Emergy sustainability index of a milk producing unit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edmar Eduardo Bassan Mendes

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Although small, the impacts caused by agriculture and livestock productive activities change the environment, which in turn reflects the stress conditions it is under. Some authors these environmental changes occur for countless reasons, many so-called natural while others are due to anthropogenic interventions. This study aims to assess milk production sustainability using the emergy analysis of indicators, considering the annual cycles of production to help decision making. A conceptual model of the milk production system using the Emergy flow chart was built at the Livestock and Agricultural Production Unit (UPA of the Alto da Arauna Farm, located in Guzolândia, SP. After data processing, the emergy calculation table was elaborated. Several emergy sustainability indices were calculated and analyzed (indicators Renewability of Emergy Used Total, Index of Environmental Load Ratio of Investment Ratio Emergia beyond the calculations Tranformidades among others including the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI. The results showed that the UPA has a high impact per unit of energy source used to produce milk for the general public. The agricultural production systems with ESI value less than one (1 can be considered unsustainable in the long term. The studied UPA has good working conditions and soil conservation, but has a highly disproportionate use of economy inputs in relation to natural resources, which results in low ESI value. The analysis of this ratio indicated low system efficiency. Several management practices and interventions were proposed aiming at improving sustainability indicators of the production system.  Furthermore, strategies were formulated for more sustainable management of this UPA, thus reducing the impacts of the production system in use. The adoption of methods similar to organic production, agroecological systems, integration between farming and livestock, and/or adoption of silvopastoral system are recommended to improve

A new productivity index to measure economic sustainability of the mining industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez, Xose A

2010-01-01

This document aims to introduce a total productivity index to measure the economic sustainability of the mining industry. This index will take into account any technical developments, means of use of productive factors (i.e. inefficiencies and scale effects) and the effects on the growth of the geological properties in the resources to be exploited (particularly the effects of resource reduction or reserves depletion). This new index will then be applied to the example of the Spanish mining industry, with some interesting findings regarding the configuration of sustainable mining policies.

Development and analysis of an index of energetic sustainability using fuzzy logic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, Francisco Carlos Barbosa dos

2010-01-01

Sustainable Development is one the most frequently addressed issues nowadays and the search for its comprehension is a major challenge for researchers. Nevertheless, to reach its understanding and the relations comprised (economic, social, environmental and institutional dimensions) is not the only challenge. To measure the route for a society development is an equally important matter, mainly due to intrinsic relations among environment, society and economy. This work presents a new approach in the construction of a synthetic index for sustainable development, under the point of view of energy sustainability. This methodology was based on mathematical archetypes structured in Fuzzy Logics, thus allowing the incorporation of new knowledge bases, even with vague definitions. The final result is the creation of an Energy Sustainability Index that may be accompanied along the time, allowing comparisons among countries, since it uses a database from the 'Guia de Indicadores Energeticos de Desenvolvimento Sustentavel' (Guide of Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development) from the IAEA. This guide presents an energy indicator methodology worldwide accepted and it was conceived to be similar to other indicators, such as the 'Indice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH)' (Human Development Index), developed by The United Nations Organization and which is of easy comprehension, since it is represented by a number between zero and one. (author)

Stock Status

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — These data inform the public of the most recent stock status for all stocks (FSSI and non-FSSI) in the fishery management unit contained in a fishery managment plan....

Index of sustainability of the water resource for the definition of technological sustainable and competitives strategies in the Microbasin la Centella

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martha Constanza Daza; Aldemar Reyes Trujillo; Wilmar Loaiza Ceron; Martha Patricia Fajardo Vasquez

2012-01-01

The Index of Sustainable Water Resource Management in Agriculture (ISRHA) implemented in the watershed Centella (Dagua, Cauca Valley) assesses the sustainability of water resource management in agriculture, using pressure gauges, for State and Response factor analysis: biophysical, technological, socioeconomic and political-institutional. Each factor is composed of indicators which are evaluated based on parameters established by of ISRHA. The results of applying sustainability index shows a half the three study areas (watersheds La Virgen, Centella and Aguas Calientes), which were rated average to good in the proposed scale (1 to 5), identifying weaknesses and strengths in relation to the factors considered, which allows us to suggest some strategies for sustainability of and competitive for water resources in agricultural production systems in the watershed.

Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections: 2004 Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2004 Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) portion of the Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections contains 111 variables for 235...

Organizational Sustainability Practices: A Study of the Firms Listed by the Corporate Sustainability Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alamo Alexandre da Silva Batista

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Organizational sustainability (OS has been guiding the decision-making process of managers in order to generate competitive advantage. This paper aims to identify the sustainable practices performed by large corporations in the implementation of OS. Reports with actions performed by large organizations and their reach in the three pillars of sustainability—environmental, economic, and social dimensions—are disclosed to their main stakeholders, based on short, medium and long-term sustainable goals. These reports often reflect the progress of OS or the progress made toward them. However, few studies investigate the sustainable practices adopted by firms and their reproducibility. A search was performed in reports selected from the firms listed by the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI from 2012–2016, belonging to the Brazilian stock market in services sector of the economy and employed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI methodology. The results showed the strategic planning involving infrastructure, environment, human resources, product innovation, organizational management and deadline setting acted as the baseline for the implementation of the practices found. The findings will guide the managers´ decisions in the development of their strategic planning, based on practical and objective results.

Policy efficiency in the field of food sustainability. The adjusted food agriculture and nutrition index.

Science.gov (United States)

Agovino, Massimiliano; Cerciello, Massimiliano; Gatto, Andrea

2018-07-15

This work introduces a revised version of the Food Sustainability Index, proposed by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition in 2016. Our Adjusted Food Sustainability Index features two important advantages: 1) it employs the Mazziotta-Pareto method to compute weights, hence granting an objective aggregation criterion and 2) it does not take policy variables into account, thus focusing on the status quo. The policy variables are aggregated into the Policy Index, measuring the quality of the food sustainability policies. We compute the two indices for 25 countries worldwide, then we use the Data Envelopment Analysis to evaluate policy efficiency. Our results show that country-level variation in policy efficiency is wide and policies affect food sustainability significantly, especially when they target nutritional challenges. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) as a tool in the sustainabledevelopment – Poland case

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Swiatkowska, Marta

2008-01-01

The research is based on the index of sustainable economic welfare (ISEW) as a tool in the sustainable development. The new index was developed to answer the growing number of critiques over the GDP indicator which measures only the economic activity of a

Index of tobacco control sustainability (ITCS): a tool to measure the sustainability of national tobacco control programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson-Morris, Angela; Latif, Ehsan

2017-03-01

To produce a tool to assess and guide sustainability of national tobacco control programmes. A two-stage process adapting the Delphi and Nominal group techniques. A series of indicators of tobacco control sustainability were identified in grantee/country advisor reports to The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease under the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Control (2007-2015). Focus groups and key informant interviews in seven low and middle-income countries (52 government and civil society participants) provided consensus ratings of the indicators' relative importance. Data were reviewed and the indicators were accorded relative weightings to produce the 'Index of Tobacco Control Sustainability' (ITCS). All 31 indicators were considered 'Critical' or 'Important' by the great majority of participants. There was consensus that a tool to measure progress towards tobacco control sustainability was important. The most critical indicators related to financial policies and allocations, a national law, a dedicated national tobacco control unit and civil society tobacco control network, a national policy against tobacco industry 'Corporate Social Responsibility' (CSR), national mortality and morbidity data, and national policy evaluation mechanisms. The 31 indicators were agreed to be 'critical' or 'important' factors for tobacco control sustainability. The Index comprises the weighted indicators as a tool to identify aspects of national tobacco control programmes requiring further development to augment their sustainability and to measure and compare progress over time. The next step is to apply the ITCS and produce tobacco control sustainability assessments. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

The Index for Sustainable Economic Welfare for Flanders, Belgium, 1990-2009; De Index voor Duurzame Economische Welvaart (ISEW) voor Vlaanderen, 1990-2009

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bleys, B. [Geassocieerde Faculteit Handelswetenschappen en Bestuurskunde, Hogeschool Gent, Associatie Universiteit Gent, Gent (Belgium)

2012-05-15

In this report the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) is compiled for Flanders for the period 1990-2009. The index is a measure of economic welfare in that it measures the contribution of a country's or region's economy to the overall level of well-being of its citizens. In this regard, the ISEW can be regarded as an indicator for the economic dimension of well-being [Dutch] In deze studie wordt de Index voor Duurzame Economische Welvaart (ISEW - Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare) berekend voor Vlaanderen voor de periode 1990-2009. Deze index is een maatstaf voor economische welvaart en meet de bijdrage van het economische systeem van een land of regio tot het algemene welzijn van haar bevolking. De ISEW kan dus gezien worden als een indicator voor de economische dimensie van welzijn.

A Quantitative Index of Forest Structural Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan A. Cale

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Forest health is a complex concept including many ecosystem functions, interactions and values. We develop a quantitative system applicable to many forest types to assess tree mortality with respect to stable forest structure and composition. We quantify impacts of observed tree mortality on structure by comparison to baseline mortality, and then develop a system that distinguishes between structurally stable and unstable forests. An empirical multivariate index of structural sustainability and a threshold value (70.6 derived from 22 nontropical tree species’ datasets differentiated structurally sustainable from unsustainable diameter distributions. Twelve of 22 species populations were sustainable with a mean score of 33.2 (median = 27.6. Ten species populations were unsustainable with a mean score of 142.6 (median = 130.1. Among them, Fagus grandifolia, Pinus lambertiana, P. ponderosa, and Nothofagus solandri were attributable to known disturbances; whereas the unsustainability of Abies balsamea, Acer rubrum, Calocedrus decurrens, Picea engelmannii, P. rubens, and Prunus serotina populations were not. This approach provides the ecological framework for rational management decisions using routine inventory data to objectively: determine scope and direction of change in structure and composition, assess excessive or insufficient mortality, compare disturbance impacts in time and space, and prioritize management needs and allocation of scarce resources.

The Sustainable Process Index. A new dimension in ecological evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krotscheck, Christian; Narodoslawsky, Michael

1996-01-01

The Sustainable Process Index (SPI) is a measure developed to evaluate the viability of processes under sustainable economic conditions. Its advantages are its universal applicability, its scientific basis, the possibility of adoption in process analyses and syntheses, the high sensitivity for sustainable qualities, and the capability of aggregation to one measure. It has proved to be useful in industrial strategic planning. The concept of the SPI is based on the assumption that in a truly sustainable society the basis of economy is the sustainable flow of solar exergy. The conversion of the solar exergy to services needs area. Thus, area becomes the limiting factor of a sustainable economy. The SPI evaluates the areas needed to provide the raw materials and energy demands and to accommodate by-product flows from a process in a sustainable way. It relates these areas to the area available to a citizen in a given geographical (from regional to global) context. The data necessary to calculate the SPI are usually known at an early stage in process development. The result of the computation is the ratio between the area needed to supply a citizen with a given service and the area needed to supply a citizen with all possible services. Thus, it is a measure of the expense of this service in an economy oriented towards sustainability

An Index to Measure Sustainability of a Business Project in the Construction Industry: Lithuanian Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nomeda Dobrovolskienė

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The continuous growth of the world population, resource scarcity and the threat of climate change pose numerous environmental and social problems to the world. Therefore, much hope is put in the concept of sustainability. Companies are increasingly coming under strong global pressure to incorporate sustainability considerations into their project decision-making process. Business projects in the construction industry are among the most important, as this sector is one of the largest sectors and of major importance for the national economy and therefore has a huge impact on the environment and society. Thus, we have to explore ways to integrate sustainability into the management of those projects. This paper presents a composite sustainability index of a project (CSIP which has been created following a review of existing literature and a pilot research study. A pilot research study was conducted in the Lithuanian construction industry between January 2015 and June 2015. Sustainability criteria were chosen and grouped on the basis of the analysis of the literature and different standards relating to sustainability applicable in the construction industry. A survey was used to select and rank the most important sustainability criteria. The index was constructed using multi-criteria decision-making methods. The results of the pilot study revealed that practitioners in the Lithuanian construction sector attach most importance to 15 sustainability criteria. A composite sustainability index of a project combining all these criteria may be useful in assessing the sustainability of a business project and making decisions regarding project portfolio selection and financial resource allocation. When addressing the issue of financial resource allocation in a project portfolio, the decision-maker could take into account not only the project’s return and risk, but also its sustainability. The understanding of this study should enable companies to execute

Sustainability Index Evaluation of the Rainwater Harvesting System in Six US Urban Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daeryong Park

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the sustainability of the rainwater harvesting system (RWHS by analyzing six urban city sites with different rainfall statistics in the United States. We developed a new RWHS performance model by modifying a spreadsheet-based storage, treatment, and overflow runoff model (SS STORM and verified its performance by comparing with another analytical RWHS model. The sustainability index (SI evaluation method was used for a reservoir system and applied to the RWHS, employing modified resilience and vulnerability evaluation methods due to the different characteristics of a reservoir and the RWHS. The performance of modified SS STORM is very similar to that of the analytical method, except in Los Angeles, which is characterized by long inter-event times and low rainfall event depths due to low annual rainfall. The sustainability indices were successfully evaluated depending on both RWHS size and water demand and vary over a wide range as annual rainfall increases. This study proposes a new RWHS performance model and sustainability index evaluation method. Further study should confirm the proposed approach in regions with widely different rainfall characteristics.

Sustainability index approach as a selection criteria for energy storage system of an intermittent renewable energy source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raza, Syed Shabbar; Janajreh, Isam; Ghenai, Chaouki

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Three renewable energy storage options considered: lead acid and lithium polymer batteries and fuel cell. • Hydrogen fuel cell system is the most feasible energy storage option for the long term energy storage. • Sustainability index approach is a novel method used to quantify the qualitative properties of the system. - Abstract: The sustainability index is an adaptive, multicriteria and novel technique that is used to compare different energy storage systems for their sustainability. This innovative concept utilizes both qualitative and quantitative results to measure sustainability through an index based approach. This report aims to compare three different energy storage options for an intermittent renewable energy source. The three energy storage options are lead acid batteries, lithium polymer batteries and fuel cell systems, that are selected due to their availability and the geographical constrain of using other energy storage options. The renewable energy source used is solar photovoltaic (PV). Several technical, economic and environmental factors have been discussed elaborately which would help us to evaluate the merits of the energy storage system for long term storage. Finally, a novel sustainability index has been proposed which quantifies the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the factors discussed, and thus helps us choose the ideal energy storage system for our scenario. A weighted sum approach is used to quantify each factor according to their importance. After a detailed analysis of the three energy storage systems through the sustainability index approach, the most feasible energy storage option was found to be fuel cell systems which can provide a long term energy storage option and also environmental friendly

Can human resources induce sustainability in business?: Modeling, testing and correlating HR index and company's business results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zubović Jovan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract In this paper the authors analyze the impact of the composite human resource index on sustainable growth in a specific business sector in a transition country. Sustainability of country's economy is growingly relying on the knowledge economy which has been implemented in strategies of sustainable development throughout Europe. The knowledge economy is mostly based on human resources and the way they are organized and managed in the companies actively operating in competitive markets. In order to confirm importance of the human resources (HR index, results were tested by means of modeling, measuring and correlating the HR index with business results at micro level. The tests were conducted on the data from the survey in Serbian meat processing industry. The results were then compared with the results from the survey conducted in a financial industry. Moreover, a model was made that could be applicable in all countries that do not have available official statistic data on the level of investments in human resources. The focus was on determining the correlation direction, and hence creating a research model applicable in all business sectors. It has been found that a significant one-way correlation exists between business performance and increased HR index. In that way it has been confirmed that in Serbian economy that has recorded global decrease during transition, certain business sectors, and especially companies with high levels of investments in improving its HR index record above average and sustainable growth.

Business risk assessment of the companies on the Mexican Stock Exchange’s sustainable index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Antonio Morales Castro

2014-12-01

Full Text Available (Received: 2014/10/27 - Accepted: 2014/12/15This work evaluated the business risk change of 20 companies included on the sustainable index of the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV. The unlevered beta coefficient was used for this analysis. Two periods were compared: the one before, and the one after including the companies on the index. For each of the 20 companies it was used financial information, stocks closing prices and the stock market index value, over a period of 234 weeks. Then, considering the two periods, the statistical difference between the unlevered beta coefficient averages was calculated. Finally, a hypothesis proof was made to evaluate the business risk change. It was found that for 12 out of the 20 companies, the unlevered beta coefficient suffered a reduction. The findings suggest that it is not enough for the companies to certify as sustainable in order to reduce its business risk.

Constructing Indicators for Measuring Provincial Sustainable Development Index in Vietnam

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Van Canh; Lisowski, Andrzej

2018-03-01

Sustainable development is zeitgeist of our age. It is one kind of development that in this trajectory humanity can create a stable and developed socio-economic foundations, conserve environment and therefore able to continue for a long time. Using indicators is one of the best ways to monitor and measure the progress toward sustainable development. In this paper we have proposed the way to create indicators for measuring provincial sustainable development index in Vietnam. We firstly made a framework of elements for economic, social and environmental component and compiled a list of indicators of 20 national and international agencies in the world. We then applied the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-related) to choose indicators which will be relevant for Vietnam and put them back to the elements. We then have 39 relevant indicators with 12 indicators for economy, 17 indicators for social and 10 indicators for environmental component. Finally, we have established the way to determine the worst and best value for each indicator from available data for countries in the world.

A Sustainability Index of potential co-location of offshore wind farms and open water aquaculture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bennassai, G.; Mariani, Patrizio; Stenberg, Claus

2014-01-01

This paper presents the definition of a Sustainability Index for the co-location in marine areas of offshore wind farms and aquaculture plans. The development of the index is focused on the application of MCE technique based on physical constraints and biological parameters that are directly linked...... to the primary production. The relevant physical factors considered are wind velocity and depth range (which directly governs the choice of the site for energy production and for offshore technology), the relevant biological parameters are SST, SST anomaly and CHL-a concentration (as a measurement...... the computation of the Sustainability Index (SI) was identified in the Danish portion of the Baltic Sea and in the western part of the Danish North Sea. Results on the spatial distribution of the SI underline different responses as a function of the physical and biological main influencing parameters...

Visualization of a City Sustainability Index (CSI: Towards Transdisciplinary Approaches Involving Multiple Stakeholders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koichiro Mori

2015-09-01

Full Text Available We have developed a visualized 3-D model of a City Sustainability Index (CSI based on our original concept of city sustainability in which a sustainable city is defined as one that maximizes socio-economic benefits while meeting constraint conditions of the environment and socio-economic equity on a permanent basis. The CSI is based on constraint and maximization indicators. Constraint indicators assess whether a city meets the necessary minimum conditions for city sustainability. Maximization indicators measure the benefits that a city generates in socio-economic aspects. When used in the policy-making process, the choice of constraint indicators should be implemented using a top-down approach. In contrast, a bottom-up approach is more suitable for defining maximization indicators because this technique involves multiple stakeholders (in a transdisciplinary approach. Using different materials of various colors, shapes, sizes, we designed and constructed the visualized physical model of the CSI to help people evaluate and compare the performance of different cities in terms of sustainability. The visualized model of the CSI can convey complicated information in a simple and straightforward manner to diverse stakeholders so that the sustainability analysis can be understood intuitively by ordinary citizens as well as experts. Thus, the CSI model helps stakeholders to develop critical thinking about city sustainability and enables policymakers to make informed decisions for sustainability through a transdisciplinary approach.

Study of urban spatial utilization on socio-cultural and environment based on sustainability index (study in Denpasar city)

Science.gov (United States)

Wiryananda, N. G. A. K.; Hasibuan, H. S.; Madiasworo, T.

2018-03-01

The rapid development of tourism and population growth in Denpasar City stimulated the dynamic changes in the spatial utilization. This study aims to analyse the impact of spatial utilization on sociocultural and environment and formulate the sustainable spatial utilization that accommodate both social and environmental aspects. This research uses methods of spatial analysis and sustainability index. The results showed that during the period of 2011 to 2015 there was an increase of settlement and tourism land uses, meanwhile at the same period the paddy field decreased. The impact of spatial utilization on sociocultural leads to unsustainable, that showed by the decreasing of the sociocultural index from 1.038 in 2011 to 1.036 in 2015. The low of sociocultural index was stated by the increasing poverty, the obedience of traditional rules of purity radius of Temple and the height limit of the building. The impact of spatial utilization on environmental leads to unsustainable, with the environmental index of 1.065 in 2011 decreased to 1.056 in 2015. The decline of environmental index is due to reduced green open space and paddy field. The strategy formulation of sustainable spatial utilization is done by integrating traditional rules into spatial planning, plan the vertical building, strengthening implementation of traditional rules, implementation of perennial paddy field, and the establishment of traditional task control unit of spatial control.

Construction of the Classification and Grading Index System of Cultivated Land Based on the Viewpoint of Sustainable Development

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2010-01-01

In order to objectively and reasonably evaluate the actual and potential value of cultivated land, both social and ecological values are introduced into the classification and grading index system of cultivated land based on the viewpoint of sustainable development, after considering the natural and economic values of cultivated land. Index system construction of the sustainable utilization of cultivated land should follow the principles of economic viability, social acceptability, and ecological protection. Classification of cultivated land should take into account the soil fertility of cultivated land. Then, grading of cultivated land is carried out from the practical productivity (or potential productivity) of cultivated land. According to the existing classification index system of cultivated land, the soil, natural and environmental factors in plains, mountains and hills are mainly modified in the classification index system of cultivated land. And index systems for the cultivated land classification in plains, mountains and hills are set up. The grading index system of cultivated land is established based on the economic viability (economic value), social acceptability (social value) and protection of cultivated land (ecological value). Quantitative expression of cultivated land grading index is also carried out.

Measuring Baseline Agriculture-Related Sustainable Development Goals Index for Southern Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Nhemachena

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development has become the main focus of the global development agenda as presented in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs. However, for countries to assess progress, they need to have reliable baseline indicators. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to develop a composite baseline index of the agriculture-related SDGs in Southern Africa to guide progress reporting. The paper identified eight of the SDG indicators related to the agriculture sector. The paper relies on data for indicators from five SDGs (SDGs 1, 2, 6, 7 and 15. Applying the arithmetic mean method of aggregation, an agriculture-related SDG composite index for Southern Africa between zero (0 = poor performance and 100 (best possible performance was computed for thirteen countries that had data on all identified indicators. The results show that the best performing countries (Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa in the assessment recorded high scores in SDGs 1, 2 and 7. The three countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Madagascar that performed poorly on both SDG 1 and 2 also had the least scores on the overall agriculture-related SDG composite index. The water stress indicator for SDG 6 recorded the worst performance among most countries in the region. Possible approaches to improve the contribution of agriculture to SDGs may include investing more resources in priority areas for each agriculture-related SDG depending on baseline country conditions. The implementation, monitoring and evaluation of regional and continental commitments in the agriculture sector and the SDGs are critical for achievement of the targets at the national and local levels. While the methods employed are well-grounded in literature, data unavailability for some of the SDGs in some countries presented a limitation to the study, and future efforts should focus on collecting data for the other SDGs in order to permit a wider application.

2016 GRI Index

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2016-01-01

This 2016 World Bank Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Index provides an overview of sustainability considerations within the World Bank’s lending and analytical services as well as its corporate activities. This index of sustainability indicators has been prepared in accordance with the internationally recognized standard for sustainability reporting GRI guidelines (https://www.globalrepo...

Do Forwarders Improve Sustainability Efficiency? Evidence from a European DEA Malmquist Index Calculation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Klumpp

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Sustainability performance and efficiency is an important topic in transportation and for forwarders. This is shown, for example, by the fact that major logistics service providers LSP publish sustainability reports, often within the annual legal business report. However, in depth research is missing regarding the efficiency of forwarders regarding the established triple bottom line approach for sustainability, including economic, social, and ecology performance areas. This is especially true for a dynamic time-series perspective, as usually only static analyses for one point in time are presented (in most cases single business years. Therefore, the operations research technique of a data envelopment analysis (DEA Malmquist index calculation is used in order to provide a longitudinal calculation of efficiency, incorporating multiple objectives regarding the triple bottom line approach for European forwarders. Several indicators are tested, including total revenues and assets as input types, profit (EBIT and dividend volume (economic dimension, employment and gender equality in management (social, and carbon-equivalent emissions (environmental as output types.

GRI Index 2017

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2017-01-01

This World Bank GRI Index 2017 provides an overview of sustainability considerations within the World Bank’s lending and analytical services as well as its corporate activities. This index of sustainability indicators has been prepared in accordance with the internationally recognized standard for sustainability reporting, the GRI Standards: Core option (https://www.globalreporting.org). T...

Application of exergetic sustainability index to a nano-scale irreversible Brayton cycle operating with ideal Bose and Fermi gasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Açıkkalp, Emin, E-mail: eacikkalp@gmail.com [Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Bilecik S.E. University, Bilecik (Turkey); Caner, Necmettin [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir (Turkey)

2015-09-25

Highlights: • An irreversible Brayton cycle operating quantum gasses is considered. • Exergetic sustainability index is derived for nano-scale cycles. • Nano-scale effects are considered. • Calculation are conducted for irreversible cycles. • Numerical results are presented and discussed. - Abstract: In this study, a nano-scale irreversible Brayton cycle operating with quantum gasses including Bose and Fermi gasses is researched. Developments in the nano-technology cause searching the nano-scale machines including thermal systems to be unavoidable. Thermodynamic analysis of a nano-scale irreversible Brayton cycle operating with Bose and Fermi gasses was performed (especially using exergetic sustainability index). In addition, thermodynamic analysis involving classical evaluation parameters such as work output, exergy output, entropy generation, energy and exergy efficiencies were conducted. Results are submitted numerically and finally some useful recommendations were conducted. Some important results are: entropy generation and exergetic sustainability index are affected mostly for Bose gas and power output and exergy output are affected mostly for the Fermi gas by x. At the high temperature conditions, work output and entropy generation have high values comparing with other degeneracy conditions.

Possibilities of the particle finite element method for fluid-soil-structure interaction problems

Science.gov (United States)

Oñate, Eugenio; Celigueta, Miguel Angel; Idelsohn, Sergio R.; Salazar, Fernando; Suárez, Benjamín

2011-09-01

We present some developments in the particle finite element method (PFEM) for analysis of complex coupled problems in mechanics involving fluid-soil-structure interaction (FSSI). The PFEM uses an updated Lagrangian description to model the motion of nodes (particles) in both the fluid and the solid domains (the later including soil/rock and structures). A mesh connects the particles (nodes) defining the discretized domain where the governing equations for each of the constituent materials are solved as in the standard FEM. The stabilization for dealing with an incompressibility continuum is introduced via the finite calculus method. An incremental iterative scheme for the solution of the non linear transient coupled FSSI problem is described. The procedure to model frictional contact conditions and material erosion at fluid-solid and solid-solid interfaces is described. We present several examples of application of the PFEM to solve FSSI problems such as the motion of rocks by water streams, the erosion of a river bed adjacent to a bridge foundation, the stability of breakwaters and constructions sea waves and the study of landslides.

Assessing Regional Sustainability Using a Model of Coordinated Development Index: A Case Study of Mainland China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qing Yang

2014-12-01

Full Text Available From a holistic view, this paper addresses a perspective of coordinated development of economy, society, and environment for regional sustainability assessment. Firstly, a comprehensive indicator system for co-evaluating the level of economic, social, and environmental subsystems is presented based on a holistic understanding of regional sustainability. Then, a coordinated development index model focusing on the level of coordination among the subsystems as well as their comprehensive development level is established. Furthermore, an empirical study of all the provinces and municipalities is conducted by collecting the panel data from 2004 to 2010. The result shows that: (1 the coordinated developments of the most developed and the most underdeveloped regions stay stable while the regions with medium development level possess more fluctuant trends during the study years; (2 regional disparities are indicated according to the grading of CDI (the coordinated development index, which are further analyzed to be related to the local economic development patterns; (3 the conditions and causes of economic, social, and environmental development in real situations under different grades of CDI are discussed through detailed case studies of typical regions, which indicate specific suggestions of sustainable development for regions in the same pattern.

Ecological assessment of integrated bioenergy systems using the Sustainable Process Index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krotscheck, C.; Konig, F.; Obernberger, I.

2000-01-01

Biomass utilisation for energy production presently faces an uphill battle against fossil fuels. The use of biomass must offer additional benefits to compensate for higher prices: on the basis of a life cycle assessment (using BEAM to evaluate a variety of integrated bioenergy systems in connection with the Sustainable Process Index as a highly aggregated environmental pressure index) it is shown that integrated bioenergy systems are superior to fossil fuel systems in terms of environmental compatibility. The implementation of sustainability measures provides additional valuable information that might help in constructing and optimising integrated bioenergy systems. For a set of reference processes, among them fast pyrolysis, atmospheric gasification, integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), combustion and steam cycle (CS) and conventional hydrolysis, a detailed impact assessment is shown. Sensitivity analyses of the most important ecological parameters are calculated, giving an overview of the impacts of various stages in the total life cycle and showing 'what really matters'. Much of the ecological impact of integrated bioenergy systems is induced by feedstock production. It is mainly the use of fossil fuels in cultivation, harvesting and transportation as well as the use of fertilisers in short-rotation coppice production that impose considerable ecological pressure. Concerning electricity generation the most problematic pressures are due to gaseous emissions, most notably the release of NO x . Moreover, a rather complicated process (high amount of grey energy) and the use of fossil pilot fuel (co-combustion) leads to a rather weak ecological performance in contrast to other 100% biomass-based systems. (author)

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUSINESS GIFTS ON CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY INDEX AS ISO 14001 IN BM&FBOVESPA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Ferreira Santos

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The data published by BM&FBOVESPA consist of an important source for the market, with its high number of trades, and also trading stocks of large companies, and based on that the aim of this paper is to make a relationship between two indices of this important institution for measure the level of concern for environmental issues. A survey was conducted in the Bovespa Index to identify how many companies are listed on the Bovespa Index have environmental certification ISO14001, and after this survey sought to discover which of those possessing such certification organizations were listed in the Corporate Sustainability Index. The methodology used was exploratory research, is also classified as descriptive and transversal with respect to the time dimension. Among the main results we found that the 66 companies listed on the Bovespa Index, 53 of them had the ISO14001 certification, and that this amount 29 of them were present at the ISE.

Making the Sustainable Development Goals Consistent with Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathis Wackernagel

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The UN’s Sustainable development Goals (SDGs are the most significant global effort so far to advance global sustainable development. Bertelsmann Stiftung and the sustainable development solutions network released an SDG index to assess countries’ average performance on SDGs. Ranking high on the SDG index strongly correlates with high per person demand on nature (or “Footprints”, and low ranking with low Footprints, making evident that the SDGs as expressed today vastly underperform on sustainability. Such underperformance is anti-poor because lowest-income people exposed to resource insecurity will lack the financial means to shield themselves from the consequences. Given the significance of the SDGs for guiding development, rigorous accounting is essential for making them consistent with the goals of sustainable development: thriving within the means of planet Earth.

Making the Sustainable Development Goals Consistent with Sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wackernagel, Mathis; Hanscom, Laurel; Lin, David

2017-01-01

The UN’s Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) are the most significant global effort so far to advance global sustainable development. Bertelsmann Stiftung and the sustainable development solutions network released an SDG index to assess countries’ average performance on SDGs. Ranking high on the SDG index strongly correlates with high per person demand on nature (or “Footprints”), and low ranking with low Footprints, making evident that the SDGs as expressed today vastly underperform on sustainability. Such underperformance is anti-poor because lowest-income people exposed to resource insecurity will lack the financial means to shield themselves from the consequences. Given the significance of the SDGs for guiding development, rigorous accounting is essential for making them consistent with the goals of sustainable development: thriving within the means of planet Earth.

Making the Sustainable Development Goals Consistent with Sustainability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wackernagel, Mathis, E-mail: mathis.wackernagel@footprintnetwork.org; Hanscom, Laurel; Lin, David [Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA (United States)

2017-07-11

The UN’s Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) are the most significant global effort so far to advance global sustainable development. Bertelsmann Stiftung and the sustainable development solutions network released an SDG index to assess countries’ average performance on SDGs. Ranking high on the SDG index strongly correlates with high per person demand on nature (or “Footprints”), and low ranking with low Footprints, making evident that the SDGs as expressed today vastly underperform on sustainability. Such underperformance is anti-poor because lowest-income people exposed to resource insecurity will lack the financial means to shield themselves from the consequences. Given the significance of the SDGs for guiding development, rigorous accounting is essential for making them consistent with the goals of sustainable development: thriving within the means of planet Earth.

Using Sustainability Engineering to Gain Universal Sustainability Efficiency

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Aleksandras Vytautas Rutkauskas

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The present article is an attempt to perceive the universal sustainability observable in an individual country or region, where the religious, political, social-demographic, economic, environmental, creative, technological and investment subsystems are revealed not only through the vitality of spiritual and material existence media, but rather through the signs of the development of these subsystems as self-assembled units through the erosion of their interaction. The problem of optimal allocation of investment resources among the separate sustainability’s subsystems was addressed by means of expert methods and techniques of portfolio methodology which will enable the achievement of the enshrined universal sustainability standards. A country-specific index composition of sustainability subsystems’ indices was chosen as the universal sustainability index for the specific country. The index in its dynamics is perceived as a random process. While projecting its state and evaluating its power, i.e., the impact of the subsystem efficiency in a particular moment, this power is measured by the level of the index and the reliability or guarantee of an appropriate level. To solve the problem of investment resources allocation, the idea of Markowitz Random Field was invoked in order to reach the maximum power of sustainability index while applying the technical solution—the so-called “GoldSim” system. Engineering is a methodology that aspires to reveal the core attributes of complex systems and instruments in order to manage the possibility to influence these properties for the systems. Experimental expert evaluation and case study is performed on Lithuanian data.

Smart Sustainable Islands VS Smart Sustainable Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Pantazis, D. N.; Moussas, V. C.; Murgante, B.; Daverona, A. C.; Stratakis, P.; Vlissidis, N.; Kavadias, A.; Economou, D.; Santimpantakis, K.; Karathanasis, B.; Kyriakopoulou, V.; Gadolou, E.

2017-09-01

This paper has several aims: a) the presentation of a critical analysis of the terms "smart sustainable cities" and "smart sustainable islands" b) the presentation of a number of principles towards to the development methodological framework of concepts and actions, in a form of a manual and actions guide, for the smartification and sustainability of islands. This kind of master plan is divided in thematic sectors (key factors) which concern the insular municipalities c) the creation of an island's smartification and sustainability index d) the first steps towards the creation of a portal for the presentation of our smartification actions manual, together with relative resources, smart applications examples, and, in the near future the first results of our index application in a number of Greek islands and e) the presentation of some proposals of possible actions towards their sustainable development and smartification for the municipalities - islands of Paros and Antiparos in Greece, as case studies.

SMART SUSTAINABLE ISLANDS VS SMART SUSTAINABLE CITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. N. Pantazis

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper has several aims: a the presentation of a critical analysis of the terms “smart sustainable cities” and “smart sustainable islands” b the presentation of a number of principles towards to the development methodological framework of concepts and actions, in a form of a manual and actions guide, for the smartification and sustainability of islands. This kind of master plan is divided in thematic sectors (key factors which concern the insular municipalities c the creation of an island’s smartification and sustainability index d the first steps towards the creation of a portal for the presentation of our smartification actions manual, together with relative resources, smart applications examples, and, in the near future the first results of our index application in a number of Greek islands and e the presentation of some proposals of possible actions towards their sustainable development and smartification for the municipalities - islands of Paros and Antiparos in Greece, as case studies.

The Influence of Participation in Sustainability Index (ISE in the Financial Performance of Business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Tatiane Vital

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This article aims to compare the performance, through certain financial indicators, including companies in the guide of the 500 biggest and best companies of Exame Magazine, forming part of the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE and companies who do not. The primary purpose of ISE is to see the return of a portfolio composed of shares of companies committed to social responsibility and corporate sustainability. This research is classified as being descriptive and largely qualitative. The financial indicators examined in this study were: sales (value and growth, Net Income, Profitability, Net Working Capital, Liquidity, General Debt, Long Term Debt, EBITA and Indicators of export. After the analysis we can conclude that the companies participating in the ISE have greater potential for sales and exports. Companies that are not part of the ISE have better financial performance.

Measuring environmental sustainability in agriculture: A composite environmental impact index approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabiha, Noor-E; Salim, Ruhul; Rahman, Sanzidur; Rola-Rubzen, Maria Fay

2016-01-15

The present study develops a composite environmental impact index (CEII) to evaluate the extent of environmental degradation in agriculture after successfully validating its flexibility, applicability and relevance as a tool. The CEII tool is then applied to empirically measure the extent of environmental impacts of High Yield Variety (HYV) rice cultivation in three districts of north-western Bangladesh for a single crop year (October, 2012-September, 2013). Results reveal that 27 to 69 per cent of the theoretical maximum level of environmental damage is created due to HYV rice cultivation with significant regional variations in the CEII scores, implying that policy interventions are required in environmentally critical areas in order to sustain agriculture in Bangladesh. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Product Indexing: Navigating the Challenge of Ecolabeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jay S. Golden

2010-09-01

Full Text Available There is growing scientific evidence that improving the sustainability of consumer products can lead to significant gains in global sustainability. Historically, environmental policy has been managed by bureaucracies and institutions in a mechanistic manner; this had led to many early successes. However, we believe that if policy concerning product sustainability is also managed in this way, negative unintended consequences are likely to occur. Thus, we propose a social-ecological systems approach to policy making concerning product sustainability that will lead to more rapid and meaningful progress toward improving the environmental and social impacts of consumer products.

Measurement of sustainability index among paper manufacturing plants

Science.gov (United States)

Sharathkumar Reddy, V.; Jayakrishna, K.; Lal, Babu

2017-11-01

The paper manufacturing companies are facing challenges to implement sustainable manufacturing into their products and processes. Paper manufacturing has remarked as an intensive consumer of natural raw materials, energy and a major source of multiple pollutants. Thus, evaluating the sustainable manufacturing in these companies has become a necessity. This paper proposes a set of Performance Indicators (PIs) for evaluating the sustainable manufacturing appropriate to the paper manufacturing companies based on the triple bottom line of sustainability. The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), a multi-criteria decision analysis method is applied to prioritize the performance indicators by summarizing the opinions of stakeholders. It is hoped that the proposed PIs enables and assists the paper manufacturing companies to achieve the higher performance in sustainable manufacturing and so as to increase their competitiveness.

Development and analysis of an index of energetic sustainability using fuzzy logic; Desenvolvimento e analise de um indice de sustentabilidade energetica utilizando logica fuzzy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Francisco Carlos Barbosa dos

2010-07-01

Sustainable Development is one the most frequently addressed issues nowadays and the search for its comprehension is a major challenge for researchers. Nevertheless, to reach its understanding and the relations comprised (economic, social, environmental and institutional dimensions) is not the only challenge. To measure the route for a society development is an equally important matter, mainly due to intrinsic relations among environment, society and economy. This work presents a new approach in the construction of a synthetic index for sustainable development, under the point of view of energy sustainability. This methodology was based on mathematical archetypes structured in Fuzzy Logics, thus allowing the incorporation of new knowledge bases, even with vague definitions. The final result is the creation of an Energy Sustainability Index that may be accompanied along the time, allowing comparisons among countries, since it uses a database from the 'Guia de Indicadores Energeticos de Desenvolvimento Sustentavel' (Guide of Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development) from the IAEA. This guide presents an energy indicator methodology worldwide accepted and it was conceived to be similar to other indicators, such as the 'Indice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH)' (Human Development Index), developed by The United Nations Organization and which is of easy comprehension, since it is represented by a number between zero and one. (author)

“BRAINSTORM” OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INDEXES AND INDICATORS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE VOLGA BASIN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Kostina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aim of the research – development of management strategies ensuring sustainable development of the territories of the Volga river basin and its administrative units.Methods. In the research we used various methods of mathematical statistics, systematic principles. We propose the conception of "brainstorming" for the assessment of the territory using indices and indicators of sustainable development.Results. We selected nine indicators and indices. We have conducted a correlation analysis of the selected indices and indicators of sustainable development, all of which reflect the state of social, ecological and economic systems. For an integrated assessment of the two objects one introduced the "critical" and the "reference" state and fixed values for each index and indicator under the review. Factor analysis in the space of two principal components is conducted as well as one carried out the calculation of generalized desirability function for each administrative unit of the Volga river basin. "Brainstorm", taking into consideration indices and indicators of sustainable development, showed similarities in the administrative units of the Volga river basin, which primarily reflects approximately the same socio-ecological-economic development, defined by a single policy and economic decisions.Conclusion. The analysis revealed different management strategies of sustainable development of regions. The first group (strategy A includes the Republic of Tatarstan, and Chuvashia, Moscow and Samara regions, which should pay special attention to investments in improving the "life quality" by stabilizing and reducing the degree of anthropogenic load on the territory. The second group (strategy B: Astrakhan, Volgograd, Kirov, Tver and Kostroma and Perm regions - it is advisable to do finance and investment of resources in public education, increase the average lifetime, increase the incomes of the population. For the remaining areas optimally

National baselines for the Sustainable Development Goals assessed in the SDG Index and Dashboards

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt-Traub, Guido; Kroll, Christian; Teksoz, Katerina; Durand-Delacre, David; Sachs, Jeffrey D.

2017-08-01

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) -- agreed in 2015 by all 193 member states of the United Nations and complemented by commitments made in the Paris Agreement -- map out a broad spectrum of economic, social and environmental objectives to be achieved by 2030. Reaching these goals will require deep transformations in every country, as well as major efforts in monitoring and measuring progress. Here we introduce the SDG Index and Dashboards as analytical tools for assessing countries' baselines for the SDGs that can be applied by researchers in the cross-disciplinary analyses required for implementation. The Index and Dashboards synthesize available country-level data for all 17 goals, and for each country estimate the size of the gap towards achieving the SDGs. They will be updated annually. All 149 countries for which sufficient data is available face significant challenges in achieving the goals, and many countries' development strategies are imbalanced across the economic, social and environmental priorities. We illustrate the analytical value of the index by examining its relationship with other widely used development indices and by showing how it accounts for cross-national differences in subjective well-being. Given significant data gaps, scope and coverage of the Index and Dashboards are limited, but we suggest that these analyses represent a starting point for a comprehensive assessment of national SDG baselines and can help policymakers determine priorities for early action and monitor progress. The tools also identify data gaps that must be closed for SDG monitoring.

Assessment of nuclear energy sustainability index using fuzzy logic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abouelnaga, Ayah E.; Metwally, Abdelmohsen; Aly, Naguib; Nagy, Mohammad; Agamy, Saeed

2010-01-01

Nuclear energy is increasingly perceived as an attractive mature energy generation technology that can deliver an answer to the worldwide increasing energy demand while respecting environmental concerns as well as contributing to a reduced dependence on fossil fuel. Advancing nuclear energy deployment demands an assessment of nuclear energy with respect to all sustainability dimensions. In this paper, the nuclear energy, whose sustainability will be assessed, is governed by the dynamics of three subsystems: environmental, economic, and sociopolitical. The overall sustainability is then a non-linear function of the individual sustainabilities. Each subsystem is evaluated by means of many components (pressure, status, and response). The combination of each group of indicators by means of fuzzy logic provides a measurement of sustainability for each subsystem.

Validation of a 2-D semi-coupled numerical model for fluid-structure-seabed interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Jianhong; Jeng, Dongsheng; Wang, Ren; Zhu, Changqi

2013-10-01

A 2-D semi-coupled model PORO-WSSI 2D (also be referred as FSSI-CAS 2D) for the Fluid-Structure-Seabed Interaction (FSSI) has been developed by employing RANS equations for wave motion in fluid domain, VARANS equations for porous flow in porous structures; and taking the dynamic Biot's equations (known as "u - p" approximation) for soil as the governing equations. The finite difference two-step projection method and the forward time difference method are adopted to solve the RANS, VARANS equations; and the finite element method is adopted to solve the "u - p" approximation. A data exchange port is developed to couple the RANS, VARANS equations and the dynamic Biot's equations together. The analytical solution proposed by Hsu and Jeng (1994) and some experiments conducted in wave flume or geotechnical centrifuge in which various waves involved are used to validate the developed semi-coupled numerical model. The sandy bed involved in these experiments is poro-elastic or poro-elastoplastic. The inclusion of the interaction between fluid, marine structures and poro-elastoplastic seabed foundation is a special point and highlight in this paper, which is essentially different with other previous coupled models The excellent agreement between the numerical results and the experiment data indicates that the developed coupled model is highly reliablefor the FSSI problem.

Organizational Sustainability Practices: A Study of the Firms Listed by the Corporate Sustainability Index

OpenAIRE

Alamo Alexandre da Silva Batista; Antonio Carlos de Francisco

2018-01-01

Organizational sustainability (OS) has been guiding the decision-making process of managers in order to generate competitive advantage. This paper aims to identify the sustainable practices performed by large corporations in the implementation of OS. Reports with actions performed by large organizations and their reach in the three pillars of sustainability—environmental, economic, and social dimensions—are disclosed to their main stakeholders, based on short, medium and long-term sustainable...

INSPIA project: European Index for Sustainable and Productive Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Triviño-Tarradas, Paula; Jesús González-Sánchez, Emilio; Gómez-Ariza, Manuel; Rass, Gerard; Gardette, Sophie; Whitmore, Gavin; Dyson, Jeremy

2017-04-01

The concept of sustainable development has evolved from a mere perception for the protection of the environment, to a holistic approach, seeking to preserve not only the environment, but also to achieve sustainability in economics and social wellbeing. Globally, there is a major challenge to face in the agricultural sector: to produce more food, feed and other raw materials to satisfy the increasing demand of a growing population, whilst also contributing to economic prosperity, climate change mitigation / adaptation, social wellbeing and preserving natural capital such as soil, water, biodiversity and other ecosystem services. Nowadays, conventional approaches to agriculture are under threat. A more productive and resource efficient agriculture that integrates natural resource protection into its approach will help to meet all these challenges, enabling us to have more of everything - more food, more feed, more non-food crops, more biodiversity and natural habitats - while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, INSPIA is an innovative approach that has worked since 2013 towards demonstration that sustainable productive agriculture is possible thanks to the implementation of a host of best management practices (BMPs) capable of delivering the above achievements. The purpose on INSPIA is to make visible with European decision makers that a sustainable and productive agricultural model exists in a small scale in Europe and that wider dissemination is possible with enabling legislation. INSPIA is demonstrating sustainable agriculture through the implementation of BMPs and the measurement and monitoring of a set of defined indicators (economic, social and environmental ones). INSPIA promotes sustainable practices that protect biodiversity, soils and water and contribute towards maintaining ecosystems services. This holistic sustainable system of productive agriculture is based on the combination of Conservation Agriculture (CA) and Integrated Pest

Environmental Disclosure of Electric Power Companies Listed in the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clésia Ana Gubiani

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The study aimed to verify the level of disclosure of environmental information in the administration reports of the energy companies listed in the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI. A descriptive and quantitative research was done, using the content analysis technique on the administration reports from 2006 to 2008. The sample consisted of 11 electric power companies listed in the CSI. For quantitative analysis of the disclosure index, the data collection instrument was based on the study of Rover, Murcia and Borba (2008, which proposes eight environmental categories and 36 subcategories. For the whole analysis of the data were elaborated networks of the items disclosed in each company, using the software UNICET ®. The survey results showed that there is satisfactory disclosure in the categories of environmental policies and education, training and research environment. However, it was found that there is need for greater disclosure of categories of products impacts and processes in the environment, power polices and financial environmental information. It was concluded that the information disclosed in the administration reports of the companies surveyed about the environmental information do not respect the principle of full disclosure.

The Assessment of Sustainability Indexes and Climate Change Impacts on Integrated Water Resource Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joel Hernández-Bedolla

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Integrated water resource management (IWRM is facing great challenges due to growing uncertainties caused by climate change (CC, rapid socio-economic and technological changes, and population growth. In the present study, we have developed different indices to assess the availability of water using an IWRM approach. These indices evaluate supply to demands, surface availability, groundwater availability, reservoirs, and environmental flow. Moreover, reliability, resilience, and vulnerability were determined. Sustainability index (SI and sustainability index by groups (SG were determined based on the five indices (all indices vary from 0 to 1. The impacts of climate change affect surface and groundwater availability, as do the agricultural, urban, and industrial requirements on the different supplies. We used the generalized AQUATOOL Decision Support System Shell (DSSS to evaluate the IWRM in the Rio Grande Basin (Morelia, México. Various emission scenarios from representative concentration pathways (RCPs were applied to the basin for the years 2015–2039 and 2075–2099. The results indicate increases in agricultural and urban demand, and decreases in surface runoff, as well as groundwater recharge. The proposed indices are useful for different approaches (decision-makers, water policy, and drought risks, among others. CC significantly affects the different proposed indices and indicates a decrease of the SI, SG1, and SG2 (i.e., less availability. For example, we found that SG2 decreased from 0.812 to 0.195 under the RCP 8.5 2075–2099 scenario, and SG2 equal to 0.252 and 0.326 for the RCP 6.0 2075–2099 and RCP 4.5 2070–2099 scenarios, respectively (values close to 0 indicate worst drought conditions.

