WorldWideScience

Sample records for sustainability indicator collections

  1. Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections: Rio to Johannesburg Dashboard of Sustainable Indicators

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Rio to Johannesburg Dashboard of Sustainable Development Indicators portion of the Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections contains 35...

  2. Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections: 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) portion of the Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicators Collection contains 103 variables for 146...

  3. Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections: Complete Collection, Version 1.1

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections, Version 1.1 contains 426 indicators for 239 countries from five major environmental...

  4. 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...

  5. Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections: 2006 National Footprint Accounts (NFA)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2006 National Footprint Accounts (NFA) portion of the Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections, version 1.1 is a data set that measures...

  6. Sustainable development indicators for territories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moreau; Sylvain; Bottin, Anne; Bovar, Odile; Nirascou, Francoise; Albecker, Marie-Fleur; Bardou, Magali; Barret, Christophe; Berger, Emmanuel; Blanc, Christophe; Bovar, Odile; Briquel, Vincent; Chery, Jean-Pierre; Deshayes, Michel; Firdion, Laetitia; Fluxa, Christine; Girault, Maurice; Guerrero, David; Hassaine, Zahida; Hilal, Mohamed; Imbert, Frederic; Kerouanton, Marie-Helene; Lacroix, Steve; Magnier, Celine; Moreau, Jacques; Nirascou, Francoise; Pageaud, Dorothee; Schaeffer, Yves; Thienard, Helene; Vinet, Loic; Wemelbeke, Guillaume; Wichmann, Martine; Boitard, Corinne; Bird, Geoffrey

    2011-11-01

    For different themes (Sustainable consumption and production, Knowledge and social and economic development society, governance, climate change and energy management, sustainable transport and modality, conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and natural resources, public health, risk prevention and management, social and territorial cohesion), this study proposes a set of axis, and several indicators for each axis. Indicators correspond to different geographical scale and are determined from different sources. These indicators are for example: production of aggregates, proportion of organic agriculture in usable agricultural area, evolution in quantity of household waste collected per inhabitant, employment rate, research spending in relation to GDP, coverage of population by local Agenda 21, and so on. Thus, each indicator is discussed, commented and analysed

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  8. Identification of Key Indicators for Sustainable Construction Materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Humphrey Danso

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Studies on sustainable construction materials are on the rise with their environmental, social, and economic benefits. This study identifies the key indicators for measuring sustainable construction materials. The design used for the study was that of a survey which relied on a questionnaire with five-point Likert scale to generate data for the analysis. For this purpose, 25 indicators from the three dimensions (environmental, social, and economic identified from the literature were presented to the respondents in a structured questionnaire, and responses were collected and analysed using SPSS. The study identified three key environmental indicators for measuring sustainable construction materials, and these indicators are human toxicity, climate change, and solid waste. Furthermore, adaptability, thermal comfort, local resources, and housing for all were identified as the four key social indicators for sustainable construction materials. In addition, maintenance cost, operational cost, initial cost, long-term savings, and life span were found to be the five key economic indicators for measuring sustainable construction materials. The study therefore suggests that these twelve indicators should be considered in future studies that seek to measure sustainable construction materials.

  9. Factors Influencing Museum Sustainability and Indicators for Museum Sustainability Measurement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  10. Review of sustainability indices and indicators: Towards a new City Sustainability Index (CSI)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mori, Koichiro, E-mail: kmori@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp [Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo (Japan); Christodoulou, Aris, E-mail: aris.christodoulou@ucl.ac.uk [Centre for Transport Studies, University College London (United Kingdom)

    2012-01-15

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss conceptual requirements for a City Sustainability Index (CSI) and to review existing major sustainability indices/indicators in terms of the requirements. The following indices are reviewed: Ecological Footprint (EF), Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), Dashboard of Sustainability (DS), Welfare Index, Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, City Development Index, emergy/exergy, Human Development Index (HDI), Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI), Environmental Policy Index (EPI), Living Planet Index (LPI), Environmentally-adjusted Domestic Product (EDP), Genuine Saving (GS), and some applications of composite indices or/and multivariate indicators to local or regional context as case studies. The key conceptual requirements for an adequate CSI are: (i) to consider environmental, economic and social aspects (the triple bottom line of sustainability) from the viewpoint of strong sustainability; (ii) to capture external impacts (leakage effects) of city on other areas beyond the city boundaries particularly in terms of environmental aspects; (iii) to create indices/indicators originally for the purpose of assessing city sustainability; and (iv) to be able to assess world cities in both developed and developing countries using common axes of evaluation. Based on the review, we conclude that it is necessary to create a new CSI that enables us to assess and compare cities' sustainability performance in order to understand the global impact of cities on the environment and human life as compared with their economic contribution. In the future, the CSI will be able to provide local authorities with guidance toward sustainable paths. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We derive the four key requirements for a new City Sustainability Index (CSI) system. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer First, the triple bottom line must be considered in terms of strong sustainability. Black

  11. Review of sustainability indices and indicators: Towards a new City Sustainability Index (CSI)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mori, Koichiro; Christodoulou, Aris

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss conceptual requirements for a City Sustainability Index (CSI) and to review existing major sustainability indices/indicators in terms of the requirements. The following indices are reviewed: Ecological Footprint (EF), Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), Dashboard of Sustainability (DS), Welfare Index, Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, City Development Index, emergy/exergy, Human Development Index (HDI), Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI), Environmental Policy Index (EPI), Living Planet Index (LPI), Environmentally-adjusted Domestic Product (EDP), Genuine Saving (GS), and some applications of composite indices or/and multivariate indicators to local or regional context as case studies. The key conceptual requirements for an adequate CSI are: (i) to consider environmental, economic and social aspects (the triple bottom line of sustainability) from the viewpoint of strong sustainability; (ii) to capture external impacts (leakage effects) of city on other areas beyond the city boundaries particularly in terms of environmental aspects; (iii) to create indices/indicators originally for the purpose of assessing city sustainability; and (iv) to be able to assess world cities in both developed and developing countries using common axes of evaluation. Based on the review, we conclude that it is necessary to create a new CSI that enables us to assess and compare cities' sustainability performance in order to understand the global impact of cities on the environment and human life as compared with their economic contribution. In the future, the CSI will be able to provide local authorities with guidance toward sustainable paths. - Highlights: ► We derive the four key requirements for a new City Sustainability Index (CSI) system. ► First, the triple bottom line must be considered in terms of strong sustainability. ► Second, environmental leakage effects beyond city boundaries should

  12. Sustainability: criteria and indicators for the energy area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walter, F.; Gubler, F.; Brodmann, U.

    2001-01-01

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a study made on the concept of sustainability with reference to the energy area. The importance of energy topics in the fundamental ideas behind sustainability - ecological compatibility, economic efficiency and social fairness - is discussed. The methods used to define the criteria and indicators for sustainability are discussed on the basis of existing systems. >From these, criteria and indicators are proposed for the energy area, including indicators for the influence of energy on the environment, economy and society, activity-indicators and indicators for energy efficiency and politics. The system boundaries for the indicators are discussed, as are grey energy and other 'grey' effects in the environmental, economic and social areas. The various criteria, indicators and the effort needed to collect data on them are presented in table form. The report is completed with a discussion of recommendations on what is still to be done in the area, how the results of the study can be used and what actions are still to be taken

  13. The indicators of the sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-01-01

    The 132 selected indicators of the sustainable development are described. They are grouped into: (1) The social indicators of the sustainable development; (2) The economic indicators of the sustainable development; (3) The environmental indicators of the sustainable development. (4) The institutional indicators of the sustainable development

  14. Sustainable development and energy indicators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pop-Jordanov, Jordan

    2002-01-01

    Starting from the basic definition of sustainable development and its four dimensions, the role of indicators for sustainable energy development is analysed. In particular, it is shown that important energy efficiency indicators belong in fact to energy supply efficiency, while the end-use energy efficiency could be more pertinently represented by energy intensity indicators. Furthermore, the negentropic effects of science and technology related sustainable energy scenarios are pointed out. Finally, the sustainable development is related to wisdom, interpreted as a sum of knowledge, morality and timing. (Author)

  15. Indicators of sustainable tourism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovičić Dobrica

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The indicators, precisely describing the linkages between tourism and the environment, social and cultural base, are not easily available. How ever, some relevant organizations (WTO, EU, OECD, etc., institutions and experts, have been hardly working to create the indicators of sustainable tourism. Whereas the economic objectives are easily defined by the use of the traditional indicators used in national and business economics, it is very difficult to identify widely applicable environmental, social and cultural indicators. In order to stimulate and alleviate the process of sustainable tourism development, EU created the list of comparative indicators of sustainable tourism. In preparing this list, special attention is paid to identification of valid indicators of real tourism impacts on the social and cultural environment (the entire set of traditions, customs, history, hospitality and culture that characterize a given area, that is a very complex task. Assuming the fact that the related indicators have been analyzed in many European countries, this paper is focused on applying the related indicators in research of tourism development in villages of the Kosjerić community. .

  16. Critical factors for sustainable food procurement in zoological collections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, Jonathan H

    2015-01-01

    Food procurement can play an important role in sustainable food supply chain management by zoos, linking organizational operations to the biodiversity conservation and sustainability mission of zoological collections. This study therefore examines the critical factors that shape sustainable food procurement in zoo and aquariums. Using a web-based survey data was collected from 41 members of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA). This included information on the sustainable food procurement practices of these institutions for both their human and animal food supply chains, as well as profile information and data on the factors contributing to and inhibiting sustainable procurement practices. Zoological collections operated by charities, and those with a certified sustainability standard, were found to have significantly higher levels of sustainable food procurement. Zoos and aquariums whose human food operations were not contracted to an external party were also found to have significantly higher levels of sustainable food procurement in their human food supply chain. The most important drivers of sustainable food procurement were cost savings, adequate financial support and improved product quality. The highest ranking barriers were higher costs, other issues taking priority and a lack of alternative suppliers. The results suggest that a number of critical factors shape sustainable food procurement in zoological collections in the British Isles. Financial factors, such as cost savings, were important considerations. The significance of mission-related factors, such as charity status, indicated that core values held by zoos and aquariums can also influence their food procurement practices. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. Sustainable Transport and Performance Indicators

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik

    2004-01-01

    Sustainable transport has become a major policy concern in recent years. The term suggests a need to consider transport in a comprehensive perspective including the well-being of both present and future generations, and taking environmental, social and economic issues into account. Indicators...... in forecasting and tracking the performance of transport systems increasingly guide sustainable transport policy making. This review explores the implications of the sustainable transport” concept and how it can be made operational with indicators. A number of indicator systems are reviewed, and some strengths...

  18. Sustainable Transport and Performance Indicators

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, H.

    2004-01-01

    ustainable transport has become a major policy concern in recent years. The term suggests a need to consider transport in a comprehensive perspective including the well-being of both present and future generations, and taking environmental, social and economic issues into account. Indicators...... in forecasting and tracking the performance of transport systems increasingly guide sustainable transport policy making. This review explores the implications of the "sustainable transport" concept and how it can be made operational with indicators. A number of indicator systems are reviewed, and some strengths...... and weaknesses are highlighted with regard to the support they provide for sustainable transport development....

  19. AN OVERVIEW OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristian CRISTU

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development requires better quality of life for present and future generations. Additional data is required to measure lasting progress, that tracks economic growth. The objectives that take these aspects into consideration should be accompanied by economic, social, environmental and demographic indicators. Thus, sustainable development indicators satisfy these requirements. The articles makes an analysis of the main indicators of sustainable development. Even though it is important to observe them at a macro, European level, it is necessary to take into consideration the specific situation existing at a local and regional level, as well. Equally important is the integration of objectives aimed at sustainable development into the national policies. Economic improvement can be achieved through jobs and sustainable consumption.

  20. Sustainability Index with Integrated Indicator Dependencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabine Wagenhals

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is a growing concern worldwide. While companies used to focus on financial performance, now the focus has shifted to considering envi- ronmental and social performance as well. This trend is not only based on ‘image’, but recent research has proven that a complex approach regarding sustainability could significantly increase a company’s performance. The selection of sustainability indicators as well as the development of sustainabil- ity frameworks has been analysed by researchers already. The authors argue that interdependencies exist between different sustainability indicators and concepts. To address this issue, the fuzzy set method has been used and integrated into as- sessment methods, making it possible to develop a sustainability index which is able to consider the dependencies of the integrated variables. The proposed method can prove that indicator dependencies have a significant influence on the sustain - ability performance of a company and therefore on its overall performance.

  1. Towards human and social sustainability indicators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hilderink HBM; LOK

    2004-01-01

    Ever since the Brundtland Commission presented its report on sustainable development in 1987, various institutions have either adopted or tried to refine the approach used in the report. Currently, there is a broad collection of concepts that are often highly related to sustainable development.

  2. Indicators for environmental sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dong, Yan; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    2017-01-01

    . In this study, we reviewed indicators applied in life cycle assessment (LCA), planetary boundary framework (PB), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed under United Nation. The aim is to 1) identify their applications and relevant decision context; 2) Review their indicators and categorize them...

  3. Review of Urban Sustainability Indicators Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Michael, Florianna Lendai; Noor, Zainura Zainon; Figueroa, Maria Josefina

    2015-01-01

    This paper examines and compares the processes, methodologies and resulting sets of indicators for urban sustainability carried out in three of Asia's developing countries; Malaysia, Taiwan and China. The paper analytically discusses the challenges of developing urban sustainability indicators...... among the developing countries. The comparison reveals the urban indicators development's processes, contents and outcomes and whether the resulting set of urban indicators is operational and has changed the way things were....

  4. Mexican energy policy and sustainability indicators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheinbaum-Pardo, Claudia; Ruiz-Mendoza, Belizza Janet; Rodríguez-Padilla, Víctor

    2012-01-01

    The authors analyze the Mexican energy policy taking as reference the methodological framework for sustainable energy development proposed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. This methodology takes eight related indicators to the social, environmental and economic dimensions in order to calculate a general sustainability indicator for the energy sector. In this methodology, the weight of each dimension is different; namely, the social and environmental issues have less relevance than the economic issues. The authors use this methodology because government institutions as the Department of Energy and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have used some indicators from such a methodology to propose plans, programs, projects and bills. Authors know of the existence of other methodologies about sustainability. Nonetheless, opting for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean's methodology is convenient because this organization is a respectable authority for civil servants from the Mexican institutions. Our objective is just to contrast the sustainability grade of the energy sector between 1990 and 2008 for Mexico whose government started reforms in the 1990s. It concludes that those reforms did not bring about a higher sustainability level for the energy sector. - Highlights: ► We used the OLADE, CEPAL and GTZ's methodology to calculate sustainability indicators for the Mexican energy sector. ► We studied the Mexican energy policy from 1990 to date and presented it. ► Currently, the Mexican energy sector is less sustainable than in 1990.

  5. Energy indicators for sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vera, Ivan; Langlois, Lucille

    2007-01-01

    Energy is an essential factor in overall efforts to achieve sustainable development. Countries striving to this end are seeking to reassess their energy systems with a view toward planning energy programmes and strategies in line with sustainable development goals and objectives. This paper summarizes the outcome of an international partnership initiative on indicators for sustainable energy development that aims to provide an analytical tool for assessing current energy production and use patterns at a national level. The proposed set of energy indicators represents a first step of a consensus reached on this subject by five international agencies-two from the United Nations system (the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the International Atomic Energy Agency), two from the European Union (Eurostat and the European Environment Agency) and one from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the International Energy Agency). Energy and environmental experts including statisticians, analysts, policy makers and academics have started to implement general guidelines and methodologies in the development of national energy indicators for use in their efforts to monitor the effects of energy policies on the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development

  6. Building a Metaframework for Sustainable Transport Indicators

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cornet, Yannick; Gudmundsson, Henrik

    2015-01-01

    Several recent papers presented at TRB and elsewhere seek to make sustainability manageable by suggesting indicators and performance measures as key tools to help conceptualize and operationalize sustainability for various levels of transportation-related planning and decision-making. These studies...... often prescribe frameworks that will allow sustainability indicators and measures to be selected and included in, for example, agency strategies and practices. Moreover, some suggest criteria for selection of individual indicators and performance measures. The studies do however not always agree on what...... of the paper is first to provide a theoretical elaboration of the underlying notion of ‘frameworks’, and then to conduct a review of the selected recent key scientific studies on sustainable transportation indicator frameworks in terms of what they propose for building the meta-framework and for identifying...

  7. Societal health and urban sustainability indicators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Petrich, C.H.; Tonn, B.E.

    1996-08-27

    Without the social will, no city can successfully Undertake the planning and programs necessary for meaningful progress toward sustainability. Social will derives from wellsprings of vital societal health. This paper presents an approach to helping cities in APEC member economies initiate a program for developing indicators of sustainability. Representative indicators of social capital and other aspects of civic engagement, as proxies for societal health, are presented.

  8. Sustainability indicators for the assessment of nuclear power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stamford, Laurence; Azapagic, Adisa

    2011-01-01

    Electricity supplies an increasing share of the world's total energy demand and that contribution is set to increase. At the same time, there is increasing socio-political will to mitigate impacts of climate change as well as to improve energy security. This, in combination with the desire to ensure social and economic prosperity, creates a pressing need to consider the sustainability implications of future electricity generation. However, approaches to sustainability assessment differ greatly in their scope and methodology as currently there is no standardised approach. With this in mind, this paper reviews sustainability indicators that have previously been used to assess energy options and proposes a new sustainability assessment methodology based on a life cycle approach. In total, 43 indicators are proposed, addressing the techno-economic, environmental and social sustainability issues associated with energy systems. The framework has been developed primarily to address concerns associated with nuclear power in the UK, but is applicable to other energy technologies as well as to other countries. -- Highlights: → New framework for life cycle sustainability assessment of nuclear power developed. → The framework comprises 43 indicators addressing techno-economic, environmental and social sustainability. → Completely new indicators developed to address different sustainability issues, including nuclear proliferation, energy supply diversity and intergenerational equity. → The framework enables sustainability comparisons of nuclear and other electricity technologies. → Indicators can be used by various stakeholders, including industry, policy makers and NGOs to help identify more sustainable electricity options.

  9. Energy indicators for tracking sustainability in developing countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kemmler, Andreas; Spreng, Daniel

    2007-01-01

    Due to the fact that human activities and most sustainability issues are closely related to energy use, the energy system is a sound framework for providing lead indicators for sustainable development. Common energy-economic models enable the estimation of future states of the energy system. An energy system-based lead indicator set can be used to develop consistent and coherent future indicator estimates and to track sustainability, a clear advantage over existing sets. In developed countries, the sustainability discussion is focused on environmental topics, while in developing countries the issues of poverty and equity are equally important. Consequently, for measuring sustainable development in a developing country, the inclusion of a poverty indicator in a set of lead indicators is essential. By correlation and descriptive analysis, it is shown that reliable energy-based indicators of poverty can be created. Although no one-dimensional indicator is a comprehensive measure of poverty, the explanatory power of energy poverty indicators is comparable to that of other poverty indicators. Thus, the use of energy indicators is not restricted to environmental and economic issues but is also relevant for social issues

  10. Sustainability indicators - a tool for regional co-operation

    OpenAIRE

    Koitka, Heike

    2002-01-01

    Sustainability indicators are more than just numbers. Besides their main function of illustrating the complex vision of sustainability they could support some factors for success of regional co-operation through their development. Today the discussion on indicators and co-operation is mainly separated from each other. Sustainability indicators are developed on all spatial levels from neighbourhoods up to the United Nations. In some cases the indicators are developed but remain unused. Regiona...

  11. Building a Metaframework for Sustainable Transport Indicators

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cornet, Yannick; Gudmundsson, Henrik

    2015-01-01

    and operationalize sustainability for transportation-related planning and decision making. Often these studies presented frameworks that would allow sustainability indicators and measures to be included in, for example, agency strategies and practices. Moreover, some papers suggested criteria for the selection...... of individual indicators and performance measures. The studies, however, did not always agree on the definition of a framework or how to use one to make sustainability-based decisions, and they tended to differ on underscored aspects and concerns. The current study addressed the issue of frameworks more...... generically and explored what was termed a "metaframework" with a set of associated criteria to guide the framing of indicators for sustainable transportation. On the basis of an explicit framework theory, the three functions of conceptualization, operationalization, and utilization were found to provide...

  12. Indicators for sustainable tourism: The case of Cambodia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nhep Tinat

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Most research on tourism in Cambodia so far has focused on growth. There is very limited research on indicators for sustainability. A failure to create indicators for sustainable tourism may lead to short-term growth but the country will suffer in the long run. Sustainability really matters in tourism especially in a new destination like Cambodia. Cambodia has no clear indicators determining tourism sustainability. Cambodia’s tourism is remarkably flourishing, but behind this growth some challenges exist: Cultural and environmental impacts, economic leakage, sex tourism, drug trafficking and disease transmission. These concern tourism sustainability. This research intends to fill a significant gap regarding challenges hampering sustainable tourism, particularly creating indicators, by studying the activities of Cambodia’s tourism. The aim is to contribute to developing more comprehensive policies and measures that address problems by drawing on the activities and perspectives of the country’s tourism stakeholders: These include public and private actors, NGOs, local people and tourists.

  13. Sustainability Indicators for Coupled Human-Earth Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motesharrei, S.; Rivas, J. R.; Kalnay, E.

