Summary The international industrial ecology (IE) research community and United Nations (UN) Environment have, for the first time, agreed on an authoritative and comprehensive data set for global material extraction and trade covering 40 years of global economic activity and natural resource use. This new data set is becoming the standard information source for decision making at the UN in the context of the post‐2015 development agenda, which acknowledges the strong links between sustainable natural resource management, economic prosperity, and human well‐being. Only if economic growth and human development can become substantially decoupled from accelerating material use, waste, and emissions can the tensions inherent in the Sustainable Development Goals be resolved and inclusive human development be achieved. In this paper, we summarize the key findings of the assessment study to make the IE research community aware of this new global research resource. The global results show a massive increase in materials extraction from 22 billion tonnes (Bt) in 1970 to 70 Bt in 2010, and an acceleration in material extraction since 2000. This acceleration has occurred at a time when global population growth has slowed and global economic growth has stalled. The global surge in material extraction has been driven by growing wealth and consumption and accelerating trade. A material footprint perspective shows that demand for materials has grown even in the wealthiest parts of the world. Low‐income countries have benefited least from growing global resource availability and have continued to deliver primary materials to high‐income countries while experiencing few improvements in their domestic material living standards. Material efficiency, the amount of primary materials required per unit of economic activity, has declined since around 2000 because of a shift of global production from very material‐efficient economies to less‐efficient ones. This global trend of recoupling economic activity with material use, driven by industrialization and urbanization in the global South, most notably Asia, has negative impacts on a suite of environmental and social issues, including natural resource depletion, climate change, loss of biodiversity, and uneven economic development. This research is a good example of the IE research community providing information for evidence‐based policy making on the global stage and testament to the growing importance of IE research in achieving global sustainable development.

Rapid population growth and an increase in the number of nonresident second-home owners are altering the environmental, social, and economic stability of many Australian seaside communities. The impact of the growing proportion of nonpermanent residents in these regions has not yet been subject to much research. This article explores the usefulness of place attachment to provide insight into the actions and behavior of second-home owners. Place attachment, or human-place bonding, has been linked to positive behaviors such as environmental conservation, volunteering, and the reverse of neighbourhood decline. This article examines second-home owners' sense of place attachment in Western Australia's Augusta–Margaret River region. Findings indicate positive relationships between levels of place attachment, the amount of time spent in the region, support of local businesses, and contributions to community through membership in voluntary organizations. The relevance of supporting the place attachment of nonpermanent residents in rapidly developing coastal areas is discussed.

Mining activity has been a significant driver of export growth as well as income and employment in parts of regional Australia. However, while income growth is an economic benefit, the high incomes associated with the mining sector may also lead to greater inequality. This paper describes an empirical analysis of mining activity and income inequality in regional Australia. The Gini coefficient (a measure of inequality) for personal income is found to be significantly associated with levels of mining employment. However, this relationship is not linear. Rather, income inequality initially increases with mining activity, before decreasing at medium to high levels of mining employment, following a Kuznets curve pattern. Segregating data for men and women reveals very different patterns. Among men, inequality initially increases as mining employment in a region increases, but then sharply decreases; at high levels of mining activity, income inequality among men is lower than is typically observed in non‐mining areas. Among women, income inequality increases with mining activity throughout its range. This suggests that income inequality is most likely to be a problem in locales with intermediate levels of mining activity and that it affects men and women quite differently.

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This article describes the background to a direct assessment of interest categories without the use of a questionnaire. It is based on a card-sort procedure that focuses on Outdoor, Practical, Scientific, Creative, Business, Office and People Contact work interests. The rationale for the development of a Career Interest Card Sort is derived from previous research on the validity of self-estimates of vocational interests. Some data are provided on the card sort procedure. Directions and a case study on its use are also outlined.