Assessing sustainability of building materials in developing countries: the sustainable building materials index (SBMI)

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Gibberd, Jeremy T

2014-10-01

Full Text Available performance. This paper reviews a selection of sustainability assessment and reporting methodologies in order understand the applicability of existing systems as a means of measuring sustainability of building materials in developing countries. The review...

A Legitimate Freedom Approach to Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crabtree, Andrew

2012-01-01

Although the capability approach has had a tremendous impact on the development debate, it has had little to say about sustainable development. As several Human Development Reports have maintained, the last twenty years' gains in human development are not sustainable. The failure to include...... Index should be combined with the Ecological Footprint to reflect sustainability, and that the Human Development Reports should give way to Sustainable Development Reports...... an integrate sustainability into the Human Development Index would thus give the wrong policy message. Drawing on the works of Amartya Sen and Thomas Scanlon, this article argues that sustainable development can be seen as a process of increasing legitimate freedoms, the freedoms that others cannot reasonably...

Application of a sustainability index for integrated urban water ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

guide appropriate action and policy-making towards better service delivery and improved resource management. ... surface water, groundwater and rainwater, as well as methods of ... systems in order to define how the objective of sustainability can ..... the relevant decision-makers towards more sustainable prac- tices.

Vegetation, population and ecological track as sustainability indicators in Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marquez Calle, German

2000-01-01

Biophysical sustainability, namely natural capabilities to sustain human development in Colombia, is explored through environmental indicators based on land cover and demographic variables. Remnant vegetation index (IVR in Spanish) uses cover as a measure of ecosystem functionality. Population pressure index (IPD) applies population density to environmental demand analysis. Footprint index (IHE) relates the inverse of density with sustainability. Environmental criticality index combines IVR and IPD to detect offer/demand unbalances. Results suggest Colombia is sustainable although many places in it could be in danger; this could be related with social and economical features of the country

Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and assessment of sustainability index in corn agroecosystems of Iran

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yousefi, Mohammad; Damghani, Abdolmajid Mahdavi; Khoramivafa, Mahmud

2014-01-01

The objectives of this study were to assess the energy flow, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, global warming potential (GWP) and sustainability of corn production systems in Kermanshah province, western Iran. The data were collected from 70 corn agroecosystems which were selected based on randomly sampled method in the summer of 2011. The results indicated that total input and output energy were 50,485 and 134,946 MJ ha −1 , respectively. The highest share of total input energy in corn production systems was recorded for N fertilizer, electricity power and diesel fuel with 35, 25 and 20%, respectively. Energy use efficiency and energy productivity were 2.67 and 0.18 kg MJ −1 , respectively. Also agrochemical energy ratio was estimated as 40%. Applying chemical inputs produced the following emissions of greenhouse gases: 2994.66 kg CO 2, 31.58 kg N 2 O and 3.82 kg CH 4 per hectare . Hence, total GWP was 12,864.84 kg Co 2 eq ha −1 in corn production systems. In terms of CO 2 equivalents 23% of the GWPs came from CO 2 , 76% from N 2 O, and 1% from CH 4 . In this study input and output C equivalents per total GHG and Biomass production were 3508.59 and 10,696.34 kg C ha −1 . Net carbon and sustainability indexes in corn production systems were 7187.75 kg C ha −1 and 2.05. Accordingly, efficient use of energy is essential to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact in corn agroecosystems. - Highlights: • Increasing of energy consumption leaded to decreasing energy use efficiency in corn agroecosystems. • Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission as CO 2 , N 2 O and CH 4 in corn production systems were 2994.66, 31.58 and 3.82 kg ha -1 , respectively. • Global warming potential (GWP) was 12864.84 kg CO 2 eq ha -1 in corn production systems. • Sustainability index in corn production systems was 2.05. • Reducing use of chemicals fertilizer and diesel fuel are necessary for better management of energy flow, global warming potential and

Indicators analysis and objectives for the development sustainable and sustainability environmental

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Noboa-Romero

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present article is product of a research qualitative, descriptive and analytical of the indicators and objectives aimed to the development sustainable. The main objective of this essay is to analyze sustainability indicators: index of human development (IDH, sustainable development goals (SDGS, objectives of the Millennium Goals (MDGS and the index of Multidimensional poverty (IPM; through a review of research and work on these issues, in order to establish progress and results that have been generated during the use of these indicators in the field of health education, technology, and environment. Demonstrate that there is inequality between Nations, the approach is oriented to a development in the short term, benefit exclusively to current generations, exhausting natural resources, regardless of a vision in the long term for the future generations.

Investigation of external and internal shock in the stability of Indonesia’s financial system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maulina Vinus

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to develop a financial system stability index and analyze the internal and external factors that we expect to affect the stability of the Indonesian financial system. We measured the single model of financial system stability index (FSSI from year 2004M03 to2014M09 in Indonesia, and compiled a single quantitative measure based on aggregate internal factors and external factors to capture and predict the shocks of the financial system stability. Stability parameters were composed of composite indicators on different bases. In addition, we developed a comprehensive index component associated with the relevant market conditions, including banking soundness index, financial vulnerability index, and regional economic climate index. Results stated that US economic growth and economic growth of ASEAN countries positively affected financial stability. In addition, current account, exchange rate, inflation, interest rate were shown to negatively affect financial stability. The results of this study imply that internal factors have a strong influence on the financial stability. Therefore, the central bank should give a fast and correct response to the changes of external and internal financial environment, especially for internal factors through monetary policy.

Comparison of Country Risk, Sustainability and Economic Safety Indices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jelena Stankeviciene

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Country risk, sustainability an economic safety are becoming more important in the contemporary economic world. The aim of this paper is to present the importance of comparison formalisation of country risk, sustainability, and economic safety indices for strategic alignment. The work provides an analysis on the relationship between country risk, sustainability an economic safety in EU countries, based on statistical data. Investigations and calculations of rankings provided by Euromoney Country Risk Index, European Economic Sustainability Index as well as for Economic Security Index were made and the results of EU country ranking based on three criteria were provided. Furthermore, the data for the Baltic States was summarised and the corresponding index of consistency for random judgments was evaluated.

Giving sustainable agriculture really good odds through innovative rainfall index insurance

Science.gov (United States)

Muneepeerakul, C. P.; Muneepeerakul, R.

2017-12-01

Population growth, increasing demands for food, and increasingly uncertain and limited water availability amidst competing demands for water by other users and the environment call for a novel approach to manage water in food production systems to be developed now. Tapping into broad popularity of crop insurance as a risk management intervention, we propose an innovative rainfall index insurance program as a novel systems approach that addresses water conservation in food production systems by exploiting two common currencies that tie the food production systems and others together, namely water and money. Our novel methodology allows for optimizing diverse farm and financial strategies together, revealing strategy portfolios that result in greater water use efficiency and higher incomes at a lower level of water use. Furthermore, it allows targeted interventions to achieve reduction in irrigation water, while providing financial protection to farmers against the increasing uncertainty in water availability. Not only would such a tool result in efficiently less use of water, it would also encourage diversification in farm practices, which reduces the farm's vulnerability against crop price volatility and pest or disease outbreaks and contributes to more sustainable agriculture.

Land quality, sustainable development and environmental degradation in agricultural districts: A computational approach based on entropy indexes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zambon, Ilaria; Colantoni, Andrea; Carlucci, Margherita; Morrow, Nathan; Sateriano, Adele; Salvati, Luca

2017-01-01

Land Degradation (LD) in socio-environmental systems negatively impacts sustainable development paths. This study proposes a framework to LD evaluation based on indicators of diversification in the spatial distribution of sensitive land. We hypothesize that conditions for spatial heterogeneity in a composite index of land sensitivity are more frequently associated to areas prone to LD than spatial homogeneity. Spatial heterogeneity is supposed to be associated with degraded areas that act as hotspots for future degradation processes. A diachronic analysis (1960–2010) was performed at the Italian agricultural district scale to identify environmental factors associated with spatial heterogeneity in the degree of land sensitivity to degradation based on the Environmentally Sensitive Area Index (ESAI). In 1960, diversification in the level of land sensitivity measured using two common indexes of entropy (Shannon's diversity and Pielou's evenness) increased significantly with the ESAI, indicating a high level of land sensitivity to degradation. In 2010, surface area classified as “critical” to LD was the highest in districts with diversification in the spatial distribution of ESAI values, confirming the hypothesis formulated above. Entropy indexes, based on observed alignment with the concept of LD, constitute a valuable base to inform mitigation strategies against desertification. - Highlights: • Spatial heterogeneity is supposed to be associated with degraded areas. • Entropy indexes can inform mitigation strategies against desertification. • Assessing spatial diversification in the degree of land sensitivity to degradation. • Mediterranean rural areas have an evident diversity in agricultural systems. • A diachronic analysis carried out at the Italian agricultural district scale.

Land quality, sustainable development and environmental degradation in agricultural districts: A computational approach based on entropy indexes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zambon, Ilaria, E-mail: ilaria.zambon@unitus.it [Department of Agricultural and Forestry scieNcEs (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo (Italy); Colantoni, Andrea [Department of Agricultural and Forestry scieNcEs (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo (Italy); Carlucci, Margherita [Department of Social and Economic Science, University of Rome La Sapienza, Piazzale A. Moro 5, I-00185 Rome (Italy); Morrow, Nathan [Tulane University, Payson Program in International Development at the School of Law, New Orleans (United States); Sateriano, Adele; Salvati, Luca [Italian Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA-RPS), Via della Navicella 2-4, I-00184 Rome (Italy)

2017-05-15

Land Degradation (LD) in socio-environmental systems negatively impacts sustainable development paths. This study proposes a framework to LD evaluation based on indicators of diversification in the spatial distribution of sensitive land. We hypothesize that conditions for spatial heterogeneity in a composite index of land sensitivity are more frequently associated to areas prone to LD than spatial homogeneity. Spatial heterogeneity is supposed to be associated with degraded areas that act as hotspots for future degradation processes. A diachronic analysis (1960–2010) was performed at the Italian agricultural district scale to identify environmental factors associated with spatial heterogeneity in the degree of land sensitivity to degradation based on the Environmentally Sensitive Area Index (ESAI). In 1960, diversification in the level of land sensitivity measured using two common indexes of entropy (Shannon's diversity and Pielou's evenness) increased significantly with the ESAI, indicating a high level of land sensitivity to degradation. In 2010, surface area classified as “critical” to LD was the highest in districts with diversification in the spatial distribution of ESAI values, confirming the hypothesis formulated above. Entropy indexes, based on observed alignment with the concept of LD, constitute a valuable base to inform mitigation strategies against desertification. - Highlights: • Spatial heterogeneity is supposed to be associated with degraded areas. • Entropy indexes can inform mitigation strategies against desertification. • Assessing spatial diversification in the degree of land sensitivity to degradation. • Mediterranean rural areas have an evident diversity in agricultural systems. • A diachronic analysis carried out at the Italian agricultural district scale.

Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and assessment of sustainability index in corn agroecosystems of Iran

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yousefi, Mohammad, E-mail: m.yousefi@pgs.razi.ac.ir [Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Razi University, Kermanshah (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Damghani, Abdolmajid Mahdavi [Departments of Agroecology, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Khoramivafa, Mahmud [Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Razi University, Kermanshah (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2014-09-15

The objectives of this study were to assess the energy flow, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, global warming potential (GWP) and sustainability of corn production systems in Kermanshah province, western Iran. The data were collected from 70 corn agroecosystems which were selected based on randomly sampled method in the summer of 2011. The results indicated that total input and output energy were 50,485 and 134,946 MJ ha{sup −1}, respectively. The highest share of total input energy in corn production systems was recorded for N fertilizer, electricity power and diesel fuel with 35, 25 and 20%, respectively. Energy use efficiency and energy productivity were 2.67 and 0.18 kg MJ{sup −1}, respectively. Also agrochemical energy ratio was estimated as 40%. Applying chemical inputs produced the following emissions of greenhouse gases: 2994.66 kg CO{sub 2,} 31.58 kg N{sub 2}O and 3.82 kg CH{sub 4} per hectare{sub .} Hence, total GWP was 12,864.84 kg Co{sub 2}eq ha{sup −1} in corn production systems. In terms of CO{sub 2} equivalents 23% of the GWPs came from CO{sub 2}, 76% from N{sub 2}O, and 1% from CH{sub 4}. In this study input and output C equivalents per total GHG and Biomass production were 3508.59 and 10,696.34 kg C ha{sup −1}. Net carbon and sustainability indexes in corn production systems were 7187.75 kg C ha{sup −1} and 2.05. Accordingly, efficient use of energy is essential to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact in corn agroecosystems. - Highlights: • Increasing of energy consumption leaded to decreasing energy use efficiency in corn agroecosystems. • Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission as CO{sub 2}, N{sub 2}O and CH{sub 4} in corn production systems were 2994.66, 31.58 and 3.82 kg ha{sup -1}, respectively. • Global warming potential (GWP) was 12864.84 kg CO{sub 2}eq ha{sup -1} in corn production systems. • Sustainability index in corn production systems was 2.05. • Reducing use of chemicals fertilizer and diesel fuel

Legitimising Corporate Sustainability Reporting Throughout the World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faisal

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper explores corporate sustainability disclosure practices in a global context. A unique sample of 2009 sustainability reports from some of the world’s largest companies in 24 diverse countries are examined using a comprehensive disclosure index. These reports are analysed to better understand how company characteristics and institutional factors explain sustainability communication using a legitimacy theory framework. The world renowned Global ReportingInitiative 2006 guidelines are used as the benchmark disclosure index checklist. The empirical results indicate that the average level of sustainability disclosure is a surprisingly high 61.9 percent.Statistical analysis indicates that high profile industries and additional assurance procedures influence the disclosure of more sustainability information. Interestingly, companies operating inemerging country systems disclose more sustainability information than Anglo-Saxon or Communitarian jurisdictions. Consistent with legitimacy theory, these results suggest that these globally well known firms use sustainability disclosure as a legitimising tool.

Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA Analysis of Furniture Manufacturers in Malaysia: Normalized Scaled Critical Factor Index (NSCFI Approach

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Tasmin Rosmaini

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to investigate Malaysian furniture industry via Sustainable competitive advantages (SCA approach. In this case study, sense and respond method and Normalized Scaled Critical Factor Index (NSCFI are used to specify the distribution of companies’ resources for different criteria and detect the attributes which are critical based on expectation and experience of companies’ employs. Moreover, this study evaluates Malaysian furniture business strategy according to manufacturing strategy in terms of analyzer, prospector and defender. Finally, SCA risk levels are presented to show how much company’s resource allocations support their business strategy.

Browse Title Index

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Items 101 - 150 of 183 ... Journal Home > Advanced Search > Browse Title Index ... Vol 61 (2017), New interventions and sustainable solutions: .... Vol 35 (2011), Resurgence of tribal levies: Double taxation for the rural poor, Abstract PDF.

The Reporting and Sustainable Business Marketing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionel Jianu

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Companies have to communicate to be noticed on the market, to promote their services and products, and to give assurances that they are a credible partner in the relationship with stakeholders. In this article, starting from the importance of marketing communication in business, an index of sustainability communication was created for the companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange for the period 2008–2009, during the financial crisis, seeking to show the awareness of the difficult moment and the use of communication. Then, based on the relevance of accounting information model, we study the relationship between the index of sustainability communication and the share price, basically its influence on the future performance of the company. The regression analysis emphasizes the positive influence of the index of sustainability communication on the share price.

Un indice per lo sviluppo sostenibile (An Index for Sustainable Development

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Enrico Casadio Tarabusi

2012-04-01

Full Text Available As a possible improvement to the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI, we propose including in the set of individual variables some of an environmental or social nature. Thus, by rescaling all the variables non-linearly it is possible to mitigate the effect of outliers and synthesize by principal components, or alternatively by a different averaging method that takes sustainability into account and penalizes unbalances among different aspects of development. Both methods are easy to implement and calibrate. The ensuing effect on the ranking of world countries is compared to the HDI ranking. Come possibile miglioramento dell'Indice di Sviluppo Umano (ISU elaborato dall'Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite proponiamo di includere nell'insieme di variabili individuali alcune di natura ambientale o sociale, di riscalare opportunamente tutte le variabili non linearmente in modo da mitigare l'effetto deglioutliers, e di sintetizzare mediante le componenti principali, oppure attraverso un diverso metodo di media che, tenendo conto della sostenibilità, penalizza gli squilibri tra diversi aspetti dello sviluppo. Entrambi i metodi sono facili da implementare e da calibrare. Il loro effetto sulla graduatoria dei paesi mondiali viene raffrontata con quella dell'ISU.  JEL Codes: I31, O47Keywords: Development, Human Development, Indice

Sustainability Metrics of a Small Scale Turbojet Engine

Science.gov (United States)

Ekici, Selcuk; Sohret, Yasin; Coban, Kahraman; Altuntas, Onder; Karakoc, T. Hikmet

2018-05-01

Over the last decade, sustainable energy consumption has attracted the attention of scientists and researchers. The current paper presents sustainability indicators of a small scale turbojet engine, operated on micro-aerial vehicles, for discussion of the sustainable development of the aviation industry from a different perspective. Experimental data was obtained from an engine at full power load and utilized to conduct an exergy-based sustainability analysis. Exergy efficiency, waste exergy ratio, recoverable exergy ratio, environmental effect factor, exergy destruction factor and exergetic sustainability index are evaluated as exergetic sustainability indicators of the turbojet engine under investigation in the current study. The exergy efficiency of the small scale turbojet engine is calculated as 27.25 % whereas the waste exergy ratio, the exergy destruction factor and the sustainability index of the engine are found to be 0.9756, 0.5466 and 0.2793, respectively.

Stock price analysis of sustainable foreign investment companies in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Fachrudin, Khaira Amalia

2018-03-01

The stock price is determined by demand and supply in the stock market. Stock price reacts to information. Sustainable investment is an investment that considers environmental sustainability and human rights. This study aims to predict the probability of above average stock price by including the sustainability index as one of its variables. The population is all foreign investment companies in Indonesia. The target population is companies that distribute dividends – also as a sample. The analysis tool is a logistic regression. At 5% alpha, it was found that sustainability index did not have the probability to increase stock price average. The significant effects are free cash flow and cost of debt. However, sustainability index can increase the Negelkarke R square. The implication is that the awareness of sustainability is still necesary to be improved because from the research result it can be seen that investors only consider the risk and return.

A Comparison of Electricity Generation System Sustainability among G20 Countries

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Jinchao Li

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Planning for electricity generation systems is a very important task and should take environmental and economic factors into account. This paper reviews the existing metrics and methods in evaluating energy sustainability, and we propose a sustainability assessment index system. The input indexes include generation capacity, generation cost, and land use. The output indexes include desirable and undesirable parts. The desirable outputs are total electricity generation and job creation. The undesirable outputs are external supply risk and external costs associated with the environment and health. The super-efficiency data envelopment analysis method is used to calculate the sustainability of electricity generation systems of 23 countries from 2005 to 2014. The three input indexes and three undesirable output indexes are used as the input variables. The two desirable outputs are used as the output variables. The results show that most countries’ electricity generation sustainability values have decreasing trends. In addition, nuclear and hydro generation have positive effects. Solar, wind, and fossil fuel generation have negative effects on sustainability.

Browse Title Index

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Items 1 - 50 of 76 ... Journal Home > Advanced Search > Browse Title Index ... Vol 4, No 1 (2011), Automation of AutoCAD for Detailing of Reinforced .... Vol 10, No 1 (2017), Housing data base for sustainable housing provision, Abstract PDF.

Countries three wise men: Sustainability, Innovation, and Competitiveness

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Luis Miguel Fonseca

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The studies on links between sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness have been mainly focused at organizational and business level. The purpose of this research is to investigate if there is a correlation between these three variables at country level. Using international well recognized rankings of countries sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness, correlation analysis was performed allowing for the conclusion that there are indeed high correlations (and possible relationships between the three variables at country level. Design/methodology/approach: Sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness literature were reviewed identifying a lack of studies examining these three variables at country level. Three major well recognized indexes were used to support the quantitative research: The World Economic Forum (2013 Sustainability-adjusted global competitiveness index, the Global Innovation Index (2014 issued by Cornell University, INSEAD, and WIPO and the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (2014. After confirming the distributions normality, Pearson correlation analysis was made with results showing high linear correlations between the three indexes. Findings: The results of the correlation analysis using Pearson correlation coefficient (all correlation coefficients are greater than 0.73 give a strong support to the conclusion that there is indeed a high correlation (and a possible relationship between social sustainability, innovation and competitiveness at country level. Research limitations/implications: Further research is advisable to better understand the factors that contribute to the presented results and to establish a global paradigm linking these three main constructs (social sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness. Some authors consider that these measurements are not fully supported (e.g. due to different countries standards, however, it is assumed these differing underlying methodological approaches

Environment, energy, economy. A sustainable future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luise, A.; Borrello, L.; Calef, D.; Cialani, C.; Di Majo, V.; Federio, A.; Lovisolo, G.; Musmeci, F.

1998-01-01

This paper is organized in five parts: 1. sustainable development from global point of view; 2. global problems and international instruments; 3. sustainable management of resources in economic systems; 4. forecasting and methods: models and index; 5. future urban areas [it

The relationship between settlement population size and sustainable development measured by two sustainability metrics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Regan, Bernadette; Morrissey, John; Foley, Walter; Moles, Richard

2009-01-01

This paper reports on a study of the relative sustainability of 79 Irish villages, towns and a small city (collectively called 'settlements') classified by population size. Quantitative data on more than 300 economic, social and environmental attributes of each settlement were assembled into a database. Two aggregated metrics were selected to model the relative sustainability of settlements: Ecological Footprint (EF) and Sustainable Development Index (SDI). Subsequently these were aggregated to create a single Combined Sustainable Development Index. Creation of this database meant that metric calculations did not rely on proxies, and were therefore considered to be robust. Methods employed provided values for indicators at various stages of the aggregation process. This allowed both the first reported empirical analysis of the relationship between settlement sustainability and population size, and the elucidation of information provided at different stages of aggregation. At the highest level of aggregation, settlement sustainability increased with population size, but important differences amongst individual settlements were masked by aggregation. EF and SDI metrics ranked settlements in differing orders of relative sustainability. Aggregation of indicators to provide Ecological Footprint values was found to be especially problematic, and this metric was inadequately sensitive to distinguish amongst the relative sustainability achieved by all settlements. Many authors have argued that, for policy makers to be able to inform planning decisions using sustainability indicators, it is necessary that they adopt a toolkit of aggregated indicators. Here it is argued that to interpret correctly each aggregated metric value, policy makers also require a hierarchy of disaggregated component indicator values, each explained fully. Possible implications for urban planning are briefly reviewed

Spatio-Temporal Dynamic Analysis of Sustainable Development in China Based on the Footprint Family

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Caihong; Zhao, Xiangui; Wang, Xiaoyu

2018-01-01

The existing index systems on sustainable evaluation are mostly based on a multi index comprehensive evaluation method. The main disadvantage of this approach is that the selection and assignment of evaluation indexes are greatly influenced by subjective factors, which can result in poor comparability of results. By contrast, the Footprint Family (including ecological footprint, carbon footprint, and water footprint) is not affected by subjective factors. The Footprint Family also covers the basic tenets of sustainable development. This paper proposes use of a sustainable development evaluation index system based on the principle of the Footprint Family, and including the ecological pressure index (EPI), the ecological occupancy index (EOI), the ecological economic coordination index (EECI), the GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emission index (CEI), the water resources stress index (WSI), and the sustainable development index (SDI). Furthermore, a standard for grading the evaluated results based on global benchmarks is formulated. The results of an empirical study in China were the following. The development situation deteriorated from 1990 to 2015. The results showed that the SDI decreased from a medium level (grade 5) to a lower-medium level (grade 4). The results of this empirical study also showed that the method of evaluation can avoid the influence of subjective factors and can be used in the evaluation of sustainable development for various temporal and spatial conditions. PMID:29389886

Spatio-Temporal Dynamic Analysis of Sustainable Development in China Based on the Footprint Family.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Ma, Caihong; Zhao, Xiangui; Wang, Xiaoyu

2018-02-01

The existing index systems on sustainable evaluation are mostly based on a multi index comprehensive evaluation method. The main disadvantage of this approach is that the selection and assignment of evaluation indexes are greatly influenced by subjective factors, which can result in poor comparability of results. By contrast, the Footprint Family (including ecological footprint, carbon footprint, and water footprint) is not affected by subjective factors. The Footprint Family also covers the basic tenets of sustainable development. This paper proposes use of a sustainable development evaluation index system based on the principle of the Footprint Family, and including the ecological pressure index ( EPI ), the ecological occupancy index ( EOI ), the ecological economic coordination index ( EECI ), the GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emission index ( CEI ), the water resources stress index ( WSI ), and the sustainable development index ( SDI ). Furthermore, a standard for grading the evaluated results based on global benchmarks is formulated. The results of an empirical study in China were the following. The development situation deteriorated from 1990 to 2015. The results showed that the SDI decreased from a medium level (grade 5) to a lower-medium level (grade 4). The results of this empirical study also showed that the method of evaluation can avoid the influence of subjective factors and can be used in the evaluation of sustainable development for various temporal and spatial conditions.

Are sustainable companies less risky and more profitable?

OpenAIRE

Tânia Cristina Silva Nunes; Silvia Casa Nova; Edgard Cornacchione; Solange Garcia

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were significant differences in accounting indicators when comparing sustainable enterprises to other similar companies that are not considered as sustainable. The Corporate Sustainability Index of BM (São Paulo Stock, Commodities and Futures Exchange) was the criterion selected to break down the samples into sustainable and non-sustainable enterprises. The accounting indicators were separated into two kinds: risk (dividend payout, perc...

Renewability emergy index calculation in the evaluation of the sustainability of a national economy; Calculo do indice de renovabillidade emergetica na avaliacao da sustentabilidade de uma economia nacional

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Siche Jara, Raul Benito [Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, La Libertad (Peru). Fac. de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Escuela de Ingenieria Agroindustrial], e-mail: Siche.J.R@gmail.com; Ortega Rodriguez, Enrique [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (DEA/FEA/UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). Lab. de Engenharia Ecologica e Informatica Aplicada], e-mail: ortega@fea.unicamp.br

2006-07-01

In this study, the emergy methodology was used to analyze the sustainability of the Peruvian economic system. The resources (natural and not natural) and importations had been accounting in units of solar emergy using data of the Peruvian economy for the year 2004. Emergy is an energy measure based in the contribution of the resources and its influence, defined as the energy of a type required producing a flow or storage of another type. The focus of this study is the calculation of the emergy index call 'renewability' (REN), considered as a general measure of the ecological sustainability. In a long period, only systems or processes with high REN are sustainable. This index is calculated by the accounting of the resources renewed used in the economy in emergy units (2.17E+23 seJ) and divided by emergy total that enters to the economic system (6.93E+23 seJ), resulting a REN of 0.31. The renewable resources that use Peru almost represent 20% of the total of renewable resources available in the system. The great amount of renewable resources that Peru can potentially use was calculated in 11.44E+23 seJ, meaning that the system can be more sustainable if the economy is based on increasing the use of renewable resources and to diminish the use of non-renewable resources and imported resources. These data show that Peru has a relatively sustainable economy that can improve or get worse, depending of its politics in the use of resources. (author)

Contribution Index Based on Green Building Certification Systems

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Yuting Sun

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Green Building Certification Systems (GBCS are carried out in many countries due to the rising awareness of the importance of sustainability in the building industry. The intention should have motivated participants to construct and operate buildings sustainably, however, there is not yet a method developed to investigate the motivation of the participants. Based on the GBCS, this paper proposes the contribution index as a standard global method to analyze the performance of participants in the green building industry. Three contribution indices, namely Frequency Contribution Index (FCI, Intensity Contribution Index (ICI and Comprehensive Contribution Index (CCI that concern each different category of participant, have been formulated. Three further analyses based on the index were undertaken to investigate some features of the industry. A case study of Singapore was conducted to show how the contribution index could be used to extract industry patterns and trends and assess the participants’ performance in the green building industry. Interviews with experts provide some suggested applications and support for the findings.

Empirical Study on the Indicators of Sustainable Performance – the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard, Effect of Strategic Organizational Change

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Maria Radu

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The sustainable organizational change has an ever increasing importance, leading to the rethinking of the management and systems of performance measurement and monitoring within the companies. As a reaction to current economic phenomena, in the first section of this work we tried to bring out the need for using the couple Balanced Scorecard - Corporate Social Responsibility by companies. Thus, companies involved in sustainable actions must grant a great importance to the impact of environmental, social and economic factors in providing added value, informing the interested parties and reflecting the reporting of sustainable performance. As a consequence, in the second part of the work we present the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard for the implementation of efficient strategies which cumulate the economic, social and environmental aspects as integrating system for sustainable performance and as a new challenge for organizational change. The key performance indicators included in the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard are quantified by the indicators of sustainable development, based on which the empirical research described in the third section of the work was achieved. Through the quantitative analysis of the economic and ecological indicators (Gross Domestic Product per capita, respective, Environmental Performance Index in correlation with the social indicator (Global Competitive Index, we conclude that the implementation of green strategies by companies leads to sustainable economic growth.

Effects of economics and demographics on global fisheries sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Qi; Wang, Yali; Chen, Xinjun; Chen, Yong

2017-08-01

A good understanding of social factors that lead to marine ecological change is important to developing sustainable global fisheries. We used balanced panel models and conducted cross-national time-series analyses (1970-2010) of 122 nations to examine how economic prosperity and population growth affected the sustainability of marine ecosystems. We used catches in economic exclusive zone (EEZ); mean trophic level of fishery landings (MTL); primary production required to sustain catches (expressed as percentage of local primary production [%PPR]); and an index of ecosystem overfishing (i.e., the loss in secondary production index [L index]) as indicators of ecological change in marine ecosystems. The EEZ catch, %PPR, and L index declined gradually after gross domestic product (GDP) per capita reached $15,000, $14,000, and $19,000, respectively, and MTL increased steadily once GDP per capita exceeded $20,000. These relationships suggest that economic growth and biodiversity conservation are compatible goals. However, increasing human populations would degrade marine ecosystems. Specifically, a doubling of human population caused an increase in the %PPR of 17.1% and in the L index of 0.0254 and a decline in the MTL of 0.176. A 1% increase in human population resulted in a 0.744% increase in EEZ catch. These results highlight the importance of considering social and economic factors in developing sustainable fisheries management policy. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Sustainability in Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Enterprises: An Empirical Study

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I. Garbie

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The main goal of this paper is to analyze and investigate sustainable practices in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs. A comprehensive analysis and a mathematical framework are used to assess the sustainability indexes (SDIs of each aspect/issue and pillar/dimension, and of the whole manufacturing enterprise. Sustainability in the whole manufacturing enterprise is represented by the sustainable development index (SDI. The results show that there is a significant difference in SDIs between aspects and dimensions, with economic sustainability representing the highest percentage in the SDI. Also, the results show that industrial companies are adopting sustainable practices and applying them to most of the issues/aspects of the dimensions, and they can direct manufacturing companies in the industrial sector to develop strategies for sustainability. This paper introduces a new understanding of the practices and implementation of sustainability/sustainable development by SMEs through assessing the SDIs.

A Theoretical Manpower Optimization Model for the Air Force Installation Contracting Agency (AFICA)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-12-01

Government Accountability Office (GAO). (2011). Opportunities to reduce potential duplication in government programs, save tax dollars, and enhance revenue... Accounting Code FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation FPDS-NG Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation FSS Federal Supply Schedule FSSI Federal...Strategic Sourcing Initiative FY Fiscal Year GAO Government Accountability Office GPC Government Purchase Card GPO Group Purchasing Organization GSA

Challenges of sustainable development in the mining and metallurgy sector in Poland

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A. Bluszcz

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to present the degree of involvement of Polish companies from the mining and metallurgical industry in activities for sustainable development. Various initiatives, which aim to promote sustainable development and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR are discussed. ISO 26000 is the recognized international standard for CSR and it forms the basis for sustainable development. The paper also presents problems of integrated reporting of CSR activities and an index of socially responsible companies which is the Respect Index, introduced by the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Two presented companies from the analysed sector are listed by the Respect Index.

Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and assessment of sustainability index in corn agroecosystems of Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Yousefi, Mohammad; Damghani, Abdolmajid Mahdavi; Khoramivafa, Mahmud

2014-09-15

The objectives of this study were to assess the energy flow, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, global warming potential (GWP) and sustainability of corn production systems in Kermanshah province, western Iran. The data were collected from 70 corn agroecosystems which were selected based on randomly sampled method in the summer of 2011. The results indicated that total input and output energy were 50,485 and 134,946 MJ ha(-1), respectively. The highest share of total input energy in corn production systems was recorded for N fertilizer, electricity power and diesel fuel with 35, 25 and 20%, respectively. Energy use efficiency and energy productivity were 2.67 and 0.18 kg MJ(-1), respectively. Also agrochemical energy ratio was estimated as 40%. Applying chemical inputs produced the following emissions of greenhouse gases: 2994.66 kg CO2, 31.58 kg N2O and 3.82 kg CH4 per hectare. Hence, total GWP was 12,864.84 kg Co2eq ha(-1) in corn production systems. In terms of CO2 equivalents 23% of the GWPs came from CO2, 76% from N2O, and 1% from CH4. In this study input and output C equivalents per total GHG and Biomass production were 3508.59 and 10,696.34 kg Cha(-1). Net carbon and sustainability indexes in corn production systems were 7187.75 kg Cha(-1) and 2.05. Accordingly, efficient use of energy is essential to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact in corn agroecosystems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Practical appraisal of sustainable development-Methodologies for sustainability measurement at settlement level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moles, Richard; Foley, Walter; Morrissey, John; O'Regan, Bernadette

2008-01-01

This paper investigates the relationships between settlement size, functionality, geographic location and sustainable development. Analysis was carried out on a sample of 79 Irish settlements, located in three regional clusters. Two methods were selected to model the level of sustainability achieved in settlements, namely, Metabolism Accounting and Modelling of Material and Energy Flows (MA) and Sustainable Development Index Modelling. MA is a systematic assessment of the flows and stocks of material within a system defined in space and time. The metabolism of most settlements is essentially linear, with resources flowing through the urban system. The objective of this research on material and energy flows was to provide information that might aid in the development of a more circular pattern of urban metabolism, vital to sustainable development. In addition to MA, a set of forty indicators were identified and developed. These target important aspects of sustainable development: transport, environmental quality, equity and quality of life issues. Sustainability indices were derived through aggregation of indicators to measure dimensions of sustainable development. Similar relationships between settlement attributes and sustainability were found following both methods, and these were subsequently integrated to provide a single measure. Analysis identified those attributes of settlements preventing, impeding or promoting progress towards sustainability

Does Income Diversification Benefit the Sustainable Development of Chinese Listed Banks? Analysis Based on Entropy and the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index

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Huichen Jiang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We collected data pertaining to Chinese listed commercial banks from 2008 to 2016 and found that the competition between banks is becoming increasingly fierce. Commercial banks have actively carried out diversification strategies for greater returns, and the financial reports show that profits are increasingly coming from the non-interest income benefits of diversification strategies. However, diversification comes with risk. We built a panel threshold model and investigated the effect of income diversification on a bank’s profitability and risk. Diversification was first measured by the Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI, and the results show that there is a nonlinear relationship between diversification and profitability or risk does exist. We introduced an interesting index based on the entropy to test the robustness of our model and found that a threshold effect exists in both our models, which is statistically significant. We believe the combination of the entropy index (ENTI and the HHI enables more efficient study of the relationship between diversification and profitability or risk more efficiently. Bankers and their customers have increasingly been interested in income diversification, and they value risk as well. We suggest that banks of different sizes should adopt the corresponding diversification strategy to achieve sustainable development.

Environmental evaluation for sustainable development of coal mining in Qijiang, Western China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Si, Hu; Bi, Haipu [College of Resource and Environment Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China); Key Lab for the Exploitation of Southwestern Resource and the Environment Disaster Control Engineering, the Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China); Li, Xiaohong; Yang, Chunhe [Key Lab for the Exploitation of Southwestern Resource and the Environment Disaster Control Engineering, the Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China)

2010-03-01

Environmental degradation associated with mining activities may seriously threaten the health of local people and the sustainable development of coal mining, which may need to be addressed by improved environmental evaluation system. Based on analyzing environmental pollution from coal mining and the increasing need for raw coal, this paper establishes an environmental evaluation system, covering environmental situation, resource protection and economic benefit, for sustainable development in coal mining. This paper proposes methods for calculating the weight of each index and the environmental sustainable capability taking into account the method of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Finally, the index system is used to evaluate the environmental sustainability of coal mining in the Qijiang area, Western China, which has demonstrated the validity of the index system. It may also be useful as a tool to assess the environmental impact of mining areas, as well as a measure to promote sustainable development in coal mining. (author)

From Indicators to Policies: Open Sustainability Assessment in the Water and Sanitation Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martín Alejandro Iribarnegaray

2015-10-01

Full Text Available A water and sanitation sustainability index (WASSI was developed and estimated in four cities of the province of Salta, in northern Argentina. The index was built with nine descriptors and fifteen indicators that covered all essential aspects of the sustainability of local water and sanitation management systems. Only one of the cities studied obtained a sustainability value above the acceptability threshold adopted (50 of 100 points. Results indicate that the water company needs to address some environmental and social issues to enhance the sustainability of the systems studied. The WASSI was conceptually robust and operationally simple, and could be easily adapted to the case studies. The index can be followed and updated online on a web site specially developed for this project. This website could be useful to promote participatory processes, assist decision makers, and facilitate academic research. According to local stakeholders, a more open sustainability assessment based on sustainability indices and supported by virtual tools would be relevant and highly feasible. It would help decision makers improve the sustainability and transparency of water and sanitation management systems, and promote more sustainable water policies in the region and beyond.

A Demographic Approach to Evaluating Tree Population Sustainability

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Corey R. Halpin

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Quantitative criteria for assessing demographic sustainability of tree populations would be useful in forest conservation, as climate change and a growing complex of invasive pests are likely to drive forests outside their historic range of variability. In this paper, we used CANOPY, a spatially explicit, individual‐tree model, to examine the effects of initial size distributions on sustainability of tree populations for 70 northern hardwood stands under current environmental conditions. A demographic sustainability index was calculated as the ratio of future simulated basal area to current basal area, given current demographic structure and density‐dependent demographic equations. Only steeply descending size distributions were indicated to be moderately or highly sustainable (final basal area/initial basal area ≥0.7 over several tree generations. Five of the six principal species had demographic sustainability index values of <0.6 in 40%–84% of the stands. However, at a small landscape scale, nearly all species had mean index values >1. Simulation experiments suggested that a minimum sapling density of 300 per hectare was required to sustain the initial basal area, but further increases in sapling density did not increase basal area because of coincident increases in mortality. A variable slope with high q‐ratios in small size classes was needed to maintain the existing overstory of mature and old‐growth stands. This analytical approach may be useful in identifying stands needing restoration treatments to maintain existing species composition in situations where forests are likely to have future recruitment limitations.

Sustainable nuclear energy dilemma

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Afgan Naim H.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainable energy development implies the need for the emerging potential energy sources which are not producing adverse effect to the environment. In this respect nuclear energy has gained the complimentary favor to be considered as the potential energy source without degradation of the environment. The sustainability evaluation of the nuclear energy systems has required the special attention to the criteria for the assessment of nuclear energy system before we can make firm justification of the sustainability of nuclear energy systems. In order to demonstrate the sustainability assessment of nuclear energy system this exercise has been devoted to the potential options of nuclear energy development, namely: short term option, medium term option, long term option and classical thermal system option. Criteria with following indicators are introduced in this analysis: nuclear indicator, economic indicator, environment indicator, social indicator... The Sustainability Index is used as the merit for the priority assessment among options under consideration.

Sustainability assessment of turbofan engine with mixed exhaust through exergetic approach

Science.gov (United States)

Saadon, S.; Redzuan, M. S. Mohd

2017-12-01

In this study, the theory, methods and example application are described for a CF6 high-bypass turbofan engine with mixed exhaust flow based on exergo-sustainable point of view. To determine exergetic sustainability index, the turbofan engine has to undergo detailed exergy analysis. The sustainability indicators reviewed here are the overall exergy efficiency of the system, waste exergy ratio, exergy destruction factor, environmental effect factor and the exergetic sustainability index. The results obtained for these parameters are 26.9%, 73.1%, 38.6%, 2.72 and 0.37, respectively, for the maximum take-off condition of the engine. These results would be useful to better understand the connection between the propulsion system parameters and their impact to the environment in order to make it more sustainable for future development.

Roadmap to sustainable textiles and clothing regulatory aspects and sustainability standards of textiles and the clothing supply chain

CERN Document Server

2015-01-01

This book covers the elements involved in achieving sustainability in textiles and clothing sector. The chapters covered in three volumes of this series title cover all the distinctive areas earmarked for achieving sustainable development in textiles and clothing industry. This third volume highlights the areas pertaining to the regulatory aspects and sustainability standards applicable to textiles and clothing supply chain. There are various standards earmarked for measuring the environmental impacts and sustainability of textile products. There are also plenty of certification schemes available along with the index systems applicable to textile sector. Brands and manufactures are also venturing into new developments to achieve sustainable development in textile sector. This third volume addresses all these important aspects.

A Mathematical Programming Approach to the Optimal Sustainable Product Mix for the Process Industry

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Noha M. Galal

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The increasing concerns about the environment and the depletion of natural resources are the main drivers for the growing interest in sustainability. Manufacturing operations are frequently considered to have an adverse effect on the environment. Hence, the sustainable operation of manufacturing facilities is a vital practice to ensure sustainability. The aim of this paper is to find the optimum product mix of a manufacturing facility to maximize its sustainability. A mixed integer non-linear programming model is developed to specify the product mix in order to maximize a proposed sustainability index (SI of a manufacturing facility. The sustainability index comprises the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainability in a weighted form using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP. The model results allow the identification of the prospective improvements of manufacturing sustainability.

Asset sustainability index : quick guide : proposed metrics for the long-term financial sustainability of highway networks.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-01

"This report provides a Quick Guide to the concept of asset sustainability metrics. Such metrics address the long-term performance of highway assets based upon expected expenditure levels. : It examines how such metrics are used in Australia, Britain...

Measuring Sustainable Competitiveness in Contemporary Economies—Insights from European Economy

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Gheorghe H. Popescu

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The recent transformation of the national economies has raised numerous theoretical and practical aspects in measuring economic growth, welfare, environmental performance, and competitiveness, representing a challenging research topic within the context of economic paradigm transformation. Despite its importance, a fully operational model to be used in any context has not yet been designed. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate and analyze the macroeconomic dimension of the three determinants of sustainable competitiveness: the economic environment, the social environment, and the natural environment, at both the European and Romanian levels. This paper used the Hierarchical Clustering methodology, aiming at evaluating the global competitiveness in terms of a sustainable development model, using four indices: Human Development Index, Environmental Performance Index, Global Competitiveness Index, and GDP per capita. The clusters were designed on the basis of the role of the indices in assessment of the sustainable performances of the countries and also of the possible convergences between them. The results could sustain the conclusion that these indices are not able to offer an exhaustive image of the sustainable performances assessment. A new complex indicator could be considered in order to design a convergence model for the EU member states.

Do forwarders improve sustainability efficiency? : Evidence from a European DEA Malmquist index calculation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klumpp, Matthias

2017-01-01

Sustainability performance and efficiency is an important topic in transportation and for forwarders. This is shown, for example, by the fact that major logistics service providers LSP publish sustainability reports, often within the annual legal business report. However, in depth research is

Evaluating climate variables, indexes and thresholds governing Arctic urban sustainability: case study of Russian permafrost regions

Science.gov (United States)

Anisimov, O. A.; Kokorev, V.

2013-12-01

Addressing Arctic urban sustainability today forces planners to deal with the complex interplay of multiple factors, including governance and economic development, demography and migration, environmental changes and land use, changes in the ecosystems and their services, and climate change. While the latter can be seen as a factor that exacerbates the existing vulnerabilities to other stressors, changes in temperature, precipitation, snow, river and lake ice, and the hydrological regime also have direct implications for the cities in the North. Climate change leads to reduced demand for heating energy, on one hand, and heightened concerns about the fate of the infrastructure built upon thawing permafrost, on the other. Changes in snowfall are particularly important and have direct implications for the urban economy, as together with heating costs, expenses for snow removal from streets, airport runways, roofs and ventilation corridors underneath buildings erected on pile foundations on permafrost constitute the bulk of the city's maintenance budget. Many cities are located in river valleys and are prone to flooding that leads to enormous economic losses and casualties, including human deaths. The severity of the northern climate has direct implications for demographic changes governed by regional migration and labor flows. Climate could thus be viewed as an inexhaustible public resource that creates opportunities for sustainable urban development. Long-term trends show that climate as a resource is becoming more readily available in the Russian North, notwithstanding the general perception that globally climate change is one of the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. In this study we explore the sustainability of the Arctic urban environment under changing climatic conditions. We identify key governing variables and indexes and study the thresholds beyond which changes in the governing climatic parameters have significant impact on the economy

Assessing the global sustainability of different electricity generation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cartelle Barros, Juan José; Lara Coira, Manuel; Cruz López, María Pilar de la; Caño Gochi, Alfredo del

2015-01-01

A model is presented for assessing the global sustainability of power plants. It uses requirement trees, value functions and the analytic hierarchy process. The model consists of 27 parameters and makes it possible to obtain a sustainability index for each conventional or renewable energy plant, throughout its life-cycle. Here the aim is to make society aware of the sustainability level for each type of power system. As a result, decision making can be done with greater objectivity in both the public and private sectors. The model can be useful for engineers, researchers and, in general, decision makers in the energy policy field. With the exception of biomass fuels, the results obtained reinforce the idea that renewable energies make a greater contribution to sustainable development than their conventional counterparts. Renewable energies have a sustainability index that varies between 0.39 and 0.80; 0 and 1 being the lowest and highest contribution to sustainability, respectively. On the other hand, conventional power plants obtained results that fall between 0.29 and 0.57. High temperature solar-thermal plants, wind farms, photovoltaic solar plants and mini-hydroelectric power plants occupy the first four places, in this order. - Highlights: • A model for assessing the integral sustainability of power plants is proposed. • Different energy alternatives are ordered according to sustainability criteria. • Except for biomass, renewable energies contribute more to sustainable development. • The model aids the decision making process in the energy policy field

BUSINESS VALUATION IN TERMS OF INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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Leontina Pavaloaia

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The indexes regarding the sustainable development have an important role in the decision-making process and that is why several bodies and institutions are concerned about their development. This fact happens not only at macro-level, but also at micro-level, the entities being encouraged to take into account the sustainable development principles and to relate its individual performances to the environment in which they operate (local, regional, global. The usage of the indexes regarding the sustainable development offers information regarding the evolution in time helps at identifying the possibilities of improving the activity and the weaknesses; they can be used in order to establish and achieve the objectives, the values being easily communicated both within and outside the company. A main disadvantage is the aggregation level, which hinders comparisons. This paper analyzes the information regarding the sustainable development published by the companies ranked at the Stock Exchange of Bucharest in the 1st category and the subsidiaries of 30 national companies.

A model for measuring the environmental sustainability of events.

Science.gov (United States)

Boggia, Antonio; Massei, Gianluca; Paolotti, Luisa; Rocchi, Lucia; Schiavi, Federico

2018-01-15

Like all human activities, events can generate significant pressures on environmental resources, unless they are well-managed and monitored. Therefore, it is becoming more and more important to develop models that can measure their environmental sustainability. Although increasing attention is being paid to this sector, there is currently no standard protocol or method to assess the eco-sustainability of events. This article presents an innovative assessment procedure to measure the environmental sustainability of events. It is based on several indicators, combined by means of a multi-criteria approach and aggregated into a final index, which we called METER (Measuring Events Through Environmental Research). The METER index uses nine major operational categories, divided in sub-categories and detailed items, which cover all the main aspects concerning environmental sustainability of an event and are evaluated for all its phases, i.e. planning, organisation, implementation, post event. The index is fairly analytical, and is thus able to represent the numerous aspects to be taken into consideration in the environmental assessment of an event. At the same time, it is simple to apply and user-friendly, thanks to its graphics and effective communication of the web platform within it is implemented. Moreover, METER is based on a participatory approach using the bottom-up model and on the principle of subsidiarity. All official international documents regarding sustainable development now require subsidiarity. However, it is not being currently applied as part of any certification or with any evaluation tool. Therefore, although the index is still a prototype, it represents an innovation in the field of environmental management. A simple exemplary case is presented, about a European Spring School held at University of Perugia (Italy) in 2014, in which the application of METER showed a sustainability assessment score of 638 points out of 1000, with an excellent management

Determinants of the inclusion in the BM&FBOVESPA Corporate Sustainability Index and its relationship with firm value

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Lélis Pedro Andrade

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to identify the variables that influence the firms inclusion in the BM&FBOVESPA Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI, and if such membership is correlated with the firm market value in the Brazilian market. We collected annual data of firms for the period 2006 to 2011. The methodology included the use of methods such as regression analysis type logit and panel data models. The results showed that companies that have joined the ISE have characteristics distinct from those who did not opt for membership. Firms with larger size, higher profitability and sectors considered high environmental impact are more likely to be classified in the ISE. When examined whether inclusion in the CSI has relation with the metric firm value, the results did not reject the hypothesis of positive relationship, even during the financial crisis of 2008, however, found evidence of a negative relationship in the post-crisis period.

