Sustainable Development:

International Practices to Solve Environmental Crises

Jan/20/2010 Prepared by: Dorimar Morales Torres

 Sustainable Development
“Development that satisfies the needs of
the present time without compromising
the ability of future generations to fulfill
their own needs”
Sustainable Development Pillars
 Social

 Economical

 Environmental

 Technological
 New International Concepts
 Integration of environmental protection and the
conservation of natural resources.

 Zero waste principle

 Cradle to Cradle operations

International Practices
 Eco-Villages
 Any Activity or facility operating in an environmentally
friendly fashion without depleting the natural
resources.
 Principles it must follow:
 Minimize environmental impact
 Create a sense of ownership, conscience and
environmental and cultural respect.
 Provide positive experiences for the visitors and the hosts.
 Provide direct economical benefits for the conservation
and protection of natural resources
 Provide financial benefits and empowerment for the local
community.
 El Gouna – Hurghada, Egypt
Big community along the Red Sea that has:

 14 hotels  Eco friendly entertainment

 Housing-Living Units areas
 Hospitals  Schools

 Marina  Churches

 Brewing Company  Markets

 Recreational Areas  Shopping Centers

 El Gouna – Eco Village
 Recycling of municipal solid wastes
 Gray waters treatment plant
 Composting and sludge treatment systems
 Solar based power plant
 Heat recovery for energetic purposes
 Desalinazation plant
 Shrimp and fish farming
 Irrigation System
 Recycling of: aluminum, paper and plastics
 Organic Farming
 Animal Fodder Processing
 Biogas recuperation
 Earth Architecture: Sustainable Construction
New Cairo, Egypt
 Cairo is over populated
 Air is filled with PM
 New building techniques need to be developed
 Earth in the context of architecture is the most
earth friendly material that exists.
 Minimizes construction time
 Reduces lifecycle costs, maintenance and operation
costs
 Limited use of non renewable resources
 Maintains healthy dwelling, environment and land use
 Houghton, Michigan
 Sustainable Futures Institute
 SFI approaches sustainability from a holistic
systems perspective focusing on water, energy,
industrial ecology, environmentally-conscious
manufacturing, public policy, the built environment
and green engineering.
 SFI Practices
 Situated in the water-rich environment of the
Laurentian Great Lakes Basin, the Center for Water
and Society appropriately focuses on promoting
research and education into sustainable water
systems.
 The Wood-to-Wheels program recognizes that
sustainability in the 21st century requires
interdisciplinary efforts to develop energy systems that
are carbon neutral, economically sustainable and
socially conscious.
 The D80 Center is an ambitious global outreach effort
to engage the 80% of the world not typically
considered by designers of infrastructure, goods and
services in the design and deployment of sustainable
systems.
 Michigan Tech Researches
 The carbon balance of Lake Superior:
modeling lake processes and understanding
impacts on the regional carbon budget.
 Life Cycle Assessments of Biofuels
 Generating Automotive Fuels from
Lignocellulosic Biomass
 Volcanoes for energy
 Water treatment for the world
 Alexandria and Belbeis, Egypt
 Carbon Footprint Assessment:
 Compost facility that reduces CO2 by avoiding
methane
 Creates jobs (less rural to urban migration)

 Desert areas enhanced for arable land (reduce

food scarcity)
 Reduce water consumption in irrigation due to
composting water retaining characteristics
 Reducing GHG emissions (carbon sequestration
in soil)
 Industrial Symbiosis: Östergötland, Sweden
 The idea behind the Symbiosis is that companies
are utilizing each others residual- and byproducts
on commercial basis.
 One company's byproduct is an important
resource for other companies in the Symbiosis
association.
 The result is more resource saving processes with
a positive environmental impact. Further more, the
Symbiosis-partners have an economic advantage
because all agreements is based on solid
business principles.
 Eco Town: Antalya, Turkey
 Phytotechnology
 Recycling
 More than 50% green space
 Easy transportation
 Close to everything
 Sense of ownership
 Integrated walkways and Bicycle Ways
 Mixed residential and commercial applications
 Decentralized waster water management
 Eco Dancing
 Puerto Rico’s Approach
 Waste to Energy
 Eco Industries
 Bio Fuels
 Solar Distillation Systems
 Stella Assessment for Solid Waste
 Certificate in Environmental Laws, Policies
and Regulations
 Conclusions
 Cradle to Cradle can be achieved without
any burden on the investors
 All types of wastes can be utilized
 Conservation and Protection of the
environment can be achieved anywhere
 Around the world, people face the same
environmental problems. The solution:
Sustainable Development as a common tool.