1、<p>　　生態(tài)足跡，可持續(xù)性與生產(chǎn)力</p><p>　　John Davies</p><p>　　更高的生產(chǎn)力水平指的是能夠滿足城市居民需求的同時(shí)不增加生態(tài)足跡。</p><p><b>　　背景</b></p><p>　　生態(tài)足跡（EFP）是一種用來(lái)測(cè)定可持續(xù)性能力的環(huán)境規(guī)劃工具。生態(tài)足跡可以形象地解

2、釋能量流，同時(shí)它也和任何特定的經(jīng)濟(jì)體系有關(guān)，并且能夠?qū)⑵滢D(zhuǎn)換成為支持這個(gè)能量流所需要的土地和水域面積。通過(guò)使用這個(gè)工具，我們首先要了解的第一件事是我們地球上的資源是有限的，所以人類(lèi)對(duì)地球的作用和消耗不能無(wú)限的擴(kuò)張。北美洲的人均平均生態(tài)足跡是4到5公頃，這也是美國(guó)人消耗的分量。與此對(duì)比的是，在全球，土地的人均生態(tài)足跡是1.5公頃。北美正在消耗他它本應(yīng)該得到的3到4倍。在富有的國(guó)家的居民每個(gè)人的消耗超過(guò)了資源的供給的3倍。這個(gè)現(xiàn)象的發(fā)生是建

3、立在犧牲別人的代價(jià)上的——即那些生活在發(fā)展中國(guó)家的人們。</p><p>　　城市的生態(tài)足跡指的是用來(lái)滿足城市需求的土地表面，這些土地的作用包括提供燃料產(chǎn)品并且重吸收所產(chǎn)生的二氧化碳。在倫敦，城市的生態(tài)足跡將近有8000萬(wàn)公頃，是它本身土地，即627000公頃的125倍。倫敦的人口只占了英國(guó)總?cè)丝诘?2％，但它所需要的相當(dāng)于整個(gè)英國(guó)的生產(chǎn)性土地面積。事實(shí)上，這些陸地還包括了延伸到的更加遙遠(yuǎn)的地方，比如加拿大的小麥

4、草原和美國(guó)的中西部，馬托格羅索大豆土地和第三世界的森林，或者是阿薩姆和肯尼亞的茶園。</p><p>　　無(wú)法否認(rèn)的是，在發(fā)展中國(guó)家中的城市的生態(tài)足跡是低的多的。還有需要注意的是生態(tài)足跡并無(wú)法指示出在城市中當(dāng)?shù)丨h(huán)境的相關(guān)健康程度和質(zhì)量，并且它并不能告訴我們?cè)谶@個(gè)城市里是那些部分和地區(qū)消耗大部分的資源。</p><p>　　在城市空間里，資源大量涌入，但是人們并不會(huì)對(duì)其來(lái)源或者產(chǎn)生的廢棄物的

5、目的地有很多考慮；城市的投入和產(chǎn)出對(duì)于人們來(lái)說(shuō)是沒(méi)有關(guān)系的。W E Rees（“Is sustainable City an Oxymoron？”，1997）把焦點(diǎn)放在技術(shù)性的解決方法：這包括零影響發(fā)展，比如找到方法以使得城市資源需求的最小化。</p><p>　　生產(chǎn)力指的是生產(chǎn)量和使用資源（包括土地，勞動(dòng)力，機(jī)器和材料）的比率。一個(gè)高產(chǎn)率的生產(chǎn)系統(tǒng)會(huì)產(chǎn)生最少量的廢棄物，同時(shí)能夠充分利用廠房和更加優(yōu)化產(chǎn)品的設(shè)計(jì)