A revision of the revaluation index of Spanish pensions

OpenAIRE

Roch, Oriol; Bosch Príncep, Manuela; Morillo, Isabel; Vilalta de Miguel, Daniel

2017-01-01

This article reviews the methodological aspects of the revaluation index of Spanish pensions developed following Law 23/2013 which regulates the sustainability factor and revaluation index of the Social Security pension system. From a gradual breakdown of the elements that make up the revaluation index, an exposition is given of the formal and implementation problems it involves. Finally, an alternative model based on dynamic optimization techniques is proposed and its use is illustrated with...

Framework of Sustainability Assessment (FSA) method for manufacturing industry in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Soliha Sahimi, Nur; Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina

2018-04-01

In recent years, our planet faced massive social, environmental and economic challenges. Moreover, Environmental Democracy Index (EDI) published that Malaysia has been ranked as the second worst environmental democracy among 70 countries in May 2015. This is due to lack of participation in sustainability compliance and less awareness on sustainability by Malaysia’s business partners. By combating and achieving these, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defines global priorities and inspirations through Agenda 2030 that recognize by United Nation. This paper attempts to propose Framework Sustainability Assessment (FSA) to assess sustainability for the various sector in Malaysia. This framework will give an overview to reduce the noise from wide data collection to a single element. Lastly, it will integrate the current performance with the linkage of the SDGs and the sustainability elements by dividing into three phase which is baselining, clustering and correlation. Now it is time for business to take action especially every sector or industry in Malaysia and it will improve the awareness and enhance Environmental Democracy Index to a better rank in future.

Gasification of various types of tertiary coals: A sustainability approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Öztürk, Murat; Özek, Nuri; Yüksel, Yunus Emre

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Production energy by burning of coals including high rate of ash and sulfur is harmful to environment. ► Energy production via coal gasification instead of burning is proposed for sustainable approach. ► We calculate exergy and environmental destruction factor of gasification of some tertiary coals. ► Sustainability index, improvement potential of gasification are evaluated for exergy-based approach. - Abstract: The utilization of coal to produce a syngas via gasification processes is becoming a sustainability option because of the availability and the economic relevance of this fossil source in the present world energy scenario. Reserves of coal are abundant and more geographically spread over the world than crude oil and natural gas. This paper focuses on sustainability of the process of coal gasification; where the synthesis gas may subsequently be used for the production of electricity, fuels and chemicals. The coal gasifier unit is one of the least efficient step in the whole coal gasification process and sustainability analysis of the coal gasifier alone can substantially contribute to the efficiency improvement of this process. In order to evaluate sustainability of the coal gasification process energy efficiency, exergy based efficiency, exergy destruction factor, environmental destruction factor, sustainability index and improvement potential are proposed in this paper.

Analysis of the relationship between social and environmental investment and inclusion of companies in corporate sustainability index of BM&FBOVESPA

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Márcio André Veras Machado

2012-04-01

Full Text Available DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8077.2012v14n32p141 This paper aims to investigate the relationship between social and environmental investments and the inclusion of companies in the Corporate Sustainability Index of BM&FBOVESPA, by applying logistic regression. For this, we analyzed information relating to internal and external social and environmental investments, from the social balance of companies.The sample consisted of companies eligible for inclusion in the portfolio ISE in the period of December 2009 to December 2010. According to the results, we can conclude that there is a relationship between environmental investments and entry of firms in the portfolio ISE of BM&FBOVESPA, showing that investment made and evidenced in social and environmental issues is a sign of real commitment to social responsibility and sustainability and not simply a form of accountability of the funds invested. As the variables used, internal social investment (II, External (IE and environmental (IA, we found that IE is the best proxy to explain this relationship. In other words, the results suggest that companies that invest resources in favor of community, either voluntarily or through taxes, which is or should be a resource applied in society, has more chances of entering the ISE portfolio composition.

Model of sustainable development of energy system, case of Hamedan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahabmanesh, Aref; Saboohi, Yadollah

2017-01-01

Sustainable economic growth and improvement of the social welfare depend upon the sufficient supply of energy resources, while the utilization of energy resources is one of the main factors of environmental degradation. This research is involved with development of a sustainable energy system model and a new method for sustainability assessment. This model represents the flow of energy from primary resources through processing, conversion, and end-use technologies in an optimization framework where the useful energy demand in various social and economic sectors is met. The impact of energy supply and consumption chain on the environment at each level of energy system is also embedded in the model structure. A multi-criteria analysis of changes is then applied and sustainable development indices of the whole system are concluded. Finally, effects of the energy subsidy policy and high economic growth rate on sustainability of the energy system in three scenarios are analyzed. Results demonstrate that energy subsidy decelerates the improvement rate of the total sustainability index. Also, when a high economic growth is accompanied with the energy subsidy this index reduces considerably. Results show that how penetration of renewable energy potentials changes the sustainability situation of energy systems. - Highlights: • Developing a new model for sustainable energy systems. • Presenting a new method for sustainability assessment of energy systems. • Optimizing the energy flow and capacity expansion of Hamedan energy system. • Utilizing an MCDA approach to obtain sustainability indices of the whole system. • Analysis of energy subsidy and high economic growth on energy sustainability.

Development of sustainable water treatment technology using scientifically based calculated indexes of source water quality indicators

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А. С. Трякина

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The article describes selection process of sustainable technological process flow chart for water treatment procedure developed on scientifically based calculated indexes of quality indicators for water supplied to water treatment facilities. In accordance with the previously calculated values of the indicators of the source water quality, the main purification facilities are selected. A more sustainable flow chart for the modern water quality of the Seversky Donets-Donbass channel is a two-stage filtering with contact prefilters and high-rate filters. The article proposes a set of measures to reduce such an indicator of water quality as permanganate oxidation. The most suitable for these purposes is sorption purification using granular activated carbon for water filtering. The increased water hardness is also quite topical. The method of ion exchange on sodium cation filters was chosen to reduce the water hardness. We also evaluated the reagents for decontamination of water. As a result, sodium hypochlorite is selected for treatment of water, which has several advantages over chlorine and retains the necessary aftereffect, unlike ozone. A technological flow chart with two-stage purification on contact prefilters and two-layer high-rate filters (granular activated carbon - quartz sand with disinfection of sodium hypochlorite and softening of a part of water on sodium-cation exchangers filters is proposed. This technological flow chart of purification with any fluctuations in the quality of the source water is able to provide purified water that meets the requirements of the current sanitary-hygienic standards. In accordance with the developed flow chart, guidelines and activities for the reconstruction of the existing Makeevka Filtering Station were identified. The recommended flow chart uses more compact and less costly facilities, as well as additional measures to reduce those water quality indicators, the values of which previously were in

Spatial Zonation Model of Local Irrigation System Sustainability (A Case of Subak System in Bali

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I Putu Sriartha

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed at designing a spatial zonation model of a subak sustainability type based on the internal and external dimentions from 69 subaks in three districts in Badung regency. The internal dimention was measured based on subak capability index in implementing Tri Hita Karana (THK philosophy. The external dimention was measured by using index of four variables, namely: road density, population density, social economic facilities, and number of nonfarmer families.The data were analyzed using descriptive quantitative technique and spatial analysis using Geographical Information System (GIS software. The results found three zones of subak sustainability type, spatially follows the principle of distance decay of the growth of tourism and city center. Unsustainable - less sustainable subak zone dominates short distance zone, sustainable - less sustainable subak zone dominates transitional zone, while sustainable subak zone dominates long distance zone. To protect subak from destruction, less sustainable subaks have to be restored into sustainable ones and the sustainable subaks should be made eternal/exclusive subaks

Sustained and selective attention deficits as vulnerability markers to psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulet, B; Valero, J; Gutiérrez-Zotes, A; Montserrat, C; Cortés, M J; Jariod, M; Martorell, L; Vilella, E; Labad, A

2007-04-01

The first descriptions of schizophrenia emphasized attention problems patients with schizophrenia have but recent results evidence that other psychotic disorders share them. We compared the performance in sustained and selective attention between psychotic patients (P), their healthy first degree relatives (R) and healthy volunteers (C) to prove whether these alterations could be an endophenotype of vulnerability to psychosis. We also compared the performance of schizophrenic patients (SZP) and that of patients with other functional psychoses (OP) in order to prove whether these alterations are specific of any psychotic disorder. Seventy-six P, 70 R and 39 C were included in the study. A selective attention index, comprising TMT A and B and Stroop Test, and a sustained attention index comprising the Continuous Performance Test were calculated. We conducted an univariant general linear model to compare three group performances in these indexes, with age, sex and years of education as a covariables. We found significant differences between the indexes when we compared P, R and C. No differences in performance were found between SZP and OP. Our data showed that sustained and selective attention alterations could be a vulnerability factor to psychotic disorders in general, but they were not specific of schizophrenia.

Identification of core objectives for teaching sustainable healthcare education.

Science.gov (United States)

Teherani, Arianne; Nishimura, Holly; Apatira, Latifat; Newman, Thomas; Ryan, Susan

2017-01-01

Physicians will be called upon to care for patients who bear the burden of disease from the impact of climate change and ecologically irresponsible practices which harm ecosystems and contribute to climate change. However, physicians must recognize the connection between the climate, ecosystems, sustainability, and health and their responsibility and capacity in changing the status quo. Sustainable healthcare education (SHE), defined as education about the impact of climate change and ecosystem alterations on health and the impact of the healthcare industry on the aforementioned, is vital to prevention of adverse health outcomes due to the changing climate and environment. To systematically determine which and when a set of SHE objectives should be included in the medical education continuum. Fifty-two SHE experts participated in a two-part modified-Delphi study. A survey was developed based on 21 SHE objectives. Respondents rated the importance of each objective and when each objective should be taught. Descriptive statistics and an item-level content validity index (CVI) were used to analyze data. Fifteen of the objectives achieved a content validity index of 78% or greater. The remaining objectives had content validity indices between 58% and 77%. The preclinical years of medical school were rated as the optimal time for introducing 13 and the clinical years for introducing six of the objectives. Respondents noted the definition of environmental sustainability should be learned prior to medical school and identifying ways to improve the environmental sustainability of health systems in post-graduate training. This study proposes SHE objectives for the continuum of medical education. These objectives ensure the identity of the physician includes the requisite awareness and competence to care for patients who experience the impact of climate and environment on health and advocate for sustainability of the health systems in which they work. CVI: Content validity

Developing a multicriteria approach for the measurement of sustainable performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ding, G.

2005-02-01

In Australia, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is one of the conventional tools used widely by the public and the private sectors in the appraisal of projects. It measures and compares the total costs and benefits of projects that are competing for scarce resources in monetary terms. Growing concerns that the values of environmental goods and services are often ignored or underestimated in the CBA approach have led to the overuse and depletion of environmental assets. A model of a sustainability index as an evaluation tool that combines economic, social and environmental criteria into an indexing algorithm is presented and described. The sustainability index uses monetary and non-monetary approaches to rank projects and facilities on their contribution to sustainability. This process enables the principle of trade-off to occur in the decision-making process and thereby allows environmental values to be considered when selecting a development option. This makes it possible to optimize financial return, maximize resource consumption and minimize detrimental effects to the natural and man-made world. A case study is used to demonstrate the model. (author)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ECOLOGICAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viktoria Krykun

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Today sustainable development is a widely used term, which has been increasingly influential in recent years. Debates about sustainability no longer consider sustainability solely as an environmental concern, but also incorporate economic and social dimensions. However, while a social and economic dimensions of sustainable development are widely discussed, environmental degradation becomes more and more crucial each year and is likely to reduce human well-being all across the world within the next few decades. The purpose of the paper is to analyse ecological ‘pillar’ of sustainable development, its historical background, main steps towards implementation of ‘new global environmental rules for society. Methodology. The paper is based on statistical information from public sources, reports of different international organizations and institutions, which are used to stress and underline main crucial points of research. Results of the survey show, that environmental quality, economic development and social well-being are interdependent and the main aim of international institutions, independent countries, businesses and society is to achieve environmentally sustainable development. Environmental issues make strong impact on modern economy. Responsible global strategy of development provides the whole society with rules, how ‘wise’ technological changes and economic policy can make industrial production processes less polluting and less resource intensive but yet more productive and profitable. Practical implications. Strategy of sustainable development and it’s three basic dimensions have found practical implication in one complex model, which illustrates the level of development of each country – the Human Development Index, which is focusing on three basic dimensions of human development: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling and gross national income per capita. Another data, which is

Contribution Index Based on Green Building Certification Systems

OpenAIRE

Yuting Sun; Bee Hua Goh

2015-01-01

Green Building Certification Systems (GBCS) are carried out in many countries due to the rising awareness of the importance of sustainability in the building industry. The intention should have motivated participants to construct and operate buildings sustainably, however, there is not yet a method developed to investigate the motivation of the participants. Based on the GBCS, this paper proposes the contribution index as a standard global method to analyze the performance of participants in ...

Three blind men and elephant: The Case of energy indices to measure energy security and sustainability

OpenAIRE

Kapil Narula; B. Sudhakara Reddy

2014-01-01

An 'Energy Index', which is aggregated from energy indicators is a rich source of information and is helpful in providing an assessment of a country's performance. This has, however, resulted in mushrooming of a plethora of indices, which claim to quantify the performance of a country in attaining the goal of energy security and energy sustainability. The paper attempts to compare three different indices, viz., 'Energy Sustainability Index', 'International Index of Energy Security Risk', 'Ene...

Green innovation and sustainable industrial systems within sustainability and company improvement perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Edi Nugroho Soebandrija, Khristian

2017-12-01

This paper comprises discussion of Green Innovation and Sustainable Industrial Systems within Sustainability and Company Improvement Perspective of beverage manufacturing company (BMC). The stakeholder theory is the grand theory for the company improvement perspective in this paper. The data processing in this paper is conducted through software which are SEM-PLS with SmartPLS 2.0 and SPSS 19. The specified objective of this paper has focus on sustainability as one of 6 variables, in lieu of those 6 variables as the big picture. The reason behind this focus on sustainability is the fact that there are assorted challenges in sustainability that is ranging from economic, environment and company perspectives. Those challenges in sustainability include the sustainable service supply chain management and its involvement of society. The overall objective is to analyze relationship hypothesis of 6 variables, 4 of them (leadership, organizational learning, innovation, and performance) are based on Malcolm Baldrige’s performance excellence concept to achieve sustainability and competitive advantage through company-competitor and customer questionnaire, and its relation to Total Quality Management (TQM) and Quality Management System (QMS). In conclusion, the spearheaded of company improvement in this paper is in term of consumer satisfaction through 99.997% quality standards. These can be achieved by ambidexterity through exploitation and exploration innovation. Furthermore, in this paper, TQM enables to obtain popularity brand index achievement that is greater than 45.9%. Subsequently, ISO22000 of food security standard encompasses quality standard of ISO9000 and HACCP. Through the ambidexterity of exploitation and exploration (Non Standard Product Inspection) NOSPI machine, the company improvement generates the achievement of 75% automation, 99.997% quality control standard and 80% of waste reduction.

Ljubljana as a ‘Green’ and Sustainable city–Comparing and Contrasting Various Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela Rudar Neral

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose and Originality: ‘Greenness’ and sustainability are moving from an abstract concept toward a measurable state, using the triple bottom line approach considering environmental, social, and economic dimensions. How the ‘greenness’ and sustainability of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, are achieved and estimated, is determined by comparing two indices. European Green Capital Award represents its‘greenness’, while its sustainability is analysed by A New Sustainability City Index Based on Intellectual Capital Approach. Originality of the research is the analysis of the potential of Ljubljana city through contrasting these two indices. Method: Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Two comparable indices have been chosen as a multidimensional concept which both clearly involve economic, environmental (ecological and social aspects, with available and published results for Ljubljana. Both indices are comparable, the category scores were aggregated according to equal weighting, and the index results were expressed as percentages. Results: The results showed that ranking of Ljubljana as a‘green’ and sustainable city respectively is different. Total index score of 52 % for European Green Capital Award places Ljubljana 22ndamong the ‘green’ cities of Europe and ranks it in the upper half of the 58 European cities in the study. A New Sustainability City Index Based on Intellectual Capital Approach x of 44.92 ranking Ljubljana on the 102nd position in a scale of 158 European cities, places it in the lower half. The results confirm that Ljubljana is more ‘green’ than sustainable, according to these studies. Society: There are many studies, which make a concerted effort toward capturing the ‘greenness’ and the sustainability of cities. Therefore, indices include three independent dimensions and are decisive in positioning the city. These are important tools in making environmental (ecological, social

Environment and development in Latin America: the politics of sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodman, David; Redclift, Michael

1991-01-01

The terms sustainability and sustainable development are used to refer to sustainable levels of both production and consumption taking environmental considerations into account. However, there are different interpretations of the terms, and the first chapter of this book considers these and looks at various aspects of sustainable development in Latin America. In this region sustainability has often been systematically devalued, missed altogether or simply lost. The remaining nine chapters of the book address debt, hunger, genetic resources, forestry management, acroecology and green issues of the Amazon. Costa Rica is the subject of one of the chapters and the environmental problems of Mexico City another. The chapter on nuclear energy and sustainability in Latin America is indexed separately. (UK)

Operationalising the Sustainable Knowledge Society Concept through a Multi-dimensional Scorecard

Science.gov (United States)

Dragomirescu, Horatiu; Sharma, Ravi S.

Since the early 21st Century, building a Knowledge Society represents an aspiration not only for the developed countries, but for the developing ones too. There is an increasing concern worldwide for rendering this process manageable towards a sustainable, equitable and ethically sound societal system. As proper management, including at the societal level, requires both wisdom and measurement, the operationalisation of the Knowledge Society concept encompasses a qualitative side, related to vision-building, and a quantitative one, pertaining to designing and using dedicated metrics. The endeavour of enabling policy-makers mapping, steering and monitoring the sustainable development of the Knowledge Society at national level, in a world increasingly based on creativity, learning and open communication, led researchers to devising a wide range of composite indexes. However, as such indexes are generated through weighting and aggregation, their usefulness is limited to retrospectively assessing and comparing levels and states already attained; therefore, to better serve policy-making purposes, composite indexes should be complemented by other instruments. Complexification, inspired by the systemic paradigm, allows obtaining "rich pictures" of the Knowledge Society; to this end, a multi-dimensional scorecard of the Knowledge Society development is hereby suggested, that seeks a more contextual orientation towards sustainability. It is assumed that, in the case of the Knowledge Society, the sustainability condition goes well beyond the "greening" desideratum and should be of a higher order, relying upon the conversion of natural and productive life-cycles into virtuous circles of self-sustainability.

AGRONOMIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABILITY: CHARACTERISTICS AND MEASUREMENT IN Agave tequilana Weber IN THE SIERRA DE AMULA REGION, JALISCO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arturo Moreno Hernández

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This article qualitative evaluation of the sustainable management in blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber agroecosystems, in Sierra Amula region of the Jalisco state, Mexico. Sixteen sites were evaluated in an altitudinal gradient ranging from 777 to 1345 masl. Six principles considered by Altieri (1999 as the basic elements of a sustainable management of the agroecosystem, were used to construct an Index of Agroecosystem Sustainable Management (IMSA. Four levels of this index were identified: values lower than 50 % were considered unsustainable management, 51 to 66.6 % scarcely sustainable management, 66.7 to 83.2 % mediumly sustainable management and 83.3 to 100 % highly sustainable management. Of the 16 sites evaluated, two were classified as unsustainable management, six was scarcely sustainable management, five as medially sustainable management and three as highly sustainable management.

RESULTS OF ANALYSIS OF BENCHMARKING METHODS OF INNOVATION SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH AIMS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Vylegzhanina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this work, we introduce results of comparative analysis of international ratings indexes of innovation systems for their compliance with purposes of sustainable development. Purpose of this research is defining requirements to benchmarking methods of assessing national or regional innovation systems and compare them basing on assumption, that innovation system is aligned with sustainable development concept. Analysis of goal sets and concepts, which underlie observed international composite innovation indexes, comparison of their metrics and calculation techniques, allowed us to reveal opportunities and limitations of using these methods in frames of sustainable development concept. We formulated targets of innovation development on the base of innovation priorities of sustainable socio-economic development. Using comparative analysis of indexes with these targets, we revealed two methods of assessing innovation systems, maximally connected with goals of sustainable development. Nevertheless, today no any benchmarking method, which meets need of innovation systems assessing in compliance with sustainable development concept to a sufficient extent. We suggested practical directions of developing methods, assessing innovation systems in compliance with goals of societal sustainable development.

Impact of promoting sustainable agriculture project on livelihood ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study on impact assessment of Promoting Sustainable Agriculture Project ... the Fisher Index, Focused Group Discussion and descriptive statistical analysis. ... The qualitative analysis showed that 30%, 45% and 10% of men, women and ...

Energy Sustainability Evaluation Model Based on the Matter-Element Extension Method: A Case Study of Shandong Province, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siqi Li

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Energy sustainability is of vital importance to regional sustainability, because energy sustainability is closely related to both regional economic growth and social stability. The existing energy sustainability evaluation methods lack a unified system to determine the relevant influencing factors, are relatively weak in quantitative analysis, and do not fully describe the ‘paradoxical’ characteristics of energy sustainability. To solve those problems and to reasonably and objectively evaluate energy sustainability, we propose an energy sustainability evaluation model based on the matter-element extension method. We first select energy sustainability evaluation indexes based on previous research and experience. Then, a variation coefficient method is used to determine the weights of these indexes. Finally, the study establishes the classical domain, joint domain, and the matter-element relationship to evaluate energy sustainability through matter-element extension. Data from Shandong Province is used as a case study to evaluate the region’s energy sustainability. The case study shows that the proposed energy sustainability evaluation model, based on the matter-element extension method, can effectively evaluate regional energy sustainability.

Efficiency improvement for a sustainable agriculture : the integration of agronomic and farm economics approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koeijer, de T.J.

2002-01-01

Keywords: Sustainable farming systems, Agronomic efficiency, Economic efficiency, Environmental efficiency, Sustainability index, Interdisciplinary analysis.

The objective of the research described in this thesis was to determine what role improved agronomic efficiency can play in

RESEARCH ALGORITHM FOR BUSINESS ENTERPRISE ORGANIZATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY INDICES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Kouznetsov

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract. It is recommended that organizational sustainability of a business enterprise be assessed on the basis of a system of indices brought down in the article to characterize to what extent an option of the company organizational structure contributes to gaining higher final activity results. The indices may be used as efficiency criteria for options of the company organizational structure and management system. It is reasonable to assess each index from the viewpoint of its impact on the business company organizational and economic sustainability and to try either to eliminate the negative impact or to strengthen the positive role with respect of this sustainability.

Adverse Events With Sustained-Release Donepezil in Alzheimer Disease: Relation to Body Mass Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Chunsoo; Lee, Kyungsang; Yu, Hyewon; Ryu, Seung-Ho; Moon, Seok Woo; Han, Changsu; Lee, Jun-Young; Lee, Young Min; Kim, Shin-Gyeom; Kim, Ki Woong; Lee, Dong Woo; Kim, Seong Yoon; Lee, Sang-Yeol; Bae, Jae Nam; Jung, Young-Eun; Kim, Jeong Lan; Kim, Byung-Soo; Shin, Il-Seon; Kim, Young Hoon; Kim, Bong Jo; Kang, Hyo Shin; Myung, Woojae; Carroll, Bernard J; Kim, Doh Kwan

2017-08-01

Sustained-release, high-dose (23 mg/d) donepezil has been approved for treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer disease (AD). Based on a previous clinical trial, body weight of less than 55 kg is a risk factor for adverse events with donepezil 23 mg/d treatment in global population. To clarify whether this finding is consistent across ethnic groups that vary in absolute body mass, we recruited Korean patients aged 45 to 90 years with moderate to severe AD who had been receiving standard donepezil immediate release 10 mg/d for at least 3 months. After screening, we analyzed a final cohort of 166 patients who received donepezil 23 mg/d for 24 weeks to compare the occurrence of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) between patients with high versus low body mass index (BMI) based on the World Health Organization overweight criteria for Asian populations (23 kg/m). Treatment-emergent adverse events were reported by 79.45% of patients in the lower BMI group and 58.06% of patients in the higher BMI group (odds ratio, 2.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.39-5.63; χ = 7.58, P = 0.006). In a multivariable survival analysis, the group with lower BMI showed a higher occurrence of TEAEs (hazard ratio, 1.83; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-2.68; P = 0.002). In Korean patients with moderate to severe AD receiving high-dose donepezil over 24 weeks, TEAEs were significantly more common in those with lower BMI (not clinically overweight), especially nausea. This finding may inform clinical practice for Asian patients.

The application of the triple bottom line approach to sustainability assessment: The case study of the UK automotive supply chain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Azevedo, S.; Barros, M.

2017-07-01

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to assess the level of sustainability of the UK automotive supply chain considering simultaneously the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) representing the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach. Design/methodology/approach: The assessment of the automotive SC’ sustainability is based on the framework proposed by Salvado, Azevedo, Matias and Ferreira (2011) and uses the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method to aggregate economic, environmental and social indicators into a unique index. A case study on the UK automotive industry is used and the data do perform this study is collected from the sustainability reports of the UK’ automotive companies. Findings and Originality/value: The proposed framework represents an important benchmarking tool, offering managers the possibility for assessing the sustainability behaviour of its supply chain and compare it with other supply chains. Once identified the dimension of sustainability where the company or the supply chain is worst performer managers can work closer to their supply chain’ partners in order to improve the performance of those dimension of sustainability. Research limitations/implications: One limitation of the suggested approach is related to the ambiguity of the sustainability’ indicators selection and the definition of weights for each sustainability dimension. Practical implications: The assessment of the SC sustainability by using the suggested framework to compute a SC sustainability index offers managers an opportunity for assessing the level of sustainability of each individual company and the corresponding SC in a very easy way. It also represents an opportunity for improving company performance. In this way managers can use the information on the sustainability index to help adjust their company's behaviour and improve their economic, social and environmental performance. Originality/value: The proposed framework

The application of the triple bottom line approach to sustainability assessment: The case study of the UK automotive supply chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azevedo, S.; Barros, M.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to assess the level of sustainability of the UK automotive supply chain considering simultaneously the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) representing the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach. Design/methodology/approach: The assessment of the automotive SC’ sustainability is based on the framework proposed by Salvado, Azevedo, Matias and Ferreira (2011) and uses the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method to aggregate economic, environmental and social indicators into a unique index. A case study on the UK automotive industry is used and the data do perform this study is collected from the sustainability reports of the UK’ automotive companies. Findings and Originality/value: The proposed framework represents an important benchmarking tool, offering managers the possibility for assessing the sustainability behaviour of its supply chain and compare it with other supply chains. Once identified the dimension of sustainability where the company or the supply chain is worst performer managers can work closer to their supply chain’ partners in order to improve the performance of those dimension of sustainability. Research limitations/implications: One limitation of the suggested approach is related to the ambiguity of the sustainability’ indicators selection and the definition of weights for each sustainability dimension. Practical implications: The assessment of the SC sustainability by using the suggested framework to compute a SC sustainability index offers managers an opportunity for assessing the level of sustainability of each individual company and the corresponding SC in a very easy way. It also represents an opportunity for improving company performance. In this way managers can use the information on the sustainability index to help adjust their company's behaviour and improve their economic, social and environmental performance. Originality/value: The proposed framework

The application of the triple bottom line approach to sustainability assessment: The case study of the UK automotive supply chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susana Azevedo

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The objective of this paper is to assess the level of sustainability of the UK automotive supply chain considering simultaneously the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental representing the Triple Bottom Line (TBL approach. Design/methodology/approach: The assessment of the automotive SC’ sustainability is based on the framework proposed by Salvado, Azevedo, Matias and Ferreira (2011 and uses the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW method to aggregate economic, environmental and social indicators into a unique index. A case study on the UK automotive industry is used and the data do perform this study is collected from the sustainability reports of the UK’ automotive companies. Findings and Originality/value: The proposed framework represents an important benchmarking tool, offering managers the possibility for assessing the sustainability behaviour of its supply chain and compare it with other supply chains. Once identified the dimension of sustainability where the company or the supply chain is worst performer managers can work closer to their supply chain’ partners in order to improve the performance of those dimension of sustainability. Research limitations/implications: One limitation of the suggested approach is related to the ambiguity of the sustainability’ indicators selection and the definition of weights for each sustainability dimension. Practical implications: The assessment of the SC sustainability by using the suggested framework to compute a SC sustainability index offers managers an opportunity for assessing the level of sustainability of each individual company and the corresponding SC in a very easy way. It also represents an opportunity for improving company performance. In this way managers can use the information on the sustainability index to help adjust their company's behaviour and improve their economic, social and environmental performance. Originality/value: The proposed

Methodology for Monitoring Sustainable Development of Isolated Microgrids in Rural Communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Rahmann

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Microgrids are a rapidly evolving and increasingly common form of local power generation used to serve the needs of both rural and urban communities. In this paper, we present a methodology to evaluate the evolution of the sustainability of stand-alone microgrids projects. The proposed methodology considers a composite sustainability index (CSI that includes both positive and negative impacts of the operation of the microgrid in a given community. The CSI is constructed along environmental, social, economic and technical dimensions of the microgrid. The sub-indexes of each dimension are aggregated into the CSI via a set of adaptive weighting factors, which indicate the relative importance of the corresponding dimension in the sustainability goals. The proposed methodology aims to be a support instrument for policy makers especially when defining sound corrective measures to guarantee the sustainability of small, isolated microgrid projects. To validate the performance of the proposed methodology, a microgrid installed in the northern part of Chile (Huatacondo has been used as a benchmarking project.

Critical success factors model developing for sustainable Kaizen implementation in manufactur-ing industry in Ethiopia

OpenAIRE

Haftu Hailu; Abdelkadir Kedir; Getachew Bassa; Kassu Jilcha

2017-01-01

The purpose of the research is to identify critical success factors and model developing for sustaining kaizen implementation. Peacock shoe is one of the manufacturing industries in Ethiopia facing challenges on sustaining. The methodology followed is factor analysis and empirically testing hypothesis. A database was designed using SPSS version 20. The survey was validated using statistical validation using the Cronbach alpha index; the result is 0.908. The KMO index value was obtained for th...

Sustained Attention Ability Affects Simple Picture Naming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzanne R. Jongman

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Sustained attention has previously been shown as a requirement for language production. However, this is mostly evident for difficult conditions, such as a dual-task situation. The current study provides corroborating evidence that this relationship holds even for simple picture naming. Sustained attention ability, indexed both by participants’ reaction times and individuals’ hit rate (the proportion of correctly detected targets on a digit discrimination task, correlated with picture naming latencies. Individuals with poor sustained attention were consistently slower and their RT distributions were more positively skewed when naming pictures compared to individuals with better sustained attention. Additionally, the need to sustain attention was manipulated by changing the speed of stimulus presentation. Research has suggested that fast event rates tax sustained attention resources to a larger degree than slow event rates. However, in this study the fast event rate did not result in increased difficulty, neither for the picture naming task nor for the sustained attention task. Instead, the results point to a speed-accuracy trade-off in the sustained attention task (lower accuracy but faster responses in the fast than in the slow event rate, and to a benefit for faster rates in the picture naming task (shorter naming latencies with no difference in accuracy. Performance on both tasks was largely comparable, supporting previous findings that sustained attention is called upon during language production.

Airline Sustainability Modeling: A New Framework with Application of Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salarzadeh Jenatabadi, Hashem; Babashamsi, Peyman; Khajeheian, Datis

2016-01-01

There are many factors which could influence the sustainability of airlines. The main purpose of this study is to introduce a framework for a financial sustainability index and model it based on structural equation modeling (SEM) with maximum likelihood and Bayesian predictors. The introduced...

The Sustainable Development Assessment of Reservoir Resettlement Based on a BP Neural Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Li; Huang, Jian; Wang, Wei

2018-01-18

Resettlement affects not only the resettlers' production activities and life but also, directly or indirectly, the normal operation of power stations, the sustainable development of the resettlers, and regional social stability. Therefore, a scientific evaluation index system for the sustainable development of reservoir resettlement must be established that fits Chinese national conditions and not only promotes reservoir resettlement research but also improves resettlement practice. This essay builds an evaluation index system for resettlers' sustainable development based on a back-propagation (BP) neural network, which can be adopted in China, taking the resettlement necessitated by step hydropower stations along the Wujiang River cascade as an example. The assessment results show that the resettlement caused by step power stations along the Wujiang River is sustainable, and this evaluation supports the conclusion that national policies and regulations, which are undergoing constant improvement, and resettlement has increasingly improved. The results provide a reference for hydropower reservoir resettlement in developing countries.

The Sustainable Development Assessment of Reservoir Resettlement Based on a BP Neural Network

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Li; Huang, Jian

2018-01-01

Resettlement affects not only the resettlers’ production activities and life but also, directly or indirectly, the normal operation of power stations, the sustainable development of the resettlers, and regional social stability. Therefore, a scientific evaluation index system for the sustainable development of reservoir resettlement must be established that fits Chinese national conditions and not only promotes reservoir resettlement research but also improves resettlement practice. This essay builds an evaluation index system for resettlers’ sustainable development based on a back-propagation (BP) neural network, which can be adopted in China, taking the resettlement necessitated by step hydropower stations along the Wujiang River cascade as an example. The assessment results show that the resettlement caused by step power stations along the Wujiang River is sustainable, and this evaluation supports the conclusion that national policies and regulations, which are undergoing constant improvement, and resettlement has increasingly improved. The results provide a reference for hydropower reservoir resettlement in developing countries. PMID:29346305

The Sustainable Development Assessment of Reservoir Resettlement Based on a BP Neural Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Huang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Resettlement affects not only the resettlers’ production activities and life but also, directly or indirectly, the normal operation of power stations, the sustainable development of the resettlers, and regional social stability. Therefore, a scientific evaluation index system for the sustainable development of reservoir resettlement must be established that fits Chinese national conditions and not only promotes reservoir resettlement research but also improves resettlement practice. This essay builds an evaluation index system for resettlers’ sustainable development based on a back-propagation (BP neural network, which can be adopted in China, taking the resettlement necessitated by step hydropower stations along the Wujiang River cascade as an example. The assessment results show that the resettlement caused by step power stations along the Wujiang River is sustainable, and this evaluation supports the conclusion that national policies and regulations, which are undergoing constant improvement, and resettlement has increasingly improved. The results provide a reference for hydropower reservoir resettlement in developing countries.

Efficiency improvement for a sustainable agriculture : the integration of agronomic and farm economics approaches

OpenAIRE

Koeijer, de, T.J.

2002-01-01

Keywords: Sustainable farming systems, Agronomic efficiency, Economic efficiency, Environmental efficiency, Sustainability index, Interdisciplinary analysis.

The objective of the research described in this thesis was to determine what role improved agronomic efficiency can play in the transition towards more sustainable production systems. Agronomic efficiency measures the technical performance. If it could be improved, environmental damage could be reduced while, at the sam...

Improving exergetic and sustainability parameters of a DI diesel engine using polymer waste dissolved in biodiesel as a novel diesel additive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aghbashlo, Mortaza; Tabatabaei, Meisam; Mohammadi, Pouya; Pourvosoughi, Navid; Nikbakht, Ali M.; Goli, Sayed Amir Hossein

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Exergy analysis of diesel engine fuelled with various SBE biodiesel–diesel blends containing EPS. • Profound effect of engine speed and load on exergetic performance parameters of diesel engine. • Selection of B5 containing 50 g EPS/L biodiesel as the best mixture. • Potential application of the applied framework for optimizing sustainability index of IC engines. - Abstract: Exergy analysis of a DI diesel engine running on several biodiesel/diesel blends (B5) containing various quantities of expanded polystyrene (EPS) was carried out. Neat diesel and B5 were also investigated during the engine tests. The biodiesel used was produced using waste oil extracted from spend bleaching earth (SBE). The experiments were conducted to assess the effects of fuel type, engine speed, and load on thermal efficiency, exergetic parameters, and sustainability index of the diesel engine. The obtained results revealed that the exergetic parameters strongly depended on the engine speed and load. Generally, increasing engine speed remarkably decreased the exergy efficiency and sustainability index of the diesel engine. However, increasing engine load initially enhanced the exergy efficiency and sustainability index, while its further augmentation did not profoundly affect these parameters. The maximum exergy efficiency and sustainability index of the diesel engine (i.e. 40.21% and 1.67, respectively) were achieved using B5 containing 50 g EPS/L biodiesel. Generally, the approach presented herein could be a promising strategy for energy recovery from polymer waste, emissions reduction, and performance improvement. The findings of the present study also confirmed that exergy analysis could be employed to minimize the irreversibility and losses occurring in modern engines and to enhance the sustainability index of combustion processes.

Sustainable Agriculture Evaluation for Red Soil Hill Region of Southeast China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHAO Qi-Guo; XU Meng-Jie

2004-01-01

Agricultural sustainability for economic development is important and a complex issue throughout the world; however,it is difficult to synthetically evaluate its use in the policy making process. The objective of this study was to evaluate sustainable agriculture in the red soil hill region of Southeast China through a newly proposed method combining four separate sub-systems: regional population (P), resource (R), environmental (E), and socio-economic (S). This new index system was proposed to appraise synthetically the agricultural sustainability of the red soil hill region from 1988 to 1996 with a two-step method assessing: a) the agricultural sustainability in each province independently and b) the relative sustainability of each province to the whole region. The first step only provided a development trend for each province based on its original situation, while the second step provided additional information on the comparative status of each province in agricultural development to the region as a whole. Higher index scores were found for the economy and resource categories denoting improvement. However, lower scores in the environment category indicated the improvement was achieved at the cost of deteriorating ecological surroundings due to an increasing population that demanded more from the agro-ecosystem and put heavier pressures on it. Results also showed that water and soil losses in this region were the major obstacles encountered in sustainable agriculture development. The assessment results were verified when compared with results from another method. This suggested that the new assessment system was reliable and credible in evaluating agricultural sustainability on a regional scale.

ECO-INNOVATION FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RATIU Mariana

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Eco-innovation is any form of innovation resulting in or aiming at significant and demonstrable progress towards the goal of sustainable development, through reducing impacts on the environment, enhancing resilience to environmental pressures, or achieving a more efficient and responsible use of natural resources. States and governments of the world, different institutions and organizations actively involved and aware in public policies, strategies and actions, reaffirm their commitments and reassess actions in order to achieve a truly sustainable development. In the common vision and the resolutions and other documents of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, the words "environment", "innovation", "green economy" appear very often and almost always along the same context, to achieve the objectives of the sustainable development. The objectives of EU's Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, are being implemented through a number of Flagship Initiatives addressing the main challenges, like “Innovation for a sustainable Future - The Eco-innovation Action Plan (EcoAP”. Eco-innovation Observatory developed the Eco-Innovation index, the first tool to assess and illustrate eco-innovation performance across the EU Member States. Like in all fields, in textiles and leather field, eco-innovation is present and there are a lot of tools available that measure environmental damage and help manufacturers and brands become more sustainable. Eco-innovation is not just a trendy concept but a reality and a necessity nowadays, a way to achieve a sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.

Comparative analysis of countries in the peer-group based on economic potential and components of sustainable development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergii VOITKO

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The authors study levels of sustainable development potential and determine the positions of Ukraine and other countries in the peer-groups [4], based on individual macroeconomic indicators. The research includes a comparative analysis of absolute and relative terms of GDP, industrial production and the index of competitiveness for the countries included to the peer-groups. The authors analyse the position of countries based on the GDP per capita and components of sustainable development (Quality of Life Index and Security of Life Index. In the article, the authors suggest the methodical approach of performing the comparative analysis of peer-group countries based on their indicators values. This approach gives the possibility to investigate the country’s potential in the limits of the chosen peer-group and propose the recommendations for increase of economic potential in purpose of sustainable development achievement.

The Influence of Team Functioning and Workload on Sustainability of Trauma-Focused Evidence-Based Psychotherapies.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohr, David C; Rosen, Craig S; Schnurr, Paula P; Orazem, Robert J; Noorbaloochi, Siamak; Clothier, Barbara A; Eftekhari, Afsoon; Bernardy, Nancy C; Chard, Kathleen M; Crowley, Jill J; Cook, Joan M; Kehle-Forbes, Shannon M; Ruzek, Josef I; Sayer, Nina A

2018-05-25

It has been over a decade since the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began formal dissemination and implementation of two trauma-focused evidence-based psychotherapies (TF-EBPs). The objective of this study was to examine the sustainability of the TF-EBPs and determine whether team functioning and workload were associated with TF-EBP sustainability. This observational study used VA administrative data for 6,251 patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and surveys from 78 providers from 10 purposefully selected PTSD clinical teams located in nine VA medical centers. The outcome was sustainability of TF-EBPs, which was based on British National Health System Sustainability Index scores (possible scores range from 0 to 100.90). Primary predictors included team functioning, workload, and TB-EBP reach to patients with PTSD. Multiple linear regression models were used to examine the influence of team functioning and workload on TF-EBP sustainability after adjustment for covariates that were significantly associated with sustainability. Sustainability Index scores ranged from 53.15 to 100.90 across the 10 teams. Regression models showed that after adjustment for patient and facility characteristics, team functioning was positively associated (B=9.16, psustainability. There was considerable variation across teams in TF-EBP sustainability. The contribution of team functioning and workload to the sustainability of evidence-based mental health care warrants further study.

Implications of adopting a biodiversity-based vulnerability index versus a shoreline environmental sensitivity index on management and policy planning along coastal areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Harik, G; Alameddine, I; Maroun, R; Rachid, G; Bruschi, D; Astiaso Garcia, D; El-Fadel, M

2017-02-01

In this study, a multi-criteria index was developed to assess anthropogenic stressors along the Mediterranean coastline. The index aimed at geo-locating pollution hotspots for informed decision making related to coastal zone management. The index was integrated in a Geographical Information System based geodatabase implemented at several pilot areas along the Northern (Italy and France), Eastern (Lebanon), and Southern (Tunisia) Mediterranean coastlines. The generated stressor maps were coupled with a biodiversity richness index and an environmental sensitivity index to produce vulnerability maps that can form the basis for prioritizing management and mitigation interventions towards the identification of pollution hotspots and the promotion of sustainable coastal zone management. The results identified significant differences between the two assessment methods, which can bias prioritization in decision making and policy planning depending on stakeholders' interests. The discrepancies emphasize the need for transparency and understanding of the underlying foundations behind vulnerability indices and mapping development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sustainability as the key to prioritize investments in public infrastructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pardo-Bosch, Francesc; Aguado, Antonio

2016-01-01

Infrastructure construction, one of the biggest driving forces of the economy nowadays, requires a huge analysis and clear transparency to decide what projects have to be executed with the few resources available. With the aim to provide the public administrations a tool with which they can make their decisions easier, the Sustainability Index of Infrastructure Projects (SIIP) has been defined, with a multi-criteria decision system called MIVES, in order to classify non-uniform investments. This index evaluates, in two inseparable stages, the contribution to the sustainable development of each infrastructure project, analyzing its social, environmental and economic impact. The result of the SIIP allows to decide the order with which projects will be prioritized. The case of study developed proves the adaptability and utility of this tool for the ordinary budget management.

Sustainability as the key to prioritize investments in public infrastructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pardo-Bosch, Francesc, E-mail: francesc.pardo@upc.edu [Departament d' Enginyeria Civil i Ambiental, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - Barcelona Tech. (Spain); Political Science Department, University of California - Berkeley (United States); Aguado, Antonio, E-mail: antonio.aguado@upc.edu [Departament d' Enginyeria Civil i Ambiental, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - Barcelona Tech. (Spain)

2016-09-15

Infrastructure construction, one of the biggest driving forces of the economy nowadays, requires a huge analysis and clear transparency to decide what projects have to be executed with the few resources available. With the aim to provide the public administrations a tool with which they can make their decisions easier, the Sustainability Index of Infrastructure Projects (SIIP) has been defined, with a multi-criteria decision system called MIVES, in order to classify non-uniform investments. This index evaluates, in two inseparable stages, the contribution to the sustainable development of each infrastructure project, analyzing its social, environmental and economic impact. The result of the SIIP allows to decide the order with which projects will be prioritized. The case of study developed proves the adaptability and utility of this tool for the ordinary budget management.

Assessment of sustainable urban transport development based on entropy and unascertained measure.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yancang; Yang, Jing; Shi, Huawang; Li, Yijie

2017-01-01

To find a more effective method for the assessment of sustainable urban transport development, the comprehensive assessment model of sustainable urban transport development was established based on the unascertained measure. On the basis of considering the factors influencing urban transport development, the comprehensive assessment indexes were selected, including urban economical development, transport demand, environment quality and energy consumption, and the assessment system of sustainable urban transport development was proposed. In view of different influencing factors of urban transport development, the index weight was calculated through the entropy weight coefficient method. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted according to the actual condition. Then, the grade was obtained by using the credible degree recognition criterion from which the urban transport development level can be determined. Finally, a comprehensive assessment method for urban transport development was introduced. The application practice showed that the method can be used reasonably and effectively for the comprehensive assessment of urban transport development.

A Sustainability Index of Environmental Dimensions in the Banabuiú River Basin, Banabuiú, CE

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Lucas da Silva

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This work emphasizes the importance of carrying out studies using definitions of parameters that portray local environmental realities according to indices that aid in planning and management of water resources. The methodological procedures involved in the study were based on a bibliographical review and database survey regarding the subject studied in the study area, field visits and the evaluation of the results. The methodology used was adapted from the proposal of Martins and Candido (2008, which uses a set of indicators related to environmental dimensions classified into two groups, one with positive indicators and another with negative indicators. Positive indicators contribute to the improvement of environmental quality of citizens and negative indicators reflect damage to local environmental conditions. Of the municipalities that make up the Banabuiú River basin, 92% have sustainable, potentially sustainable and average sustainable performance. Only the municipality of Monsenhor Tabosa presents low environmental indicators and is potentially unsustainable. However, in all of the municipalities there is clear need for improvement in several indicators, basic sanitation, the collection and disposal of waste, water treatment and sewage treatment. As a result, it is fundamental that these municipalities seek alternatives to improve their environmental indicators and reduce their participation in the environmental degradation of the Banabuiú River basin, and thereby collaborate in their planning and management in a sustainable way.

Governance, Sustainability and Decision Making in Water and Sanitation Management Systems

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Martín Alejandro Iribarnegaray

2012-11-01

Full Text Available We explore the connections between the concepts of governance and sustainability and discuss their possible roles in water and sanitation management systems (WSMS. We see governance as a decision-making process that drives the relationship between social institutions and the public affairs of a given society. We understand sustainability as a combination of spatial, temporal, and personal aspects, and we argue that this definition is more comprehensive than the traditional triple bottom line of economy, environment, and society. We combined these two concepts into a new conceptual framework of “governance for sustainability” that is theoretically sound and arguably appropriate to understand local WSMS. To illustrate this framework, we developed and estimated a Sustainable Water Governance Index (SWGI for the city of Salta, Argentina. This aggregated index was calculated with data from literature, information from the city’s water company and other local institutions, field visits, and interviews. The SWGI for Salta obtained an overall score of 49 on a 0–100 scale, which fell into the “danger” range. We discuss the advantages and limitations of the method and conclude that aggregated indices such as the SWGI, complemented with contextual information, can be a helpful decision-making tool to promote more sustainable WSMS.

Implementation of Financial Sustainability in Organizations through Valuation of Financial Leverage Effect in Russian Practice of Financial Management

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Ashmarina, Svetlana I.; Zotova, Anna S.; Smolina, Ekaterina S.

2016-01-01

The article considers the need of ensuring the sustainable development of organizations in the unstable external environment; financial sustainability which is understood as the optimal structure of funding sources of a business entity is proved to be the most significant factor of sustainable development. The article proves that the index of…

Development of Sustainability Assessment Framework in Hydropower sector

Science.gov (United States)

Soliha Sahimi, Nur; Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina

2017-08-01

Nowadays, Malaysian demand in energy sector was drastically increase due to technological developments. Since, hydropower is one of potential renewable energy source in Malaysia. The largest electricity utility company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad was provide an electricity to more than seven million people via independent suppliers in peninsular Malaysia and Sabah by intended a potential sustainable hydropower system. In order to increasingly the power capacity from current use, 1882 MW to more than 3000 MW by years 2020. In this study, the environmental issues and also the penalty to the responsible company especially on Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) towards their project or business are one of the problems. Other than that, every project or business has to prepare a sustainability statement or sustainability report as vital to Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad under their listing requirements. Next, the sustainability performance on their project cannot be determined to achieve the key performance indicators (KPI) satisfaction from Government, stakeholder or any responsible agencies. This study presents an exhaustive review of these studies and suggests a direction for future developments. Sustainability Assessment framework or self-assessment is decidedly as a significant framework to assist towards sustainability reporting and to produce a Sustainability index for Hydropower sector using a mathematical model study. The results reveal that, the quantitative measurement from Sustainability Assessment framework to Systematic Sustainability Asssesment tool can be produce. In doing so, it is possible to improve the performance of the project especially in hydropower planner.

