La cultura interpreta un papel clave en la definición y puesta en marcha de políticas de sostenibilidad. Como mediadora entre la conducta y el ambiente, forma la estructura a través de la que la interacción entre las personas y sus entornos cambiantes facilita o limita el desarrollo sostenible. En este proceso, la educación ambiental y la transmisión de valores constituyen herramientas básicas imprescindibles para conducir el cambio social y afrontar los retos del cambio climático. Al mismo tiempo, la sostenibilidad plantea el reto de la convivencia con los recursos naturales y su gestión responsable en los contextos urbanos en los que la participación y la planificación, el valor social de la conservación o la movilidad se convierten en elementos importantes para llevar a cabo un desarrollo social sostenible. Los medios de comunicación tienen, asimismo, un papel no menos relevante, si consideramos el modo en que llegan a ser los catalizadores de la conciencia pública hacia el medio ambiente. Destacados académicos, profesores e investigadores de diferentes países, campos científicos y áreas disciplinares realizan en esta obra una aproximación a la conceptualización de la «sostenibilidad» desde la psicología social, la sociología, la educación o la economía, tratando de establecer los marcos interpretativos que favorecen la comprensión y entendimiento de la sostenibilidad y de sus aplicaciones en la política práctica.

This Handbook presents a broad overview of the current research carried out in environmental psychology which puts into perspective quality of life and relationships with living spaces, and shows how this original analytical framework can be used to understand different environmental and societal issues. Adopting an original approach, this Handbook focuses on the links with other specialties in psychology, especially social and health psychology, together with other disciplines such as geography, architecture, sociology, anthropology, urbanism and engineering. Faced with the problems of society which involve the quality of life of individuals and communities, it is fundamental to consider the relationships an individual has with his different living spaces. This issue of the links between quality of life and environment is becoming increasingly significant with, at a local level, problems resulting from different types of annoyances, such as pollution and noise, while, at a global level, there is the central question of climate change with its harmful consequences for humans and the planet. How can the impact on well-being of environmental nuisances and threats (for example, natural risks, pollution, and noise) be reduced? How can the quality of life within daily living spaces (home, cities, work environments) be improved? Why is it important to understand the psychological issues of our relationship with the global environment (climatic warming, ecological behaviours)? This Handbook is intended not only for students of various disciplines (geography, architecture, psychology, town planning, etc.) but also for social decision-makers and players who will find in it both theoretical and methodological perspectives, so that psychological and environmental dimensions can be better taken into account in their working practices.

At a time when environmental humanities and sustainability studies are creating new opportunities for curricular innovation, this volume examines factors key to successful implementation of cross-curricular initiatives in language programs. Contributors discuss theoretical issues pertinent to combining sustainability studies with foreign languages, describe curricular models transferable to a range of instructional contexts, and introduce program structures supportive of teaching cultures and languages across the curriculum. Exploring the intersection of ecocritical theory, second language acquisition research, and disciplinary fields, these essays demonstrate ways in which progressive language departments are being reconceived as relevant and viable programs of cross-disciplinary studies. They provide an introduction to teaching sustainability and environmental humanities topics in language, literature, and culture courses as well as a wide range of resources for teachers and diverse stakeholders in areas related to foreign language education.

This book aims to analyze contexts and perspectives in the relationships between environmental sustainability, human development and organizations. The book combines different scientific approaches for enhancing our understanding of environmental sustainability, development economics and evaluate what the actual conditions in emerging economies are and how developing new process could improve the well-being of developing countries. Employing a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, the authors work to determine the main related factors and outcomes of the relationship between challenges and new strategies in the environmental sustainability, ultimately seeking to guide public policies to enhance the welfare of the population of an emerging economy.

La conclusion de este trabajo de critica social es que las conductas de consumo en las sociedades de economia capitalista tienen su origen en un caracter social inconsciente y colectivo. Este caracter es el nucleo central de un sistema basado en una estimulacion sistemica del consumo, que conduce a la humanidad hacia una crisis global de sostenibilidad. Esta crisis tendra una gravedad dificil de imaginar, y pondra en jaque nuestro progreso y el bienestar a nivel global. La via mas eficaz para prevenir y amortiguar sus efectos es la desactivacion acelerada del caracter consumista. Esta desactivacion pasa por impulsar con fuerza procesos emergentes de cambio, en el ambito de la ciudadania, de la politica y de la gestion empresarial, cambios que ayudaran a conducir a la sociedad por la via de la liberacion de la alienacion consumista y a devolver a las personas no solo su condicion de ciudadanos eticos, sino tambien el poder politico que el sistema ha puesto en manos de las empresas y los mercados.