Description: Sustainability, Vol. 10, Pages 3259: An Application of Sustainable Development in Indigenous People’s Revival: The History of an Indigenous Tribe’s Struggle in Taiwan Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su10093259 Authors: Cheng-Yu Yu Community development is seen as a crucial factor to realize sustainable development and vice versa, and for indigenous peoples in particular due to their associations with nature and natural resources. However, historical exploitation of indigenous peoples has resulted in their underachievement worldwide. The popularization of the concept of sustainable development followed a series of international treaties and conventions that shed light on indigenous peoples’ revival. Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s notion of the power-knowledge relationship, this article uses a case study of an indigenous tribe, the Smangus in Taiwan, to demonstrate how a politically, socially and economically disadvantaged community incorporates their traditional norms and customs into the notion of sustainable development and reinterprets it to adapt the community’s conditions. By re-uniting the community and establishing a cooperative organization, the community has revived cohesion in their community. The community’s conduct is investigated through the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2015–2030, and the article illustrates how it fulfils three Targets and the extent to which they are fulfilled. To conclude, Smangus’ case remind us of the importance of achieving sustainable development goals on micro- and local levels, and the value of empowering local communities to pursue their own sustainable development goals according to their circumstances. This article ends with suggestions for future research, and suggests that more studies using such a bottom-up approach to sustainable development would help to accumulate knowledge and experiences to establish a pattern of success to help other disadvantaged communities, draw focus to the need to bridge the policy gaps between the United Nations and local communities, and recall attention to the role of micro- and local communities to achieve sustainable development goals.

Description: China’s rapid urbanisation has led to ecological deterioration and reduced the land available for agricultural production. The purpose of this study is to develop an urban development boundary delineation (UDBD) model using the high-tech manufacturing area of Xinbei in the District of Changzhou as a case study, and by applying remote sensing, GIS, and other technologies. China’s UDBD policies are reviewed, spatiotemporal changes since 1985 are documented, and future expansion is modelled to 2020. The simulated urban-growth patterns are analysed in relation to China’s policies for farmland preservation, ecological redlines protection areas, and housing developments. The UDBD model developed in this study satisfies regional farmland and ecological space protection constraints, while being consistent with urban development strategies. This study provides theoretical references and technological support for the implementation of land management policies that will optimize land allocations for urban growth, agriculture, and ecological protection.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 10, Pages 77: Designing a Climate-Resilient Environmental Curriculum—A Transdisciplinary Challenge Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su10010077 Authors: Cheng-Yu Yu Yi-Chang Chiang Building resilience is a promising transdisciplinary area that contributes to addressing the impacts of climate change. This paper focused on the design of climate-resilient environmental curriculums to enhance environmental quality. Transdisciplinary approaches have been recognized as being well-placed to assist responses to climate change, which is a complex phenomenon and problem. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore how climate-resilient environmental education can be integrated into the design, implementation, and practice transdisciplinary manner into curriculums. Transdisciplinary curriculum design is an important factor determining the quality of modules, especially in the field of environmental design, due to its real-life setting characteristics. As students are trained with new projects, and under different socioeconomic and environmental conditions, curriculum design requires modification. Moreover, promoting transdisciplinary studies is a new trend that influences curriculum design. Compared to the interdisciplinary approach, the transdisciplinary approach is concerned with issues and subjects that exist between disciplines, across different disciplines, and beyond all the disciplines, leading to an immense space of new knowledge. This approach leads to integrated research that involves non-academic participants. We concluded that the transdisciplinary approach is beneficial for students in two ways: better performance in practical modules, and addresses the real interests of the students. Feedback from students about the curriculum design suggested that, to consider the individual student’s personal circumstances, multiple training methods should be used. The transdisciplinary approach to climate-resilient environmental curriculum design using a participative process amongst stakeholders is crucial; however, in this study, different opinions amongst interviewed tutors may obstruct the realization of the students’ wishes.