the five types of development corridors identified. It was found that those in areas of high poverty (for example the corridors of the Eastern Cape) are difficult to develop and make self-sustaining. The corridors linked to any point of Gauteng (Johannesburg or Pretoria) are more robust, although the relatively short length of the corridor is not an indicator of effectiveness. The key recommendations made include the completion of a national rural mineral-asset audit; the use of the information to demarcate rural-regions that can be developed as nationally and internationally competitive regions; the establishment of a rural Resource and Training Academy(ies) so that skills are developed close to areas where they will be deployed; provision of an easier way to launch mineral-based rural enterprises and incentivise these for accelerated development; and the development of an indigenous body of knowledge to mine small scale deposits
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Ndeke, Eunice Ngina. "A critical review of the development of sustainability indicators for the City of Cape Town : a focus on environmental and socio-economic sustainability." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/18078.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sustainable development has gained great interest at global, national and local community levels. For instance, governments, civil societies, the commercial sector as well as local communities have responded to the agreed framework of UNCED known as Agenda 21, developed at the „Earth Summit‟ held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, inter alia through the development of indicators aimed at monitoring and evaluating the achievement of sustainable development. As a result, different tools to measure the level of sustainability have been developed and applied in many cities globally. These include different types of indicators, namely environmental, social, and economic performance monitoring indicators, as well as combined indices. Since cities are dynamic complex open systems with interrelated social, economic and environmental systems, and sustainable development cannot be absolutely achieved, integrated sustainable development indicators that concurrently address social, economic and environmental dimensions are crucial to aid in monitoring sustainable development particularly in any given urban system. This study gives an overview of these indicators and indices. The South Africa government has acknowledged in both its National Framework for Sustainable Development of September 2006 and the Draft National Strategy for Sustainable Development and Action Plan of May 2010 that like other cities globally, cities in this country face similar challenges particularly due to urbanisation. In this study, the focus is on evaluating the sustainability challenges of the City of Cape Town and the role sustainability indicators could play in helping to achieve sustainable development objectives. This is supported by a review of the so called „sustainable cities‟ and in particular how the Cities of Seattle (USA), Santa Monica (USA) and Curitiba (Brazil) have tried to address urban challenges. To meet the study objective of recommending the type and a process of developing indicators that will aid in improving sustainability in the City of Cape Town, selected indicators and indexes developed globally, nationally and for other cities are critically reviewed. Selected policies, plans and indicators developed by the South African national government, the Western Cape provincial government, and the City of Cape Town are reviewed. The review aims at investigating whether the existing policies and indicators were useful in addressing sustainability challenges particularly in the City of Cape Town. The review focuses on the policy objectives to assess whether the policies contradicted or were supportive of each other, the existence or lack thereof of gaps in the policies, and whether local communities and other stakeholders were involved in decision making processes. The findings suggests that although sustainable development is addressed in the policy documents of all three spheres of government in South Africa, the implementation has not yet been effective – and the City of Cape Town is no exception based on published reports such as the State of Cape Town Report. On the basis of the lessons derived from the success stories of cities like Seattle, Santa Monica, and Curitiba towards achieving sustainability, several recommendations are suggested to assist the City of Cape Town in developing, implementing, and reporting on sustainability indicators.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Op internasionale, nasionale asook plaaslike gemeenskapsvlakke het volhoubare ontwikkeling groot belangstelling gelok. In reaksie op die ooreengekome raamwerk van UNCED, Agenda 21, ontwikkel by die “Earth Summit” (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), is aanwysers gemik op die monitering en implementering van volhoubare ontwikkeling deur regerings, burgerlike samelewings, die kommersiële sektor asook plaaslike gemeenskappe ontwikkel. Dit het gelei tot die ontwikkeling en implementering van verskillende instrumente vir die meet van volhoubaarheid in verskeie stede wêreldwyd. Hierdie instrumente sluit in verskillende aanwysers, ondermeer omgewings-, sosiale-, ekonomiese- en prestasie aanwysers asook gekombineerde indekse. Omdat stede dinamies komplekse ope sisteme met interafhanklike sosiale, ekonomiese en omgewingssisteme is, en volhoubare ontwikkeling nie absoluut bereikbaar is nie, is geintegreerde volhoubare ontwikkelings aanwysers wat sosiale, ekonomiese en omgewings dimensies gelyktydig aanspreek van kritieke belang in die monitering van volhoubare ontwikkeling, spesifiek in enige gegewe stedelike sisteem. In beide sy nasionale raamwerk vir volhoubare ontwikkeling (Julie 2008) en nasionale strategie vir volhoubare ontwikkeling en Aksie plan (weergawe van 20 Mei 2010) het die Suid Afrikaanse regering erken dat plaaslike stede, soos ander wêreldwyd, dieselfde uitdagings in die gesig staar veral as gevolg van verstedeliking. Die fokus van hierdie studie was die evaluering van die volhoubaarheids-uitdagings van die Stad Kaapstad en die moontlike rol wat volhoubaarheids-aanwysers kan speel in ʼn poging om volhoubare ontwikkelings doelwitte te bereik. Hierdie word ondersteun deur ʼn oorsig van die sogenaamde “volhoubare stede” en spesifiek hoe stede soos Seattle (VSA), Santa Monica (VSA), en Curitiba (Brasilië) stedelike uitdagings probeer aanspreek het. Ten einde die studie doelwit aangaande die aanbeveling van die ontwikkelingsproses van aanwysers en indekse vir die verbetering van volhoubaarheid in die Stad Kaapstad te bereik, is verskeie internasionale, nasionale sowel as stedelike volhoubare ontwikkelings indekse krities geëvalueer. Geselekteerde beleid, planne en aanwysers wat deur die Suid Afrikaanse Nasionale regering, die Wes Kaapse provinsiale regering en die Stad Kaapstad ontwikkel is, is ondersoek. Die doel van hierdie evaluasie was om vas te stel of bestaande beleid en aanwysers nuttig is, in die aanspreek van volhoubaarheids-uitdagings spesifiek in die Stad Kaapstad. Die fokus van die evaluasie was op beleidsdoelwitte ten einde te bepaal of: verskeie beleid teenstrydigheid toon of andersins ondersteunend is, die bestaan of gebrek aan leemtes in beleid en of plaaslike gemeenskappe en of ander belange groepe in die besluitnemingsproses betrokke is. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat alhoewel volhoubare ontwikkeling in beleidsdokumente van al drie sfere van die Suid Afrikaanse regering aangespreek word, die implementering daarvan nog nie so doeltreffend is nie - en gebaseer op gepubliseerde verslae soos die stand van Kaapstad, is die Stad van Kaapstad nie ʼn uitsondering nie. Na aanleiding van lesse geleer uit die sukses verhale van stede soos Seattle, Santa Monica en Curitiba in die bereiking van volhoubare ontwikkeling is verskeie aanbevelings gemaak om die Stad Kaapstad by te staan in die ontwikkeling, implementering, en rapportering van volhoubaarheids-aanwysers.
