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The National Research Council's Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability hosted \"Transitioning to Sustainability through Research and Development on Ecosystem Services and Biofuels: The National Academies' First Federal Sustainability Research and Development Forum\" on October 17- 18, 2007. The forum discussed sustainability research and development activities related to ecosystem services and biofuels. The objective of the forum was to identify research gaps and opportunities for collaboration among federal agencies to meet the challenges to sustainability posed by the need to maintain critical ecosystem services, to support the development of alternatives to conventional fossil fuels, and to manage oceans and coastal areas. The forum focused primarily on federal activities, but included the participation of representatives from the private sector, universities, and nongovernmental organizations. This book is a summary the discussions from the forum.

Mounting evidence suggests physical and mental health problems relate to the built environment, including human-modified places such as homes, schools, workplaces, parks, industrial areas, farms, roads and highways. The public health relevance of the built environment requires examination. Preliminary research demonstrates the health benefits of sustainable communities. However, the impact of mediating and moderating factors within the built environment on health must be explored further. Given the complexity of the built environment, understanding its influence on human health requires a community-based, multilevel, interdisciplinary research approach. The authors offer recommendations, based upon a recent conference sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), for research and policy approaches, and suggest interagency research alliances for greater public health impact.

The Earth's population, currently 7.2 billion, is expected to rise at a rapid rate over the next 40 years. Current projections state that the Earth will need to support 9.6 billion people by the year 2050, a figure that climbs to nearly 11 billion by the year 2100. At the same time, most people envision a future Earth with a greater average standard of living than we currently have - and, as a result, greater consumption of our planetary resources. How do we prepare our planet for a future population of 10 billion? How can this population growth be achieved in a manner that is sustainable from an economic, social, and environmental perspective? Can Earth's and Society's Systems Meet the Needs of 10 Billion People? is the summary of a multi-disciplinary workshop convened by the National Academies in October 2013 to explore how to increase the world's population to 10 billion in a sustainable way while simultaneously increasing the well-being and standard of living for that population. This report examines key issues in the science of sustainability that are related to overall human population size, population growth, aging populations, migration toward cities, differential consumption, and land use change, by different subpopulations, as viewed through the lenses of both social and natural science.

On August 1 and 2, 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a public workshop in Washington, DC, on sustainable diets, food, and nutrition. Workshop participants reviewed current and emerging knowledge on the concept of sustainable diets within the field of food and nutrition; explored sustainable diets and relevant impacts for cross-sector partnerships, policy, and research; and discussed how sustainable diets influence dietary patterns, the food system, and population and public health. This publication briefly summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Sustainable development is achievable if individual freedom and responsibilities are balanced while taking social, ecological and economic needs into account. This book focuses on responsible living as the individual's contribution to sustainable development.

Written by 27 World Bank experts, this book draws on the Bank's unique global capabilities and experience to promote an understanding of key global issues that cannot be solved by any one nation alone in an increasingly interconnected world. It describes the forces that are shaping public and private action to address these issues and highlights the Bank's own work in these areas. Covering four broad themes (global economy, global human development, global environment, and global governance), this comprehensive volume provides an introduction to today's most pressing global issues -- from poverty, conflict, and migration to climate change, international trade, education, health, and corruption. With its straightforward presentation of complex topics, use of real world examples, and suggestions for further reading on-line and in the literature, this unique volume will be an invaluable resource for students in international relations, global business, public policy, international development studies, sociology as well as other interested readers.

Everyday Environmentalism develops a conversation between marxist theories of everyday life and recent work in urban political ecology, arguing for a philosophy of praxis in relation to the politics of urban environments. Alex Loftus reformulates—with the assistance of Lukács, Gramsci, Lefebvre, and others—a politics of the environment in which everyday subjectivity is at the heart of a revolutionary politics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry committed to making their 2009 National Environmental Public Health Conference a model for green and healthy conferences. The conference included increased opportunities for physical activity, both as part of conference events and for transportation to the conference. In addition, conference meals were healthy and sustainably sourced. The conference also implemented intuitive, accessible recycling; online scheduling and evaluation to minimize hard-copy materials; and the purchase of carbon offsets to reduce the unwanted environmental impact of the conference. Public health professionals have an opportunity and obligation to support healthy behaviors at their events and to serve as leaders in this area. Facilitating healthy and sustainable choices is in alignment with goals for both public health and broader social issues—such as environmental quality—that have a direct bearing on public health.

The essential oil is one of the most promising themes that can strongly contribute to the Green Chemistry, not only in research laboratories, but also in various industries and at the teaching level from primary schools to universities. This conclusion was based on two observations. Essential oils are widely used in perfume, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and food industries. It has long been recognized since antiquity to possess biological activities, including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antimycotic, antitoxigenic, antiparasitic and insecticidal properties. A large number of essential oils and their constituents have been investigated for their antioxidant properties in cooked and fresh food products. In recent years, researchers and industries are more focused on the major compounds of essential oils in order to use them as bio-based solvents for extracting valuable metabolites (e.g., fat and lipid, carotenoids, polyphenols) or as reagents (synthons) for newly bio-based chemicals for pharmaceutical, food or cosmetic purposes. As a main difference from previously published books in this area, readers like chemists in synthesis or analysis, biochemists, chemical engineers, physicians, food and agro- technologists will find a deep and complete perspective regarding essential oils. Following an introduction to the history of essential oils (Chap. 1), Chap. 2 details conventional and innovative extraction techniques. Biological applications in which essential oils have afforded spectacular results are discussed extensively in terms of fundamentals, tests, and applications: antioxidants (Chap. 3), antimicrobials (Chap. 4), and insecticides (Chap. 5). The last two chapters give new directions for research and industry by using major or single components in essential oils as bio-based solvents (Chap. 6) or as green reagents for syntheses (Chap. 7). We wish to thank sincerely all our colleagues from “GREEN Extraction Team” in Avignon University who have collaborated in essential oil’s applications. We express our thanks to the personnel from Springer who have offered their time and support, especially Dr. Sonia Ojo for her help to make this SpringerBrief possible. On the other hand, we are totally convinced that this book is the starting point for future collaborations in new “green chemistry of essential oils” between research, industry and education.