Working Toward Sustainability: Ethical Decision Making in a Technological World

A comprehensive introduction to the ethics of sustainability for empowering professionals and practitioners in many different fields

By building the framework for balancing technological developments with their social and environmental effects, sustainable practices have grounded the vision of the green movement for the past few decades. Now deeply rooted in the public conscience, sustainability has put its stamp on various institutions and sectors, from national to local governments, from agriculture to tourism, and from manufacturing to resource management. But until now, the technological sector has operated without a cohesive set of sustainability principles to guide its actions. Working Toward Sustainability fills this gap by empowering professionals in various fields with an understanding of the ethical foundations they need to promoting and achieving sustainable development.

In addition, Working Toward Sustainability

• Offers a comprehensive introduction to the ethics of sustainability for those in the technical fields whether construction, engineering, resource management, the sciences, architecture, or design
• Supports nine central principles using case studies, exercises, and instructor material
• Includes illustrations throughout to help bring the concepts to life

By demonstrating that sustainable solutions tart with ethical choices, this groundbreaking book helps professionals in virtually every sector and field of endeavor work toward sustainability.

Charles J. Kibert is Director of the Powell Center for Construction and Environment and a Professor in the M.E. Rinker, Sr., School of Building Construction at the University of Florida, where he teaches courses on sustainability and sustainable construction and conducts research on design, energy, water, and materials challenges in the built environment. He is a cofounder and CEO of the Cross Creek Initiative, Inc., a nonprofit industry-university joint venture seeking to implement sustainability principles into construction. he is the author of Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery (Wiley).

Martha C. Monroe is Professor and extension specialist in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. Her work in environmental education and communication uses effective programs and materials to engage people in working toward the resolution of environmental issues. She coauthored Conservation Education and Outreach Techniques and Evaluating Your Environmental Education Programs.

Anna L. Peterson is professor in the Department of Religion and affiliated professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment and the center of Latin American Studies at the University of Florida. She teaches and publishes widely on social and environmental ethics as well as religion in Latin America. Her books include Being Human: Ethics, Environment, and Our Place in the World and Everyday Ethics and Social Change: The Education of Desire.

Richard R. Plate is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. He has taught courses on environmental ethics and politics, critical thinking for environmental scientist, and socioeconomic on how individuals learn about make decisions regarding complex environmental systems.

Leslie Paul Thiele teaches political theory and serves as Director Sustainability Studies at the University of Florida. He employs a cross-disciplinary approach to explore the aptitudes, values, and skills demanded of democratic citizens and leaders in a world of rapid technological, social, and ecological change. His books include Environmentalism for a New Millennium: The Challenge of Coevolution and Indra’s Net and the Midas Touch: Living Sustainably in Connected World.