    2014-12-01

    Over the last two centuries, the Human System went from having a small impact on the Earth System (including the Climate System) to becoming dominant, because both population and per capita consumption have grown extremely fast, especially since about 1950. We therefore argue that Human System Models must be included into Earth System Models through bidirectional couplings with feedbacks. In particular, population should be modeled endogenously, rather than exogenously as done currently in most Integrated Assessment Models. The growth of the Human System threatens to overwhelm the Carrying Capacity of the Earth System, and may be leading to catastrophic climate change and collapse. We propose a set of Ecological and Economic "Sustainability Indicators" that can employ large data-sets for developing and assessing effective mitigation and adaptation policies. Using the Human and Nature Dynamical Model (HANDY) and Coupled Human-Climate-Water Model (COWA), we carry out experiments with this set of Sustainability Indicators and show that they are applicable to various coupled systems including Population, Climate, Water, Energy, Agriculture, and Economy. Impact of nonrenewable resources and fossil fuels could also be understood using these indicators. We demonstrate interconnections of Ecological and Economic Indicators. Coupled systems often include feedbacks and can thus display counterintuitive dynamics. This makes it difficult for even experts to see coming catastrophes from just the raw data for different variables. Sustainability Indicators boil down the raw data into a set of simple numbers that cross their sustainability thresholds with a large time-lag before variables enter their catastrophic regimes. Therefore, we argue that Sustainability Indicators constitute a powerful but simple set of tools that could be directly used for making policies for sustainability.

  14. The Role of Integrated Indicators in Exhibiting Business Contribution to Sustainable Development: a Survey of Sustainability Reporting Initiatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Azcárate

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Pag. THE ROLE OF INTEGRATED INDICATORS IN EXHIBITING BUSINESS CONTRIBUTION TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A SURVEY OF SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING INITIATIVESEL PAPEL DE LOS INDICADORES INTEGRADOS EN LA CONTRIBUCIÓN EMPRESARIAL AL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE: UN ESTUDIO DE LAS INICIATIVAS PARA EL REPORTING DE SOSTENIBILIDADEl papel de los indicadores integrados en la contribución empresarial al desarrollo sostenible: un estudio de las iniciativas para el reporting de sostenibilidadThis paper aims to analyse the role of integrated indicators included in sustainability reporting initiatives in exhibiting business contribution to Sustainable Development.Content analysis of five core initiatives has been carried out to identify strong or weak sustainability arguments within the whole set of indicators. According to the findings, the analyzed initiatives raise a collection of integrated indicators that suggest managerial capture of the concept of Sustainable Development.El presente trabajo aborda el estudio de los indicadores integrados como elemento central para conseguir que las memorias de sostenibilidad cumplan el objetivo de mostrar la contribución que una organización realiza a la consecución del Desarrollo Sostenible. Para ello se ha realizado un análisis de contenido de cinco de las principales iniciativas internacionales que las empresas pueden utilizar como guía para elaborar sus memorias de sostenibilidad con el objetivo de identificar los indicadores integrados que proponen y evidenciar cuál es la visión de la sostenibilidad que en ellos subyace. Los resultados muestran que las iniciativas analizadas plantean un conjunto de indicadores integrados que favorece que las organizaciones puedan capturar el concepto de Desarrollo Sostenible.

  15. AREVA sustainable development indicators guidelines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-12-01

    These guidelines set out the procedures used to measure and report the sustainable development and continuous progress data and indicators used within the Areva Group. It defines the scope of the guide, the list of indicators, the measurement and calculation procedures, the internal and external audits. (A.L.B.)

  16. 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.

  17. Developing micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for sustainability assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dizdaroglu, Didem

    2015-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is increasingly being viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainable urban ecosystems. An urban ecosystem is a dynamic system and requires regular monitoring and assessment through a set of relevant indicators. An indicator is a parameter which provides information about the state of the environment by producing a quantitative value. Indicator-based sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all spatial scales to provide efficient information of urban ecosystem sustainability. The detailed data is necessary to assess environmental change in urban ecosystems at local scale and easily transfer this information to the national and global scales. This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. The proposed indicator framework measures the sustainability performance of urban ecosystem in 3 main categories including: natural environment, built environment, and socio-economic environment which are made up of 9 sub-categories, consisting of 23 indicators. This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature [tr

  18. Developing micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for sustainability assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dizdaroglu, Didem, E-mail: dizdaroglu@bilkent.edu.tr

    2015-09-15

    Sustainability assessment is increasingly being viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainable urban ecosystems. An urban ecosystem is a dynamic system and requires regular monitoring and assessment through a set of relevant indicators. An indicator is a parameter which provides information about the state of the environment by producing a quantitative value. Indicator-based sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all spatial scales to provide efficient information of urban ecosystem sustainability. The detailed data is necessary to assess environmental change in urban ecosystems at local scale and easily transfer this information to the national and global scales. This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. The proposed indicator framework measures the sustainability performance of urban ecosystem in 3 main categories including: natural environment, built environment, and socio-economic environment which are made up of 9 sub-categories, consisting of 23 indicators. This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature [Turkish] Highlights: • As the impacts of environmental problems have multi-scale characteristics, sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all scales. • The detailed data is necessary to assess local environmental change in urban ecosystems to provide insights into the national and global scales. • This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. • This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature.

  19. Agri-envrionmental indicators: recommendations for priority data collection and dat combination

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Velthof, G.L.

    2011-01-01

    This document is the result of the "DireDate project"'s tasks 4 and 5. The DireDate project focused on analysing the direct and indirect data needs linked to the farms, with the objective of setting up an efficient and sustainable data collection for agri-environmental indicators and policy

  20. Sustaining Collective Action in Urbanizing China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kuang, Xianwen; Goebel, Christian

    2013-01-01

    The recent years have seen a proliferation of scholarship on protests and other forms of collective action in China. Important insights have been gained into how conflicts between social groups and local governments begin, which strategies and instruments protesters apply, and under which...... challenges of sustaining collective action in China: the continuing existence of substantial grievances, the re-activation of strong social ties, the presence of unifying frames and an adaptive protest leadership. The comparison shows that especially the last factor is crucial: while the two villages were...... similar in all other respects, leadership in Village B was far more adaptive in Village A, which goes a long way towards explaining why collective action could be sustained twice as long in Village B....

  1. The EU sustainable energy policy indicators framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Streimikiene, Dalia; Sivickas, Gintautas

    2008-11-01

    The article deals with indicators framework to monitor implementation of the main EU (European Union) directives and other policy documents targeting sustainable energy development. The main EU directives which have impact on sustainable energy development are directives promoting energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources, directives implementing greenhouse gas mitigation and atmospheric pollution reduction policies and other policy documents and strategies targeting energy sector. Promotion of use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency improvements are among priorities of EU energy policy because the use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency improvements has positive impact on energy security and climate change mitigation. The framework of indicators can be developed to establish the main targets set by EU energy and environmental policies allowing to connect indicators via chain of mutual impacts and to define policies and measures necessary to achieve established targets based on assessment of their impact on the targeted indicators representing sustainable energy development aims. The article discusses the application of indicators framework for EU sustainable energy policy analysis and presents the case study of this policy tool application for Baltic States. The article also discusses the use of biomass in Baltic States and future considerations in this field.

  2. Sustainability indicators system of tourism development: a case study os the municipality of Areia – PB

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole Cavalcanti Silva

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This article aims at identifying and analyzing the level of sustainability of tourism in the city of Areia - PB, by applying the methodology of the Sustainability Indicators System of Tourism Development (SISDTur proposed by Hanai (2009. This work is descriptive and it presents an exploratory and quantitative research. To carry out this investigation, three stages of data analysis criteria were established: analysis of indicators, in which the collected data were processed by statistical techniques (average, standard deviation and coefficient of variation; analysis of dimensions; and analysis of global sustainability. The results indicate that the municipality presents a partly unsustainable tourism, since among the six sustainability dimensions for tourism destinations two dimensions demonstrate intermediary sustainability, two dimensions are partially unsustainable, and the other two dimensions are unsustainable. This situation demands from public administrators the design of new action plans for the implementation of investments and projects that may facilitate the sustainable development of tourism in the municipality.

  3. Evaluation of sustainability indicators for decision-making in mining companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miletić Slavica

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Evaluation of sustainability indicators in terms of their importance for decision making in mining companies (RTB Bor, RTB can significantly affect the steady economic growth and development of the country. In the paper are ranked sustainability indicators in terms of their importance by illustration of implementation of multicriteria decision making. The essence of the problem is to reduce the subjectivity in the mining companies (RTB Bor who are carriers of the economic development of the country. Evaluation of sustainability indicators of mining companies was carried out using the PROMETHEE methods for multi-criteria decision making. In this method the determination of criteria weights for ranking is done firstly, then the assessment of sustainability indicators and their complete ranking is performed. Based on the obtained results by PROMETHEE method, it is determined the most important sustainability indicators for decision-making, and that is an alternative A1 (economic indicators. The most influential criteria for a complete ranking of sustainability indicators is criteria C1 (increase the utilization of resources and C3 (environmental protection. The obtained result indicates to managers how the implementation of MCDM method should treat the indicators of sustainability during the planning and management process, all with aim to sustain mining companies (RTB Bor.

  4. Biofuel Supply Chains: Impacts, Indicators and Sustainability Metrics

    Science.gov (United States)

    The U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development has introduced a program to study the environmental impacts and sustainability of biofuel supply chains. Analyses will provide indicators and metrics for valuating sustainability. In this context, indicators are supply chain rat...

  5. A National Scale Sustainable Agriculture Matrix of Indicators to Inform Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davidson, E. A.; Zhang, X.

    2017-12-01

    The ratification of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by all member countries of the United Nations demonstrates the determination of the international community in moving towards a sustainable future. To enable and encourage accountability, independent and transparent measurements of national sustainability efforts are essential. Among all sectors, agriculture is fundamental to all three pillars of sustainability, namely environment, society, and economy. However, the definition of a sustainable agriculture and the feasibility of measuring it remain elusive, in part because it encompasses both biophysical and socio-economic components that are still poorly integrated. Therefore, we have been developing a Sustainable Agriculture Matrix (SAM) on a national scale in order to measure country-level performance in agriculture. First proposed by Swaminathan for agricultural research and policy in 1990s, SAM is a collection of indicators measuring sustainable agriculture from environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The environmental dimension evaluates various impacts of agricultural production on the environment, such as water consumption and nutrient pollution. The economic dimension quantifies the costs and benefits for major stakeholders involved in agricultural production, including government, industry, farmers, and consumers. The social dimension considers three major aspects: 1) social welfare (e.g., hunger and poverty rate, nutritional quality, demography of rural community); 2) equity over sectors, space, and gender (e.g., access to resources/services and opportunities, distribution of income, land ownership and tenure rights); 3) systemic risk (e.g., fragility of the global agricultural production and trade system, resilience of a farm or a country to market and natural shocks). Translating the illustrative concepts into measureable indicators will not only provide an independent and transparent measurement of national performance in the

  6. Sustainable Housing in the Urban Context: International Sustainable Development Indicator Sets and Housing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winston, Nessa; Pareja Eastaway, Montserrat

    2008-01-01

    Housing, an essential aspect of quality of life, is also significant for sustainable development (SD). All of the major international statements on SD refer to housing or settlement strategies. However, indicator sets derived from these statements often fail to include good indicators of sustainable housing. This article outlines the…

  7. Sustainability: criteria and indicators for the energy area; Nachhaltigkeit: Kriterien und Indikatoren fuer den Energiebereich

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walter, F.; Gubler, F. [Ecoplan, Berne (Switzerland); Brodmann, U. [Factor Consulting und Management AG, Zuerich (Switzerland)

    2001-07-01

    This report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a study made on the concept of sustainability with reference to the energy area. The importance of energy topics in the fundamental ideas behind sustainability - ecological compatibility, economic efficiency and social fairness - is discussed. The methods used to define the criteria and indicators for sustainability are discussed on the basis of existing systems. >From these, criteria and indicators are proposed for the energy area, including indicators for the influence of energy on the environment, economy and society, activity-indicators and indicators for energy efficiency and politics. The system boundaries for the indicators are discussed, as are grey energy and other 'grey' effects in the environmental, economic and social areas. The various criteria, indicators and the effort needed to collect data on them are presented in table form. The report is completed with a discussion of recommendations on what is still to be done in the area, how the results of the study can be used and what actions are still to be taken.

  8. Sustainability indicators to nuclear research centers in Brazil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alves, Simone F.; Feliciano, Vanusa Maria D.; Barreto, Alberto A., E-mail: symonfonseca@yahoo.com.br, E-mail: vmfj@cdtn.br, E-mail: aab@cdtn.br [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

    2015-07-01

    The relevance and applicability of sustainability indicators have been discussed in various international and national debates through forums, conferences, seminars and lectures. The information obtained from the use of these indicators is essential to the decision-making process, contributing to the creation of discussion channels and interaction with society; also it is useful for the design and implementation of environmental education programs, perception and risk communication. So far, at least in Brazil, existing indicators for the nuclear area are related only to power generation, as performance and safety in radioactive waste management. According to this reality we see the need to build indicators that contribute to the assessment of environmental, social, cultural, economic and institutional performance of a nuclear innovation and research institute in Brazil. This work aims to highlight, through literature review, the importance of developing sustainability indicators appropriate to nuclear research centers in Brazil, revealing how much they are strategic to measuring the sustainability of these endeavours. The main finding, after the literature review, is that this type of indicator is important not only to identify positive or negative impacts of a project focused on the research and innovation of nuclear area, but also for assessment of his commitment to the sustainable development. (author)

  9. Sustainability indicators to nuclear research centers in Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alves, Simone F.; Feliciano, Vanusa Maria D.; Barreto, Alberto A.

    2015-01-01

    The relevance and applicability of sustainability indicators have been discussed in various international and national debates through forums, conferences, seminars and lectures. The information obtained from the use of these indicators is essential to the decision-making process, contributing to the creation of discussion channels and interaction with society; also it is useful for the design and implementation of environmental education programs, perception and risk communication. So far, at least in Brazil, existing indicators for the nuclear area are related only to power generation, as performance and safety in radioactive waste management. According to this reality we see the need to build indicators that contribute to the assessment of environmental, social, cultural, economic and institutional performance of a nuclear innovation and research institute in Brazil. This work aims to highlight, through literature review, the importance of developing sustainability indicators appropriate to nuclear research centers in Brazil, revealing how much they are strategic to measuring the sustainability of these endeavours. The main finding, after the literature review, is that this type of indicator is important not only to identify positive or negative impacts of a project focused on the research and innovation of nuclear area, but also for assessment of his commitment to the sustainable development. (author)

  10. INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS CASE STUDY: PAPER MANUFACTURING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Emiliana Fortună

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes a framework for promoting sustainability by using indicators for sustainable production. The concept of sustainable production is described as it is viewed by various organisms actions involved in the analysis of the sustainable industrial systems.The measure of sustainability is approached considering indicators of sustainable production, addressing both their dimensions and qualitative and quantitative features.The proposed framework refines the sustainability dimension for a case study which envisages sustainability in paper manufacturing. The analysis takes into account the life cycle analysis for the considered process since the environmental impact is seen as an essential sustainability indicator. Paper recycling and reuse is associated environmental and social costs, as a preferred alternative in waste minimization hierarchy in the manufacturing of non-trees eco-friendly paper.Proactive initiatives to improve the environmental performances of production process are considered as powerful tools for improving the paper manufacturing environmental footprint.

  11. Sustainable Transportation - Indicators, Frameworks, and Performance Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

    This textbook provides an introduction to the concept of sustainability in the context of transportation planning, management, and decision-making. The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, indicators and frameworks for measuring sustainable development in the transportation sector...... are developed. In the second, the authors analyze actual planning and decision-making in transportation agencies in a variety of governance settings. This analysis of real-world case studies demonstrates the benefits and limitations of current approaches to sustainable development in transportation. The book...... concludes with a discussion on how to make sustainability count in transportation decision-making and practice....

  12. AHP for indicators of sustainable forestry under Mediterranean conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valls-Donderis, P.; Vallés-Planells, M.; Galiana, F.

    2017-01-01

    Aim of study: To verify and prioritise a set of sustainable forestry indicators using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Area of study: Participants were Spanish; indicators were meant to be applied in forest management units (FMUs) under Mediterranean conditions. Material and methods: An AHP questionnaire was developed and sent to experts. Main Results: the set of indicators aimed to be comprehensive. Indicators were ranked and the ranking allows ascertaining what aspects are more relevant in relation to Mediterranean sustainable forestry. Issues like regeneration or habitats conservation got high values, whereas others like hunting activity were not seen as important by most experts. Research highlights: - Sustainable forest management (SFM) considerations for Mediterranean forests. - Indicators adapt to ecosystem services.

  13. AHP for indicators of sustainable forestry under Mediterranean conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Valls-Donderis, P.; Vallés-Planells, M.; Galiana, F.

    2017-11-01

    Aim of study: To verify and prioritise a set of sustainable forestry indicators using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Area of study: Participants were Spanish; indicators were meant to be applied in forest management units (FMUs) under Mediterranean conditions. Material and methods: An AHP questionnaire was developed and sent to experts. Main Results: the set of indicators aimed to be comprehensive. Indicators were ranked and the ranking allows ascertaining what aspects are more relevant in relation to Mediterranean sustainable forestry. Issues like regeneration or habitats conservation got high values, whereas others like hunting activity were not seen as important by most experts. Research highlights: - Sustainable forest management (SFM) considerations for Mediterranean forests. - Indicators adapt to ecosystem services.

  14. A European Sustainable Tourism Labels proposal using a composite indicator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blancas, Francisco Javier; Lozano-Oyola, Macarena; González, Mercedes

    2015-01-01

    The tourism sector in Europe faces important challenges which it must deal with to promote its future development. In this context, the European Commission considers that two key issues must be addressed. On the one hand, a better base of socio-economic knowledge about tourism and its relationship with the environment is needed, and, on the other hand, it is necessary to improve the image of European areas as quality sustainable tourism destinations. In this paper we present analytical tools that cover these needs. Specifically, we define a system of sustainable tourism indicators and we obtain a composite indicator incorporating weights quantified using a panel of experts. Employing the values of this global indicator as a basis, we define a Sustainable Tourism Country-Brand Ranking which assesses the perception of each country-brand depending on its degree of sustainability, and a system of sustainable tourism labels which reward the management carried out. - Highlights: • We define a system of indicators to improve the knowledge about sustainable tourism. • We obtain composite indicators based on expert knowledge. • The Sustainable Tourism Country-Brand Ranking would improve the image of destinations. • We define a Sustainable Tourism Labels System to assess country-brands. • The conclusions of the empirical analysis can be extrapolated to other tourist areas

  15. A European Sustainable Tourism Labels proposal using a composite indicator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blancas, Francisco Javier, E-mail: fjblaper@upo.es [Department of Economics, Quantitative Methods and Economic History, Pablo de Olavide University, Carretera de Utrera Km 1, 41013 Seville (Spain); Lozano-Oyola, Macarena, E-mail: mlozoyo@upo.es [Department of Economics, Quantitative Methods and Economic History, Pablo de Olavide University, Carretera de Utrera Km 1, 41013 Seville (Spain); González, Mercedes, E-mail: m_gonzalez@uma.es [Department of Applied Economics (Mathematics), Malaga University, Campus El Ejido, 29071 Málaga (Spain)

    2015-09-15

    The tourism sector in Europe faces important challenges which it must deal with to promote its future development. In this context, the European Commission considers that two key issues must be addressed. On the one hand, a better base of socio-economic knowledge about tourism and its relationship with the environment is needed, and, on the other hand, it is necessary to improve the image of European areas as quality sustainable tourism destinations. In this paper we present analytical tools that cover these needs. Specifically, we define a system of sustainable tourism indicators and we obtain a composite indicator incorporating weights quantified using a panel of experts. Employing the values of this global indicator as a basis, we define a Sustainable Tourism Country-Brand Ranking which assesses the perception of each country-brand depending on its degree of sustainability, and a system of sustainable tourism labels which reward the management carried out. - Highlights: • We define a system of indicators to improve the knowledge about sustainable tourism. • We obtain composite indicators based on expert knowledge. • The Sustainable Tourism Country-Brand Ranking would improve the image of destinations. • We define a Sustainable Tourism Labels System to assess country-brands. • The conclusions of the empirical analysis can be extrapolated to other tourist areas.

  16. SUSTAINABILITY IN AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS: SOCIO-ECONOMICAL INDICATORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omar Daniel

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available It is wide the discussion involving the importance of production adjustment activities in general, to the concept of sustainable development. Among the agricultural activities, the agroforestry systems have been considered sustainable, coming as alternatives to the intensive systems of agricultural production. To monitor the sustainability of agricultural activities, includings  AF,  the  literature  emphasizes  the  biophysical  indicators,  in  detriment  of  the  socio-economical ones. Seeking to define a list of socio-economical indicators that can be adapted to the several models recommendations of  AF a study was developed, supported by specialists and technicians and wide literature review. The conclusions were: the categories related  to the operation of the systems had the largest number of indicators in the socioeconômic component, with larger concentration in the endogenous operations of the system, followed by the endogenous and exogenous resources; the largest number of indicators suggested in the category operation of the system was in the descriptors health and nutrition, employment, habitation and sanity and economic analysis; in the category operation of exogenous systems, there were certain larger number of indicators for the descriptors commercialization and rural infrastructure; practically there was no difference among the number of indicators obtained for the agroforestry systems with and without the animal component.

  17. Environmental Comfort Indicators for School Buildings in Sustainability Assessment Tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana Santos Saraiva

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Decades ago, the only requirement to construct a building was to give men the right conditions for the execution of their work or leisure activities. With the development of knowledge about the internal and external environments of buildings, other requirements have been added such as the issue of user comfort. New construction techniques have been incorporated and new products have been created to improve internal environment comfort. This research addressed the importance of using indicators related to environmental comfort in sustainability assessment tools applied to school buildings. It also considered the importance of environmental issues for the good performance of human beings, and the harmonious coexistence of the comfort indicators indoor air quality, thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustic comfort and ergonomic comfort based on data gathered in research carried out with users of high schools (only students. This research was carried out in two different cities of different countries, Guimarães (Portugal and Juiz de Fora (Brazil, that have similar characteristics of teaching standards and climate conditions (temperature and air humidity. In this study, interviews were made through questionnaires and, later, the information collected was analyzed. This study demonstrates the need to include an ergonomic indicator for school buildings in sustainability assessment tools.

