Sustainable Living Concerns: a Perspective on Psycho-Social Environment
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International Journal of Integrated Research and Development, Vol – 2, Issue – March, 2019 ISSN : 2278-8670 International Journal of Integrated Research and Development (UGC Approved Peer Reviewed and Multidisciplinary Journal) ISSN: 2278-8670 UGC Enlisted Journal No. 41601 Volume -2 Issue- March, 2019 Special Issue on SUSTAINABLE LIVING CONCERNS: A PERSPECTIVE ON PSYCHO-SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT Editor in Chief Prof. Barin Kumar Pramanik Special Editors Prof. Mili Mishra Prof. Sathi Naik Prof. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury Patronized by South Asian Institute for Advanced Research and Development (SAIARD), Kolkata Printed by Mudran, Kolkata 2 International Journal of Integrated Research and Development, Vol – 2, Issue – March, 2019 ISSN : 2278-8670 INDEX TITLE OF PAPER Page S.N. AUTHORS No. 1 Anjan Saha Urban Sustainability: An Oxymoron? 4 - 11 Solution to the problems of the sustainable 2 Anup Kumar Sharma 12 - 18 development management in India Anusri Kundu Food for Thought: A Case-study on College- 3 19 - 30 Dr. Anindya Basu students of Kolkata Sustainable Living Concerns: A perspective on 4 31 - 35 Bratati Barik Psycho - logical Environment. Yonder the Gene-Environment Dichotomy: 5 Debarati Sen Exploring Environmental Conditions that cause 36 - 40 Cognitive Disability Dr. Debasish Biswas Parallel Existence of Environment and 6 41 – 48 Mrs. Ananya Guha Roy Development. Indira Halder Water Resource, Sustainable Development, 7 Arnav Debnath and Politics: The Case of Chaltia Beel in the 49 – 55 District of Murshidabad. Koushik Mondal Environmental Concerns for Sustainable 8 56 – 63 Dr.Mousumi Boral Development in Secondary School Geography Inclusive Environmental Philosophy of Vedas: 9 Dr. Lalita Agrawal 64 – 70 Foundation of Social Harmony and Divinity. The Relevance of Urban Green Spaces: Need 10 Mili Mishra 71 – 76 For Sustainable Living Environment Sustainable Living Concern through the lens of 11 Dr. Namrata Kothari 77 – 84 Jainism: A Social-psychological Approach. Reflective Learning On Environmental Niladri Sekhar Sarkar 12 Education At High School Level - A Case 85 – 92 Dr. Mousumi Boral Study From Sundarban Region, West- Bengal Sustainable and Environment Friendly 13 Dr. Parama Chatterjee 93 – 97 Menstruation: Some Case Studies. Environment & Sustainable Living – a study 14 Raj Kumar Samanta from the Tribal Society of Ausgram – II Block, 98 – 109 East Burdwan district, West Bengal Sustainable Development Is Not One Man’s 15 Riti Naik Job- The Role of Collectiveness in achieving 110 -116 the goal of Sustainable Development in India 3 International Journal of Integrated Research and Development, Vol – 2, Issue – March, 2019 ISSN : 2278-8670 Sahelee De Social Learning: A Mapping towards 16 117 - 123 Sayan Dutta Sustainable Development. Importance of Sacred Groves In Sustainable Development And Its Impact On 17 Satabdi Roy Environmental Ethics : A Regional Study Of 124 – 129 Bankura District The Dawning Of Alternate Sexual Identities: A 18 Sathi Naik Study Among The Transgenders In Kolkata, 130 – 139 West Bengal Shreya Ganguly Drug Addiction and Rehabilitation: An 19 140 – 146 Approach Towards Sustainable Living. Ensuring Functional and Sustainable Sanitation Goals by Building ‘Swacch Souchalay’: Policy 20 Implementation, Participatory Governance in 147 – 155 Dr.Sujata Mukhopadhyay Asuti Constituency of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal: A Case Study. Motorcycling and Marijuana Use: A changing 21 Sukanya Pal 156 – 161 social environment of Group Integration Impact of Physical and Social Environment on 22 Sumana Mondal 162 – 168 Mental Health Education Scenario Of South 24 Parganas 23 Ujjwal Dutta District And Infrastructure Disparities Among 169 – 180 The Blocks, West Bengal Intervention of NGOs & Knowledge-Bodies 24 Dr. Arindam Chakrabarty for Achieving Sustainable Development: A 181 – 188 Resource Based View (RBV) Climate Change Vis-À-Vis Change In The Tea Piyashee Mallik Production And Economic Condition of Some 25 189 – 204 Selected Tea Gardens In The Western Duars Area of West Bengal 26 Souvik Bhatta Environmental Ethics as Revealed in Vedas 205 – 213 4 International Journal of Integrated Research and Development, Vol – 2, Issue – March, 2019 ISSN : 2278-8670 URBAN SUSTAINABILITY: AN OXYMORON? Anjan Saha (WBES) Assistant Professor of History; Maulana Azad College, Kolkata As the world’s population grapples with rapid urban growth, ecological degradation, global climate change, sustainability has become a buzzword, a slogan. But in reality it is imbued with emotions and rationalities that are shaped by specific historic, geographic, cultural and politico- economic conditions. The term