Sustainability Unpacked

Kristiina A. Vogt, professor of ecosystem management and founder (and co-coordinator) of the Forest Systems and Bioenergy program at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. She was one of the founders of a start-up bioenergy company, Renewol, which she currently chairs. She also is the Vice-President for Bio-Energy, Interforest LLC. She is a co-investigator on a multi-million dollar Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) grant funded by the NSF entitled 'Bio-resource Based Energy for Sustainable Societies'. Professor Vogt has authored or co-authored seven books and published over 135 refereed articles.Toral Patel-Weynand, Affiliate Associate Faculty at the University of Washington (UW) and an Associate of the Forest Systems and Bioenergy, UW. Maura Shelton, Research Associate with the Forest Systems and Bioenergy in the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington. She is presently an NSF IGERT Bioenergy Fellow. Daniel J. Vogt, Associate Professor in Soils and Ecosystem Ecology of the College of Forest Resources, University of Washington. He is an internationally-recognized scholar with over 50 author credits. He is also currently a senior consultant of Interforest, LLC, a sustainable forestry consulting firm, and a partner in a start-up bioenergy company, Renewol. John C. Gordon, Chairman of Interforest, LLC, a sustainable forestry consulting firm, and a founder of the Candlewood Timber Group, Inc., a sustainable forestry company with forestland and operations in Argentina. He is also Pinchot Professor Emeritus of Forestry and Environmental Studies at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He has authored, coauthored or edited over 150 papers and books. He also is currently a partner in two start-up companies, Renewol, and Maximum Yield Associates.Calvin T. Mukumoto, President of Renewol LLC, and Chief financial Officer for TSS Consultants. Asep S. Suntana, Research Associate, Forest Systems and Bioenergy program at the University of Washington. He is also a LEAD fellow (Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) International and LEAD Indonesia Program) in Indonesia, China, and Canada (1998 - 2000). Patricia A. Roads, Communications Director for the Center for Adaptive Policies in Ecosystems International, a non-profit organization originally based in Washington and now in Iceland.

• PART 1: From the Beginning1. Sustainability - Clues for Positive Societal and Ecosystem Change2. Learning From the Past: Why Societies Collapsed or SurvivedPART 2: Scientific Approach to Decoding Sustainability3. Today: Decoding Country Resource StoriesPART 3: The Real Country Stories4. Fossil Energy Endowments and Externalities5. Forests - the Backbone and Circulatory System for Human Societies6. The Soil and Water Connection to Food: Adapt, Mitigate, or DiePART 4. Climate and Soils: Unavoidable Constraints To Solar Capital7. The Future: Climate Change as a Global Driver Impacting Sustainability8. Where the Past and Future meet: Soils or the Unseen Earth that Nurtures Societies9. The Ultimate Constraint to Human Sustainability: Solar IncomePART 5. Societies Adapt To a Quagmire of Resource Choices10. Debunking Sustainability Myths11. Portfolio for Managing Natural and Human Capital12. Sustainable Ecosystems: Investments in Human and Natural CapitalReferences

'What is 'sustainability'? Taking a comprehensive yet simple approach, this book discusses the inter-linking and complex elements of sustainability and how they influence and are influenced by our society when it comes to making decisions about resource use. A must-read book for everyone interested in conservation, the environment and development.' – Dicky P. Simorangkir, Forest Program Director, The Nature Conservancy, Indonesia 'A foundational reader that is encyclopedic in its scope and consideration of data to advance an analytical lens to plan and implement sustainable development that meets both the real-world tests of pessimists and ambitions of optimists.' – Steve Rhee, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Science and Technology Fellow, US State Department (2007-9)"In order to ‘‘think like an ecosystem’’ the book draws on a wide range of examples and metrics from past and present societies. It considers how societies collapsed or survived in the past as well as exploring nine indices pertinent to sustainability from 34 different countries ... The book makes a contribution to the literature through this ambitious attempt to pick apart sustainability with real life examples." – Orla Shortall, Agriculture and Human Values