6、來(lái)滿足消費(fèi)者的需求。無(wú)法否認(rèn)的是，一個(gè)國(guó)家的生產(chǎn)力水平越高，那么也會(huì)使得這個(gè)國(guó)家人民的生活水平越高，比如說(shuō)在實(shí)際工資水平下，會(huì)有更加低的產(chǎn)品價(jià)格，更加好的雇傭條件和相對(duì)減少的工作時(shí)間。更高的生產(chǎn)力水平會(huì)使得城市人口的需求得到滿足，而且并不增加生態(tài)足跡。</p><p>　　生態(tài)足跡，可持續(xù)發(fā)展能力和生產(chǎn)力在國(guó)家和全球尺度上是緊密聯(lián)系在一起的。</p><p>　　城市的生態(tài)足跡指的是用來(lái)滿

7、足城市需求的土地表面，這些土地的作用包括提供燃料產(chǎn)品并且重吸收所產(chǎn)生的二氧化碳。</p><p>　　可持續(xù)發(fā)展力，城市化和自然資源</p><p>　　城市的可持續(xù)性發(fā)展是在100頁(yè)的“人居環(huán)境議程”中定義的，由180個(gè)國(guó)家在1996年伊斯坦波爾的聯(lián)合國(guó)城市峰會(huì)上簽署。它聲明：“人們必須在完整考慮可持續(xù)發(fā)展的原則和組成的前提下，來(lái)規(guī)劃，發(fā)展并且改善我們的定居地，就像在21世紀(jì)議程中所指出

8、的一樣…我們需要去尊重生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的承載能力和為未來(lái)子孫后代保存承載能力的機(jī)會(huì)….科學(xué)和技術(shù)對(duì)形成一個(gè)可持續(xù)性發(fā)展的人類(lèi)定居地和維持人們賴(lài)以生存的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)有著非常關(guān)鍵的作用。”在這個(gè)峰會(huì)上，與會(huì)者也一致認(rèn)為政府必須支持城市的可持續(xù)性發(fā)展。需要注意的是這些聲明來(lái)源于布倫特蘭報(bào)告（1987年世界環(huán)境和發(fā)展委員會(huì)），但不是每一個(gè)人都是贊成的：對(duì)于可持續(xù)發(fā)展很多人有不同的觀點(diǎn)。</p><p>　　可更新資源包括動(dòng)植物等天然

9、物種，但它們已經(jīng)被人們經(jīng)濟(jì)開(kāi)發(fā)了。當(dāng)下人們從農(nóng)村，野外，農(nóng)業(yè)資源或者海洋中使用和抽取資源的速率，其中包括了許多的可更新資源，在一個(gè)極其不穩(wěn)定的水平，導(dǎo)致了這些資源和物種面臨了一個(gè)滅絕的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)——這樣的話，它們的存在和可持續(xù)發(fā)展當(dāng)然是不和諧的。這類(lèi)情況存在于許多海洋魚(yú)類(lèi)中，比如黑線鱈，鱈魚(yú)，特別是北海鯡魚(yú)。</p><p>　　對(duì)可更新資源的保護(hù)需要利用權(quán)威影響去控制對(duì)資源的產(chǎn)權(quán)（限制進(jìn)入）。假如這些措施對(duì)于保證資源

10、的長(zhǎng)期可持續(xù)性生存沒(méi)有效果的話，就需要去采取更加長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)的控制措施了。在特定的情況下，對(duì)于魚(yú)類(lèi)捕撈的限制和控制是達(dá)成這些目標(biāo)的常規(guī)方法，并且經(jīng)常被當(dāng)下作為歐盟的政策來(lái)使用。另外一個(gè)對(duì)可更新資源的可持續(xù)性利用的策略是對(duì)特定的種類(lèi)進(jìn)行人工地養(yǎng)殖。但是至于對(duì)現(xiàn)在的消費(fèi)人口的需求來(lái)說(shuō)，這些選擇都因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在所有的技術(shù)而會(huì)受到一定的限制，其中例如有對(duì)于繁殖的控制，包括對(duì)這些樣本的年齡和性別還有質(zhì)量的控制。</p><p>　　當(dāng)今