simultaneously signals a modern way of envisioning the future, a way to understand relationship between environment and resources, a demand for more just and equitable social relations, an approach to urban planning, and occasionally a branding strategy. As a discourse, sustainability often aligns itself with some myths idealizing technological innovation, economic growth and modernity on the one hand and draw on visions of nature and its value on other. In my essay, I would like to focus on contradictions involving the promises and propaganda of sustainability programme. At the same time I would show that how this complex concept continues to offer an opportunity to explore the imagined futures motivating human behaviour. Keywords : Sustainable development, Agenda 21, Aalborg Charter, Landscape Urbanism, New Urbanism, Degrowh, C40. For the first time in history, one-half of the worlds population is living in cities. By the year 2025, it is estimated that more than two-thirds will be urban dwellers. Cities are perceived to be engines of economic growth and provide jobs, services and the promise of a better quality of life. The rapid growth of cities, however, with the associated concentration of industries, motor vehicles and impoverished slums can be a threat to the environment and ecological resource base, and to the urban economy itself negating the opportunities urbanization can offer. As the world’s population grapples with rapid urban growth, ecological degradation and challenge of climate change, sustainability has become a buzzword, a slogan of sorts. But in reality, it is imbued with emotions and rationalities that are shaped by specific historic, geographic, cultural and politico-economic conditions. The term simultaneously signals modern way of envisioning the future, a way to understand the relationship between environment and resources, demand for more just and equitable social relations, and approach to urban planning and occasionally a branding strategy. As a discourse sustainability often aligns itself with some myths, idealizing technological innovation, economic growth and modernity on the one hand and draws on visions of nature and its value on other. In many essay, I would like to focus on contradictions involving the promises and propaganda of sustainability program. At the same time, I would show that how this complex concept offered and continues to offer an opportunity of exploring the imagined futures motivating human behaviour. The popularization of the term “sustainability” can be traced to the circulation of its close companion, “sustainable development.” During the post-World War-II era, the idea that so- called “first world” countries should assume a responsibility to rescue “third world” ones from poverty and repressive governments, fostered a proliferation of international economic development programs and accompanying global institutions (such as the World Bank, the 5 International Journal of Integrated Research and Development, Vol – 2, Issue – March, 2019 ISSN : 2278-8670 World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund). Cold war-era fears about the spread of communism rationalized these programs, distracting public attention from the degree to which they lured developing countries in webs of debt, while allowing corporations and governments in the global north to accrue massive wealth and power (Redclift 1987). Moreover, development programs encouraged the use of pesticides, monocropping, defor- estation, and other practices that were extremely detrimental to environmental resources (Escobar 1995). Eventually, the failure of development programs to eradicate poverty, and the pervasive environmental degradation they caused, became too stark to be ignored. In 1983, the UN Secretary General created a new commission, to be led by former Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland, and charged it with setting an international agenda for promoting development that prioritized social, economic, and environmental goals over such devastating growth. In 1987, the commission published “Our Common Future,” also known as the Brundtland Report, stating: A world in which poverty and inequity are endemic will always be prone to ecological and other crises. Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (Brundtland 1987:8). The Report had a powerful impact, triggering a series of global discussions. Some of the most influential of those took place during the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development - Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. There, participants adopted Agenda 21, which followed up on some of the ideas set forth by Brundtland. Consistent with neoliberal practices and ideas that devolved responsibility away from federal governments, Agenda 21 emphasized the role of “local authorities” in creating