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Hallowes, David, Mark Butler, David Fig, Greg Knill, Roben Penny, Gillian Watkins, and David Wiley. "Greening the RDP: people, environment, development: report of proceedings [of the] Environmental Justice Networking Forum Constitutive Conference, Kempton Park Conference Centre, 25-27 November 1994." Environmental Justice Networking Forum, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69373.
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The Environmental Justice Networking Forum’s first national conference had three major objectives: to constitute the organisation on a national basis; to make policy recommendations regarding the implementation of the RDP both for submission to government and as a guide to action by EJNFparticipants; to build and disseminate the workof thelDRC/ANC/ COSATU/ SACP/ SANCO International Mission on Environmental Policy (referred to here as the Mission). EJNF was in itiated at the Earthlife Africa International Environment Conference in 1992 at Pietermaritzburg. That conference mandated an interim national steering committee to guide a process of establishing an organised voice within civil society for environmental justice. It stipulated that the organisation should be formed on a regional basis leading up to the national constitution of EJNF at a national conference. The EJNF conference is thus the culmination of a two year process. During that time, meetings were held to establish EJNF in six regions: Gauteng, Northern Transvaal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu- Natal and OFS. Participating organisations include women’s, rural, youth, religious and environmental organisations, unions, civics and service NGOs. Each region sent delegations to the national conference. Two other regions, Eastern Transvaal and Northern Cape, also sent delegations which will form the focus groups for establishing EJNF in those regions. Regional EJNF participant organisations also elected members to the national steering committee. They took office at the constitutive conference. The minutes of the constitutive session of the conference are not included here but are available from the EJNF national office. The EJNF delegates were joined by a number of guest delegates for the conference on Greening the RDP. They included members of national organisations which represent or work with the constitutuencies which EJNF is developing and researchers working in the sectors covered by the conference. Government was represented by Ministers Kader Asmal (Water Affairs) and Derek Hanekom (Land Affairs), by provincial MECs, by members of standing committees in parliament and provincial legislatures andby ministry or department officials.
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Gerber, Gerhard. "Environmental impact assessment, integrated development planning and the pursuit of sustainable development in South Africa : a critical reflection on the consideration of alternatives." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2401.
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Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.Despite our best planning and Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) efforts we seem to be failing in our pursuit of Sustainable Development. In South Africa we find ourselves confronted with the harsh reality that after 14 years of democracy, more than a decade of compulsory EIA, and 12 years of legislated Integrated Development Planning (“IDP”), poverty remains widespread and persists alongside affluence, while inequalities are also growing. In addition South Africa’s life-supporting ecosystems continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate. Critically reflecting on what is going wrong, it is clear that there is an emergent consensus in the discourse that points towards the inadequate consideration of alternatives. A literature review of the historical development and social construction of the concept of “sustainable development”; a theoretical analysis of sustainable development, planning and EIA; as well as an analysis of the legislative and policy framework for EIA and IDP in South Africa, shows that the consideration of alternatives is the “heart” and “soul” of EIA and IDP, and therefore of the pursuit of sustainable development in South Africa. A content analysis of a sample of EIAs and IDPs undertaken and produced in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, however, indicates that alternatives are not being adequately considered during the current practice of EIA and IDP in South Africa – resulting in only slightly less unsustainable development and a perpetuation of the unsustainable and unjust “business-as-usual” development types and patterns of the past. EIA and IDP can never be, and were never supposed to be completely separate processes. EIAs must be considered within the context to be provided by the sustainable development vision, goals and objectives to be formulated in, and the desired spatial form and pattern of land use to be reflected in an area’s IDP and Spatial Development Frameworks (“SDF”). Properly informed Strategic Environmental Assessment based IDPs and SDFs, refined by Environmental Management Frameworks, should therefore provide the strategic context and decision-making framework for the consideration of need, desirability and alternatives; with the actual and potential socio-economic and ecological impacts of a specific proposal to be considered during the project-level EIA. Project-level EIAs in turn providing “feedback” to the planning processes to ensure reflexivity and continued improvement. The improved integration and convergence of IDP and EIA decision-making methodologies and practice are therefore paramount to the adequate consideration of alternatives and the pursuit of sustainable development in South Africa. While the challenges to be addressed by EIA and IDP in South Africa are complex and ‘wicked’, and the pursuit of sustainable development solutions is therefore also a complex and ongoing process, the need for fundamental alternatives that will lead to drastic and urgent change for the better are, however, just as real. The urgency and importance of the sustainable development challenge for South Africa calls for bold decisions and the search for sustainable alternatives that will deliver urgent and fundamental change for all South Africans. The practice of EIA and IDP should be driven by these realities and reflect the need for urgent and fundamental change.
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Sokutu, Nonkuselo. "Towards sustainable municipalities : an evaluation of sustainability integration in Elundini Local Municipality strategy." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013018.
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This research study evaluated and assessed the extent to which strategic management processes integrated economic, environmental and social sustainability elements in the fiveyear strategy (2012) of Elundini Local Municipality (ELM). The study focused on three areas of strategic management, that is, environmental analysis, strategic direction and strategy formulation. The study also looked at possible reasons for sustainability integration in ELM strategy or lack thereof and also recommended possible solutions. The literature reviewed revealed that there was adequate basis for municipalities to integrate sustainable development in their strategies even though sustainability was noted as an evolving, complex and changing phenomenon. Local Agenda 21 principles, national legislative & policy framework, regulations and other relevant guidelines were found to be adequate for municipalities to develop credible sustainability strategies. The objectives of the study were achieved by data collected through the review of existing literature; the review of ELM Five Year Strategy (2012-2017); and SIAT-based questionnaires that were filled in by ELM employees. The results of the study showed that economic and social sustainability activities were identified most in the ELM strategy compared to environmental sustainability. The study then mainly recommended the review of the current strategy in order to improve all areas of strategy formulation; introduction of Economic, Social and Environmental sustainability – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (ESEs-SWOT) for internal analysis as an improvement of SWOT analysis; introduction of Sustainability Integration and Strategic Management Framework (SISMF) as an improvement to existing framework.
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Wright, Brian Bradley. "A review of lessons learned to inform capacity-building for sustainable nature-based tourism development in the European Union funded ʺSupport to the Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative Pilot Programmeʺ." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003628.
