IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v5y2013i9p3615-3639d28207.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Analysis of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) Discourse Using an Ability Expectation Lens

Author

Listed:
  • Jacqueline Noga

    (Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary T2N 4N1, Alberta, Canada)

  • Gregor Wolbring

    (Faculty of Medicine, Department Community Health Sciences, Stream of Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary T2N 4N1, Alberta, Canada)

Abstract

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) was hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from June 20–22, 2012, 20 years after the first Earth Summit, with the intention of creating solutions to current global environmental issues. In this paper we present the results of an analysis of academic and newspaper articles that covered the Rio +20 summit, using an ability expectation lens. Articles were collected from academic databases such as EBSCO, as well as from newspapers such as the Globe and Mail (Canada) and China Daily; the articles collected were coded for ability expectations using an extensive list of codes which has been designed to identify ability expectations. Analysis of the discourse has revealed a number of ability expectations, such as the ability to produce and consume, the ability to work, and the ability to control. These ability expectations reveal what is seen as a necessary part of development. The opportunities and challenges which occur during development may be related to the expectations of the public, academic, private and not-for-profit sectors. The authors submit that in order to move forward towards universal sustainable development, it is critical to consider the ability expectations which are both explicitly and implicitly included in the Rio +20 discourse.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacqueline Noga & Gregor Wolbring, 2013. "An Analysis of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) Discourse Using an Ability Expectation Lens," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(9), pages 1-25, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:9:p:3615-3639:d:28207
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/9/3615/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/9/3615/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Todd Litman & David Burwell, 2006. "Issues in sustainable transportation," International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(4), pages 331-347.
    2. Pearce, David & Hamilton, Kirk & Atkinson, Giles, 1996. "Measuring sustainable development: progress on indicators," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 85-101, February.
    3. Unknown, 2005. "Forward," 2005 Conference: Slovenia in the EU - Challenges for Agriculture, Food Science and Rural Affairs, November 10-11, 2005, Moravske Toplice, Slovenia 183804, Slovenian Association of Agricultural Economists (DAES).
    4. Gregor Wolbring & Brigid Burke, 2013. "Reflecting on Education for Sustainable Development through Two Lenses: Ability Studies and Disability Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-16, May.
    5. Bertolini, L. & le Clercq, F. & Kapoen, L., 2005. "Sustainable accessibility: a conceptual framework to integrate transport and land use plan-making. Two test-applications in the Netherlands and a reflection on the way forward," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 207-220, May.
    6. Dincer, Ibrahim, 2000. "Renewable energy and sustainable development: a crucial review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 157-175, June.
    7. Vera, Ivan & Langlois, Lucille, 2007. "Energy indicators for sustainable development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 875-882.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Raquel Pérez-delHoyo & María Dolores Andújar-Montoya & Higinio Mora & Virgilio Gilart-Iglesias & Rafael Alejandro Mollá-Sirvent, 2021. "Participatory Management to Improve Accessibility in Consolidated Urban Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Farshad Amiraslani & Andrew Cooper, 2022. "Learning from the Past: Lessons from the First United Nations Report on Problems of the Human-Environment," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-13, September.
    3. Gregor Wolbring & Theresa Rybchinski, 2013. "Social Sustainability and Its Indicators through a Disability Studies and an Ability Studies Lens," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(11), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Alberto Dello Strologo & Edoardo D’Andrassi & Niccolò Paoloni & Giorgia Mattei, 2021. "Italy versus Other European Countries: Sustainable Development Goals, Policies and Future Hypothetical Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-46, March.
    5. Emmanuel Okewu & Sanjay Misra & Jonathan Okewu & Robertas Damaševičius & Rytis Maskeliūnas, 2019. "An Intelligent Advisory System to Support Managerial Decisions for A Social Safety Net," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-14, August.
    6. Boushra Abdullah & Gregor Wolbring, 2013. "Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Active Aging through the Lens of the 2002 World Health Organization Active Ageing Report: A Policy Framework and the 2010 Toronto Charter for Physical Activity: A Glo," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Chiara Salvatore & Gregor Wolbring, 2021. "Children and Youth Environmental Action: The Case of Children and Youth with Disabilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-27, September.
    8. Radosław Wolniak & Bożena Skotnicka-Zasadzień, 2021. "Improvement of Services for People with Disabilities by Public Administration in Silesian Province Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-26, January.