11、社會(huì)中城市的許多功能都和我們從歷史上繼承下來(lái)的非常不一樣。以前低交通系統(tǒng)的消耗是依賴(lài)于遍地存在的化石燃料的使用，而現(xiàn)在交通已經(jīng)變得和距離沒(méi)有任何關(guān)系了，并且交通正在把城市變成逐漸增加的地球的腹地。而這個(gè)過(guò)程通常需要通過(guò)政府堅(jiān)實(shí)的基本運(yùn)輸建設(shè)的輔助來(lái)促成運(yùn)行。人們定居的真正的地點(diǎn)已經(jīng)能夠變得越來(lái)越不重要，就如全球貿(mào)易條約所決定的只有部分的國(guó)家和地區(qū)的經(jīng)濟(jì)命運(yùn)一樣。城市也正在沿著都市的公路和鐵路線向外一直擴(kuò)展，到他們的郊區(qū)和購(gòu)物商場(chǎng)，而與此

12、同時(shí)發(fā)生的是，他們的城市中心除了上班時(shí)間以外都缺少了人們活動(dòng)的生氣。</p><p>　　大規(guī)模的城市化實(shí)質(zhì)上是一個(gè)不可持續(xù)的過(guò)程。它在很大程度上增加了每個(gè)人對(duì)化石燃料，金屬，木材，肉類(lèi)和制造產(chǎn)品的使用，并且產(chǎn)生了對(duì)環(huán)境主要的外部影響。和大多數(shù)傳統(tǒng)的文化系統(tǒng)不一樣的是，當(dāng)代城市系統(tǒng)的運(yùn)行極其依賴(lài)于一個(gè)龐大的外部提供鏈系統(tǒng)，這個(gè)系統(tǒng)的最初來(lái)源和最終目的地是農(nóng)村地區(qū)和制造中心，同時(shí)這些都是通過(guò)全球運(yùn)輸和通訊基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施來(lái)

13、實(shí)現(xiàn)的。</p><p>　　當(dāng)城市的居住者在使用光和熱的時(shí)候，他們是不會(huì)想起柴火和原煤的；當(dāng)他們想到配套的電氣用具設(shè)備時(shí)-同樣地，他們很難會(huì)意識(shí)到提供這些的電站，提煉廠或者是產(chǎn)氣地。沒(méi)有對(duì)這些化石燃料的常規(guī)使用，就不會(huì)有超級(jí)城市的一千萬(wàn)人口的出現(xiàn)：同樣地，世界上也絕不會(huì)存在有一個(gè)超過(guò)十萬(wàn)人口的城市，它的運(yùn)行是不使用原煤，天然氣和石油的。直到在最近的幾項(xiàng)倡議中有提到，在大多數(shù)的城市中，人們對(duì)于食物的種植的直接體驗(yàn)

14、是非常缺乏的；城市中的大部分居民都在超級(jí)市場(chǎng)采購(gòu)他們所需要的，同時(shí)期望超市提供的食物最好是包裝好的，并且期望超市貼上標(biāo)簽來(lái)提高產(chǎn)品的識(shí)別度，即能更好地指示出一個(gè)特定商品的質(zhì)量。現(xiàn)代城市占有了整個(gè)地球百分之二的土地，但是它卻使用了地球超過(guò)百分之七十五的資源。</p><p>　　在這個(gè)地球上，每一個(gè)人都要求有一個(gè)更高的生活水平，但同時(shí)都缺乏一個(gè)對(duì)于自然資源的有限性的認(rèn)識(shí)，所以現(xiàn)在通過(guò)在各個(gè)領(lǐng)域?qū)Σ牧?，勞?dòng)力和機(jī)器的