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This case-study establishes the influences of power-knowledge relationships on capacity-building for sustainability in the European Union Funded ‘Wild Coast Spatial Development Initiative Pilot Programme’ (EU Programme). It aims to capture the lessons learned for capacitybuilding to support nature-based tourism initiatives on the Wild Coast. The EU Programme aimed to achieve economic and social development of previously disadvantaged communities through nature-based tourism enterprises, and to develop capacity of local authorities and communities to support environmental management. The study discusses common trends in thematic categories emerging from the research data, and contextualises research findings in a broader development landscape. This study indicates that power-knowledge relations were reflected in the EU Programme’s development ideology by an exclusionary development approach, which lacked a participatory ethos. This exclusionary approach did not support an enabling environment for capacity-building. This development approach, guiding the programme conceptualization, design and implementation processes, resulted in a programme with unrealistic objectives, time-frames and resource allocations; a programme resisted by provincial and local government. The study provides a causal link between participation, programme relevance, programme ownership, commitment of stakeholders, effective management and capacity-building for sustainable programme implementation. The study argues that the underlying motivation for the exclusionary EU development ideology in the programme is driven by a risk management strategy. This approach allows the EU to hold power in the development process, whereas, an inclusionary participative development methodology would require a more in-depth negotiation with stakeholders, thereby requiring the EU to relinquish existing levels of power and control. This may increase the risk of an unexpected programme design outcome and associated exposure to financial risk. It may also have a significant financial effect on donor countries' consultancies and consultants currently driving the development industry. This study recommends an interactive-participative methodology for programme design and implementation, if an enabling environment for capacity-building is to be created. In addition, all programme stakeholders must share contractual accountability for programme outcomes. This requires a paradigm shift in the EU development ideology to an inclusionary methodology. However, this research suggests that the current EU development approach will not voluntarily change. I, therefore, argue that South Africa needs to develop a legislative framework that will guide donor-funded development programme methodology, to support an enabling environment for capacity-building.
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Oduro-Kwateng, George. "The evaluation of environmental reporting by publicly listed South African banks." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003860.
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Recently, bankers have come to realise that banking operations, especially corporate lending, affect and are affected by the natural environment and that consequently, the banks might have an important role to play in helping to raise environmental standards. Although the environment presents significant risks to banks, in particular environmental credit risk, it also perhaps presents profitable opportunities. Stricter environmental regulations have forced companies to invest in environmentally friendly technologies and pollution control measures and in tum generated lending opportunities for bankers. This research examines the corporate practices of three of the four dominant banks in South Africa with respect to the environment, focusing on issues of climate change and environmental risk management by way of reporting and disclosure to all stakeholders. The emphasis on environmental reporting by South African banks has been reinforced by the latest release of the King III Report on Corporate Governance in South Africa. Global governance requires that the triple-bottom line should be applied in all corporate undertakings due to globalisation and trade liberalisation; however, the banking sector has responded poorly to the clarion call. The false view that the banks have no significant relationship with environmental degradation is being disproved. Environmental management is a huge and massive reconstruction of what has gone wrong with nature by human influence. The South African banks have had to face with the challenging tasks of reporting on the direct and mostly the indirect impacts of their environmental activities. Based on the three sampled banks which incidentally had greater percentages of the market capitalizations, the banks have fairly performed in environmental reporting. For example, Standard Bank (SA) Ltd has just signed the Equator Principles in 2007 implying corporate lending was done in 2007 without any respect to environmental impact assessments by corporate borrowers. Consequently, environmental reporting was not done to facilitate informed decision-making by stakeholders mostly shareholders and the communities where borrowers tun businesses. The objective of this research study is to investigate the extent and quantity of/voluntary environmental disclosures in the annual and sustainability reports of the banks listed on Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The periods examined were those subsequent to the release of the Exposure Draft Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) issued in 1999. Using content analysis to focus on the environmental aspects, the research study compared three annual reports and three sustainability reports of 2007 year for the three sampled banks in order to evaluate reporting practices in the period surrounding this intervention. The results suggest a trend to triple bottom-line reporting and the extent and quantity of environmental information, albeit in specific categories.
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Esterhuyse, Willem Petrus. "The sustainability balanced scorecard : its theory and applications to companies operating within the South African fishing industry." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/816.
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Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verskeie korporatiewe fiaskos gedurende die afgelope dekade het wêreldwye opskudding veroorsaak met die gevolg dat daar vanaf ‘n nuwe oogpunt gekyk word na die wyses waarop korporasies bestuur word. Terselfdertyd is daar ‘n wêreldwye belangstelling gekweek in volhoubare ontwikkeling en korporasies se bydrae daartoe. Dit, tesame met korporatiewe bestuur, het tot die gevolg gehad dat die fokus vanaf die tradisionele finansiële verslaggewing geskuif het na rapportering op die sogenaamde “Tripple Bottom Line” en meer en meer maatskappye oor die wêreld genereer en publiseer deesdae op hul ekonomies-, maatskaplike-, omgewingsverantwoordelikhede en prestasies. Gou is daar egter besef dat rapportering en die opstel van beleide self nie genoeg is nie en een van die die grootste uitdagings aan korporatiewe bestuurders tans is om te verseker dat hul korporatiewe bestuurstelsels hul volhoubare strategieë ondersteun om te verseker dat die strategieë in hul maatskappystelsels en prosesse geintegreer is. Kaplan en Norton het in 1992 die Gebalanseerde Telkaart ontwikkel. Die telkaart is as instrument voorgestel om strategieë in aksie oor te skakel. Die telkaart erken dat die tradisionele finansiële maatstawwe nie voldoende is om die volhoudbare sukses van die maatskappy te verseker nie en skep ‘n balans tussen nie-tradisionele maatstawwe oor vier areas: finansieël, kliënte, interne prosesse en leer en groei. Alhoewel daar verskeie gevallestudies in literatuur voorkom waar Gebalanseerde Telkaart implementering gefaal het, het navorsing bewys dat in gevalle waar dit wel suksesvol geimplementeer is, die telkaart ‘n dramatiese verskil aan die maatskapy se prestasie gemaak het. Daar moet dus besef word dat die telkaart wel sy tekortkominge het en dat die implementering daarvan oordeelkundig moet geskied. Gedurende die 21st eeu het outeurs die potensiaal van die Gebalanseerde Telkaart om korporatiewe volhoudbaarheidsstrategië in aksie oor te skakel raakgesien om sodoende die gaping tussen volhoudbare korporatiewe bestuur en die integrasie van beleid en strategieë in die maatskappy prosesse en -stelsels te oorbrug met die integrasie van volhoudbare maatstawwe in die Gebalanseerde Telkaart. Wêreldwyd is die visvangbedryf gedurig onder die kollig vanweë sy impak op die omgewing en die Suid-Afrikaanse visvangbedryf word nie uitgesluit nie. Die visbedryf is ‘n bron afhanklike bedryf en maatskappye moet teen mekaar meeding vir toegang tot die ontgunning van die bron. Vanuit ‘n ekonomiese en ‘n omgewings oogpunt is dit dus van uiters belang dat maatskappye in die bedryf volhoudbare strategieë toepas om die hernubaarheid van die bron te verseker. Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappye bevind hulself egter in ‘n unieke situasie in terme van maatskaplike verantwoordelikheid vanweë die onregmatighede van die apartheidstelsel en maatskaplike verantwoordelikheid moet dus transformasie insluit. Daarvoor het die Departement van Handel en Industrie reeds Die Swart Ekonomiese Bemagtigings Telkaart ingestel om die vordering van maatskappye te meet. Hierdie telkaarte vorm dus ‘n uitstekende basis vir die volhoudbaarheids gebalanseerde integrasie, nie net om te voldoen aan die legislatiewe regulasies nie, maar ook om die geleenhede wat daaruit kan voortspruit ten volle te benut. Hierdie navorsingsverslag ondersoek dus die skakels tussen korporatiewe bestuur en korporatiewe volhoudbaarheid, die teorië rondom die Volhoudbaare Gebalanseerde Telkaart en die moontlike toepassing daarvan op die Suid-Afrikaanse visbedryf.