Sustainable development and mathematics

“Many people are convinced that Sustainable Development and Mathematics are completely unrelated. Sustainable Development, in its role of a value laden imperative for polluting and over-consuming societies, seems to be totally unconnected to mathematical reasoning and ignorant of the values behind its symbols. Still, they are not only connected: they need each other.”

Mathematical Modelling for Sustainable Development (springer.com)

Report of a Workshop held November 15-17, 2010.

“The participants saw that the mathematical sciences challenges are enormous. Sustainability issues are hugely complex, requiring more subtle scientific and mathematical and statistical tools than we currently have to unravel them. Just asking the right questions is a challenge in and of itself.”

Mathematical and Statistical Challenges for Sustainability (dimacs.rutgers.edu)

"This monograph… exhibits and develops quantitative and formal links between issues in sustainable development, decisions and precautionary problems in the management of natural resources. The mathematical and numerical models and methods rely on dynamical systems and on control theory…This book aims at reconciling economic and ecological dimensions through a common modeling framework to cope with environmental management problems from a perspective of sustainability. Particular attention is paid to multicriteria issues and intergenerational equity.”

Sustainable Management of Natural Resources: Mathematical Models and Methods (springer.com)

“This book aims to offer readers a review of the main methods and approaches that can be used for assessment and simulation in the field of sustainable energy systems.”

Assessment and Simulation Tools for Sustainable Energy Systems: Theory and Applications (springer.com)

International Conference and Advanced School Planet Earth, Portugal, March 21–28, 2013.

“The stress placed on the dynamical system we call Planet Earth, owing to the activities of mankind, threatens mankind itself…The shear complexity of the system, and the consequential ease with which an unexpected consequence or an unanticipated bifurcation can occur, or an unjustified cause-and-effect relation can be inferred, calls for a careful mathematical analysis. Understanding is essential, but also creative solutions are urgently needed. Here again, mathematical theory will play an important role.”

Mathematics of Energy and Climate Change (springer.com)

“The emergence and/or reemergence of infectious diseases such as SARS, tuberculosis, and influenza are used to justify our substantial expansions of the epidemiology chapters (9 and 10). Further, this volume gives additional emphasis to the study of models that capture the dynamics of single epidemic outbreaks, influenza models, and parameter estimation.”

Mathematical Models in Population Biology and Epidemiology (springer.com)

“The real world is characterized by deep complexity. May be a rather unremarkable observation, yet it has important implications on the manner policy problems are represented and decision-making is framed…In sum, we can say that this book attempts to combine both public and social choice traditions with multi-criteria decision analysis in order to deal with sustainability paradoxes in a complex world with multiple dimensions, values and scales.”

Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation for a Sustainable Economy (springer.com)

“To evaluate sustainability in quantitative terms, a large number of indicators, processes, and their interrelations must be taken into account and both present and future values of various indicators must be generated. Traditionally, sustainability is assessed based on a single aspect and using isolated indicators. The urgency to provide an integrated sustainability assessment is well understood, while quantitative methods for such assessment are yet to be developed.”

Sustainability Appraisal: Quantitative Methods and Mathematical Techniques for Environmental Performance Evaluation (springer.com)

Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Multiple Criteria Decision Making, Auckland, New Zealand, 7th - 12th January 2008.

“The environmental impacts of human economic activity necessitate the consideration of conflicting goals in decision-making processes to develop sustainable systems. Any sustainable development has to reconcile conflicting economic and environmental objectives and criteria. The science of Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) has a lot to offer in addressing this need.”

Multiple Criteria Decision Making for Sustainable Energy and Transportation Systems (springer.com)

“Four mathematics-related issues of common concern to both Australia and New Zealand all reside in the need for students: (i) to have a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts; (ii) to develop the skills they need in order to transfer mathematical understandings across varied contexts and settings; (iii) to be presented with mathematical tasks that are student-centred; and (iv) to develop an understanding of the breadth of suustainability issues that enable them to take positive action in their daily lives.”

Education for Sustainability in Primary Mathematics Education, Kapitel 9 i Education of Sustainability in Primary Schools: Teaching for the Future, Sense 2015 (springer.com)