15、謹(jǐn)慎考慮和使用以使得生產(chǎn)力的最大化已經(jīng)變得非常必要。</p><p>　　在這個(gè)地球上，每一個(gè)人都要求有一個(gè)更高的生活水平，但同時(shí)都缺乏一個(gè)對(duì)于自然資源有限性的認(rèn)識(shí)，故生產(chǎn)力最大化已經(jīng)變得非常必要。</p><p>　　在教育領(lǐng)域的可持續(xù)性和生產(chǎn)力</p><p>　　高等院校環(huán)境保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)（EAUC）于1996年成立，并且這個(gè)協(xié)會(huì)是通過(guò)成員組織運(yùn)行來(lái)為其他成員服務(wù)的

16、。它通過(guò)尋求途徑以幫助英國(guó)的高等教育機(jī)構(gòu)來(lái)提高他們的環(huán)境質(zhì)量和可持續(xù)發(fā)展績(jī)效。高等學(xué)校環(huán)境保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)有超過(guò)200個(gè)成員機(jī)構(gòu)，他們?cè)谟?guó)的高等院校中把對(duì)可持續(xù)性發(fā)展，環(huán)境管理結(jié)合到商業(yè)管理中去的行為做了很好的示范。高等院校環(huán)境保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)存在著以支持它的成員們?cè)诟叩仍盒Ｖ袀鬟f改進(jìn)過(guò)的環(huán)境質(zhì)量和可持續(xù)發(fā)展績(jī)效：協(xié)會(huì)給成員們訓(xùn)練，建議和支持，還可以提供某個(gè)部門(mén)一個(gè)存在有最佳方法的表格。而這個(gè)方法會(huì)和生產(chǎn)力有一個(gè)最根本的聯(lián)系，這樣能夠讓可利用資源得到

17、充分的利用的同時(shí)使得那些廢棄物被徹底消滅。在英國(guó)，這個(gè)組織是在這個(gè)領(lǐng)域僅有的一個(gè)主體是由成員主導(dǎo)來(lái)支持的機(jī)構(gòu)。</p><p>　　生態(tài)足跡提供了一個(gè)可信賴(lài)的定量化指標(biāo)來(lái)評(píng)價(jià)任意一個(gè)給定城市區(qū)域的空間支持需求。</p><p>　　范例研究1：集中研究一個(gè)高等進(jìn)修學(xué)院中的行為</p><p>　　諾丁漢的城堡學(xué)院是2006年布羅克斯托學(xué)院和人民學(xué)院合并后而形成的。這

18、個(gè)學(xué)院有8900個(gè)學(xué)生，790個(gè)員工，并且在18個(gè)不同的位置有18個(gè)建筑。在這個(gè)學(xué)校體系中涉及有許多已經(jīng)結(jié)構(gòu)化了的可持續(xù)行為，并且為此目的，存在有一個(gè)由這個(gè)大學(xué)不同功能部門(mén)的成員組成的特別小組。在這個(gè)小組會(huì)議上提出的配有成本和利益分析的建議列表會(huì)被充分討論，并且會(huì)起草經(jīng)討論統(tǒng)一了的行動(dòng)方案。接下來(lái)的工作會(huì)依據(jù)這個(gè)方案來(lái)執(zhí)行，并且會(huì)在接下來(lái)的會(huì)議中反饋方案執(zhí)行的結(jié)果。</p><p>　　最近的一個(gè)行動(dòng)計(jì)劃在下一頁(yè)

19、上：</p><p>　　范例研究2：城堡學(xué)院的清潔合同</p><p>　　就像在行動(dòng)計(jì)劃中提到的一樣，除了最初提出的一些問(wèn)題，因?yàn)樵瓉?lái)的兩個(gè)學(xué)院有不同的清潔合同，其中包括了不同的供應(yīng)商和不同的時(shí)間，所以還出現(xiàn)了許多其他的問(wèn)題。物業(yè)管理小組想要為擴(kuò)建了的學(xué)院來(lái)簽訂一個(gè)更有價(jià)值的清潔合約，同時(shí)想要利用這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)尋求一個(gè)最有利于環(huán)境的選擇?？傮w上來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)小組的目標(biāo)是想在清潔成本上省錢(qián)，與此