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: Over the past decade outrageous corporate fiascos has resulted in a renewed interest in Corporate Governance and the way Corporates are managed. At the same time sustainable development and the Corporate contribution and Corporate sustainability has gathered worldwide interest in both institutional and corporate spheres. This has triggered new expectations for business transparency and has shifted the focus from traditional financial reporting to reporting on the organization’s impact and performance on the triple bottom line. More companies from across the globe are developing and reporting on their economic, social- and environmental responsibility and performance. It soon became clear that reporting on broad policy is simply not enough and one of the biggest challenges of corporate managers today are to ensure that their sustainable strategies and policies are integrated into their organizational governance structures and processes. Kapland and Norton have developed the Balanced Scorecard in 1992 to provide business managers with a management tool to translate their strategies into action. The scorecard recognizes that traditional financial measurements is not enough to ensure the continued success of organizations and creates a balance between non traditional measurements across four perspectives: financial, customers, internal processes and learning and growth. Although various case studies exist about Balanced Scorecard implementation, empirical research have indicated substantial performance improvement at organizations that have successfully implemented the Balanced Scorecard. Implementation thereof therefore has to be carried out with caution. During the 2000’s authors has recognized the potential of the Balanced Scorecard to translate Corporate sustainability strategies into action and bridge the gap between the way corporates are governed and sustainability by integrating sustainability measures into the Balanced Scorecard for the creation of the sustainability Balanced Scorecard. Fisheries, world wide are continually under the spotlight as a result of their impact on the environment and the South African fishing industry is certainly not excluded. Fisheries are a resource dependent industry and companies have to compete against each other for access to these resources. Apart from its environmental impact it is therefore of outmost importance that managers within the industry considers all the sustainability aspects in their organizational structures. This research report thus explores the link between Corporate Governance and Corporate Sustainability, the theory surrounding the sustainability Balanced Scorecard and the possible application thereof in order to ensure the long term sustainability of the industry.
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Erlank, Wayne Michael. "An evaluation of the feasibility of obtaining payment for ecosystem services for the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003862.
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Cities must go further and further away to find new, more costly sources of water for human consumption while industries and agriculture continue to compete for increasingly scarce water resources. This may already be seen occurring within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro where the severe drought being experienced during the past 18 months has severely depleted water supply dams. One of the main supply dams to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is situated within the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site. The potential of funding the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site with payments for ecosystem services (water) obtained for water services supplied to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipalities and agriculture in the Gamtoos River Valley will ensure financial sustainable for the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site in the long term. This ability to become financially independent and generate its own income will place the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site in a unique position within the conservation community in South Africa as only a very few protected areas are self sustaining through payment for an ecosystem service.
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Jordan, Matthew. "Procuring industrial pollution control : the South Australian case, 1836-1975 / Matthew Jordan." Thesis, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/21773.
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Mazur, Katarzyna Malgorzata. "Choice modelling in the development of Natural Resource Management Strategies in NSW catchments." Phd thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/150649.
Full textAbstract:
Australian public awareness of natural resource management (NRM) issues relating to environmental conditions has been heightened in recent years. However, due to government budget limitations only some of the environmental problems can be addressed. This raises the question of how available funds should be allocated in order to achieve improved resource use efficiency. The motivation for this research arises from the need for a better understanding of how non-market values can be used in the NRM investment prioritisation processes to enable a comprehensive cost benefit analysis of different resource allocation options. The objective of this research was to explore the application of choice modelling (CM) to elicit the values of New South Wales (NSW) residents for a range of environmental and social changes provided by potential NRM investments in NSW catchments. The estimated environmental and social values are inputs to bio-economic optimisation modelling tools used by Catchment Management Authorities to determine land use changes that can provide improved net benefits to society over time. A further objective of this research was to explore scope, scale effects, the distance effect and ways of improving incentive compatibility of the CM technique. These three methodological issues were investigated to ensure an appropriate use of non-market values for NRM assessments at both catchment and farm levels as well as more accurate extrapolations of non-market values from the case studies to wider application. In order to provide improved result credibility for the policy process, the inclusion of a provision rule directed at incentive compatibility was also tested. Fourteen sub-samples for three case study catchments - Namoi, Lachlan and Hawkesbury-Nepean - were used for the analysis. The results of this study highlight the importance of accounting for variations in values held by different respondent community locations. Most of the differences in preferences for NRM changes were found between rural and urban communities. The semi-rural characteristics of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment community and the close proximity of this catchment to the Sydney urban centre exhibit similar views on NRM actions in this catchment. The results show a higher per unit willingness to pay for a greater scale of provision of non-market attributes, as well as when the good is presented at a smaller scope. The results of this study have not shown a significant impact for including a provision rule on respondent preferences, suggesting a further investigation of a stronger provision rule with a combination of different elicitation formats. The CM application presented for NRM and the three methodological issues investigated in this study provide a significant contribution to more comprehensive and accurate cost benefit analyses of NRM investments in NSW catchments and beyond. The CM approach to eliciting non-market values is suitable for NRM assessments and provides a basis for benefit transfer of these values to similar studies across Australia. Clarifications of scope, scale, location and distance effect terminologies contribute to non-market valuation knowledge of the use of these terminologies so often confused in the literature and provide a clearer understanding of their practical implications in NRM assessments. Investigation of new ways of dealing with incentive compatibility in CM field experiments undertaken in this study also opens opportunities for future research in this area.
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Kruger, Elizabeth. "Cultivating natures: movements in South African permaculture." Thesis, 2017. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24624.
Full textAbstract:
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology), 2017Environmental history and anthropology are disciplines yet in their infancy in South Africa, and still leave many opportunities for further research. The global permaculture movement has emerged as one amongst an array of environmental movements in South Africa that seek alternatives to industrialised capitalist economics which have been identified by many observers as problematic and deleterious to both human and ecological ‘systems’. This research explores permaculture practice as an environmental social movement in the South African context, drawing on a wide array of theory including environmental anthropology, environmental history, social movements theory and ‘whiteness’ studies, amongst others. These bodies of theory have been used to analyse the research data drawn primarily from established anthropological methods of participant observation, narrative elicitation through deep and open-ended interviews and the observation of social and land use practices in particular detailed case studies. The research findings indicated that while permaculture ideology proposed an alternative utopian approach to human-ecological relationships associated with the trappings of neoliberal economic models for development and conservation, the actual practice of permaculture - communally-based resource management and the realisation of these ideals - while developing knowledge around localised sustainable land-use strategies, appeared to necessitate the regulation of social relations and resource access, alignment with the state’s environmental and land-use policies and were largely made possible by white privilege rooted in the country’s colonial and apartheid history. The research highlighted the need to recognise the social and historical specificity of permaculture ideology and practice within the South African context.