  18. 'Wasteaware' benchmark indicators for integrated sustainable waste management in cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, David C; Rodic, Ljiljana; Cowing, Michael J; Velis, Costas A; Whiteman, Andrew D; Scheinberg, Anne; Vilches, Recaredo; Masterson, Darragh; Stretz, Joachim; Oelz, Barbara

    2015-01-01

    This paper addresses a major problem in international solid waste management, which is twofold: a lack of data, and a lack of consistent data to allow comparison between cities. The paper presents an indicator set for integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) in cities both North and South, to allow benchmarking of a city's performance, comparing cities and monitoring developments over time. It builds on pioneering work for UN-Habitat's solid waste management in the World's cities. The comprehensive analytical framework of a city's solid waste management system is divided into two overlapping 'triangles' - one comprising the three physical components, i.e. collection, recycling, and disposal, and the other comprising three governance aspects, i.e. inclusivity; financial sustainability; and sound institutions and proactive policies. The indicator set includes essential quantitative indicators as well as qualitative composite indicators. This updated and revised 'Wasteaware' set of ISWM benchmark indicators is the cumulative result of testing various prototypes in more than 50 cities around the world. This experience confirms the utility of indicators in allowing comprehensive performance measurement and comparison of both 'hard' physical components and 'soft' governance aspects; and in prioritising 'next steps' in developing a city's solid waste management system, by identifying both local strengths that can be built on and weak points to be addressed. The Wasteaware ISWM indicators are applicable to a broad range of cities with very different levels of income and solid waste management practices. Their wide application as a standard methodology will help to fill the historical data gap. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Business Sustainability and Collective Intelligence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garrido, Paulo

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze to which point collective intelligence (CI) concepts and ideas, as applied to organizations, can contribute to enlarge the conceptual basis for business sustainability (BS). Design/methodology/approach: The paper is written from an engineer-minded, systemic and cybernetic perspective. It begins by…

  20. 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.

  1. Evaluating waterpoint sustainability and access implications of revenue collection approaches in rural Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, T.; Hope, R.

    2017-02-01

    Water policies in many sub-Saharan African countries stipulate that rural communities are responsible for self-financing their waterpoint's operation and maintenance. In the absence of policy consensus or evidence on optimal payment models, rural communities adopt a diversity of approaches to revenue collection. This study empirically assesses waterpoint sustainability and access outcomes associated with different revenue collection approaches on the south coast of Kenya. The analysis draws on a unique data set comprising financial records spanning 27 years and 100 communities, operational performance indicators for 200 waterpoints, and water source choices for more than 2000 households. Results suggest communities collecting pay-as-you-fetch fees on a volumetric basis generate higher levels of revenue and experience better operational performance than communities charging flat fees. In both cases, financial flows mirror seasonal rainfall peaks and troughs. These outcomes are tempered by evidence that households are more likely to opt for an unimproved drinking water source when a pay-as-you-fetch system is in place. The findings illuminate a possible tension between financial sustainability and universal access. If the Sustainable Development Goal of "safe water for all" is to become a reality, policymakers and practitioners will need to address this issue and ensure rural water services are both sustainable and inclusive.

  2. Energy indicators for sustainable development: Guidelines and methodologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-04-01

    This publication is the product of an international initiative to define a set of Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development (EISD) and corresponding methodologies and guidelines. The successful completion of this work is the result of an intensive effort led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), Eurostat and the European Environment Agency (EEA). The thematic framework, guidelines, methodology sheets and energy indicators set out in this publication reflect the expertise of these various agencies, recognized worldwide as leaders in energy and environmental statistics and analysis. While each agency has an active indicator programme, one goal of this joint endeavour has been to provide users with a consensus by leading experts on definitions, guidelines and methodologies for the development and worldwide use of a single set of energy indicators. No set of energy indicators can be final and definitive. To be useful, indicators must evolve over time to fit country-specific conditions, priorities and capabilities. The purpose of this publication is to present one set of EISD for consideration and use, particularly at the national level, and to serve as a starting point in the development of a more comprehensive and universally accepted set of energy indicators relevant to sustainable development. It is hoped that countries will use the EISD to assess their energy systems and to track their progress towards nationally defined sustainable development goals and objectives. It is also hoped that users of the information presented in this publication will contribute to refinements of energy indicators for sustainable development by adding their own unique perspectives to what is presented herein

  3. Energy indicators for sustainable development: Guidelines and methodologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2008-01-01

    This publication is the product of an international initiative to define a set of Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development (EISD) and corresponding methodologies and guidelines. The successful completion of this work is the result of an intensive effort led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), Eurostat and the European Environment Agency (EEA). The thematic framework, guidelines, methodology sheets and energy indicators set out in this publication reflect the expertise of these various agencies, recognized worldwide as leaders in energy and environmental statistics and analysis. While each agency has an active indicator programme, one goal of this joint endeavour has been to provide users with a consensus by leading experts on definitions, guidelines and methodologies for the development and worldwide use of a single set of energy indicators. No set of energy indicators can be final and definitive. To be useful, indicators must evolve over time to fit country-specific conditions, priorities and capabilities. The purpose of this publication is to present one set of EISD for consideration and use, particularly at the national level, and to serve as a starting point in the development of a more comprehensive and universally accepted set of energy indicators relevant to sustainable development. It is hoped that countries will use the EISD to assess their energy systems and to track their progress towards nationally defined sustainable development goals and objectives. It is also hoped that users of the information presented in this publication will contribute to refinements of energy indicators for sustainable development by adding their own unique perspectives to what is presented herein

  4. Integrating Methods for Developing Sustainability Indicators to Facilitate Learning and Action

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Reed

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Bossel's (2001 systems-based approach for deriving comprehensive indicator sets provides one of the most holistic frameworks for developing sustainability indicators. It ensures that indicators cover all important aspects of system viability, performance, and sustainability, and recognizes that a system cannot be assessed in isolation from the systems upon which it depends and which in turn depend upon it. In this reply, we show how Bossel's approach is part of a wider convergence toward integrating participatory and reductionist approaches to measure progress toward sustainable development. However, we also show that further integration of these approaches may be able to improve the accuracy and reliability of indicators to better stimulate community learning and action. Only through active community involvement can indicators facilitate progress toward sustainable development goals. To engage communities effectively in the application of indicators, these communities must be actively involved in developing, and even in proposing, indicators. The accuracy, reliability, and sensitivity of the indicators derived from local communities can be ensured through an iterative process of empirical and community evaluation. Communities are unlikely to invest in measuring sustainability indicators unless monitoring provides immediate and clear benefits. However, in the context of goals, targets, and/or baselines, sustainability indicators can more effectively contribute to a process of development that matches local priorities and engages the interests of local people.

  5. Evaluation Indicators for Analysis of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Sustainability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jeong, Chang Joon; Ko, Won Il; Chang, Hong Lae

    2008-01-15

    In this report, an attempt was made to derive indicators for the evaluation of the sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle, using the methodologies developed by the INPRO, OECD/NEA and Gen-IV. In deriving the indicators, the three main elements of the sustainability, i.e., economics, environmental impact, and social aspect, as well as the technological aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle, considering the importance of the safety, were selected as the main criteria. An evaluation indicator for each criterion was determined, and the contents and evaluation method of each indicator were proposed. In addition, a questionnaire survey was carried out for the objectivity of the selection of the indicators in which participated some experts of the Korea Energy Technology and Emergency Management Institute (KETEMI) . Although the proposed indicators do not satisfy the characteristics and requirements of general indicators, it is presumed that they can be used in the analysis of the sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle because those indicators incorporate various expert judgment and public opinions. On the other hand, the weighting factor of each indicator should be complemented in the future, using the AHP method and expert advice/consultations.

  6. Using Performance Indicators to Promote Sustainable Transport in Japan

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik; Fukuda, Daisuke; Cornet, Yannick

    literature on performance measurement. The information of Japanese cases is obtained by review of key policy documents, reports and academic papers and through a series of semi-structured interviews with experts and officials in Japan. The paper combines insights from two ongoing research projects supported......The challenges associated with using performance measurement to steer transport policy towards sustainability include general aspects of measuring sustainability of transport systems with indicators as well as specific national and institutional conditions for adopting and responding...... to the information produced by such sustainability indicator systems. Japan is interesting in these regards, since the country has adopted strategies for achieving a more sustainable transport situation, as well as frameworks of policy performance measurement and management. The paper will describe a general...

  7. Decentralized peri-urban wastewater treatment technologies assessment integrating sustainability indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mena-Ulecia, Karel; Hernández, Heykel Hernández

    2015-01-01

    Selection of treatment technologies without considering the environmental, economic and social factors associated with each geographical context risks the occurrence of negative impacts that were not properly foreseen, working against the sustainable performance of the technology. The principal aim of this study was to evaluate 12 technologies for decentralized treatment of domestic wastewater applicable to peri-urban communities using sustainability approaches and, at the same time, continuing a discussion about how to address a more integrated assessment of overall sustainability. For this, a set of 13 indicators that embody the environmental, economic and social approach for the overall sustainability assessment were used by means of a target plot diagram as a tool for integrating indicators that represent a holistic analysis of the technologies. The obtained results put forward different degrees of sustainability, which led to the selection of: septic tank+land infiltration; up-flow anaerobic reactor+high rate trickling filter and septic tank+anaerobic filter as the most sustainable and attractive technologies to be applied in peri-urban communities, according to the employed indicators.

  8. PUBLIC DEBT ANALYSIS BASED ON SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena DASCALU

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This article is an analysis of public debt, in terms of sustainability and vulnerability indicators, under a functioning market economy. The problems encountered regarding the high level of public debt or the potential risks of budgetary pressure converge to the idea that sustainability of public finances should be a major challenge for public policy. Thus, the policy adequate to address public finance sustainability must have as its starting point the overall strategy of the European Union, as well as the economic development of Member States, focusing on the most important performance components, namely, reducing public debt levels, increasing productivity and employment and, last but not the least, reforming social security systems. In order to achieve sustainable levels of public debt, the European Union Member States are required to establish and accomplish medium term strategic budgetary goals to ensure a downward trend in public debt.

  9. Indicators for sustainable transport policy in Denmark - why, what and how?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik; Cornet, Yannick

    in the Danish transport policy, using policy goals, sustainability indicators and performance measures. The paper represents a first step in the SUSTAIN project aiming to develop a framework for national sustainable transport planning. The paper will draw on analysis of experience with the development and use......Denmark and other countries have the ambition to move towards a sustainable transport system. However it is challenging to achieve and credibly demonstrate progress towards sustainability in transport. The paper will specify foundations for monitoring and reporting progress towards sustainability...... of sustainability indicators to report transport policy performance, in Europe, North America and other parts of the world. The experience will be connected to critical literature in the areas of sustainability theory, knowledge utilization, and implementation in order to identify challenges to overcome...

  10. Sustainable urban transport indicators: tool for evaluating transport sustainability in the mega cities of Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imran, M.

    2005-01-01

    Urban Transport is an important sector to accomplish the goal of sustainable development in Pakistan. This is important because of the high growth of the transport sector's energy consumption, road crashes and greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes significant in the Pakistani cities where motor vehicle fleet is growing at two to three times the rate of population. Transport Policies has resulted high growth of urban road traffic, increasing air and noise pollution throughout the country. This situation raised the question how to achieve sustainable urban transport in the mega cities of Pakistan? Development of sustainable urban transport indicators will provide an opportunity to analyze current transport policies to assess Pakistan progress towards or away from sustainability. Medium Term Development Framework (2005-10) has selected to analyze against establish sustainable urban transport indicators for Pakistan. On the basis of analysis, it has found that MWF has tried to address transport problem in a piecemeal manner, rather than adopting a holistic approach. Implementing MTDF policies on transport is not fully matched with a long term commitment to achieving sustainable development in Pakistan. (author)

  11. Construction of sustainability indicators for Nuclear Area Innovation and Research Institutes in Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alves, Simone Fonseca

    2017-01-01

    The dissertation consists of a construction of appropriate sustainability indicators for nuclear area innovation and research institutes in Brazil. In order to do so, the results of the construction process, as well as, the perception of the population that resides in the area surrounding this type of institute are presented and discussed. As reference for this case study, the Nuclear Technology Development Center (CDTN) was chosen. It is located in Pampulha, more specifically, on the campus of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. One of the methodological processes present in this research is the Delphi method, because it is the most used in the construction of indicators. Its application in this work allowed obtaining the of specialist group opinions collected through a questionnaire. Initially, sixty-nine sustainability indicators were considered. They were distributed among the environmental, economic, socio cultural and institutional dimensions, some of which were obtained through lists of indicators pointed by literature review. Other indicators were built through discussions with groups from the nuclear, environmental, economic and socio cultural areas. Among the set of indicators investigated, twenty-six were selected as being the most relevant. A questionnaire was then applied to one hundred and twenty individuals living in the vicinity of the CDTN. Discrepancies were found during the analysis the opinions of the experts in relation to sustainability dimensions proposed, as well as, indicators of the same dimensions were varied. However, the opinion of the population and the opinion of the experts had similar results. Finally, this study is the first proposal for the nuclear sector to construct this kind of indicator that takes into account the evaluation of experts and the opinion of the community that resides around these institutions. (author)

  12. [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.

  13. Collective Action Competence: An Asset to Campus Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Charlotte R.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to operationalize theories of social learning and collective action for campus sustainability practitioners at higher education institutions (IHEs) to enhance their work, and to introduce the concept of collective action competence as a practical tool. Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents a…

  14. Sustainability indicators for innovation and research institutes of nuclear area in Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alves, S.F.; Barreto, A.A.; Rodrigues, P.C.H.; Feliciano, V.M.D.

    2016-01-01

    Indicators are relevant tools for measuring sustainability process. In this study, the relevance of sustainability indicators appropriate for research and innovation institutes in Brazil is discussed. As reference for case study, nuclear research and innovation institutes were chosen. Sixty-nine sustainability indicators were considered. Some of these indicators were obtained from lists in the literature review, distributed between the dimensions environmental, economic, social, cultural and institutional. The other indicators were developed through discussions between professionals from nuclear, environmental, economic, social and cultural areas. Among the investigated indicators, 32 were selected as being the most relevant. Discrepancies were found during the analysis the opinions of the experts in relation to sustainability dimensions proposed. (author)

  15. 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.

  16. Sustainability of sources of electric generation: indicators and global qualification using fuzzy logic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin del Campo M, C.; Francois L, J.L.

    2005-01-01

    A methodology developed to evaluate the sustainability of sources of electric generation but used in Mexico and in the World is presented. For it was applied one matrix of sustainability indicators that considers the principles and criteria of general sustainability as 'not exhaustion of natural resources', 'non production of non degradable waste', and 'not high sensibility to social and environmental factors'. The approaches to evaluate in a wide way these principles are numerous and to each approach associates an indicator, call sustainability indicator. The contribution of this work consists on the development of a methodology to qualify globally the sustainability of each option of electric generation, combining all the sustainability indicators. The methodology applies a system of diffuse control to build the function of global qualification of sustainability dependent of all the indicators. (Author)

  17. Determination of Indonesian palm-oil-based bioenergy sustainability indicators using fuzzy inference system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arkeman, Y.; Rizkyanti, R. A.; Hambali, E.

    2017-05-01

    Development of Indonesian palm-oil-based bioenergy faces an international challenge regarding to sustainability issue, indicated by the establishment of standards on sustainable bioenergy. Currently, Indonesia has sustainability standards limited to palm-oil cultivation, while other standards are lacking appropriateness for Indonesian palm-oil-based bioenergy sustainability regarding to real condition in Indonesia. Thus, Indonesia requires sustainability indicators for Indonesian palm-oil-based bioenergy to gain recognition and easiness in marketing it. Determination of sustainability indicators was accomplished through three stages, which were preliminary analysis, indicator assessment (using fuzzy inference system), and system validation. Global Bioenergy partnership (GBEP) was used as the standard for the assessment because of its general for use, internationally accepted, and it contained balanced proportion between environment, economic, and social aspects. Result showed that the number of sustainability indicators using FIS method are 21 indicators. The system developed has an accuracy of 85%.

  18. SUSTAINABLE URBAN LANDSCAPE: AN APPROACH FOR ASSESSING AND APPROPRIATING INDICATORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed Mohamed Amin

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The impact of development on its context is considered a key issue that governs the discussion and understanding of sustainability. For the reason, that ethics of sustainability are based on developing with no or less negative impacts on the contextual environment despite its urban scale whether limited or extended. This describes types of development that increase the good impacts on the tangible and intangible aspects of the built environment. Thus, achieving sustainability is no more a choice but it is a must especially, in an environment suffering from a lot of threats and stresses that affect all aspects of life; socially, economically, environmentally and also affect the beauty and aesthetics of urban fabrics. Assessing sustainability, the applied indicators and ways of assessment are allimportant concerns for urban sustainability discourses. Especially in such sensitive interacting domains as landscape, that links nature with the built environment. Approaching these concerns has a great deal when enhancing our environment aiming at better urban life containers. This paper aims at investigating the issue of sustainable urban landscape assessment through discussing the hue of indicators, their ways of classification, the criteria of selection and stating the variety of methods in which they can be assessed. Finally, it appropriates an approach for stating and assessing urban landscape sustainability indicators, which evaluates their both qualitative and quantitative value upon performance scale.

  19. Sustainability Assessment in Automotive and Electronics Supply Chains—A Set of Indicators Defined in a Multi-Stakeholder Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josef-Peter Schöggl

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In automotive and electronics supply chains, sustainability assessment is gaining increasing importance. More stringent regulations and growing customer pressure are driving the change towards more environmentally, socially and economically responsible supply chains. Since this implies a rising use of resources for data collection, monitoring, exchange and assessment, the objective of this paper is to facilitate supply chain sustainability assessment. The present paper first provides a tailored set of 69 supply chain sustainability indicators for the European automotive and electronics industries. These were derived on the basis of a systematic literature review, together with 13 semi-structured interviews and five focus group workshops, all of which involved sustainability and industry experts. Second, the paper provides a case example of software-based supply chain sustainability data exchange. The extent to which sustainability information is currently exchanged in the two industries is also analyzed. The set of indicators is scientifically relevant since it considers all three dimensions of sustainability and is intended to allow for supply chain-wide sustainability assessment in two specific industries. It is also of high practical relevance since it was developed with and validated by industry experts, and also since it considers industrial and technical requirements for supply chain sustainability assessment in order to increase the efficiency of the work processes.

  20. Sustain ability and sustainable development indicators case study: Egypt electric power supply system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rashad, S.M.

    2007-01-01

    This paper addresses sustain ability criteria and the associated indicators allowing ope rationalization of the sustain ability concept in general and specially in the context of electricity supply. The criteria and indicators cover economic, environmental and social aspects. Egypt has rapidly growing population and per capita demand. As a signatory of the framework convention on climate change, Egypt is making all efforts to comply with the strategy of Egypt to meet the challenge of the increasing demand management, integrating it into national decision making and improving environmental performance continuously: for the electricity sector, this can be summarized in improvement of power system efficiency by all available means. On the other hand energy conservation and demand side management programs are ongoing, also the environmental consideration has become one of the major issues in calculating the feasibility of any new addition to the system. This paper deals with the review of the Macro Indicators based on total greenhouse emissions provide a measure of overall performance. Then propose the Primary Indicators. A set of performance indicators is developed against which implementation of the national strategy measures aimed at reducing green house gas emissions can be evaluated. Some selected results from environmental analysis are given. In the study about 20 indicators are used as a measure of the overall performance relative to targets and benchmarks for past and future projections up to year 2020. The potential performance indicators for energy sector include: fossil fuel consumption (primary energy), greenhouse gas emissions from energy sector, energy related greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy delivered, energy related greenhouse gas emission per unit GDP, and energy related greenhouse gas emission per capita. The selected indicators are used to measure progress towards sustainable development in the country

  1. The indicators of urban development following principles of sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mojca Šašek Divjak

    1998-01-01

    Full Text Available Development in space reflects the consequences of development decisions in all areas of life and work. For this purpose all questions with regard to spatial planning should be solved comprehensively, in connection with economic and social development, while taking into consideration natural potentials and limitations and observing the principles for sustainable balanced development. To measure the sustainability of a place a series of indicators have to be devised. An example of the use of these indicators is presented.

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  3. Indicators and beyond: Assessing the sustainability of transport projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cornet, Yannick

    2016-01-01

    on the topic of sustainable transport indicator frameworks. Case study work draws upon extensive desktop-based analysis of impact assessment reports and other publically available material about real cases of large transport infrastructure appraisals. The HS2 high-speed rail (HSR) project appraisal in the UK......Credibly demonstrating actual progress towards a genuinely sustainable transport situation remains a challenge. A key problem is that the incorporation of sustainability in transport policy and planning at present is not systematic. A motivating assumption behind this thesis is that a transition...... toward a sustainable transport system will require strong support from decision-support processes and assessment tools that do not only adopt the language of sustainability, but fully integrate an explicit notion of sustainability in all of their conceptual, operational and procedural approaches...