20、同時(shí)希望能夠減少對(duì)環(huán)境的影響，并且能夠證明物業(yè)管理小組是能夠給學(xué)?？沙掷m(xù)發(fā)展做出貢獻(xiàn)的。</p><p>　　學(xué)院的管理組意識(shí)到，最初在一定程度上是需要有清潔方面的專(zhuān)業(yè)知識(shí)來(lái)最大程度地減少對(duì)環(huán)境的影響：專(zhuān)業(yè)顧問(wèn)們的使用對(duì)于達(dá)到最好的價(jià)值是非常必須的，就和使得運(yùn)行的影響最小化一樣。</p><p>　　經(jīng)過(guò)一段投標(biāo)的過(guò)程，而這個(gè)過(guò)程主要集中注意力于金錢(qián)和可持續(xù)發(fā)展力的價(jià)值，學(xué)院最后任命了一家

21、私人清潔公司來(lái)當(dāng)顧問(wèn)去承擔(dān)這個(gè)合同。被任命的承包商有使用高性能?chē)姎鈩?dòng)力機(jī)器來(lái)進(jìn)行深層清潔的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，同時(shí)能夠最大程度地減少了對(duì)水資源的使用。用這個(gè)與噴氣一起使用的產(chǎn)品去分解廚房，廁所和淋浴室內(nèi)的脂肪類(lèi)物質(zhì)，結(jié)果產(chǎn)生了超級(jí)好的清潔效力。這個(gè)公司所使用的產(chǎn)品來(lái)自塞登，而塞登有一個(gè)非常全面的環(huán)境政策。來(lái)自這個(gè)供應(yīng)商的所有的材料滿足了甚至超過(guò)了相關(guān)的與環(huán)境破壞有關(guān)的法律規(guī)定，同時(shí)最大程度地減少了產(chǎn)品包裝和制造過(guò)程中對(duì)水資源的使用。</p>

22、;<p>　　要是有超過(guò)三年的清潔合同，據(jù)估計(jì)，和現(xiàn)在的成本相比，這個(gè)學(xué)院將為此能夠節(jié)省超過(guò)15萬(wàn)英鎊。節(jié)省本來(lái)可以更加多，但是，在轉(zhuǎn)讓經(jīng)營(yíng)（就業(yè)保護(hù)）條例下，這個(gè)承包公司不得不繼續(xù)維持簽訂了先前工作合同的清潔人員的工資和工作條件。另外，學(xué)校因?yàn)楦倪M(jìn)了的清潔產(chǎn)品和減少了的水資源消耗減小了對(duì)環(huán)境的影響。</p><p><b>　　圖例:</b></p><p

23、>　　可持續(xù)性的優(yōu)先性（上面表格的第四列）:</p><p>　　1.這個(gè)措施會(huì)產(chǎn)生很有意義的成效并且可以很快實(shí)現(xiàn)，所以它應(yīng)該立刻執(zhí)行。</p><p>　　2.這個(gè)措施會(huì)產(chǎn)生很有意義的成效但是實(shí)施需要花時(shí)間并且需要有一定的成本。</p><p>　　3.這個(gè)措施能夠取得一些成效，并且在執(zhí)行上有一定的問(wèn)題，可以作為一個(gè)長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)目標(biāo)。</p><

