In this book 60 authors from many disciplines and from 18 countries on five continents examine in ten parts: Moving towards Sustainability Transition; Aiming at Sustainable Peace; Meeting Challenges of the 21st Century: Demographic Imbalances, Temperature Rise and the Climate–Conflict Nexus; Initiating Research on Global Environmental Change, Limits to Growth, Decoupling of Growth and Resource Needs; Developing Theoretical Approaches on Sustainability and Transitions; Analysing National Debates on Sustainability in North America; Preparing Transitions towards a Sustainable Economy and Society, Production and Consumption and Urbanization; Examining Sustainability Transitions in the Water, Food and Health Sectors from Latin American and European Perspectives; Preparing Sustainability Transitions in the Energy Sector; and Relying on Transnational, International, Regional and National Governance for Strategies and Policies Towards Sustainability Transition. This book is based on workshops held in Mexico (2012) and in the US (2013), on a winter school at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (2013), and on commissioned chapters. The workshop in Mexico and the publication were supported by two grants by the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF). All texts in this book were peer-reviewed by scholars from all parts of the world.

This book provides new insights into the development of integrated approaches to peace and sustainability in the era of global change. Since the late 1980s, and in order to regulate the increasingly detrimental impacts of humans on the environment, the transition towards sustainability has been high on the agenda of researchers and policymakers alike. Meanwhile, peace considerations have expanded in recent decades to include the varied types and sources of conflict, from inter-state to intra-state conflicts due to various social, political, economic, and environmental factors. Through providing theoretical and empirical insights, this book demonstrates that sustainability and peace as intrinsically interrelated. The book elaborates on the multi-dimensional and constantly evolving concepts of sustainability and peace. In addition, the book contributes to a better understanding of the complex and dynamic interlinkages between peace and sustainability by presenting examples of pathways where sustainability and peace interact considering the different factors and contexts that are constantly shaping and reshaping the conditions for sustainable and peaceful societies.

An exploration of how the theory and practice of integrated peacebuilding can be applied across diverse disciplines

This book has peer-reviewed chapters by scholars from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico and the USA that were presented to the Ecology and Peace Commission (EPC) of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) in November 2012 in Japan. The chapters address these themes: Expanding Peace Ecology – Peace, Security, Sustainability, Equity and Gender; Two Discourses on Global Climate Change Impacts: From Climate Change and Security to Sustainability Transition; Peace Research and Greening in the Red Zone: Community-based Ecological Restoration to Enhance Resilience and Transitions Toward Peace; Social and Environmental Vulnerability in a River Basin of Mexico; Mobile Learning, Rebuilding Community Through Building Communities, Supporting Community Capacities: Post Natural Disaster Experience; Transforming Consciousness through Peace Environmental Education; Building Peace by Rebuilding Community; Ability Expectations and Peace and on Satoyama Sustainability and Peace.

Violent conflicts today are complex and increasingly protracted, involving more nonstate groups and regional and international actors. It is estimated that by 2030—the horizon set by the international community for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals—more than half of the world’s poor will be living in countries affected by high levels of violence. Information and communication technology, population movements, and climate change are also creating shared risks that must be managed at both national and international levels. Pathways for Peace is a joint United Nations†“World Bank Group study that originates from the conviction that the international community’s attention must urgently be refocused on prevention. A scaled-up system for preventive action would save between US$5 billion and US$70 billion per year, which could be reinvested in reducing poverty and improving the well-being of populations. The study aims to improve the way in which domestic development processes interact with security, diplomacy, mediation, and other efforts to prevent conflicts from becoming violent. It stresses the importance of grievances related to exclusion—from access to power, natural resources, security and justice, for example—that are at the root of many violent conflicts today. Based on a review of cases in which prevention has been successful, the study makes recommendations for countries facing emerging risks of violent conflict as well as for the international community. Development policies and programs must be a core part of preventive efforts; when risks are high or building up, inclusive solutions through dialogue, adapted macroeconomic policies, institutional reform, and redistributive policies are required. Inclusion is key, and preventive action needs to adopt a more people-centered approach that includes mainstreaming citizen engagement. Enhancing the participation of women and youth in decision making is fundamental to sustaining peace, as well as long-term policies to address the aspirations of women and young people.

This Handbook represents an unprecedented exploration of the positive peace platform. It permits a comprehensive appreciation of the breadth of positive peace that engages with nonviolence, environmental sustainability, social justice and positive relationships scholarship. The work serves as a one-stop shop for scholar/practitioners interested in locating their inquiry and outputs in the field of positive peace and provides readers from a multitude of disciplines and academic departments with a comprehensive overview of the multiplicity of positive peace research in one location. In doing so, the Handbook of Positive Peace securely demarcates and recognizes the positive peace platform in social scientific and humanities academic disciplines.

Examines the overlapping aims, values, and concepts in peace and environmental education.