  4. A participative approach to develop sustainability indicators for dehesa agroforestry farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Escribano, M; Díaz-Caro, C; Mesias, F J

    2018-05-29

    This paper provides a list of specific indicators that will allow the managers of dehesa farms to assess their sustainability in an easy and reliable way. To this end a Delphi analysis has been carried out with a group of experts in agroforestry systems and sustainability. A total of 30 experts from public institutions, farming, research bodies, environmental and rural development associations, agricultural organizations and companies took part in the study which intended to design a set of sustainability indicators adapted to dehesa agroforestry systems. The experts scored 83 original indicators related to the basic pillars of sustainability (environmental, social and economic) through a two-round procedure. Finally, 24 indicators were selected based on their importance and the consensus achieved. From an environmental point of view, and in line with its significance for dehesa ecosystems, it has been observed that "Stocking rate" is the indicator with greater relevance. Within the economic pillar, "Farm profitability" is the most important indicator, while regarding the technical indicators "Percentage of animal diet based on grazing" is the one that got the highest score. Finally, the "Degree of job satisfaction" and the "Generational renewal" were the most relevant labor indicators. It is considered that the Delphi approach used in this research settles some of the flaws of other sustainability models, such as the adaptation to the system to be studied and the involvement of stakeholders in the design. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Sustainable Environmental Management Indicators in South African Primary Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiza O. de Sousa

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This research explores sustainable environmental management indicators in South African primary schools. Of key interest is the comparison of a township, farm and urban primary school that identify indicators that promote education for sustainable development in schools that implement an environmental management system. Data are drawn from one-on-one interviews, focus group interviews, observations and document analysis from 35 participants in three schools. A comparison of the three schools was done by content and thematic analysis of a within-case analysis. Data from the township school revealed that socioeconomic factors and organisational structure promote education for sustainable development. The farm school data revealed that health promotion can be managed within an environmental management system within a hierarchical school structure. The urban school data revealed that an economic inducement brings a school to realise that it can reduce its carbon footprint, gain financially and utilize its resources with innovation. A case is made that the four pillars of sustainable development (environment, society, economy, and governance endorse education for sustainable development. Furthermore, the objectives of environmental education ought to remain nested in an environmental management system to ensure that the global goal of quality education is achieved.

  6. Analytic network process model for sustainable lean and green manufacturing performance indicator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aminuddin, Adam Shariff Adli; Nawawi, Mohd Kamal Mohd; Mohamed, Nik Mohd Zuki Nik

    2014-09-01

    Sustainable manufacturing is regarded as the most complex manufacturing paradigm to date as it holds the widest scope of requirements. In addition, its three major pillars of economic, environment and society though distinct, have some overlapping among each of its elements. Even though the concept of sustainability is not new, the development of the performance indicator still needs a lot of improvement due to its multifaceted nature, which requires integrated approach to solve the problem. This paper proposed the best combination of criteria en route a robust sustainable manufacturing performance indicator formation via Analytic Network Process (ANP). The integrated lean, green and sustainable ANP model can be used to comprehend the complex decision system of the sustainability assessment. The finding shows that green manufacturing is more sustainable than lean manufacturing. It also illustrates that procurement practice is the most important criteria in the sustainable manufacturing performance indicator.

  7. New Key Performance Indicators for a Smart Sustainable City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  8. Social indicators of sustainable building; Soziale Indikatoren des nachhaltigen Bauens

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Greiff, Rainer

    2012-06-15

    As a result of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro (''Earth Summit'') the participating nations agreed upon principles of sus-tainable development and objectives for sustainable development - the so called ''Agenda 21'' - to be pursued by national sustainability strategies and be monitored by systems of appropriate relative indicators. The participants shared the awareness that ecological objectives aiming at the global preservation of the natural resources can be achieved only if sustainable economic and social developments are considered together. Unlike the ecological demands of protection of climate and resources, for which evidence can be provided by natural sciences and that can be substantiated by figures, a common under-standing of the social dimension of sustainability has not yet emerged. The same is true for the concept of ''sustainable building''. In the guideline ''Sustainable Building'' published by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing in 2001, essential instructions regarding the implementation of ob-jectives for ecological construction were compiled for use in practice. This guideline is now to be supplemented by objectives of social sustainability. As a basis for common understanding a definition of the social aspects of sustainable building will be brought forward, which is expected to be broadly acknowledged. Furthermore indicators for the social dimension of sustainability were to be developed so that the observance of socio-cultural aspects of sustainability may be operationalised for new construction as well as refurbishment.

  9. BIOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS AND ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: A PROPOSAL BEYOND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcos Felipe Gonçalves Maia

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Environmentalism and ecology have gained ground in the discussions and in the daily practices of university libraries. Objective: To describe the importance of integrating metadata records of biological collections in the catalogs of libraries of UFT as an action "environmentally contextualized" beyond sustainable development. Methodology: descriptive and explanatory research with a qualitative approach with data collection through bibliographical and documentary research. Theoretical reading through Jacques Derrida's deconstructionism. Results: The concepts of sustainable development, institutional sustainability and information ecology have been used by information professionals in an uncritical manner, without regard to its marketing perspective and maintaining the operating system of exploration of the nature. Conclusions: if informational professionals intend to participate in the concern/preservation for nature should be alert to develop actions beyond sustainable development. Should help local knowledge construction process and help in building information utilization through their daily practices.

  10. Tools for tracking progress. Indicators for sustainable energy development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, A.; Rogner, H.H.; Aslanian, G.

    2000-01-01

    A project on 'Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development (ISED)' was introduced by the IAEA as a part of its work programme on Comparative Assessment of Energy Sources for the biennium 1999-2000. It is being pursued by the Planning and Economic Studies Section of the Department of Nuclear Energy. The envisaged tasks are to: (1) identify the main components of sustainable energy development and derive a consistent set of appropriate indicators, keeping in view the indicators for Agenda 21, (2) establish relationship of ISED with those of the Agenda 21, and (3) review the Agency's databases and tools to determine the modifications required to apply the ISED. The first two tasks are being pursued with the help of experts from various international organizations and Member States. In this connection two expert group meetings were held, one in May 1999 and the other in November 1999. The following nine topics were identified as the key issues: social development; economic development; environmental congeniality and waste management; resource depletion; adequate provision of energy and disparities; energy efficiency; energy security; energy supply options; and energy pricing. A new conceptual framework model specifically tuned to the energy sector was developed, drawing upon work by other organizations in the environmental area. Within the framework of this conceptual model, two provisional lists of ISED - a full list and a core list - have been prepared. They cover indicators for the following energy related themes and sub-themes under the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable energy development: Economic dimension: Economic activity levels; End-use energy intensities of selected sectors and different manufacturing industries; energy supply efficiency; energy security; and energy pricing. Social dimension: Energy accessibility and disparities. Environmental dimension: Air pollution (urban air quality; global climate change concern); water

  11. System of Strategic Priorities and Indicators of Ecologically Sustainable Subsoil Use

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lebedev Yuriy

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The system of strategic priorities and indicators of ecologically sustainable subsoil use is based on a fundamental basis - biotic regulation and it has a systematic character defined by conceptual, ideological, political and economic levels of management. It also possesses strict priorities and is based on interrelated ecological, economic and social factors, it reflects space-time dynamics of development and subsoil use. The indicators of ecologically sustainable subsoil use are indicators that characterize the change of natural, social and economic environment at different times; they provide qualitative and quantitative characteristic of subsoil use problem. The majority of existing sets of indicators of sustainable subsoil use doesn’t give a complete picture, is weakly connected with each other and no priorities are distinguished among them.

  12. Criterion IV: Social and economic indicators of rangeland sustainability (Chapter 5)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel W. McCollum; Louis E. Swanson; John A. Tanaka; Mark W. Brunson; Aaron J. Harp; L. Allen Torell; H. Theodore Heintz

    2010-01-01

    Social and economic systems provide the context and rationale for rangeland management. Sustaining rangeland ecosystems requires attention to the social and economic conditions that accompany the functioning of those systems. We present and discuss economic and social indicators for rangeland sustainability. A brief conceptual basis for each indicator is offered,...

  13. Facilitating Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals through Open Scientific Data and Indicators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, R. S.; Levy, M. A.; de Sherbinin, A. M.; Fischer, A.

    2015-12-01

    The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent an unprecedented international commitment to a shared future encompassing sustainable management of the planet and significant improvement in the human condition around the world. The scientific community has both an ethical responsibility and substantial self-interest—as residents of this planet—to help the world community to better understand the complex, interlinked behavior of human and environmental systems and to elucidate pathways to achieve long-term sustainability. Critical to making progress towards the SDGs is the open availability of timely, reliable, usable, and well integrated data and indicators relevant to all SDGs and associated targets. Such data and indicators will not only be valuable in monitoring and evaluation of progress, but also in developing policies and making decisions on environmental and societal issues affecting sustainability from local to global scales. The open availability of such data and indicators can help motivate performance, promote accountability, and facilitate cooperation. A range of scientific, technical, organizational, political, and resource challenges need to be addressed in developing a coherent SDG monitoring and indicator framework. For example, assembling and integrating diverse data on consistent spatial and temporal scales across the relevant natural, social, health, and engineering sciences pose both scientific and technical difficulties, and may require new ways to interlink and organize existing cyberinfrastructure, reconcile different data policy regimes, and fund integration efforts. New information technologies promise more timely and efficient ways of collecting many types of data, but may also raise privacy, control, and equity issues. Scientific review processes to ensure data quality need to be coordinated with the types of quality control and review employed by national statistical agencies for trusted economic and social statistics. Although

  14. Buildings Indicators for Sustainable Mobility: the District of Naples

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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

  15. Using Qualitative Indicators of Sustainability in Iberoamerican Environmental Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Gutiérrez Pérez

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available In this article we include a revision of alternative approaches developed throughout the two last decades in Iberoamerican environmental research and possible implications for the evaluation of sustainable development with qualitative indicators. The standardized use in diplomatic reports and international studies reveals their value and acceptance in communities of experts in different contexts. It is stated that international alliances between countries have brought about important changes, although the new discourses on sustainability leave the responsibility, the control and the design of indicators in a state of confusion. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0604338

  16. ‘Wasteaware’ benchmark indicators for integrated sustainable waste management in cities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wilson, David C., E-mail: waste@davidcwilson.com [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London (United Kingdom); Rodic, Ljiljana [Education and Competence Studies, Wageningen University and Research Centre (Netherlands); Cowing, Michael J. [Independent Consultant (Saint Lucia); Velis, Costas A. [School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds (United Kingdom); Whiteman, Andrew D. [RWA Group, Sofia (Bulgaria); Scheinberg, Anne [WASTE, Gouda (Netherlands); Vilches, Recaredo; Masterson, Darragh [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London (United Kingdom); Stretz, Joachim [Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), Cairo (Egypt); Oelz, Barbara [GIZ, Eschborn (Germany)

    2015-01-15

    Highlights: • Solid waste management (SWM) is a key utility service, but data is often lacking. • Measuring their SWM performance helps a city establish priorities for action. • The Wasteaware benchmark indicators: measure both technical and governance aspects. • Have been developed over 5 years and tested in more than 50 cities on 6 continents. • Enable consistent comparison between cities and countries and monitoring progress. - Abstract: This paper addresses a major problem in international solid waste management, which is twofold: a lack of data, and a lack of consistent data to allow comparison between cities. The paper presents an indicator set for integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) in cities both North and South, to allow benchmarking of a city’s performance, comparing cities and monitoring developments over time. It builds on pioneering work for UN-Habitat’s solid waste management in the World’s cities. The comprehensive analytical framework of a city’s solid waste management system is divided into two overlapping ‘triangles’ – one comprising the three physical components, i.e. collection, recycling, and disposal, and the other comprising three governance aspects, i.e. inclusivity; financial sustainability; and sound institutions and proactive policies. The indicator set includes essential quantitative indicators as well as qualitative composite indicators. This updated and revised ‘Wasteaware’ set of ISWM benchmark indicators is the cumulative result of testing various prototypes in more than 50 cities around the world. This experience confirms the utility of indicators in allowing comprehensive performance measurement and comparison of both ‘hard’ physical components and ‘soft’ governance aspects; and in prioritising ‘next steps’ in developing a city’s solid waste management system, by identifying both local strengths that can be built on and weak points to be addressed. The Wasteaware ISWM indicators

  17. ‘Wasteaware’ benchmark indicators for integrated sustainable waste management in cities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, David C.; Rodic, Ljiljana; Cowing, Michael J.; Velis, Costas A.; Whiteman, Andrew D.; Scheinberg, Anne; Vilches, Recaredo; Masterson, Darragh; Stretz, Joachim; Oelz, Barbara

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Solid waste management (SWM) is a key utility service, but data is often lacking. • Measuring their SWM performance helps a city establish priorities for action. • The Wasteaware benchmark indicators: measure both technical and governance aspects. • Have been developed over 5 years and tested in more than 50 cities on 6 continents. • Enable consistent comparison between cities and countries and monitoring progress. - Abstract: This paper addresses a major problem in international solid waste management, which is twofold: a lack of data, and a lack of consistent data to allow comparison between cities. The paper presents an indicator set for integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) in cities both North and South, to allow benchmarking of a city’s performance, comparing cities and monitoring developments over time. It builds on pioneering work for UN-Habitat’s solid waste management in the World’s cities. The comprehensive analytical framework of a city’s solid waste management system is divided into two overlapping ‘triangles’ – one comprising the three physical components, i.e. collection, recycling, and disposal, and the other comprising three governance aspects, i.e. inclusivity; financial sustainability; and sound institutions and proactive policies. The indicator set includes essential quantitative indicators as well as qualitative composite indicators. This updated and revised ‘Wasteaware’ set of ISWM benchmark indicators is the cumulative result of testing various prototypes in more than 50 cities around the world. This experience confirms the utility of indicators in allowing comprehensive performance measurement and comparison of both ‘hard’ physical components and ‘soft’ governance aspects; and in prioritising ‘next steps’ in developing a city’s solid waste management system, by identifying both local strengths that can be built on and weak points to be addressed. The Wasteaware ISWM indicators

  18. Sustainability indicators and their application to the mining companies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vargas Pimiento, Elkin

    2000-01-01

    In this work it is sought to show that the design of sustainability indicators and of applicable environmental and social acting to the extractive industry contributes to the achievement of target of sustainable development. It is especially useful in a country in development as Colombia that has adopted such a pattern of economic development and where the mining sector that is projected as the sector leader of the exports and of the national economy, it has been responsible for a great environmental deterioration and of important conflicts of social order. The mining is essentially a destructive process for what can cause negative environmental and social impacts; those that depend on the size of the operations of the type of mineral deposit, of the used methods of exploitation and of the topographical and climatic conditions; in a same way the paper planned integrated games of sustainability indicators

  19. Towards sustainable public FM: collective building of capabilities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ramskov Galamba, Kirsten; Nielsen, Susanne Balslev

    2016-01-01

    Purpose Public facilities management (FM) is in the unique position of aligning building projects and FM with the policies of sustainable development at societal level. However, sustainable facilities management (SFM) is an emergent profession, and there is a need to build a code of conduct for SFM...... in FM organisations. The purpose is to develop and test a workshop based concept for collective building of capabilities targeting in-house FM organisations, in particular public in-house FM organisations. Design/methodology/approach This research explores the role of public facilities managers...... and examines how an empowerment process can help FM employees develop collective competences for SFM. The methodologies used are literature review, and a 3–year-long action research process in the Danish local authority, Albertslund, which is internationally recognised for its innovative and green profile...

  20. Can We Improve Indicator Design for Complex Sustainable Development Goals?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Burford, Gemma; Tamas, P.A.; Harder, Marie K.

    2016-01-01

    A conceptual framework was constructed for United Nations’ complex Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 4.7 focusing on education for sustainable development (ESD), and used to analyse the usefulness and character of indicators produced from a values-based approach called ESDinds, compared to a

  1. 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.

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  3. SUSTAINABILITY INDICES AS MEASURES OF SERVICE DELIVERY IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salawu, I. O, Adeoye, Felix A & Olugbenga David OJO

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Open and Distance Education if well organized, is an adequate alternative to conventional education. For acceptability of this assertion, the public, governments, employers of labour and other stakeholders need to be convinced that ODL institutions are not providing half-baked education. Also, for the public and other shareholders enthusiasm and interest that are usually hard earned to be sustained, there is need for total commitment to the implementation of some established indices of sustainability. The thrust of this paper is in the appraisal of the extent to which two ODL institutions in Nigeria adhere to the principles of sustainability. A set of questionnaire was developed and used to collect data which were analyzed using simple non-parametric statistics. Suggestions which were aimed at improving the service delivery, in the institutions used for the study in particular, and other sister institutions especially in the developed countries were highlighted.

  4. Interdependence and Sustainable Collective Action: : The case of four collective housing communities in Mexico City

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Montelongo Arana, Marina; Wittek, Rafael

    2015-01-01

    We study under which conditions collective action breaks down into some communities but keeps sustainable in others. The main purpose of our explorative qualitative study is to identify the micro-level pathways that lead to the maintenance and decay of collective action. Drawing on sharing group

  5. 76 FR 52017 - Submission for OMB Review, Comment Request, Proposed Collection: Sustainability of Digitized...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-19

    ..., Proposed Collection: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections AGENCY: Institute of Museum and... national needs for and trends in museum, library, and information services; measure and report on the...: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections. OMB Number: To be determined. Agency Number: 3137. Frequency...

  6. The sustainability indicators of power production systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Onat, Nevzat [Vocational School of Technical Studies, Marmara University, Istanbul 34722 (Turkey); Bayar, Haydar [Technical Education Faculty, Marmara University, Istanbul 34722 (Turkey)

    2010-12-15

    One of the most important elements of economical and social development is to provide uninterrupted electric energy to consumers. The increasing world population and technological developments rapidly increase the demand on electric energy. In order to meet the increasing demand for sustainable development, it is necessary to use the consumable resources of the world in the most productive manner and minimum level and to keep its negative effects on human health and environment in the lowest level as much as possible. In this study, alignment of hydrogen fuel cells, hydroelectric, wind, solar and geothermal sourced electric energy systems, in addition to fossil fueled coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants, in respect to sustainability parameters such as CO{sub 2} emission, land use, energy output, fresh water consumption and environmental and social effects is researched. Consequently, it has been determined that the wind and nuclear energy power plants have the highest sustainability indicators. The fuel cells that use hydrogen obtained by using coal and natural gas are determined as the most disadvantageous transformation technologies in respect to sustainability. This study contains an alignment related to today's technologies. Using of renewable energy resources especially in production of hydrogen, output increases to be ensured with nanotechnology applications in photovoltaic systems may change this alignment. (author)

  7. Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management: an alternative for monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Luis Cué García

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The work was developed in the province of Cienfuegos, Cuba, with the hope of presenting an alternative methodology for monitoring criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management. Participatory workshops were used with actors and makers of SilviculturalUnits in the definition of criteria and indicators, based on the rules set forth by Herrero (2005. The Delphi method was used in the validation of the proposal. A hierarchical system that facilitates standardization of indicators and their aggregation to indices as well as the procedural guide indicators and checklist of them was used. The adequacy of Sustainability Barometer Prescott-Allen, 1997, quoted by Van Bellen (2004 was performed. The results of the analysis of the reliability of the instrument applied to the expert are acceptable because the Hotelling T2 value was 322.46 p = 0.007, there is a strong significant correlation between the elements of the instrument, expressed in an intraclass correlation coefficient from 0.756 to p = 0.038, Alpha reliability coefficient Cronbach 0.806, Spearman-Brown coefficient equal to 0.656 and Guttman split halves coefficient of 0.606. This alternative ensures a more comprehensive and holistic observance of the attributes of a system of sustainability indicators in the field of specialized forest Cuban business sector, enabling the assessment of the trend of sustainable forest management according to the specifics of each forestry unit.

  8. Biocultural approaches to well-being and sustainability indicators across scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eleanor J. Sterling; Christopher Filardi; Anne Toomey; Amanda Sigouin; Erin Betley; Nadav Gazit; Jennifer Newell; Simon Albert; Diana Alvira; Nadia Bergamini; Mary Blair; David Boseto; Kate Burrows; Nora Bynum; Sophie Caillon; Jennifer E. Caselle; Joachim Claudet; Georgina Cullman; Rachel Dacks; Pablo B. Eyzaguirre; Steven Gray; James Herrera; Peter Kenilorea; Kealohanuiopuna Kinney; Natalie Kurashima; Suzanne Macey; Cynthia Malone; Senoveva Mauli; Joe McCarter; Heather McMillen; Pua’ala Pascua; Patrick Pikacha; Ana L. Porzecanski; Pascale de Robert; Matthieu Salpeteur; Myknee Sirikolo; Mark H. Stege; Kristina Stege; Tamara Ticktin; Ron Vave; Alaka Wali; Paige West; Kawika B. Winter; Stacy D. Jupiter

    2017-01-01

    Monitoring and evaluation are central to ensuring that innovative, multi-scale, and interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability are effective. The development of relevant indicators for local sustainable management outcomes, and the ability to link these to broader national and international policy targets, are key challenges for resource managers, policymakers, and...

  9. 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

  10. Review of methods and indicators in sustainable urban transport studies overview from 2000 to 2016

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Puji Adiatna Nadi

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The attention of countries either the developed or developing countries on sustainable urban transport is becoming more popular. The purpose of paper is to review the methods and the indicators used for measuring performance of sustainable urban transport. This study is based on the literature review and the case study observation and also uses the quantitative assessment. It reviews the theoretical aspects of sustainability factors at various research works and performance indicator in urban transportation. The indicators were classified into two major categories: (i assessment methods in sustainable urban transport (SUT, and (ii basic of sustainability indicators for urban transport. This study found several types of analytical techniques for measuring sustainability indicators in urban transport. It also identify five indicators as basic element to measure sustainable urban transport performance i.e. traffic congestion, traffic air pollution, traffic noise pollution, traffic accidents and land consumption for transport infrastructure.

