Designing Our Future: Local Perspectives on Bioproduction, Ecosystems and Humanity

by United Nations (Other)

Overview

This volume focuses on society at the local and regional levels in a scenario where human beings coexist harmoniously with nature. This ideal society is examined in terms of the relationships between villages or towns and their natural environment and how they can achieve independence while facing pressures toward centralization and globalization. Because this requires both food and energy independence, farms, villages, and towns must have access to natural renewable energy and material circulation systems. There also needs to be a system to facilitate collaboration among the various elements.

To enable communities to retain their autonomy, public awareness of the importance of fostering local cultures and traditions is vital. Cultural independence demands that local ways of thinking be steered away from the "plunder nature" model toward "coexistence with nature." With economic globalization spearheading a trend toward standardization and uniformity in human values, this book highlights the importance of developing a society in harmony with nature through the networking of diverse communities to promote and achieve local independence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789280811834
Publisher:	United Nations University Press
Publication date:	03/10/2011
Series:	United Nations University Press Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	477
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mitsuru Osaki is director of the Sustainability Governance Project, Hokkaido University, Japan. Ademola Braimoh is executive director of the Sapporo Nodal Office of the Global Land Project, Hokkaido University. Ken'ichi Nakagami is a professor at the College of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University, Japan.

Table of Contents

Plates ix

Figures x

Tables xiv

Contributors xvi

Preface xxiv

1 Introduction: From global to regional sustainability 1

1-1 Designing our future: Society in harmony with nature, from local and regional perspectives Mitsuru Osaki 2

1-2 The carrying capacity of the Earth Norihito Tambo 6

2 Sustainable land management 37

2-1 Sustainable agriculture practices Masakazu Komatsuzaki Hiroyuki Ohta 38

2-2 Soil quality and sustainable land use Ademola K. Braimoh 50

2-3 The role of biological control in sustainable agriculture Anthony R. Chittenden Yutaka Saito 63

2-4 The role of biochar in land and ecosystem sustainability Makoto Ogawa 76

3 How to make food, biological and water resources sustainable 87

3-1 Biomass as an energy resource Fumitaka Shiotsu Taiichiro Hattori Shigenori Morita 88

3-2 Worldwide cross-country pattern of ecosystem and agricultural productivities Takashi S. Kohyama Akihiko Ito 99

3-3 Sustainable forest management and evaluation of carbon sinks Noriyuki Kobayashi 108

3-4 Ocean ecosystem conservation and seafood security Masahide Kaeriyama Michio J. Kishi Sei-Ichi Saitoh Yasunori Sakurai 130

4 Regional initiatives for self-sustaining models 147

4-1 Biomass town development and opportunities for integrated biomass utilization Ken'ichi Nakagami Kazuyuki Doi Yoshito Yuyama Hidetsugu Morimoto 148

4-2 Analysis of energy, food, fertilizer and feed: Self-sufficiency potentials Nobuyuki Tsuji Toshiki Sato 163

4-3 Biogas plants in Hokkaido: Present situation and future prospects Juzo Matsuda Shiho Ishikawa 174

4-4 The bioenergy village in Germany: The Lighthouse Project for sustainable energy production in rural areas Marianne Karpenstein-Machan Peter Schmuck 184

4-5 Samsø: The Danish renewable energy island Ryoh Nakakubo Søren Hermansen 194

4-6 Self-sustaining models in India: Biofuels, eco-cities, eco-villages and urban agriculture for a low-carbon future B. Mohan Kumar 207

5 Self-sustaining local and regional societies 219

5-1 Forest biomass for regional energy supply in Austria Yoshiki Yamagata Florian Kraxner Kentaro Aoki 220

5-2 Transition initiatives: A grassroots movement to prepare local communities for life after peak oil Noriyuki Tanaka 234

5-3 Rebuilding satoyama landscapes and human-nature relationships Kazuhiko Takeuchi 244

5-4 Local commons in a global context Makoto Inoue 254

5-5 Risk and resource management Hiroyuki Matsuda 267

6 Bridging between sustainability and governance 283

6-1 The concept of sustainability governance Nobuo Kurata 284

6-2 Problem-structuring for local sustainability governance: The case of Furano Yuka Motoda Yasuhiko Kudo Nobuyuki Tsuji Hironori Kato Hideaki Shiroyama 288

6-3 Decision-making in sustainability governance Seiichi Kagaya 309

7 How to sustain social, cultural and human well-being 327

7-1 Ecology, sustainability science and "knowing" systems Osamu Saito Richard Bawden 328

7-2 The preservation and creation of a regional culture for glocal sustainability Tatsuji Sawa 346

7-3 Sustainability and indigenous people: A case study of the Ainu people Koji Yamasaki 360

7-4 Sustainable rural/regional development by attracting value-added components into rural areas Kiyoto Kurokawa 375

7-5 Sustainable agricultural development in Asia and study partnerships Takumi Kondo Hong Park 387

7-6 Nature therapy Yoshifumi Miyazaki Bun-Jin Park Juyoung Lee 407

7-7 Health risks and regional sustainability Tatsuo Omura 413

7-8 An integrated solution to a dual crisis: An assessment of Green New Deal policy Fumikazu Yoshida 423

7-9 Towards a sustainable world through positive feedback loops between critical issues Motoyoshi Ikeda 433

Index 439