Changing Cities,Changing Culture

Abstract

The Problem

With the rapid increase of urban populations, managing urban sustainability has become one of the most important development challenges of the 21st century. As cities plan for a sustainable future, human resource development (HRD) professionals have the potential to facilitate collaboration across multiple organizations and at various scales (neighborhood, ward, city, metropolitan area) and to foster culture change that embraces ecological protection, economic development, and social equity. Although the role of HRD in crises management as a result of major environmental disasters is discussed in the literature, the field of HRD is in its infancy in examining its role and approaches in greening the society and addressing urban environmental challenges proactively.

The Solution

This conceptual article examines sustainability and urban sustainability and their linkage with HRD, discusses the emergent roles of HRD in crisis management, presents opportunities and challenges for Green HRD as a proactive process, and concludes with a call for the moral imperative for HRD in urban sustainability in implementing long-term change processes with a social justice and equity agenda.

The Stakeholders

This article informs local government agencies, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, community groups, and their HRD leaders involved in urban sustainability planning and implementation on approaches to building new adaptive capacity and fostering culture change through collaborative learning and leadership interventions.