Title:	Sustainable Rural and Urban Ecosystems: Design, Implementation and Operation
Authors:	A. Otte R. Perfler L. Richard D. Simmering Gunther Geller Detlef Glu¨cklich
Keywords:	Operation
Issue Date:	2012
Publisher:	Springer
Description:	These days human beings have an incredible influence on the planetary ecosystem, on climate change, on biodiversity, to name only two. Many of the ecosystems on the planet nowadays are more or less dominated by humans and that is true especially for the ecosystems, where men are living in, rural and urban settlements. Therefore it is most important to design and operate this kind of systems in a way that is really sustainable, which means long-term-functioning in harmony with the planetary system and human and non-human its inhabitants. How to design and operate elements of the human ecosystems like houses, bridges, roads, sewer lines, factories is known to engineers, architects, managers. There is some understanding about ecosystems, especially natural ones and partly about their design and operation. However there is a deficiency in understanding rural and urban settlements as human ecosystems in a holistic way and nearly no experience in designing and operating them in a holistic and sustainable way. This is especially true for the area of information, its understanding and application in rural and urban settlements. Some of the aspects being acceptance, commitment, decision-making, quality management, organizational structures, sociocultural background, training and education, to name only some few. To try to close this gap this manual gives an explanation of the general principles of this rural and urban ecosystems and some holistic concepts and provides some methods, procedures and tools for their design, construction and operation. The experiences it is utilising are based principally on a practical showcase, namely the ecological development of Valley View University (VVU), the biggest private university in Ghana, and its campus.
URI:	http://10.6.20.12:80/handle/123456789/57755
ISBN:	978-3-642-28261-4
Appears in Collections:	Rural Development Studies

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