Sustainability reporting by Australian local government authorities

This qualitative study investigates the Western Australian (WA) local government authorities’ sustainability reporting practices, in the absence of mandatory reporting guidelines, through content analysis of their websites. Calculations from comparing the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)’s disclosures with those of 140 local council websites were used to develop a sustainability reporting disclosure index. The findings indicate that sustainability reporting remains moderately practised by local government authorities, despite stakeholder demand for proactive disclosures. The discourse analysis shows that Western Australia’s strategic planning for sustainable development is the key force propelling councils towards sustainability reporting practices. The findings also suggest that WA local government authorities are increasing sustainability disclosures to legitimate their social and environmental initiatives. The findings have policy implications for regulators and/or government in Western Australia, with practical implications for local council authorities and/or managers in developing awareness of sustainable operations. The study also contributes to local government authorities’ growing awareness of sustainable service operations.     

Advancing Knowledge through Grassroots Experiments: Connecting Culture and Sustainability

Since 2006, hundreds of communities in Canada have produced Integrated Community Sustainability Plans, based on a four-pillar model of sustainability and developed in consultation with residents and stakeholders. These community-based experiments have developed models, knowledge, and insights about the place of culture in local sustainability. Both conceptual thinking and planning practices regarding the role of culture in sustainable communities were at an embryonic stage when these initiatives took place. The discussions, plans, and implementation processes have advanced both theory and “leading edge” practices with regard to culture and community sustainability, illustrating the importance of a robust relationship between research and practice.     

Materiality in corporate sustainability reporting within UK retailing

The concept of materiality is attracting increasing attention in corporate sustainability reporting. This paper offers a preliminary examination of the extent to which the UK's leading retailers are currently addressing materiality in their sustainability reports and offers some wider reflections on the ways retailers are embracing materiality. The paper begins with a short discussion of the concept of materiality and on its determination and the paper draws its empirical material from the most recent sustainability reports posted on the Internet by the UK's top ten retailers. The findings reveal that there are significant variations in the extent to which the UK's leading retailers are embracing materiality and that there is no evidence of a sector specific approach to materiality within the UK retail community. More generally the authors argue that the methods currently being used to determine materiality are flawed and that retailers seem likely to continue to face challenges in looking to reconcile the relationships between executive management teams, investors and a wide range of stakeholders in operationalising the concept of materiality. The paper provides an accessible review of the extent to which the UK's leading retailers are currently embracing materiality as part of the sustainability reporting process and as such it will interest academics, students and practitioners interested in retailing and corporate sustainability. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

政府创新的类型与特征——基于“中国地方政府创新奖”获奖项目的多案例研究

尽管关于中国地方政府创新积累了大量案例研究,但关于政府创新的属性、特征与类型的认识和理解仍然有待于进一步深化。利用"中国地方政府创新奖"五届共计100多个入围项目的内容分析,对中国地方政府创新的类型、特征与分布进行了经验研究。分析显示,管理创新、服务创新与合作创新是中国地方政府创新的主要类型,而技术创新与治理创新的重要性在逐步提升。东部地区的地方政府获得创新美誉的比例多于西部地区,其次是中部地区。党政机构仍然是中国地方政府创新的主力军,越来越多的社会团体和非营利组织也在加入创新的队伍。相比其他行政层级,地市和区县政府的创新精神更强。     

过去10年的中国地方政府改革——基于中国地方政府创新奖的评价

依据中国地方政府创新奖创办以来五届申请项目的资料,辅以问卷调查,对过去10年来中国地方政府创新的若干问题进行了讨论。这些问题包括中国地方政府创新的现实性、创新的分布、创新的类型、创新的动力和可持续性以及创新的影响力。研究发现,必须从中国社会政治发展的总体背景出发来审视丰富多彩的地方政府创新。这些创新多是从问题出发的,是对现有体制的充实和发展。但是,创新分布于不同的层级和部门,所以其对整体制度的影响也会由于层级、部门之间的矛盾而受到削弱。     

Incumbents and Innovations under Decentralization: An Empirical Exploration of Selected Local Governments in the Philippines

Abstract

Like in other developing countries, many local governments in the Philippines have become innovative under decentralization. We investigate here the drivers of local innovations, with focus on quality of incumbent leaders, their political incentives and fiscal resources. We applied Poisson regressions on a survey data comprising 209 innovations introduced in 48 cities and municipalities during the period June 2004–June 2008. The statistically significant factors are the mayor's competence (age, educational attainment), re-election status and term in office. Innovations appear to increase with local fiscal resources but at decreasing rate. Access to information appears not to matter much. However, these factors, including poverty rates, vary in relative importance in explaining innovations in expenditure services, and in revenue and public administration services. Some policy inputs are suggested.     

“O me! O me! How i love the earth”: William Morris’s News from Nowhere and the birth of sustainable society

Arguing from an ecocritical perspective, in this article I seek to show that Morris, in his ‘green’ utopia News from Nowhere, envisaged a new social order in which communities are socially just, participatory, independent, economically viable and environmentally sustainable. I will argue that Morris, by stressing the need for a decentralized and polycentric country and by showing how co‐operation, as opposed to competition, can form a symbiosis between the members of the society, effectively linked the local with the global. I will show that Morris, turning against systematized globalization as portrayed in Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward, gives an example of a ‘sustainable’ globalization that shares much common ground with the current politics of bioregionalism. I will finally suggest that Morris’s vision of London as an ecological city, where waste has been abolished and human beings live in harmony with nature while respecting social justice, is more urgent than ever and can be instrumental as a vision for our future life.     

Blue Economy:以丽水世界博览会的成功举办为契机

丽水世界博览会是第一个以海洋为主题的博览会活动,目的是希望传播实现海洋、环境、发展三者之间协调的"Blue economy"(蓝色经济)概念。Blue economy是进一步发展关于绿色增长和可持续发展的国际协定的概念。为了治愈面临增长极限的生态危机、资源危机和增长的不平衡,我们需要通过构筑增进生态、经济效率和海洋型经济社会体制,实现文明的可持续发展的视点。本文将按照领域考察海洋产业实现blue economy的可能性,探讨通过此次博览会实现blue economy的方案。作为以实现blue economy为目的的日后课题,本文还将提出以实现海洋科学技术的革新发展,可持续发展为目的的环境构筑,以公共—民间(public-private)合作为基础的政策、制度的构筑等提案。     

演化范式下中国地方政府创新可持续性研究

地方政府创新不仅是世界范围内政治经济发展的一种普遍现象和趋势,也是推动我国政治-行政改革的主要手段。本文在梳理地方政府创新相关文献、分析中国地方政府创新案例的基础上,基于演化范式对中国地方政府创新可持续性进行了理论探讨。首先,本文重新界定了地方政府创新可持续性的内涵;其次,研究了其演化路径与内容,指出了地方政府创新可持续性的四条演化路径和三个方面的内容;然后,分析了其内外部决定因素,总结出地方政府的适应性学习、"政治企业家"精神、知识累积、创新的路径依赖、多样性选择主体的内生需求、知识外溢与竞合、创新嵌套的行政文化和技术创新等八个决定因素;最后,构建了地方政府创新可持续性的分析模型。     

试论教育信息化背景下公安教育的创新

在教育信息化时代,公安教育既迎来了重大机遇,同时也面临着严峻的挑战.公安院校要善于把握教育信息化的特点,主动抓住信息化的机遇,实现公安教育的全面信息化,推进公安教育的可持续发展.教育信息化背景下公安教育创新的关键是要善于从“信息”、“信息流”的角度来思考公安教育的功能以及具体运作,利用教育信息化的发展实现公安教育的全面创新.