The Sustainability of Rural Systems, 2002
Geographical Interpretations
GeoJournal Library Series, Vol. 66

Economy, society, and environment comprise the three main dimensions of sustainable development but too often they are considered separately. This book, by comparison, examines the interaction of the three dimensions in the context of rural systems, embracing a wide range of topics, including globalisation and reregulation in sustainable food production, conservation and sustainability, the development of sustainable rural communities, and sustainable rural-urban interaction. An international team of geographers, drawn from the International Geographical Union's Commission on The Sustainability of Rural Systems, summarises the basis of unsustainable rural development in these topics, the remedial policies being pursued, and their own evaluations of the policies. Rather than deal just with generalisations, their analyses are illustrated by detailed case studies drawn from a variety of rural systems in both developed and developing countries.

1. Introduction.- I: Interpreting sustainability.- 2. Developing indicators of ‘sustainability’.- 3. Nature, society and sustainability.- 4. The ‘wild’, the market and the native: indigenous issues in wildlife utilisation and management.- II: Globalisation, restructuring and sustainability.- 5. Globalisation, food regimes and rural networks.- 6. Restructuring, regulation and sustainability.- 7. Enterprises and commodity chains.- III: Environmental imperatives.- 8. Conservation and sustainability.- 9. Sustainable farming systems.- 10. Planning for sustainable rural land use systems.- IV: Rurality, community and development.- 11. Rural population and services.- 12. Sustainable rural communities and rural development.- 13. Urban and rural interactions and rural community renewal.- 14. Conclusion.

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras