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SustChange-Agents - Personen, die im organisationalen Bereich Veränderungen hin zu einer nachhaltigeren Entwicklung voran bringen wollen - benötigen personale, soziale, kognitiv-methodische und sachlich-fachliche Kompetenzen. Dies hat eine qualitative Inhaltsanalyse ausgewählter Kompetenzsystematiken aus den Bereichen "Change Management" (Wandel in Organisationen), berufliche Bildung, Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung und Berufsbildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung gezeigt. Den personalen Kompetenzen fällt dabei eine besondere Bedeutung zu, da sie ebenfalls Persönlichkeitseigenschaften einschließen. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die allgemein diskutierten Kompetenzsystematiken implizit Aspekte jener Kompetenzen aufweisen, die im Kontext von Nachhaltigkeit angeführt werden - Nachhaltigkeit ist also auf Kompetenzebene an die Konzeptionen von Wandel und beruflicher Bildung anschlussfähig.
Assessing the natural resource use and the resource efficiency potential of the Desertec concept
(2013)
Considering global warming, increasing commodity prices, and the dramatic consequences of the over-exploitation and overuse of resources, a transition to a renewable energy supply is necessary. This requires an (resource) efficient and renewable supply of operating reserve. In this article, a possible solution to this problem is analysed: the Desertec concept. It is meant to convert solar energy in areas with high solar irradiation into electrical energy by means of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) transferring this energy by High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) lines into the whole European Union Middle East and North Africa (EU-MENA) area. In order to assess the resource efficiency potential of Desertec, three different kinds of CSP plants (parabolic trough, Fresnel collector and central receiver of the building classes Inditep, Novatec and Solar Tres) including heat storage systems (Molten Salt and Phase-Changing-Material) and the necessary HVDC are analysed using the Material Input per Service Unit (MIPS) methodology. The assessment is accomplished for three different locations (Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt) and two points of time (2025 and 2050). With these results, a scenario of electricity supply in Germany in 2050 with a 20% share of solar power import is calculated. Central receivers are the most resource efficient ones: their consumption of abiotic materials is only half of parabolic trough plants and two thirds of Fresnel trough plants. Water and air consumption is the lowest of all analyzed CSP plants as well. The scenario for Germany's fuel mix in 2050 shows that a predominantly renewable fuel mix reduces the consumption of abiotic materials by 75%, of water by 60% and of air by 45%. Only the consumption of biotic materials rises due to the higher share of biomass conversion.
Current production and consumption patterns remain unsustainable: Global economic growth reaches planetary boundaries and puts increasing pressure on the world's natural resources. Whereas most economic actors just react to environmental pressures, proactive market actors and other non-governmental organisations, e.g. greentec firms or fair trade organisations, turn them into market opportunities or even create standards or certification schemes as promising problem-solving market instruments in global value chains. However, how legitimate are standards and certification schemes developed by collaborating non-state actors for sustainability in global value chains? What are conditions for the success of those market-based governance mechanisms? This paper discusses the legitimacy and effectiveness of standard setting in the case of palm oil and focuses on the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as the first global standard setting initiative in this respect. Conditions for the success of sustainability standard setting in global value chains are identified based on the concept of non-state market-driven (NSMD) governance, based on literature review and expert interviews on standard setting. Results from the case study on RSPO highlight strengths and weaknesses of its standard setting process in the light of increasing market demand for palm oil.