XL2018
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Brennan, Michael J. (Michael Joseph) 1944. "Private and public economic impacts of coastal wetland preservation an ecological economic review of State Environmental Planning Policy No. 14 - New South Wales North Coast." 2001. http://mjbrennan@coffs.com.au.
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Watson, Ian. "Class analysis and environmental politics : timber workers and conservationists in Northern New South Wales 1960-1986." Phd thesis, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/131957.
Full textAbstract:
In this thesis I explore the conflicts which have arise between middle class' conservationists and working class timber communities. I examine the New South Wales rainforest controversy as a case study and seek to place the animosity and hostility which arose there within the context of class analysis. At the same time, I integrate other important dimensions of social life, particularly rural ideologies and ideologies of masculinity, into an overall analysis of class power. I show that important cultural divisions underlaid the political conflict, particularly differing conceptions of nature and history, and that these had their roots in different labour processes.
After introducing my theoretical framework, I provide an economic context for my cultural analysis by examining the restructuring of the north coast hardwood timber industry during the 1960s and 1970s. This is followed by two chapters which analyse the labour process in the timber industry. Here I explore both class struggles on the shop-floor and cultural productions which arise within the workplace and in rural communities. The subsequent chapters focus more closely on environmental politics. I analyse the New South Wales rainforest campaign by offering a critique of 'pluralist' political strategies and I then locate this campaign within a wider context by briefly overviewing the anti -uranium and green bans campaigns of the 1970s. One of my major conclusions is that environmental politics is flawed by the neglect by activists of the class effects of their political activities. Assessments of political campaigns solely in terms of ecological goals are seriously deficient because they fail to register how conservationists' actions facilitate capitalist strategies of industry restructuring and thereby further entrench capitalist class power.
Theoretically, my thesis is based on principles of 'realist' methodology and I use concepts drawn from labour process theory, class analysis, and the theory of ideology. The thesis is heavily weighted toward oral history material, gathered during field work interviews on the north coast of New South Wales. I analyse this material using 'popular memory' theory and other studies of working class culture. In so doing, the thesis provides timber workers with a voice in a debate which has largely been dominated by 'middle class' conservationists.
Politically, the thesis is an intervention into current debates about new social movements and their relationship to the left. I argue that an effective alliance between socialists and environmentalists entails a rejection of wilderness politics in favour of urban environmental issues.
I conclude that 'pluralist' political strategies of lobbying for state- conferred concessions should be rejected in favour of strategies which develop alternative economic programmes at local and regional levels.
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McCarthy, Megan Emma. "Environmental impact assessment and organisational change in Transport SA & ETSA Corporation / Megan Emma McCarthy." 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/19898.
Full textAbstract:
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 379-409)2 v. : ill. ; 30 cm.
Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.
Develops a framework for evaluating environmental impact assessment (EIA) and organisational change, and examines the influence of the EIA system on two government organisations within South Australia, Transport SA and ETSA . Finally analyses patterns of organisational change process in South Australia in comparision with experience in the United States.
Thesis (Ph.D.(Arts))--Adelaide University, Dept. of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2001
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McCarthy, Megan Emma. "Environmental impact assessment and organisational change in Transport SA & ETSA Corporation / Megan Emma McCarthy." Thesis, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/19898.
Full textAbstract:
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 379-409)2 v. : ill. ; 30 cm.
Develops a framework for evaluating environmental impact assessment (EIA) and organisational change, and examines the influence of the EIA system on two government organisations within South Australia, Transport SA and ETSA . Finally analyses patterns of organisational change process in South Australia in comparision with experience in the United States.
Thesis (Ph.D.(Arts))--Adelaide University, Dept. of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2001
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Aregbeshola, Maryam Titilayo. "Public participation in environmental impact assessment : an effective tool for sustainable development a South African perspective (Gautrain)." Diss., 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2999.
Full textAbstract:
The need for public participation in the development of policies, programmes or
actions has been widely accepted by both government and private sectors because
of the benefits of such involvement. Involving the public in the development of any
policy, programme or action is, however, a daunting task. Public involvement in the
development of a policy or action often leads to protest, legal litigation, criticism and
delay in carrying out the project. The main objectives of this research are to examine
the process of public participation in the Gautrain project and to interrogate how
public involvement in the decision-making processes of environmental concerns can
be improved.
A quantitative study was conducted to describe and explore the process of public
participation in the Gautrain environmental impact assessment procedure. The
purposive sampling method was used. Thereafter, the data generated was analysed
using statistical tools such as charts, tables and the Wilcoxon Mann Whitney U test
to examine the similarities and differences in the response patterns of the public and
the project proponent. Cronbach alpha statistical methodology was also used to test
the reliability of the measurement.
The findings are discussed in relation to the objectives of the study and research
hypotheses. The results indicate that (1) the public were not involved early enough
during the project planning and design phases; (2) adequate information was not
provided to the public; and (3) public input does not have much impact on decisionmaking
processes. The study does, however, indicate that the process has
enhanced the participants’ learning and that the process of participation has
improved in recent time as compared to the 2002-2003 periods. The study concludes
by providing relevant solutions and recommendations.Environmental Sciences
M. Sc. (Environmental Management)
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Koga, Fumie. "China's south-to-north water diversion scheme : the geographical distribution of environmental and socioeconomic consequences." Thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/11622.
Full text
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Ndhlovu, Maanda Luxious. "Frantz Fanon and critique of the post-apartheid South Africa in relation to socio-economic development." Diss., 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/26871.
Full textAbstract:
This study introduces the Fanonian thought on race and racism, rhetoric of modernity, and new humanism as three constitutive thematic areas in order to enable a new understanding of the South African situation. These thematic areas are examined with specific reference to socio-economic development within the limited context of post-apartheid South Africa. This is done by reading Fanon’s text in the context of South Africa to provide the background against which the unfolding of the post-apartheid era and its political discourses may be analysed. In essence, this study is based on Fanon’s predictions that he made in the text written more than 50 years ago about the future of post-colonial states. Therefore, this study argues that Fanon’s thought has proven to be more prophetic with regard to post-apartheid South Africa and its political reforms which left the fundamental question of structures such as land, economy, and labour unaddressed. What happened on 27 April 1994 is not genuine liberation, but a mere transition from apartheid to democratic dispensation that left the status quo in spatial arrangements uninterrupted. Indeed, it was an elite pact between the African National Congress and white monopoly capital, which betrayed the national liberation movement and the black majority. The contention is that South Africa celebrated the cosmetic reforms that attributed the term liberation incomplete in the absence of fundamental and structural changes. What is therefore recommended is that for there to be success, there must be genuine liberation that is consistent with the needs of society. This means bringing to an end the racially marked structures and reimagining the black condition, through jobs, education, social and economic programmes aimed at empowering the black majority to depend on themselves as opposed to relying on the State.Development Studies
M.A. (Development Studies)
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Gear, Simon. "Assessing the presence / absence of environmental reporting in the annual reports of South African listed companies." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/16830.