Evaluation index system of steel industry sustainable development based on entropy method and topsis method

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Ronglian, Yuan; Mingye, Ai; Qiaona, Jia; Yuxuan, Liu

2018-03-01

Sustainable development is the only way for the development of human society. As an important part of the national economy, the steel industry is an energy-intensive industry and needs to go further for sustainable development. In this paper, we use entropy method and Topsis method to evaluate the development of China’s steel industry during the “12th Five-Year Plan” from four aspects: resource utilization efficiency, main energy and material consumption, pollution status and resource reuse rate. And we also put forward some suggestions for the development of China’s steel industry.

Sustainability of Evidence-Based Acute Pain Management Practices for Hospitalized Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Shuman, Clayton J; Xie, Xian-Jin; Herr, Keela A; Titler, Marita G

2017-11-01

Little is known regarding sustainability of evidence-based practices (EBPs) following implementation. This article reports sustainability of evidence-based acute pain management practices in hospitalized older adults following testing of a multifaceted Translating Research Into Practice (TRIP) implementation intervention. A cluster randomized trial with follow-up period was conducted in 12 Midwest U.S. hospitals (six experimental, six comparison). Use of evidence-based acute pain management practices and mean pain intensity were analyzed using generalized estimating equations across two time points (following implementation and 18 months later) to determine sustainability of TRIP intervention effects. Summative Index scores and six of seven practices were sustained. Experimental and comparison group differences for mean pain intensity over 72 hours following admission were sustained. Results revealed most evidence-based acute pain management practices were sustained for 18 months following implementation. Further work is needed to identify factors affecting sustainability of EBPs to guide development and testing of sustainability strategies.

How to use sustainability indicators for tourism planning: the case of rural tourism in Andalusia (Spain).

Science.gov (United States)

Blancas, F J; Lozano-Oyola, M; González, M; Guerrero, F M; Caballero, R

2011-12-15

This paper proposes an indicators system to analyse the sustainability of tourist activity at rural destinations in countries with a consolidated tourism sector. The proposed system aims at providing tourist managers and policy-makers with information to better understand the transition to sustainability at specific destinations and to encourage them to carry out corresponding policy and management responses. To illustrate how indicators can be quantified, we create a practical guideline on how to use the statistical information available. Likewise, we suggest a method for obtaining sustainability indexes by aggregation that reduces the subjectivity associated with the composite indicator. This procedure is based on the combination of principal component analysis and distance to a reference point. Together with the definition of sustainable tourism indicators, we explain how to use these systems and sustainability indexes to fulfil three practical uses in tourism sector planning: the comparison and characterisation of destinations, the definition of benchmarking practices, and the quantification of sustainable tourism objectives. Each practical use is illustrated using the case of rural zones in a consolidated destination such as Andalusia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessing Various Aspects of Sustainability in Wheat and Pistachio Agro-ecosystems of Kerman Province

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Mehdi Naghizadeh

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction Agricultural sustainability is the ability of an agro-ecosystem to either maintain or to implement the productive characteristics and taking into consideration both the ecological-environmental and socio-economic aspects. Sustainable agriculture implies long term maintenance of natural systems, optimal production with minimum input, adequate income per farming unit, fulfillment of basic food needs, and provision for the demands and necessities of rural families and communities. All definitions of sustainable agriculture promote environmental, economic and social harmony in an effort to attain the meaning of sustainability. The purpose of this study was to develop a sustainability index for quantifying the different aspects of sustainability as economical, social, agronomical and management for wheat and pistachio production systems which are dominant systems in Kerman province. Materials and Methods In the present study all aspects of agricultural sustainability including ecological, social and economic was selected..Accordingly, the sustainability index, a set of 82 indicators for wheat and pistachio crops were designed, to collect data through questionnaires and then analyze it. Sustainability indices include socio-economic indices, fertilizer and chemicals, crops and livestock production, crop residue management, irrigation water, diversity of agricultural systems, mechanization, tillage and weed management in the main cultivation area in 2014 and 2015 were analyzed. Sustainability index was calculated using the weighting sum. Therefore the rate of contribution for each specific indicator in the final index and rating of all indicators were done from zero to its maximum rated indicators with regard to the most unfavorable situation to the most favorable indicators. After scoring each measure, the total scores of indicators is accumulated and was introduced as the final score. After designing the indicators, 295 and 234

Evaluating national environmental sustainability: performance measures and influential factors for OECD-member countries featuring Canadian performance and policy implications

OpenAIRE

Calbick, Kenneth Stuart

2011-01-01

This research reviews five studies that evaluate national environmental sustainability with composite indices; performs uncertainty and sensitivity analyses of techniques for building a composite index; completes principal components factor analysis to help build subindices measuring waste and pollution, sustainable energy, sustainable food, nature conservation, and sustainable cities (Due to its current importance, the greenhouse gases (GHG) indicator is included individually as another poli...

The method and index of sustainability assessment of infrastructure projects based on system dynamics in China

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Jun Zhou

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: As one of the most important overhead capital of urban economics and social development, the sustainable development of urban infrastructure is becoming a key issue of prosperous society growing. The purpose of this paper is to establish a basic model to analysis certain infrastructure project’s sustainable construction and operation. Design/methodology/approach: System dynamics is an effective stimulation method and tool to deal with such complex, dynamics, nonlinear systems, which could be used in analyzing and evaluating all aspects of infrastructure sustainability internally and externally. In this paper, the system is divided into four subsystems and 12 main impact indicators. Through setting the boundary and other basic hypothesis, this paper designs the basic causal loop diagrams and stock & flow diagrams to describe the relationship between variables and establish a quantifiable structure for the system. Findings: Adopting a sewerage treatment in China as a case to test our model, we could conclude that the model of internal sustainable subsystem is reasonable. However, this model is a basic model, and it need to be specific designed for the certain project due to the diversity of infrastructure types and the unique conditions of each projects. Originality/value: System Dynamics (SD is widely used in the study of sustainable development and has plentiful research achievements from macro perspective but few studies in the microcosmic project systems. This paper focuses on the unique characteristics of urban infrastructure in China and selects infrastructure project which is based on micro-system discussion. The model we designed has certain practical significance in policy setting, operation monitoring and adjustment of the urban projects with high rationality and accuracy.

Who will have Sustainable Employment After a Back Injury? The Development of a Clinical Prediction Model in a Cohort of Injured Workers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shearer, Heather M.; Côté, Pierre; Boyle, Eleanor

2017-01-01

to develop the predictive models. We constructed receiver operator curves and used the c-index to measure predictive accuracy. Results Seventy-nine percent and 77 % of workers had sustainable employment at 1 and 6 months, respectively. Sustainable employment at 1 month was predicted by initial back pain...... intensity, mental health-related quality of life, claim litigation and employer type (c-index = 0.77). At 6 months, sustainable employment was predicted by physical and mental health-related quality of life, claim litigation and employer type (c-index = 0.77). Adding health-related and work......-related variables to models improved predictive accuracy by 8.5 and 10 % at 1 and 6 months respectively. Conclusion We developed clinically-relevant models to predict sustainable employment in injured workers who made a workers’ compensation claim for LBP. Inquiring about back pain intensity, physical and mental...

A Sustainable Historic Waterfront Revitalization Decision Support Tool for Attracting Tourists

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Ali Keyvanfar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Waterfront revitalization would be an effective strategy to preserve heritages, conserve the contaminated or abandoned site and inspire the identity and authenticity. However, there is no decision support tool to quantify and evaluate the sustainability accreditation of waterfronts in tourism attraction. This research aimed to identify the most potential waterfront typology in tourism attraction and develop the waterfront sustainable revitalization (SWR index assessment model. The SWR index can assist policy makers and urban developers to analyze the heritage waterfronts using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP method. The research found out the historic waterfront has the highest potential in tourism attraction among other typologies. And, pollution moderator is mostly important sub-criterion in tourism absorption (WC2.2 = 0.1294; followed by Identity (WC1.2 = 0.1272 and Safety and well-being (WC1.3 = 0.1043. The SWR index can be applied in any waterfronts in heritage cities around the world, while this research implemented it as a case study in Bandar Maharani, Muar, Malaysia. It resulted Bandar Maharani was ranked as grade C; means, usable waterfront to which extent environmental, social and physical revitalization are needed. The SWR index can be coupled with other decision-making methods in future, to reduce its inconsistencies and increasing accuracy.

PERFORMANCE OF TRADITIONAL INVESTMENT FUNDS AND ETFs LINKED TO SUSTAINABILITY AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

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Elisângela de Magalhães Soares

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to compare the performance of traditional investment funds and Exchange traded funds (ETFs, which benchmarks are Ibovespa, IBrX and Sustainability Indexes, as well as free funds using daily frequency data covering the period from 20 June 2012 to 31 October 2013. The survey is descriptive with a quantitative approach. Analyses were performed using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM and the Sharpe Ratio (1966. In order to obtain an index of ETFs linked to sustainability, the nomenclature and prospectus of each ETF were analyzed to see which ones were linked to this sector. Then the average return of these funds was calculated, weighted by its Net Asset Value, generating a series of the same period and frequency of others. The results show that the funds linked to sustainability and corporate governance indices are one of the best investment options, surpassed only by free funds.

Nature's role in sustaining economic development.

Science.gov (United States)

Dasgupta, Partha

2010-01-12

In this paper, I formalize the idea of sustainable development in terms of intergenerational well-being. I then sketch an argument that has recently been put forward formally to demonstrate that intergenerational well-being increases over time if and only if a comprehensive measure of wealth per capita increases. The measure of wealth includes not only manufactured capital, knowledge and human capital (education and health), but also natural capital (e.g. ecosystems). I show that a country's comprehensive wealth per capita can decline even while gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increases and the UN Human Development Index records an improvement. I then use some rough and ready data from the world's poorest countries and regions to show that during the period 1970-2000 wealth per capita declined in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, even though the Human Development Index (HDI) showed an improvement everywhere and GDP per capita increased in all places (except in sub-Saharan Africa, where there was a slight decline). I conclude that, as none of the development indicators currently in use is able to reveal whether development has been, or is expected to be, sustainable, national statistical offices and international organizations should now routinely estimate the (comprehensive) wealth of nations.

Lo sviluppo come fenomeno multidimensionale. Confronto tra l’ISU e un indice di sviluppo sostenibile (Development as Multi-dimensional Phenomenon: Comparison between the HDI and an Index of Sustainable Development

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Paolo Palazzi

2004-09-01

Full Text Available On the basis of the UNDP data used to calculate the Human Development Index (HDI, the paper applies a methodology to determine a different development index able to show disequilibria between the different aspects of development (in this case income, life expectancy and education. The basic idea is that the concept of total substitutability between the variables utilized to calculate the HDI must be abandoned, and it is therefore important to take into account the unbalance between the various aspects characterizing the development level when calculating the index. The author utilizes the concept of the social sustainability of development over time, assuming that it will show a higher value with a more even balance between the various aspects of development. The concave average methodology proposed in Casadio Tarabusi ePalazzi (2004 is able to "penalize" development levels proportionally to the disequilibrium of the variables utilized to measure it. In the paper the new indicator is calculated for 162 countries for the years 1997-2001. Comparison between HDI and the new index shows notable differences not only in the ranking of the countries, but also in the time dynamics of the two indicators, now of the opposite sign for many countries. Finally, utilizing multivariate statistical analysis the presence of disequilibria in the various countries is evidenced together with their dynamics over time.

Toward Sustainable Brownfield Redevelopment Using Life-Cycle Thinking

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I-Chun Chen

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The redevelopment of brownfields has become an important issue, as the number of contaminated sites has been increasing. However, a comprehensive regulatory framework is lacking that includes urban planning and a sustainability plan at the national level to support brownfield redevelopment in Taiwan. Few studies have explored sustainable management objectives to reduce the environmental impact of increasing economic value of the proliferating redeveloped brownfields. This study proposes a feasible definition for “brownfield” in Taiwan and analyzes the remediation goals to enable their inclusion in future land-use categories for urban planning. In order to rank the various options for brownfield development by sustainability, this study evaluates the external costs and benefits based on the environmental impact. Finally, the brownfield sustainability index (BSI was developed to determine the feasibility of sustainable redevelopment relevant to the different land reuse scenarios. For the selected study site, the option of green land with solar energy (ground P-Si panels was determined to be the best choice compared with the commercial, residential, and industrial scenarios. This study provides a framework for planning brownfield assessment strategies to address the current soil and groundwater remediation and land use policy issues in Taiwan.

Measuring the sustainability of a natural system by using multi-criteria distance function methods: Some critical issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz-Balteiro, L; Belavenutti, P; Ezquerro, M; González-Pachón, J; Ribeiro Nobre, S; Romero, C

2018-05-15

There is an important body of literature using multi-criteria distance function methods for the aggregation of a battery of sustainability indicators in order to obtain a composite index. This index is considered to be a proxy of the sustainability goodness of a natural system. Although this approach has been profusely used in the literature, it is not exempt from difficulties and potential pitfalls. Thus, in this paper, a significant number of critical issues have been identified showing different procedures capable of avoiding, or at least of mitigating, the inherent potential pitfalls associated with each one. The recommendations made in the paper could increase the theoretical soundness of the multi-criteria distance function methods when this type of approach is applied in the sustainability field, thus increasing the accuracy and realism of the sustainability measurements obtained. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Establishment and Application of a Labor Quality Index: The Case of Taiwan's Manufacturing Industry

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San,Gee; Huang, Tung-Chun; Huang, Li-Hsuan

2006-01-01

The labor quality index (LQI) not only serves as an important reference for monitoring the progress of the sustainable development of a country, but it can also serve as an important parameter for economic analysis. To compile such an index for Taiwan, we conducted two large-scale surveys of 1000 major enterprises and 844 union leaders,…

Efficiency and Sustainability of CSR Projects

OpenAIRE

Bosch Badia, Maria Teresa; Montllor Serrats, Joan; Tarrazón Rodón, Ma. Antonia

2017-01-01

The progressive expansion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been accompanied by an increasing interest from regulators and market analysts. Governments and supra-national organisations have issued guidance rules on CSR, while market analysts have created a set of gatekeepers focused on its evaluation, publishing rankings and comparative reports. The UN Global Compact and the sustainability indexes are two relevant examples. The complexity and some of the functions of this CSR infra...

Natural resources sustainability: iron ore mining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De La Torre de Palacios, Luis

2011-01-01

In the present article, a new tool to determine environmental sustainability, the energy impact index (EII) was developed to classify different iron mine projects according to two main parameters including energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. The EII considers the characteristics of the mineral (such as the quality, size, hardness, iron ore grade, reducibility, mineral/waste rate, and type of deposit), mining processes (type of exploitation, ore processing, available technology), and transportation (distance to cover).

GREEN CONCEPTS AND MATERIAL FLOW COST ACCOUNTING APPLICATION FOR COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY

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Rochman Marota

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Health equipment and furniture become a complementary factor for good health services to the communities. Management of health equipment and furniture is started by manufacturers within the industry scope and sustainable business processes. This study aimed to apply green concepts and MFCA at PT XYZ, and to analyze their effects on the dimensions of the company sustainability. To measure the effects of green concepts and MFCA on the dimensions of corporate sustainability, a multiple regression analysis was used. The analysis showed that they gave significant effects from the results of the F test, t test and probability test. From these results, a number of suggestions for improvement of production process performance as managerial implications for maintaining the stability of the company sustainability index were formulated.Keywords: efficiency and effectiveness of production cost, green concepts, the company sustainability, material flow cost accounting

Measuring Sustainability within the Veterans Administration Mental Health System Redesign Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, James H.; Krahn, Dean; Wise, Meg; Oliver, Karen Anderson

2011-01-01

Objective To examine how attributes affecting sustainability differ across VHA organizational components and by staff characteristics. Subjects Surveys of 870 change team members and 50 staff interviews within the VA’s Mental Health System Redesign initiative. Methods A one-way ANOVA with a Tukey post-hoc test examined differences in sustainability by VISN, job classification, and tenure from staff survey data of the Sustainability Index. Qualitative interviews used an iterative process to identify “a priori” and “in vivo” themes. A simple stepwise linear regression explored predictors of sustainability. Results Sustainability differed across VISN and staff tenure. Job classification differences existed for: 1) Benefits and Credibility of the change and 2) staff involvement and attitudes toward change. Sustainability barriers were: staff and institutional resistance, and non-supportive leadership. Facilitators were: commitment to veterans, strong leadership, and use of QI Tools. Sustainability predictors were outcomes tracking, regular reporting, and use of PDSA cycles. Conclusions Creating homogeneous implementation and sustainability processes across a national health system is difficult. Despite the VA’s best evidence-based implementation efforts, there was significant variance. Locally tailored interventions might better support sustainability than “one-size-fits all” approaches. Further research is needed to understand how participation in a QI collaborative affects sustainability. PMID:21971024

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING QUALITY OF INDIAN AND AMERICAN MANUFACTURING FIRMS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

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Diganta Munshi

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The content analysis method has been adopted to study the pattern of reporting on sustainability indicators by 10 American and 10 Indian manufacturing firms in their sustainability reports prepared as per the GRI framework and published during 2011-2013. Scores of 2, 1 and 0 have been respectively assigned for full, partial and non disclosure of sub clauses of economic, environmentand social indicators to compute a SDI (sustainability disclosure index. Independent t test found a significant difference in the quality of sustainability disclosure of the sampled American and Indian manufacturing firms during 2011-13. The improvement/ deterioration in the quality of disclosure over the period were correlated with changes in performance parameters like EPS and ROA to examine if betterment in quality of sustainability reporting translates into financial performance of the firms. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the variables which explain the variation in the sustainability reporting quality of firms.

A Resource Sharing Mechanism for Sustainable Production in the Garment Industry

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Ke Ma

2017-12-01

Full Text Available With the development of mass customization, the traditional garment production model needs to be optimized to have a more sustainable structure. To meet demand for flexibility, low-cost, and high-efficiency, an innovative resource sharing mechanism was proposed in this paper to form a new sustainable type of garment production. Different from the individual production in traditional models, the new mechanism involves resources being shared among various manufacturers. The tradeoff between positive and negative effects of the proposed mechanism is a key issue for sustainable production. In the present study, an overall sustainable index, integrating four production performance indicators, was defined on the basis of an Analytical Network Process to assess various production scenarios. According to the discrete-event simulation results of the different scenarios, we found that garment manufacturers could obtain comprehensive improvements in sustainable production by implementing the proposed resource sharing mechanism under the threshold of an increasing production failure rate.

Communicating Sustainability: An Operational Model for Evaluating Corporate Websites

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Alfonso Siano

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The interest in corporate sustainability has increased rapidly in recent years and has encouraged organizations to adopt appropriate digital communication strategies, in which the corporate website plays a key role. Despite this growing attention in both the academic and business communities, models for the analysis and evaluation of online sustainability communication have not been developed to date. This paper aims to develop an operational model to identify and assess the requirements of sustainability communication in corporate websites. It has been developed from a literature review on corporate sustainability and digital communication and the analysis of the websites of the organizations included in the “Global CSR RepTrak 2015” by the Reputation Institute. The model identifies the core dimensions of online sustainability communication (orientation, structure, ergonomics, content—OSEC, sub-dimensions, such as stakeholder engagement and governance tools, communication principles, and measurable items (e.g., presence of the materiality matrix, interactive graphs. A pilot study on the websites of the energy and utilities companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index 2015 confirms the applicability of the OSEC framework. Thus, the model can provide managers and digital communication consultants with an operational tool that is useful for developing an industry ranking and assessing the best practices. The model can also help practitioners to identify corrective actions in the critical areas of digital sustainability communication and avoid greenwashing.

Lo sviluppo come fenomeno multidimensionale. Confronto tra l’ISU e un indice di sviluppo sostenibile (Development as Multi-dimensional Phenomenon: Comparison between the HDI and an Index of Sustainable Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paolo Palazzi

2012-04-01

Full Text Available On the basis of the UNDP data used to calculate the Human Development Index (HDI, the paper applies a methodology to determine a different development index able to show disequilibria between the different aspects of development (in this case income, life expectancy and education. The basic idea is that the concept of total substitutability between the variables utilized to calculate the HDI must be abandoned, and it is therefore important to take into account the unbalance between the various aspects characterizing the development level when calculating the index. The author utilizes the concept of the social sustainability of development over time, assuming that it will show a higher value with a more even balance between the various aspects of development. The concave average methodology proposed in Casadio Tarabusi ePalazzi (2004 is able to "penalize" development levels proportionally to the disequilibrium of the variables utilized to measure it. In the paper the new indicator is calculated for 162 countries for the years 1997-2001. Comparison between HDI and the new index shows notable differences not only in the ranking of the countries, but also in the time dynamics of the two indicators, now of the opposite sign for many countries. Finally, utilizing multivariate statistical analysis the presence of disequilibria in the various countries is evidenced together with their dynamics over time.  JEL Codes: C43, O10, O15, Q01Keywords: Development, Education, Human Development, Indice

THE SUSTAINABILITY FACTOR AND THE SPANISH PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM

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Alicia de las Heras Camino

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The sustainability factor is a tool for which the main goal is to contribute to the solvency of Social Security. In Spain, it has been articulated by a Sustainability factor, based on a life expectancy ratio, and a Pension Revaluation Index that replaces the Consumer Price Index for revaluation. However, as outlined in this article, the alternatives chosen are not exempt from uncertainty in their practical application nor are they the only possibility of action. El factor de sostenibilidad es una herramienta cuyo objetivo prioritario es contribuir a la solvencia de la Seguridad Social. En España se ha articulado mediante un Factor de sostenibilidad basado en el cociente de esperanzas de vida y un Índice de revalorización de pensiones que sustituye en dicha revalorización al Índice de Precios al Consumo. Sin embargo, tal y como se expone en este artículo, las alternativas escogidas no están exentas de incertidumbre en su aplicación práctica ni son la única posibilidad de acción.

Measurement and evaluation of sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kondyli, Julia

2010-01-01

This paper develops a methodology to analyse, measure and evaluate sustainable development (SD). A holistic approach (systems analysis) is applied to operationalise the SD concept and an integrated approach (composite indicator construction) is adopted for the measurement of SD. The operationalisation of the SD concept is based on an in-depth systems analysis of issues associated with economic, social and environmental problems in a policy context. The composite indicator (overall sustainability index) is developed based on the three composite sub-indicators of the SD dimensions. The valuation of the SD is based both on the aggregated sub-indicators and the overall composite indicator. The methodology is used to evaluate the SD of the North Aegean islands between different temporal points. The assessment of the change in the islands' SD is based on a quartile grading scale of the overall SD composite scores.

Multidimensional Scaling Approach to Evaluate the Level of Community Forestry Sustainability in Babak Watershed, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara

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Ryke Nandini

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Community forestry in Babak watershed is one of the efforts to reduce critical land area. The aim of this research was to evaluate the level of community forestry sustainability in both of community forest (HKm and private forest in Babak watershed. Multidimensional scaling (MDS was used to analyse the level of community forest sustainability based on the five dimensions of ecology, economy, social, institutional, and technology as well as 29 attributes. Leverage analysis was used to know the sensitive attributes of sustainability, while Monte Carlo analysis and goodness of fit was used to find the accuracy of MDS analysis. The result shows that HKm was in moderate sustainability level (sustainability index 54.08% and private forest was in less sustainability level (sustainability index 48.53%. Furthermore, the ecology and technology in HKm were classified as less sustainable, while the institution and technology in private forest were considered less sustainable. There were 11 sensitive attributes of HKm and 19 sensitive attributes of private forest. The priorities of attribute improvement in HKm include land recovering (the dimension of ecology and cooperative development (the dimension of technology. In private forest, the priorities of attribute improvement include leadership capacity building (the institutional dimension and also the use of silviculture intensive and soil conservation (the dimension of technology.

World congress on sustainable development: engineering and technological challenges of 21st century. Technical V. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

Sustainable development as a concept came to force only after the developed nations started getting undesirable fallout of development on local and global environment due to indiscriminate resource exploitation. The concept of sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. This volume contains some papers dealing with sustainable development in energy sector. The papers relevant to INIS is indexed separately

Regional Sustainable Development Analysis Based on Information Entropy—Sichuan Province as an Example

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xuedong; Si, Dongyang; Zhang, Xinli

2017-01-01

According to the implementation of a scientific development perspective, sustainable development needs to consider regional development, economic and social development, and the harmonious development of society and nature, but regional sustainable development is often difficult to quantify. Through an analysis of the structure and functions of a regional system, this paper establishes an evaluation index system, which includes an economic subsystem, an ecological environmental subsystem and a social subsystem, to study regional sustainable development capacity. A sustainable development capacity measure model for Sichuan Province was established by applying the information entropy calculation principle and the Brusselator principle. Each subsystem and entropy change in a calendar year in Sichuan Province were analyzed to evaluate Sichuan Province’s sustainable development capacity. It was found that the established model could effectively show actual changes in sustainable development levels through the entropy change reaction system, at the same time this model could clearly demonstrate how those forty-six indicators from the three subsystems impact on the regional sustainable development, which could make up for the lack of sustainable development research. PMID:29027982

Regional Sustainable Development Analysis Based on Information Entropy-Sichuan Province as an Example.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xuedong; Si, Dongyang; Zhang, Xinli

2017-10-13

According to the implementation of a scientific development perspective, sustainable development needs to consider regional development, economic and social development, and the harmonious development of society and nature, but regional sustainable development is often difficult to quantify. Through an analysis of the structure and functions of a regional system, this paper establishes an evaluation index system, which includes an economic subsystem, an ecological environmental subsystem and a social subsystem, to study regional sustainable development capacity. A sustainable development capacity measure model for Sichuan Province was established by applying the information entropy calculation principle and the Brusselator principle. Each subsystem and entropy change in a calendar year in Sichuan Province were analyzed to evaluate Sichuan Province's sustainable development capacity. It was found that the established model could effectively show actual changes in sustainable development levels through the entropy change reaction system, at the same time this model could clearly demonstrate how those forty-six indicators from the three subsystems impact on the regional sustainable development, which could make up for the lack of sustainable development research.

[Environmental health and inequalities: building indicators for sustainable development].

Science.gov (United States)

Carneiro, Fernando Ferreira; Franco Netto, Guilherme; Corvalan, Carlos; de Freitas, Carlos Machado; Sales, Luiz Belino Ferreira

2012-06-01

Despite its progress in terms of socio-economic indicators, Brazil is still unequal, which is due to an unequal and exclusionary historical process. In this paper we selected the Human Development Index - HDI and other social, economic, environmental and health indicators to exemplify this situation. We selected the municipalities that had the lowest HDI in the country in 2000 comparing their evolution over time between 2000 and 2010 by means of indicators linked to the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainable development. These municipalities have an HDI classified as low (sustainable development with quality of life, the improvement of sanitation and education indicators should be a priority for Brazil.

Sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chein-Chi; DiGiovanni, Kimberly; Mei, Ying; Wei, Li

2016-10-01

This review on Sustainability covers selected 2015 publications on the focus of Sustainability. It is divided into the following sections : • Sustainable water and wastewater utilities • Sustainable water resources management • Stormwater and green infrastructure • Sustainability in wastewater treatment • Life cycle assessment (LCA) applications • Sustainability and energy in wastewater industry, • Sustainability and asset management.

Sustainability assessment of cogeneration sector development in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liposcak, Marko; Afgan, Naim H.; Duic, Neven; Graca Carvalho, Maria da

2006-01-01

The effective and rational energy generation and supply is one of the main presumptions of sustainable development. Combined heat and power production, or co-generation, has clear environmental advantages by increasing energy efficiency and decreasing carbon emissions. However, higher investment cost and more complicated design and maintenance sometimes-present disadvantages from the economical viability point of view. As in the case of most of economies in transition in Central and Eastern Europe, Croatia has a strong but not very efficient co-generation sector, delivering 12% of the final energy consumption. District heating systems in the country's capital Zagreb and in city of Osijek represent the large share of the overall co-generation capacity. Besides district heating, co-generation in industry sector is also relatively well developed. The paper presents an attempt to assess the sustainability of Croatian co-generation sector future development. The sustainability assessment requires multi-criteria assessment of specific scenarios to be taken into consideration. In this respect three scenarios of Croatian co-generation sector future development are taken into consideration and for each of them environmental, social and economic sustainability indicators are defined and calculated. The assessment of complex relationships between environmental, social and economic aspects of the system is based on the multi-criteria decision-making procedure. The sustainability assessment is based on the General Sustainability Index rating for different cases reflecting different criteria and their priority. The method of sustainability assessment is applied to the Croatian co-generation sector contributing to the evaluation of different strategies and definition of a foundation for policy related to the sustainable future cogeneration sector development

Towards an Urban Resilience Index: A Case Study in 50 Spanish Cities

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Marta Suárez

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Urbanization is a major driver of land use change and global environmental decline. With accelerated urbanization worldwide, it is essential to put in place new policies to conserve urban ecosystems, species and the services these provide in order to secure more sustainable, resilient and livable cities for the 21st century. In urban planning, the concept of resilience has broadly replaced the word sustainability. In recent years, resilience indicators have been gradually developed, but few address urban resilience from a social-ecological systems perspective. We develop a methodological framework to measure urban resilience, define an urban resilience index and apply it to Spanish province capitals as a case study. Results show that most Spanish province capitals are far from being resilient. We conclude that increased efforts to measure urban resilience should be in place, and we offer the urban resilience index as a theoretical framework for measuring resilience in urban social-ecological systems that can be gradually improved as more data become available.

MANAGEMENT OF A COMPANY’S ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY IN THE PROCESS OF INNOVATIVE PROJECTS IMPLEMENTATION

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Juliana M. Sulejmanova

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to management of a company’s sustainability in the process of innovative projects implementation. The author suggests using dynamic index named aggregated index of a company’s economic stability. Criteria of choosing innovative projects to be implemented are worked out. These criteria add traditional estimation and take into account changing company’s economic stability at every stage of project lifecycle.

Ecological Sustainability of a Wheat-cotton Agroecosystem in Khorassan

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abdolmajid mahdavi damghani

2009-06-01

Full Text Available In order to develop a sustainability index (SI for quantifying the sustainability of a wheat-cotton agroecosystem, a study was conducted in 2003 in the Khorassan province. Data of socio-economic, agronomic and ecological indicators were collected using 518 questionnaires. Results showed that only 18.6 percent of farmers gained the half or more of SI scores. The mean SI score was 44.0 which indicate that these agroecosystems are not sustainable. Results of this study are in consistent with other reports in other regions of the country. Livestock production, crop production, and water and irrigation indicators had the lowest score (6, 31, and 37, respectively. The backward stepwise regression analysis indicated that SI can be predicted from a linear combination of field size, wheat yield, crop residue management, crop income and education and extension services, while application of chemical fertilizers did not add to the prediction ability of SI. Results also showed that any progress in farmers’ education, economic viability, crop production management and water use efficiency could improve overall sustainability of these agroecosystems substantially.

Sustainable Global Competitiveness Model as a New Strategic Opportunity for the Companies in Slovakia

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Šnircová Jana

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Dealing with global competitiveness is nowadays the strategic issue for the Slovak companies in context of sustainability. It means for managers of company to define new future strategic goals, to identify current position in global market, primarily to focus the strategy on sustainable global competitiveness and to assess the competitiveness in new way regarding sustainability and social corporate responsibility. The aim of this paper is to present the contribution to holistic micro and macro economical view on competitiveness of company in context of sustainable development in global environment. The introduced sustainable global competitiveness model is based on our experiences within the research in manufacturing companies in Slovakia. It is a visualization of enterprise as a system with all relation performing in its environment. Sustainable global competitiveness model comprises the three pillar principle of the sustainable development, modified Porter´s value chain, and economical environment represented with Global Competitiveness Index (GCI and other factors of environment which influence the company.

Sustainable and Resilient Garment Supply Chain Network Design with Fuzzy Multi-Objectives under Uncertainty

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Sonia Irshad Mari

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Researchers and practitioners are taking more interest in developing sustainable garment supply chains in recent times. On the other hand, the supply chain manager drops sustainability objectives while coping with unexpected natural and man-made disruption risks. Hence, supply chain managers are now trying to develop sustainable supply chains that are simultaneously resilient enough to cope with disruption risks. Owing to the importance of the considered issue, this study proposed a network optimization model for a sustainable and resilient supply chain network by considering sustainability via embodied carbon footprints and carbon emissions and resilience by considering resilience index. In this paper, initially, a possibilistic fuzzy multi-objective sustainable and resilient supply chain network model is developed for the garment industry considering economic, sustainable, and resilience objectives. Secondly, a possibilistic fuzzy linguistic weight-based interactive solution method is proposed. Finally, a numerical case example is presented to show the applicability of the proposed model and solution methodology.

Food Sustainable Model Development: An ANP Approach to Prioritize Sustainable Factors in the Romanian Natural Soft Drinks Industry Context

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Răzvan Cătalin Dobrea

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The latest developments in natural soft drinks in the Romanian market signal significant changes in consumers’ perceptions of the sustainability concept. While the necessity of preserving natural resources and ensuring a decent level of healthiness seem to be steadily embraced by the Romanian society, the lack of long enough time series to acknowledge this shift render impossible a traditional econometric validation of these recent trends in economic thinking. The large number of European-funded projects for upgrading technology in the Romanian sector of natural soft drinks raises the question whether the learning by doing effect dispersed into the Romanian managers’ investment decision making from the perspective of both economic and food sustainability. This paper presents the construction and the evaluation of an Analytical Network Process (ANP market share model, which emerged from extended in-depth interviews with 10 managers of the main Romanian natural soft drinks producers. This model differs from traditional market share ANP ones since concepts like either food of economic sustainability were considered as significant driving factors. The coincidence between the estimated market share and the actual one, expressed by Saaty’s compatibility index, validate this model and offer comparative numerical weights’ of importance for food or economic sustainability.

Role of exergy in increasing efficiency and sustainability and reducing environmental impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosen, Marc A.; Dincer, Ibrahim; Kanoglu, Mehmet

2008-01-01

The use of exergy is described as a measure for identifying and explaining the benefits of sustainable energy and technologies, so the benefits can be clearly understood and appreciated by experts and non-experts alike, and the utilization of sustainable energy and technologies can be increased. Exergy can be used to assess and improve energy systems, and can help better understand the benefits of utilizing green energy by providing more useful and meaningful information than energy provides. Exergy clearly identifies efficiency improvements and reductions in thermodynamic losses attributable to more sustainable technologies. A new sustainability index is developed as a measure of how exergy efficiency affects sustainable development. Exergy can also identify better than energy the environmental benefits and economics of energy technologies. The results suggest that exergy should be utilized by engineers and scientists, as well as decision and policy makers, involved in green energy and technologies in tandem with other objectives and constraints

MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH FOR DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE DRAINAGE IN MALANG RESIDENTIAL AREA INDONESIA

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HAPSARI Ratih Indri

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Environmentally sound approach for sustainable urban drainage could promote infiltration and lower the risk of flooding. This study presents the framework to evaluate the drainage alternatives considering multiple aspects including water quantity, life cycle cost and amenity. This approach is verified through application at a residential area in Malang city Indonesia. Different combinations of drainage components comprising of drainage channels, infiltration wells and biopore absorption holes are assessed regarding runoff reduction, present value of life cycle cost, and willingness to pay for the convenience. The first part describes the effective designs of sustainable drainage components in the houses as well as in the public spaces of the housing. The second part of this study describes the use of analytic hierarchy process for weight assignment of sustainability criteria and multiple benefit calculation. The study recommends infiltration wells and biopore absorption holes together with drainage channels as the best management practice of sustainable drainage system based on its overall sustainability index.

Climate Risk and Production Shocks: Using Index Insurance to Link Climate Science to Policy for Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

McCarney, G. R.; Osgood, D. E.

2011-12-01

Smallholder farmers in developing countries are often severely impacted by droughts and other climate related events. However, agricultural insurance programs are largely unavailable in lower-income countries because of limitations in traditional loss-based indemnity insurance. As a result, it is often the case that farmers who are the most vulnerable to climate shocks lack access to the insurance tools that could help to reduce their production risk. Index insurance, a recent financial innovation, has the potential to increase access to insurance for smallholder farmers (Barrett et al. 2007). Index insurance allows farmers to insure their production risk based on a weather index (such as total seasonal rainfall) rather than on crop yields. The use of a weather index addresses many of the perverse incentive problems found in traditional crop insurance, and greatly reduces the costs of insuring smallholder farmers. The trade-off in index insurance, however, is limited accuracy in calibrating payouts to actual losses, a phenomenon commonly known as basis risk. While index insurance has promise as a risk-smoothing instrument, many argue it has greater promise as a mechanism for improving access to credit for smallholder farmers in developing countries (e.g. Barnett, Barrett & Skees 2008). In these areas, farmers are often fully exposed to climate shocks, which greatly affect their willingness to borrow. By smoothing the uncertainty in climate shocks, insurance may allow farmers to take credit for productive risks. There has been much discussion as to the optimal strategy for combining index insurance with credit, specifically if the financial institutions or the individual farmers themselves should hold the insurance policy. Many existing insurance implementations insure the farmer directly. However, since a weather index is a proxy for yield loss based on regional data, there is basis risk due to uninsured idiosyncratic differences between farmers. As a response to

Global Insights Based on the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI

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Mark Howells

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Energy access metrics are needed to track the progress towards providing sustainable energy for all. This paper presents advancements in the development of the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI, as well as results and analysis for a number of developing countries. The MEPI is a composite index designed to shed light on energy poverty by assessing the services that modern energy provides. The index captures both the incidence and intensity of energy poverty. It provides valuable insights–allowing the analysis of determinants of energy poverty–and, subsequently insights into policy efficacy. Building on previous work, this paper presents results obtained as a result of both increased data availability and enhanced methodology. Specifically, this analysis (i includes an increased number of countries, and (ii tracks the evolution of energy poverty over time of energy poverty in selected countries is reported.

A Multi-Criteria Index for Ecological Evaluation of Tropical Agriculture in Southeastern Mexico

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huerta, E.; Kampichler, C.; Ochoa-Gaona, S.; Jong, de B.; Hernandez-Daumas, S.; Geissen, V.

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to generate an easy to use index to evaluate the ecological state of agricultural land from a sustainability perspective. We selected environmental indicators, such as the use of organic soil amendments (green manure) versus chemical fertilizers, plant biodiversity

Comprehensive Sustainability Evaluation of High-Speed Railway (HSR Construction Projects Based on Unascertained Measure and Analytic Hierarchy Process

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Yongzhi Chang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to evaluate the sustainability of high-speed railway (HSR construction projects in a comprehensive manner. To this end, the author established an index system, involving 4 primary indices, 9 secondary indices, and 32 tertiary indices. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP and the unascertained measure were introduced to calculate the weights of these indices. Then, the index system was applied to evaluate the sustainability of the China’s Harbin-Dalian Passenger Dedicated Line (PDL. The results show that the Harbin-Dalian PDL project achieved good results in terms of process, economic benefit, impact, and sustainability, and will bring long-term benefits in the fields of tourism, economy, and transport capacity, as well as many other fields. In spite of its good overall sustainability, the project needs to further increase its economic benefits and reduce its negative environmental impact. For this purpose, it is necessary to adopt the management mode of “separation between network and transportation” and apply noise prevention measures like noise barriers, tunnels, and overhead viaducts. This research lays a solid basis for the sustainability evaluation of HSR construction projects, and simplifies the modelling process for designers of HSR.

ROMANIA ON THE PATH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION

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Kardos Mihaela

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, the issues of sustainable development are of great interest and importance, as countries, organisations, institutions worldwide are still searching for the right solutions leading to human well-being and life quality in a society socially acceptable, economically viable and environmentally sustainable, in an integrated vision between states and generations. Due to the difficulties of measuring such a complex, multi-dimensioned concept, one of the main questions refers to necessity and the possibility of determining countries’ progress towards sustainable development. In this respect, there are a very large number of initiatives and efforts to develop the appropri¬ate indicators; yet, there is no one agreed method. In this generous context of analysis, the paper aims to offer some answers regarding Romania’s progress towards sustainable development, based on a comparative analysis within the European Union, using data provided by three of the most widely used indicators for measuring sustainable development: Human Development Index, Environmental Performance Index and Ecological Footprint. The research methodology uses the comparative analysis and synthesis of data, followed by a dissemination of the results in order to express a personal opinion on the topic. The research results are far from being optimistic, highlighting a serious gap between Romania and the other member states in terms of progress towards sustainable development. Therefore, they call for immediate action and increased efforts, so that European Union’s objectives of real cohesion and of becoming one of the global leaders in supporting sustainable development can be reached. The merit of this study is its contribution with an original research to the efforts of assessing Romania’s progress on the path to sustainable development, which may be particularly important for both researchers and policy makers. Due to some limitations induced by

Appropriate architecture for sustainable development: The creation of ecological footprint and human development index capability

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Gibberd, Jeremy T

2012-11-01

Full Text Available and human systems. The danger with a focus on carbon emissions is that limited resources and timeframes may be exhausted trying to achieve reductions and valuable opportunities to build long term sustainable solutions will be being lost. This paper argues...

Sustainable diets within sustainable food systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Meybeck, Alexandre; Gitz, Vincent

2017-02-01

Sustainable diets and sustainable food systems are increasingly explored by diverse scientific disciplines. They are also recognised by the international community and called upon to orient action towards the eradication of hunger and malnutrition and the fulfilment of sustainable development goals. The aim of the present paper is to briefly consider some of the links between these two notions in order to facilitate the operationalisation of the concept of sustainable diet. The concept of sustainable diet was defined in 2010 combining two totally different perspectives: a nutrition perspective, focused on individuals, and a global sustainability perspective, in all its dimensions: environmental, economic and social. The nutrition perspective can be easily related to health outcomes. The global sustainability perspective is more difficult to analyse directly. We propose that it be measured as the contribution of a diet to the sustainability of food systems. Such an approach, covering the three dimensions of sustainability, enables identification of interactions and interrelations between food systems and diets. It provides opportunities to find levers of change towards sustainability. Diets are both the results and the drivers of food systems. The drivers of change for those variously involved, consumers and private individuals, are different, and can be triggered by different dimensions (heath, environment, social and cultural). Combining different dimensions and reasons for change can help facilitate the transition to sustainable diets, recognising the food system's specificities. The adoption of sustainable diets can be facilitated and enabled by food systems, and by appropriate policies and incentives.

Airline Sustainability Modeling: A New Framework with Application of Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling

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Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi

2016-11-01

Full Text Available There are many factors which could influence the sustainability of airlines. The main purpose of this study is to introduce a framework for a financial sustainability index and model it based on structural equation modeling (SEM with maximum likelihood and Bayesian predictors. The introduced framework includes economic performance, operational performance, cost performance, and financial performance. Based on both Bayesian SEM (Bayesian-SEM and Classical SEM (Classical-SEM, it was found that economic performance with both operational performance and cost performance are significantly related to the financial performance index. The four mathematical indices employed are root mean square error, coefficient of determination, mean absolute error, and mean absolute percentage error to compare the efficiency of Bayesian-SEM and Classical-SEM in predicting the airline financial performance. The outputs confirmed that the framework with Bayesian prediction delivered a good fit with the data, although the framework predicted with a Classical-SEM approach did not prepare a well-fitting model. The reasons for this discrepancy between Classical and Bayesian predictions, as well as the potential advantages and caveats with the application of Bayesian approach in airline sustainability studies, are debated.

Testing for Environmental Kuznets Curve in the EU Agricultural Sector through an Eco-(inEfficiency Index

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George Vlontzos

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Studies on agricultural production practices advance within international literature and new methods are proposed in order to assess the agricultural sustainability, either at farm or macro level. The present paper builds on these advancements and develops a synthetic Eco-(inefficiency index by employing a directional distance function—data envelopment analysis (DEA model. This index is used in order to assess the sustainability of the EU agricultural sector for the period 1999–2012 on a country level. Furthermore, Eco-(inefficiency, together with the energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG emissions are regressed on the gross domestic product (GDP of EU countries, in order to check for any environmental Kuznets curve relationship existence. Results signify that efficiency improvements are possible, both towards output development and GHG emissions reduction. In addition, the potential of each country in adopting more sustainable production practices is not totally connected with its economic development, as Eco-(inefficiency and GDP levels of EU countries seem to be linked with an N-Shaped curve.

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Evaluation of Space and Water Heating in Urban Residential Buildings of the Hot Summer and Cold Winter Zone in China

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Xiao Chen

2016-09-01

Full Text Available With the urbanization process of the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW zone in China, the energy consumption of space and water heating in urban residential buildings of the HSCW zone has increased rapidly. This study presents the energy efficiency and sustainability evaluation of various ways of space and water heating taking 10 typical cities in the HSCW zone as research cases. Two indicators, primary energy efficiency (PEE and sustainability index based on exergy efficiency, are adopted to perform the evaluation. Models for the energy and total exergy efficiencies of various space and water heating equipment/systems are developed. The evaluation results indicate that common uses of electricity for space and water heating are the most unsustainable ways of space and water heating. In terms of PEE and sustainability index, air-source heat pumps for space and water heating are suitable for the HSCW zone. The PEE and sustainability index of solar water heaters with auxiliary electric heaters are greatly influenced by local solar resources. Air-source heat pump assisted solar hot water systems are the most sustainable among all water heating equipment/systems investigated in this study. Our works suggest the key potential for improving the energy efficiency and the sustainability of space and water heating in urban residential buildings of the HSCW zone.

The System of Indicators for Monitoring the Achievement of the Goals of Sustainable Development in the Agrarian Sector

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Chala Tеtyana G.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article describes the results of statistical evaluation of the system of indicators for monitoring the achievement of the goals of sustainable development (GSD in the agrarian sector. It has been determined that, in order to achieve sustainable development, the following three pillars need to be reconciled: economic growth, social integration, and environmental protection. The objectives and indicators of the GSD 2 «Overcoming hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition, and facilitating sustainable development of agriculture» were considered in detail. It has been determined that the indicator, which illustrates vividly the status and perspective of development of the agrarian sector, is the indicator 2.a.1 «Index of orientation towards agriculture, defined by the public expenditure structure». Methods for calculation of the Agriculture Orientation Index (AOI were considered. The dynamics of the AOI for Ukraine and world-wide for 2004-2013 were analyzed. The values of the AOI index for Ukraine, the neighboring countries, and the EU Member States in 2013 have been provided. It has been determined that Ukraine has a low AOI among the EU countries and among the neighboring countries, which indicates a poor orientation towards agriculture.

Investigating supply chain sustainability in South African organisations

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Gabrielle Niehaus

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Background: The need for sustainable supply chain management has become a necessity given the growing impact of climate change and global warming. The South African (SA government is planning to implement a carbon tax in the future, which will present financial challenges for organisations already facing social and environmental difficulties. Objectives: The main objective of this article was to investigate the current sustainability reporting practices in supply chains of SA organisations. The focus was specifically on the supply chain sustainability practices of organisations listed in selected sectors on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE. A secondary objective was to investigate preparation efforts by SA companies for the impending carbon tax. Method: Data collected from sustainability and integrated annual reports of organisations in the sample were analysed using non-parametric statistical tests to compare sectors on the JSE and to compare companies listed on the socially responsible investment (SRI Index with those that are not. Results: The results showed that there is insufficient data for some of the sectors; however, there are differences in the supply chain and sustainability practices for the remaining sectors. There are also differences in these practices between SRI and non-SRI companies. The research also showed that companies are discussing important concepts relating to the implementation of the impending carbon tax. Research impact: SA organisations need to increase their focus on sustainable supply chain practices. Further investigation into the preparation efforts of companies to reduce their emissions and/or footprint and mitigate the impact of the impending carbon tax is necessary.

INDEXING AND INDEX FUNDS

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HAKAN SARITAŞ

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Proponents of the efficient market hypothesis believe that active portfolio management is largely wasted effort and unlikely to justify the expenses incurred. Therefore, they advocate a passive investment strategy that makes no attempt to outsmart the market. One common strategy for passive management is indexing where a fund is designed to replicate the performance of a broad-based index of stocks and bonds. Traditionally, indexing was used by institutional investors, but today, the use of index funds proliferated among individual investors. Over the years, both international and domestic index funds have disproportionately outperformed the market more than the actively managed funds have.

Modeling Indicator Systems for Evaluating Environmental Sustainable Development Based on Factor Analysis

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WU Hao; CHEN Xiaoling; HE Ying; HE Xiaorong; CAI Xiaobin; XU Keyan

2006-01-01

Indicator systems of environmental sustainable development in the Poyang Lake Basin are established from 51 elementary indexes by factor analysis, which is composed of four steps such as the factor model, the parameter estimation, the factor rotation and the factor score. Under the condition that the cumulative proportion is greater than 85%, 5 explicit factors of environmental sustainable development as well as its factor score by region are carried out. The result indicates some impact factors to the basin environmental in descending sort order are volume of water, volume of waste gas discharge, volume of solid wastes, the degree to comprehensive utilization of waste gas, waste water and solid wastes, the emission volume of waste gas, waste water and solid wastes. It is helpful and important to provide decision support for constituting sustainable development strategies and evaluate the sustainable development status of each city.