24、p><b>　　結(jié)論</b></p><p>　　生態(tài)足跡提供了一個(gè)可信賴(lài)的定量化指標(biāo)來(lái)評(píng)價(jià)任意一個(gè)給定城市區(qū)域的空間支持需求。它是一個(gè)可靠的規(guī)劃工具，因?yàn)橥ㄟ^(guò)它的使用，可以獲取相關(guān)土地需求的信息，這些需求的土地指的是用來(lái)滿足并且處理居民所需要的資源和他們產(chǎn)生的廢棄物的相對(duì)應(yīng)土地的面積：這些信息能夠協(xié)助補(bǔ)救決策的發(fā)展，并且?guī)椭繕?biāo)的實(shí)現(xiàn)，即能使得城市區(qū)域和一個(gè)國(guó)家的生態(tài)狀況可以更加和諧

25、共處。</p><p>　　就像上面實(shí)例研究所顯示的一樣，在大學(xué)里，如果以一種系統(tǒng)化的方式來(lái)處理，一些局部的有可持續(xù)性的行為可以導(dǎo)致一個(gè)成本的絕對(duì)減少，同時(shí)還能夠減小對(duì)環(huán)境的影響。我們需要有對(duì)這些活動(dòng)進(jìn)行持續(xù)的作用以保證能夠取得預(yù)期的補(bǔ)救效果，并且也需要對(duì)最優(yōu)方法進(jìn)行持續(xù)更新。這些實(shí)例的研究也顯示出，大多數(shù)組織是能夠?yàn)橐粋€(gè)國(guó)家的生態(tài)足跡的減少做出貢獻(xiàn)的，并且可以通過(guò)增加生產(chǎn)力來(lái)提高可持續(xù)發(fā)展能力，如果這個(gè)能夠在整

26、個(gè)社會(huì)推行的話，一定會(huì)產(chǎn)生非常有意義和積極的成效。最后，假如對(duì)于這些項(xiàng)目能夠有足夠周全的考慮，那么也會(huì)產(chǎn)生一定的經(jīng)濟(jì)效益。</p><p>　　The Ecological Footprint,</p><p>　　Sustainability and Productivity</p><p>　　By John Davies</p><p>

27、;　　"Higher productivity should enable the demands of an urban population to be satisfied, without increasing the ecological footprint"</p><p>　　Background</p><p>　　The ecological footp

28、rint (EFP) is an environmental planning tool and is used to determine sustainability.EFP accounts for the flow of energy and matter to and from any defined economy and converts this into land and water area required to s

29、upport such a flow.</p><p>　　The first thing we understand by using this tool is that the resources in our planet are finite and that human enterprise and consumption cannot be expanded indefinitely. The ave

30、rage North American footprint measures 4-5 hectares and is a measure of the consumption of Americans. The world average of land available is 1.5 hectares per person. North Americans are consuming three to four times thei

31、r fair share. The per capita consumption of residents in rich countries has exceeded the supply of res</p><p>　　The ecological footprint of a city is the land surfaces required to feed it, to supply it with

32、fuel product and to reabsorb its carbon dioxide output. With London, the ecological footprint is 125 times its own territory of 627,000 hectares, to nearly 80 million hectares. With only 12%of Britain's population, L

33、ondon requires the equivalent of Britain's entire productive land. In reality, these land surfaces, of course, extend to far flung places such as the wheat prairies of Canada and the Mid-We</p><p>　　Inev

34、itably, the footprint of the cities in the developing world are much lower. In addition, it should be noted that the ecological footprint is no indication of the relative health or the quality of local environment within

35、 the city and it does not tell us which groups or areas within the cities consume most resources.</p><p>　　Resources are funneled through the urban spaces without much concern about their origin or about the

36、 destination of wastes: inputs and outputs of cities are treated as largely unrelated. W E Rees ('Is Sustainable City an Oxymoron?” 1997)focuses on technocratic solutions: this includes zero impact development, such

37、as finding ways to minimise the resource demands of a city.</p><p>　　Productivity is the ratio between the amounts produced to the amount of resources used (land, labour, machines and materials).A highly pro

38、ductive system will produce the minimum waste, will make the best use of plant/buildings and improve the design of products to meet the needs of the consumer. Inevitably, the higher the productivity of a nation will lead

