Systems Engineering and Management for Sustainable Development is a component of Encyclopedia of Technology, Information, and Systems Management Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. This theme discusses: basic principles of systems engineering and management for sustainable development, including: cost effectiveness assessment; decision assessment, tradeoffs, conflict resolution and negotiation; research and development policy; industrial ecology; and risk management strategies for sustainability. The emphasis throughout will be upon the development of appropriate life-cycles for processes that assist in the attainment of sustainable development, and in the use of appropriate policies and systems management approaches to ensure successful application of these processes. The general objectives of these chapters is to illustrate the way in which one specific issue, such as the need to bring about sustainable development, necessarily grows in scope such that it becomes only feasible to consider the engineering and architecting of appropriate systems when the specific issue is imbedded into a wealth of other issues. The discussions provide an illustration of the many attributes and needs associated with the important task of utilizing information and knowledge, enabled through systems engineering and management, to engineer systems involving humans, organizations, and technology, in the support of sustainability. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs

Systems Engineering and Management for Sustainable Development is a component of Encyclopedia of Technology, Information, and Systems Management Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. This theme discusses: basic principles of systems engineering and management for sustainable development, including: cost effectiveness assessment; decision assessment, tradeoffs, conflict resolution and negotiation; research and development policy; industrial ecology; and risk management strategies for sustainability. The emphasis throughout will be upon the development of appropriate life-cycles for processes that assist in the attainment of sustainable development, and in the use of appropriate policies and systems management approaches to ensure successful application of these processes. The general objectives of these chapters is to illustrate the way in which one specific issue, such as the need to bring about sustainable development, necessarily grows in scope such that it becomes only feasible to consider the engineering and architecting of appropriate systems when the specific issue is imbedded into a wealth of other issues. The discussions provide an illustration of the many attributes and needs associated with the important task of utilizing information and knowledge, enabled through systems engineering and management, to engineer systems involving humans, organizations, and technology, in the support of sustainability. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.

In recent years, much work has been done in formulating and clarifying the concept of sustainable development and related theoretical and research issues. Now, the challenge has shifted to designing and stimulating processes of effective planning and decision-making, at all levels of human activity, in such a way as to achieve local and global sustainable development. Information technology can help a great deal in achieving sustainable development by providing well-designed and useful tools for decision makers. One such tool is the decision support system, or DSS. This book explores the area of DSS in the context of sustainable development. As DSS is a very new technique, especially in the developing world, this book will serve as a reference text, primarily for managers, government officials, and information professionals in developing countries. It covers the concept of sustainable development, defines DSS and how it can be used in the planning and management of sustainable development, and examines the state of the art in DSS use. Other interested readers will include students, teachers, and analysts in information sciences; DSS designers, developers, and implementors; and international development agencies.

Unity of Knowledge in Transdisciplinary Research for Sustainable Development theme is a component of Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty Encyclopedias. Today, there is a social need for a comprehensive unity of knowledge that would provide orientation and ensure action in the context of the complex problems of modern civilization. Based on an intellectual need for unity of knowledge, different concepts of unity of knowledge have emerged in the course of the history of ideas. The intellectual need for unity can be directed at the world, science, action or the individual. It can involve the quest for the unity of the world based on a principle that is immanent in it, the unity of science as a theoretical, methodical or epistemological unity, the unity of action as a correlation of scientific, pragmatic and moral knowledge or, finally, unity as the educational task of the individual. The concepts associated with unity of knowledge can go in two directions. The first assumes that there is a unity existing in the world that can be perceived by man. It is thought of as an order of being, i.e. an ontological unity of the plurality of phenomena, that consist in their common nature. The other direction is based on the assumption that unity is a construction of a subject, based on its cognitive principles and structures. Thus it is not something that can be discovered as an existing objective order, and is instead subjective. These two volumes present some aspects of Unity of Knowledge in Transdisciplinary Research for Sustainable Development in three parts. The purpose of the first part is to trace back the core ideas in transdisciplinary thinking in the history of western philosophy and science, to locate socially the concerns of transdisciplinary research and to give an account of the development of transdisciplinary research. The second group of chapters deals with methodological and management problems related to transdisciplinary research with regard to problem identification and structuring of research questions, with knowledge integration in problem investigation as well as with evaluation. An outline of the institutional measures and transformations to enable and support transdisciplinary research is given in the third part. Institutional strategies build on organizational arrangements and links across academic institutions in education and research, on networks between science and society for joint knowledge production in temporally limited settings of research programs or projects, but they also set up new institutions, such as centers for advanced studies, national offices, agencies and networks. These two volumes are aimed at a wide spectrum of audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Research Personnel and all those concerned with sustainable development.

System Dynamics is a component of Encyclopedia of Technology, Information, and Systems Management Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The world is facing a wide range of increasingly complex, dynamic problems in the public and private arenas alike. System dynamics discipline is an attempt to address such dynamic, long-term policy problems. Applications cover a very wide spectrum, including national economic problems, supply chains, project management, educational problems, energy systems, sustainable development, politics, psychology, medical sciences, health care, and many other areas. This theme provides a comprehensive overview of system dynamics methodology, including its conceptual / philosophical framework, as well as the technical aspects of modeling and analysis. System dynamics can address the fundamental structural causes of the long-term dynamic contemporary socio-economic problems. Its "systems" perspective challenges the barriers that separate disciplines. The interdisciplinary and systemic approach of system dynamics could be critical in dealing with the increasingly complex problems of our modern world in this new century. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.

This book has been derived from the work of several professors in the nuclear and power industry all of whom have been directly involved with the industry as managers or consultants. The text has been written as educational material and many of the individual chapters have been written as course material for advanced university courses. Also several chapters include material related to plant operation which is prescribed for operator training. Hence it bridges the gap between academic study and practical training. While it is not intended to be comprehensive in all respects it does provide an overview of the topic with sufficient technical depth for a general understanding of power plant technology and a basis for further study in a particular area. When used as a reference in this way each chapter can stand alone and be read independently of the others. Overall it meets the general philosophy of EOLSS in providing a source of knowledge for sustainable development and technological progress for educators and decision makers

Government and Politics is the component of Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Government and Politics in the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities deals with the discipline of general and introductory descriptions on a wide range of political phenomena in rather conventional ways. It covers the following topics: The first two topics, “Forms and Modes of Government” and “Structures of Government”, deal with institutional and structural aspects of political phenomena. The third topic “Political Aspects of Government is about dynamic political processes. The fourth “Ideas and Ideologies in Politics” investigates political thoughts and ideologies in the modern world. The fifth topic “International Politics” intend to give readers an international perspective, since contexts and systems which have international or transnational characters are obviously important background against which a political aspect of building a sustainable society must be considered. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.