  11. Evaluation according to criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management: Saçinka Forest Planning Unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Burak Çavdar

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The reasons such as; decrease in forest areas, deterioration in the structure, fragmented structures, decrease in water sources, environmental pollution and increase in carbon level in air are considered as the main sources of problems like global warming and global climate change. Countries have been trying to develop cooperative solutions for these problems since the mid-20th century. Sustainable forest management criteria and indicators, which were outcomes of Biological Diversity Agreement and the processes afterwards, have also been specified in Turkey based on Pan-European process indicators. According to this set of criteria and indicators, data are collected in the scale of Forest Enterprises and the current situation is evaluated in the meetings held by Regional Directorates of Forestry. Most of the data to be evaluated are obtained from forest management plans in the scale of Forest Planning Units and a great deal of economic indicators are dealt in the scale of Forestry Enterprises. Starting from this point of view; this study analyzes the SFM criteria and indicators set data of Saçinka Forest Planning Unit. Accordingly, it examines whether forest ecosystem is conducted in a sustainable way or not.

  12. Sustainability indicators and their application to the mining companies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vargas Pimiento, Elkin

    2000-01-01

    Today mining companies suffer strong pressure from organizations such as environmental groups, multilateral agencies, national governments, mining associations and the international media, to comply with good environmental practices and to face the new and important challenges imposed by the exploitation of deposits, of increasingly lower-grade ore, deepness and difficulty, and to integrate community issues in their decision making process. This article seeks to show the contribution that the development of environmental and social performance indicators and sustainability markers in the mining companies have in achieving sustainable development. This is especially useful in a developing country like Colombia, which has adopted a sustainable development economic model and where the mining sector has lead exportations and economy, but has also been responsible of big environmental damages and important social conflicts. Additionally, this work reports the existence of technologies and methodologies, e.g. those recommended by the Federal Environmental Agency of Germany, to design integrated sets of proven biophysical, economic and social indicators, including the conventional indicators of the mining process: input-outcome, capacity building, well being and participation, to be used in performance evaluation and optimization, cost-benefit analysis and strategic decision making, participative planning and progress monitoring, according to Alyson Warhurst (1997) in the mining and environmental research program of the Bath University

  13. 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.

  14. Sustainable Development Policies as Indicators and Pre-Conditions for Sustainability Efforts at Universities: Fact or Fiction?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leal Filho, Walter; Brandli, Luciana Londero; Becker, Deisi; Skanavis, Constantina; Kounani, Aristea; Sardi, Chrysoula; Papaioannidou, Dimitra; Paço, Arminda; Azeiteiro, Ulisses; de Sousa, Luiza Olim; Raath, Schalk; Pretorius, Rudi Wessel; Shiel, Christine; Vargas, Valeria; Trencher, Gregory; Marans, Robert W.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: There is a widely held belief that sustainable development (SD) policies are essential for universities to successfully engage in matters related to sustainability, and are an indicator of the extent to which they are active in this field. This paper aims to examine the evidence which currently exists to support this assumption. It…

  15. SOCIAL INDICATORS FOR EVALUATING SUSTAINABILITY OF GOAT LIVESTOCK FARMS: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco de Asís Ruiz Morales

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Currently, sustainability is an objective for any economic activity or development process. Many studies with theoretical reflections relating to the concept of sustainability exist, but few methodological contributions adequately quantify and evaluate the level of sustainability of agraricultural systems, specifically with respect to small ruminant. The level of sustainability of these systems should be estimated taking into account not only economic and environmental aspects, but also social ones. Despite its importance to the functioning of agraricultural systems, the social dimension has been little addressed, and is frequently ignored in studies of this nature. Then, the objective of this study is to carry out methodological reflections based on identification and quantification of social indicators applied to goat livestock farms. Furthermore, this study forms part of a broader comparative study on sustainable development of animal systems in Andalusia (Spain and Chiapas (Mexico, in which economic, environmental, and social indicators are used in an integrated manner. The methodology used to obtain indicators is based on the authors´ knowledge of the functioning of goat livestock systems, focus groups and opinions of experts in the field, and revision of the available bibliography. As a result of the study, we propose a group of indicators made up of several variables based on the logical-mathematical principals of different scales of measurement as well as on multicriteria analysis. The social indicators proposed refer to several themes: i multi-functionality; ii membership in professional associations; iii implication for local life; iv social well-being (quality of life, especially that related to work; and v continuity of the goats livestock activity.

  16. Sustainability Indicators Past and Present: What Next?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Bell

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the current state of thought amongst the Sustainability Indicator (SI community, what has been achieved and where we are succeeding and failing. Recent years have witnessed the rise of “alternative facts” and “fake news” and this paper discusses how SIs fit into this maelstrom, especially as they are themselves designed to encapsulate complexity into condensed signals and it has long been known that SIs can be selectively used to support polarized sides of a debate. This paper draws from chapters in a new edited volume, the “Routledge Handbook of Sustainability Indicators and Indices”, edited by the authors. The book has 34 chapters written by a total of 59 SI experts from a wide range of backgrounds, and attempts to provide a picture of the past and present, strengths and weaknesses of SI development today. This paper is an “analysis of those analyses”—a mindful reflection on reflection, and an assessment of the malign and benign forces at work in 2018 within the SI arena. Finally, we seek to identify where SIs may be going over the coming, unpredictable years.

  17. Interpretive Structural Model of Key Performance Indicators for Sustainable Maintenance Evaluatian in Rubber Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amrina, E.; Yulianto, A.

    2018-03-01

    Sustainable maintenance is a new challenge for manufacturing companies to realize sustainable development. In this paper, an interpretive structural model is developed to evaluate sustainable maintenance in the rubber industry. The initial key performance indicators (KPIs) is identified and derived from literature and then validated by academic and industry experts. As a result, three factors of economic, social, and environmental dividing into a total of thirteen indicators are proposed as the KPIs for sustainable maintenance evaluation in rubber industry. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) methodology is applied to develop a network structure model of the KPIs consisting of three levels. The results show the economic factor is regarded as the basic factor, the social factor as the intermediate factor, while the environmental factor indicated to be the leading factor. Two indicators of social factor i.e. labor relationship, and training and education have both high driver and dependence power, thus categorized as the unstable indicators which need further attention. All the indicators of environmental factor and one indicator of social factor are indicated as the most influencing indicator. The interpretive structural model hoped can aid the rubber companies in evaluating sustainable maintenance performance.

  18. Developing an Indicator System for Monitoring, Analyzing, and Assessing Airport Sustainability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Janic, M.

    2010-01-01

    This paper deals with developing an indicator system for monitoring, analyzing, and assessing sustainability of airports. The sustainability implies simultaneous increasing of the overall socialeconomic benefits and increasing at a slower rate, stagnating, and/or diminishing of the negative impacts

  19. Seeking consensus on universal health coverage indicators in the sustainable development goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddock, Jennifer

    2017-01-01

    There is optimism that the inclusion of universal health coverage in the Sustainable Development Goals advances its prominence in global and national health policy. However, formulating indicators for Target 3.8 through the Inter-Agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Indicators has been challenging. Achieving consensus on the conceptual and methodological aspects of universal health coverage is likely to take some time in multi-stakeholder fora compared with national efforts to select indicators.

  20. Key Sustainability Performance Indicator Analysis for Czech Breweries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward Kasem

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability performance can be said to be an ability of an organization to remain productive over time and hold on to its potential for maintaining long-term profitability. Since the brewery sector is one of the most important and leading markets in the foodstuff industry of the Czech Republic, this study depicts the Czech breweries’ formal entry into sustainability reporting and performance. The purpose of this paper is to provide an efficiency level evaluation which would represent the level of corporate performance of Czech breweries. For this reason, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA is introduced. In order to apply it, we utilize a set of key performance indicators (KPIs based on two international standard frameworks: the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI and its GRI 4 guidelines, and the guideline KPIs for ESG 3.0, which was published by the DVFA Society. Four sustainability dimensions (economic, environmental, social and governance are covered, making it thus possible to adequately evaluate sustainability performance in Czech breweries. The main output is not only the efficiency score of the company but also the input weights. These weights are used to determine the contribution of particular criteria to the breweries’ achieved score. According to the achieved efficiency results for Czech breweries, the percentage of women supervising the company does not affect the sustainability performance.

  1. Sustainability indicator system and policy processes in Malaysia: a framework for utilisation and learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hezri, A A

    2004-12-01

    Formulation of effective sustainability indicators for national assessment demands a comprehensive understanding of the utilisation, diffusion and dissemination of information in policy processes. To illustrate the dynamic of sustainability assessment within the context of policy processes, this paper uses a case study of national sustainability indicators development in Malaysia. Subsequently, this paper ascribes the limited achievement of national sustainability assessment in Malaysia to four types of constraints: meta-policy issues; technical capacities; communication concerns; and the inherent knowledge gaps within the indicator developer community vis-a-vis their theoretical limitations. It is proposed that such constraints will be encountered in many countries. Drawing from the literature on public policy, this paper outlines a framework for investigating indicator behaviour within policy processes based on well-established concepts such as knowledge utilisation and policy learning. I conclude this paper by elaborating on the corresponding future challenges that must be addressed before effective integration of sustainability indicators within policy systems can occur.

  2. Key performance indicators for measuring sustainability in health ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Key performance indicators for measuring sustainability in health care industry in Malaysia. ... AFRICAN JOURNALS ONLINE (AJOL) · Journals · Advanced Search ... Journal Home > Vol 10, No 1S (2018) > ... Next, an in-depth meeting was conducted to gain insights and feedbacks with the management of a private hospital.

  3. [Efficiency indicators to contribute to sustainability of health services in Spain].

    Science.gov (United States)

    García, E I; Mira Solves, J J; Guilabert Mora, M

    2014-01-01

    Identifying a minimum set of efficiency indicators calculated from current information sources. Interventions adopted from the analysis of these indicators could contribute to health services sustainability. We applied the discussion group technique. A total of 23 quality coordinators from around the country and the representatives of the regional quality societies in SECA (Spanish Society for Quality in Healthcare) participated. Ten efficiency indicators useful for integrated management areas were identified and accepted, 5 in the area of primary care and 5 for hospital management. The efficiency indicators agreed upon could contribute to the sustainability of the health system without this affecting the quality of care. Copyright © 2014 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  4. The Net Enabled Waste Management Database in the context of an indicator of sustainable development for radioactive waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Csullog, G.W.; Selling, H.; Holmes, R.; Benitez, J.C.

    2002-01-01

    The IAEA was selected by the UN to be the lead agency for the development and implementation of indicators of sustainable development for radioactive waste management (ISD-RW). Starting in late 1999, the UN initiated a program to consolidate a large number of indicators into a smaller set and advised the IAEA that a single ISD-RW was needed. In September 2001, a single indicator was developed by the IAEA and subsequently revised in February 2002. In parallel with its work on the ISD-RW, the IAEA developed and implemented the Net Enabled Waste Management Database (NEWMDB). The NEWMDB is an international database to collect, compile and disseminate information about nationally-based radioactive waste management programmes and waste inventories. The first data collection cycle with the NEWMDB (July 2001 to March 2002) demonstrated that much of the information needed to calculate the ISD-RW could be collected by the IAEA for its international database. However, the first data collection cycle indicated that capacity building, in the area of identifying waste classification schemes used in countries, is required. (author)

  5. Implementing Sustainable Data Collection for a Cardiac Outcomes Registry in an Australian Public Hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, Nicholas; Brennan, Angela; Dinh, Diem; Brien, Rita; Cowie, Kath; Stub, Dion; Reid, Christopher M; Lefkovits, Jeffrey

    2018-04-01

    Clinical outcome registries are an increasingly vital component of ensuring quality and safety of patient care. However, Australian hospitals rarely have additional resources or the capacity to fund the additional staff time to complete the task of data collection and entry. At the same time, registry funding models do not support staff for the collection of data at the site but are directed towards the central registry tasks of data reporting, managing and quality monitoring. The sustainability of a registry is contingent on building efficiencies into data management and collection. We describe the methods used in a large Victorian public hospital to develop a sustainable data collection system for the Victorian Cardiac Outcomes Registry (VCOR), using existing staff and resources common to many public hospitals. We describe the features of the registry and the hospital specific strategies that allowed us to do this as part of our routine business of providing good quality cardiac care. All clinical staff involved in patient care were given some data collection task with the entry of these data embedded into the staff's daily workflow. A senior cardiology registrar was empowered to allocate data entry tasks to colleagues when data were found to be incomplete. The task of 30-day follow-up proved the most onerous part of data collection. Cath-lab nursing staff were allocated this role. With hospital accreditation and funding models moving towards performance based quality indicators, collection of accurate and reliable information is crucial. Our experience demonstrates the successful implementation of clinical outcome registry data collection in a financially constrained public hospital environment utilising existing resources. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  6. Development of sustainability indicator scoring (SIS) for the food supply chain

    OpenAIRE

    Manning, Louise; Soon, Jan Mei

    2016-01-01

    Purpose\\ud The purpose of this paper is to identify mechanisms for using a quantitative benchmarking approach to drive sustainability improvements in the food supply chain.\\ud \\ud Design/methodology/approach\\ud A literature review was undertaken and then a strategic and operational framework developed for improving food supply chain sustainability in terms of triple bottom line criteria.\\ud \\ud Findings\\ud Using a sustainability indicator scoring approach, the paper considers the architecture...

  7. Advantages and limitations of exergy indicators to assess sustainability of bioenergy and biobased materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maes, Dries; Van Passel, Steven

    2014-01-01

    Innovative bioenergy projects show a growing diversity in biomass pathways, transformation technologies and end-products, leading to complex new processes. Existing energy-based indicators are not designed to include multiple impacts and are too constrained to assess the sustainability of these processes. Alternatively, indicators based on exergy, a measure of “qualitative energy”, could allow a more holistic view. Exergy is increasingly applied in analyses of both technical and biological processes. But sustainability assessments including exergy calculations, are not very common and are not generally applicable to all types of impact. Hence it is important to frame the use of exergy for inclusion in a sustainability assessment. This paper reviews the potentials and the limitations of exergy calculations, and presents solutions for coherent aggregation with other metrics. The resulting approach is illustrated in a case study. Within the context of sustainability assessment of bioenergy, exergy is a suitable metric for the impacts that require an ecocentric interpretation, and it allows aggregation on a physical basis. The use of exergy is limited to a measurement of material and energy exchanges with the sun, biosphere and lithosphere. Exchanges involving services or human choices are to be measured in different metrics. This combination provides a more inclusive and objective sustainability assessment, especially compared to standard energy- or carbon-based indicators. Future applications of this approach in different situations are required to clarify the potential of exergy-based indicators in a sustainability context. -- Highlights: • Innovative bioenergy projects require more advanced sustainability assessments to incorporate all environmental impacts. • Exergy-based indicators provide solutions for objective and robust measurements. • The use of exergy in a sustainability assessment is limited to material exchanges, excluding exchanges with society

  8. Sustainable management indicators and implications of public policies for forestry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peyron, Jean-Luc; Bonheme, Ingrid

    2012-01-01

    Since 1995, in the framework of the Pan-European process of Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe, every five years France establishes sustainable management indicators for forests in metropolitan France. The four successive publications now available provide information, according to the six criteria for sustainable forest management formulated in Helsinki in 1993, on developments over time in the state of French forests and the activities they generate. They also give rise to questions about the extent to which this follow-up meet the needs of forests in the area of public policies, including the fight against the greenhouse effect and adaptation to climate change. In addition, they suggest improvements for the short, medium and long term aimed at enhancing the switch from a statistical description to a strategic vision, as well as harmonisation and coherence of information, and extending the legal, political, institutional and geographic scope of sustainable forest management indicators. (authors)

  9. Evaluation of sustainability indices and indicators in the Paphos district area in Cyprus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Italos, Chrysostomos; Akylas, Evangelos; Karidis, Demetris; Hadjimitsis, Diofantos G.

    2014-08-01

    During the last decades most of the coastal zones across the Mediterranean Sea concentrates population around polescities owing to the mass movement of people from the rural areas to urban areas. The extensive tourism development across the coast generates demand of new work positions and pressurizes the environment. The economic development increase the natural capital of the study areas increase the covered with buildings and infrastructures areas and as a consequence reduce the quality of life. All the above effects modify the density of the buildings and infrastructures, push and eliminate the free green covered areas and other open spaces. In order to measure the effects on the environment and the quality of life a composite index is developed which arises using combined indices using economical, social and environmental criteria. The above components give a realistic indicator of the effects on the environment. This unique index arises as a function of the ratios of a per capital income a ratio of cover area by the uncovered area and the density of people per unit area. Usually when the wealth is increased the demand of energy and goods also increased and the damage on environment becomes bigger. This paper explores how the application of sustainability indices can be used as a tool to assess the quality of life. The use of GIS and remote sensing is highlighted to support the application of the existing sustainability indices.

  10. Evaluating impacts of development and conservation projects using sustainability indicators: Opportunities and challenges

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Agol, Dorice, E-mail: d.agol@uea.a.c.uk [University of East Anglia, School of International Development, Norwich NR4 7TJ (United Kingdom); Latawiec, Agnieszka E., E-mail: a.latawiec@iis-rio.org [International Institute for Sustainability, Estrada Dona Castorina 124, 22460-320 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Opole University of Technology, Department of Production Engineering and Logistics, Luboszycka 5, 45-036 Opole (Poland); University of East Anglia, School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich NR4 7TJ (United Kingdom); Strassburg, Bernardo B.N., E-mail: b.strassburg@iis-rio.org [International Institute for Sustainability, Estrada Dona Castorina 124, 22460-320 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontificia Universidade Catolica, 22453-900 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

    2014-09-15

    There has been an increased interest in using sustainability indicators for evaluating the impacts of development and conservation projects. Past and recent experiences have shown that sustainability indicators can be powerful tools for measuring the outcomes of various interventions, when used appropriately and adequately. Currently, there is a range of methods for applying sustainability indicators for project impact evaluation at the environment–development interface. At the same time, a number of challenges persist which have implication for impact evaluation processes especially in developing countries. We highlight some key and recurrent challenges, using three cases from Kenya, Indonesia and Brazil. In this study, we have conducted a comparative analysis across multiple projects from the three countries, which aimed to conserve biodiversity and improve livelihoods. The assessments of these projects were designed to evaluate their positive, negative, short-term, long term, direct and indirect impacts. We have identified a set of commonly used sustainability indicators to evaluate the projects and have discussed opportunities and challenges associated with their application. Our analysis shows that impact evaluation processes present good opportunities for applying sustainability indicators. On the other hand, we find that project proponents (e.g. managers, evaluators, donors/funders) face challenges with establishing full impacts of interventions and that these are rooted in monitoring and evaluation processes, lack of evidence-based impacts, difficulties of measuring certain outcomes and concerns over scale of a range of impacts. We outline key lessons learnt from the multiple cases and propose ways to overcome common problems. Results from our analysis demonstrate practical experiences of applying sustainability indicators in developing countries context where there are different prevailing socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions. The

  11. Evaluating impacts of development and conservation projects using sustainability indicators: Opportunities and challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agol, Dorice; Latawiec, Agnieszka E.; Strassburg, Bernardo B.N.

    2014-01-01

    There has been an increased interest in using sustainability indicators for evaluating the impacts of development and conservation projects. Past and recent experiences have shown that sustainability indicators can be powerful tools for measuring the outcomes of various interventions, when used appropriately and adequately. Currently, there is a range of methods for applying sustainability indicators for project impact evaluation at the environment–development interface. At the same time, a number of challenges persist which have implication for impact evaluation processes especially in developing countries. We highlight some key and recurrent challenges, using three cases from Kenya, Indonesia and Brazil. In this study, we have conducted a comparative analysis across multiple projects from the three countries, which aimed to conserve biodiversity and improve livelihoods. The assessments of these projects were designed to evaluate their positive, negative, short-term, long term, direct and indirect impacts. We have identified a set of commonly used sustainability indicators to evaluate the projects and have discussed opportunities and challenges associated with their application. Our analysis shows that impact evaluation processes present good opportunities for applying sustainability indicators. On the other hand, we find that project proponents (e.g. managers, evaluators, donors/funders) face challenges with establishing full impacts of interventions and that these are rooted in monitoring and evaluation processes, lack of evidence-based impacts, difficulties of measuring certain outcomes and concerns over scale of a range of impacts. We outline key lessons learnt from the multiple cases and propose ways to overcome common problems. Results from our analysis demonstrate practical experiences of applying sustainability indicators in developing countries context where there are different prevailing socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions. The

  12. Social vulnerability indicators as a sustainable planning tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Yung-Jaan

    2014-01-01

    In the face of global warming and environmental change, the conventional strategy of resource centralization will not be able to cope with a future of increasingly extreme climate events and related disasters. It may even contribute to inter-regional disparities as a result of these events. To promote sustainable development, this study offers a case study of developmental planning in Chiayi, Taiwan and a review of the relevant literature to propose a framework of social vulnerability indicators at the township level. The proposed framework can not only be used to measure the social vulnerability of individual townships in Chiayi, but also be used to capture the spatial developmental of Chiayi. Seventeen social vulnerability indicators provide information in five dimensions. Owing to limited access to relevant data, the values of only 13 indicators were calculated. By simply summarizing indicators without using weightings and by using zero-mean normalization to standardize the indicators, this study calculates social vulnerability scores for each township. To make social vulnerability indicators more useful, this study performs an overlay analysis of social vulnerability and patterns of risk associated with national disasters. The social vulnerability analysis draws on secondary data for 2012 from Taiwan's National Geographic Information System. The second layer of analysis consists of the flood potential ratings of the Taiwan Water Resources Agency as an index of biophysical vulnerability. The third layer consists of township-level administrative boundaries. Analytical results reveal that four out of the 18 townships in Chiayi not only are vulnerable to large-scale flooding during serious flood events, but also have the highest degree of social vulnerability. Administrative boundaries, on which social vulnerability is based, do not correspond precisely to “cross-administrative boundaries,” which are characteristics of the natural environment. This study adopts

  13. Social vulnerability indicators as a sustainable planning tool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Yung-Jaan, E-mail: yungjaanlee@gmail.com

    2014-01-15

    In the face of global warming and environmental change, the conventional strategy of resource centralization will not be able to cope with a future of increasingly extreme climate events and related disasters. It may even contribute to inter-regional disparities as a result of these events. To promote sustainable development, this study offers a case study of developmental planning in Chiayi, Taiwan and a review of the relevant literature to propose a framework of social vulnerability indicators at the township level. The proposed framework can not only be used to measure the social vulnerability of individual townships in Chiayi, but also be used to capture the spatial developmental of Chiayi. Seventeen social vulnerability indicators provide information in five dimensions. Owing to limited access to relevant data, the values of only 13 indicators were calculated. By simply summarizing indicators without using weightings and by using zero-mean normalization to standardize the indicators, this study calculates social vulnerability scores for each township. To make social vulnerability indicators more useful, this study performs an overlay analysis of social vulnerability and patterns of risk associated with national disasters. The social vulnerability analysis draws on secondary data for 2012 from Taiwan's National Geographic Information System. The second layer of analysis consists of the flood potential ratings of the Taiwan Water Resources Agency as an index of biophysical vulnerability. The third layer consists of township-level administrative boundaries. Analytical results reveal that four out of the 18 townships in Chiayi not only are vulnerable to large-scale flooding during serious flood events, but also have the highest degree of social vulnerability. Administrative boundaries, on which social vulnerability is based, do not correspond precisely to “cross-administrative boundaries,” which are characteristics of the natural environment. This study

  14. Sustainability, Indicators, and Institutions of Higher Education. Chapter 42

    Science.gov (United States)

    Indicators of commitment to sustainability commonly applied to institutions of higher education provide no estimate of the actual effects that these institutions have on the persistence or prevalence of the socioecological systems that encompass them. Emergy methodology provides ...

