Editorial

Citation

Leal Filho, W. (2001), "Editorial", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 2 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2001.24902aaa.001

Editorial

Welcome to the second volume of IJSHE. Having now completed its first year of existence, IJSHE is keen to continue to fulfil its role as a prime source of information and of scholarly research on matters related to sustainability.

In this first issue of Volume 2, we are able to yet again present our readers with a wide range of papers on the topic. The first one, prepared by Pieter Leroy, Herman van den Bosch and Saskia Ligthart describes an interesting experience deriving from the "Political and Social Sciences of the Environment" curriculum at Nijmegen University. The second paper, by Farrukh Tahir, looks at distance education, environmental education and sustainability, with an overview of trends in universities in Commonwealth Asia.

An in-depth analysis of sustainability in connection with city networks, knowledge and cultural heritage is provided by Alessio Jan D'Auria, who also considers the role of globalisation and the extent to which it affects universities. A further insight into a case study is provided by Kate Flint, from Australia, who looks at the institutional ecological footprint analysis at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales.

This issue also contains a feature article, by Niko Roorda, from The Netherlands, who describes the technique known as "backcasting the future", an approach via which a vision is developed about what the future would have to look like in order to consider it (now) as a desirable world. I am sure readers will find this feature article of interest, since it defends the long-term view with which we should look at the environment and environmental changes.

Moreover, we are also pleased to disseminate, in this issue of IJSHE, a statement underscoring the importance of science and technology in the transition to global sustainability, which involves meeting the needs of the current population while maintaining the environment and natural resources for future generations.

This statement was issued by more than 60 of the world's science academies, at the conclusion of a conference of the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues. The meeting was entitled "Transition to sustainability in the twenty-first century" and was held in Tokyo on 15-18 May 2000.

We have also tried to provide further, up-to-date information on the sustainability debate internationally, with our features section including an analysis of a book recently launched by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in Canada, which assumes that a properly framed international investment agreement can help achieve sustainability.

I hope readers will enjoy this issue of IJSHE and that the information amassed here will be useful to your work.

Walter Leal FilhoEditor