CASE STUDY
'Sustainability' and 'sustainable development' have become very popular terms. They are the subjects of conferences, books and articles and an underlying principle of most of the organizations which are active in development projects all through the world. Sustainability has become the rallying call of environmentalists and a goal of corporations.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, or Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1992, was convened to address global environmental issues and proposed solutions. Waste management was recognized as a serious environmental problem for many countries, specifcally Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The unique social, economic and environmental characteristics of SIDS, like high population density, relative isolation, limited availability of land space and paucity of human and financial resources, limit the range of possible options for the sound management of waste. It is not limited to the disposal of litter. Sewage, hazardous and toxic wastes as well form part of the waste problem. The big amounts of wastes produced by tourists, for illustration, is a difficult problem for SIDS particularly as it is usually generated over a short period, thereby frequently overloading existing disposal and treatment facilities. Protection of the environment from pollution is extremely significant for SIDS as aside from other reasons which are common to all countries, two significant industries, tourism and fisheries, depend on a pristine environment.
Question 1: Describe comprehensively the role that the research process can play in promoting the sustainable waste management systems in SIDS.
Question 2: Assess the contribution of qualitative and quantitative research approaches in the case study.