  15. Indicators of sustainable capacity building for health research: analysis of four African case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bates, Imelda; Taegtmeyer, Miriam; Squire, S Bertel; Ansong, Daniel; Nhlema-Simwaka, Bertha; Baba, Amuda; Theobald, Sally

    2011-03-28

    Despite substantial investment in health capacity building in developing countries, evaluations of capacity building effectiveness are scarce. By analysing projects in Africa that had successfully built sustainable capacity, we aimed to identify evidence that could indicate that capacity building was likely to be sustainable. Four projects were selected as case studies using pre-determined criteria, including the achievement of sustainable capacity. By mapping the capacity building activities in each case study onto a framework previously used for evaluating health research capacity in Ghana, we were able to identify activities that were common to all projects. We used these activities to derive indicators which could be used in other projects to monitor progress towards building sustainable research capacity. Indicators of sustainable capacity building increased in complexity as projects matured and included- early engagement of stakeholders; explicit plans for scale up; strategies for influencing policies; quality assessments (awareness and experiential stages)- improved resources; institutionalisation of activities; innovation (expansion stage)- funding for core activities secured; management and decision-making led by southern partners (consolidation stage).Projects became sustainable after a median of 66 months. The main challenges to achieving sustainability were high turnover of staff and stakeholders, and difficulties in embedding new activities into existing systems, securing funding and influencing policy development. Our indicators of sustainable capacity building need to be tested prospectively in a variety of projects to assess their usefulness. For each project the evidence required to show that indicators have been achieved should evolve with the project and they should be determined prospectively in collaboration with stakeholders.

  16. 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.

  17. How to use composite indicator and linear programming model for determine sustainable tourism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziaabadi, Maryam; Malakootian, Mohammad; Zare Mehrjerdi, Mohammad Reza; Jalaee, Seied Abdolmajid; Mehrabi Boshrabadi, Hosein

    2017-01-01

    The tourism industry which is one of the most dynamic economic activities in today's world plays a significant role in the sustainable development. Therefore, in addition to paying attention to tourism, sustainable tourism must be taken into huge account; otherwise, the environment and its health will be damaged irreparably. To determine the level of sustainability in this study, indicators of sustainable tourism were first presented in three environmental health, economic and social aspects. Then, the levels of sustainable tourism and environmental sustainability were practically measured in different cities of Kerman Province using a composite indicator, a linear programming model, Delphi method and the questionnaire technique. Finally, the study cities (tourist attractions) were ranked. Result of this study showed that unfortunately the tourism opportunities were not used appropriately in these cities and tourist destinations, and that environmental aspect (health and environmental sustainability) had very bad situations compared to social and economic aspects. In other words, environmental health had the lowest levels of sustainability. The environment is a place for all human activities like tourism, social and economic issues; therefore, its stability and health is of great importance. Thus, it is necessary to pay more attention to sustainability of activities, management and environmental health in planning sustainable development in regional and national policy.

  18. 78 FR 22277 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request Office of Sustainable Housing...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-15

    ... Information Collection: Comment Request Office of Sustainable Housing Communities Progress Report Template AGENCY: Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC), HUD. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The proposed... Sustainable Communities Initiative to improve regional planning efforts that integrate housing and...

  19. 76 FR 56780 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Capacity Building for Sustainable...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-14

    ... Information Collection: Comment Request; Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program: Notice of... public comments on the subject proposal. The Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program... also lists the following information: Title of Proposal: Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities...

  20. Measuring Sustainable Indigenous Tourism Indicators: A Case of Mah Meri Ethnic Group in Carey Island, Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Puvaneswaran Kunasekaran

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable tourism emphasises responsible utilisation of economic, socio-cultural and environmental resources for tourism development. Extant literature in sustainable tourism leans towards subjective and qualitative description in explaining the dynamic nature of the trans-disciplinary indicators of sustainability. However, few mechanisms have been proposed or developed to quantify the indicators measuring sustainable tourism in an indigenous ethnic context. The current study measures 61 sustainable indigenous tourism indicators of the Mah Meri ethnic group that comprise three constructs, namely, community resources, community development and sustainable tourism. Simple random sampling was employed for data elicitation and a weighted average score using R software as the basis of analysis was used to produce a sustainable indigenous tourism barometer (SITB. The study identifies 11 sustainability dimensions from the initial three main constructs that are treated as the relationship aspects in this study. Based on the Sustainable Indigenous Tourism Barometer (SITB, community participation, empowerment, economic and socio-cultural sustainability are found to be the main influencing dimensions of sustainability of the Mah Meri ethnic group. However, natural resources, financial resources and environmental sustainability indicated weaker relationships in explaining sustainability of the Mah Meri ethnic group. Based on the SITB, the results demonstrate that the Mah Meri ethnic group are a “potential sustainable” tourism stakeholder.

  1. Sustainability of green jobs in Portugal: a methodological approach using occupational health indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreira, Sandra; Vasconcelos, Lia; Silva Santos, Carlos

    2017-09-28

    This study aimed to develop a methodological tool to analyze and monitor the green jobs in the context of Occupational Health and Safety. A literature review in combination with an investigation of Occupational Health Indicators was performed. The resulting tool of Occupational Health Indicators was based on the existing information of "Single Report" and was validated by national's experts. The tool brings together 40 Occupational Health Indicators in four key fields established by World Health Organization in their conceptual framework "Health indicators of sustainable jobs." The tool proposed allows for assessing if the green jobs enabled to follow the principles and requirements of Occupational Health Indicators and if these jobs are as good for the environment as for the workers' health, so if they can be considered quality jobs. This shows that Occupational Health Indicators are indispensable for the assessment of the sustainability of green jobs and should be taken into account in the definition and evaluation of policies and strategies of the sustainable development.

  2. Assessment of the indicator of sustainable development for radioactive waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, J. H.; Park, W. J.

    2003-01-01

    As a follow up to the agenda 21's policy statement for safe management of radioactive waste adopted at Rio Conference held in 1992, the UN invited the IAEA to develop and implement indicators of sustainable development for the management of radioactive waste. The IAEA finalized the indicators in 2002, and is planning to calculate the member states' values of indicator in connection with operation of its Net-Enabled Waste Management Database system. In this paper, the basis for introducing the indicators into the radioactive waste management was analyzed, and calculation methodology and standard assessment procedure were simply depicted. According to the proposed standard procedure, the indicators for some countries including Korea were calculated and compared, by use of each country's radioactive waste management framework and its practices. In addition, a series of measures increasing the values of the indicators was derived so as to enhance the sustainability of domestic radioactive waste management program

  3. The integrated indicator of sustainable urban development based on standardization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonova Tatiana

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper justifies the necessity for the system of planned indicators for sustainable urban development design in accordance with the requirements of international standards and the Russian standard GOST R ISO 37120-2015, and the estimation of their actual achievement based on complex qualimetric models. An analysis of opinions on this issue and an overview of Russian normative documents for assessing the effectiveness of the municipalities, including urban development are presented. General methodological principles and sequence for the construction of qualimetric models, as well as formulas for the calculation of complex indicators, taking into account the specific weights obtained on the basis of expert assessment, are presented, the need for careful selection of experts and determination of the consistency of expert opinions is indicated. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach are shown. Conclusions are drawn on the use of qualimetric models for sustainable urban development.

  4. Better, but good enough? Indicators for absolute environmental sustainability in a life cycle perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjørn, Anders; Richardson, Katherine

    An increasing focus on sustainability has led to proliferation of the use of environmental indicators to guide various types of decisions, from individual consumer choices to policy making at the national, regional and global scale. Most environmental indicators are relative, meaning that quantif......An increasing focus on sustainability has led to proliferation of the use of environmental indicators to guide various types of decisions, from individual consumer choices to policy making at the national, regional and global scale. Most environmental indicators are relative, meaning...... that quantified environmental interferences of a studied anthropogenic system (a product, a company, a city, etc.) are compared to those of chosen anthropogenic systems of reference. The use of relative indicators can give the impression that societies are moving towards environmental sustainability when...... that society-nature interactions in many cases are environmentally unsustainable and that the level of unsustainability may be increasing over time. A clear rationale therefore exists for developing and using absolute environmental sustainability indicators (AESI) that not only can identify the anthropogenic...

  5. 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.

  6. DEVELOPING SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN TIETÊ-JACARÉ BASIN, BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele de Almeida Corrêa

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a tool to assist in developing water resources management, focusing on the sustainability concept, by a Basin Committee. This tool consists of a Set of Sustainability Indicators for Water Resources Management denominated CISGRH, which was identified by a conceptual and empirical review to meet the specific needs of the study herein - the Basin Committee of Tietê-Jacaré Rivers (CBH-TJ. The framework of CISGRH came about through consecutive consultation processes. In the first consultation the priority problems were identified for the study objectives, listing some possible management sustainability indicators. These preliminary indicators were also submitted to academic specialists and technicians working in CBH-TJ for a new consultation process. After these consultation stages, the CISGRH analysis and structuring were introduced. To verify the indicators’ adaptation and to compose a group as proposed by the study, these were classified according to specific sustainability principles for water resources management. The objective of the CISGRH implementation is to diagnose current conditions of water resources and its management, as well as to evaluate future conditions evidenced by tendencies and interventions undertaken by the committee.

  7. DEVELOPING SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN TIETÊ-JACARÉ BASIN, BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele de Almeida Corrêa

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a tool to assist in developing water resources management, focusing on the sustainability concept, by a Basin Committee. This tool consists of a set of sustainability indicators for water resources management denominated CISGRH, which was identified by a conceptual and empirical review to meet the specific needs of the study herein - the basin committee of Tietê-J acaré Rivers (CBH-TJ. The framework of CISGRH came about through consecutive consultation processes. In the first consultation, the priority problems were identified for the study objectives, listing some possible management sustainability indicators. These preliminary indicators were also submitted to academic specialists and technicians working in CBH-TJ for a new consultation process. After these consultation stages, the CISGRH analysis and structuring were introduced. To verify the indicators’ adaptation and to compose a group as proposed by the study, these were classified according to specific sustainability principles for water resources management. The objective of the CISGRH implementation is to diagnose current conditions of water resources and its management, as well as to evaluate future conditions evidenced by tendencies and interventions undertaken by the committee.

  8. Introduction to the Special Collection of Papers on the San Luis Basin Sustainability Metrics Project: A Methodology for Evaluating Regional Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    This paper introduces a collection of four articles describing the San Luis Basin Sustainability Metrics Project. The Project developed a methodology for evaluating regional sustainability. This introduction provides the necessary background information for the project, descripti...

  9. Indicadores de sustentabilidade em medicina laboratorial Sustainability indicators in laboratory medicine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Diório Uliani

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available O artigo apresenta os princípios conceituais sobre desenvolvimento sustentável, sustentabilidade e avalia a evolução e os impactos na economia, no meio ambiente e na sociedade. Discutem-se a aplicabilidade dos conceitos de sustentabilidade empresarial na medicina laboratorial e os desafios inerentes à implantação no laboratório clínico. O impacto dos indicadores de sustentabilidade e seu papel no processo de gestão também são analisados criticamente sob a ótica do balanço socioambiental. O texto apresenta ainda algumas ferramentas para avaliação e interpretação dos indicadores e sua aplicação no processo de análise crítica. Finalmente, o artigo descreve a importância dos indicadores de sustentabilidade na prática do benchmarking e sua aplicabilidade no laboratório clínicoThe article presents the conceptual principles on sustainable development and sustainability. Furthermore, it evaluates the progress and impacts on the economy, environment and society. It discusses the applicability of the concepts of corporate sustainability in laboratory medicine and the challenges of deployment in the clinical laboratory. The impact of sustainability indicators and their role in management are also critically reviewed from the perspective of social and environmental balance. Additionally, the text provides some tools for evaluation and interpretation of indicators and their corresponding application in the critical analysis process. Lastly, the article describes the importance of sustainability indicators in the practice of benchmarking and its applicability in the clinical laboratory

  10. Sustainability on the urban scale: Proposal of a structure of indicators for the Spanish context

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Braulio-Gonzalo, Marta, E-mail: braulio@uji.es; Bovea, María Dolores, E-mail: bovea@uji.es; Ruá, María José, E-mail: rua@uji.es

    2015-07-15

    Some efforts to assess sustainability on the urban scale have been made and different tools for measuring the impact on and caused by cities have emerged. However, the sustainability concept varies from region to region, and indicators to measure it should be suitable for the context-specific conditions of the region under study. After doing a comprehensive review of the indicators included in 13 tools developed to assess urban sustainability of cities, this article proposes a new structure of indicators adapted to a Mediterranean city in Spain. The proposed structure is based on a two-level scheme that consists in 14 categories and 63 subcategories, which agglutinate urban sustainability indicators according to their purpose. This structure suggests a set of comprehensible qualitative and quantitative indicators that are easily applicable on neighbourhood or city scales. Given the similar features of Mediterranean countries in terms of environmental and socio-economic aspects, the proposed structure could be extrapolated to other countries with climatic and cultural similarities. Otherwise, the system is a useful tool in the decision-making process to help the different stakeholders involved in new urban developments and regeneration projects in existing neighbourhoods, such as developers, urban planners and public administrations. - Highlights: • Comprehensive review of 13 urban sustainability assessment tools • Proposal of a two-level structure to cluster urban sustainability indicators • Inclusion of sustainability criteria for urban planning projects and interventions.

  11. Sustainability on the urban scale: Proposal of a structure of indicators for the Spanish context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braulio-Gonzalo, Marta; Bovea, María Dolores; Ruá, María José

    2015-01-01

    Some efforts to assess sustainability on the urban scale have been made and different tools for measuring the impact on and caused by cities have emerged. However, the sustainability concept varies from region to region, and indicators to measure it should be suitable for the context-specific conditions of the region under study. After doing a comprehensive review of the indicators included in 13 tools developed to assess urban sustainability of cities, this article proposes a new structure of indicators adapted to a Mediterranean city in Spain. The proposed structure is based on a two-level scheme that consists in 14 categories and 63 subcategories, which agglutinate urban sustainability indicators according to their purpose. This structure suggests a set of comprehensible qualitative and quantitative indicators that are easily applicable on neighbourhood or city scales. Given the similar features of Mediterranean countries in terms of environmental and socio-economic aspects, the proposed structure could be extrapolated to other countries with climatic and cultural similarities. Otherwise, the system is a useful tool in the decision-making process to help the different stakeholders involved in new urban developments and regeneration projects in existing neighbourhoods, such as developers, urban planners and public administrations. - Highlights: • Comprehensive review of 13 urban sustainability assessment tools • Proposal of a two-level structure to cluster urban sustainability indicators • Inclusion of sustainability criteria for urban planning projects and interventions

  12. INDICATORS FOR DIGITALIZATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN PEEX PROGRAM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey N. Bobylev

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This article describes the Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX program and indicators for monitoring of implementation and digitalization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG inRussia, especially environmental goals. The authors considered the possibility of integration and identification of the methodological approaches of the socio-economic research to environmental sciences. Paper gives insights into the international framework of the United nations, addreses several relevant indicators to be monitored in a Russian perspective and summarizes shortly the status of the monitoring activities and provide an overview on the main tasks for the upcoming years to reach the sustainable development goals established by the United Nations. The tasks to which the Goals divided are considered in detail. The indicators of Russian statistics that can be used to monitor the implementation of these tasks are determined. It is shown, that more detailed regional analysis and new data is needed in order to quantify the feedbackloops.

  13. Canadian environmental sustainability indicators 2006

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-01-01

    In 2004, the Canadian government committed to reporting annual national indicators of air quality, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and freshwater quality in order to provide Canadians with more regular and consistent information on the state of the environment and how it is linked with human activities. The national air quality indicators in this report focused on human exposure to ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ). The report showed that from 1990 to 2004, the ozone indicator showed year-to-year variability, with an averaged increase of 0.9 per cent per year. Stations in southern Ontario reported the highest levels of ozone and PM 2.5 in the country in 2004. There was no discernible upward or downward trend in PM 2.5 levels at the national level for the 2000 to 2004 period, and GHG emissions rose 27 per cent from 1990 to 2004. In 2004, emissions were 35 per cent above the target to which Canada committed under the Kyoto Protocol. However, while total emissions rose, emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 14 per cent from 1990 to 2004. GHG emissions also grew faster than the Canadian population, resulting in a 10 per cent rise in emissions per person. The freshwater quality indicator presented in this report covered the period from 2002 to 2004, and focused on the ability of Canada's surface waters to support aquatic life. For the 340 sites selected across southern Canada, water quality was rated as good or excellent at 44 per cent of sites, fair at 34 per cent of sites, and marginal or poor at 22 per cent of sites. The report included a chapter which attempted to integrate the indicators with other environmental impacts, measures of economic performance, and indices of social progress to improve the ability of the report to influence decision-making that fully accounts for environmental sustainability. 63 refs., 18 figs

  14. Ability to Discriminate Between Sustainable and Unsustainable Heat Stress Exposures-Part 2: Physiological Indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garzón-Villalba, Ximena P; Wu, Yougui; Ashley, Candi D; Bernard, Thomas E

    2017-07-01

    There are times when it is not practical to assess heat stress using environmental metrics and metabolic rate, and heat strain may provide an alternative approach. Heat strain indicators have been used for decades as tools for monitoring physiological responses to work in hot environments. Common indicators of heat strain are body core temperature (assessed here as rectal temperature Tre), heart rate (HR), and average skin temperature (Tsk). Data collected from progressive heat stress trials were used to (1) demonstrate if physiological heat strain indicators (PHSIs) at the upper limit of Sustainable heat stress were below generally accepted limits; (2) suggest values for PHSIs that demonstrate a Sustainable level of heat stress; (3) suggest alternative PHSIs; and (4) determine if metabolic rate was an effect modifier. Two previous progressive heat stress studies included 176 trials with 352 pairs of Sustainable and Unsustainable exposures over a range of relative humidities and metabolic rates using 29 participants. To assess the discrimination ability of PHSIs, conditional logistic regression and stepwise logistic regression were used to find the best combinations of predictors of Unsustainable exposures. The accuracy of the models was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves. Current recommendations for physiological heat strain limits were associated with probabilities of Unsustainable greater than 0.5. Screening limits for Sustainable heat stress were Tre of 37.5°C, HR of 105 bpm, and Tsk of 35.8°C. Tsk alone resulted in an area under the curve of 0.85 and the combination of Tsk and HR (area under the curve = 0.88) performed the best. The adjustment for metabolic rate was statistically significant for physiological strain index or ∆Tre-sk as main predictors, but its effect modification was negligible and could be ignored. Based on the receiver operating characteristic curve, PHSIs (Tre, HR, and Tsk) can accurately predict Unsustainable heat

  15. Analyzing sustainability reporting by best performing companies in global sustainability indices — Describing the contents and appearance of the reports

    OpenAIRE

    Fagerström, Pia Helena Kristina

    2016-01-01

    The main subjects of this research are corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability reporting. The aim of this study is to describe the contents and appearance of some of the most sustainable companies' sustainability reports. The leaders in CSR were selected from five well known global sustainability indices. A total of 29 companies' CSR reports from different industries and countries were selected for the study. Additional nine companies were included in the analysis of the best...

