When I’m running face-to-face training courses one of the areas that students sometimes struggle with is the social aspect of sustainable development. Generally the courses I deliver are based around environmental management and delegates usually grasp this side of sustainability. However we should not forget that sustainability has two other subjects related to it: social and economic. Leaving economic sustainability for another time, I thought it would be interesting to identify social issues and how they relate to sustainable development. I’ve noticed over the years that having knowledge of social issues is becoming more and more important as social issue management is increasingly being added to the role of environmental…
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Climate Change Warning – The Age of Stupid
Are we in ‘The Age of Less Stupid’? Recently while I was away working in Glasgow I was in a hotel room with little to watch on normal TV, I decided to take a look at BBC iPlayer to see if there was anything worth watching. I came across a film called ‘The Age of Stupid’. I’ve got to admit I’d never heard of this film and didn’t really know much about the content. It turned out to be a TV gamble worth taking and contained themes that are relevant to my day job as an environmental trainer and consultant. The Age of Stupid – Background I really enjoyed watching…
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Fly Tipping – An Environmental Practitioners Perspective
The Problem Of Fly Tipping I do enjoy a bit of road cycling, yes I’ve reached the age of becoming a MAMIL! (a middle aged man in Lycra), in case you have never heard of that one before. I’m quite lucky that the area where I mostly cycle, the North Pennines, is a beautiful place with stunning views and many nice, quiet and largely traffic-free roads. However, one issue that really makes my blood boil when I’m out for a ride is the amount of waste that is illegally disposed on the side of the road. I’ve seen many different types of waste over the years such as TVs, construction…
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The Use of Zoning in Environmental Law
A few weeks back you might have seen on the news the introduction of the UK’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in London. This got me thinking about areas of environmental law where zoning is used. The designation of a ‘zone’ where the law is different or stricter is a relatively common occurrence in environmental law. Notably, we see it a lot in the UK and beyond, for other areas of environmental management as well as air pollution. Firstly, let’s first take a look at the ULEZ. The ULEZ is a geographical area, roughly in the centre of London that has placed restrictions on the use of vehicles. It…
