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"Sustainable Use of Wood in Construction explains how and why wood may be grown sustainably, and how this versatile material can be specified and - most importantly - sourced, for use in the construction industry. It explains the modern regulatory framework within Europe that seeks to eliminate the use of illegally-harvested wood, and it shows how to ensure that everyone who sells or uses wood for construction is following the rules. Finally, the book explains how, at the end of its first use in construction, wood can be recycled, by reprocessing into another wood-based construction material, or by using it as biomass. "--

"Preface The construction industry is very conservative. This can be seen as deriving from the special nature of its work which is creating the social and economic infrastructures required by each particular age in a "safe" way. Architecture is to some extent ahead of its time in the design of buildings but also reflects the inclinations of clients. In other words, the basic activity of the construction industry has been to reliably translate social needs into material form. Naturally, with the growing sophistication of requirements, construction technology has developed and many breakthroughs have been achieved to make the impossible possible, but this process has also been marked by many failures. The construction industry can be said to have built its technology systems through a process of "experience engineering." The construction industry exhibits a high degree of locality. Structures have generally been built by local people using local materials. Globalization has promoted internationalization in the construction industry as elsewhere, but the basics of construction systems have remained unchanged. What makes this possible is the wide use of concrete as a construction material. Its primary component materials are aggregate, cement, and water, with aggregate constituting approximately 70% of the total volume. The Earth's crust is composed of rocks that are the raw materials for aggregate. Water, when seawater is included, is the most commonly available globally circulating substance on Earth. In the case of cement, the raw materials are limestone and clay, both of which are also available in abundance"--

The basic problem that this work wishes to address concerns the unsustainable use of water resources in many places of the world. In some places, the problem leads to human suffering and death while also obstructing social and economic development. In other places, where the consequences are less severe, natural environments are seriously damaged. A significant part of the solution to this problem lies in the planning and decision-making domain. The overall aim of this thesis is therefore to contribute to the available knowledge on planning and management for the sustainable use of water resources. Planning as a process is in focus, both in itself and in the organisational and legal contexts that affect how planning processes are performed. The main methodological approach used, and the theoretical contribution made here, is the deriving and discussion of a set of deductive criteria for the development and assessment of planning processes for the sustainable use of water resources (Papers III and IV). The criteria were derived using a multi-disciplinary approach, where the relevant literature on how to transform the concepts of 'integration' and 'participation' – both key principles for sustainable development in relation to planning – into an analytical framework of twelve criteria, was reviewed and synthesised. The derived criteria concern issues such as, how to integrate knowledge and values into the planning process and how to generate commitment, legitimacy or acceptance for the resulting plan, by democratic means. The criteria are then used to assess the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) – an extensive legal framework which will steer water planning in the EU Member States for several decades to come – and to assess the planning processes that follows on from WFD implementation in Sweden. The analysis contained in (Paper V) showed that the WFD erects few formal barriers to good planning practices. The analysis also showed however, that the planning processes that follow on from its implementation will need to be adapted to compensate for the weak legal support in a number of important areas, namely, the use of knowledge from beyond the natural sciences, the use of methodologies for the explicit handling of values and the use of procedures for democratic participation. Several recommendations are also made in respect of how the WFD could be supplemented in order for it to become a stronger support in planning processes for the sustainable use of water. The analysis of the ongoing water planning processes in Sweden (Paper VI) showed that knowledge of how to work with values and how to create forms and methods of participation and collaboration remain clearly underdeveloped. In consequence, the main objectives behind participation – the provision of knowledge and perspectives for the process and the creation of legitimacy, acceptance or engagement – are actually at risk. Recommendations include complementing the existing knowledge base with insights from the social sciences and the humanities, to create well informed learning systems within the new water administration and to make use of alternative methods for the handling of values. In addition to this, two papers from the thesis (Papers I and II) concern the situation pertaining before WFD implementation in Sweden. By comparing the system for municipal land and water planning (the former main system for long-term water planning in Sweden) with WFD prescriptions, and with the organisation of the new water administration bodies, some potential implications of WFD implementation were identified. From here it followed, that the development of forms of co-operation between the concerned administrative organisations, and in respect of the democratic involvement of the public and other concerned actors, were crucial in creating an integrative, effective and democratic system for water planning in Sweden. The thesis also illustrates the use of a tentative model for the operationalisation of 'sustainable development'. The tentative model is described in the thesis, and it constitutes the methodological baseline for the thesis, since five of the papers contained herein use various approaches related to this model.

This paper places the African traditional medicines trade into context through a comparison with Asia, suggesting that learning from Asia comes at an opportune time. The recent inter-Ministerial meeting in Libreville, Gabon (August 2008) on environment and health and the draft South African policy on African Traditional Medicine support this view. In Asia, particularly China, India, Pakistan and Vietnam, government support for the development and modernization of traditional medical systems is likely to increase harvest levels from wild stocks. Sustainable harvest of wild stocks is crucial as they continue to provide the main supply sources for 75-95% of species in trade in Asia and Africa.The resource base of the herbal medicines trade is being affected, however, by multiple factors simultaneously, at different spatial and time scales. The most serious of these are habitat loss and fragmentation, global climate change, species-specific over-exploitation and invasive species. Commercial trade, often driven by rapid urbanization combined with cultural values placed on traditional medicines, is a challenge facing conservation of medicinal plants in many parts of Asia, Africa and in some Latin American countries. In addition, some native medicinal plants are considered powerful and effective in treating common and chronic diseases and have been widely commoditized in China and India. Many of the same high-altitude genera or species harvested from the Himalayas for trade to large cities affect wild stocks in neighbouring countries. A massive traditional medicines trade also occurs in West Africa and in South Africa, similarly affecting favoured plant species in neighbouring countries.