Sustainability Investigation of Resource-Based Cities in Northeastern China

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Chengpeng Lu

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Improving the sustainability of traditional resource-based cities in China has been a core issue and policy-priority for Chinese government to establish long-term ecological civilization, particularly for northeastern China which is recognized as a typical agglomeration area of resources cities. In this study, we establish a three-layer index system consisting of a comprehensive layer, systemic layer, and variable layer, and including 22 indicators which are grouped into economic, social and environmental subsystems. After that, the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method was applied to measure and rank the sustainability of the selected 15 typical resource-based cities in northeast China, and then a GIS (Geographical Information System technique based on the software of SuperMap was applied to map the sustainability in terms of the spatial effects among these cities. The results reveal that a unilateral improvement of a subsystem did not mean an improvement or contribution to whole system. In detail, during the past 15 years from 2000 to 2015, the comprehensive sustainability of resource-based cities in Northeastern China shows a declining trend in the mass, and the sustainability of the economic subsystem shows increase; the sustainability of the social system remains stable, while the environmental subsystem shows decrease. These situations might result from policy interventions during the past 15 years, therefore, promoting the sustainability of resource-based cities needs a historical approach, which should focus on the coordinated development of its economic, social, and environmental subsystems.

The Methodological Background for Harmonizing Components of Sustainable Development of an Industrial City

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Prushkivskyj Volodymyr G.

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to develop a methodological background for harmonizing components of sustainable development of an industrial city. The ways of harmonization of economic, environmental and social components are studied. It is proposed to use the rule of «golden ratio» to determine the «ideal» values of the components of sustainable development. On the basis of the index method the components of sustainable development are evaluated. The comparative analysis of the actual and harmonic distribution between the sub-indices of sustainable development is performed. Based on the rule of «golden ratio» it is proved that the harmonization allows to state the existence of differences as well as to carry out a quantitative analysis. It is justified that the existence of disharmony between the components of sustainable development requires elaboration of an appropriate mechanism on the basis of redistribution of investment resources as well as other economic instruments to support the components at a certain level.

Assessing the Sustainable Development of Coastal Reclamation: A Case of Makassar Using GIS Application

Science.gov (United States)

Yurnita, A.; Trisutomo, S.; Ali, M.

2017-07-01

Reclamation has been made in many areas in Indonesia including Makassar, as a response to the present needs of land as the impact of human activity in urban area. This research aims to assess the sustainable development of coastal reclamation and focus on environmental dimension of sustainable urban development. Assessment will be done by reclamation sustainability index (RSI) and analysis by GIS as the tools. RSI was built from previous research that has simplified from many researches and analysis by Structure of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and expert choice. RSI uses 9 indices from three indicators of environment factor which are coastal resources, building and infrastructure.

Urban Landscape Metrics for Climate and Sustainability Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Cochran, F. V.; Brunsell, N. A.

2014-12-01

To test metrics for rapid identification of urban classes and sustainable urban forms, we examine the configuration of urban landscapes using satellite remote sensing data. We adopt principles from landscape ecology and urban planning to evaluate urban heterogeneity and design themes that may constitute more sustainable urban forms, including compactness (connectivity), density, mixed land uses, diversity, and greening. Using 2-D wavelet and multi-resolution analysis, landscape metrics, and satellite-derived indices of vegetation fraction and impervious surface, the spatial variability of Landsat and MODIS data from metropolitan areas of Manaus and São Paulo, Brazil are investigated. Landscape metrics for density, connectivity, and diversity, like the Shannon Diversity Index, are used to assess the diversity of urban buildings, geographic extent, and connectedness. Rapid detection of urban classes for low density, medium density, high density, and tall building district at the 1-km scale are needed for use in climate models. If the complexity of finer-scale urban characteristics can be related to the neighborhood scale both climate and sustainability assessments may be more attainable across urban areas.

External Benefit Evaluation of Renewable Energy Power in China for Sustainability

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Huiru Zhao

2015-04-01

Full Text Available China’s renewable energy power has developed rapidly in recent years. Evaluating the external benefits of renewable energy power can provide a reference for the Chinese government to set diverse development goals and to implement differentiated supporting policies for different renewable energy power types, which can promote their sustainable development. In this paper, a hybrid MCDM method was applied to evaluate the external benefits of China’s renewable energy power. Firstly, the impacts of renewable energy power accessing the power grid for multiple stakeholders in the electric power system were analyzed. Secondly, the external benefit evaluation index system for renewable energy power was built from the economic, social and environmental factors, based on the concept of sustainability. Then, the basic theory of the hybrid MCDM method employed in this paper was introduced in two parts: the superiority linguistic ratings and entropy weighting method for index weight determination and the fuzzy grey relation analysis for ranking alternatives. Finally, the external benefits of wind power, solar PV power and biomass power were evaluated. Taking a regional electric power system as an example, the results show that PV power has the greatest external benefit, followed by wind power and biomass power. Therefore, more policies supporting PV power should be put in place to promote the harmonious and sustainable development of the whole renewable energy power industry.

Proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance: The mediating effect of sustainability control systems.

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Wijethilake, Chaminda

2017-07-01

This study examines to what extent corporations use sustainability control systems (SCS) to translate proactive sustainability strategy into corporate sustainability performance. The study investigates the mediating effect of SCS on the relationship between proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance. Survey data were collected from top managers in 175 multinational and local corporations operating in Sri Lanka and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). SCS were observed to only partially mediate the relationship between proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance. The mediating effect of SCS is further examined under three sustainability strategies; environmental and social strategies reveal a partial mediation, while the economic strategy exhibits no mediation. The study also finds that (i) a proactive sustainability strategy is positively associated with SCS and corporate sustainability performance and (ii) SCS are positively associated with corporate sustainability performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing sustainable remediation frameworks using sustainability principles.

Science.gov (United States)

Ridsdale, D Reanne; Noble, Bram F

2016-12-15

The remediation industry has grown exponentially in recent decades. International organizations of practitioners and remediation experts have developed several frameworks for integrating sustainability into remediation projects; however, there has been limited attention to how sustainability is approached and operationalized in sustainable remediation frameworks and practices - or whether sustainability plays any meaningful role at all in sustainable remediation. This paper examines how sustainability is represented in remediation frameworks and the guidance provided for practical application. Seven broad sustainability principles and review criteria are proposed and applied to a sample of six international remediation frameworks. Not all review criteria were equally satisfied and none of the frameworks fully met all criteria; however, the best performing frameworks were those identified as sustainability remediation frameworks. Intra-generational equity was addressed by all frameworks. Integrating social, economic and biophysical components beyond triple-bottom-line indicators was explicitly addressed only by the sustainable remediation frameworks. No frameworks provided principle- or rule-based guidance for dealing with trade-offs in sustainability decisions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploration of sustainable development by applying green economy indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yungkun; Chen, Chia-Yon; Hsieh, Tsuifang

2011-11-01

Following the global trend of sustainable development, development of green economy is the best way of slowing the negative ecological and environmental impact. This research establishes the Taiwan's green economic indicators based on the ecological footprint and energy analysis. The results are as follows: Taiwan's ecological footprint in 2008 intensity index was at 4.364; ecological overshoot index was at 3.364, showing that Taiwan's ecological system is in overload state. Moreover, this study utilizes energy analysis model to study the sustainable development of Taiwan. Findings showed that total energy use in 2008 was 3.14 × 10(23) sej (solar energy joule, sej), energy of renewable resources was 1.30 × 10(22) sej, energy of nonrenewable resources was 2.26 × 10(23) sej, energy of products from renewable resources was 1.30 × 10(22)sej, energy of currency flow was 8.02 × 10(22) sej and energy of wastes flow was 6.55 × 10(22) sej. Taiwan's energy per capita and the utilization rate of energy is lower while the environmental loading rate is significantly higher comparing to some other countries. The foregoing findings indicate that Taiwan currently belongs to an economic development pattern based on high resource consumption. The economic development is mainly established on the exploitation and utilization of nonrenewable resources. Therefore, Taiwan should change the development pattern, regulate the industrial structure, promote the utilization rate of resources, develop green pollution-free products, and enhance the sustainable development of ecological economic system.

Does Sustainability Affect Corporate Performance and Economic Development? Evidence from the Asia-Pacific region and North America

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Kyungbok Kim

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper explores how sustainability influences financial returns and economic development in the Asia-Pacific region and North America, utilizing real data empirically. It is controversial that sustainable activities are related to financial performance. For clarification, we tested hypotheses analyzing sustainability index, seven stock markets, financial data such as ROI, ROIC, and ROA from eleven companies, and GDP/GNI per capita, based on the Asia-Pacific region and North America. The results indicate that both financial return for companies and economic development in the two regions are positively germane to sustainable investment. Besides, we found evidence that sustainable investment impacts economic development based on variance decomposition analysis, depending on GDP per capita between the two regions. This implication will be interesting for both practitioners and researchers regarding the measurement of sustainable performance.

Locally Sustainable School Lunch Intervention Improves Hemoglobin and Hematocrit Levels and Body Mass Index among Elementary Schoolchildren in Rural West Java, Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Sekiyama, Makiko; Roosita, Katrin; Ohtsuka, Ryutaro

2017-01-01

School lunch is not provided in public elementary schools in Indonesia, and students frequently buy and eat snacks at school. We hypothesized that providing a traditional Sundanese meal as school lunch would be beneficial for children in rural West Java. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated the effect of a 1-month school lunch intervention aiming at sustainability and based on children’s nutritional intake, hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, and body mass index (BMI). A lunch (including rice, vegetable dish, animal protein dish, plant protein dish, and fruit) containing one-third of the recommended daily allowance of energy was offered every school day for 1 month, targeting 68 fourth-grade elementary schoolchildren. At baseline, the prevalence of anemia was 33.3%. The prevalence of stunting and underweight were 32.4% and 2.9%, respectively, whereas that of overweight and obesity combined was 17.6%, indicating a double burden of malnutrition among the subjects. During the intervention, intakes of protein (p nutritional intakes and health statuses, implying its potential for reducing anemia and resolving the double burden of malnutrition among rural Indonesian schoolchildren. PMID:28805668

Poor sleep quality is associated with a negative cognitive bias and decreased sustained attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Gobin, Christina M; Banks, Jonathan B; Fins, Ana I; Tartar, Jaime L

2015-10-01

Poor sleep quality has been demonstrated to diminish cognitive performance, impair psychosocial functioning and alter the perception of stress. At present, however, there is little understanding of how sleep quality affects emotion processing. The aim of the present study was to determine the extent to which sleep quality, measured through the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, influences affective symptoms as well as the interaction between stress and performance on an emotional memory test and sustained attention task. To that end, 154 undergraduate students (mean age: 21.27 years, standard deviation = 4.03) completed a series of measures, including the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, the Sustained Attention to Response Task, an emotion picture recognition task and affective symptom questionnaires following either a control or physical stress manipulation, the cold pressor test. As sleep quality and psychosocial functioning differ among chronotypes, we also included chronotype and time of day as variables of interest to ensure that the effects of sleep quality on the emotional and non-emotional tasks were not attributed to these related factors. We found that poor sleep quality is related to greater depressive symptoms, anxiety and mood disturbances. While an overall relationship between global Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index score and emotion and attention measures was not supported, poor sleep quality, as an independent component, was associated with better memory for negative stimuli and a deficit in sustained attention to non-emotional stimuli. Importantly, these effects were not sensitive to stress, chronotype or time of day. Combined, these results suggest that individuals with poor sleep quality show an increase in affective symptomatology as well as a negative cognitive bias with a concomitant decrease in sustained attention to non-emotional stimuli. © 2015 European Sleep Research Society.

Developing an Indicator System for Measuring the Social Sustainability of Offshore Wind Power Farms

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Tzay-An Shiau

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Taiwan’s government has promoted investment in an offshore wind power farm, and local fishermen have protested. A social impact assessment (SIA has examined the impact of the proposed offshore wind power farm on all stakeholders. The main objective of the present study was to develop an indicator system for measuring the social sustainability of offshore wind power farms; this study also reports on the particular case of Taiwan’s offshore wind power project. This study began by defining 35 social sustainability indicators and selecting 23 representative indicators by using rough set theory. Subsequently, 14 key indicators were constructed using the social construction of technology (SCOT method. Finally, we developed a social impact index for evaluating the social sustainability of offshore wind power farms by using the analytic network process and Dempster-Shafer theory. Our social impact index yields a total score of 0.149 for Taiwan’s pilot offshore wind power project; this result indicates that the pilot project is socially sustainable. A substantial contradiction exists between the fishermen’s protest and the results of the social impact assessment. The findings can assist the government in building a coordination platform for the investors and the fishermen. Government regulation is necessary to set boundaries for fishing areas that protect both the fishermen’s and investors’ rights.

Toward malaysian sustainable agriculture in 21st century

Science.gov (United States)

Khorramnia, K.; Shariff, A. R. M.; Rahim, A. Abdul; Mansor, S.

2014-02-01

Sustainable agriculture should be able to meet various social goals and objectives so that it can be maintained for an indefinite period without significant negative impacts on environment and natural resources. A wide variety of agricultural activities are running in Malaysia. Maintaining high quality of agricultural products with lower environmental impacts through a sustainable economic viability and life satisfaction of farmers and community are important factors helping to meet sustainable agriculture. Human resources are playing key role in directing the community toward sustainable development. The trend of improving the human development index in Malaysia is highest in the East Asia and the Pacific, high human development countries and the world, since 2000. Precision agriculture is providing strong tools to achieve sustainable agriculture. Different types of sensors, positioning and navigation systems, GIS, software and variable rate technology are well known components of precision agriculture. Drones and robots are promising tools that enabling farmers and managers to collect information or perform particular actions in remote areas or tough conditions. According to a survey, forestry and timber, rubber production and oil palm estates are three main agricultural divisions that precision agriculture may improve the productivity in respect to area of cropland/worker. Main factors affecting the adoption of precision agriculture in Malaysia are: a) Political and legal supports, b) Decision support systems and user interfaces c) Experienced research team works d) National educational policy e) Success in commercialization of precision agriculture system.

Toward malaysian sustainable agriculture in 21st century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khorramnia, K; Shariff, A R M; Rahim, A Abdul; Mansor, S

2014-01-01

Sustainable agriculture should be able to meet various social goals and objectives so that it can be maintained for an indefinite period without significant negative impacts on environment and natural resources. A wide variety of agricultural activities are running in Malaysia. Maintaining high quality of agricultural products with lower environmental impacts through a sustainable economic viability and life satisfaction of farmers and community are important factors helping to meet sustainable agriculture. Human resources are playing key role in directing the community toward sustainable development. The trend of improving the human development index in Malaysia is highest in the East Asia and the Pacific, high human development countries and the world, since 2000. Precision agriculture is providing strong tools to achieve sustainable agriculture. Different types of sensors, positioning and navigation systems, GIS, software and variable rate technology are well known components of precision agriculture. Drones and robots are promising tools that enabling farmers and managers to collect information or perform particular actions in remote areas or tough conditions. According to a survey, forestry and timber, rubber production and oil palm estates are three main agricultural divisions that precision agriculture may improve the productivity in respect to area of cropland/worker. Main factors affecting the adoption of precision agriculture in Malaysia are: a) Political and legal supports, b) Decision support systems and user interfaces c) Experienced research team works d) National educational policy e) Success in commercialization of precision agriculture system

How to Achieve Supply Chain Sustainability Efficiently? Taming the Triple Bottom Line Split Business Cycle

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Matthias Klumpp

2018-02-01

Full Text Available For sustainable supply chains, specific concepts regarding how to efficiently improve sustainability are needed in a global comprehensive triple bottom line (TBL approach, especially for forwarders as central actors in supply chain design. Such specific advice is provided by reporting empirical DEA Malmquist index findings from seven large European forwarders regarding a TBL sustainability analysis from 2006 to 2016. A major obstacle in improving sustainability consists in the newly discovered fact that with the business cycle, the three TBL areas of economic, ecologic and social objectives for logistics are undergoing different up- and down-ward trends, making it very hard to improve all three simultaneously. Additional factors are identified in the characteristics of size and government influence regarding the sustainability efficiency of forwarders. This has important impacts on supply chain design like e.g., with selection criteria.

Association of blood antioxidants status with visual and auditory sustained attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiraseb, Farideh; Siassi, Fereydoun; Sotoudeh, Gity; Qorbani, Mostafa; Rostami, Reza; Sadeghi-Firoozabadi, Vahid; Narmaki, Elham

2015-01-01

A low antioxidants status has been shown to result in oxidative stress and cognitive impairment. Because antioxidants can protect the nervous system, it is expected that a better blood antioxidant status might be related to sustained attention. However, the relationship between the blood antioxidant status and visual and auditory sustained attention has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of fruits and vegetables intake and the blood antioxidant status with visual and auditory sustained attention in women. This cross-sectional study was performed on 400 healthy women (20-50 years) who attended the sports clubs of Tehran Municipality. Sustained attention was evaluated based on the Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test using the Integrated Visual and Auditory (IVA) software. The 24-hour food recall questionnaire was used for estimating fruits and vegetables intake. Serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were measured in 90 participants. After adjusting for energy intake, age, body mass index (BMI), years of education and physical activity, higher reported fruits, and vegetables intake was associated with better visual and auditory sustained attention (P attention (P visual and auditory sustained attention after adjusting for age, years of education, physical activity, energy, BMI, and caffeine intake (P visual and auditory sustained attention is associated with a better blood antioxidant status. Therefore, improvement of the antioxidant status through an appropriate dietary intake can possibly enhance sustained attention.

Measuring the health-related Sustainable Development Goals in 188 countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Truelsen, Thomas Clement; Christensen, Hanne Krarup

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: In September, 2015, the UN General Assembly established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs specify 17 universal goals, 169 targets, and 230 indicators leading up to 2030. We provide an analysis of 33 health-related SDG indicators based on the Global Burden of Diseases......, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015). METHODS: We applied statistical methods to systematically compiled data to estimate the performance of 33 health-related SDG indicators for 188 countries from 1990 to 2015. We rescaled each indicator on a scale from 0 (worst observed value between 1990...... and 2015) to 100 (best observed). Indices representing all 33 health-related SDG indicators (health-related SDG index), health-related SDG indicators included in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG index), and health-related indicators not included in the MDGs (non-MDG index) were computed...

The SWPER index for women's empowerment in Africa: development and validation of an index based on survey data.

Science.gov (United States)

Ewerling, Fernanda; Lynch, John W; Victora, Cesar G; van Eerdewijk, Anouka; Tyszler, Marcelo; Barros, Aluisio J D

2017-09-01

The Sustainable Development Goals strongly focus on equity. Goal 5 explicitly aims to empower all women and girls, reinforcing the need to have a reliable indicator to track progress. Our objective was to develop a novel women's empowerment indicator from widely available data sources, broadening opportunities for monitoring and research on women's empowerment. We used Demographic and Health Survey data from 34 African countries, targeting currently partnered women. We identified items related to women's empowerment present in most surveys, and used principal component analysis to extract the components. We carried out a convergent validation process using coverage of three health interventions as outcomes; and an external validation process by analysing correlations with the Gender Development Index. 15 items related to women's empowerment were selected. We retained three components (50% of total variation) which, after rotation, were identified as three dimensions of empowerment: attitude to violence, social independence, and decision making. All dimensions had moderate to high correlation with the Gender Development Index. Social independence was associated with higher coverage of maternal and child interventions; attitude to violence and decision making were more consistently associated with the use of modern contraception. The index, named Survey-based Women's emPowERment index (SWPER), has potential to widen the research on women's empowerment and to give a better estimate of its effect on health interventions and outcomes. It allows within-country and between-country comparison, as well as time trend analysis, which no other survey-based index provides. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A Modified Method for Evaluating Sustainable Transport Solutions Based on AHP and Dempster–Shafer Evidence Theory

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Luyuan Chen

2018-04-01

Full Text Available With the challenge of transportation environment, a large amount of attention is paid to sustainable mobility worldwide, thus bringing the problem of the evaluation of sustainable transport solutions. In this paper, a modified method based on analytical hierarchy process (AHP and Dempster–Shafer evidence theory (D-S theory is proposed for evaluating the impact of transport measures on city sustainability. AHP is adapted to determine the weight of sustainability criteria while D-S theory is used for data fusion of the sustainability assessment. A Transport Sustainability Index (TSI is presented as a primary measure to determine whether transport solutions have a positive impact on city sustainability. A case study of car-sharing is illustrated to show the efficiency of our proposed method. Our modified method has two desirable properties. One is that the BPA is generated with a new modification framework of evaluation levels, which can flexibly manage uncertain information. The other is that the modified method has excellent performance in sensitivity analysis.

How Corporations Deal with Reporting Sustainability: Assessment Using the Multicriteria Logistic Biplot Approach

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Purificación Vicente Galindo

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper suggests a new methodology capable of accessing in detail the contribution of companies to countries’ sustainability related to economic performance. The concept of sustainability has been brought up in several debates, leading to a clearer understanding of its progress in recent decades. The most adequate indicators to achieve a unique value to define sustainability have been identified. However, specific behaviors of economic agents such as exist in particularly large organizations, have rarely been exposed and evaluated regarding their positive or negative contribution to the increase of sustainability throughout the world. This paper proposes an integrated approach incorporating an evaluation of the positive and negative contributions to sustainability by means of a logistic biplot application. This allows the creation of a summarized index that combines all single sustainability indicators. These synthetic indices allow the positioning of each of the companies in a geometric representation for an original exploration of the sustainability paradigm. The supplied method permits accessing and evaluating information concerning specific behaviors of economic agents such as big companies. In our paper, we have followed the engagements towards sustainability of big corporations, individually or as groups, across the different activity sectors in Portugal and Spain.

FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMENGARUHI PENGUNGKAPAN SUKARELA INTERNET FINANCIAL AND SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING

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Yulius Kurnia Susanto

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Internet Financial and Sustainability Reporting (IFSR was voluntary disclosure. With no specific regulationson IFSR, some companies disclosed its informations about financial, sustainability, products, etc at company’swebsite independenly. Its website could interest investor, creditor, and internet user to know more about thecompany. The objective of this research was to test and analyze the factors that affected the voluntary disclosureby IFSR Index. Firm size, return on equity, leverage, liquidity, company’s status, profitability, and outsideownership were the independent variables of this research. The samples of this research were 92 manufacturingcompanies listed at Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2008 till 2010 that had been selected by using purposivesampling method. The result of this research revealed that firm size and leverage influenced Internet Financialand Sustainability Reporting. Big companies had a good reporting information system and leaned to have theresources to produce more information.

Buildings Indicators for Sustainable Mobility: the District of Naples

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Pietro D'Amico

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Mobility is a major component in ensuring freedom of movement and good quality of life. It is strictly associated to the concept of sustainability, considering that more than 70% of European citizens live in urban areas.Traffic volumes and congestion, air quality, noise pollution, consumption of non renewable resources, greenhouse gas emissions, social exclusion and urban sprawl are significant challenges to achieve sustainable urban mobility. This is one of the most important goals of the Coordination Plan of the District of Naples (PTCP. In this paper, we show the process of research, selection, valuation, weighting and synthesis of a set of indicators to monitor sustainable mobility during the realization process of the PTCP.Two urban areas lacking infrastructure connections are considered: North Naples and Giuglianese. According to the Planning Code, the GIS Office and the Planning Office are responsible for choosing the set of indicators and its application, and for evaluating if the goals of the PTCP are achievable and if corrective actions should be undertaken as well.The Environmental Report attached to the Plan sets down to link each topic of the plan to a unique index resulting from a set of specific indicators. One of the results of this study was the selection of 22 indicators for sustainable mobility.They were the outcome of the intersection between the lists available in scientific literature and the databases available for the District of Naples. As set down by the PTCP Planning Code, a top down approach was adopted Therefore indicators were selected by technicians. However, a bottom up approach, i.e. citizenship and stakeholders select indicators, would have resulted in a more transparent process. This study applied a rating method named allocation of budget to weight indicators. Weights determined the importance of each indicator compared to the others.After the weighting procedure, the aggregation of indicators into a single

Assessing regional sustainability using a model of coordinated development index : a case study of mainland China

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yang, Q.; Ding, Y.; Vries, de B.; Han, Q.; Ma, H.

2014-01-01

From a holistic view, this paper addresses a perspective of coordinated development of economy, society, and environment for regional sustainability assessment. Firstly, a comprehensive indicator system for co-evaluating the level of economic, social, and environmental subsystems is presented based

Place Attachment in a Sustainable Neighbourhood: Comparison of Two Cases in Surrey, B.C

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Karim W.F. Youssef

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Scholars have voiced the emphasis of studies in sustainability on environmental sustainability over social sustainability. One of the dimensions of social sustainability is neighbourhood cohesion among residents of a neighbourhood. This paper compares the social sustainability of two neighbourhoods in Vancouver metropolitan area particularly in the city of Surrey, B.C. with respect to the sense of neighbourhood cohesion among their residents. Buckner’s (1988 instrument for measuring neighbourhood cohesion index is used with the addition of a few questions to probe for a new conception of space that may link the degree of accessibility and permeability of a neighbourhood (or degree of gated-ness with the level of neighbourhood cohesion. Results of qualitative and quantitative analysis show that the neighbourhood having an enclosure model had a higher level of neighbourhood cohesion than the neighbourhood with an encounter model on both the affective and interactive dimensions of neighbourhood cohesion.

From a Systematic Literature Review to a Classification Framework: Sustainability Integration in Fashion Operations

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Hakan Karaosman

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainability management in global fashion operations is an area of growing concern. This can be seen by the number of research articles and industrial reports published. To establish a further debate, this study pursues two objectives. Firstly, it provides a systematic literature review pertaining to environmental and social sustainability management in fashion operations by encompassing 38 research articles indexed in Scopus from 2006 to 2016. Secondly, it presents a classification framework in which sustainability practices are categorized according to a three-dimensional concurrent engineering framework by focusing on product, process and supply chain levels. Results address that the breakdown of environmental and social sustainability practices identified in earlier research is not homogenous. For instance, some critical social aspects such as human rights are not widely covered in production processes. Similarly, serious environmental aspects such as biodiversity are not entirely focused on at the chain level. Last, this study concludes with a framework illustrating strategic priorities to be taken to advance sustainability in fashion operations.

The health-nutrition dimension: a methodological approach to assess the nutritional sustainability of typical agro-food products and the Mediterranean diet.

Science.gov (United States)

Azzini, Elena; Maiani, Giuseppe; Turrini, Aida; Intorre, Federica; Lo Feudo, Gabriella; Capone, Roberto; Bottalico, Francesco; El Bilali, Hamid; Polito, Angela

2018-01-09

The aim of this paper is to provide a methodological approach to evaluate the nutritional sustainability of typical agro-food products, representing Mediterranean eating habits and included in the Mediterranean food pyramid. For each group of foods, suitable and easily measurable indicators were identified. Two macro-indicators were used to assess the nutritional sustainability of each product. The first macro-indicator, called 'business distinctiveness', takes into account the application of different regulations and standards regarding quality, safety and traceability as well as the origin of raw materials. The second macro-indicator, called 'nutritional quality', assesses product nutritional quality taking into account the contents of key compounds including micronutrients and bioactive phytochemicals. For each indicator a 0-10 scoring system was set up, with scores from 0 (unsustainable) to 10 (very sustainable), with 5 as a sustainability benchmark value. The benchmark value is the value from which a product can be considered sustainable. A simple formula was developed to produce a sustainability index. The proposed sustainability index could be considered a useful tool to describe both the qualitative and quantitative value of micronutrients and bioactive phytochemical present in foodstuffs. This methodological approach can also be applied beyond the Mediterranean, to food products in other world regions. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Corporate Sustainable Development Assessment Base on the Corporate Social Responsibility

OpenAIRE

Sun Mei; Nagata Katsuya; Onoda Hiroshi

2011-01-01

With the resource exhaustion, bad affections of human activities and the awakening of the human rights, the corporate social responsibility became popular corporate strategy achieving sustainable development of both corporation and society. The issue of Guideline of Chinese Corporate Social Responsibility Report promotes greatly corporation to take social responsibility. This paper built the index system according to this guideline and takes the textile industry as an exa...

How to reconcile environmental and economic performance to improve corporate sustainability: corporate environmental strategies in the European paper industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Marcus

2005-07-01

This paper discusses the relationship between environmental and economic performance and the influence of corporate strategies with regard to sustainability and the environment. After formulating a theoretical model, results are reported from an empirical analysis of the European paper manufacturing industry. New data are used to test hypotheses derived from the theoretical model, using environmental performance indices representing different corporate environmental strategy orientations. In particular, an emissions-based index largely reflecting end-of-pipe strategies and an inputs-based index reflecting integrated pollution prevention are distinguished. For the emissions-based index, a predominantly negative relationship between environmental and economic performance is found, whereas for the inputs-based index no significant link is found. This is consistent with the theoretical model, which predicts the possibility of different relationships. The results also show that for firms with pollution prevention-oriented corporate environmental strategies, the relationship between environmental and economic performance is more positive, thus making improvements in corporate sustainability more likely. Based on this last insight, managerial implications of this are discussed with regard to strategy choices, investment decisions and operations management.

Core Abilities Evaluation Index System Exploration and Empirical Study on Distributed PV-Generation Projects

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Lin He

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In line with the constraints of environmental problems and economic development, large-scale renewable-generation projects have been planned and constructed in recent years. In order to achieve sustainable power development and improve the power supply structure, China’s government has focused on distributed photovoltaic (PV generation projects due to their advantages of clean emission and local consumption. However, their unstable output power still brings a series of problems concerning reliability, investment income, and available substitution proportion to traditional power, and so on. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the competitive development abilities of distributed PV generation projects and measure them effectively. First, through various investigation methods such as literature reviews, feasibility report analysis and expert interviews, the factors that influence the core abilities of distributed PV-generation projects were explored based on the micro-grid structure. Then, with the indexed exploration results, the factors were classified into 6 dimensions, i.e., investment and earning ability, production and operation ability, power-grid coordination ability, energy-conservation and emission-reduction ability, sustainable development ability, and society-serving ability. Meanwhile, an evaluation index system for core abilities of distributed PV-generation project was constructed using all quantitative indicators. Third, for examining the availability of the evaluation index system, combination weighting and techniques for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS methods were adopted to assess the practical distributed PV-generation projects. The case study results showed that installed capacity, local economy development, and grid-connected power quantity will influence the core abilities of distributed PV-generation project, obviously. The conclusions of the evaluation analysis on core abilities can

Interdependences between sustainable development and sustainable economy

OpenAIRE

Emilia Mioara CÂMPEANU; Carmen Valentina RĂDULESCU

2014-01-01

Sustainable development and sustainable economy are mostly used concepts. Understanding clearly their meaning allows their use in an appropriate context and, therefore, their boundaries in terms of theoretical and practical approaches on which occasion it can be given their interdependencies. The paper aim is to analyze the interdependences between sustainable development and sustainable economy.

Media multitasking and behavioral measures of sustained attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Ralph, Brandon C W; Thomson, David R; Seli, Paul; Carriere, Jonathan S A; Smilek, Daniel

2015-02-01

In a series of four studies, self-reported media multitasking (using the media multitasking index; MMI) and general sustained-attention ability, through performance on three sustained-attention tasks: the metronome response task (MRT), the sustained-attention-to-response task (SART), and a vigilance task (here, a modified version of the SART). In Study 1, we found that higher reports of media multitasking were associated with increased response variability (i.e., poor performance) on the MRT. However, in Study 2, no association between reported media multitasking and performance on the SART was observed. These findings were replicated in Studies 3a and 3b, in which we again assessed the relation between media multitasking and performance on both the MRT and SART in two large online samples. Finally, in Study 4, using a large online sample, we tested whether media multitasking was associated with performance on a vigilance task. Although standard vigilance decrements were observed in both sensitivity (A') and response times, media multitasking was not associated with the size of these decrements, nor was media multitasking associated with overall performance, in terms of either sensitivity or response times. Taken together, the results of the studies reported here failed to demonstrate a relation between habitual engagement in media multitasking in everyday life and a general deficit in sustained-attention processes.

Rooftop greenhouses in educational centers: A sustainability assessment of urban agriculture in compact cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadal, Ana; Pons, Oriol; Cuerva, Eva; Rieradevall, Joan; Josa, Alejandro

2018-06-01

Today, urban agriculture is one of the most widely used sustainability strategies to improve the metabolism of a city. Schools can play an important role in the implementation of sustainability master plans, due their socio-educational activities and their cohesive links with families; all key elements in the development of urban agriculture. Thus, the main objective of this research is to develop a procedure, in compact cities, to assess the potential installation of rooftop greenhouses (RTGs) in schools. The generation of a dynamic assessment tool capable of identifying and prioritizing schools with a high potential for RTGs and their eventual implementation would also represent a significant factor in the environmental, social, and nutritional education of younger generations. The methodology has four-stages (Pre-selection criteria; Selection of necessities; Sustainability analysis; and Sensitivity analysis and selection of the best alternative) in which economic, environmental, social and governance aspects all are considered. It makes use of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory and Multi-Criteria Decision Making, through the Integrated Value Model for Sustainability Assessments and the participation of two panels of multidisciplinary specialists, for the preparation of a unified sustainability index that guarantees the objectivity of the selection process. This methodology has been applied and validated in a case study of 11 schools in Barcelona (Spain). The social perspective of the proposed methodology favored the school in the case-study with the most staff and the largest parent-teacher association (social and governance indicators) that obtained the highest sustainability index (S11); at a considerable distance (45%) from the worst case (S3) with fewer school staff and parental support. Finally, objective decisions may be taken with the assistance of this appropriate, adaptable, and reliable Multi-Criteria Decision-Making tool on the vertical integration and

Measurement of Scenic Spots Sustainable Capacity Based on PCA-Entropy TOPSIS: A Case Study from 30 Provinces, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xuedong; Liu, Canmian; Li, Zhi

2017-12-22

In connection with the sustainable development of scenic spots, this paper, with consideration of resource conditions, economic benefits, auxiliary industry scale and ecological environment, establishes a comprehensive measurement model of the sustainable capacity of scenic spots; optimizes the index system by principal components analysis to extract principal components; assigns the weight of principal components by entropy method; analyzes the sustainable capacity of scenic spots in each province of China comprehensively in combination with TOPSIS method and finally puts forward suggestions aid decision-making. According to the study, this method provides an effective reference for the study of the sustainable development of scenic spots and is very significant for considering the sustainable development of scenic spots and auxiliary industries to establish specific and scientific countermeasures for improvement.

New Key Performance Indicators for a Smart Sustainable City

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Minako Hara

2016-03-01

Full Text Available We propose key performance indicators (KPIs based on the Gross Social Feel-Good Index to evaluate a smart sustainable city and report the results of a field trial in a city located almost at the center of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We developed KPIs based on the following concepts: (1. The triple bottom line is the basic evaluation criteria; (2. The same unit is used for every evaluation criterion; (3. The KPIs can be used to assess a diverse range of smart sustainable cities with different goals. With the proposed KPIs of smart sustainable cities, indicators are divided into four layers for simplicity: the triple bottom line and “satisfaction” lie in the first layer. Since the notion of “society” is broad, it is further split into “safety”, “health”, and “comfort”, which are positioned in the second layer. The third layer includes indicators such as “information security” and “ubiquitous society” from the perspective of information communication technology (ICT. We conducted a trial evaluation by applying the proposed KPIs to individual ICT solutions of “Internet Protocol announcements”, “Wi-Fi around the station” and “information transmission and control” which have already been installed in a smart sustainable city.

Maslow Portfolio Selection for Individuals with Low Financial Sustainability

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Zongxin Li

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we extend Maslow’s need hierarchy theory and the two-level optimization approach by developing the framework of the Maslow portfolio selection model (MPSM by solving the two optimization problems to meet the need of individuals with low financial sustainability who prefer to satisfy their lower-level (safety need first, and, thereafter, look for higher-level (self-actualization need to maximize the optimal return. We illustrate our proposed model with real American stock data from the S&P index and conduct the out-of-sample analysis to compare the performance of our proposed Variance-CVaR (conditional value-at-risk MPSM with both traditional mean-variance and mean-CVaR models. Our empirical analysis shows that our proposed Variance-CVaR MPSM is not only sustainable, but also obtains the best out-of-sample performance in the sense that the optimal portfolios obtained by using our proposed Variance-CVaR MPSM obtain the highest cumulative returns in the out-of-sample period among the models used in our paper. We note that our proposed model is not only suitable to individuals with low financial sustainability, but also suitable to institutions or investors with high financial sustainability.

Sustainability Assessment of the Natural Gas Industry in China Using Principal Component Analysis

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Xiucheng Dong

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Under pressure toward carbon emission reduction and air protection, China has accelerated energy restructuring by greatly improving the supply and consumption of natural gas in recent years. However, several issues with the sustainable development of the natural gas industry in China still need in-depth discussion. Therefore, based on the fundamental ideas of sustainable development, industrial development theories and features of the natural gas industry, a sustainable development theory is proposed in this thesis. The theory consists of five parts: resource, market, enterprise, technology and policy. The five parts, which unite for mutual connection and promotion, push the gas industry’s development forward together. Furthermore, based on the theoretical structure, the Natural Gas Industry Sustainability Index in China is established and evaluated via the Principal Component Analysis (PCA method. Finally, a conclusion is reached: that the sustainability of the natural gas industry in China kept rising from 2008 to 2013, mainly benefiting from increasing supply and demand, the enhancement of enterprise profits, technological innovation, policy support and the optimization and reformation of the gas market.

Corporate sustainability practices in accredited Brazilian hospitals: a degree-of-maturity assessment of the environmental dimension

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Glauce Nascimento

Full Text Available Abstract The main objective of this paper is to assess the degree of maturity of Brazilian accredited hospitals in relation to sustainable practices, specifically the environmental dimension. Therefore, a questionnaire was constructed, shaped by the literature review and the evaluation method of the Corporate Sustainability Index of BM and FBovespa (n.d.. Furthermore, the relationship between three corporate sustainability tools (the certification of the International Organization for Standardization [ISO] 14001, published sustainability reports, and the existence of an area dedicated to corporate sustainability and the maturity of hospitals in relation to sustainability practices were assessed. The results show that, of the 38 hospitals that participated in the survey (43% of subjects studied, 58% obtained a maturity rating of very high or high rating, according to the established criteria. In addition, some research variables showed statistically significant differences among the hospitals that have ISO 14001 certification, those that publish sustainability reports, and those that have an area dedicated to sustainability. Consequently, hospitals should take action to include much more sustainability actions in their strategies, such as how to establish a participatory dialog with stakeholders, in order to improve and raise the level of maturity of hospitals.

Socioeconomic and Environmental Performance: A Composite Index and Comparative Application to the USA and China

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Joanilio Rodolpho Teixeira

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with an analytical framework to provide a measure of overall performance which involves both socioeconomic activities and environmental sustainability using a recent Index of well-being. The composite indicator, created by Medrano-B & Teixeira (2013, is associated with the so called “Magic Square”, a diagram stimulated by the work of Kaldor (1971. From this starting point, we introduce a set of four variables to measure their total impact on the sustainable development of regions. They are: human development index, per capita carbon dioxide, drinkable water and sanitation, and intensity of renewable energy measured as a fraction of the total generated energy. This formal approach is applied to the comparative performance of the USA and China from 2002 to 2012. As expected, environmental, socioeconomic and institutional indicators affect the level of welfare. This being the case, an important lesson to be learned is that careful regulation and policy actions, not just proposals, are required to implement a sustainable and acceptable quality of life. In this article we complete the argument by suggesting that a new paradigm is required to fulfill our desirable objectives, and get more out of our intellectual effort, capabilities and political influence.

Analysis of Agricultural Drought in East Java Using Vegetation Health Index

OpenAIRE

Amalo, Luisa Febrina; Hidayat, Rahmat; Sulma, Sayidah

2018-01-01

Drought is a natural hazard indicated by the decreasing of rainfall and water storage and impacting agricultural sector. Agricultural drought assessment has been used to monitor agricultural sustainability, particularly in East Java as national agricultural production center. Identification of drought characteristics –correlated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation, and agricultural impact on paddy fields and rice production using VHI (Vegetation Health Index) were conducted. VHI is produced by ...

Assessment of the Sustainable Development Capacity with the Entropy Weight Coefficient Method

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Qingsong Wang

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development is widely accepted in the world. How to reflect the sustainable development capacity of a region is an important issue for enacting policies and plans. An index system for capacity assessment is established by employing the Entropy Weight Coefficient method. The results indicate that the sustainable development capacity of Shandong Province is improving in terms of its economy subsystem, resource subsystem, and society subsystem whilst degrading in its environment subsystem. Shandong Province has shown the general trend towards sustainable development. However, the sustainable development capacity can be constrained by the resources such as energy, land, water, as well as environmental protection. These issues are induced by the economy development model, the security of energy supply, the level of new energy development, the end-of-pipe control of pollution, and the level of science and technology commercialization. Efforts are required to accelerate the development of the tertiary industry, the commercialization of high technology, the development of new energy and renewable energy, and the structure optimization of energy mix. Long-term measures need to be established for the ecosystem and environment protection.

Investing in Saskatchewan, sustaining energy development: proceedings of the 8. Saskatchewan petroleum conference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The theme of the 8. Saskatchewan Petroleum Conference 'Investing in Saskatchewan - Sustaining Energy Development' was explored in 33 papers presented in sessions on operations and facilities, reservoir engineering, exploration and development, improved oil recovery, fluid properties and phase behavior, well logging and completions and environmental concerns. Papers are indexed separately

Sustainability Assessment: Energy Efficiency in Buildings at a Community University

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Stephane Louise Bocasanta

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This research aims to analyze the degree of sustainability of a building in a community university (object of analysis, as regards its energy efficiency. Therefore, it seeks out to contribute to the literature, provide a basis for the application of SICOGEA system in other buildings and contribute to the consolidation of an effective and consistent environmental management system. The research can be classified, as to its technical procedures, as a case study. As to its objectives it is descriptive, with a qualitative approach. The literature on environmental management and sustainability assessment of buildings was used to support the research. As to the results found, the overall University sustainability rate was 48%, which can be classified as regular, that is, it aims to deal with the legislation only. Therefore, it is believed that the institution can make improvements to achieve a more efficient index. By taking into consideration the deficit items, the following is suggested: to introduce sustainable procurement; to strive for stamps and certifications; to avoid environmental fines and indemnity; and to implement environmental auditing. However, it is clarified that these are suggestions that should be taken into consideration along with financial matters and within the institution planning questions. The analysis of financial sustainability was considered good and, ideally, it will go on.

A multi-criteria index for ecological evaluation of tropical agriculture in southeastern Mexico.

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Huerta, Esperanza; Kampichler, Christian; Ochoa-Gaona, Susana; De Jong, Ben; Hernandez-Daumas, Salvador; Geissen, Violette

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to generate an easy to use index to evaluate the ecological state of agricultural land from a sustainability perspective. We selected environmental indicators, such as the use of organic soil amendments (green manure) versus chemical fertilizers, plant biodiversity (including crop associations), variables which characterize soil conservation of conventional agricultural systems, pesticide use, method and frequency of tillage. We monitored the ecological state of 52 agricultural plots to test the performance of the index. The variables were hierarchically aggregated with simple mathematical algorithms, if-then rules, and rule-based fuzzy models, yielding the final multi-criteria index with values from 0 (worst) to 1 (best conditions). We validated the model through independent evaluation by experts, and we obtained a linear regression with an r2 = 0.61 (p = 2.4e-06, d.f. = 49) between index output and the experts' evaluation.

CHALLENGES TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF GROWTH FROM THE GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS PERSPECTIVE

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Manuela Unguru

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The Global Competitiveness Index GCI developed by the World Economic Forum is currently a wellknown and most appreciated tool for assessing global competitiveness. This article takes advantage of the complexity and richness of information embedded in this composite indicator to analyze the main challenges arising for the sustainability of growth from the perspective of global competitiveness indicators. After a brief review of the European Union (EU member states’ current state in terms of competitiveness, the investigation is focused on the performance and dynamics of the various competitiveness determinants, that explain, on the one hand, the poor ranking of Romania in the world competitiveness scoreboard and represent, on the other hand, major barriers to sustainable development.

Landscape Diversity as a Screening Tool to Assess Agroecosystems Sustainability; Preliminary Study in Central Italy

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Francesco Visicchio

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Modernization of agricultural activities has strongly modified agricultural landscapes. Intensive agriculture, with the increased use of inorganic fertiliser and density of livestock, affects water quality discharging nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in water bodies. Nutrients in rivers, subsequently, are excellent indicators to assess sustainability/ land-use intensity in agroecosystems. Landscape, however, is a dynamic system and is the product of interaction amongst the natural environment and human activities, including farming which is a main driving force. At present not much has been investigated on the predictive role of landscape on land-use intensity. Aim of this study is to determine if, in Italian agroecosystem, landscape complexity can be related to land-use intensity. Indexes of landscape complexity (i.e. edge density, number of patches, Shannon’s diversity index, Interspersion-Juxtaposition index derived by processing Corine Land Cover data (level IV, 1:25.000 of Lazio Region, were related with landuse intensity (values of compounds of nitrogen and phosphorus and other parameters found in rivers monitored in accordance to European Directives on Waste Water. Results demonstrate that some landscape indexes were related to some environment parameters. Consequently landscape complexity, with further investigation, could be an efficient screening tool, at large scale, to assess water quality and ultimately agroecosystems sustainability in the absence of monitoring stations.

An independent board of directors and corporate sustainability: A South African and Nigerian perspective

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Collins C Ngwakwe

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This paper examined the stance of independent directors on corporate sustainable development initiative in South Africa and Nigeria. This has become apposite considering the role of independent directors in corporate strategic decisions and performance. It is believed that independent boards strive to direct corporate decisions to protect the investors and thus improve financial performance. Given that sustainability initiative is currently occupying a vital strategic position in protecting firms against inherent and imminent climate change and financial risks, the paper undertakes a survey of South African and Nigerian companies to ascertain the role of independent directors on corporate sustainable development initiatives. Using a mix method of primary and secondary data analysis, the paper finds that independent boards in both countries of study understand the importance of sustainability; however a pragmatic stance on sustainability is more visible in South Africa where independent boards are members of and/or participate in nominating corporate sustainability committees. The paper suggests the need for improved detailed disclosure on sustainability in the Nigerian corporate annual reports; the Nigerian Stock Exchange may boost this initiative by establishing a social and environmental reporting index supported by an annual survey of company sustainability disclosure. It also suggests the need to include sustainability awareness and interest in the metrics that are used in the appointment of independent boards in Nigerian companies.

Grassland Sustainability

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Deborah U. Potter; Paulette L. Ford

2004-01-01

In this chapter we discuss grassland sustainability in the Southwest, grassland management for sustainability, national and local criteria and indicators of sustainable grassland ecosystems, and monitoring for sustainability at various scales. Ecological sustainability is defined as: [T]he maintenance or restoration of the composition, structure, and processes of...

Ecological Footprint as a tool for local sustainability: The municipality of Piacenza (Italy) as a case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scotti, Marco; Bondavalli, Cristina; Bodini, Antonio

2009-01-01

The Ecological Footprint is a synthetic index useful to assess sustainability of anthropic systems. Its operational use, however, has been hampered by some difficulties, especially at a local scale. Being conceived as a measure of the biologically productive area requested to sustain individual consumptions in a human community, it leaves out the impacts associated to economic activities. Accordingly, the index cannot contribute much to define local policies, whose target are economic activities, and only marginally affect citizens' behaviour. Ecological Footprint calculation scheme can be modified to include the depletion of natural capital due to local activities such as industry, agriculture, tertiary sector, transport, waste and water management. We provide here an approach which takes into account these different aspects, while we discuss its application to a municipal area as a case study

Sustainable healthy eating behaviour of young adults: towards a novel methodological approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Pieniak, Zuzanna; Żakowska-Biemans, Sylwia; Kostyra, Eliza; Raats, Monique

2016-07-15

Food, nutrition and health policy makers are poised with two pertinent issues more than any other: obesity and climate change. Consumer research has focused primarily on specific areas of sustainable food, such as organic food, local or traditional food, meat substitution and/or reduction. More holistic view of sustainable healthy eating behaviour has received less attention, albeit that more research is emerging in this area. This study protocol that aims to investigate young consumers' attitudes and behaviour towards sustainable and healthy eating by applying a multidisciplinary approach, taking into account economical, marketing, public health and environmental related issues. In order to achieve this goal, consumers' reactions on interactive tailored informational messages about sustainable from social, environmental and economical point of view, as well as healthy eating behaviour in a group of young adults will be investigated using randomized controlled trial. To undertake the objective, the empirical research is divided into three studies: 1) Qualitative longitudinal research to explore openness to adopting sustainable healthy eating behaviour; 2) Qualitative research with the objective to develop a sustainable healthy eating behaviour index; and 3) Randomised controlled trial to describe consumers' reactions on interactive tailored messages about sustainable healthy eating in young consumers. To our knowledge, this is the first randomised controlled trial to test the young adults reactions to interactive tailor made messages on sustainable healthy eating using mobile smartphone app. Mobile applications designed to deliver intervention offer new possibilities to influence young adults behaviour in relation to diet and sustainability. Therefore, the study will provide valuable insights into drivers of change towards more environmentally sustainable and healthy eating behaviours. NCT02776410 registered May 16, 2016.