Full textAbstract:
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 30 October 2014.The reporting of non-financial data has steadily increased over the past three decades and there is evidence that including social and environmental indicators in the annual report is correlated with improved environmental performance of listed companies. The annual reports of a selection of 82 JSE-listed companies, including the full JSE Top 40, were analysed for mentions of the natural environment for the reporting periods of 2010 and 2012. The introduction of the King III principles by the JSE occurred between these two periods, providing an opportunity to assess the impacts that this move had on annual reporting. Attention was paid to mentions in the leadership reviews by the Chairmen and the CEOs, presence of empirical environmental data, environmental KPIs and the manner in which these data were presented and discussed in the report. In addition, a survey asking qualitative details of company reporting policy was conducted among the staff members responsible for environmental reporting of these companies. The standard and sophistication of environmental reporting varied widely across the sample, with Top 40 companies generally reporting better than non-Top 40 companies. Primary industries were more likely to provide empirical data than service industries and only agricultural industries appeared concerned with the manner in which changes in the natural environment could affect their business. There remains a wide variation in the type and detail of environmental reporting across the sample with very little evidence that the data, as reported, play a meaningful role in the decisions of either management or investors.
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Schmidt, Carmel Elizabeth. "The valuation of South Australian wetlands and their water filtering function : a cost benefit analysis." 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/57336.
Full textAbstract:
Title page, table of contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library."The Lower Murray dairy swamps were once part of a series of freshwater wetlands stretching along the Murray to the Cooring. Of the original 5700 hectares of wetlands only 500 hectares remain today. While the dairy industry that has developed on the swamp has considerable commercial value, it has destroyed the natural water filtration function that the wetlands provided. The industry also causes high levels of dairly effluent to enter the River Murray, contributing to blue-green algae outbreaks and associated economic losses for the local tourism industry. This thesis provides valuable cost-benefit results on a set of three mutually exclusive land use and management options for dealing with the joint problems of water filtration and blue-green algae. The most important options examined involve the return of this area to wetlands for water filtration rather continuing to use it for dairy farming." --p. ix.
http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1284108
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Economics, 2007
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Schmidt, Carmel Elizabeth. "The valuation of South Australian wetlands and their water filtering function : a cost benefit analysis." Thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/57336.
Full textAbstract:
"The Lower Murray dairy swamps were once part of a series of freshwater wetlands stretching along the Murray to the Cooring. Of the original 5700 hectares of wetlands only 500 hectares remain today. While the dairy industry that has developed on the swamp has considerable commercial value, it has destroyed the natural water filtration function that the wetlands provided. The industry also causes high levels of dairly effluent to enter the River Murray, contributing to blue-green algae outbreaks and associated economic losses for the local tourism industry. This thesis provides valuable cost-benefit results on a set of three mutually exclusive land use and management options for dealing with the joint problems of water filtration and blue-green algae. The most important options examined involve the return of this area to wetlands for water filtration rather continuing to use it for dairy farming." --p. ix.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Economics, 2007
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Long, Dianne Patience. "Reaching for sustainability: ecological modernisation and environmetal justice in South African energy policy and practice." Thesis, 2017. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/23834.
Full textAbstract:
A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
April 2017Sustainable development is one of the major discourses of the twenty first century. In many instances sustainable development has been synonymous with the discourse of ecological modernisation. Ecological modernisation, as a discourse, has been proposed as an entreating means to reach the ideal of development that is sustainable, but has by and large only been tested within developed nations. There is, however, a prominent academic debate centred on the potential social and environmental justice concerns that may emanate from the promotion of ecological modernisation in environmental policy. This research project aimed to understand the degree to which ecological modernisation has been embraced in South Africa, and the environmental justice implications of this adoption. This was in an attempt to build an environmental justice policy framework for ecological modernisation in a bid to address environmental justice concerns. South African energy policy and practice was investigated in order to do this. Civil society hold an esteemed position in ecological modernisation, and as such in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a number of civil society activists who are involved in a range of campaigns for environmental justice. Their insights and solutions to potential environmental justice concerns that would result from using ecological modernisation were investigated. This was done in an attempt to build a list of environmental justice principles that can possibly be used to inform policies based on ecological modernisation in order to ensure just development. These criteria address the role of government, the role of society at large, as well as industry, and for the most part seek to understand if the disparate power dynamics that exist amongst these three actors can potentially be addressed. South African energy policies were analysed for evidence of these justice principles. It was found that South African energy policies do not address environmental justice in any measure that would truly allow for justice to be put into the practice of governing the environment. Therefore, by incorporating these environmental justice principles into ecological modernisation, ecological modernisation can potentially be stronger in approach to sustainable development than it presently is.
MT 2018
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Nicholson, Ann Florence. "Archaeology on an arid coast : environmental and cultural influences on subsistence economies on the West Coast of South Australia." Master's thesis, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/109999.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines the archaeological record on the West Coast of the Eyre Peninsula in
South Australia with a view to identifying the pattern of behaviour associated with sites
present on this coast. The sites are notable in that they are extensive and feature high
proportions of stone artefacts but contain little or no shell material. This thesis seeks to
explain the virtual absence of shells by considering a number of environmental, behavioural,
demographic and cultural issues. Is the archaeological record a product of post-depositional
disturbance or resource availability, or did other environmental influences such as a shortage
of water restrict adaptive behaviour so as to exclude or minimize interaction with the sea.
Alternatively, is the subsistance strategy indicated by the archaeological record a result of
other cultural influences. Ethnohistorical evidence is examined to investigate the subsistence
patterns which operated on this coastline. Linguistic, technological and social factors which
may have influenced the economic choices made by these coastal people are considered and
compared with the archaeological record. The thesis then examines the interpretation of the
West Coast evidence in the context of other coastal studies both in Australia and overseas to
contribute to the current debate regarding the role of the sea in the evolution of hunter-gatherer
subsistence economies.
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Agyepong, Adelaide Owusu. "An assessment of green procurement practices in South African metropolitan municipalities." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/18486.
Full textAbstract:
Environmental degradation is a global challenge that affects all. One of the most prominent impacts of environmental degradation is the climate change phenomenon. The adverse impacts of climate change have given rise to responses aimed at retarding, halting and learning to live with the already present effects of climate change. These responses to climate change fall into two broad categories: mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation addresses the climate change challenge through seeking a reduction or elimination of anthropogenic generated greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Adaptation on the other hand addresses climate change through reducing the adverse impacts of climate change as well as exploiting economic and social opportunities presented by climate change. Green procurement has been identified as one of the climate change intervention measures. This is because research shows that procurement policies and practices of both the public and private sectors have the potential to influence environmentally friendly modes of production and the provision of ‘greener’ goods and services that include infrastructure. In many developing countries the big spending power of the public sector, particularly municipalities, makes them influential players in the nature of goods and services production and provision.
