Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the importance of the theory of social capital for the challenges presented during environmental management initiatives in higher education institutions (HEIs). In particular, the paper utilises the fundamental components of social capital theory and assesses a hypothesis that higher stocks of…

Each school day, 55 million children and 7 million adults--that's 20% of the total U.S. population and 98% of all children--spend their workdays inside school buildings. Unfortunately, too many of the nation's 125,000 public and private K-12 schools are "unhealthy" buildings that can harm their health and hinder learning. Today, clear…

The "New Environmental Paradigm" or NEP appears to have gained considerable popularity in academic and intellectual circles, as well as among many college students; however, very little is known concerning the degree to which the general public has come to accept the ideas embodied in it. Thus, although there have been dozens of studies…

There is no doubt that in order to address the serious challenges arising from anthropogenic--or human-produced--climate change, Britain, along with the rest of the world, needs to adopt policies and develop skills that will create a low-carbon economy with a highly effective use of renewable and natural resources. People need to create the…

This article analyzes the theoretical and empirical parameters of social regulation in contemporary global food markets, focusing on the rapidly expanding Fair Trade initiative. Fair Trade seeks to transform North/South relations by fostering ethical consumption, producer empowerment, and certified commodity sales. This initiative joins an array…

The New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale, published in "The Journal of Environmental Education" by R. E. Dunlap and K. D. Van Liere (1978), has become the most widely used measure of environmental concern in the world and been employed in hundreds of studies in dozens of nations. This article tells the story of the NEP Scale, beginning…

Claims about the impacts of environmental quality associated with urban renewal on the resident's subjective quality of life are more speculative than empirically grounded. To clarify the impacts of environmental quality under urban renewal, this study surveyed 876 residents living in housing surrounding seven urban renewal sites in Hong Kong. It…

Purpose: To conduct an assessment of rural environmental pollution sources and associated population mortality rates. Methods: The design is a secondary analysis of county-level data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Agriculture, National Land Cover Dataset, Energy Information Administration, Centers for Disease Control…

When examined rhetorically, Savannah River Site Community Preparedness Information calendars from 1994, 2004, and 2008 represent living rhetorical practices aimed at changing the public mind. My technical communication classroom at USC Aiken is uniquely situated for us to examine documents constantly generated by the site's Public Affairs…

The breadth and depth of the environmental crisis and the consequently wide and inclusive interpretations of "sustainable development" has promoted a disparate range of academic responses encouraging a loose interpretation of environmental education and Education for Sustainable Development. This in turn reduces the capacity for the…

How people respond to questions involving the environment depends partly on individual characteristics. Characteristics such as age, gender, education, and ideology constitute the well-studied "social bases of environmental concern," which have been explained in terms of cohort effects or of cognitive and cultural factors related to social…

The government of the United Kingdom has set a target to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 34 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) will require all large public and private sector organizations across the U.K. to cut carbon emissions and report total CO2 emissions annually so that the data can be published in a…

This article presents the author's critique on Stephen L. Baird's article in the November 2008 issue of "The Technology Teacher", which describes a contemporary debate about opening more U.S. land and coastal regions to oil and gas exploration and production (E&P). While Baird's thesis epitomizes the goal of a technologically literate citizen, his…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze those US campuses that became signatories of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) during the charter membership period of December 2006 through September 15, 2007. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on literature in organizational change,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of a sustainability network at a large California public university, as an example of organizational change. Design/methodology/approach: The paper combines participant observation and case study techniques over a three-year period. From 2007 to 2010, the author helped found the…