39、 to a higher standard of living, as indicated by the level of real incomes coupled with lower prices, better employment conditions and reduced</p><p>　　The ecological footprint, sustainability and productivi

40、ty are closely locked together in national and global situations.</p><p>　　"The ecological footprint of a city is the land surfaces required to feed it, to supply it with fuel product and to reabsorb it

41、s carbon dioxide output"</p><p>　　Sustainability, urbanisation and natural resources</p><p>　　Urban Sustainability was defined in the 100 page 'Habitat Agenda’, signed by 180 nations at

42、 the 1996 UN City Summit in Istanbul. It states that:” Human settlements should be planned, developed and improved in a manner that takes full account of sustainable principles and their components, as set out in Agenda

43、21...we need to respect the carrying capacity of ecosystems and preservation of opportunities for future generations... science and technology have a crucial role shaping sustainable human </p><p>　　At this

44、summit, it was agreed that the Government must support sustainable urban developments. It should be noted that this statement originated from the Bruntland Report (The 1987 report of the World Commission on Environment a

45、nd Development) and not everyone agrees with it: there are different imaginations of sustainability.</p><p>　　Renewable resources are natural species of plant and animals that are economically exploited. Wit

46、h many renewable resources, the current rate of usage or extraction from rural, wild or agricultural sources, or from the sea, is at unstable levels and these resources and species face risks of extinction -in this way t

47、heir existences are incompatible with sustainability. This is the case with many pelagic fish, such as haddock, cod and, notably, the North Sea herring.</p><p>　　Protection of renewable resources requires a

48、control authority to enforce property rights (restrict access) to the resource. If this action is insufficient to ensure long- term survival of the resource, further controls may be necessary. Catch controls or restricti

49、ons on fishing effort are the normal means of achieving this objective in the given situation and have been frequently used current EU policy. Another strategy for sustainability of renewable resources is to farm the spe

50、cies concerned.</p><p>　　Many of today's cities function very differently from those we inherited from history. Low transport costs, based on the ubiquitous use of fossil fuels, have rendered distances i

51、rrelevant and are plugging cities into an increasingly global hinterland. The process is often facilitated by substantial Government subsidies on transport infrastructure. The actual location of settlements is becoming l

52、ess and less important, as global trade treaties determine, in part, the fate of national and local ec</p><p>　　Large-scale urbanisation is an essentially unsustainable process. It greatly increases per capi

53、ta use of fossil fuels, metals, timber, meat and manufacturing products, with major external environmental implications. Unlike most traditional cultural systems, modern urban systems crucially depend upon a vast system

54、of external supply lines to and from rural areas and manufacturing centres, facilitated by global transport and communications infrastructures.</p><p>　　When city dwellers think heat and light, they usually

55、don't think firewood and coal fires: they think of electric or gas appliances-yet they are hardly aware of the power station, refinery or gas field that supplies them. Without the routine use of fossil fueis,mega-cit

56、ies of ten million people would not have occurred: there has never been a city of more than one million people not running on coal, gas or oil. Until recent initiatives, the direct experience of growing ood has been larg

57、ely absent</p><p>　　In a world where everyone is demanding a higher standard of living with a known limit of natural resources, it becomes essential to maximise productivity by prudent and well considered us

58、e of materials,labour and machines in all spheres.</p><p><b>　　Key</b></p><p>　　Sustainability Priority (Column 4 in above table)</p><p>　　1. This will result in signifi

59、cant efficiencies and can be achieved quickly, so it should be implemented straightaway.</p><p>　　2. This will achieve significant efficiencies but implementation is likely to take time and there are signifi

60、cant cost implications.</p><p>　　3. This will achieve some efficiency and has some implementation issues. Longer term goal.</p><p>　　"In a world where everyone is demanding a higher standar

61、d of living with a known limit of natural resources, it becomes essential to maximise productivity"</p><p>　　Sustainability and productivity in education</p><p>　　The Environmental Associat