Sustainability Assessment in Development Planning in Sub-National Territories: Regional Development Strategies in Chile

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Iván Franchi-Arzola

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In Chile, the increasing occurrence of socio-environmental conflicts demonstrates that Regional Development Strategies—Estrategia Regional de Desarrollo (ERD—as the main development policy of subnational territories (Regions, must consider sustainability as a central objective. The Taxonomy of Sustainability constitutes an assessment method that allows us to determine the correlation between the definitions of these public policies and the strategies for transition to sustainable development. The ERD of the Antofagasta and Aysén regions are the ones presenting the highest Taxonomic Index; this indicates a higher strategic content for the promotion of sustainability. It is also noted that the political will that conditions the principles and values on which the ERD are based is strongly determined by investment projects and socio-environmental conflicts, which represent the tension between environmental protection and the capacity and interests of regional society in the development project.

Exploring the relationship between volunteering and hospice sustainability in the UK: a theoretical model.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Ros; Jindal-Snape, Divya; Manwaring, Gaye

2018-05-02

To explore the relationship between volunteering and the sustainability of UK voluntary hospices. A narrative literature review was conducted to inform the development of a theoretical model. Eight databases were searched: CINAHL (EBSCO), British Nursing Index, Intute: Health and Life Sciences, ERIC, SCOPUS, ASSIA (CSA), Cochrane Library and Google Scholar. A total of 90 documents were analysed. Emerging themes included the importance of volunteering to the hospice economy and workforce, the quality of services, and public and community support. Findings suggest that hospice sustainability is dependent on volunteers; however, the supply and retention of volunteers is affected by internal and external factors. A theoretical model was developed to illustrate the relationship between volunteering and hospice sustainability. It demonstrates the factors necessary for hospice sustainability and the reciprocal impact that these factors and volunteering have on each other. The model has a practical application as an assessment framework and strategic planning tool.

Measurement of Scenic Spots Sustainable Capacity Based on PCA-Entropy TOPSIS: A Case Study from 30 Provinces, China

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Xuedong Liang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In connection with the sustainable development of scenic spots, this paper, with consideration of resource conditions, economic benefits, auxiliary industry scale and ecological environment, establishes a comprehensive measurement model of the sustainable capacity of scenic spots; optimizes the index system by principal components analysis to extract principal components; assigns the weight of principal components by entropy method; analyzes the sustainable capacity of scenic spots in each province of China comprehensively in combination with TOPSIS method and finally puts forward suggestions aid decision-making. According to the study, this method provides an effective reference for the study of the sustainable development of scenic spots and is very significant for considering the sustainable development of scenic spots and auxiliary industries to establish specific and scientific countermeasures for improvement.

Do Sustainable Stocks Offer Diversification Benefits for Conventional Portfolios? An Empirical Analysis of Risk Spillovers and Dynamic Correlations

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Mehmet Balcilar

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the potential diversification benefits of socially responsible investments for conventional stock portfolios by examining the risk spillovers and dynamic correlations between conventional and sustainability stock indexes from a number of regions. We observe significant unidirectional volatility transmissions from conventional to sustainable equities, suggesting that the criteria applied for socially responsible investments do not necessarily shield these securities from common market shocks. While significant dynamic correlations are observed between sustainable and conventional stocks, particularly in Europe, the analysis of both in- and out-of-sample dynamic portfolios suggests that supplementing conventional stock portfolios with sustainable counterparts improves the risk/return profile of stock portfolios in all regions. The findings overall suggest that sustainable investments can indeed provide diversification gains for conventional stock portfolios globally.

The Nature Index: A General Framework for Synthesizing Knowledge on the State of Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Certain, Grégoire; Skarpaas, Olav; Bjerke, Jarle-Werner; Framstad, Erik; Lindholm, Markus; Nilsen, Jan-Erik; Norderhaug, Ann; Oug, Eivind; Pedersen, Hans-Christian; Schartau, Ann-Kristin; van der Meeren, Gro I.; Aslaksen, Iulie; Engen, Steinar; Garnåsjordet, Per-Arild; Kvaløy, Pål; Lillegård, Magnar; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; Nybø, Signe

2011-01-01

The magnitude and urgency of the biodiversity crisis is widely recognized within scientific and political organizations. However, a lack of integrated measures for biodiversity has greatly constrained the national and international response to the biodiversity crisis. Thus, integrated biodiversity indexes will greatly facilitate information transfer from science toward other areas of human society. The Nature Index framework samples scientific information on biodiversity from a variety of sources, synthesizes this information, and then transmits it in a simplified form to environmental managers, policymakers, and the public. The Nature Index optimizes information use by incorporating expert judgment, monitoring-based estimates, and model-based estimates. The index relies on a network of scientific experts, each of whom is responsible for one or more biodiversity indicators. The resulting set of indicators is supposed to represent the best available knowledge on the state of biodiversity and ecosystems in any given area. The value of each indicator is scaled relative to a reference state, i.e., a predicted value assessed by each expert for a hypothetical undisturbed or sustainably managed ecosystem. Scaled indicator values can be aggregated or disaggregated over different axes representing spatiotemporal dimensions or thematic groups. A range of scaling models can be applied to allow for different ways of interpreting the reference states, e.g., optimal situations or minimum sustainable levels. Statistical testing for differences in space or time can be implemented using Monte-Carlo simulations. This study presents the Nature Index framework and details its implementation in Norway. The results suggest that the framework is a functional, efficient, and pragmatic approach for gathering and synthesizing scientific knowledge on the state of biodiversity in any marine or terrestrial ecosystem and has general applicability worldwide. PMID:21526118

Level of the farm intensity organisation as the index of environmental sustainable agricultural production

OpenAIRE

Józef Sawa

2009-01-01

Intensity of the farm production organisation in relation to soil organic matter balance in different degree of mechanization process of work for 42 farms situated in different regions of Poland was analysed. Coefficients agricultural production process in ecological, economic and social aspects were presented also. It was shown that indexes; intensity farm production organisation and soil organic matter balance are correlated.

Comparative assessment of supervision and decision-making procedures regarding sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlevaro, F.; Garbely, M.; Genoud, S.

2002-01-01

This final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a study made on the possibilities of establishing a system of indicators that allows the monitoring of sustainable development and its effects, as stipulated in the Agenda 21. The report presents the findings of the study on criteria and indicators for sustainability in the energy area. The challenge posed by the synthesis of information from a system of indicators is discussed and four general approaches are proposed, compared and tested for the monitoring of sustainability in the energy area. These include the calculation of a composite index from several indicators, a similar process that uses statistical methods of dimensional reduction, methods for the measurement of productivity loaned from economics and a method for decision-making using multiple criteria. Examples for the four approaches are given and experience gained in their use - partly in other countries and in United Nations agencies - is discussed

Sustainable business model adoption among S&P 500 firms : A longitudinal content analysis study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ritala, Paavo; Huotari, Pontus; Bocken, N.M.P.; Albareda, Laura; Puumalainen, Kaisu

2018-01-01

In this study, we examine the diversity of sustainable business models adopted by the largest global corporations — those listed in the S&P 500 index — over the period 2005–2014. We examine press release communications during this period, which represent public data about business-relevant

Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences: A Workshop to Create New Curricular Materials to Integrate Geosciences into the Teaching of Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Gosselin, D. C.; Manduca, C. A.; Oches, E. A.; MacGregor, J.; Kirk, K. B.

2012-12-01

. Sustainability also provides a productive bridge from global to local issues, and vice versa. It has the potential to raise the value placed on faculty engagement with local resources and research questions, and to bring community-based stakeholders outside of academia into the classroom. There are many challenges that participants from geographically diverse parts of the country have in common, including the creation of new courses, and teaching interdisciplinary material beyond one's area of expertise. However, one of the greatest opportunities of using a sustainability theme is that it can be integrated into existing courses. It was also clear that incorporating one module on a sustainability topic can be stimulating and powerful mechanism for linking course content to real world issues. Two of the most important outcomes from the workshop were the creation of an online collection of activities and courses (http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/workshops/sustainability2012/index.html) as well as the development of a community that can support integration of geoscience and issues of sustainability across the curriculum.

Sustainability of coastal resource use in San Quintin, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguirre-Muñoz, A; Buddemeier, R W; Camacho-Ibar, V; Carriquiry, J D; Ibarra-Obando, S E; Massey, B W; Smith, S V; Wulff, F

2001-05-01

San Quintin, Mexico, provides a useful site for integrated analyses of material fluxes and socioeconomic constraints in a geographically isolated system. Natural resource utilization on the land is dominated by groundwater exploitation for cultivation of horticulture crops (primarily tomatoes). Irrigation exceeds water recharge minus export by a factor of 6. Resource utilization in the bay is dominated by oyster culture; food for the oysters is provided by tidal exchange of bay and ocean water. Consideration of oyster respiration and system respiration suggests that the present level of aquaculture is about 40% of the sustainable level. A "physical unsustainability index" (PhUI) was developed to measure the proportional departure of utilization of the most limiting resource for sustainability: 6 on land; 0.4 in the bay. Based on PhUI and measures of economic development, we conclude that aquaculture is more viable than agriculture.

Sustainability study of domestic communal wastewater treatment plant in Surabaya City

Science.gov (United States)

Bahar, E.; Sudarno; Zaman, B.

2017-06-01

Sanitation is one of the critical infrastructure sectors in order to improve community health status. The Ministry of Public Works of the Republic of Indonesia to define that word sanitation include: domestic waste water management, solid waste management, rain water management (drainage management) as well as the provision of clean water. Surabaya city as the capital of East Java province and Indonesia’s second largest city with a population of 2,853,661 inhabitants in 2014 (the second largest after Jakarta), but the people who have been served by the sanitation infrastructure systems were expected at 176,105 families or about 26.95 % of the population of the city is already using sanitation facilities. In the White Book Sanitation of Surabaya City in 2010, Surabaya City sanitation development mission is to realize the wastewater management of settlements in a sustainable and affordable by the community. This study aims to assess the sustainability of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) domestic communal in the city of Surabaya. The method in this research is quantitative method through observation, structured interviews and laboratory testing of the variables analyzed. Analyses were performed using a technique Multidisciplinary rapid appraisal (Rap-fish) to determine the level of sustainability of the management of communal WWTP based on a number of attributes that easy scored. Attributes of each dimension includes the technical, environmental quality, institutional, economic, and social. The results of this study are sustainability index of environmental quality dimension at 84.32 with highly sustainable status, technical dimension at 62.61 with fairly sustainable status, social dimension at 57.98 with fairly sustainable status, economic dimension at 43.24 with less sustainable status, and institutional dimension at 39.67 with less sustainable status.

Risk forewarning of regional development sustainability based on a natural resources and environmental carrying index in China

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Jie; Wang, Yafei; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Li, Lijuan; Xu, Yong; Zhang, Wenzhong; Wang, Chuansheng; Xu, Weihua; Li, Jiuyi; Yu, Jianhui; Zhou, Kan

2017-02-01

It is a matter of public consensus that China's high growth rate has been achieved at the expense of natural resources and the environment, leading to serious risks to sustainability. This research, which proposes a theoretical model to forewarn of risks to regional developmental sustainability in China, constitutes the first empirical evaluation of this to be undertaken there. The results show that: (a) the areas at risk cover almost 43% of the land and 44% of the population of mainland China. In those areas, 83.56% of people at risk are threatened by the low carrying capacity of the environment and limited water resources. (b) With 70% of the total population living in "at risk" areas, urbanization zones remain as the primary category suffering from overload across China. Extensive industrialization has resulted in environmental pollution, which contributes the most to the forewarning status, while the secondary cause is found to be the special coupling of the scarcity of natural water resources and their inefficient use. In addition, most urban conglomerations suffer from pollution by industrial production and household consumption, which tends to extend to their surrounding agricultural areas. Extensive mineral exploitation in ecologically fragile areas has made them increasingly more vulnerable to disturbances from their neighboring resource-driven urban areas. The paper uses these findings to suggest how to intensify the special regulatory administration of resources and the environment, and to transform approaches to industrialization, in order to address sustainable development issues in developing countries.

Textiles and clothing sustainability sustainable technologies

CERN Document Server

2017-01-01

This is the first book to deal with the innovative technologies in the field of textiles and clothing sustainability. It details a number of sustainable and innovative technologies and highlights their implications in the clothing sector. There are currently various measures to achieve sustainability in the textiles and the clothing industry, including innovations in the manufacturing stage, which is the crux of this book.

ECOLABEL – TOOL FOR PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

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RATIU Mariana

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The ecolabel is one of the indicators that quantify sustainable consumption and production, and ultimately, sustainable development. Ecolabelling is only one type of environmental labelling, and refers specifically to the provision of information to consumers about the relative environmental quality of a product. Ecolabels are granted on request of various organizations, both public and private, and are recognized only locally or nationally, regionally or internationally. Often coexist at the same time and same place, several types of environmental labels. The acceptance of a particular ecolabel is optional, and is made usually based on reputation, trust and awareness about the label and the level to promote certain brands for better lifestyle and for use the eco, organic or green products. There are currently tracking worldwide by Ecolabel Index, which is the largest global directory of ecolabels, 449 ecolabels in 197 countries, and 25 industry sectors, from which 109 are for textile products. The number of EU Ecolabel greatly increased, so that in the period 2000- 2010, the increase was more than 20 times. At the end of 2012, 17176 products or services was awarded EU Ecolabel. Curently, certainly, the number is much higher. Today, in the Ecolabel Index appear registered in Romania 23 types of ecolabels. Also, Romania currently has awarded 586 licenses for Eu Ecolabel, from which two for textile products and two for footwear.

Design for Sustainability of Industrial Symbiosis based on Emergy and Multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ren, Jingzheng; Liang, Hanwei; Dong, Liang

2016-01-01

approach for supporting decision-making in the design for the sustainability with the implementation of industrial symbiosis in chemical complex. Through incorporating the emergy theory, the model is formulated as a multi-objective approach that can optimize both the economic benefit and sustainable...... performance of the integrated industrial system. A set of emergy based evaluation index are designed. Multi-objective Particle Swarm Algorithm is proposed to solve the model, and the decision-makers are allowed to choose the suitable solutions form the Pareto solutions. An illustrative case has been studied...

Level of the farm intensity organisation as the index of environmental sustainable agricultural production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Józef Sawa

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Intensity of the farm production organisation in relation to soil organic matter balance in different degree of mechanization process of work for 42 farms situated in different regions of Poland was analysed. Coefficients agricultural production process in ecological, economic and social aspects were presented also. It was shown that indexes; intensity farm production organisation and soil organic matter balance are correlated.

Local Agenda 21. Policy and indicators for sustainability; Lokale Agenda 21. Beleid en indicatoren voor duurzaamheid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schultink, R.

1997-11-01

The main questions that are dealt with in this report concern the sustainability policy of the so-called Local Agenda 21 and the different sustainability indicators and their use for several aspects of sustainability. The Local Agenda 21 is the result of the Agenda 21 conference, which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 1992. The global aspects of sustainable developments is based on sustainability developments that can take place on a local level. In this report the Local Agenda 21 activities in the Netherlands are outlined. A framework is developed by means of which the quality of indicators to determine sustainability can be assessed. Four framework criteria are defined: (1) the coverage of sustainability with regard to economical, spatial, social and ecological developments; (2) the transparency of the indicator, i.e. is it easy to calculate?; (3) the scale of the indicator, which in this case concerns the local or regional level; and (4) the availability of data, of which the processing is not always simple. The indicators to which those criteria are applied are the (a) Gross National Product, (b) Human Development Index, which measures economic and sustainability aspects, (c) the Ecological Footprint, reflecting an ideal sustainable development, and (d) environmental indicators (NAMEA or National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts). 30 refs.

Emergy assessment method for wheat cultivar efficiency and environmental sustainability

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Janusz Jankowiak

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The method based on emergy was applied to quantify the fluxes of the energy, matter and monetary investment use (water, seeds, work, fertilizer and plant protecting agents, fuel, goods and services, productivity, environmental services and sustainability in typical wheat cultivar conducted in Wielkopolska. In order to convert all the flows mentioned into common base (seJ a conversion factors (solar transformities were used. In this way it was possible to consider also such flows that are free and generally neglected in the traditional balances. Generally only 52% emergy inflow is delivered by financial investment, while the remaining part, delivered in the form of the environmental services, is free. The Emergy Yield Ratio EYR = 1.14 indicate a low level of output per emergy investment unit. The values of Environmental Loading Ratio ELR = 11 and Emergy Sustainability Index ESI = 0.1 indicate an environmental stress and low level of cultivar sustainability, respectively. The final cultivar product (wheat has the emergy density 4.35 E12 seJ/kg and transformity 26.3 E4 seJ/J.

The sustainable company: new challenges and strategies for more sustainability

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Victor DANCIU

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The sustainability becomes a model of development only if countries, industries, businesses and citizens become sustainable. The contribution of the business to a promising future should come from a fully integrated sustainability in its DNA and strategies.This paper focuses on the needed sustainable strategies for scaling up the contribution of the companies to sustainable development in the future. At the beginning, we analyze the main theoretical points of view on sustainability. Then, we explain how companies could achieve the sustainability by following the steps of a difficult process and the present performances in sustainability of large companies around the world. Finally, we suggest four strategies that businesses could design and implement in order to scaling up their sustainability in the future.The research has two important conclusions on sustainability in business. One is that the sustainability pays off if it is integrated in the DNA of the companies. The other conclusion says that the companies will succeed to make the needed transformation for achieving a better sustainability in the future only if they design and perform strategies focused on improving sustainability.

2010 World Expo and Urban Life Quality in Shanghai in Terms of Sustainable Development

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhu Dajian; Peter P.Rogers

2006-01-01

Based on sustainable development theory and the UN's Human Development Index, this thesis puts forward what the quality of urban life implies,makes a study of the world Expo's potential influences on the urban life of Shanghai and advances the strategy and measures to strengthen the life-quality-facing urban management

Region-Specific Indicators for Assessing the Sustainability of Biomass Utilisation in East Asia

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Yuki Kudoh

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the findings of an expert working group of researchers from East Asian countries. The group was tasked with developing a theoretically sound and practically implementable methodology for assessing the sustainability of biomass utilisation in East Asian countries based on the needs and potential of biomass resources in this region. Building on six years of research conducted between 2007 and 2013, the working group formulated a set of main and secondary indicators for biomass utilisation under three pillars of sustainability. For the environmental pillar, the main indicator was life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and secondary indicators were water consumption and soil quality. For the economic pillar, the main indicator was total value added and secondary indicators were net profit, productivity, and net energy balance. For the social pillar, the main indicators were employment generation and access to modern energy, and the secondary indicator was the human development index. The application of the working group methodology and indicators in sustainability assessments of biomass utilisation will enable decision makers in East Asian countries to compare the sustainability of biomass utilisation options and to make decisions on whether or not to launch or sustain biomass utilisation initiatives.

Sustainable healthy eating behaviour of young adults: towards a novel methodological approach

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Zuzanna Pieniak

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Food, nutrition and health policy makers are poised with two pertinent issues more than any other: obesity and climate change. Consumer research has focused primarily on specific areas of sustainable food, such as organic food, local or traditional food, meat substitution and/or reduction. More holistic view of sustainable healthy eating behaviour has received less attention, albeit that more research is emerging in this area. Methods/design This study protocol that aims to investigate young consumers’ attitudes and behaviour towards sustainable and healthy eating by applying a multidisciplinary approach, taking into account economical, marketing, public health and environmental related issues. In order to achieve this goal, consumers’ reactions on interactive tailored informational messages about sustainable from social, environmental and economical point of view, as well as healthy eating behaviour in a group of young adults will be investigated using randomized controlled trial. To undertake the objective, the empirical research is divided into three studies: 1 Qualitative longitudinal research to explore openness to adopting sustainable healthy eating behaviour; 2 Qualitative research with the objective to develop a sustainable healthy eating behaviour index; and 3 Randomised controlled trial to describe consumers’ reactions on interactive tailored messages about sustainable healthy eating in young consumers. Discussion To our knowledge, this is the first randomised controlled trial to test the young adults reactions to interactive tailor made messages on sustainable healthy eating using mobile smartphone app. Mobile applications designed to deliver intervention offer new possibilities to influence young adults behaviour in relation to diet and sustainability. Therefore, the study will provide valuable insights into drivers of change towards more environmentally sustainable and healthy eating behaviours. Trial

Sustainability Assessment of a Biorefinery Complex in Thailand

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Pariyapat Nilsalab

2011-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a biorefinery complex in Thailand was assessed vis-à-vis sustainability. The complex studied includes plantations of sugarcane and a biorefinery system composed of several units including, a sugar mill, power plant, ethanol factory and fertilizer plant. The assessment aimed at evaluating the environmental and socio-economic implications relating to molasses-based ethanol production and use, and maximized utilization of the biomass materials produced as part of the biorefinery complex. Global warming potential, human development index and total value added are the three indicators that were selected to perform the assessment. The results obtained revealed that the maximization of biomass utilization at the level of the biorefinery complex provide greenhouse gases emissions reduction benefits, enhanced living conditions for sugarcane farmers and employees of the biorefinery, and economic benefits, particularly with regard to profit and income generation. These results could serve as a first step to further improve and design indicators for sustainability assessment of biomass utilization.

Review of Spatial Indexing Techniques for Large Urban Data Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Azri, Suhaibah; Ujang, Uznir; Anton, François

Pressure on land development in urban areas causes progressive efforts in spatial planning and management. The physical expansion of urban areas to accommodate rural migration implies a massive impact to social, economical and political situations of major cities. Most of the models used...... in managing urban areas are moving towards sustainable urban development in order to fulfill current necessities while preserving the resources for future generations. However, in order to manage large amounts of urban spatial data, an efficient spatial data constellation method is needed. With the ease...... of three dimensional (3D) spatial data usage in urban areas as a new source of data input, practical spatial data indexing is necessary to improve data retrieval and management. Current two dimensional (2D) spatial indexing approaches seem not applicable to the current and future spatial developments...

Long-term trends in tourism climate index scores for 40 stations across Iran: the role of climate change and influence on tourism sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Roshan, Gholamreza; Yousefi, Robabe; Fitchett, Jennifer M

2016-01-01

Tourism is a rapidly growing international sector and relies intrinsically on an amenable climate to attract visitors. Climate change is likely to influence the locations preferred by tourists and the time of year of peak travel. This study investigates the effect of climate change on the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) for Iran. The paper first calculates the monthly TCI for 40 cities across Iran for each year from 1961 to 2010. Changes in the TCI over the study period for each of the cities are then explored. Increases in TCI are observed for at least one station in each month, whilst for some months no decreases occurred. For October, the maximum of 45% of stations demonstrated significant changes in TCI, whilst for December only 10% of stations demonstrated change. The stations Kashan, Orumiyeh, Shahrekord, Tabriz, Torbat-e-Heidarieh and Zahedan experienced significant increases in TCI for over 6 months. The beginning of the change in TCI is calculated to have occurred from 1970 to 1980 for all stations. Given the economic dependence on oil exports, the development of sustainable tourism in Iran is of importance. This critically requires the identification of locations most suitable for tourism, now and in the future, to guide strategic investment.

Sustainable flood risk management – What is sustainable?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørup, Hjalte Jomo Danielsen; Brudler, Sarah; Lerer, Sara Maria

2016-01-01

Sustainable flood risk management has to be achieved since flood protection is a fundamental societal service that we must deliver. Based on the discourse within the fields of risk management and sustainable urban water management, we discuss the necessity of assessing the sustainability of flood...... risk management, and propose an evaluation framework for doing so. We argue that it is necessary to include quantitative sustainability measures in flood risk management in order to exclude unsustainable solutions. Furthermore, we use the concept of absolute sustainability to discuss the prospects...... of maintaining current service levels without compromising future generation’s entitlement of services. Discussions on the sustainability of different overall flood risk schemes must take place. Fundamental changes in the approaches will require fundamental changes in the mind-sets of practitioners as well...

Using Four Capitals to Assess Watershed Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Maqueo, Octavio; Martinez, M. Luisa; Vázquez, Gabriela; Equihua, Miguel

2013-03-01

The La Antigua watershed drains into the Gulf of Mexico and can be considered as one of the most important areas in Mexico because of its high productivity, history, and biodiversity, although poverty remains high in the area in spite of these positive attributes. In this study, we performed an integrated assessment of the watershed to recommend a better direction toward a sustainable management in which the four capitals (natural, human, social, and built) are balanced. We contrasted these four capitals in the municipalities of the upper, middle and lower watershed and found that natural capital (natural ecosystems and ecosystem services) was higher in the upper and middle watershed, while human and social capitals (literacy, health, education and income) were generally higher downstream. Overall, Human Development Index was negatively correlated with the percentage of natural ecosystems in the watershed, especially in the upper and lower watershed regions. Our results indicate that natural capital must be fully considered in projections for increasing human development, so that natural resources can be preserved and managed adequately while sustaining intergenerational well-being.

Comparison of demographic, clinical, and laboratory parameters between patients with sustained normotension, white coat hypertension, masked hypertension, and sustained hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Afsar, Baris

2013-03-01

After measurement of office blood pressure (BP) and ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM), 4 groups of patients were identified namely: (i) sustained normotensive patients (BPs are normal both clinically and by ABPM); (ii) white coat hypertensive patients (clinical BP were above limits, but ABPM were normal); (iii) masked hypertensive patients (clinical BP were normal, but ABPM were high); (iv) sustained hypertensive patients (both office and ABPM were high). The exact pathophysiologic mechanisms of these conditions are not exactly known. Besides in the literature there are only few studies that compare the 4 groups of patients together. Thus the study was carried out to compare patients with sustained normotension (SNT), white coat hypertension (WCHT), masked hypertension (MHT), and sustained hypertension (SHT). All patients underwent history taking, physical examination, laboratory analysis, and ABPM. They were referred to the cardiology department for echocardiographic evaluation. In total 85 patients with SNT, 112 patients with WCHT, 31 patients with MHT, and 81 patients with SHT were included. Going from SNT to SHT, body mass index (p<0.0001), waist circumference (p<0.0001), fasting blood glucose (p=0.002), and uric acid (p=0.029) rose progressively. Presence of metabolic syndrome was also highest in SHT and lowest in SNT (p<0.0001). Most of the metabolic risk factors were higher in patients with MHT and SHT when compared to SNT and WCHT. Studies are needed to determine whether metabolic risk factors play a causative role for the development of MHT and SHT. Copyright © 2012 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MODELING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARCTIC REGION OF RUSSIA

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K. N. Kikkas

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article describes a model of six econometric equations, designed for the analysis of the sustainability of development in the Arctic region of the Russian Federation - Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The article analyzes the spheres of human activity in the Chukchi Autonomous District: social, industrial, natural resources. Each sphere is estimated indicators. The theoretical views of various researchers on sustainable development and defi nes the concept of sustainable development of the spheres of human activity in the Arctic region. Under the sustainable development of the Arctic region of space refers to such changes in the indices of spheres of human activity in the region, which increase the potential for human development. The numerical value of the potential of human development is estimated Human Development Index. The article describes the methodological principles of constructing a model of six equations econometric analysis of the sustainable development of the Arctic region. Each of the six equations presented in the form of ADL-model, because it allows us to estimate the dependence of ADL values of the spheres of human activity in the region from the current and past values of the series of other indicators. Selected endogenous and exogenous variables for the model. We discuss the algorithm for fi nding the model parameters. On the basis of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug are six coeffi cients of econometric equations. The analysis of the results of the decision model. Methodological principles and results of the decision model can be used to develop strategies for sustainable development of the municipality, a separate Arctic, or a combination of all the Arctic regions of Russia.

Who will have Sustainable Employment After a Back Injury? The Development of a Clinical Prediction Model in a Cohort of Injured Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Shearer, Heather M; Côté, Pierre; Boyle, Eleanor; Hayden, Jill A; Frank, John; Johnson, William G

2017-09-01

Purpose Our objective was to develop a clinical prediction model to identify workers with sustainable employment following an episode of work-related low back pain (LBP). Methods We used data from a cohort study of injured workers with incident LBP claims in the USA to predict employment patterns 1 and 6 months following a workers' compensation claim. We developed three sequential models to determine the contribution of three domains of variables: (1) basic demographic/clinical variables; (2) health-related variables; and (3) work-related factors. Multivariable logistic regression was used to develop the predictive models. We constructed receiver operator curves and used the c-index to measure predictive accuracy. Results Seventy-nine percent and 77 % of workers had sustainable employment at 1 and 6 months, respectively. Sustainable employment at 1 month was predicted by initial back pain intensity, mental health-related quality of life, claim litigation and employer type (c-index = 0.77). At 6 months, sustainable employment was predicted by physical and mental health-related quality of life, claim litigation and employer type (c-index = 0.77). Adding health-related and work-related variables to models improved predictive accuracy by 8.5 and 10 % at 1 and 6 months respectively. Conclusion We developed clinically-relevant models to predict sustainable employment in injured workers who made a workers' compensation claim for LBP. Inquiring about back pain intensity, physical and mental health-related quality of life, claim litigation and employer type may be beneficial in developing programs of care. Our models need to be validated in other populations.

Sustainable Lifestyle Marketing of Individuals: the Base of Sustainability

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Mira Rakic

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper highlights the sustainable lifestyle marketing of an individual (SLMOI. The SLMOI is the activity, a set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating and maintaining the sustainable lifestyle of an individual (SLOI. The SLOI is an individual’s sustainability-oriented pattern of living represented by his or her activities, interests and opinions. The SLOI refers to a sustainable pattern of life (daily activities within the family, a sustainable pattern of consumption, a sustainable pattern of work and production (as employees in organizations and a sustainable pattern of behavior in the society and the environment they live in. The SLOI reflects an individual’s choices with respect to spending time, money and energy in accordance with the sustainable pattern of life. The SLOI stands for sustainable behavioral patterns on the basis of attitudes and values. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the attitudes of the population towards sustainable lifestyles and the SLMOI (performed by different actors and behaviors on the basis of attitudes.Using a face-to-face questionnaire interview, the study was conducted on a sample of 400 citizens of Serbia. There are three key conclusions. First, the SLMOI leads to the SLOI, and the SLOI further leads to sustainability. Second, the creation and maintenance of the SLOI is a long-term process. Third, a holistic approach is needed as well as the engagement of numerous actors in that process of creating and maintaining the SLOI.

AGROECOSYSTEMS SUSTAINABILITY OF CASSAVA PRODUCTION OF PARAÍBA RURAL AREA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF BIOGRAM

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Valdenildo Pedro da Silva

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Agriculture modernization resulting from green revolution occurred through means of diverse technological innovations as soluble fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural machinery and genetically modified seeds, aimed at increasing food production. However, the indiscriminate use of these innovations by farmers has been highlighted numerous environmental problems, affecting the productive agricultural system. This technological innovations reality and environmental obstacles, is also been experienced by cassava production in Paraíba rural area. Therefore, this study tried to assess the agroecosystems sustainability of cassava production (Manihot esculenta Crantz of Paraíba Rural Mesoregion, using Sustainable Development Index (S³ method, and its graphical representation, the Biogram. The results showed sustainability differences between the agroecosystems of investigated municipalities, of which Araçagi showed stable levels of sustainability, Araruna and Bananeiras demonstrated unstable levels, and Puxinanã showed the most critical sustainably level. It was concluded that, even the agroecosystems of Araçagi municipality showing better levels of sustainability, when compared with other municipalities assessed, cassava production showed unsustainability situations regarding its technological innovation levels, average yield of cassava production, land in erosion process, water scarcity and lack of social participation.

Empirical Study towards the Drivers of Sustainable Economic Growth in EU-28 Countries

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Daniel Ştefan Armeanu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims at empirically investigating the drivers of sustainable economic growth in EU-28 countries. By means of panel data regression models, in the form of fixed and random effects models, alongside system generalized method of moments, we examine several drivers of real gross domestic product (GDP growth rate, as follows: higher education, business environment, infrastructure, technology, communications, and media, population lifestyle, and demographic changes. As regards higher education, the empirical results show that expenditure per student in higher education and traditional 18–22 year-old students are positively linked with sustainable economic growth, whereas science and technology graduates negatively influence real GDP growth. In terms of business environment, total expenditure on research and development and employment rates of recent graduates contributes to sustainable development, but corruption perceptions index revealed a negative association with economic growth. As well, the results provide support for a negative influence of infrastructure abreast technological measures on economic growth. Besides, we found a negative connection between old-age dependency ratio and sustainable economic growth.

Textiles and clothing sustainability sustainable fashion and consumption

CERN Document Server

2017-01-01

This is the first book to introduce and explain the concept of sustainable consumption with reference to the clothing sector. It uses various case studies to detail sustainable consumption behavior in the industry. Consumption is a key issue and is a major driver when it comes to sustainability in any industry, including clothing sector. Several studies which have highlighted the need for sustainable consumption in the clothing sector are discussed in this book.

Sustainable markets for sustainable energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Millan, J.; Smyser, C.

1997-12-01

The author discusses how the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is involved in sustainable energy development. It presently has 50 loans and grants for non conventional renewable energy projects and ten grants for efficiency programs for $600 and $17 million respectively, representing 100 MW of power. The IDB is concerned with how to create a sustainable market for sustainable energy projects. The IDB is trying to work with government, private sector, NGOs, trading allies, credit sources, and regulators to find proper roles for such projects. He discusses how the IDB is working to expand its vision and objectives in renewable energy projects in Central and South America.

A Comprehensive Quantitative Evaluation of New Sustainable Urbanization Level in 20 Chinese Urban Agglomerations

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Cong Xu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available On 16 March 2014, the State Council of China launched its first urbanization planning initiative dubbed “National New Urbanization Planning (2014–2020” (NNUP. NNUP put forward 20 urban agglomerations and a sustainable development approach aiming to transform traditional Chinese urbanization to sustainable new urbanization. This study quantitatively evaluates the level of sustainability of the present new urbanization process in 20 Chinese urban agglomerations and provides some positive suggestions for the achievement of sustainable new urbanization. A three-level index system which is based on six fundamental elements in a city and a Full Permutation Polygon Synthetic Indicator evaluation method are adopted. The results show that China is undergoing a new urbanization process with a low level of sustainability and there are many problems remaining from traditional urbanization processes. There exists a polarized phenomenon in the urbanization of 20 urban agglomerations. Based on their own development patterns, the 20 urban agglomerations can be divided into seven categories. Every category has its own development characteristics. The analyses also show that waste of water resources, abuse of land resources, and air pollution are three big problems that are closely linked to traditional Chinese urbanization processes. To achieve sustainable new urbanization in China, four relevant suggestions and comments have been provided.

Textiles and clothing sustainability sustainable textile chemical processes

CERN Document Server

2017-01-01

This book highlights the challenges in sustainable wet processing of textiles, natural dyes, enzymatic textiles and sustainable textile finishes. Textile industry is known for its chemical processing issues and many NGO’s are behind the textile sector to streamline its chemical processing, which is the black face of clothing and fashion sector. Sustainable textile chemical processes are crucial for attaining sustainability in the clothing sector. Seven comprehensive chapters are aimed to highlight these issues in the book.

Environmental Sustainability: Study an Institution of Higher Education Public of the State of Santa Catarina

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Stephanie Kalynka Rocha

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The paper has the general objective of analyzing the environmental sustainability of an Institution of Higher Education (IHE Public of the State of Santa Catarina. To meet this objective has to reach the specific objectives: to check the number of IHEs in Brazil and Santa Catarina; to identify the number of public and private institutions and to propose a management model 5W2H to deficit sustainability criteria. The methodology and the objectives considered descriptive, with the technical procedures has the case study and the approach problem qualitative. The methodology is divided into three phases: the first phase it is the theoretical basis, it approaches social and environmental responsibility; environmental management and environmental management system. In the second phase it is the analysis of the results where first there was the amount of IHE and distribution in administrative categories. In the third phase, it has been the purpose of responding to a checklist of 154 questions developed by Pieri et al (2011 and Environmental Management Plan Summary (5W2H. In the end it is concluded that the institution submitted a global sustainability index of 32 %, being regarded as weak, proposing with the 5W2H tool, an action for each criterion, as the inclusion of recyclable products in acquisitions; recycling of waste; accessibility to the handicapped; and creating actions that approximates the IHE to the society. It is hoped that the proposed actions that the institution to put them into practice, increase the environmental sustainability index, benefiting society and the environment.

Assessment Framework of Building Facade in Optimizing Indoor Thermal Comfort of Green Building Index (GBI Certified Office Building

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Abdul Tharim Asniza Hamimi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available During the past decade, the construction industry has seen a new trend in the development of “green” or “sustainable” construction concept around the world with vast support from prominent organization, together with the introduction of sustainable building codes. The establishment of green building certification systems worldwide is seen as one of the most efforts in the emerging green building movement. In order to support the development of the “green” and “sustainable” concept in Malaysia, Green Building Index (GBI was launched by the government on 21 May 2009 that created to promote sustainability in the built environment and raise awareness of environmental issues. However, the construction industry seems to have focused only on findings the “right mechanism” for an environmentally sustainable “final result” in order for the building to be certified as green with the lacking of continuous assessment on the building performance after the certifications. This study is purposely conducted to investigate the performance of various rated Green Building Index (GBI Non-Residential New Construction office buildings and the influence on Indoor Thermal Comfort (ITC of the selected buildings. The aim is to develop an assessment framework for optimum green building architectural façade to be used for office buildings in Malaysia as well as to analyse the occupants’ perception, satisfaction and performance in the selected Green Building Index (GBI rated office indoor environment. This research is still in its infancy; therefore the paper is focused on research aims, research scope and methodology, and expected deliverables for the proposed research.

Design for sustainability of industrial symbiosis based on emergy and multi-objective particle swarm optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Jingzheng; Liang, Hanwei; Dong, Liang; Sun, Lu; Gao, Zhiqiu

2016-08-15

Industrial symbiosis provides novel and practical pathway to the design for the sustainability. Decision support tool for its verification is necessary for practitioners and policy makers, while to date, quantitative research is limited. The objective of this work is to present an innovative approach for supporting decision-making in the design for the sustainability with the implementation of industrial symbiosis in chemical complex. Through incorporating the emergy theory, the model is formulated as a multi-objective approach that can optimize both the economic benefit and sustainable performance of the integrated industrial system. A set of emergy based evaluation index are designed. Multi-objective Particle Swarm Algorithm is proposed to solve the model, and the decision-makers are allowed to choose the suitable solutions form the Pareto solutions. An illustrative case has been studied by the proposed method, a few of compromises between high profitability and high sustainability can be obtained for the decision-makers/stakeholders to make decision. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Sustainability of New Rural Housing (Case of ole Baba Hoseyn Bridge Village

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Jeyran Chamcham

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Modernization of rural housing based on the principles of sustainability is one of the most important prerequisites for achieving sustainable development in rural areas. This can only be achieved by knowing the exact status of rural housing and its range of stability. And rural planning is not possible without it. On the other hand, survey of the stability of the different aspects of rural housing will have a decisive role in decisions related to how to promote this project aimed at sustainable rural development. Therefore, this study we have investigated and compared the economic, Social, environmental, technical and physical aspects of new rural housing with sustainability approach, quantitative paradigm and the case study method. The statistical population in the study were all the people of Baba Hoseyn Bridge Village from which a number were selected who had reconstructed their homes. The results are shown in 4 dimensions of new housing's economic, social, environmental, technical and physical aspects in the Baba Hoseyn Bridge Village although they have very little inclination towards sustainability. Despite this, the hybrid economic index for reconstruction of rural housing turned out to be more stable than other metrics.

Sustainability of donor-funded rural water supply and sanitation projects in Mbire district, Zimbabwe

Science.gov (United States)

Kwangware, Johnson; Mayo, Aloyce; Hoko, Zvikomborero

The sustainability of donor-funded rural water supply and sanitation projects was assessed in Mbire district, Zimbabwe in terms of level of community participation, quality of implementation and reliability of the systems. The study was carried out through questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews and field observations. The results show that the quality of implementation of the projects was deemed to be good and participation of the communities in project ideas initiation and choice of technology was found to be very low. Reliability of the systems was found to be very high with 97% of the boreholes in all the three wards studied being functional. Financial management mechanisms were very poor because water consumers were not willing to pay for operation and maintenance. The projects were classified as potentially sustainable with sustainability index between 5.00 and 6.67. Poor financial management mechanisms for effective borehole maintenance, poor quality of construction and lack of community participation in project planning were found to be potential threats to the sustainability of the projects. Future projects should establish the need for the service and should thus be demand driven to ensure effective participation of the water consumers and enhance project's potential for sustainability.

Multi-criteria sustainability assessment: A tool for evaluation of new energy system

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Afgan Naim H.

2007-01-01

Full Text Available One of perspective methods for the evaluation of quality of energy system is the multi-criteria sustainability assessment, based on the analysis and synthesis of indicators expressing different aspects of the system. Application of this methodology in the cases of information deficiency (ASPID methodology enables evaluation of various energy systems. In the paper, the multi-criteria sustainability assessment of energy systems of various energy sources is used to evaluate the energy power system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Eight different energy system options are taken into a consideration as the potential options for the capacity building within the energy power system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has included various renewable sources and fossil fuel clean technologies. Within the multi-criteria sustainability assessment method, sustainability indicators and weighting coefficients are defined and calculated, including: resource indicator, environment indicator, social indicator and economic indicator with respective weighting factors. The methodology includes the system of stochastic models of uncertainty in order to realize the assessment from various supporting systems, and to obtain respective normalization indexes by using non-numeric (ordinal, non-exact (interval, and non-complete information (NNN- information, for sources of various reliability and probability. By the analysis of multi-criteria sustainability assessment of selected options, the decision makers could be enabled to form opinion on quality of considered energy systems, and from the aspect of sustainability, make selection an optimum option of energy system. .

Conceptualising sustainability assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pope, Jenny; Annandale, David; Morrison-Saunders, Angus

2004-01-01

Sustainability assessment is being increasingly viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainability. However, this is a new and evolving concept and there remain very few examples of effective sustainability assessment processes implemented anywhere in the world. Sustainability assessment is often described as a process by which the implications of an initiative on sustainability are evaluated, where the initiative can be a proposed or existing policy, plan, programme, project, piece of legislation, or a current practice or activity. However, this generic definition covers a broad range of different processes, many of which have been described in the literature as 'sustainability assessment'. This article seeks to provide some clarification by reflecting on the different approaches described in the literature as being forms of sustainability assessment, and evaluating them in terms of their potential contributions to sustainability. Many of these are actually examples of 'integrated assessment', derived from environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA), but which have been extended to incorporate social and economic considerations as well as environmental ones, reflecting a 'triple bottom line' (TBL) approach to sustainability. These integrated assessment processes typically either seek to minimise 'unsustainability', or to achieve TBL objectives. Both aims may, or may not, result in sustainable practice. We present an alternative conception of sustainability assessment, with the more ambitious aim of seeking to determine whether or not an initiative is actually sustainable. We term such processes 'assessment for sustainability'. 'Assessment for sustainability' firstly requires that the concept of sustainability be well-defined. The article compares TBL approaches and principles-based approaches to developing such sustainability criteria, concluding that the latter are more appropriate, since they avoid many

Construction and applied research of low-carbon building evaluation index system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhongwen; Dong, Xiaohong; Gao, Pengzhao

2017-04-01

Energy conservation in building is a key link on alleviating energy-deficient contradiction, improving the quality of human life environment, and realizing sustainable development in our country. In this paper, we construct low-carbon building evaluation index system and evaluation method from five aspects—low-carbon structure, low-carbon materials, low-carbon energy, low-carbon technology and low-carbon management. Finally, taking “Solar Valley” in Dezhou as an example, we make the evaluation to its situation of low-carbon building.

Study on Evaluation Index System of Green mine construction

Science.gov (United States)

Li, xin; Yang, JunJie; Yan, Hongcai; Cao, Hongjun

2017-11-01

Green mine is a new and science comprehensive construction mode of mine, which runs the concept of green development through the whole process of mineral resources development and utilization, promotes the transformation and upgrading of mineral enterprises and achieves the healthy and sustainable development of mining industry. This paper is based on “the basic conditions of national green mine”, combined with the current situation of green mine construction, constructing green mine construction evaluation index system which is divided into five areas, including management, comprehensive utilization of mineral resources. technological innovation. ecological environment and cultural construction.

Sustainable Construction Industry in Cambodia: Awareness, Drivers and Barriers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serdar Durdyev

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Although sustainability is of utmost importance, anecdotal evidence suggests that the concept is not adequately implemented in many developing countries. This paper investigates industry stakeholders’ awareness of the current state of, factors driving, and barriers hindering the adoption of sustainable construction (SC in Cambodia. Using an empirical questionnaire survey targeting local construction professionals, respondents were invited to rate their level of awareness, knowledge and understanding of SC, as well as to rate the level of importance of 31 drivers and 10 barriers identified from the seminal literature. The data set was subjected to the relative importance index method. The results suggest that the industry-wide adoption of SC practices is poor, which is believed to be due to a lack of awareness and knowledge, and reluctance to adopt new sustainable technologies. Furthermore, more efforts must be put into the selection of more durable materials for the extension of buildings’ lives and to minimize material consumption, as well as to develop energy-efficient buildings with minimal environmental impact and a healthy indoor environment, so that the ability of future generations to meet their own needs will not be compromised. The outcomes of this study have enriched knowledge about the current state of, drivers of, and barriers to sustainable construction in a typical developing economy. Although the outcomes of this study were a short scoping exercise, it has formed a significant base for future SC work within Cambodia.

Sustainable Disruptions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friis, Silje Alberthe Kamille; Kjær, Lykke Bloch

2016-01-01

Since 2012 the Sustainable Disruptions (SD) project at the Laboratory for Sustainability at Design School Kolding (DK) has developed and tested a set of design thinking tools, specifically targeting the barriers to economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable business development....... The tools have been applied in practice in collaboration with 11 small and medium sized companies (SMEs). The study investigates these approaches to further understand how design thinking can contribute to sustainable transition in a business context. The study and the findings are relevant to organizations...... invested in the issue of sustainable business development, in particular the leaders and employees of SMEs, but also to design education seeking new ways to consciously handle and teach the complexity inherent in sustainable transformation. Findings indicate that the SD design thinking approach contributes...

Sustainable Table | Welcome to Sustainable Table

Science.gov (United States)

Sustainable Seafood Industrial Agriculture Industrial Livestock Production Antibiotics Hormones rBGH Animal , safeguarding animal welfare and supporting local communities. Questions to Ask Asking questions is the best way Livestock Husbandry Sustainable Crop Production Innovative Agriculture New Farmers Organic Agriculture Local

Measurement invariance of an instrument assessing sustainability of school-based universal behavior practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Mercer, Sterett H; McIntosh, Kent; Strickland-Cohen, M Kathleen; Horner, Robert H

2014-06-01

The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which the School-Wide Universal Behavior Sustainability Index: School Teams (SUBSIST; McIntosh, Doolittle, Vincent, Horner, & Ervin, 2009), a measure of school and district contextual factors that promote the sustainability of school practices, demonstrated measurement invariance across groups of schools that differed in length of time implementing school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS; Sugai & Horner, 2009), student ethnic composition, and student socioeconomic status (SES). School PBIS team members and district coaches representing 860 schools in 14 U.S. states completed the SUBSIST. Findings supported strong measurement invariance, for all items except 1, of a model with two school-level factors (School Priority and Team Use of Data) and 2 district-level factors (District Priority and Capacity Building) across groups of schools at initial implementation, institutionalization, and sustainability phases of PBIS implementation. Schools in the sustainability phase were rated significantly higher on School Priority and Team Use of Data than schools in initial implementation. Strong measurement invariance held across groups of schools that differed in student ethnicity and SES. The findings regarding measurement invariance are important for future longitudinal investigations of factors that may promote the sustained implementation of school practices. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

[Land Use Pattern Change and Regional Sustainability Evaluation of Wetland in Jiaogang Lake].

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yang; Cai, Yi-min; Bai, Yan-ying; Chen, Wei-ping; Yang, Xiu-chao

2015-06-01

Changes in land use and sustainability evaluation of wetland in Jiaogang Lake from 1995 to 2013 were analyzed, based on the land use change models and an index system, supported by RS, GIS, and social statistical data. The results showed: (1) dry land, paddy field, and building land were the predominant landscape in the study area. The arable land was mainly converted during 1995-2000, which was driven by the extension of agriculture, and the building land increased significantly during 2010-2013, which was driven by the tourism development. (2) Compared to the beginning research area, the building land increased by 123.3%, and the wetland decreased by 23.15%. The land system was at risk for a low proportion of wetland, scarcity of unused land, and the fragmented landscape. (3) The regional sustainability results were bad level, bad level, poor level, good level, and poor level during the different periods, with some room for improvement. (4) The fitness of regional sustainability in study area yielded satisfactory results in 2010, owing to the rapid growth of regional productivity and the regional stability. Since 2010, with the increasing environmental load, the regional sustainability fell down to the poor level. The obstruction of sustainable development is necessary to be addressed in the study area.

Engineering Sustainability: A Technical Approach to Sustainability

OpenAIRE

Rosen, Marc A.

2012-01-01

Sustainability is a critically important goal for human activity and development. Sustainability in the area of engineering is of great importance to any plans for overall sustainability given 1) the pervasiveness of engineering activities in societies, 2) their importance in economic development and living standards, and 3) the significant impacts that engineering processes and systems have had, and continue to have, on the environment. Many factors that need to be considered and appropriate...