Against this background, this study investigates the role of South African metropolitan municipalities in addressing environmental decay through green procurement. Specifically, the study aims to assess the levels of green procurement practices of goods and services within South Africa metropolitan municipalities. This is achieved through; (i) determining the level of understanding of sustainable development, and (ii) determining the extent to which green procurement is practiced in South African metropolitan municipalities, and identifying policy and legislative requirements (if any) that support green procurement practices. Given the complexity of means, policy and practices around the green procurement drive; the study employed a mixed method approach. The mixed method approach employed three methods namely: document analysis, interviews and the use of a questionnaire. Analysis of data included content analysis, inductive thematic analysis and basic numerical analysis of the questionnaire, using MS Excel.
The study made two broad findings; (i) there is generally a good understanding of the sustainable development discourse among South Africa’s metropolitan officials; and (ii) policy response to green procurement shows that the older metropolitans that include the City of Cape Town, City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay have made greater progress making explicit reference to green procurement in different policies compared to the younger metropolitans such as Buffalo City and Mangaung. Despite the general understanding of the sustainable development discourse and evidence of explicit reference to green procurement in some metropolitan policy documents there is a general lack of comprehensive implementation of green procurement practices across all the metropolitan municipalities. The current implementation is sporadic and largely through a number of projects that are not always linked to give rise to effective synergies. The study concludes that there is limited implementation of green procurement policies and strategies in all metropolitans. This may be attributed to limited policy understanding and lack of education and training around green economy transition and green procurement issues. The study recommends the mainstreaming of the green procurement concept into already existing policies and to establish new policies where there are none. There is a need to translate the policies into legislation and regulations that carry incentive to reward and encourage the desired green procurement practices. There is further need to put in place sanctions to discourage and halt undesired procurement practices.Environmental Sciences
D. Litt. et Phil. (Environmental Management)
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Downton, Paul Francis. "Ecopolis : towards an integrated theory for the design, development and maintenance of ecological cities." 2002. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phd75151.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Includes bibliographical references (p. 575-607) Pt. A. Ecological cityscapes: theory & practice -- pt. B. Urban ecology Australia &ecopolis: ecocity projects in South Australia -- pt. C. Towards a theoretical synthesis of ecopolis About creating and maintaining 'ecological cities' and the necessary conditions for making ecocities. Sets the creation of human settlement in an ecological context and demonstrates through case study analyses that practical approaches to urbanism can be made within a theory of city-making grounded in principles of direct democracy and cooperative community processes.
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Ahmed, Fathima. "The use of spatial analysis and participatory approaches in strategic environmental assessment (SEA) : identifying and predicting the ecological impacts of development on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast of South Africa." Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/123.
Full textAbstract:
The high pressures for coastal development, translated as prolific land cover transformation, coupled with the weaknesses of management to protect the environment has led to the gradual deterioration of environmental conditions in many coastal areas. Land use decisions in coastal areas are based on opportunities and constraints affected by both biophysical and socio-economic drivers, and hence present one of the main issues integrating the large debate on sustainable development in coastal zones (Lourenço and Machado, 2007: 1). The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the integration of spatial analysis and participatory approaches in SEA (particularly its ability to identify and predict ecological impacts) on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast of South Africa. The study adopted a conceptual framework based on landscape ecology, which was underpinned within the overarching political ecology framework. The former underscores the importance of integration, while the latter critiques the institutionalization of environmental concerns, which are characterized by inequalities in terms of social and political power and of how problems are defined, mediated and resolved. Hence this conceptual framework was considered appropriate to assess the strategic environmental issues pertaining to the coastal zone on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast. The researcher used participatory methods, primarily focus group discussions (which included venn diagramming, ranking exercises and participatory mapping) which were triangulated with both quantitative and qualitative methods as part of an integrated impact assessment. These relate to the use of semistructured questionnaires which were administered to a purposive sample of six key stakeholder interest groups within the study area. A spatial GIS time series analysis of land use and cover change was employed to determine baseline conditions, changes in the state of key ecosystems, key development drivers and emerging threats. Additionally, a policy and institutional review was undertaken. The analysis revealed that major natural land cover classes are in decline in the study area,within a time period of less than 10 years. The most sensitive ecosystems were found to be grasslands (-19.99%), coastal forest (-40%), wetlands (-37.49%) and secondary dunes (- 21.44%). Furthermore, agriculture and forestry are also indicating severe declines. The reasons attributed to this transformation of land cover are increasingly being linked with economic motives such as individual private land-owner dynamics, tourism growth and development in the area. Furthermore, the policy agendas are clearly economically motivated. These losses signify the cumulative decline in ecosystem goods and services, and could undermine pose risks to the society that relies on them either directly or indirectly. One of the main considerations in this research endeavor was to formulate a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Framework to inform future ICZM in the study area. SEA is planning with a long-term perspective, with a focus on a spatial rather than a project level, an element that is clearly lacking in the current development scenario of this coastline. It is critical that the SEA Framework advocated in this study include a range of variables that will permit short-term, medium-term and long-term monitoring and evaluation aimed at ensuring sustainable planning in the area.Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.
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Haw, Alexander Francis. "Comparing the implementation of sustainability initiatives in national and multinational fast moving consumer goods companies." Thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/23527.
Full textAbstract:
Masters in the Field of Environmental Sciences (MSc CW/RR) - GEOL7007
Research Report School of Animal Plants and Environmental Science. Johannesburg 2017.In recent times increasing emphasis has been placed on the important role that corporations must play in the creation of greener economies. This has given rise to greater corporate environmental disclosure and reporting, and a wealth of research into the link between sustainability reporting and financial and environmental business performance. Notwithstanding this, it has been noted that corporate responses to environmental sustainability issues are highly variable, and very little research has been conducted to determine where businesses focus their environmental sustainability efforts and to what extent they have made measureable progress in this regard. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the implementation of sustainability initiatives across a variety of fast moving consumer goods companies, including large multinational organisations, privately owned South African and publically traded JSE listed companies. This was achieved through the evaluation and scoring of an environmental self-assessment questionnaire distributed annually over a three year period between 2012 and 2014. In total, the survey, which covered a cross section of business relevant environmental issues, allowed for the profiling of 851 company responses. Scoring of these responses was based on a defined matrix with a grading system of 0 – 6. Results showed that overall, larger companies appear to be making significantly better progress when it comes to tackling environmental issues than their smaller privately owned competitors. Of the product categories investigated, the sustainability performance of liquor suppliers was the best while transport suppliers scored significantly lower than their peers. Publically listed JSE-listed companies and large multinational companies had similar sustainability performance to one another but both these groups performed significantly better than their privately owned South African competitors. Of those supplier Groups surveyed, JSE listed companies were the only business Group who showed significant year-on-year improvement in performance. An evaluation of scores achieved across the different environmental issues covered revealed that suppliers indicated they performed best in the areas of waste minimisation, operational energy mitigation and sustainable product design, while they made least progress when it came to climate change mitigation, sustainability reporting and biodiversity conservation. Results suggest that overall: companies made most progress on environmental issues that offered the greatest potential for increasing revenues or reducing operating costs; large public corporations performed significantly better than privately owned companies when it came to tackling environmental sustainability issues; and despite increasing emphasis being placed on transitioning to more sustainable business models, only one group of suppliers showed a measurable improvement in sustainability performance over the course of the study.