62、ion for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) was established in 1996 and is run by members for members. It seeks to help the UK Further and Higher Education Institutes to improve their environment and sustainability performa

63、nce. With a membership of over 200 institutions, the EAUC is leading the way in integrating sustainability and environmental management into the business management of universities and colleges in the UK. The EAUC exists

64、 to support its members in deliver</p><p>　　As providing a forum for be practice in the sector. There is an underlying linkage to productivity, in that the best use is made of available resources and that wa

65、stage is eliminated. The organization is the only member-led support body of its kind in the UK.</p><p>　　"The ecological footprint gives a reliable and quantifiable indication of the spatial support re

66、quirements of any urban area"</p><p>　　Case study one:Focussed action at a college of further education</p><p>　　Castle College in Nottingham was formed by the merger of Broxtowe College an

67、d the People's College in 2006. The College has 8900 FTE students,790 staff and has 18 buildings on 18 sites. It is deeply involved in structured sustainable action and, to this end, has a dedicated team which is mad

68、e up of members from various functions within the college. Lists of proposed suggestions with costs and benefits are fully discussed at team meetings and agreed action plans are drawn up. Follow up work is th</p>

69、<p>　　A recent Action Plan is given on the opposite page:</p><p>　　Case study two: Cleaning contracts at Castle College</p><p>　　In addition to the initiative as indicated in the Action Pla

70、n, problems did arise where the original two colleges had different cleaning contracts with different suppliers, and with different times. The Estates Management Team wanted to use the enlarged college to set up a better

71、- value cleaning contract, and also use this opportunity to look for the most environmentally preferable option.Overall,the goals of the College were to save money on cleaning costs, while reducing the impact on the envi

72、</p><p>　　The college management realised at an early stage that there was a need for specialist knowledge about cleaning in a way which minimises impact on the environment: the use of consultants were essen

73、tial to achieve best value, as well as minimise its operational impact.</p><p>　　After a tendering process. Which focused on value for money and sustainability, the College appointed a Private Cleaning Compa

74、ny to advise and undertake the contract. The appointed Contractor had experience of the use of machinery with high powered jets that deep clean, but at the same time minimize water use. The products used in conjunction w

75、ith the jets broke down the fats found in kitchens, toilets and showers, which resulted in a superior clean. The company uses products from Seiden, which </p><p>　　as minimise the amount of product packaging

76、 and water- use during manufacture. </p><p>　　Estimates indicate that the College will save more than ￡150,000,in comparison with current costs, over a three- year cleaning contract. The cost savings would h

77、ave been much higher but, under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, the contract company had to maintain the pay and conditions of the cleaners who previously worked on the contract. In a

78、ddition, the college's environmental impact has been reduced by the improved cleaning products and through reduced use </p><p>　　Conclusion</p><p>　　The ecological footprint gives a reliable

79、 and quantifiable indication of the spatial support requirements of any urban area. It is a sound planning tool, since through its use, knowledge can be obtained of the necessity of the land surface required to feed it a

80、nd to deal with the resources required by and discarded from the inhabitants: this information should assist in the development of remedial decision making and with the object of making the urban areas more compatible an

81、d in harmony with t</p><p>　　As shown in the case studies, local sustainability actions at a college can lead to total cost reductions, as well as reducing the impact on the environment, if tackled in a syst

82、ematic manner. There is a need for continual action on these activities to ensure that remedial results are obtained and best practice is continually updated. The case studies indicate that most organizations can make a

83、contribution to the reduction of the national ecological footprint and improve sustainability with inc</p><p>　　References</p><p>　　Rees,WE,(1997),Is’ Sustainable City’ an Oxymoron? Local Enviro

84、nment2:303-310.</p><p>　　Habitat Agenda(1996)UN Summit in Istanbul. </p><p>　　The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges, www.eauc.org.uk. </p><p>　　Castle College,