    9. M. Rut Jiménez-Liso & Manuela González-Herrera & Isabel Banos-González, 2020. "Socio-Ecological Controversies in the News as Trigger of a Model-Based Inquiry Instructional Sequence about the Effect of Global Warming on the Great Barrier Reef," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, June.
    10. Virgilio Gilart-Iglesias & Higinio Mora & Raquel Pérez-delHoyo & Clara García-Mayor, 2015. "A Computational Method based on Radio Frequency Technologies for the Analysis of Accessibility of Disabled People in Sustainable Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-29, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chaoren Lu, 2014. "The role of sustainability policy in influencing service innovation. a case study of Changzhou BRT system," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(3), pages 167-168.
    2. Pietro Lanzini & Andrea Stocchetti, 2017. "The evolution of the conceptual basis for the assessment of urban mobility sustainability impacts," Working Papers 02, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    3. Kinigadner, Julia & Büttner, Benjamin & Wulfhorst, Gebhard & Vale, David, 2020. "Planning for low carbon mobility: Impacts of transport interventions and location on carbon-based accessibility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Cezary Kowalczyk & Jacek Kil & Krystyna Kurowska, 2019. "Changes in Land Plot Morphology Resulting from the Construction of a Bypass: The Example of a Polish City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, May.
    5. Cheng, Jianquan & Bertolini, Luca, 2013. "Measuring urban job accessibility with distance decay, competition and diversity," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 100-109.
    6. Kelobonye, Keone & McCarney, Gary & Xia, Jianhong (Cecilia) & Swapan, Mohammad Shahidul Hasan & Mao, Feng & Zhou, Heng, 2019. "Relative accessibility analysis for key land uses: A spatial equity perspective," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 82-93.
    7. Cervero, Robert, 2005. "Accessible Cities and Regions: A Framework for Sustainable Transport and Urbanism in the 21st Century," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt27g2q0cx, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    8. Ana Gil Solá & Bertil Vilhelmson, 2018. "Negotiating Proximity in Sustainable Urban Planning: A Swedish Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Alain Bonnafous & Yves Crozet & Aurélie Mercier & Nicolas Ovtracht & Valérie Thiebaut, 2009. "MOSART (MOdélisation et Simulation de l'Accessibilité aux Réseaux et aux Territoires) : un prototype d'outil d'aide à la décision, individuelle et collective pour une mobilité durable. Rapport final," Working Papers halshs-01707182, HAL.
    10. Cezar TECLEAN & Gabriela DRÄ‚GAN, 2020. "How to measure territorial accessibility. An accessibility evaluation model applied in the European Union space," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 11, pages 26-47, December.
    11. Carmen Lizarraga & Ciro Jaramillo & Alejandro L. Grindlay, 2011. "Urban development and transport disadvantage: Methodology to evaluate social transport needs in Latin American cities," ERSA conference papers ersa11p936, European Regional Science Association.
    12. Souche-Le Corvec, Stéphanie & Mercier, Aurélie & Ovtracht, Nicolas & Chevallier, Amandine, 2019. "Urban toll and electric vehicles: The winning ticket for Lyon Metropolitan Area (France)," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 17-33.
    13. Valentina Della Corte & Giovanna Del Gaudio & Fabiana Sepe & Fabiana Sciarelli, 2019. "Sustainable Tourism in the Open Innovation Realm: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-18, November.
    14. Lin, Ting (Grace) & Xia, Jianhong (Cecilia) & Robinson, Todd P. & Goulias, Konstadinos G. & Church, Richard L. & Olaru, Doina & Tapin, John & Han, Renlong, 2014. "Spatial analysis of access to and accessibility surrounding train stations: a case study of accessibility for the elderly in Perth, Western Australia," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 111-120.
    15. Cohen-Blankshtain, Galit, 2021. "On another track: Differing views of experts and politicians on rail investments in peripheral localities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    16. Ibarra-Rojas, O.J. & Ozuna, L. & López-Piñón, D., 2020. "The maximal covering location problem with accessibility indicators," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    17. Eizaguirre-Iribar, Arritokieta & Etxepare Igiñiz, Lauren & Hernández-Minguillón, Rufino Javier, 2016. "A multilevel approach of non-motorised accessibility in disused railway systems: The case-study of the Vasco-Navarro railway," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 35-43.
    18. Drut, Marion, 2018. "Spatial issues revisited: The role of shared transportation modes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 85-95.
    19. Uroš Kramar & Dejan Dragan & Darja Topolšek, 2019. "The Holistic Approach to Urban Mobility Planning with a Modified Focus Group, SWOT, and Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-29, November.
    20. Papa, Enrica & Coppola, Pierluigi & Angiello, Gennaro & Carpentieri, Gerardo, 2017. "The learning process of accessibility instrument developers: Testing the tools in planning practice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 108-120.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ability studies; ability expectations; Rio +20; content-analysis; discourse;
    All these keywords.

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Technology Assessment

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:9:p:3615-3639:d:28207. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.