  16. A Kantian approach to a sustainable development indicator for climate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Greaker, Mads; Stoknes, Per Espen; Alfsen, Knut H.; Ericson, Torgeir

    2012-11-01

    How can the informed citizen know if the government is implementing a good-enough climate change policy? Most developed democracies have their own set of indicators for sustainable development, including indicators for climate change. These include yearly national emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), global concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere and time series for global temperatures. However, without some kind of benchmark neither national emissions of GHGs nor global concentration of GHGs or temperatures, make it possible for the general public to evaluate the current climate policy of a nation state. In this paper we propose a benchmark for national climate policy based on a remaining Co2 budget allocated by egalitarian principles. Moreover, based on Kantian ethics we argue that this benchmark should be used as a sustainable development indicator for climate change. One way of interpreting Kantian ethics is to demand that each nation state should act as if a just global treaty on climate change were in place. We discuss possible important elements in a global treaty, and show how the different elements can be integrated in a forward-looking indicator of national climate policy.(auth)

  17. 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

  18. Applying of the Agenda 21 and evaluating of the indicators of the sustainable development in the Slovak Republic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-01-01

    In the Slovak Republic the Agenda 21 and The Strategy, principles and priorities of the state environmental policy were accepted. In the Appendix 1 the selected 132 indicators of the sustainable development in the Slovak Republic and their warrantors are described. In the Appendix 2 the chapters of the Agenda 21 and their warrantors in the Slovak Republic are included. They are grouped into for groups (and 40 chapters): (1) The social indicators of the sustainable development; (2) The economic indicators of the sustainable development; (3) The environmental indicators of the sustainable development. (4) The institutional indicators of the sustainable development

  19. Correlation analysis of energy indicators for sustainable development using multivariate statistical techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carneiro, Alvaro Luiz Guimaraes; Santos, Francisco Carlos Barbosa dos

    2007-01-01

    Energy is an essential input for social development and economic growth. The production and use of energy cause environmental degradation at all levels, being local, regional and global such as, combustion of fossil fuels causing air pollution; hydropower often causes environmental damage due to the submergence of large areas of land; and global climate change associated with the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. As mentioned in chapter 9 of Agenda 21, the Energy is essential to economic and social development and improved quality of life. Much of the world's energy, however, is currently produced and consumed in ways that could not be sustained if technologies were remain constant and if overall quantities were to increase substantially. All energy sources will need to be used in ways that respect the atmosphere, human health, and the environment as a whole. The energy in the context of sustainable development needs a set of quantifiable parameters, called indicators, to measure and monitor important changes and significant progress towards the achievement of the objectives of sustainable development policies. The indicators are divided into four dimensions: social, economic, environmental and institutional. This paper shows a methodology of analysis using Multivariate Statistical Technique that provide the ability to analyse complex sets of data. The main goal of this study is to explore the correlation analysis among the indicators. The data used on this research work, is an excerpt of IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica) data census. The core indicators used in this study follows The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) framework: Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development. (author)

  20. “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

  1. Collective Trust: A Social Indicator of Instructional Capacity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Curt M.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test the validity of using collective trust as a social indicator of instructional capacity. Design/methodology/approach: A hypothesized model was advanced for the empirical investigation. Collective trust was specified as a latent construct with observable indicators being principal trust in faculty (PTF),…

  2. An Integrated Model Based on a Hierarchical Indices System for Monitoring and Evaluating Urban Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xulin Guo

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Over 50% of world’s population presently resides in cities, and this number is expected to rise to ~70% by 2050. Increasing urbanization problems including population growth, urban sprawl, land use change, unemployment, and environmental degradation, have markedly impacted urban residents’ Quality of Life (QOL. Therefore, urban sustainability and its measurement have gained increasing attention from administrators, urban planners, and scientific communities throughout the world with respect to improving urban development and human well-being. The widely accepted definition of urban sustainability emphasizes the balancing development of three primary domains (urban economy, society, and environment. This article attempts to improve the aforementioned definition of urban sustainability by incorporating a human well-being dimension. Major problems identified in existing urban sustainability indicator (USI models include a weak integration of potential indicators, poor measurement and quantification, and insufficient spatial-temporal analysis. To tackle these challenges an integrated USI model based on a hierarchical indices system was established for monitoring and evaluating urban sustainability. This model can be performed by quantifying indicators using both traditional statistical approaches and advanced geomatic techniques based on satellite imagery and census data, which aims to provide a theoretical basis for a comprehensive assessment of urban sustainability from a spatial-temporal perspective.

  3. A Real-Time Recording Model of Key Indicators for Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions of Sustainable Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weiwei Wu

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Buildings’ sustainability is one of the crucial parts for achieving urban sustainability. Applied to buildings, life-cycle assessment encompasses the analysis and assessment of the environmental effects of building materials, components and assemblies throughout the entire life of the building construction, use and demolition. Estimate of carbon emissions is essential and crucial for an accurate and reasonable life-cycle assessment. Addressing the need for more research into integrating analysis of real-time and automatic recording of key indicators for a more accurate calculation and comparison, this paper aims to design a real-time recording model of these crucial indicators concerning the calculation and estimation of energy use and carbon emissions of buildings based on a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID-based system. The architecture of the RFID-based carbon emission recording/tracking system, which contains four functional layers including data record layer, data collection/update layer, data aggregation layer and data sharing/backup layer, is presented. Each of these layers is formed by RFID or network devices and sub-systems that operate at a specific level. In the end, a proof-of-concept system is developed to illustrate the implementation of the proposed architecture and demonstrate the feasibility of the design. This study would provide the technical solution for real-time recording system of building carbon emissions and thus is of great significance and importance to improve urban sustainability.

  4. A Real-Time Recording Model of Key Indicators for Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions of Sustainable Buildings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Weiwei; Yang, Huanjia; Chew, David; Hou, Yanhong; Li, Qiming

    2014-01-01

    Buildings' sustainability is one of the crucial parts for achieving urban sustainability. Applied to buildings, life-cycle assessment encompasses the analysis and assessment of the environmental effects of building materials, components and assemblies throughout the entire life of the building construction, use and demolition. Estimate of carbon emissions is essential and crucial for an accurate and reasonable life-cycle assessment. Addressing the need for more research into integrating analysis of real-time and automatic recording of key indicators for a more accurate calculation and comparison, this paper aims to design a real-time recording model of these crucial indicators concerning the calculation and estimation of energy use and carbon emissions of buildings based on a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-based system. The architecture of the RFID-based carbon emission recording/tracking system, which contains four functional layers including data record layer, data collection/update layer, data aggregation layer and data sharing/backup layer, is presented. Each of these layers is formed by RFID or network devices and sub-systems that operate at a specific level. In the end, a proof-of-concept system is developed to illustrate the implementation of the proposed architecture and demonstrate the feasibility of the design. This study would provide the technical solution for real-time recording system of building carbon emissions and thus is of great significance and importance to improve urban sustainability. PMID:24831109

  5. Performance Indicator Framework for Evaluation of Sustainable Tourism in the Taiwan Coastal Zone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shih-Hao Wang

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Surrounded by the ocean, Taiwan has been increasingly developing coastal tourism projects. Concerns that negative impacts might be brought about by prosperous tourism have resulted in a recent focus on sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism involves policies that acknowledge the interdependences among the environment, the community, and the economy. The goal of sustainable tourism is to enhance and protect the environment while satisfying basic human requirements, as well as those of the contemporary and future tourism industries to improve quality of life. On the other hand, unsustainable coastal tourism might undermine the natural environment and society, resulting in air, water, and soil pollution, wildlife habitat disruption, and changes of local community cultural characteristics. Therefore, performance evaluation of coastal tourism, using an indicator framework to facilitate sustainable development and enhance the effectiveness of coastal resources exploitation, is critical. Through a literature review and expert surveys using the methods of the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP, this study builds a performance indicator framework and identifies the key factors affecting the sustainable development of coastal tourism in Taiwan. The results can serve as a reference for the public sector to be used for the sustainable planning and development of coastal tourism.

  6. 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.

  7. Using Sustainability Metrics and Indicators to Design Sustainable Supply Chains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sustainability is widely associated with the statement from the World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987: “… development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs…” Hence, sustainability is abo...

  8. Market efficiency of traditional stock market indices and social responsible indices: the role of sustainability reporting

    OpenAIRE

    Henry Mynhardt; Inna Makarenko; Alex Plastun

    2017-01-01

    Corporate social responsibility, disclosed in sustainability reporting, influences the financial performance of companies. As a result, traditional stock market indices (TI) are expanded with the social responsible stock market indices (SRI). The aim of this study was to establish whether there are any differences in the behavior of the TI and SRI. To do this, the authors analyzed their efficiency. They used R/S analysis to calculate the Hurst exponent as a measure of persistence (long-term m...

  9. 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.

  10. 76 FR 71996 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Capacity Building for Sustainable...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-21

    ... Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program AGENCY... proposal. The Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program (Program), through a Notice of Funding...: Title of Proposal: Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program OMB Approval Number: 2501-0026...

  11. Building and Sustaining Digital Collections: Models for Libraries and Museums.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Council on Library and Information Resources, Washington, DC.

    In February 2001, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) and the National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH) convened a meeting to discuss how museums and libraries are building digital collections and what business models are available to sustain them. A group of museum and library senior executives met with…

  12. National indicators of the ecological transition towards a sustainable development. 2015-2020: first statement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nirascou, Francoise; Kleiber, Florence; Mosdale, Lauren; Moreau, Sylvain; Bottin, Anne; Baudu-Baret, Claude

    2016-03-01

    The national strategy for the ecological transition towards sustainable development 2015-2020 was adopted by the French Government in February 2015 to set the political course in matters of sustainable development for France. The strategy defines public policies guidelines to engage in the ecological transition. Four key environmental challenges are outlined in the strategy and some other nine transverse goals describe the priority actions. This synthesis report is the initial assessment of the national strategy's monitoring indicators. The overall picture of this set of indicators shows strong contrasts. The situation is concerning with regards to the four key environmental challenges: climate change, accelerated loss of biodiversity, resource scarcity, increased health risks. On the other hand, indicators related to the transverse goals of the strategy demonstrate the development of good practices steering towards a sustainable development. More specifically, the goals with good perspectives are: inequalities reduction, economic activities transformation, knowledge production and innovation, training and raising awareness, stakeholders' mobilization; and sustainable and resilient territories development. The picture doesn't appear as bright for the aims of engaging in a circular and low-carbon economy, inventing new economic and financial models and especially promoting sustainable development at European and international levels. With this initial assessment as a reference, the monitoring of the strategy's indicators over the next few years will enable to estimate to what extent the pursuit of good practices will lead to a positive evolution of the key environmental challenges. This synthetic review of the first results completes the more detailed reading of the indicators on the official web site dedicated to statistics of the Ministry in charge of Ecology, Energy and the Sea: http://www.statistiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/indicateurs-indices

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  14. Key characteristics for tool choice in indicator-based sustainability assessment at farm level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fleur Marchand

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Although the literature on sustainability assessment tools to support decision making in agriculture is rapidly growing, little attention has been paid to the actual tool choice. We focused on the choice of more complex integrated indicator-based tools at the farm level. The objective was to determine key characteristics as criteria for tool choice. This was done with an in-depth comparison of 2 cases: the Monitoring Tool for Integrated Farm Sustainability and the Public Goods Tool. They differ in characteristics that may influence tool choice: data, time, and budgetary requirements. With an enhanced framework, we derived 11 key characteristics to describe differences between the case tools. Based on the key characteristics, we defined 2 types of indicator-based tools: full sustainability assessment (FSA and rapid sustainability assessment (RSA. RSA tools are more oriented toward communicating and learning. They are therefore more suitable for use by a larger group of farmers, can help to raise awareness, trigger farmers to become interested in sustainable farming, and highlight areas of good or bad performance. If and when farmers increase their commitment to on-farm sustainability, they can gain additional insight by using an FSA tool. Based on complementary and modular use of the tools, practical recommendations for the different end users, i.e., researchers, farmers, advisers, and so forth, have been suggested.

  15. On the right path? Indicators for sustainable development 2010; Paa rett vei? Indikatorer for baerekraftig utvikling 2012

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brunvoll, Frode; Smith, Tone

    2010-07-01

    This report presents an updated set of sustainable development indicators and describes the development of the indicators together with relevant supplementary information. Whilst compiling the report, we have had an effective collaboration with a number of institutions, which have supplied data and assessments for the various subject areas. A number of divisions and departments in Statistics Norway have made contributions to their respective specialist areas. The main responsibility for compiling the report has rested with the Division for environmental statistics in the Department of economics, energy and the environment. The report has been edited by senior advisers Frode Brunvoll and Tone Smith. The Norwegian strategy for sustainable development covers six policy areas: International cooperation for sustainable development and combating poverty, Climate, ozone and long-range air pollution, Biodiversity and cultural heritage, Natural resources, Hazardous chemicals, and Sustainable economic and social development. From one to six indicators are presented within each of these areas; 18 in total. The indicators are intended to provide important information on the condition and development of the different areas. Some of the indicators also point to critical factors in relation to sustainable development. Simultaneous to this, the question on sustainable development is so complex that the 18 indicators cannot throw light on all challenges. This report therefore includes supplementary information in the form of additional indicators.(Author)

  16. Sustainability indices as a tool for urban managers, evidence from four medium-sized Chinese cities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dijk, Meine Pieter van; Zhang Mingshun

    2005-01-01

    This research in four medium-sized Chinese cities aims at measuring urban sustainability in China and focuses on three issues. First, the situation in these four cities with regard to urban sustainability is evaluated. Secondly, a number of relations between different aspects of urban sustainability is explored. Finally, it is indicated how urban managers can improve with sustainability indices as tools currently ineffective urban management practices. Although all four cities are moving towards sustainable development, the current situation shows still weak sustainability in three, and even non-sustainability in one city. The social and, in particular, the economic dimensions of urban sustainability make significant positive contributions to overall urban sustainability. However, the decline of natural resources and environmental degradation are influencing it negatively. It is therefore suggested that more priority should be assigned to urban environmental protection and management in China. The fundamental reason for environmental degradation is believed to be inefficient urban management. To implement effective urban management in China, there is an urgent need to redefine the role of local government, reform local organizational structure, enhance local participatory institutional capacity, properly distribute the urban welfare, and thus integrate economic, social and environmental objectives local strategic and action plans

  17. AREVA sustainable development indicators guidelines; Guide methodologique des indicateurs developpement durable AREVA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2003-12-01

    These guidelines set out the procedures used to measure and report the sustainable development and continuous progress data and indicators used within the Areva Group. It defines the scope of the guide, the list of indicators, the measurement and calculation procedures, the internal and external audits. (A.L.B.)

  18. Applying Spatial Indicators to Support Sustainable Urban Futures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petrov, Laura Oana; Shahumyan, Harutyun; Williams, Brendan

    2013-01-01

    structural analysis, FRAGSTATS, and ArcGIS software packages. The developed indicators form a valuable and complementary addition to the planning and policy process due to their interdisciplinary and practical nature. They were elaborated based on discussions with scientists, policy-makers and stakeholders......Indicators are helpful tools for land use management, particularly in the context of sustainable urban development. Together with scenarios they are a key requirement in order to produce information for stakeholders and policy-makers and aid their understanding of development processes. Using...... these information products and tools, policy-makers can be given the opportunity to spatially interrogate the driving forces and the current state of urban development. Understanding how trends will develop in the future and the possible impacts of their decisions on the development process is vital...

  19. Canadian environmental sustainability indicators: highlights 2005

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-12-01

    plants, invertebrates and fish. This new indicator uses the Water Quality Index, endorsed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, to summarize the extent to which water quality guidelines are exceeded in Canadian rivers and lakes. These Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators supplement traditional health and economic measures, such as gross domestic product, so that Canadians can better understand the relationships that exist among the economy, the environment, and human health and well-being. They are intended to help those in government responsible for developing policy and measuring performance, as well as offering all Canadians more information about the trends in their environment. (author)

  20. Indicator based sustainability analysis of future energy situation of Santiago de Chile

    OpenAIRE

    Stelzer, Volker; Quintero, Adriana; Vargas, Luis; Paredes, Gonzalo; Simon, Sonja; Nienhaus, Kristina; Kopfmüller, Jürgen

    2014-01-01

    Up to now, the Chilean Energy system has fulfilled the energy needs of Santiago de Chile considerably well. However, development trends of the current system impose significant future risks on the energy system. A detailed sustainability analysis of the energy sector of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile was conducted, using selected energy indicators and a distance-to-target approach. Risks for the sustainable development of the energy sector are detected, such...

  1. 78 FR 26639 - Proposed Collection; 60-Day Comment Request: Financial Sustainability of Human Tissue Biobanking...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-07

    ... Comment Request: Financial Sustainability of Human Tissue Biobanking (NCI) Summary: In compliance with the... techniques or other forms of information technology. To Submit Comments and for Further Information: To... this publication. Proposed Collection: Financial Sustainability of Human Tissue Biobanking, 0925-NEW...

  2. STATUS BERKELANJUTAN KOTA TANGERANG SELATAN-BANTEN DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (Sustainable Status of South Tangerang City-Banten Using Key Performance Indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heri Apriyanto

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRAK Pembangunan kota yang tidak terkendali akan mengakibatkan tekanan terhadap lingkungan dan beban masyarakat meningkat, sebaliknya degradasi lingkungan akan mengakibatkan pembatasan pengembangan ekonomi dan penurunan kualitas hidup. Guna mencegah terjadinya dampak-dampak negatif, maka diperlukan prinsip-prinsip pembangunan kota yang berkelanjutan. Evaluasi terhadap pelaksanan pembangunan kota yang berkelanjutan perlu dilakukan untuk mengetahui apakah pembangunan suatu kota sudah atau belum/tidak berkelanjutan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyusun Key Performance Indicators (KPI guna menilai status pembangunan kota berkelanjutan. Perumusan KPI ini dilakukan dengan pendekatan Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. KPI yang dihasilkan terdiri dari 21 indikator dan 9 elemen dari 3 pilar pembangunan berkelanjutan (ekonomi, sosial, dan lingkungan. Implementasi KPI dilakukan untuk pengukuran status keberlanjutan Kota Tangerang Selatan. Hasil pengukuran menunjukkan bahwa kota ini termasuk dalam tahap awal pembangunan berkelanjutan. Secara umum perkembangan ekonomi dan sosial relatif cukup baik, namun tidak demikian dengan kondisi lingkungannya. ABSTRACT Uncontrolled urban development will result in pressure on the environment and the burden of the people. On the contrary, environmental degradation will lead to restricted economic development and decreased quality of life. In order to prevent negative impacts, it is necessary to implement the principles of sustainable city development. Evaluation of the implementation of sustainable city development is needed to determine whether the development of a city is sustainable or not. This study aimed to develop Key Performance Indicators (KPI to assess the status of sustainable city development. The formulation of KPI is done with Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. KPI generated consists of 21 indicators and 9 elements of the 3 pillars of sustainable development (economic, social, and environmental

  3. Ranking of Sustainability Indicators for Assessment of the New Housing Development Projects: Case of the Baltic States

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Tupenaite

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development is inconceivable without healthy real estate market. A housing project can be regarded as sustainable only when all the dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social are dealt with. There has been an increased interest in using sustainability indicators for evaluating the impacts of the new development projects. Although international literature is rich in sustainability assessments, there are no tools developed for assessment of new residential projects in the specific context of the Baltic States. Therefore, the aim of this article is to fill this gap and to propose an integrated, hierarchically structured system of sustainability indicators to be used for assessment of the new housing development projects. This aim is achieved through accomplishing three objectives. First, based on a review of literature related to assessing building project performance and sustainable development in construction, the paper proposes an original hierarchically structured system of sustainability indicators suitable for the Baltic context. Second, based on a survey of experts, significances of criteria are estimated by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP method. Finally, paper proposes recommendations to government authorities and real estate developers as to how to enhance the performance of new residential projects according to the principles of sustainability.

  4. Introduction to the special collection of papers on the San Luis Basin Sustainability Metrics Project: a methodology for evaluating regional sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heberling, Matthew T; Hopton, Matthew E

    2012-11-30

    This paper introduces a collection of four articles describing the San Luis Basin Sustainability Metrics Project. The Project developed a methodology for evaluating regional sustainability. This introduction provides the necessary background information for the project, description of the region, overview of the methods, and summary of the results. Although there are a multitude of scientifically based sustainability metrics, many are data intensive, difficult to calculate, and fail to capture all aspects of a system. We wanted to see if we could develop an approach that decision-makers could use to understand if their system was moving toward or away from sustainability. The goal was to produce a scientifically defensible, but straightforward and inexpensive methodology to measure and monitor environmental quality within a regional system. We initiated an interdisciplinary pilot project in the San Luis Basin, south-central Colorado, to test the methodology. The objectives were: 1) determine the applicability of using existing datasets to estimate metrics of sustainability at a regional scale; 2) calculate metrics through time from 1980 to 2005; and 3) compare and contrast the results to determine if the system was moving toward or away from sustainability. The sustainability metrics, chosen to represent major components of the system, were: 1) Ecological Footprint to capture the impact and human burden on the system; 2) Green Net Regional Product to represent economic welfare; 3) Emergy to capture the quality-normalized flow of energy through the system; and 4) Fisher information to capture the overall dynamic order and to look for possible regime changes. The methodology, data, and results of each metric are presented in the remaining four papers of the special collection. Based on the results of each metric and our criteria for understanding the sustainability trends, we find that the San Luis Basin is moving away from sustainability. Although we understand

  5. PROPOSAL OF A MINIMUM SET OF BIOPHYSICAL INDICATORS FOR MONITORING THE SUSTAINABILITY IN AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omar Daniel

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available Agroforestry Systems are considered sustainable alternatives to intensive production systems and due to the scarcity of research work related to the evaluation of sustainability of Agroforestry Systems, selection criteria are proposed which were applied to indicators already known in the pertinent literature. The objective of this paper comprised therefore the use of the smallest group of indicators which would be able to satisfy the requirements for monitoring environmental sustainability of Agroforestry Systems including or not the animal component. The main conclusions were: the category of endogenous resources involved the greatest number of indicators in the biophysical component; the greatest concentration of indicators in the category of endogenous resources is located in the fauna, flora and soil components; the element technical management showed the major occurrence of indicators in the category of operation of the system; all elements of the category of exogenous resources showed about the same number of indicators; the animal component of the Agroforestry Systems require greater number of indicators; the majority of the indicators suggested in this paper depend only upon the direct observations and only a small number need laboratorial analyses; most indicators suggested is cheap and easy to apply; Agroforestry Systems without the animal component are easier and cheapes to monitor.

  6. Indicators and Performance Measures for Transportation, Environment and Sustainability in North America

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, H.

