Sustainable Development

In the years following her role as the lead author of the international best seller, Limits to Growth - the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet - Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem-solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world....

The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, comprise an ambitious and sweeping agenda that unites economic, social, and environmental aims. What resources do the world's religious and secular traditions offer in support of these objectives? Which principles do these traditions hold in common? This book presents an in-depth and deeply engaged conversation among interfaith religious leaders and interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners in pursuit of an ethical consensus that could ground sustainable development efforts.

Entrepreneurs have a problem: startups. Almost all startups either fail or never truly reach a sustainable size. Despite the popularity of entrepreneurship, we haven't engineered a better way to start...until now. What if you could skip the startup phase and generate profitable revenue on day one? In Buy Then Build, acquisition entrepreneur Walker Deibel shows you how to begin with a sustainable, profitable company and grow from there.

More than a practical guide, Start Your Farm is a hopeful call to action for anyone who aspires to grow wholesome, environmentally sustainable food for a living. Take it from Forrest Pritchard and Ellen Polishuk: Making this dream a reality is not for the faint of heart, but it's well within reach - and there's no greater satisfaction under the sun.

Now more than ever, we live in a society where we covet new and shiny things. Not only has consumption risen dramatically over the last 60 years, but we are damaging the environment at the same time. That is why buying quality and why Tara Button's Buy Me Once brand has such popular appeal. Tara Button has become a champion of a lifestyle called 'mindful curation' - a way of living in which we carefully choose each object in our lives....

While politicians, entrepreneurs, and even school children could tell you that sustainability is an important and nearly universal value, many of them, and many of us, may struggle to define the term, let alone trace its history. What is sustainability? Is it always about the environment? What science do we need to fully grasp what it requires? What does sustainability mean for business? How can governments plan for a sustainable future?

Growing on just one and a half acres, owners Jean-Martin and Maude-Helène feed more than 200 families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands and supply their signature mesclun salad mix to dozens of local establishments. The secret of their success is the low-tech, high-yield production methods they've developed by focusing on growing better rather than growing bigger, making their operation more lucrative and viable in the process.

Go Gently is a practical guide for sustainability at home that offers simple, tangible steps towards reducing our environmental impact by looking at what we consume and the waste we create, as well as how to take action for environmental change. The title reflects Bonnie's belief that the best way to change our planet and ourselves is through a gentle approach, rather than a judgmental one. This is an audiobook of do's rather than don'ts.

If simplicity is an art, then Dominique Loreau is a master. Having lived in Japan for many years and inspired by oriental philosophy, Dominique Loreau discovered the beauty of a life well lived through the art of simplicity. Her lifestyle rests on the principle of 'less is more' and imbues all areas of existence, from the material to the spiritual.

Whether you're in the trenches struggling to make consistent sales or dreaming of turning your art into a full-time living, this groundbreaking guide provides the inspiration and the practical steps you need to become your own art boss. There's never been a better time to turn your creative ideas into a successful business. The internet is pushing aside art world “gatekeepers” who used to decide what was "worthy”—now anyone with a laptop and a dream can make a thriving living from their creativity.

Faced with uncontrollable circumstances, from a change in market demand to a global pandemic, being self-employed can sometimes feel less like you're running the show, and more like the show is running you. But it doesn't need to be that way. Small business consultant, entrepreneur coach, and acclaimed portrait photographer Jeffrey Shaw - TEDx speaker and host of the popular The Self-Employed Life podcast - offers the essential manual on everything you need to be successful as a self-employed business owner.

In the last thirty years, the developing world has undergone tremendous changes. Overall, poverty has fallen, people live longer and healthier lives, and economies have been transformed. And yet many countries have simply missed the boat. Why have some countries prospered, while others have failed? Stefan Dercon argues that the answer lies not in a specific set of policies, but rather in a key "development bargain," whereby a country's elites shift from protecting their own positions to gambling on a growth-based future.

A social enterprise is a different kind of business, one that uses a market-driven approach to address a social or environmental problem such as poverty, environmental damage, or resource scarcity, with the dual goals of helping humanity and building a profitable business. With a climate crisis, a growing population, and diminishing natural resources, the need for socially minded innovators is greater than ever. Good Business is designed to be a practical guide and tool for innovators, entrepreneurs, and dreamers.

Do you feel like we’re in a permacrisis? Chances are you feel some anxiety about the state of the world right now. Mohamed, Michael and Gordon certainly did. These three friends – who between them have almost a century of expertise in international economics, business and global government – began talking over zoom at the start of the pandemic. They wanted to discuss the challenges the world was facing: unanticipated shocks, poor policy responses, struggling coordination. But the more they talked, the more they realised there was nothing pre-ordained about the gloomy path we’re on now.

How will software development and operations have to change to meet the sustainability and green needs of the planet? And what does that imply for development organizations? In this eye-opening book, Anne Currie, Sarah Hsu, and Sara Bergman provide a unique overview of this topic—discussing everything from the likely evolution of national grids to the effect those changes will have on the day-to-day lives of developers.

Filled with illuminating case studies and brilliant in-depth analysis, this invaluable book provides a multitude of insights that will help you weather market upheavals, adapt to disruptions, and optimize your resources to your best advantage.

Douglas W. Tallamy's first book, Bringing Nature Home, awakened thousands of individuals to an urgent situation: wildlife populations are in decline because the native plants they depend on are fast disappearing. His solution? Plant more natives. In this new book, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation.

No experience in farming? No problem! The Profitable Hobby Farm gives you all the tools you need to launch a thriving hobby-farm business. Based on the author's expert guidance and the motivating experiences of other small farmers, it shows you how to blend strategy, marketing, and money management in order to prosper. The Profitable Hobby Farm provides sound, friendly start-up advice on a variety of topics essential to making an initial foray into a local-foods venture. A supplemental PDF is included with this audiobook.

You have power over your emotions, but it’s limited, so you need to understand it. Here is a simple explanation of the chemicals that make us feel good: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. You’ll find out what turns them on in animals and how you manage them with the animal part of your brain. Then, you’ll learn to rewire your happy chemicals by feeding your brain new inputs in a new way. We’ll do the same for the unhappy chemical, cortisol, too.

For business owners and listeners interested in creating a business that serves its owners, "Sustainable: A Fable About Creating a Personally and Economically Sustainable Business" offers much more than just a good listen. It’s a guidebook filled with wisdom and practical solutions for building a business that can thrive well into the future. And it's not another how-to book; there's a great story that you can use to learn from the Aardvark family.