Determining the embeddedness of sustainability claims in strategising: A comparative study of the ALSI 40 companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Pretorius

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To determine the level of sustainability embeddedness in strategising by investigating the public and external communication of companies. Problem investigated: The extent to which sustainability is embedded in the elements of strategy formulation and implementation (and not merely surface-level statements and claims Design: The researchers designed a measurement tool and scale, the Strategising for Sustainability Index (SSI, based on researched elements of strategising and recent literature on the topic of sustainability and strategy integration. Merit for strategising for sustainability was given to a company on the basis of its fulfilling the relevant criteria. The JSE Top 40 listed companies on the All Share Index as of March 2011 were selected as a purposive sample. Each company's data and each element of the scorecard were judged on a Likert-type five-point scale, with higher scores indicating higher levels of embeddedness in the strategy. A comprehensive evaluation sheet was used to judge the presented data individually and independently for each element of the scorecard instrument. Findings: Ten elements were found relevant and represented: compliance (2 elements; strategy formulation (4 elements; and strategy implementation (4 elements. The findings show wide variation in overall scores. Almost all companies satisfied the compliance requirements but variations were observed in both formulation and implementation embeddedness. The SSI tool has discrimination value despite a relatively complex judging process. The proposed SSI measurement challenges other determinants of sustainability performance, as it incorporates embeddedness of sustainability in strategising. Knowing the level of this could guide management towards directing resources away from 'over-invested' strengths related to sustainability. Considering the scores for the different elements of the instrument would help to prioritise the 'sustainability spend

Sustainable Marketing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dam, van Y.K.

2017-01-01

In this article, three different conceptions of sustainable marketing are discussed and compared. These different conceptions are referred to as social, green, and critical sustainable marketing. Social sustainable marketing follows the logic of demand-driven marketing management and places the

The model of sustainable socio-economic development of the national economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. A. Kalchenko

2016-01-01

Full Text Available According to the new "National security strategy of the Russian Federation, sustainable socio-economic development is the basis of national economic security. UN conceptual model of sustainable development is considered. The “Club of Rome” founder’s Aurelio Peccei point of view that world could be presented by interrelated but sufficiently stable elements: Nature, Man, Society, science-based Technique is mentioned (early 1980s. Today, sustainable socio-economic development of the national economy is determined by: Nature, Man, Society, Technology, Economy and Infrastructure. To support this opinion, statements of leading scientists, politicians, business representatives are given: A. Aganbegian, M. Friedman, V. Sidorov, V. Inozemtsev, G. Gref. The author's model of sustainable socio-economic development of the national economy is presented. The position of Russia according to the “2016 Global R&D Funding Forecast”, compiled by well-known scientific periodical “R&DMagazine” is presented. Classification of indicators groups, taken from the Russian and foreign statistical data books (Russian Statistical Yearbook, IRI, R&D Magazine, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, CIA Factbook, OECD, according to the elements of an integrated system of sustainable socio-economic development of the national economy is given. Implementation aggregating partial indices into an integrated index for each group and their population as a whole is proposed. For each private indicator is proposed to develop three levels of threshold values (acceptable, marginal and critical for sustainable socio-economic development of the national economy and security. Since innovation is a key mechanism for the concept of sustainable socio-economic development of the national economy in a new tenor of technology, the need for innovative development of all elements of the proposed integrated system is required.

Sustainability and Organizational Change by Sustainable Crediting Therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragoş Ilie

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that one of the therapies to achieve sustainability and organizational change in the context of current challenges in the national economies is sustainable crediting. The research method is based on a survey of 30 commercial companies from various fields of activity that have or have not implemented, at the leadership level, the concept of sustainable crediting. The data collecting and processing approach has resulted in the determination of the main economic-financial indicators for a period of 5 years, indicators used by banks in relation with the credited organizations. The main results show that companies that have implemented the sustainable crediting concept are more able to achieve sustainability in their developed activity, as well as organizational change with positive effects on their business and on the company as a whole. The concept of sustainable crediting implies the capitalization of the commercial companies, the increase of the loan portfolio quality, the achievement of the financial balance and environmental protection

Sustainability in Business

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tollin, Karin; Vej, Jesper

2012-01-01

How do companies integrate sustainability into their strategy and practices, and what factors explain their approach? In this paper a typology of sustainability strategies is presented as well as a conceptual framework relating sustainability at the company level to the functional level of market...... managers' mindsets, a framework addressing sustainability from four organisational learning schools was designed and followed......How do companies integrate sustainability into their strategy and practices, and what factors explain their approach? In this paper a typology of sustainability strategies is presented as well as a conceptual framework relating sustainability at the company level to the functional level...... of marketing. The central contribution of the typology is a strategic and managerial view on sustainability. Furthermore, the typology shows that sustainability in business is enacted from different areas of competences and fields in the literature (e.g. supply chain management, corporate branding, value...

SRUNs - sustainable resource utilisation networks for regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niemetz, N.

2015-01-01

Nowadays it cannot be denied that fossil resources will approach or over-run their maximum global production rate within the 21st century. In addition to this resource constraints climate change has to be considered in parallel, requiring a drastic reduction in carbon emissions. These two trends clearly show that a fundamental shift is needed within the next decades, from fossil towards renewable resources. This transition gives rise to a change in the supply chains: while fossil fuels are typically exploited from point sources, nearly all renewable resources depend, either directly or indirectly, on solar radiation and area is required for their provision. This poses a new challenge for political, economic and social actors who can decide about land use. Within this thesis a conceptual framework of so called SRUNs – sustainable resource utilisation networks for regions - is developed. Regions have a responsibility in providing goods and services for the society within sustainable networks and bring the spatial dimension into consideration as well. The way how these networks are constructed is described in detail covering spatial planning, the stakeholder process, drivers and barriers as well as elements and features for SRUNs. Using the Process Network Synthesis (PNS) as an optimisation tool, the economic optimum of a network can be found and different scenarios compared. To show the ecological pressure of an established network an evaluation with the Sustainable Process Index (SPI) is carried out. Both computer tools are described and their application is shown in several case studies which are the versatility of the methods in practical implementation and application. Decision support tools offer the possibility for regional actors to analyse their region and to get a feeling about SRUNs. These tools provide an insight into the necessary changes which are needed to manage the shift towards a low carbon and sustainable society. (author) [de

Health and sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Kjӕrgård, Bente; Land, Birgit; Bransholm Pedersen, Kirsten

2014-09-01

In the present article, we explore how sustainable development strategies and health promotion strategies can be bridged. The concept of the 'duality of structure' is taken as our starting point for understanding the linkages between health promotion and sustainable development, and for uncovering the structural properties or conditions which either enable or constrain sustainable public health initiatives. We argue that strategies towards health promotion are not sufficiently integrated with strategies for sustainable development, and thus political strategies aimed at solving health problems or sustainability problems may cause new, undesired and unforeseen environmental or health problems. First, we explore how the relation between health and sustainability is articulated in international policy documents. Next, we develop a model for understanding the relation between health promotion and sustainability. Third, we use examples from agriculture and food production to illustrate that health and sustainability are mutually enabling and constraining. We conclude that while the renewed focus on food security and food inequalities has brought the health and sustainability dimensions of the food system onto the political agenda, the conceptualization of duality between health and sustainability could be a new platform for a critical and theoretical stance towards the market-oriented food system strategy. Thinking along the lines of duality means that the integration of health promotion strategies and sustainable development strategies cannot be based on an approach to integration in which either health or sustainability is given precedence over the other. From a duality perspective, integration means conceiving sustainability from a health perspective and health from a sustainability perspective. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Socio-Environmental and Sustainability Assessment for Technology Innovations at Pectens Production in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Márcio Ricardo Costa dos Santos

2008-08-01

Full Text Available This study presents a practical impact assessment method for the adoption of technology innovations at Pectens In vitro Fertilization Laboratory in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. To fulfill the system framework requirements, focused on reproductive and productive enterprises, field visits and interview with the laboratory executive director were carried out. Considering the pectens production activities, 24 socio-environmental indicators were developed and the impact indices were automatically calculated by the system’s spreadsheets. General performance index for the pectens reproduction activities indicated an important contribution of technological innovations for the sustainable production of the In vitro Fertilization Laboratory. The employed method was considered as appropriate for evaluations of sustainability at this agribusiness activity, dealing with indicators as tools in order to identify possible risks for negative impacts. Those indicators include aspects beyond those commonly presented by environmental impact assessments, and were capable to provide adequate management and sustainable development for the studied Organization.

New electricity 21. Designing a sustainable electric system for the twenty-first century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

The five main sessions of the conference are opportunities to increase electricity use for sustainable development; electric system expansion and integration to meet growing competition; power producers and global climate change issues; technology for supplying electricity in developing and transitional economies; power industry structure, regulatory policies and technological innovation. All contributions have been indexed and abstracted for the INIS and Energy database. (R.P.)

Sustainability-Oriented Financial Resource Allocation in a Project Portfolio through Multi-Criteria Decision-Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nomeda Dobrovolskienė

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Modern portfolio theory attempts to maximize the expected return of a portfolio for a given level of portfolio risk, or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected return. The reality, however, shows that, when selecting projects to a portfolio and allocating resources in the portfolio, an increasing number of organizations take into account other aspects as well. As a result of the sole purpose (risk-return, it offers only a partial solution for a sustainable organization. Existing project portfolio selection and resource allocation methods and models do not consider sustainability. Therefore, the aim of this article is to develop a sustainability-oriented model of financial resource allocation in a project portfolio by integrating a composite sustainability index of a project into Markowitz’s classical risk-return scheme (mean-variance model. The model was developed by applying multi-criteria decision-making methods. The practicability of the model was tested by an empirical study in a selected construction company. The proposed sustainability-oriented financial resource allocation model could be used in allocating financial resources in any type of business. The use of the model would not only help organisations to manage risk and achieve higher return but would also allow carrying out sustainable projects, thereby promoting greater environmental responsibility and giving more consideration to the wellbeing of future generations. Moreover, the model allows quantifying the impact of the integration of sustainability into financial resource allocation on the return of a portfolio.

Consumers’ Competences as a Stimulant of Sustainable Consumption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kiełczewski Dariusz

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The paper contains considerations on the issue of sustainable consumption whose stimulator may be consumer competences. The problem can be examined in the cognitive, emotional and behavioural dimensions. Besides the theoretical approach, the authors have presented findings of the research carried out for the purposes of the project “Consumer Competences as a Stimulant of Innovative Behaviours and Sustainable Consumption” (2011/03/B/HS4/04417 financed from resources provided by the National Science Centre. The research involved a research sample of 1,000 Poles meeting specific criteria established by the authors. The obtained empirical material allowed for the construction of the consumer competence index which took into account the following variables: Knowledge of the consumer’s rights and ways of use thereof (Knowledge, Planning measured with the following variables (Planning, Making rational consumption choices measured with the following variables (Rationality, Autonomy of choices measured with the following variables (Sovereignty. Three groups of consumers were singled out and characterised in the study, namely: highly competent consumers, consumers with a medium level of competences, and consumers with low competences.

Survey on Impact of Public push on Sustainability marketing mix and Sustainability marketing mix on Sustainability marketing success

OpenAIRE

iman mousavian; bahram kheiry; vahidreza mirabi

2014-01-01

Partaking the movement in reaching a more sustainable planet, organizations should reconsider their marketing strategies according to the social and environmental impacts. Even though, attaining sustainability would become a serious challenge for them, but there exist no other options for the third millennium. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the Impact of public push on the sustainability marketing mix, as well as the effect of sustainability marketing mix on sustainability m...

Sustained-release progesterone vaginal suppositories 1--development of sustained-release granule--.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakayama, Ayako; Sunada, Hisakazu; Okamoto, Hirokazu; Furuhashi, Kaoru; Ohno, Yukiko; Ito, Mikio

2009-02-01

Progesterone (P) is an important hormone for the establishment of pregnancy, and its administration is useful for luteal insufficiency. Considering the problems of commercially available oral and injection drugs, hospital-formulated vaginal suppositories are clinically used. However, since the half-life of P suppositories is short, it is difficult to maintain its constant blood concentration. To sustain drug efficacy and prevent side-effects, we are attempting to develop sustained-release suppositories by examining the degree of sustained-release of active ingredients. In this study, we examined the combinations of granulation methods and release systems for the preparation of sustained-release granules of P, and produced 13 types of sustained-release granules. We also examined the diameter, content, and dissolution of each type of granules, and confirmed that the sustained-release of all types of granules was satisfactory. Among the sustained-release granules, we selected granules with a content and a degree of sustained-release suitable for sustained-release suppositories.

From Sustainability-as-usual to Sustainability Excellence in Local Bioenergy Business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heli Kasurinen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Bioenergy business operators can significantly contribute to the sustainability of bioenergy systems. While research has addressed the maturity of corporate responsibility for sustainability, the maturity levels of bioenergy business have not been determined. The objectives of this research were to characterise the maturity levels of bioenergy corporate responsibility for sustainability and outline an approach by which companies can operate at the most mature sustainability excellence level. Literature, three workshops attended by bioenergy experts and a case study on biobutanol production in Brazil were used to develop the maturity model and approach. The results characterise the profitability, acceptability, and sustainability orientation maturity levels through sustainability questions and methods, and list the components of a systemic, holistic approach. Although the shift of business mindset from sustainability-as-usual to sustainability excellence is challenging, a systemic approach is necessary to broadly identify sustainability questions and a multitude of methods by which they can be answered.

O índice de sustentabilidade empresarial (ISE e os impactos no endividamento e na percepção de risco The corporate sustainability index (CSI and the impacts on indebtedness and risk perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evimael Alves Teixeira

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Este estudo investigou se a forma de financiamento das empresas é afetada pela participação das firmas no Índice de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (ISE. Como objetivo complementar, foi analisada a relação entre o ISE e o risco. A fundamentação partiu da teoria da sinalização que apresenta possíveis soluções para mitigar problemas de adverse selection causados pela assimetria de informações e usada no caso de haver necessidade de tomada de decisões sobre investimentos em ambientes de incerteza. Foi utilizado um Experimento Natural, a partir de uma amostra de 378 empresas, divididas em dois grupos: um de tratamento e outro de controle, com dados em painel e duplo efeito fixo. Os resultados encontrados indicam, estatisticamente, que empresas que sinalizaram Responsabilidade Social Corporativa (RSC tiveram uma relação negativa com o endividamento e o risco, quando comparadas com aquelas que não sinalizam. Esses resultados ajudam a entender a relevância dos índices de sustentabilidade como um canal de informação crível do comprometimento da empresa com a RSC.This study investigated whether the way firms fund themselves is affected by their participation in the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI. As a complementary objective, we analyzed the relationship between the CSI and risk, based on signaling theory, which presents possible solutions to mitigate adverse selection problems caused by asymmetric information, used when there is a need to make decisions about investments in uncertain settings. We used a natural experiment based on a sample of 378 firms, divided into a treatment and a control group, with panel data and double fixed effect. The results indicate that the signaling of corporate social responsibility (CSR was negatively related to indebtedness and risk when compared with firms that did not engage in such signaling. These results shed light on the relevance of sustainability indexes as a credible way for firms to

The energy accounts for the Nova Scotia genuine progress index : executive summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lipp, J.; Cain, S.; Colman, R.; Parmenter, R.; Milne, K.; Mullaly, H.; Wysocki, A.

2005-10-01

GPI Atlantic has developed a Genuine Progress Index (GPI) involving a new measure of sustainability, wellbeing and quality of life in order to better evaluate energy supply and demand by accounting for all benefits and costs including natural capital, social capital, human capital, and conventional produced capital. The executive summary provides an energy overview and presents indicators of energy sustainability including socio-economic, health and environmental and institutional indicators. Socio-economic indicators are organized across the following 6 areas of concern: reliability, affordability, employment; energy efficiency, energy consumption; and energy production and supply. Health and environmental trends examined include carbon monoxide; nitrogen oxide; sulphur dioxide; mercury; total particulate matter; volatile organic compounds; and greenhouse gas emissions. Trends over time are assessed to determine if energy use is becoming more or less sustainable. Institutional indicators are grouped according to several areas of concern, such as leading by example; creating societal change; reporting; and evaluation. The full cost of energy was then discussed using the underlying physical indicators. It was concluded that Nova Scotia is not making sufficient progress towards sustainability in its energy system, and that the production and use of energy are the leading causes of a number of serious environmental problems. Several recommendations are made for government to lead on a number of initiatives. 4 tabs

Technology and sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kroeze, C.; Boersema, J.J.; Tellegen, E.; Cremers, A.

2011-01-01

In ten essays, this book addresses a broad range of issues related to the interplay of sustainability and technology. How do population growth and technology relate to sustainable development? Can globalization be reconciled with sustainable development? Is sustainability a subjective or an

Sustainable NREL - Site Sustainability Plan FY 2015

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2015-01-01

NREL's Site Sustainability Plan FY 2015 reports on sustainability plans for the lab for the year 2015 based on Executive Order Goals and provides the status on planned actions cited in the FY 2014 report.

Sustainable Universities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grindsted, Thomas Skou

2011-01-01

Declarations on Sustainability in Higher Education (SHE) can be viewed as a piece of international regulation. Over the past 30 years research at universities has produced convincing data to warn about deterioration of the environment, resource scarcity and the need for sustainability. This in turn....... Declarations tend to have impact on three trends. Firstly, there is emerging international consensus on the university’s role and function in relation to sustainable development; secondly, the emergence of national legislation, and thirdly, an emerging international competition to be leader in sustainable...

[Scenario analysis on sustainable development of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city based on emergy and system dynamics].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chun-fa; Cao, Ying-ying; Yang, Jian-cho; Yang, Qi-qi

2015-08-01

Dynamic evaluation of sustainable development is one of the key fundamental parts of the success of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, which is the first eco-city in China constructed by international cooperation. Based on the analysis of nature and economy, function and structure, planning control indices and so on, we constructed a sustainable development evaluation index system and a system dynamics model of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city to explore dynamic trends of its population, material and currency by comprehensive utilization of emergy analysis and system dynamics method. Five scenarios were set up and simulated, including inertial scenario, scientific and technological scenario, economic scenario, environmental scenario and harmonious development scenario. Then, the sustainability of the 5 scenarios was evaluated and compared. The results showed that in the economy and environment sustainable development scenario, there was a steady growth trend of GDP, accumulation of both emergy and currency, and relatively lower values in emergy waste ratio, emergy ratio of waste, and emergy loading ratio. Although both sustainable evaluation indices, such as ESI and UEI, were relatively low, the economy and environment sustainable development scenario was still the best development scenario which was more active than others.

Urban water sustainability: an integrative framework for regional water management

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzales, P.; Ajami, N. K.

2015-11-01

Traditional urban water supply portfolios have proven to be unsustainable under the uncertainties associated with growth and long-term climate variability. Introducing alternative water supplies such as recycled water, captured runoff, desalination, as well as demand management strategies such as conservation and efficiency measures, has been widely proposed to address the long-term sustainability of urban water resources. Collaborative efforts have the potential to achieve this goal through more efficient use of common pool resources and access to funding opportunities for supply diversification projects. However, this requires a paradigm shift towards holistic solutions that address the complexity of hydrologic, socio-economic and governance dynamics surrounding water management issues. The objective of this work is to develop a regional integrative framework for the assessment of water resource sustainability under current management practices, as well as to identify opportunities for sustainability improvement in coupled socio-hydrologic systems. We define the sustainability of a water utility as the ability to access reliable supplies to consistently satisfy current needs, make responsible use of supplies, and have the capacity to adapt to future scenarios. To compute a quantitative measure of sustainability, we develop a numerical index comprised of supply, demand, and adaptive capacity indicators, including an innovative way to account for the importance of having diverse supply sources. We demonstrate the application of this framework to the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Our analyses demonstrate that water agencies that share common water supplies are in a good position to establish integrative regional management partnerships in order to achieve individual and collective short-term and long-term benefits.

Fur and Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skjold, Else; Csaba, Fabian

2016-01-01

This paper explores the notion of deeper luxury, which insists that 'real' luxury should involve sustainable practices in the production and consumption of luxury goods. It traces historical and recent developments in the field of fur, to understand the implications, uncertainties and ambiguities...... of luxury’s confrontation with sustainability. Considering fur in relation to future standards for luxury products, we raise questions about moral problematisation and justification of luxury in terms of sustainability. We first examine the encounter of luxury with sustainability and explain...... the significance of the notion of ‘deeper luxury’. After taking stock of the impact of sustainability on luxury and various directions in which sustainable luxury is evolving, we discuss concepts of sustainable development in relation to the history of moral problematisation of luxury. This leads to the case...

No-Self, Natural Sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chia-Ling

2017-01-01

This article explores the significance of sustainability and several ways in which education for sustainable development (ESD) can be considered. It presents several issues related to the theories of sustainability and ESD, which are generated based on a firm concept of anthropocentrism. ESD has been used for developing a scientific understanding…

Measures and metrics of sustainable diets with a focus on milk, yogurt, and dairy products

Science.gov (United States)

Drewnowski, Adam

2018-01-01

The 4 domains of sustainable diets are nutrition, economics, society, and the environment. To be sustainable, foods and food patterns need to be nutrient-rich, affordable, culturally acceptable, and sparing of natural resources and the environment. Each sustainability domain has its own measures and metrics. Nutrient density of foods has been assessed through nutrient profiling models, such as the Nutrient-Rich Foods family of scores. The Food Affordability Index, applied to different food groups, has measured both calories and nutrients per penny (kcal/$). Cultural acceptance measures have been based on relative food consumption frequencies across population groups. Environmental impact of individual foods and composite food patterns has been measured in terms of land, water, and energy use. Greenhouse gas emissions assess the carbon footprint of agricultural food production, processing, and retail. Based on multiple sustainability metrics, milk, yogurt, and other dairy products can be described as nutrient-rich, affordable, acceptable, and appealing. The environmental impact of dairy farming needs to be weighed against the high nutrient density of milk, yogurt, and cheese as compared with some plant-based alternatives. PMID:29206982

Conceptualizing Sustainably Produced Food for Promotional Purposes: A Sustainable Marketing Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cecilia Solér

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Progress in transforming current food consumption and production practice in a sustainable direction is slow. Communicative, sustainable consumer policy instruments such as eco-labeling schemes have limited impact outside the green segment and within the mainstream market. This article asks how sustainably produced food can be described in order to promote such food. Based on six cases, it aims to conceptualize the common denominators of sustainable food production by drawing on recent literature on sustainable marketing and on food and sustainable development. Contradictions and implications in terms of labeling schemes, global sourcing and consumer food practice are discussed.

Using the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool to Assess and Plan for Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Mainor, Avia; Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Maier, Ryan C.; Brossart, Laura; Luke, Douglas A.

2014-01-01

Implementing and growing a public health program that benefits society takes considerable time and effort. To ensure that positive outcomes are maintained over time, program managers and stakeholders should plan and implement activities to build sustainability capacity within their programs. We describe a 3-part sustainability planning process that programs can follow to build their sustainability capacity. First, program staff and stakeholders take the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool to measure their program’s sustainability across 8 domains. Next, managers and stakeholders use results from the assessment to inform and prioritize sustainability action planning. Lastly, staff members implement the plan and keep track of progress toward their sustainability goals. Through this process, staff can more holistically address the internal and external challenges and pressures associated with sustaining a program. We include a case example of a chronic disease program that completed the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool and engaged in program sustainability planning. PMID:24456644

Dynamic Development of Regional Disparity in Mainland China: An Experimental Study Based on a Multidimensional Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Bin

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper stems from the previous wisdom to investigate the transitional dynamics of regional disparity in China during the period 1998–2010. This is the very first time that 30 Chinese regions have been benchmarked according to a multidimensional index based on a stochastic kernel density. The multidimensional index contains five domains to capture the socioeconomic development: macroeconomic conditions, science and innovation, environmental sustainability, human capital, and public facilities. This experimental study reveals the existence of a three-peak pattern of convergence during 1998–2010, and improves the understanding of the evolution of regional disparity in China in terms of the comprehensive socioeconomic development.

Sustainability Assessment Using a Unit-based Sustainability ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A sustainability assessment study was performed with three teaching departments at Rhodes University – Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, Anthropology, and Accounting. The assessment used a Unit-based Sustainability Assessment Tool (USAT) and was guided by systems thinking and the ontological framework ...

Assessing the Sustainability of Farm-land Management in the Eastern Azerbaijan Province (Case of Malekan County

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Siamak Nabizadeh

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to assess sustainable farmlands management in the Malekan County. The target population consisted of wheat growers among which 162 farmers were selected according to the multistage cluster selection method. The research tool used was a questionnaire whose face validity was confirmed by comments from faculty members and experts in the Malekan Agri- Jihad and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha (average 0.71. Sustainability was measured by establishing composite index for six components of sustainable land management. The results of assessing sustainable land management revealed that 19.1% of the farmers were in an unsustainable situation, 34% of them were in a fairly unsustainable situation, 26.5% of them were in a fairly sustainable situation and 20.4% of them were in a sustainable situation. The results of correlation coefficient showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between age and farming experience with “stability and acceptability”, land size and farm income with “stability, acceptability and technical knowledge”, wheat yield and consumed fertilizer with “security”, land plots with “acceptability” and using farm machinery with “productivity, stability, acceptability and technical knowledge”. There is also a negative and significant relationship between non-farm income and “productivity” and consumed fertilizers and “security”.

Use of multicriteria analysis (MCA) for sustainable hydropower planning and management.

Science.gov (United States)

Vassoney, Erica; Mammoliti Mochet, Andrea; Comoglio, Claudio

2017-07-01

Multicriteria analysis (MCA) is a decision-making tool applied to a wide range of environmental management problems, including renewable energy planning and management. An interesting field of application of MCA is the evaluation and analysis of the conflicting aspects of hydropower (HP) exploitation, affecting the three pillars of sustainability and involving several different stakeholders. The present study was aimed at reviewing the state of the art of MCA applications to sustainable hydropower production and related decision-making problems, based on a detailed analysis of the scientific papers published over the last 15 years on this topic. The papers were analysed and compared, focusing on the specific features of the MCA methods applied in the described case studies, highlighting the general aspects of the MCA application (purpose, spatial scale, software used, stakeholders, etc.) and the specific operational/technical features of the selected MCA technique (methodology, criteria, evaluation, approach, sensitivity, etc.). Some specific limitations of the analysed case studies were identified and a set of "quality indexes" of an exhaustive MCA application were suggested as potential improvements for more effectively support decision-making processes in sustainable HP planning and management problems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Externality or sustainability economics?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M. van den

2010-01-01

In an effort to develop 'sustainability economics' Baumgaertner and Quaas (2010) neglect the central concept of environmental economics-'environmental externality'. This note proposes a possible connection between the concepts of environmental externality and sustainability. In addition, attention is asked for other aspects of 'sustainability economics', namely the distinction weak/strong sustainability, spatial sustainability and sustainable trade, distinctive sustainability policy, and the ideas of early 'sustainability economists'. I argue that both sustainability and externalities reflect a systems perspective and propose that effective sustainability solutions require that more attention is given to system feedbacks, notably other-regarding preferences and social interactions, and energy and environmental rebound. The case of climate change and policy is used to illustrate particular statements. As a conclusion, a list of 20 insights and suggestions for research is offered. (author)

Sustained attention is associated with right superior longitudinal fasciculus and superior parietal white matter microstructure in children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klarborg, Brith; Skak Madsen, Kathrine; Vestergaard, Martin

2013-01-01

Sustained attention develops during childhood and has been linked to the right fronto-parietal cortices in functional imaging studies; however, less is known about its relation to white matter (WM) characteristics. Here we investigated whether the microstructure of the WM underlying and connecting...... the right fronto-parietal cortices was associated with sustained attention performance in a group of 76 typically developing children aged 7-13 years. Sustained attention was assessed using a rapid visual information processing paradigm. The two behavioral measures of interest were the sensitivity index d......' and the coefficient of variation in reaction times (RT(CV) ). Diffusion-weighted imaging was performed. Mean fractional anisotropy (FA) was extracted from the WM underlying right dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC) and parietal cortex (PC), and the right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), as well as equivalent...

Systems Reliability Framework for Surface Water Sustainability and Risk Management

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, J. R.; Yeghiazarian, L.

2016-12-01

With microbial contamination posing a serious threat to the availability of clean water across the world, it is necessary to develop a framework that evaluates the safety and sustainability of water systems in respect to non-point source fecal microbial contamination. The concept of water safety is closely related to the concept of failure in reliability theory. In water quality problems, the event of failure can be defined as the concentration of microbial contamination exceeding a certain standard for usability of water. It is pertinent in watershed management to know the likelihood of such an event of failure occurring at a particular point in space and time. Microbial fate and transport are driven by environmental processes taking place in complex, multi-component, interdependent environmental systems that are dynamic and spatially heterogeneous, which means these processes and therefore their influences upon microbial transport must be considered stochastic and variable through space and time. A physics-based stochastic model of microbial dynamics is presented that propagates uncertainty using a unique sampling method based on artificial neural networks to produce a correlation between watershed characteristics and spatial-temporal probabilistic patterns of microbial contamination. These results are used to address the question of water safety through several sustainability metrics: reliability, vulnerability, resilience and a composite sustainability index. System reliability is described uniquely though the temporal evolution of risk along watershed points or pathways. Probabilistic resilience describes how long the system is above a certain probability of failure, and the vulnerability metric describes how the temporal evolution of risk changes throughout a hierarchy of failure levels. Additionally our approach allows for the identification of contributions in microbial contamination and uncertainty from specific pathways and sources. We expect that this

A key review on emergy analysis and assessment of biomass resources for a sustainable future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Gaijing; Long Weiding

2010-01-01

The present study comprehensively reviews emergy analysis and performance evaluation of biomass energy. Biomass resources utilization technologies include (a) bioethanol production, (b) biomass for bio-oil, (c) biodiesel production, (d) straw as fuel in district heating plants, (e) electricity from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) incineration power plant, (f) electricity from waste landfill gas. Systems diagrams of biomass, which are to conduct a critical inventory of processes, storage, and flows that are important to the system under consideration and are therefore necessary to evaluate, for biomasses are given. Emergy indicators, such as percent renewable (PR), emergy yield ratio (EYR), environmental load ratio (ELR) and environmental sustainability index (ESI) are shown to evaluate the environmental load and local sustainability of the biomass energy. The emergy indicators show that bio-fuels from crop are not sustainable and waste management for fuels provides an emergy recovery even lower than mining fossil fuel.

Framework of systematic sustainability assessment strategy (FSSAS) for hydroelectric power industry in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Johan, Kartina; Turan, Faiz Mohd

2017-08-01

Hydroelectric power is an alternative power resource in Malaysia and always associated with negative impact on environmental, social and economy of the surrounding site. The dispute over environmental, societal and economic issues can be minimised if compliance to sustainability development requirement is included in the project as part of the project premises during planning phase. This paper suggests a framework targeted for decision-makers in charge of implementing the projects to produce hydropower the sustainable way in Malaysian context which can mitigate the risks in social, environment and economy. The framework is strategic in nature and based on project management methodology with objective to provide a ‘common language’ by having a project value as measureable for stakeholders to state their mutual agreement of what a sustainable hydropower project in the context of Malaysia and in line with the United Nations (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper discusses how the proposed systematic sustainability assessment strategy (FSSAS) framework support the call for Malaysia to promote meaningful public participation in ensuring land and natural resource decisions and to address citizens’ interests which is the core idea of Environmental Democracy Index established in 2014. The paper argues that, even though it is at present impossible to define precision status of sustainability development with respect to the nature of the multi stakeholders and the lack of systematic assessment the proposed FSSAS framework can be a valuable tool because it tracks the project value as a quantitative deliverable to determine the status of the journey in sustainable development towards accomplishing the SDG under a consensus in hydropower industry of any scale over time.

THE ROLE OF THE PREVENTIVE MEDICINE IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. A STUDY CASE ON THE PRIVATE MEDICINE SECTOR IN ORADEA

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Unita Lucian

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The concerns with respect to healthy life styles, preventive medical approaches, safe environment, and early warning systems represents the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations Organization's so called Decade for Education for Sustainable Development, the European Union's sustainability strategy, the Global Environmental Outlook of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP and the ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, all aiming to attain the sustainable global health, which is possible only through collective multilevel efforts for the sake of human wellbeing, equity, livelihood, and worldwide sustainable development and stability. Romania, as an EU Member States, have to take into consideration the fact that health is a precondition for economic growth and sustainable development, and this way, it has to promote the EU common approaches to health policy. Between these approaches, the prevention plays a key role when addressing to the global health challenges such as the pandemics control, and the rising tide of non-communicable diseases. For these purposes, preventive strategies need to include promoting polices that foster a healthy environment, healthy life styles and equitable access to health care and information, so, it is necessary to meet the requests towards sustainable global health. From this perspective, for the empirical research pursued in this paper, we have considered the Global Challenge Index, which focuses on seven global challenges of the new millennium, and on this basis, we have compared Romania with the other EU Member States. Then, we have computed the index for Oradea and its neighbour region, including the framework of a comprehensive analysis of political, economic and social target system. The key issues we have considered in this context were referring to lifestyles, life care and education for lifelong well-being, partnerships for health, institutions and related policy areas, alternative

Integrated farm sustainability assessment for the environmental management of rural activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stachetii Rodrigues, Geraldo; Aparecida Rodrigues, Izilda; Almeida Buschinelli, Claudio Cesar de; Barros, Inacio de

2010-01-01

Farmers have been increasingly called upon to respond to an ongoing redefinition in consumers' demands, having as a converging theme the search for sustainable production practices. In order to satisfy this objective, instruments for the environmental management of agricultural activities have been sought out. Environmental impact assessment methods are appropriate tools to address the choice of technologies and management practices to minimize negative effects of agricultural development, while maximizing productive efficiency, sound usage of natural resources, conservation of ecological assets and equitable access to wealth generation means. The 'system for weighted environmental impact assessment of rural activities' (APOIA-NovoRural) presented in this paper is organized to provide integrated farm sustainability assessment according to quantitative environmental standards and defined socio-economic benchmarks. The system integrates sixty-two objective indicators in five sustainability dimensions - (i) Landscape ecology, (ii) Environmental quality (atmosphere, water and soil), (iii) Sociocultural values, (iv) Economic values, and (v) Management and administration. Impact indices are expressed in three integration levels: (i) specific indicators, that offer a diagnostic and managerial tool for farmers and rural administrators, by pointing out particular attributes of the rural activities that may be failing to comply with defined environmental performance objectives; (ii) integrated sustainability dimensions, that show decision-makers the major contributions of the rural activities toward local sustainable development, facilitating the definition of control actions and promotion measures; and (iii) aggregated sustainability index, that can be considered a yardstick for eco-certification purposes. Nine fully documented case studies carried out with the APOIA-NovoRural system, focusing on different scales, diverse rural activities/farming systems, and contrasting

Validation of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index Version 03.01 and the Acoustic Breathiness Index in the Spanish language.

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado Hernández, Jonathan; León Gómez, Nieves M; Jiménez, Alejandra; Izquierdo, Laura M; Barsties V Latoszek, Ben

2018-05-01

The aim of this study was to validate the Acoustic Voice Quality Index 03.01 (AVQIv3) and the Acoustic Breathiness Index (ABI) in the Spanish language. Concatenated voice samples of continuous speech (cs) and sustained vowel (sv) from 136 subjects with dysphonia and 47 vocally healthy subjects were perceptually judged for overall voice quality and breathiness severity. First, to reach a higher level of ecological validity, the proportions of cs and sv were equalized regarding the time length of 3 seconds sv part and voiced cs part, respectively. Second, concurrent validity and diagnostic accuracy were verified. A moderate reliability of overall voice quality and breathiness severity from 5 experts was used. It was found that 33 syllables as standardization of the cs part, which represents 3 seconds of voiced cs, allows the equalization of both speech tasks. A strong correlation was revealed between AVQIv3 and overall voice quality and ABI and perceived breathiness severity. Additionally, the best diagnostic outcome was identified at a threshold of 2.28 and 3.40 for AVQIv3 and ABI, respectively. The AVQIv3 and ABI showed in the Spanish language valid and robust results to quantify abnormal voice qualities regarding overall voice quality and breathiness severity.

The study of evaluation index system on construction enterprise’s circular economy

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Lu; Liu, Zhigang

2017-06-01

The development of circular economy is an important way to judge quality of enterprise development and to realize the sustainable development of enterprises. This paper will combine the characteristics of the development of circular economy in construction enterprise to construct circular economy evaluation index system. Then it uses fuzzy mathematics theory and hierarchical analysis evaluation method for comprehensive evaluation of circular economy development level. Through the empirical analysis, the paper provides the reference basis for construction enterprises to further improve the level of circular economy.

Local Sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrizosa Umana, Julio

1998-01-01

The current polemic about the possibilities of sustainable development has led to a renovated interest for the topic of the sustainability of the communities and the local sustainability. In front of the global sustainability whose conditions have been exposed by systemic ecologists and for macro economists, the sustainability of specific places arises in the planet whose conditions are object of study of the ecology of landscapes, of the ecological economy, of the cultural anthropology, of the environmental sociology and naturally, of the integral environmentalism. In this discussion the Colombian case charges unusual interest to be one of the few countries of Latin America, where a very dense net of municipalities exists, each one with its urban helmet and with a position and some functions defined by the political constitution of the nation. This net of municipalities and of urban helmets it also constitutes net of alternative to the current macro-cephalic situation. As well as Bogota grew, in a hundred years, of less than a hundred thousand inhabitants to six million inhabitants, each one of these municipalities contains a potential of growth that depends on the characteristics of its ecological, social, economic and politic sustainability

Afterschool Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hilary D. Joyce

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Youth participation in quality extended learning opportunities (ELOs results in positive academic, physical, mental health, and social/emotional outcomes. Funding is essential to implementing and sustaining quality ELOs; however multiple funding barriers and challenges exist. Understanding the types of funds available for ELOs and the factors that influence sustainability is critical. Through surveys and telephone interviews of ELO providers, this descriptive study identified and examined ELO funding streams, the ways ELO providers use these funding streams, and the barriers and challenges to sustainability. ELO programs often relied on one major funding stream coupled with nutrition supports as well as in-kind resources. Barriers to sustainability included year-to-year funding, transportation costs, reducing community partnerships, and difficulty in diversifying funds. Recommendations to enhance ELO sustainability are offered, particularly in relation to overcoming the challenges to diversification of funding resources and establishing mutually supportive partnerships and collaboration.

DEA environmental assessment in a time horizon: Malmquist index on fuel mix, electricity and CO2 of industrial nations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki; Goto, Mika

2013-01-01

Climate change and global warming become a major policy issue in the world. Economic activities produce not only desirable outputs (e.g., electricity) but also undesirable outputs (e.g., CO 2 emission). The important policy issue is how each nation can balance between economic development and environmental protection to attain a sustainable society. In attaining the sustainable society, environmental assessment is increasingly important because it can serve as an initial step toward the green growth of each nation. For the purpose, this study proposes a new use of DEA (Data Environment Analysis) for environmental assessment in a time horizon. The proposed use of DEA incorporates Malmquist index to examine the degree of a frontier shift among multiple periods. The frontier shift indicates a technology progress and/or managerial innovation during an observed period. The index is conceptually separated into six subcomponents, which are further divided into twelve different subcomponents (six subcomponents × two disposability concepts) under the natural and managerial disposability. In the index measurement, it is necessary for us to consider a frontier crossover among different periods because technology innovation usually has a time lag until it really appears. As an empirical application, this study utilizes the proposed approach to identify the relationship among fuel mix, electricity and CO 2 of ten industrial nations. This study finds three important empirical findings. First, there is a time lag in technology innovation on electricity generation and CO 2 emission reduction. Consequently, it is necessary to consider the existence of a frontier crossover in assessing the electric power industry. Second, nuclear generation, as found in France, as well as hydro and renewable energy, as found in Netherlands, are important for the development of a sustainable society although the former is associated with a very high level of risk and the latter has a limited

Computational sustainability

CERN Document Server

Kersting, Kristian; Morik, Katharina

2016-01-01

The book at hand gives an overview of the state of the art research in Computational Sustainability as well as case studies of different application scenarios. This covers topics such as renewable energy supply, energy storage and e-mobility, efficiency in data centers and networks, sustainable food and water supply, sustainable health, industrial production and quality, etc. The book describes computational methods and possible application scenarios.

Dynamic Sustainability. Sustainability Window Analysis of Chinese Poverty-Environment Nexus Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jyrki Luukkanen

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Sustainability Window is a new analysis tool for assessing the sustainability of development simultaneously in all of its three dimensions (environmental, economic, and social. The analysis method provides information of the maximum and minimum economic development that is required to maintain the direction of social and environmental development towards more sustainable targets. With the Sustainability Window method it is possible to easily analyze the sustainability using different indicators and different time periods making comparative analyses easy. The new method makes it also possible to analyze the dynamics of the sustainability and the changes over time in the width of the window. This provides a new perspective for analyzing the trends of sustainability and the impacts of underlying sustainability policies. As an illustration of the method, we have carried out an analysis of Chinese development using CO2 and SO2 emissions as indicators of the environmental dimension, number of non-poor people as an indicator of the social dimension and GDP as an indicator of the economic dimension.

Health and Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Land, Birgit; Pedersen, Kirsten Bransholm; Kjærgård, Bente

2014-01-01

In the present article, we explore how sustainable development strategies and health promotion strategies can be bridged. The concept of the ‘duality of structure’ is taken as our starting point for understanding the linkages between health promotion and sustainable development, and for uncovering...... the structural properties or conditions which either enable or constrain sustainable public health initiatives. We argue that strategies towards health promotion are not sufficiently integrated with strategies for sustainable development, and thus political strategies aimed at solving health problems...... or sustainability problems may cause new, undesired and unforeseen environmental or health problems. First, we explore how the relation between health and sustainability is articulated in international policy documents. Next, we develop a model for understanding the relation between health promotion...

Sustainable Housing Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauring, Gert Michael

2016-01-01

Sustainable Housing Design. Integrating technical and housing quality aspects of sustainable architecture in civil engineering education. Summary An integrated design approach to sustainable architecture is outlined that combines concerns for zero energy building, good indoor climate and adequate...... phases. The outcome shows that integrated design further solutions where sustainable urban forms of settlement can be highly energy efficient while also attractive from a user perspective. Key words: Sustainable architecture, integrated design, zero-energy-housing, dense urban living. 1. Introduction...... When designing sustainable housing, energy optimization and satisfactory indoor climates are central issues that need to be incorporated from early design phases if to reach a coherent design. It might also be argued that the energy consumption of contemporary buildings only plays a rela-tively minor...

Sustainable venture capital – catalyst for sustainable start-up success?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bocken, N.M.P.

2015-01-01

To address global sustainability challenges, major investments are required in sustainable businesses that deliver triple bottom line results. Although interest in sustainable businesses is on the rise, these businesses are not yet widespread. Venture capital investment has a key role to play in the

Factors Influencing Museum Sustainability and Indicators for Museum Sustainability Measurement

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Izabela Luiza Pop

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to identify the factors upon which museum sustainability depends and the way in which this can be measured. Methodologically, we applied a qualitative research approach, using semi-structured interviews with experts from the Romanian museum sector, complemented by an in-depth study of the literature in this field. Results indicated that any objective measuring of sustainability must take into account the size of a museum’s collections and its organizational structure. It was also found that museum type can affect sustainability via its competitive advantage. However, the sustainability of a museum is not strictly determined by these factors, but also by the management and marketing strategies applied. Based on analysis of literature- and respondent-based factors influencing sustainability, this article proposes a set of 33 indicators that can be used by museums to measure their sustainability, as well as a model that enables evaluation of the sustainability levels of various museums comparatively, regardless of their type, size or importance (e.g., national, regional and local. The results obtained are useful both from a theoretical point of view, given that there are few writings on this topic, and from a practical point of view, as they provide a basis for a clear, objective model of museum sustainability measurement.

Inferring community properties of benthic macroinvertebrates in streams using Shannon index and exergy

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Tuyen Van; Cho, Woon-Seok; Kim, Hungsoo; Jung, Il Hyo; Kim, YongKuk; Chon, Tae-Soo

2014-03-01

Definition of ecological integrity based on community analysis has long been a critical issue in risk assessment for sustainable ecosystem management. In this work, two indices (i.e., Shannon index and exergy) were selected for the analysis of community properties of benthic macroinvertebrate community in streams in Korea. For this purpose, the means and variances of both indices were analyzed. The results found an extra scope of structural and functional properties in communities in response to environmental variabilities and anthropogenic disturbances. The combination of these two parameters (four indices) was feasible in identification of disturbance agents (e.g., industrial pollution or organic pollution) and specifying states of communities. The four-aforementioned parameters (means and variances of Shannon index and exergy) were further used as input data in a self-organizing map for the characterization of water quality. Our results suggested that Shannon index and exergy in combination could be utilized as a suitable reference system and would be an efficient tool for assessment of the health of aquatic ecosystems exposed to environmental disturbances.

Reactive or proactive approach towards sustainability? A conceptual framework based on sustainable business models to increase stakeholders' sustainable value capture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosati, Francesco; Morioka, Sandra; Monteiro de Carvalho, Marly

2016-01-01

and challenging companies to seek for business opportunities with an entrepreneurial attitude to help solving sustainable development challenges. By combining both approaches, organizations have the opportunity to increase sustainable value capture by its stakeholders, acting on their institutional responsibility...... as instrument to help companies describe, analyze, manage and communicate their sustainable value proposition, creation, delivery and capture mechanism. In particular, this research focuses on value capture dynamics, aiming to explore how companies can increase their contribution to sustainable development...... sustainability. In this sense, a proactive approach to foster sustainable value capture can complement the reactive approach by delivering value beyond stakeholders' expectations. In this case, companies use their capabilities to identify opportunities to create and deliver sustainable value that stakeholders...

Integrated Metrics for Improving the Life Cycle Approach to Assessing Product System Sustainability

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Wesley Ingwersen

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Life cycle approaches are critical for identifying and reducing environmental burdens of products. While these methods can indicate potential environmental impacts of a product, current Life Cycle Assessment (LCA methods fail to integrate the multiple impacts of a system into unified measures of social, economic or environmental performance related to sustainability. Integrated metrics that combine multiple aspects of system performance based on a common scientific or economic principle have proven to be valuable for sustainability evaluation. In this work, we propose methods of adapting four integrated metrics for use with LCAs of product systems: ecological footprint, emergy, green net value added, and Fisher information. These metrics provide information on the full product system in land, energy, monetary equivalents, and as a unitless information index; each bundled with one or more indicators for reporting. When used together and for relative comparison, integrated metrics provide a broader coverage of sustainability aspects from multiple theoretical perspectives that is more likely to illuminate potential issues than individual impact indicators. These integrated metrics are recommended for use in combination with traditional indicators used in LCA. Future work will test and demonstrate the value of using these integrated metrics and combinations to assess product system sustainability.

Sustainability Enhancement of a Turbine Vane Manufacturing Cell through Digital Simulation-Based Design

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Alessandra Caggiano

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Modern manufacturing systems should satisfy emerging needs related to sustainable development. The design of sustainable manufacturing systems can be valuably supported by simulation, traditionally employed mainly for time and cost reduction. In this paper, a multi-purpose digital simulation approach is proposed to deal with sustainable manufacturing systems design through Discrete Event Simulation (DES and 3D digital human modelling. DES models integrated with data on power consumption of the manufacturing equipment are utilized to simulate different scenarios with the aim to improve productivity as well as energy efficiency, avoiding resource and energy waste. 3D simulation based on digital human modelling is employed to assess human factors issues related to ergonomics and safety of manufacturing systems. The approach is implemented for the sustainability enhancement of a real manufacturing cell of the aerospace industry, automated by robotic deburring. Alternative scenarios are proposed and simulated, obtaining a significant improvement in terms of energy efficiency (−87% for the new deburring cell, and a reduction of energy consumption around −69% for the coordinate measuring machine, with high potential annual energy cost savings and increased energy efficiency. Moreover, the simulation-based ergonomic assessment of human operator postures allows 25% improvement of the workcell ergonomic index.

Sustainable Transportation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hall, Ralph P.; Gudmundsson, Henrik; Marsden, Greg

2014-01-01

The transportation system is the backbone of economic and social progress and the means by which humans access goods and services and connect with one another. Yet, as the scale of transportation activities has grown worldwide, so too have the negative environmental, social, and economic impacts...... that relate to the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and the operation or use of the different transportation modes. The concept of sustainable transportation emerged in response to these concerns as part of the broader notion of sustainable development. Given the transportation...... sector’s significant contribution to global challenges such as climate change, it is often said that sustainable development cannot be achieved without sustainable transportation....

Evaluating National Environmental Sustainability: Performance Measures and Influential Factors for OECD-Member Countries featuring Canadian Performance and Policy Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Calbick, Kenneth S.

