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Positive Development
‘Net positive’, from Positive Development (PD) theory, is a paradigm in sustainable development and design. PD theory (taught and published from 2003)Birkeland, J. (2003) ‘Retrofitting: Beyond Zero Waste’, in ''KLM-UC International Conference Proceedings'', University of Canberra, ACT, Australia; Birkeland, J. (2004) ‘Building Assessment Systems: Reversing Environmental Impacts’, Nature and Society Forum, ACT, Australia, http://www.naf.org.au/naf-forum/birkeland (accessed 2005); Birkeland, J. (2005) ‘Reversing Negative Impacts by Design’, in ''Sustainability for the ACT: the Future’s in our Hands'', Office of Sustainability, ACT, Australia. was first detailed in ''Positive Development'' (2008).Birkeland, J. (2008) ''Positive Development: From Vicious Circles to Virtuous Cycles through Built Environment Design’'', Earthscan, London. (A two volume book updating net positive theory is forthcoming.) A net positive system/structure would ‘give back to nature and so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where living conditions and resources are used to continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system. Sustainable development was defined in the 1987 Brundtland Report as "Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".United Nations General Assembly (1987''Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future'' Transmitted to the General Assembly as an Annex to document A/42/427 – Development and International Co-operation: Environment. As the concept of sustainable development developed, it has shifted its focus more towards the economic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carrying Capacity
The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as the environment's maximal load, which in population ecology corresponds to the population equilibrium, when the number of deaths in a population equals the number of births (as well as immigration and emigration). The effect of carrying capacity on population dynamics is modelled with a logistic function. Carrying capacity is applied to the maximum population an environment can support in ecology, agriculture and fisheries. The term carrying capacity has been applied to a few different processes in the past before finally being applied to population limits in the 1950s. The notion of carrying capacity for humans is covered by the notion of sustainable population. At the global scale, scientific data indicates that humans are living beyon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
