The uncertain quest for sustainability: public discourse and the politics of environmentalism

Discursos hegemónicos sobre a cidade: “desenvolvimento” e “crescimento verde” em Braga

“…A partir dos anos 90, o "desenvolvimento sustentável" transformou-se numa conceito nuclear, "forjando" um novo consenso que supostamente acabará com o conflito entre economia, sociedade e ambiente (Torgerson, 1995). O ambientalismo, que surgiu como uma importante luta social visando expor a relação antagónica do homem com a natureza e promover formas menos exploradoras de lidar com esta, tem sido controlado, em muitos aspectos, por uma variedade de forças sociais que o reconstruíram discursivamente de modo a reforçar todo um conjunto de outros projectos.…”

Sustainable transportation and land development on the periphery: a case study of Freiburg, Germany and Chula Vista, California

“…At that time, environmentalists were claiming that continued exponential growth in a finite environment would soon encounter natural limits. Gradually, this "limits to growth" argument lost credibility, primarily because it seemed to dismiss claims that economic growth was needed to alleviate starvation, disease, and poverty (Torgerson, 1995).…”

“…This pursuit of sustainability at the international level has been complicated by the fact that "sustainable development" has been defined in a wide variety of ways (Torgerson, 1995;Lafferty, 1998 (Lafferty, 1998). Many environmentalists tends to reject the concept as an oxymoron; they stress the fragility of natural ecosystems and object to the technicallyfocused, human-centered character of the discourse about sustainability.…”

“…Many environmentalists tends to reject the concept as an oxymoron; they stress the fragility of natural ecosystems and object to the technicallyfocused, human-centered character of the discourse about sustainability. Conversely, anti-environmentalists often argue that pursuing sustainable development means appeasing environmentalists; it is just a term used to mask a hidden anti-growth agenda (Torgerson, 1995); similarly market liberals resist the seemingly intrusive hand of government that accompanies sustainable development. And social justice advocates (e.g., Chatterjee and Finger, 1994) have argued that the leaders who assembled at the Rio Conference failed to tackle the major causes of environmental problems, most notably Northern consumption, unsustainable patterns of development in the South, militarization, and the destructive practices of transnational corporations.…”

Science in the Public Sphere: Greater Sage-grouse Conservation Planning from a Transdisciplinary Perspective

“…There is general agreement that both scientific analysis and public deliberation are necessary for conservation decisionmaking (Karl and Turner, 2003;Pound and others, 2003;Turner, 2006;Lindeman, 2007); however, there is no consensus on how best to integrate the two (Koontz and Johnson 2004;Peterson and others, 2005;Torgerson, 2005), especially for a species such as the Greater Sage-grouse ( ) whose habitat coincides with such a large expanse-40 million acres-of privately owned lands (Gray, 2004a). Many successful Habitat Conservation Plans (Harding and others, 2001) have been developed for species under U.S.…”