Sustainability Principles and Practice

Sustainability Principles and Practice gives an accessible and comprehensive overview of the interdisciplinary field of sustainability. It focuses on providing solutions and equipping students with both conceptual understanding and technical skills. Each chapter explores one aspect of the field, first introducing concepts and presenting issues, then supplying tools for working toward positive outcomes. Elements of sustainability are examined piece by piece, along with techniques for management and measurement, and coverage ranges over ecosystems, social equity, environmental justice, food, energy, product life cycles, cities, and more. Chapters also include further reading and discussion questions.

The fourth edition includes up-to-date information about the new geological epoch known as the Anthropocene, the latest climate research from the IPCC, an introduction to issues of human health, expanded discussion about the drivers and impacts of income inequality, and a new chapter on environmental ethics. New case studies illustrate solutions from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Global South.

This book is supported by online resources for instructors and students including links, annotated bibliography, glossary, white papers, additional case studies, interactive quizzes, and key explainer videos, together with projects, research problems, and group activities, all of which focus on real-world problem-solving of sustainability issues.

This textbook is designed to be used by undergraduate college and university students in sustainability degree programs and other programs in which sustainability is taught.

Margaret Robertson was born during the Holocene at 311 parts per million carbon dioxide. She is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), emerita at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, USA, and is also the author of Communicating Sustainability and Dictionary of Sustainability, both from Routledge.