There is a wide range of projects, institutions and initiatives in the field of sustainable development which have been taking place and which have provided a concrete contribution to the cause of sustainability as a whole. Unfortunately, most are little known. This perceived need for information on international perspectives on sustainability is addressed in this book. It gathers a set of papers which provide a synthetic overview of the effectiveness of implementation activities and initiatives at various levels, bringing together various clusters of organisations and a wide range of approaches. Whilst a special emphasis is given to Germany, from where reports on the work of the German Council for Sustainable Development, the German International Co-operation Agency and the German Federal Environment Foundation are documented, examples of other initiatives taking place elsewhere in Europe and North America are provided. Contributors to this book have made a great deal of efforts in providing synthetic overviews of the effectiveness of implementation activities at different levels, drawing lessons with a wide geographical scope, broad relevance and wider implications and applications. Readers will notice that some major new developments and outstanding problems needing further attention are outlined. Last but not least, the book provides concrete examples of governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental successful or promising efforts, showing that sustainability as both a process and as a goal may be pursued in different ways. Contents: Walter Leal Filho: Sustainability: World Trends and Future Perspectives - Volker Hauff: Networking sustainability politics: approaches and up-to-date results of the work of the German Council for Sustainable Development - Stephan Paulus: Form New Alliances and Strengthen Capacities: Sustainable Development as Framework for Technical Co-operation - Fritz Brickwedde: Supporting Sustainable Development: Experiences from the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt BDU - Tim Cadman: Forests Management Certification as a Tool for Sustainable Development - The Role of Governmment and Other Stakeholders - Paul Moss/Philipp Muessig: Minnesota Sustainable Communities Network: A Model for Outreach and Education - Blake D. Ratner: Sustainability in the Mekong River Basin: An Experiment in Transboundary Governance - Fazlay S. Faruque: The use of nationwide geographic information systems to meet the challenge of sustainable development in the least developed countries - Kenneth E. Paprock: Transformative Learning for Sustainability - Tun Myint: Harnessing Governance for Democracy and Sustainability: Empirical Evidences from the Rhine - Andreas Beckmann/JoAnn Carmin/Barbara Hicks: Catalysts for sustainability: NGOs and regional development initiatives in the Czech Republic - Timothy J. Downs: A Participatory Integrated Capacity Building Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainability - Mexico and New England Wathershed Case Studies - T.J. Donnay: Renkei: Demonstrating Education for Sustainability through Community Partnerships - Mercedes Pardo: Women, Transport, Cities Sustainability, and Social Participation.