Environmental Sustainability: A Definition for Environmental Professionals
ABSTRACT: While acknowledging the need for “sustainability,” this paper summarizes the problems that have been encountered in our understanding and use of this concept. It explores the efforts of others to define the concept within the context of specific disciplinary areas and sets forth a proposal for a basic understanding of the term “environmental sustainability” as an expansion of our common perception of the nature of human activity so as to more clearly connect it with the ecological concept of interdependence and to serve as a goal for environmental manager.
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All articles in:
OPEN CALL FOR PAPERS July 2012
Journal of Environmental Sustainability
Rochester Institute of Technology,
Letter from the Editor-in-Chief
Morelli, John
Rise and Fall of the Concept Sustainability
Kiss, Károly
Environmental Sustainability: A Definition for Environmental Professionals
Morelli, John
Contradictions Inherent in the Management of Natural and Industrial Disasters
Kerekes, Sándor
Corporate Environmental Sustainability Beyond Organizational Boundaries: Market Growth, Ecosystems Complexity and Supply Chain Structure as Co-Determinants of Environmental Impact
Pogutz, Stefano & Micale, Valerio & Winn, Monika I.
Assessing Corporate Sustainability Through Ratings: Challenges and Their Causes
Windolph, Sarah Elena
The Ecological Allowance of Enterprise: An Absolute Measure of Corporate Environmental Performance, its Implications for Strategy, and a Small Case
Reichel, André & Seeberg, Barbara
Sustainable Rural Entrepreneurship: A Case in Hungary
Luda, Szilvia
Today’s Environmental Manager’s Toolbox: Evaluating the EHS Attributes of Products
Winnebeck, Kathryn H.