This research reviews five studies that evaluate national environmental sustainability with composite indices; performs uncertainty and sensitivity analyses of techniques for building a composite index; completes principal components factor analysis to help build subindices measuring waste and pollution, sustainable energy, sustainable food, nature conservation, and sustainable cities (Due to its current importance, the greenhouse gases (GHG) indicator is included individually as another policy measure.); analyses factors that seem to influence performance: climate, population growth, population density, economic output, technological development, industrial structure, energy prices, environmental governance, pollution abatement and control expenditures, and environmental pricing; and explores Canadian policy implications of the results. The techniques to build composite indices include performance indicator selection, missing data treatment, normalisation technique, scale-effect adjustments, weights, and aggregation method. Scale-effect adjustments and normalisation method are significant sources of uncertainty inducing 68% of the observed variation in a country's final rank at the 95% level of confidence. Choice of indicators also introduces substantial variation as well. To compensate for this variation, the current study recommends that a composite index should always be analysed with other policy subindices and individual indicators. Moreover, the connection between population and consumption indicates that per capita scale-effect adjustments should be used for certain indicators. Rather than ranking normalisation, studies should use a method that retains information from the raw indicator values. Multiple regression and cluster analyses indicate economic output, environmental governance, and energy prices are major influential factors, with energy prices the most important. It is statistically significant for five out of seven performance measures at the 95

Linking Complexity and Sustainability Theories: Implications for Modeling Sustainability Transitions

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Camaren Peter

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we deploy a complexity theory as the foundation for integration of different theoretical approaches to sustainability and develop a rationale for a complexity-based framework for modeling transitions to sustainability. We propose a framework based on a comparison of complex systems’ properties that characterize the different theories that deal with transitions to sustainability. We argue that adopting a complexity theory based approach for modeling transitions requires going beyond deterministic frameworks; by adopting a probabilistic, integrative, inclusive and adaptive approach that can support transitions. We also illustrate how this complexity-based modeling framework can be implemented; i.e., how it can be used to select modeling techniques that address particular properties of complex systems that we need to understand in order to model transitions to sustainability. In doing so, we establish a complexity-based approach towards modeling sustainability transitions that caters for the broad range of complex systems’ properties that are required to model transitions to sustainability.

Sustainable Concrete Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sim J.

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The growing concern over global warming and significant ecological changes requires sustainable development in all fields of science and technology. Concrete not only consumes huge amount of energy and natural sources, but also emits large amount of CO2, mainly due to the production of cement. It is evident that such large amount of concrete production has put significant impact on the energy, resource, environment, and ecology of the society. Hence, how to develop the concrete technology in a sustainable way has become a significant issue. In this paper, some of Korean researches for sustainable development of concrete are presented. These are sustainable strengthening for deteriorated concrete structure, sustainable reinforcement of new concrete structure, sustainable concrete using recycled aggregate and supplementary cementing materials and finally application of each technique to precast concrete.

Exergy-based sustainability analysis of a low power, high frequency piezo-based ultrasound reactor for rapid biodiesel production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aghbashlo, Mortaza; Tabatabaei, Meisam; Hosseinpour, Soleiman; Khounani, Zahra; Hosseini, Seyed Sina

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Piezoultrasonic-assisted biodiesel production was exergetically analyzed. • Alcohol content, sonication time, and temperature affected exergetic parameters. • 6:1 methanol/oil, 10 min sonication, and 60 °C temperature were the best conditions. • The exergetic sustainability index at the favorable conditions was found to be 11. - Abstract: In this work a thermodynamic model was developed to attain enhanced process comprehension of waste cooking oil (WCO) transesterification process in a low power, high frequency piezo-based ultrasound reactor. The reactor performance was assessed using the exergy concept to distinguish the effects of various operational variables, i.e., methanol to oil molar ratio (4:1–8:1), ultrasonic irradiation time (6–10 min), and temperature (40–60 °C) on the efficiency and sustainability factors. The exergetic efficiency of the developed reactor was found to be ranging from 98% to 99% and from 9% to 91% using the universal and functional definitions, respectively. The maximum functional exergetic efficiency as a decision making parameter, was found at 91% for methanol to oil molar ratio of 6:1, ultrasonic irradiation time of 10 min, and temperature of 60 °C. The exergetic sustainability index of the transesterification process at the selected conditions was determined at about 11. Under these conditions, the reactor efficiently converted triglycerides to methyl esters with an acceptable conversion efficiency of 97%, satisfying the ASTM standard. Overall, the outcomes of the current survey manifested that exergy analysis can be a preferred basis for decision making on the efficiency and sustainability of various biodiesel synthesizing systems.

Measurement and Prediction of Regional Tourism Sustainability: An Analysis of the Yangtze River Economic Zone, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Canmian Liu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In view of sustainable development of tourism, this paper firstly constructs a more comprehensive and scientific index system from the economical/societal/resource-related/environmental aspects of tourism and evaluates the sustainable and comprehensive development level of tourism in 11 provinces and cities of the Yangtze River economic zone by using the weighted TOPSIS (The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution method; secondly, it analyzes the coupling coordination evolution relationship between tourism and the economy/society/resources/environment in different provinces and cities of the Yangtze river economic zone based on the coupling coordination model from the spatio-temporal dimension; and finally, it predicts the coupling coordination degree of the provinces and cities in the region in the next few years by the grey model (1,1 and puts forward some countermeasures and suggestions. According to the study, this method provides an effective reference to the study on the sustainable development of tourism and is very significant for learning the sustainable development of regional tourism and establishing specific and scientific countermeasures for improvement.

Critical success factors model developing for sustainable Kaizen implementation in manufactur-ing industry in Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haftu Hailu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the research is to identify critical success factors and model developing for sustaining kaizen implementation. Peacock shoe is one of the manufacturing industries in Ethiopia facing challenges on sustaining. The methodology followed is factor analysis and empirically testing hypothesis. A database was designed using SPSS version 20. The survey was validated using statistical validation using the Cronbach alpha index; the result is 0.908. The KMO index value was obtained for the 32 items and had a value of 0.642 with Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 4503.007, degree of freedom 496 and significance value 0.000. A factor analysis by principal components and varimax rotation was applied for finding the critical success factors. Finding designates that 32 items were merged into eight critical success factors. All the eight factors together explain for 76.941 % of the variance. Multiple regression model analysis has indicated that some of the critical success factors had relationship with success indicators. Due to constraint of time, the researcher focused only at peacock shoe manufacturing industry. Other limitation also includes the absence of any local research that shows the critical success factors at the moment.

The use of the sustainable investment against the broad market one. A first test in the Mexican stock market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar De la Torre

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present paper studies the mean–variance efficiency of the sustainable investment (SI practice in Mexico by proving the existence of a statistical equality in the performance levels of the IPC sustainability (IPCS index against the broad market IPCcomp one. Using daily standard deviation and Sharpe ratio levels from November 2008 to August 2013, along with variance ratio and a one-factor CAPM spanning tests, our results showed that the SI strategy in Mexico is as mean–variance efficient as the broad market one, being a good substitute of the latter in the long term. Our results also refuted the assumption of a loss of mean–variance efficiency in the sustainable subset due to a lower diversification.

Sustainable clothing: challenges, barriers and interventions for encouraging more sustainable consumer behaviour

OpenAIRE

Harris, Fiona; Roby, Helen; Dibb, Sally

2016-01-01

Research with consumers has revealed limited awareness of the sustainability impact of clothing (Goworek et al., 2012). Semi-structured interviews conducted with a range of experts in sustainable clothing to increase understanding of the challenges for sustainable clothing revealed that a focus on sustainability alone will not drive the necessary changes in consumers’ clothing purchase, care and disposal behaviour for three reasons: (i) clothing sustainability is too complex; (ii) consumers a...

GIS-Based Synthetic Measurement of Sustainable Development in Loess Plateau Ecologically Fragile Area—Case of Qingyang, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chenyu Lu

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Synthetic measurement of regional sustainable development has been one of the key issues in the research field of sustainability. In this paper, Qingyang City located in the Loess Plateau ecologically fragile area of Northwest China is used for a case study, and the present study aims to investigate the degree of sustainable development by conducting temporal- and spatial-scale based analysis, with the assessment index system, assessment model and GIS approach well integrated. The results show that the development pattern of Qingyang generally fits the mode of unsustainable development, even in the presence of certain levels of spatial differences. The sustainable development state in ecologically fragile area of China’s Loess Plateau is non-optimistic, which is an uncoordinated status among subsystems of regional sustainable development. Although the level and tendency of regional sustainable development keeps increasing, such enhancement is abnormal. With the rapid deterioration of environmental and natural resources, their inhibitory effect on the economy and society would expand, eventually leading to the slow development rate or the recession of the entire system. The only solution is to change the traditional mode of economic development, to follow the guide of ecological economic conception so that the goal of achieving regional sustainable development strategies could be met ultimately. Meanwhile, the characteristics of different regions should be taken into account in order to achieve optimal spatial structure.

Is Sustainable Remediation Now a Self-Sustaining Process? an International Progress Report

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, J. W. N.

2014-12-01

Sustainable remediation - the consideration of environmental, social and economic factors associated with soil and groundwater risk-management options, to help select the best overall solution - has been a rapidly evolving topic in recent years. The first published reference[1] to 'sustainable remediation' was in the title of a 1999 conference paper by Kearney et al., (1999), but activity really accelerated in the middle-late 2000's, with establishment of a number of collaborative sustainable remediation groups and fora, and increased publication rates in the peer reviewed literature (Fig 1). Figure 1. Journal paper publications with search term 'sustainable remediation' (SCOPUS survey, 17 July 2014) This presentation will review the international progress of sustainable remediation concept development and application in regulatory and corporate decision-making processes. It will look back at what has already been achieved, provide an update on the latest initiatives and developments, and look forward to what the future of sustainable remediation might look like. Specifically it will describe: Sustainable remediation frameworks: synergies and international collaboration; Latest guidance and tools developed by the various sustainable remediation organisations (SuRFs), including the SuRF-UK Best Management Practices and Tier 1 Briefcase; Best practice standard development by ASTM and ISO; Regulatory acceptance of sustainable remediation, including incorporation into legislation, and the NICOLE - Common Forum Joint statement on 'risk-informed and sustainable remediation' in Europe; Examples of corporate adoption of sustainable remediation principles. The presentation will conclude with a look forward to a vision of sustainable remediation in 2020.

Sustained-Paced Finger Tapping: A Novel Approach to Measure Internal Sustained Attention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco A. Petilli

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Sustained attention is a fundamental prerequisite for all cognitive functions and its impairment is a common aftermath of both developmental and acquired neurological disorders. To date, all the sustained attention tasks rely heavily on selective attention to external stimuli. The interaction between selective and sustained attention represents a limit in the field of assessment and may mislead researchers or distort conclusions. The aim of the present perspective study was to propose a sustained version of the Paced Finger Tapping (S-PFT test as a novel approach to measure sustained attention that does not leverage external stimuli. Here, we administered S-PFT and other attentional tasks (visual sustained attention, visuospatial attention capacity, selective attention, and divided attention tasks to 85 adolescents. Thus, we provide evidence suggesting that S-PFT is effective in causing performance decrement over time, an important trademark of sustained attention tasks. We also present descriptive statistics showing the relationship between S-PFT and the other attentional tasks. These analyses show that, unlike visual sustained attention tests, performances to our task of internal sustained attention were not correlated to measures of selective attention and visuospatial attention capacity. Our results suggest that S-PFT could represent a promising and alternative tool both for empirical research and clinical assessment of sustained attention.

LCA and Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moltesen, Andreas; Bjørn, Anders

2018-01-01

LCA is often presented as a sustainability assessment tool. This chapter analyses the relationship between LCA and sustainability. This is done by first outlining the history of the sustainability concept, which gained momentum with the Brundtland Commission’s report ‘Our Common Future report...... is then demonstrated, and the strategy of LCA to achieving environmental protection, namely to guide the reduction of environmental impacts per delivery of a function, is explained. The attempt to broaden the scope of LCA, beyond environmental protection, by so-called life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA......) is outlined. Finally, the limitations of LCA in guiding a sustainable development are discussed....

[Effect of long-term application of NPK fertilizer on maize yield and yellow soil nutrients sustainability in Guizhou, China].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yan Ling; Li, Yu; Zhang, Ya Rong; Huang, Xing Cheng; Zhang, Wen An; Jiang, Tai Ming

2017-11-01

A long-term fertilization field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilizer on maize relative yield, yield-increasing effect and the changes of nutrients in yellow soil in Guizhou Province. Five fertilizer combinations were evaluated, including balanced fertilization (NPK) and nutrient deficiency treatments (N, NK, NP, and PK). The maize relative yield, contribution efficiency of N, P, K fertilizer application, sustainability index of soil N, P, K nutrients, and other indicators were measured. The results revealed that the balanced fertilization (NPK) significantly increased maize yield, and the average yield under each treatment ranked as: NPK>NP>NK>PK>CK. The contribution efficiency and agronomic efficiency of N, P, K fertilizer application was N>P>K. The fertilization dependence was ranked as: combined application of N, P and K>N>P>K. But in the lack of P treatment (NK), the maize relative yield significantly decreased at a speed of 1.4% per year, with the contribution efficiency and fertilization dependence of applied P significantly increasing at a speed of 2.3% per year and 1.4% per year, respectively. Over time, the effect of P fertilizer on maize yield gradually became equal to that of N fertilizer. The pH and soil organic matter content were the lowest in the P-lack treatment (NK), while they were higher in the N-lack treatment (PK). The application of chemical P significantly improved the sustainability index of soil P, but the application of chemical N and K did not significantly change the sustainability index of soil N and K nutrients compared to the N- and K-lack treatments, respectively. In summary, the use of balanced fertilizer application is critical for achieving high maize yield in typical yellow soil regions in Guizhou Province. P and N fertilizers are equally important for improving maize yield, and long-term application of unbalanced chemical fertilizer, especially the lack

Toward sustainable logistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Soysal, Mehmet; Bloemhof-Ruwaard, Jacqueline M.

2017-01-01

The fast evolution of sustainability leads to the development of a new fast-growing concept called sustainable logistics management. This research addresses recent business trends and challenges in logistics and their implications for sustainable logistics management. Additionally, we discuss policy

Toward sustainable logistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Soysal, Mehmet; Bloemhof-Ruwaard, Jacqueline M.

2018-01-01

The fast evolution of sustainability leads to the development of a new fast-growing concept called sustainable logistics management. This research addresses recent business trends and challenges in logistics and their implications for sustainable logistics management. Additionally, we discuss policy

Total body fat percentage and body mass index and the association with lower extremity injuries in children: a 2.5-year longitudinal study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jespersen, E.; Verhagen, E.A.L.M.; Holst, R.; Klakk, H.; Heidemann, M.; Rexen, C.T.; Franz, C.; Wedderkopp, N.

2014-01-01

Background Overweight youths are generally recognised as being at increased risk of sustaining lower extremity injuries in sports. However, previous studies are inconclusive and choices for measuring overweight are manifold. Objective To examine two different measures of overweight, body mass index

Moving Towards Sustainable Food Consumption : Identifying Barriers to Sustainable Student Diets

OpenAIRE

Ede, James; Graine, Sophia; Rhodes, Chris

2011-01-01

Adopting more sustainable consumption habits has been identified as a necessary step in the progression towards a sustainable society. In the area of sustainable consumption, personal food behaviour represents a strong leverage point. University students have been identified as a strategic audience; habits established during this transformative period can track forward into later life. This study seeks to identify the barriers inhibiting students from eating more sustainably. Perceived benefi...

Annual Sustainability Report FY 2014. Incorporates NREL Site Sustainability Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rukavina, Frank [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-07-01

NREL's Sustainability Program is responsible for upholding all executive orders, federal regulations, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) orders, and goals related to sustainable and resilient facility operations. But NREL continues to expand sustainable practices above and beyond the laboratory's regulations and requirements to ensure that the laboratory fulfills its mission into the future, leaves the smallest possible legacy footprint, and models sustainable operations and behaviors on national, regional, and local levels. The report, per the GRI reporting format, elaborates on multi-year goals relative to executive orders, achievements, and challenges; and success stories provide specific examples. A section called 'Sustaining NREL's Future Through Integration' provides insight into how NREL is successfully expanding the adoption of renewable energy technologies through integration.

Sustainability Assessment of Electricity Generation Technologies in Egypt Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mostafa Shaaban

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Future electricity planning necessitates a thorough multi-faceted analysis of the available technologies in order to secure the energy supply for coming generations. To cope with worldwide concerns over sustainable development and meet the growing demands of electricity we assess the future potential technologies in Egypt through covering their technical, economic, environmental and social aspects. In this study we fill the gap of a lacking sustainability assessment of energy systems in Egypt where most of the studies focus mainly on the economic and technical aspects of planning future installation of power plants in Egypt. Furthermore, we include the stakeholder preferences of the indicators in the energy sector into our assessment. Moreover, we perform a sensitivity analysis through single dimension assessment scenarios of the technologies as well as a sustainable scenario with equal preferences of all dimensions of the sustainability. We employ two multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA methodologies: the analytical hierarchy process for weighing the assessment criteria, and the weighted sum method for generating a general integrated sustainability index for each technology. The study investigates seven technologies: coal, natural gas, wind, concentrated solar power, photovoltaics, biomass and nuclear. The results reveal a perfect matching between the ranking of the technologies by the stakeholders and the sustainable scenario showing the highest ranking for natural gas and the lowest for nuclear and coal. There is a strong potential for renewable energy technologies to invade the electricity market in Egypt where they achieve the second ranking after natural gas. The Monte-Carlo approach gives photovoltaics a higher ranking over concentrated solar power as compared to the sample data ranking. The study concludes the importance of a multi-dimensional evaluation of the technologies while considering the preferences of the stakeholders in

Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment: Evaluating Residential Development Sustainability in a Developing Country Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tan Yigitcanlar

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Rapid urbanization, improved quality of life, and diversified lifestyle options have collectively led to an escalation in housing demand in our cities, where residential areas, as the largest portion of urban land use type, play a critical role in the formation of sustainable cities. To date there has been limited research to ascertain residential development layouts that provide a more sustainable urban outcome. This paper aims to evaluate and compare sustainability levels of residential types by focusing on their layouts. The paper scrutinizes three different development types in a developing country context—i.e., subdivision, piecemeal, and master-planned developments. This study develops a “Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment” tool and applies it to compare their sustainability levels in Ipoh, Malaysia. The analysis finds that the master-planned development, amongst the investigated case studies, possesses the potential to produce higher levels of sustainability outcomes. The results reveal insights and evidence for policymakers, planners, development agencies and researchers; advocate further studies on neighborhood-level sustainability analysis, and; emphasize the need for collective efforts and an effective process in achieving neighborhood sustainability and sustainable city formation.

Analyzing Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Strategically Managing Resource Allocations to Achieve Operational Competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Malek Nurul Aida

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In today’s dynamic business environment, a key challenge for all companies is to make adaptive adjustments to their manufacturing strategy. This study demonstrates the competitive priorities of manufacturing strategy in hydro-power case company to evaluate the level of sustainable competitive advantage and also to further analyze how business strategies are aligned with manufacturing strategies. This research is based on new holistic analytical evaluation of manufacturing strategy index, sense and respond, and sustainable competitive advantage models. These models help to describe, evaluate, and optimize resource allocation to meet the performance requirements in dynamic decision making. Furthermore, these models evaluate operational competitiveness for manufacturing strategies according to the multi-criteria priority. The results show that the adjustments of competitive priorities in manufacturing strategies by implementing the proposed holistic analytical models are helpful in strategically managing business operations. The discussion derives the most critical attributes in business operations while alignment of resource allocation with competitive priorities help to strategically focus those attributes. In conclusion, we argue that resource allocation and manufacturing strategies have become the most important capabilities in a business environment where companies focus to get a sustainable competitive advantage.

A Persian version of the sustained auditory attention capacity test and its results in normal children

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Sanaz Soltanparast

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Sustained attention refers to the ability to maintain attention in target stimuli over a sustained period of time. This study was conducted to develop a Persian version of the sustained auditory attention capacity test and to study its results in normal children.Methods: To develop the Persian version of the sustained auditory attention capacity test, like the original version, speech stimuli were used. The speech stimuli consisted of one hundred monosyllabic words consisting of a 20 times random of and repetition of the words of a 21-word list of monosyllabic words, which were randomly grouped together. The test was carried out at comfortable hearing level using binaural, and diotic presentation modes on 46 normal children of 7 to 11 years of age of both gender.Results: There was a significant difference between age, and an average of impulsiveness error score (p=0.004 and total score of sustained auditory attention capacity test (p=0.005. No significant difference was revealed between age, and an average of inattention error score and attention reduction span index. Gender did not have a significant impact on various indicators of the test.Conclusion: The results of this test on a group of normal hearing children confirmed its ability to measure sustained auditory attention capacity through speech stimuli.

The Influence of Board of Directors, Independent Board of Commissioners, Leverage, and Corporate Activities To Disclosure of Sustainability Report.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eria Nissa Awalia

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This research was intended to examine the influences of board of directors, board of independent commissioner, leverage, and activity of company toward sustainability report disclosure. Sustainability Report Disclosure is the dependent variable sinthis research were measured by GRIG 3.1 Content Index and Checklists. For the independent variables in this research, using board of directors were measured by sum of directors meetings, board of in dependent commissioner were measured by proportion of independent commissioner, leverage were measured by debt to equity, activity of company were measured by total asset turnover. This research uses secondary data which is financial statement. and sustainability report from Indonesian Stock Exchange Listed Companies in 2010-2012. While the sampling method used was purposive sampling method which is overall 39 observations. This research uses multiple regression method to test the hypothesis with SPSS computer program. From the analysis performed in this research, it can be concluded that board of directors, and leverage have no significant influence to sustainability report disclosure. The other hand activity of company has positive influence and significant to sustainability report disclosure. And Board of independent commissioner has negative influence and significant to sustainability reporting disclosure.

Wrapping Our Brains around Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Ann Curran

2009-03-01

Full Text Available As many of us begin to embrace the concept of sustainability, we realize that it is not simply something that we ‘do.’ Rather, sustainability is a destination that we aspire to reach with the selection of the sustainable pathways that we choose as we proceed along the journey. We are embarking on a new journey with the creation of Sustainability, an on-line, open access journal. As stated on the journal’s website, Sustainability is an international and cross-disciplinary scholarly journal of environmental, cultural, economic and social sustainability of human beings, which provides an advanced forum for studies that are related to sustainability and sustainable development. To genuinely wrap our brains around the impact that our actions have on the sustainability of our planet, we must first understand something of the big picture and have a firm grasp of the terminology. To help further clarify the elusive term ‘sustainability,’ without attempting to provide an exact definition, this paper outlines various, inter-related concepts and basic practices and approaches that are being used in the name of sustainability, including: traditional end-of-pipe control strategies, life cycle, environmental sustainability, urban sustainability, industrial ecology, business sustainability, sustainable supply chain systems, sustainability indicators and metrics, green chemistry and green engineering, design for the environment, sustainable buildings, eco-tourism, and renewable and sustainable energy and fuels.

Walkability Index

Science.gov (United States)

The Walkability Index dataset characterizes every Census 2010 block group in the U.S. based on its relative walkability. Walkability depends upon characteristics of the built environment that influence the likelihood of walking being used as a mode of travel. The Walkability Index is based on the EPA's previous data product, the Smart Location Database (SLD). Block group data from the SLD was the only input into the Walkability Index, and consisted of four variables from the SLD weighted in a formula to create the new Walkability Index. This dataset shares the SLD's block group boundary definitions from Census 2010. The methodology describing the process of creating the Walkability Index can be found in the documents located at ftp://newftp.epa.gov/EPADataCommons/OP/WalkabilityIndex.zip. You can also learn more about the Smart Location Database at https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/OP/Smart_Location_DB_v02b.zip.

Research on Sustainable Development Level Evaluation of Resource-based Cities Based on Shapely Entropy and Chouqet Integral

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hui; Qu, Weilu; Qiu, Weiting

2018-03-01

In order to evaluate sustainable development level of resource-based cities, an evaluation method with Shapely entropy and Choquet integral is proposed. First of all, a systematic index system is constructed, the importance of each attribute is calculated based on the maximum Shapely entropy principle, and then the Choquet integral is introduced to calculate the comprehensive evaluation value of each city from the bottom up, finally apply this method to 10 typical resource-based cities in China. The empirical results show that the evaluation method is scientific and reasonable, which provides theoretical support for the sustainable development path and reform direction of resource-based cities.

Sustainable Learning Organizations

Science.gov (United States)

Velazquez, Luis E.; Esquer, Javier; Munguia, Nora E.; Moure-Eraso, Rafael

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to debate how companies may better become a sustainable learning organization by offering the most used and insightful concepts of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: Through literature review, learning organization and sustainability perspectives are explored and compared. Findings: Learning…

Handbook of sustainable engineering

CERN Document Server

Lee, Kun-Mo

2013-01-01

"The efficient utilization of energy, sustainable use of natural resources, and large-scale adoption of sustainable technologies is the key to a sustainable future. The Handbook of Sustainable Engineering provides tools that will help us achieve these goals". Nobel Prize Winner Dr. R.K. Pauchauri, Chairman, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change As global society confronts the challenges of diminishing resources, ecological degradation, and climate change, engineers play a crucial role designing and building technologies and products that fulfil our needs for utility and sustainability. The Handbook of Sustainable Engineering equips readers with the context and the best practices derived from both academic research and practical examples of successful implementations of sustainable technical solutions. The handbook’s content revolves around the two themes, new ways of thinking and new business models, including sustainable production, products, service systems and consumption while addressing key asse...

Sustainable collaboration : The impact of governance and institutions on sustainable performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niesten, Eva; Jolink, Albert; Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, Ana Beatriz; Chappin, Maryse; Lozano, Rodrigo

2017-01-01

Collaboration between firms is important to stimulate the transition to a more sustainable society. This special volume shows that collaboration is indeed one of the preferred forms of governance to manage relations between firms in a sustainability context. Collaboration enhances sustainable

Sustainability and Entrepreneurial Action

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Korsgaard, Steffen T.; Anderson, Alistair

Abstract Objectives - This paper explores how entrepreneurial action can lead to environmental sustainability. It builds on the assumption that the creation of sustainble practices is one of the most important challenges facing the global society, and that entrepreneurial action is a vital......: resource oriented sustainable entrepreneurial action.  Approach - The paper uses a case study approach to build deeper theoretical knowledge of environmentally sustainable entrepreneurship.  Results - The paper identifies and analyses a distinct form of sustainable entrepreneurship -  resource oriented...... entrepreneurship - which uses bricolage in various ways to create sustainable solutions. Implications and value - The concept of resource oriented sustainable entrepreneurship contributes to the theoretical understanding of how entrepreneurial action can support sustainability, Furthermore the case study has...

Sustainable consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prothero, Andrea; Dobscha, Susan; Freund, Jim

2011-01-01

This essay explores sustainable consumption and considers possible roles for marketing and consumer researchers and public policy makers in addressing the many sustainability challenges that pervade our planet. Future research approaches to this interdisciplinary topic need to be comprehensive...... and systematic and will benefit from a variety of different perspectives. There are a number of opportunities for future research, and three areas are explored in detail. First, the essay considers the inconsistency between the attitudes and behaviors of consumers with respect to sustainability; next, the agenda...... is broadened to explore the role of individual citizens in society; and finally, a macro institutional approach to fostering sustainability is explored. Each of these areas is examined in detail and possible research avenues and public policy initiatives are considered within each of these separate...

Sustainable Consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Røpke, Inge

2015-01-01

The intention of this chapter is to explore the role of consumption and consumers in relation to sustainability transition processes and wider systemic transformations. In contrast to the individualistic focus in much research on sustainable consumption, the embeddedness of consumption activities...... in wider social, economic and technological frameworks is emphasised. In particular, the chapter is inspired by practice theory and transition theory. First, various trends in consumption are outlined to highlight some of the challenges for sustainability transitions. Then, it is discussed how consumption...... patterns are shaped over time and what should be considered in sustainability strategies. While discussions on consumption often take their point of departure in the perspective of the individual and then zoom to the wider context, the present approach is the opposite. The outline starts with the basic...

Sustainable transformation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Nicolai Bo

This paper is about sustainable transformation with a particular focus on listed buildings. It is based on the notion that sustainability is not just a question of energy conditions, but also about the building being robust. Robust architecture means that the building can be maintained and rebuilt......, that it can be adapted to changing functional needs, and that it has an architectural and cultural value. A specific proposal for a transformation that enhances the architectural qualities and building heritage values of an existing building forms the empirical material, which is discussed using different...... theoretical lenses. It is proposed that three parameters concerning the ꞌtransformabilityꞌ of the building can contribute to a more nuanced understanding of sustainable transformation: technical aspects, programmatic requirements and narrative value. It is proposed that the concept of ꞌsustainable...

Interpreting sustainable development

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

1998-01-01

Over the past decade, the term" sustainable development"has emerged as the principal concept in the development field. The concept emerged in the 1970s and was first promoted in the international environmental and development communities with the publication of the " world conservation strategy"(1980). It was popularized by the Brundtland report, " Our common future"(1987). The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as " development which meets the needs of the present, without compromising the sustainability of future generation to meet their own needs". The Earth Summit(1992) established "sustainable development" as the most important policy of the 21st century. Since then, the relationship between development and environment has been widely discussed and sustainabale development is now an important part of the vocabulary of environmental policy research and analysis. In this paper, we begin by tracing the evolution of the concept of sustainable development. Definitions of sustainable development in ecology, economics and sociology are then explored and discussed. This paper also examine the contribution that a broadly-based concept of sustainable development can make: as a goal, an attitude and as a guiding principle for integrating economic development and environmental protection.

Modification of Low Refractive Index Polycarbonate for High Refractive Index Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunjan Suri

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Polycarbonates and polythiourethanes are the most popular materials in use today, for optical applications. Polycarbonates are of two types which fall in the category of low refractive index and medium refractive index. The present paper describes the conversion of low refractive index polycarbonates into high refractive index material by the use of a high refractive index monomer, polythiol, as an additive. Novel polycarbonates, where the properties of refractive index and Abbe number can be tailor made, have been obtained. Thermal studies and refractive index determination indicate the formation of a new polymer with improved properties and suitable for optical applications.

Sustainable consumption and marketing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dam, van Y.K.

2016-01-01

Sustainable development in global food markets is hindered by the discrepancy between positive consumer attitudes towards sustainable development or sustainability and the lack of corresponding sustainable consumption by a majority of consumers. Apparently for many (light user) consumers the

Sustainability and Risk Disclosure: An Exploratory Study on Sustainability Reports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisa Truant

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Recent policy changes in sustainability reporting, such as the ones related to the new European Directive on non-financial disclosure (2014/95/EU, the standards issued by the American Sustainability Accounting Standard Board (SASB, the G4 guidelines issued by the Global Sustainability Standard Board (GSSB, and the framework of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC stress the importance of extending the disclosure of ethical, social, and environmental risks within financial and social-environmental reporting. Institutional pressure has notably increased among organizations, in setting up risk management tools to understand sustainability risks within managerial and reporting practices. Given such institutional pressure, the corporate reaction in providing additional sustainability risk disclosure calls for attention and scrutiny. Therefore, this study aims at addressing such issues from an exploratory perspective. We based our analysis on a sample of large Italian organizations that issued sustainability disclosure in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI, G4 guidelines, and we tested the relationship between their level of risk disclosure and other relevant variables. Consistently with the literature, we found that “experienced” sustainable reporters provide a significant volume of disclosure, and that disclosure quality on risk is positively influenced by their international presence and reporting experience. However, when accounting for specific risk-related areas of disclosure, only a few of them seem to adopt a managerial perspective linking strategy, risk metrics, and disclosure.

Objectives and Indexes for Implementation of Sponge Cities—A Case Study of Changzhou City, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengzhao Li

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a framework of objectives and indexes for sponge cities implementation in China. The proposed objectives and indexes aims to reflect whether the city is in accord with the sponge city. Different cities have different objectives and indexes as each city has its own geologic and hydrogeological conditions. Therefore, the main problems (e.g., water security and flood risks in the central urban area of Changzhou city, China were evaluated scientifically. According to the local conditions, four objectives and eleven indexes have been made as a standard to estimate the sponge city and set a goal for the city development to reach the goal of sustainable urban development. The strategy of process control was implemented to improve the standard of urban drainage and flood control facilities, regulate total runoff and reduce storm peak flow, and the ecological monitoring of the function of the rivers and lakes. The objectives of sponge cities include water security, water quality improvement, healthy water ecosystems, and water utilization efficiency. Urban flood prevention capacity, river and lake water quality compliance, and annual runoff control are the key objectives to encourage the use of non-conventional water resources.

Reliability of near-infrared spectroscopy for measuring biceps brachii oxygenation during sustained and repeated isometric contractions.

Science.gov (United States)

Muthalib, Makii; Millet, Guillaume Y; Quaresima, Valentina; Nosaka, Kazunori

2010-01-01

We examine the test-retest reliability of biceps brachii tissue oxygenation index (TOI) parameters measured by near-infrared spectroscopy during a 10-s sustained and a 30-repeated (1-s contraction, 1-s relaxation) isometric contraction task at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction (30% MVC) and maximal (100% MVC) intensities. Eight healthy men (23 to 33 yr) were tested on three sessions separated by 3 h and 24 h, and the within-subject reliability of torque and each TOI parameter were determined by Bland-Altman+/-2 SD limits of agreement plots and coefficient of variation (CV). No significant (P>0.05) differences between the three sessions were found for mean values of torque and TOI parameters during the sustained and repeated tasks at both contraction intensities. All TOI parameters were within+/-2 SD limits of agreement. The CVs for torque integral were similar between the sustained and repeated task at both intensities (4 to 7%); however, the CVs for TOI parameters during the sustained and repeated task were lower for 100% MVC (7 to 11%) than for 30% MVC (22 to 36%). It is concluded that the reliability of the biceps brachii NIRS parameters during both sustained and repeated isometric contraction tasks is acceptable.

Sustainable Business Models - A Need For New And Sustainable Business Models

OpenAIRE

Heir, Nina

2016-01-01

Business plays a key role for the sustainable development of the society. However, business models of today do not have a sustainable perspective, indicating that they do not balance the three dimensions of sustainability; the social, environmental and economical dimension. A change at the business model level is therefore required for sustainable business models to become the new business models of tomorrow. The purpose of this study is to increase the knowledge of how companies can con...

Multi-criteria decision making support tool for freight integrators: selecting the most sustainable alternative

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G. Simongáti

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development has turned into a daily concept by now. Similarly, sustainable transport also appears increasingly often, primarily in transport policy and strategic plans. However, it would be equally important if we could apply this aspect for certain activities such as haulage and forwarding that are a part of transport. Today, forwarders select an optimal alternative concerning only the criteria related to the economic effectiveness of the transport task. In many cases, shippers are not aware neither of the concept of sustainable transport nor of harmful effects they generate. Hence, although there is a concept of ‘freight integrator’, only very few are able to meet the requirements laid down for it. No widespread method has been developed yet to compare transportation options. A similar situation can be faced discussing a traditional, purely economic approach and a theoretical modern aspect that would be in accordance with the principles of sustainable transport. The model that was developed at the Department of Aircraft and Ships of Budapest University of Technology and Economics was designed specifically to compare various options in terms of sustainability. The indicators as the elements of decision-making criteria applied in the model were derived from the indicators used for assessing the transport sector but modified according to the requirements of the decision-making task for a freight integrator. Finally, such sustainable performance index of certain alternatives is determined by two fundamentally different aggregation methods as ‘fineness index’. This article presents the model structure and application using a concrete example.

A Review on the research and practice of city sustainable development indicators and indices

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Xiang, Ning

2017-10-01

City sustainable development indicators and indices have become a hot issue in academic research and practical application, alongside the high-speed worldwide urbanization and driven by the actual managing demand. This article is aimed at a clear understanding of the progress in relevant research and practice. This is done by collecting common indicators and indices for city sustainable development and making comparison of the assessment process and contents, so as to find out main obstacles for the development of this research field and explore the direction for efforts to be made next step. The article divides these indicators and indices into two categories: ① indicators serving as single index which can provide an explicit description on the relationship between economic activities and environmental carrying capacity, but have a narrow scope of assessment and use complicated methods to collect and calculate data; ② indices based on indicator systems which can represent multiple processes, could reflect the view of strong sustainability and are easy to use, but can hardly depict the responding relationship between social, environmental and economic changes for city sustainable development or assure the scientific rigor of weight setting. Practices on indicators and indices for city sustainable development was summarized, and its problems were reviewed with China being representative of transitioning countries. According to the review, great progress has been achieved in the research and practice of indicators and indices for city sustainable development, but consistency of theories, rationality of indicators and scientific rigor of methodology are to be improved significantly.

Agro-energy supply chain planning: a procedure to evaluate economic, energy and environmental sustainability

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Fabrizio Ginaldi

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The increasing demand for energy and expected shortage in the medium term, solicit innovative energy strategies to fulfill the increasing gap between demand-supply. For this purpose it is important to evaluate the potential supply of the energy crops and finding the areas of EU where it is most convenient. This paper proposes an agro-energy supply chain approach to planning the biofuel supply chain at a regional level. The proposed methodology is the result of an interdisciplinary team work and is aimed to evaluate the potential supply of land for the energy production and the efficiency of the processing plants considering simultaneously economic, energy and environmental targets. The crop simulation, on the basis of this approach, takes into account environmental and agricultural variables (soil, climate, crop, agronomic technique that affect yields, energy and economic costs of the agricultural phase. The use of the Dijkstra’s algorithm allows minimizing the biomass transport path from farm to collecting points and the processing plant, to reduce both the transport cost and the energy consumption. Finally, a global sustainability index (ACSI, Agro-energy Chain Sustainability Index is computed combining economic, energy and environmental aspects to evaluate the sustainability of the Agroenergy supply chain (AESC on the territory. The empirical part consists in a pilot study applied to the whole plain of Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG a region situated in the North-Eastern part of Italy covering about 161,300 ha. The simulation has been applied to the maize cultivation using three different technologies (different levels of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization: low, medium and high input. The higher input technologies allow to achieve higher crop yields, but affect negatively both the economic and energy balances. Low input levels provides, on the average, the most favourable energy and economic balances. ACSI indicates that low inputs levels

Evaluating perspectives for PRRS virus elimination from pig dense areas with a risk factor based herd index.

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Fahrion, A S; Beilage, E grosse; Nathues, H; Dürr, S; Doherr, M G

2014-06-01

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is wide-spread in pig populations globally. In many regions of Europe with intensive pig production and high herd densities, the virus is endemic and can cause disease and production losses. This fuels discussion about the feasibility and sustainability of virus elimination from larger geographic regions. The implementation of a program aiming at virus elimination for areas with high pig density is unprecedented and its potential success is unknown. The objective of this work was to approach pig population data with a simple method that could support assessing the feasibility of a sustainable regional PRRSV elimination. Based on known risk factors such as pig herd structure and neighborhood conditions, an index characterizing individual herds' potential for endemic virus circulation and reinfection was designed. This index was subsequently used to compare data of all pig herds in two regions with different pig- and herd-densities in Lower Saxony (North-West Germany) where PRRSV is endemic. Distribution of the indexed herds was displayed using GIS. Clusters of high herd index densities forming potential risk hot spots were identified which could represent key target areas for surveillance and biosecurity measures under a control program aimed at virus elimination. In an additional step, for the study region with the higher pig density (2463 pigs/km(2) farmland), the potential distribution of PRRSV-free and non-free herds during the implementation of a national control program aiming at national virus elimination was modeled. Complex herd and trade network structures suggest that PRRSV elimination in regions with intensive pig farming like that of middle Europe would have to involve legal regulation and be accompanied by important trade and animal movement restrictions. The proposed methodology of risk index mapping could be adapted to areas varying in size, herd structure and density. Interpreted in the

Sustainability Marketing Commitment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tollin, Karin; Bech Christensen, Lars

2017-01-01

sustainability in marketing, processes associated with sustainability marketing commitment, drivers of sustainability marketing at the functional level of marketing, and its organizational context. Using survey data from 269 managers in marketing, covering a broad range of industries in Sweden and Denmark, we...... took a structural modelling approach to examine construct relationships, mediation, and moderation effects. Overall, the findings show that marketing capabilities associated with the innovation of new products, services, and business models constitute a strong driver to leverage sustainability......Corporate sustainability is an important strategy and value orientation for marketing, but scarce research addresses the organizational drivers and barriers to including it in companies’ marketing strategies and processes. The purpose of this study is to determine levels of commitment to corporate...

Locally Sustainable School Lunch Intervention Improves Hemoglobin and Hematocrit Levels and Body Mass Index among Elementary Schoolchildren in Rural West Java, Indonesia.

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Sekiyama, Makiko; Roosita, Katrin; Ohtsuka, Ryutaro

2017-08-12

School lunch is not provided in public elementary schools in Indonesia, and students frequently buy and eat snacks at school. We hypothesized that providing a traditional Sundanese meal as school lunch would be beneficial for children in rural West Java. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated the effect of a 1-month school lunch intervention aiming at sustainability and based on children's nutritional intake, hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, and body mass index (BMI). A lunch (including rice, vegetable dish, animal protein dish, plant protein dish, and fruit) containing one-third of the recommended daily allowance of energy was offered every school day for 1 month, targeting 68 fourth-grade elementary schoolchildren. At baseline, the prevalence of anemia was 33.3%. The prevalence of stunting and underweight were 32.4% and 2.9%, respectively, whereas that of overweight and obesity combined was 17.6%, indicating a double burden of malnutrition among the subjects. During the intervention, intakes of protein ( p < 0.05), calcium ( p < 0.05), and vitamin C ( p < 0.001) significantly increased, while that of fat significantly decreased ( p < 0.001). After the intervention, hemoglobin ( p < 0.05) and hematocrit ( p < 0.05) levels were significantly improved, thereby almost halving the rate of anemia. These changes were significantly larger in the baseline anemic group than the non-anemic group ( p < 0.01). BMI significantly increased in the baseline underweight/normal group ( p < 0.001) but not in the overweight/obese group. The school lunch intervention significantly improved nutritional intakes and health statuses, implying its potential for reducing anemia and resolving the double burden of malnutrition among rural Indonesian schoolchildren.

A method of assessment of sustainability of social and labor relations of a city-forming enterprise and a single-industry town

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Roshina Irina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this article we consider one of the tools for managing a single-industry town – a method of assessment of its social and labor relations sustainability. We describe a mathematical model of calculating the integrated index and give instant assessment examples.

The Sustainability Cone - A holistic framework to integrate sustainability thinking into manufacturing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rödger, Jan-Markus; Bey, Niki; Alting, Leo

2016-01-01

Integrating sustainability into manufacturing is a multifaceted endeavour. Global sustainability aspects and specific manufacturing success factors have to be combined with life cycle thinking in order to get the holistic view on manufacturing which is needed to make truly sustainability-oriented......Integrating sustainability into manufacturing is a multifaceted endeavour. Global sustainability aspects and specific manufacturing success factors have to be combined with life cycle thinking in order to get the holistic view on manufacturing which is needed to make truly sustainability...... - as the missing link which closes these gaps by providing necessary holistic and consistent overview while being aligned with established stage-gate project execution models, thus ensuring practical applicability as shown for a highly automated production cell. The paper shows how to apply life cycle target...

FORUM: Is Ecotourism Sustainable?

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Wall

1997-07-01

/ It is legitimate to ask whether and in what form tourism might contribute to sustainable development. This is not the same as sustainable tourism which, as a single-sector approach to development, may overlook important linkages with other sectors. If tourism is to contribute to sustainable development, then it must be economically viable, ecologically sensitive and culturally appropriate. Ecotourism is often advocated as being a sustainable form of tourism but imprecision in terminology clouds basic issues and there are strong economic, ecological, and cultural reasons for believing that, even in its purest forms, ecotourism is likely to present substantial challenges to destination areas, particularly if it competes for scarce resources and displaces existing uses and users. Sustainable tourism and ecotourism are not synonyms, many forms of ecotourism may not be sustainable, and if ecotourism is to contribute to sustainable development, then careful planning and management will be required.KEY WORDS: Ecotourism; Sustainable development; Development; Tourism

Sustainable Cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Georg, Susse; Garza de Linde, Gabriela Lucía

Judging from the number of communities and cities striving or claiming to be sustainable and how often eco-development is invoked as the means for urban regeneration, it appears that sustainable and eco-development have become “the leading paradigm within urban development” (Whitehead 2003....../assessment tool. The context for our study is urban regeneration in one Danish city, which had been suffering from industrial decline and which is currently investing in establishing a “sustainable city”. Based on this case study we explore how the insights and inspiration evoked in working with the tool...

Sustainable wireless networks

CERN Document Server

Zheng, Zhongming; Xuemin

2013-01-01

This brief focuses on network planning and resource allocation by jointly considering cost and energy sustainability in wireless networks with sustainable energy. The characteristics of green energy and investigating existing energy-efficient green approaches for wireless networks with sustainable energy is covered in the first part of this brief. The book then addresses the random availability and capacity of the energy supply. The authors explore how to maximize the energy sustainability of the network and minimize the failure probability that the mesh access points (APs) could deplete their

Urban Labelling: Resilience and Vulnerability as Key Concepts for a Sustainable Planning

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Giuseppe Mazzeo

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Planning and implementation of sustainable urban neighborhoods has led in Europe and in other countries to the development of some recognized best practices. Each of these cases has followed specific aims and methodologies but it is still far the systematization of the results and the translation of the good practices into action lines.  The paper involves the necessity of new tools for local planning directed to the overall sustainability of the city. Sustainable energy, reduction of the climate-change causes, waste reduction, attention to water resources and to the natural ones are specific operational elements. A possible way to face this challenge is to consider the potentialities of executive plans addressed to increase the sustainability of urban areas starting from limited portions of they. These plans should foresee the minimum impact of volumes and functions to be set up, will provide for the realization of public spaces with zero or almost zero impact, will promote the integration of all the technologies to reduce consumption and encourage energy generation, in order to increase the resilience of the city reducing its vulnerability.  On this basis, aim of the paper is to deepen the issue of the measure of the expected results. To this purpose it is necessary to structure a new certification system (Urban Labelling that can be able to assign a specific sustainability level to a plan using both traditional and new indexes. The same system can also be applied to existing urban areas and as a basis for evaluating reward operations. The impact of the new tool will be cultural (to switch by a description to the facts in relation to urban sustainability, economic (to involve the supply chain from design, implementation, and urban transformation and technological (the sustainability of urban areas requires the use of advanced technologies not only for the buildings but also in the control of green areas, public spaces and mobility.

Culture in Sustainability--Defining Cultural Sustainability in Education

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Laine, Marja

2016-01-01

The definition of cultural sustainability in education is explored in this article by looking into conceptions of cultural sustainability collected through expert queries and focus group engagement. These conceptions are compared with the scientific and especially pedagogical discourse on the matter as well as Soini and Birkeland's theory of story…

The e-index, complementing the h-index for excess citations.

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Chun-Ting Zhang

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The h-index has already been used by major citation databases to evaluate the academic performance of individual scientists. Although effective and simple, the h-index suffers from some drawbacks that limit its use in accurately and fairly comparing the scientific output of different researchers. These drawbacks include information loss and low resolution: the former refers to the fact that in addition to h(2 citations for papers in the h-core, excess citations are completely ignored, whereas the latter means that it is common for a group of researchers to have an identical h-index. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To solve these problems, I here propose the e-index, where e(2 represents the ignored excess citations, in addition to the h(2 citations for h-core papers. Citation information can be completely depicted by using the h-index together with the e-index, which are independent of each other. Some other h-type indices, such as a and R, are h-dependent, have information redundancy with h, and therefore, when used together with h, mask the real differences in excess citations of different researchers. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although simple, the e-index is a necessary h-index complement, especially for evaluating highly cited scientists or for precisely comparing the scientific output of a group of scientists having an identical h-index.

Global Mental Health: sharing and synthesizing knowledge for sustainable development.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donnell, K; O'Donnell, M Lewis

2016-01-01

Global mental health (GMH) is a growing domain with an increasing capacity to positively impact the world community's efforts for sustainable development and wellbeing. Sharing and synthesizing GMH and multi-sectoral knowledge, the focus of this paper, is an important way to support these global efforts. This paper consolidates some of the most recent and relevant 'context resources' [global multi-sector (GMS) materials, emphasizing world reports on major issues] and 'core resources' (GMH materials, including newsletters, texts, conferences, training, etc.). In addition to offering a guided index of materials, it presents an orientation framework (global integration) to help make important information as accessible and useful as possible. Mental health colleagues are encouraged to stay current in GMH and global issues, to engage in the emerging agendas for sustainable development and wellbeing, and to intentionally connect and contribute across sectors. Colleagues in all sectors are encouraged to do likewise, and to take advantage of the wealth of shared and synthesized knowledge in the GMH domain, such as the materials featured in this paper.

Sustainability and uncertainty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Karsten Klint

2007-01-01

The widely used concept of sustainability is seldom precisely defined, and its clarification involves making up one's mind about a range of difficult questions. One line of research (bottom-up) takes sustaining a system over time as its starting point and then infers prescriptions from...... this requirement. Another line (top-down) takes an economical interpretation of the Brundtland Commission's suggestion that the present generation's needsatisfaction should not compromise the need-satisfaction of future generations as its starting point. It then measures sustainability at the level of society...... a clarified ethical goal, disagreements can arise. At present we do not know what substitutions will be possible in the future. This uncertainty clearly affects the prescriptions that follow from the measure of sustainability. Consequently, decisions about how to make future agriculture sustainable...