LG2017
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Hadzhi, Ndivhaleni Liesbeth. "A critical analysis of the implementation of Local Economic Development Projects as mechanism to alleviate poverty in Thulamela Local Municipality, Vhembe District." Diss., 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11602/807.
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Naidoo, Santhuri Santhakumari. "Evaluating the impact of environmental governance on biodiversity management in South African cities." Diss., 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/23267.
Full textAbstract:
South Africa is recognised as one of the megadiverse nations of the world. In recent years, the
South African Government has prioritised human needs, without adequately safeguarding the
country’s natural resources. Biodiversity is the living fabric of our planet, responsible for
human health, well-being and ultimately, the preservation of the environment. It is the
Government’s responsibility to ensure that processes and policy frameworks recognise the
significance of biodiversity and its role in ensuring a sustainable future for the country while
at the same time ensuring essential services delivery to its people. The aim of this study was to
evaluate the impact of environmental governance on biodiversity management at the local
government level in South Africa. The study was conducted in three Metropolitan
Municipalities in South Africa. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire from officials
of these municipalities. Variables that were assessed include capacity assessment, intergovernmental
relations, budget and biodiversity management. Interviews were conducted with
the Heads of the environmental departments of the municipalities. A review of the defining
national and international environmental law was conducted to evaluate the transformation,
challenges and successes of biodiversity mangement at the local government level in South Africa. The results of this study highlight the challenges faced by local governments in
implementing biodiversity management such as capacity constraints, lack of resources and the
absence of a biodiversity mandate at the local government sphere. Integrating biodiversity
management at the local level will only be possible through more robust policy development,
stronger cooperation and communication among the different levels of government, as well as
enhanced capacity (skills) and resource provision in the municipalities.Environmental Sciences
M. Sc. (Environmental Science)
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Ngubane, Steven Zama. "Small-scale timber growers' participation in the development of national principles, criteria, indicators and standards for sustainable forest management in South Africa." 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/3471.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of this study was to engage small-scale timber growers in the development of
national principles, criteria, indicators and standards (PCI&S) for sustainable forest
management (SFM) in South Africa (SA).
To ensure effective participation of small-scale timber growers in the development
PCI&S, an overview of sustainable and small-scale forestry was explored.
Furthermore, because of the importance of globalisation on the SFM concept, its
conceptual framework and small-scale forestry development in relation to SFM were
investigated.
Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methods, and PCI&S evaluation and development
processes were used to engage small-scale timber growers by identifying and
integrating their perceptions into the process of SFM standards development. These
small-scale timber growers' perceptions focused on social, economic, environment
and policy issues.
The stUdy indicates that the views of small-scale timber growers regarding SFM do not
vary significantly from those held globally. However, they demonstrate that local
conditions determined issues of relevance and importance to this specific group. The
results further support the view that there is value in combining both top-down and
bottom-up approaches in developing an appropriate set of PCI&S. This is critical
because the perceptions of small-scale timber growers for SFM are scale sensitive.
Finally, the results supported the view that there is a need to give attention to and
strengthen socio-economic issues versus those of the physical environment to
improve inequalities of the past, and influence future decisions.Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.
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Manavhela, Pfarelo. "An assessment of the potential for sustainable community tourism development in the villages affected by the Nandoni Dam." Diss., 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11602/143.
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Nyasha, Sheilla. "Financial development and economic growth : new evidence from six countries." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/18576.
Full textAbstract:
Using 1980 - 2012 annual data, the study empirically investigates the dynamic
relationship between financial development and economic growth in three
developing countries (South Africa, Brazil and Kenya) and three developed countries
(United States of America, United Kingdom and Australia). The study was motivated
by the current debate regarding the role of financial development in the economic
growth process, and their causal relationship. The debate centres on whether
financial development impacts positively or negatively on economic growth and
whether it Granger-causes economic growth or vice versa. To this end, two models
have been used. In Model 1 the impact of bank- and market-based financial
development on economic growth is examined, while in Model 2 it is the causality
between the two that is explored. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL)
bounds testing approach to cointegration and error-correction based causality test,
the results were found to differ from country to country and over time. These results
were also found to be sensitive to the financial development proxy used. Based on
Model 1, the study found that the impact of bank-based financial development on
economic growth is positive in South Africa and the USA, but negative in the U.K –
and neither positive nor negative in Kenya. Elsewhere the results were inconclusive.
Market-based financial development was found to impact positively in Kenya, USA
and the UK but not in the remaining countries. Based on Model 2, the study found
that bank-based financial development Granger-causes economic growth in the UK,
while in Brazil they Granger-cause each other. However, in South Africa, Kenya and
USA no causal relationship was found. In Australia the results were inconclusive.
The study also found that in the short run, market-based financial development
Granger-causes economic growth in the USA but that in South Africa and Brazil, the
reverse applies. On the other hand bidirectional causality was found to prevail in
Kenya in the same period.Economics
DCOM (Economics)
49
Mohale, Daniel Matome. "An overview of the cultural tourism sector of Greater Polokwane: challenges and prospects." Diss., 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/26946.
Full textAbstract:
Cultural tourism is a fast-growing sector in many countries. In South Africa, it is a key growth segment of local economic development (LED). South Africa is home to many cultural institutions such as museums, art galleries, theatres, monuments and festivals that – thanks to a growing number of international and local interests – encourage entrepreneurship and help generate local business growth and employment opportunities. South Africa’s Limpopo Province is predominately known for its wildlife and hunting tourism. However, it is endowed with many cultural institutions that are contributing significantly to the regional economy – specifically in the metropole of Greater Polokwane. As yet, no study has researched the size and impact of this cultural contribution on the local economy vis a vis more well-known tourism activities. This study sketches the size and nature of the cultural tourism industry in Greater Polokwane. In the first phase of the study, a database of formal cultural institutions in Greater Polokwane was created. In the study’s second phase, interviews with staff members of these institutions using both quantitative and qualitative methods, were conducted. The data revealed that most employees, including senior managerial staff, are local Black Africans. None of these cultural institutions are state funded; they all operate privately, but some are located on state-owned land. Thus, government support for cultural tourism in this region is minimal. Insufficient funds and resources inhibit the growth of this sector. Some employees expressed dissatisfaction with their working conditions and remuneration. Nonetheless, these cultural institutions generate local economic growth and employment opportunities.Environmental Sciences
M. Sc. (Environmental Management
50
Ndou, Avhatakali Christopher. "An investigation into the socio-economic factors and community perception in the direction of the conservation and management of the wetland : a case study of Thohoyandou Block F." Diss., 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11602/38.
Full text