Abstract:The purpose of this study was to examine the role and visibility of disabled people in the discourses of various global policy processes related to sustainable development and the Post-2015 development agenda. This article makes several recommendations for strengthening the role of disabled people in these discourses. The research addresses the question of how the disability community and sustainable development community relate to each other in these discourses. This study provides quantitative and qualitative data on three aspects of the relationship. One set of data highlights who is seen as a stakeholder in general and the visibility of disabled people in the social sustainability, sustainable consumption, Rio+20 and Post-2015 development agenda proposals discourses and what participants of the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond had to say about the issues of visibility of disabled people in development discourses. A second set of data illuminates the attitudes towards disabled people evident in the SD discourses including through the eyes of the participant of the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. The final set of data compares the goals and actions seen as desirable for the advancement of SD evident in the SD literature covered and the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. This study interpreted the data through a disability studies lens. The study found that OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2013, 5 4153 disabled people were barely visible to invisible in the SD literature covered, that the goals and actions proposed in the SD discourses are of high relevance to disabled people but that these discussions have generally not been explicitly linked to disabled people. It found further that disabled people have clear ideas why they are invisible, what the problems with development policies are and what needs to happen to rectify the problems. It found also that there was a lack of visibility of various SD areas and goals within the disability discourse. This paper provides empirical data that can be used to further the goal of mainstreaming of disabled people into the SD and Post-2015 development discourses as asked for in various high-level UN documents. However, we posit that the utility of our paper goes beyond the disability angle. Our quantitative data also highlights other forms of social group visibility unevenness in the literature and as such, we argue that the data we present in this paper is also of use for other stakeholders such as youth, women and indigenous people and also for NGOs and policy makers.
Abstract:Perceptions of water and water related issues still render many under-researched topics. This study aims to further our knowledge regarding people's perceptions of water and our understanding about the different ways individuals use water. The authors asked the question: Does the way an individual perceives water (i.e., as a commodity, a human right, private resource, public resource and/or natural resource) influence consumption and conservation of water, and sentiments towards control and allocation of water? An exploratory online questionnaire was designed to generate qualitative and quantitative data of survey participants' perceptions, beliefs and actions towards water issues, such as overconsumption and scarcity. Data analysis included comparison of the quantitative data regarding the non-statistical association between how an individual perceives water and the individual's beliefs, as well as qualitative analysis of the comments using an iterative pattern coding technique. One hundred and sixty four individuals participated in the survey (75% completion rate) and over 430 comments were made. Themes that emerged from the comments included: responsibility, scarcity, the value of water, knowledge gained and education needed. Comparison of the different perceptions of water revealed that different perceptions of what water is resulted in different beliefs about what the cost of water should be. These findings have implications for future water use, including what needs to change in order to increase appreciation for water issues.
Resolution A/HRC/RES/16/2 adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 8 April 2011 declared access to safe drinking water and sanitation a human right. However many people around the globe including people with disabilities do not have access to safe drinking water, hygiene or sanitation facilities. Inaccessibility of clean water sources, hygiene and sanitation facilities negatively impacts among others health, education, the ability to work, and the ability to partake in social activities. This paper looks at the benefits of, and access barriers to, clean water and sanitation for people with disabilities.
Abstract:The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) was hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from June 20-22, 2012, 20 years after the first Earth Summit, with the intention of creating solutions to current global environmental issues. In this paper we present the results of an analysis of academic and newspaper articles that covered the Rio +20 summit, using an ability expectation lens. Articles were collected from academic databases such as EBSCO, as well as from newspapers such as the Globe and Mail (Canada) and China Daily; the articles collected were coded for ability expectations using an extensive list of codes which has been designed to identify ability expectations. Analysis of the discourse has revealed a number of ability expectations, such as the ability to produce and consume, the ability to work, and the ability to control. These ability expectations reveal what is seen as a necessary part of development. The opportunities and challenges which occur during development may be related to the expectations of the public, academic, private and not-for-profit sectors. The authors submit that in order to move forward towards universal sustainable development, it is critical to consider the ability expectations which are both explicitly and implicitly included in the Rio +20 discourse.
The concept of greening has been part of the public discourse for some time. The greening of energy, which is seen as essential for green growth and a green economy, which in turn is seen as essential for sustainable development, is part of this public discourse. Media is seen to be important in shaping public opinion. We investigated how two national Canadian newspapers (Globe and Mail and National Post) and two regional (Alberta) newspapers (Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal) cover greening as it relates to energy issues. The key findings were: although 88% of newspaper articles that covered greening also covered energy issues, only 0.15% of the articles that covered energy issues also contained the term greening; greening was mostly framed in economical not environmental protection terms; many themes were covered but often only once in a given article and often in less than 10% of the overall articles. This analysis could give guidance to stakeholders such as industry and non-governmental organizations on how greening is discussed in relation to energy issues. The analysis suggests that there is a need for increasing the visibility of greening in energy covering articles, that a more analytical approach is needed linking it for example to the greening indicator discourse as indicators are envisioned to give guidance as to what to do how and that a rethinking of how stakeholders distribute their greening message as it relates to energy issues might be warranted.
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