    A study trip to USA and Canada was undertaken in October 2000 with support from the German Marshall Fund. The purpose of the trip was to learn about performance planning and performance indicators in the area of transportation and environment. The report describe findings from the trip in the fol......A study trip to USA and Canada was undertaken in October 2000 with support from the German Marshall Fund. The purpose of the trip was to learn about performance planning and performance indicators in the area of transportation and environment. The report describe findings from the trip...... in the following areas: how performance planning for transportation and environment is conducted in the US and Canada at federal, state and municipal level, to what extent performance planning serve as an instrument to integrate environmental and sustainability goals in transportation policy which specific...... indicators are used to measure the environmental sustainability of transportation systems and policies in the two North American countries....

  7. Irrigation water quality as indicator of sustainable rural development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trajković Slaviša

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The sustainable rural development more and more depends on the efficient usage of water resources. Most often, at least in one part of the year, the rain is not sufficient for plant growth and rain plant production significantly depends on the yearly precipitation variation. The increase and stability of the agricultural production is possible in the irrigation conditions. The most part (around 70% of the global water resources is used for food production. Irrigation water quality indicator is used to show if the available water resources have the required quality for application in agriculture. Irrigation is characterised by the complex water-plant-soil relationship, and in that eco-system the man as the end user of the irrigated fields occupies a very important place. That explains the difficulties in producing one universal classification of irrigation water quality. The paper analyses numerous water quality classifications from the aspect of the applicability on the quantifying of this indicator. The adopted classification should possess understandable, qualified and internationally comparable indicator. Thus, local classifications (Neigebauer, Miljkovic cannot be used for this indicator. United Nation Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO and US Salinity Laboratory (USSL classifications are used for the evaluation of the irrigation water quality throughout the world. FAO classification gives the complex picture of the usability of the irrigation water from the point of its influence on the soil and the plants. However, the scope of the analyses is not often suited to the needs of that classification, which makes it difficult to apply. The conclusion is that the USSL (US Salinity Laboratory classification is best suited to this range of chemical water analyses. The evaluation of the irrigation water quality indicator in the Juzna Morava river basin, upstream from the Toplica river estuary is given in this paper. Based on the obtained

  8. Using DEMATEL approach to develop relationships of performance indicators on sustainable service only supply chain performance measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leksono, EB; Suparno; Vanany, I.

    2018-04-01

    Service only supply chain (SOSC) concept is service supply chain (SSC) implementation on pure services. The globalization and stakeholder pressure makes operation of SSC should give the attention to the environment effect, community, economic and intangibility assets. SOSC performance measurement (SOSCPM) may be developed for measuring of performance for sustainability aspects and intangibility assets to meet customer satisfaction. This article discusses sustainable SOSCPM based on balanced scorecard (BSC), include sustainability aspects, intangibility and relations between perspectives and indicators. From literature review, it is found 34 performance indicators that must be confirm to expert and SC actors by survey. From survey validation using weighted average and level of consensus, it is found 29 valid indicators for processed by DEMATEL. From DEMATEL, it is found 26 indicators can be used on sustainable SOSCPM. Furthermore, innovation and growth perspective most influence to other, and customer perspective most important. Intangibility indicators incorporated on innovation and growth perspective very related with human resources. Finally, relations between perspectives and indicator used to design of BSC strategy maps.

  9. 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...

  10. Assessment of management of a golf course by means of sustainability indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaio Cesare Pacini

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Golf courses are supposed to produce remarkable negative effects on the environment, due to some techniques involved in their management. To provide data useful for the proper assessment of the agro-environmental sustainability of a golf course, the framework agro-environmental sustainability information system (AESIS was used, utilizing a set of indicators suitable to evaluate different dimensions of sustainability (physical, ecological, productive and social. The management of areal golf course located in Tuscany (central Italy was compared to an alternative land use of the same area represented by an ordinary farm based on a sunflower-wheat rotation. Assessment indicators were selected by applying a conceptual model based on ecology theory and were calculated considering site-specific production and pedo-climatic features of the area. Different weighting scenarios were hypothesized in order to have different management options assessed and to carry out a targeted sensitivity analysis. Main results confirmed the significant impact of golf management on some ecological characteristics but the holistic assessment of AESIS approach permitted an overall evaluation that comprised a wide range of different issues. AESIS demonstrated to be a practical and adaptive tool able to perform an efficient comparison of possible land destinations.

  11. Collective dose IRSN view on its indications and contraindications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Supervil, S.

    2002-10-01

    The concept of collective protection appeared in 1959 in the first report of the international commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). During the course of the next decades, ICRP gave details on the use of collective dose, in particular on its role in the process of optimization of protection. The collective dose, effective and /or equivalent, may be used to assess the dosimetric impact of an activity or a source over a group of people, to assess the number of stochastic effects that could result from the exposure of a group of people. The methods of calculating the collective dose are considered, assessment of the levels of exposure, assessment of the health effects. I.R.S.N. reminds that the collective dose constitutes an indicator of the risk of stochastic effects for example in the field of regulatory dose limits. Consequently, the collective dose cannot in any case constitute an indicator of the deterministic effects. (N.C.)

  12. LAWS AND PRINCIPLES OF UNIVERSAL VALUE IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS ANALYSIS

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    Andreea CONSTANTINESCU

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Each extension of the scope of laws and principles that allow both mathematical and statistical remodeling as well as reaffirming the appropriateness of proven methods, stirs up a special study interest. The ever-expanding computational power of laws of power offers to the scientific universe possibility of new approach to the crucial relationship between quantity and quality, between micro and macro dimensions. Boosting broadening the use of quasi-universal value theories in research in order to deepen the analysis of sustainable development indicators can lead to a greater understanding of all aspects of this area and to facilitate understanding of the arguments which underlie any responsible decision making. This assumption underlies the logical conclusion that sustainability becomes even stronger as it benefits from scientific arguments support resulting from research. Although we have confined ourselves in drafting some coordinates for application of each method presented to particular issues of sustainable development, this research theme will be strengthened and pursued through appropriate extensive analysis.

  13. Selecting Sustainability Indicators for Small to Medium Sized Urban Water Systems Using Fuzzy-ELECTRE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chhipi-Shrestha, Gyan; Hewage, Kasun; Sadiq, Rehan

    2017-03-01

      Urban water systems (UWSs) are challenged by the sustainability perspective. Certain limitations of the sustainability of centralized UWSs and decentralized household level wastewater treatments can be overcome by managing UWSs at an intermediate scale, referred to as small to medium sized UWSs (SMUWSs). SMUWSs are different from large UWSs, mainly in terms of smaller infrastructure, data limitation, smaller service area, and institutional limitations. Moreover, sustainability assessment systems to evaluate the sustainability of an entire UWS are very limited and confined only to large UWSs. This research addressed the gap and has developed a set of 38 applied sustainability performance indicators (SPIs) by using fuzzy-Elimination and Choice Translating Reality (ELECTRE) I outranking method to assess the sustainability of SMUWSs. The developed set of SPIs can be applied to existing and new SMUWSs and also provides a flexibility to include additional SPIs in the future based on the same selection criteria.

  14. New Framework of Sustainable Indicators for Outdoor LED (Light Emitting Diodes Lighting and SSL (Solid State Lighting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annika K. Jägerbrand

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Light emitting diodes (LEDs and SSL (solid state lighting are relatively new light sources, but are already widely applied for outdoor lighting. Despite this, there is little available information allowing planners and designers to evaluate and weigh different sustainability aspects of LED/SSL lighting when making decisions. Based on a literature review, this paper proposes a framework of sustainability indicators and/or measures that can be used for a general evaluation or to highlight certain objectives or aspects of special interest when choosing LED/SSL lighting. LED/SSL lighting is reviewed from a conventional sustainable development perspective, i.e., covering the three dimensions, including ecological, economic and social sustainability. The new framework of sustainable indicators allow prioritization when choosing LED/SSL products and can thereby help ensure that short-term decisions on LED/SSL lighting systems are in line with long-term sustainability goals established in society. The new framework can also be a beneficial tool for planners, decision-makers, developers and lighting designers, or for consumers wishing to use LED/SSL lighting in a sustainable manner. Moreover, since some aspects of LED/SSL lighting have not yet been thoroughly studied or developed, some possible future indicators are suggested.

  15. Identification of Appropriate Biodiversity Indicators for Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management at National Level

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tolunay, A.; Akyol, A.

    2015-01-01

    Sustainable forest management (SFM) practices have started in 1999 in Turkey. A set of criteria and indicators, composed by the General Directorate of Forestry (GDF) on the basis of the criteria and indicators defined in the Pan-European and Near Eastern Processes, was enquired via a survey to serve this purpose. GDF tested the sustainability under the following titles: Situation of forest resources, biodiversity, health and vitality, production capacity and functions, protective functions and environmental and socio-economic functions. There were problems in identification and definition of SFM criteria and indicators. Biological diversity indicators has been selected, described and developed in this study. At this phase, the survey was completed upon receiving the views of the scientists interested in different dimensions of this topic as well as the views of other interest groups affiliated with forestry. As a result, there were 13 indicators that may be used as the basis of a regional or forest management unit level for the purpose of protecting, developing and maintaining biodiversity. Furthermore, these indicators are instruments, which may easily be used by relevant decision-makers in the management of forest resources in a more effective and productive manner. (author)

  16. Social Sustainability and Its Indicators through a Disability Studies and an Ability Studies Lens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Theresa Rybchinski

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The present journal recently stated in the call for a special issue on social sustainability, “[t]hough sustainable development is said to rest on ‘three pillars’, one of these—social sustainability—has received significantly less attention than its bio-physical environmental and economic counterparts”. The current issue promises to engage the concepts of “development sustainability”, “bridge sustainability” and “maintenance sustainability” and the tensions between these different aspects of social sustainability. The aim of the present study is to identify the visibility of disabled people in the academic social sustainability literature, to ascertain the impact and promises of social sustainability indicators put forward in the same literature and to engage especially with the concepts of “development sustainability”, “bridge sustainability” and “maintenance sustainability” through disability studies and ability studies lenses. We report that disabled people are barely covered in the academic social sustainability literature; of the 5165 academic articles investigated only 26 had content related to disabled people and social sustainability. We also conclude that social sustainability indicators evident in the 1909 academic articles with the phrase “social sustainability” in the abstract mostly focused on products and did not reflect yet the goals outlined in the “development sustainability” aspect of social sustainability proposed by Vallance such as basic needs, building social capital, justice and so on. We posit that if the focus within the social sustainability discourse shifts more toward the social that an active presence of disabled people in this discourse is essential to disabled people. We showcase the utility of an ability studies lens to further the development and application of the “development sustainability”, “bridge sustainability” and “maintenance sustainability

  17. Preliminary Calculation of the Indicators of Sustainable Development for National Radioactive Waste Management Programs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheong, Jae Hak; Park, Won Jae

    2003-01-01

    As a follow up to the Agenda 21's policy statement for safe management of radioactive waste adopted at Rio Conference held in 1992, the UN invited the IAEA to develop and implement indicators of sustainable development for the management of radioactive waste. The IAEA finalized the indicators in 2002, and is planning to calculate the member states' values of indicators in connection with operation of its Net-Enabled Waste Management Database system. In this paper, the basis for introducing the indicators into the radioactive waste management was analyzed, and calculation methodology and standard assessment procedure were simply depicted. In addition, a series of innate limitations in calculation and comparison of the indicators was analyzed. According to the proposed standard procedure, the indicators for a few major countries including Korea were calculated and compared, by use of each country's radioactive waste management framework and its practices. In addition, a series of measures increasing the values of the indicators was derived so as to enhance the sustainability of domestic radioactive waste management program.

  18. Sustainable Sourcing of Global Agricultural Raw Materials: Assessing Gaps in Key Impact and Vulnerability Issues and Indicators.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathaniel P Springer

    Full Text Available Understanding how to source agricultural raw materials sustainably is challenging in today's globalized food system given the variety of issues to be considered and the multitude of suggested indicators for representing these issues. Furthermore, stakeholders in the global food system both impact these issues and are themselves vulnerable to these issues, an important duality that is often implied but not explicitly described. The attention given to these issues and conceptual frameworks varies greatly--depending largely on the stakeholder perspective--as does the set of indicators developed to measure them. To better structure these complex relationships and assess any gaps, we collate a comprehensive list of sustainability issues and a database of sustainability indicators to represent them. To assure a breadth of inclusion, the issues are pulled from the following three perspectives: major global sustainability assessments, sustainability communications from global food companies, and conceptual frameworks of sustainable livelihoods from academic publications. These terms are integrated across perspectives using a common vocabulary, classified by their relevance to impacts and vulnerabilities, and categorized into groups by economic, environmental, physical, human, social, and political characteristics. These issues are then associated with over 2,000 sustainability indicators gathered from existing sources. A gap analysis is then performed to determine if particular issues and issue groups are over or underrepresented. This process results in 44 "integrated" issues--24 impact issues and 36 vulnerability issues--that are composed of 318 "component" issues. The gap analysis shows that although every integrated issue is mentioned at least 40% of the time across perspectives, no issue is mentioned more than 70% of the time. A few issues infrequently mentioned across perspectives also have relatively few indicators available to fully represent

  19. Sustainable Sourcing of Global Agricultural Raw Materials: Assessing Gaps in Key Impact and Vulnerability Issues and Indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Springer, Nathaniel P; Garbach, Kelly; Guillozet, Kathleen; Haden, Van R; Hedao, Prashant; Hollander, Allan D; Huber, Patrick R; Ingersoll, Christina; Langner, Megan; Lipari, Genevieve; Mohammadi, Yaser; Musker, Ruthie; Piatto, Marina; Riggle, Courtney; Schweisguth, Melissa; Sin, Emily; Snider, Sara; Vidic, Nataša; White, Aubrey; Brodt, Sonja; Quinn, James F; Tomich, Thomas P

    2015-01-01

    Understanding how to source agricultural raw materials sustainably is challenging in today's globalized food system given the variety of issues to be considered and the multitude of suggested indicators for representing these issues. Furthermore, stakeholders in the global food system both impact these issues and are themselves vulnerable to these issues, an important duality that is often implied but not explicitly described. The attention given to these issues and conceptual frameworks varies greatly--depending largely on the stakeholder perspective--as does the set of indicators developed to measure them. To better structure these complex relationships and assess any gaps, we collate a comprehensive list of sustainability issues and a database of sustainability indicators to represent them. To assure a breadth of inclusion, the issues are pulled from the following three perspectives: major global sustainability assessments, sustainability communications from global food companies, and conceptual frameworks of sustainable livelihoods from academic publications. These terms are integrated across perspectives using a common vocabulary, classified by their relevance to impacts and vulnerabilities, and categorized into groups by economic, environmental, physical, human, social, and political characteristics. These issues are then associated with over 2,000 sustainability indicators gathered from existing sources. A gap analysis is then performed to determine if particular issues and issue groups are over or underrepresented. This process results in 44 "integrated" issues--24 impact issues and 36 vulnerability issues--that are composed of 318 "component" issues. The gap analysis shows that although every integrated issue is mentioned at least 40% of the time across perspectives, no issue is mentioned more than 70% of the time. A few issues infrequently mentioned across perspectives also have relatively few indicators available to fully represent them. Issues in the

  20. Enviromental indicators in Amazonian Kichwa Communities from Ecuador for the ellaboration of a sustainable development strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth Irene Arias Gutiérrez

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available An environmental diagnosis is made in the Amazonian Kichwa region (Napo and Pastaza provinces, Ecuador for the ellaboration of a sustainable development strategy. The environmental indicators such as the number of cultivated plant species and their use. The use of forest and agricultural products were measured, as well. Qualitative and quantitative research methods, most appropriate for this study, were used. The quantitative methodology consisted in surveying to the residents, the leaders of the six communities and the heads of 64 households scattered around five rural parishes. The main results are collected in a strategic agenda that would boost the ecological sustainability. The communities employ a high number of species directly as food, and a fewer for medical, flavoring and cosmetic use. However, a single use of resources as raw materials is observed. With no the application of science and technology, there is not an orderly and efficient use of resources, which is achieved by establishing links with other universities research projects. It is necessary to replenish and enhance native renewable resources used by the communities, and add value and work on human capital formation for the protection of these resources. Local resources are not reasonably used with a focus on the protection of the environment and the extensive Amazonian biodiversity. There are high rates of illiteracy in the communities. That’s why it is important the development of bio-knowledge through public interventions, which will help sustain the national competitive advantage, based on its natural and biological richness, supported by the development of local production networks and technology generation. A proposed strategy for a sustainable agro-ecological community development was made.

  1. Sustainability Profile for Urban Districts in Copenhagen

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Ole

    urban designers to creatively improve the sustainable performance of a district" (Kortman et al, 2001). Compared to other tools for assessing urban sustainability, DPL represents a simple and flexible approach. The idea is to use a limited number of indicators based on already collected data. Once...

  2. Identifying and Structuring Values to Guide the Choice of Sustainability Indicators for Tourism Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Alberto Alcántara Maya

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available In Mexico, the National Trust for Tourism Promotion (FONATUR needs to lead development of Integrally Planned Tourist Centers (IPC towards sustainability. As the development of these IPCs leads to changes in local communities and their environment, it is necessary to define how to establish a path towards sustainability and how to measure progress towards that goal. The objective of this study is to contribute toward identifying the main stakeholder’s values, defining sustainability indicators at a local level, and to discuss their adequacy in the context of tourism development. The study was performed in a Mexican community facing its probable inclusion in tourism development and special attention was given to the values of stakeholders in defining which objectives to monitor. Using Value-Focused Thinking as a framework, a series of interviews were analyzed and the opinions were organized in a tree of values, encompassing environmental, economic, social and political/institutional aspects. A set of indicators associated with these objectives was subsequently proposed. This information may serve as a guide to design and monitor plans that are more appealing from a sustainability perspective and as an aid in the identification of future information needs.

  3. 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

  4. An Indicator-Based Framework to Evaluate Sustainability of Farming Systems: Review of Applications in Tuscany

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Concetta Vazzana

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Agricultural researchers widely recognise the importance of sustainable agricultural production systems and the need to develop appropriate methods to measure sustainability at the farm level. Policymakers need accounting and evaluation tools to be able to assess the potential of sustainable production practices and to provide appropriate agro-environmental policy measures. Farmers are in search of sustainable management tools to cope with regulations and enhance efficiency. This study proposes an indicator-based framework to evaluate sustainability of farming systems. Main features of the indicators’ framework are the relevance given to different spatial scales (farm, site and field, production and pedo-climatic factors, and a holistic view of the agro-ecosystem. The framework has been conceived to tackle different purposes ranging from detailed scientific analyses to farm-level management systems and cross-compliance. Agro-environmental indicators can be calculated, simulated with models or directly measured with different levels of detail proportionally to the aims of the evaluation exercise. The framework is organised in a number of environmental and production systems and sub-systems. For each system environmental critical points are identified with corresponding agro-environmental indicators and processing methods. A review of applications of the framework in Tuscany, Italy, since 1991 is presented. Applications range from prototyping farming systems, to integrated farm ecological-economic modelling, comparisons between organic, integrated and conventional farming systems, farm eco-management voluntary audit schemes and cross-compliance. Strengths and weaknesses of the framework are discussed against generic requirements of information systems and operational issues.

  5. AfSIS MODIS Collection: Vegetation Indices, April 2014

    Data.gov (United States)

    Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University — The Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Collection's Vegetation Indices data set contains rasters with the...

  6. Multi-Criteria Indicator for Sustainability Rating in Suppliers of the Oil and Gas Industries in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Felipe Figueiredo Barata

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The necessity of sustainability evaluation is rapidly growing alongside the expansion of civilization. Likewise, the supply chain suitability improvement is a need that has arisen in the petroleum industry, especially as it is responsible for the most part of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. The modeling of this kind of problem deals with multiple criteria evaluations. This paper proposes an original multiple-criteria based approach to classifying the degree of organizational sustainability. This proposal was applied to evaluate a representative set of companies, which are suppliers of the Brazilian petroleum industry. The data collection was supported by a questionnaire. The results highlight that the studied companies have not yet reached an advanced level of maturity in the sustainability context. In a comprehensive vision of sustainability based on Triple Bottom Line (TBL, these companies are either in the initial stage or in the implementation phase of the sustainability practices.

  7. Application of the Nutrition Functional Diversity indicator to assess food system contributions to dietary diversity and sustainable diets of Malawian households.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luckett, Brian G; DeClerck, Fabrice A J; Fanzo, Jessica; Mundorf, Adrienne R; Rose, Donald

    2015-09-01

    Dietary diversity is associated with nutrient adequacy and positive health outcomes but indicators to measure diversity have focused primarily on consumption, rather than sustainable provisioning of food. The Nutritional Functional Diversity score was developed by ecologists to describe the contribution of biodiversity to sustainable diets. We have employed this tool to estimate the relative contribution of home production and market purchases in providing nutritional diversity to agricultural households in Malawi and examine how food system provisioning varies by time, space and socio-economic conditions. A secondary analysis of nationally representative household consumption data to test the applicability of the Nutritional Functional Diversity score. The data were collected between 2010 and 2011 across the country of Malawi. Households (n 11 814) from predominantly rural areas of Malawi. Nutritional Functional Diversity varied demographically, geographically and temporally. Nationally, purchased foods contributed more to household nutritional diversity than home produced foods (mean score=17·5 and 7·8, respectively). Households further from roads and population centres had lower overall diversity (PFunctional Diversity score is an effective indicator for identifying populations with low nutritional diversity and the relative roles that markets, agricultural extension and home production play in achieving nutritional diversity. This information may be used by policy makers to plan agricultural and market-based interventions that support sustainable diets and local food systems.

  8. Additional Indicators to Promote Social Sustainability within Government Programs: Equity and Efficiency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana Acevedo Tirado

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Social programs are crucial to reduce poverty and inequity in developing countries. The operation of social programs, however, cannot be improved with traditional engineering tools since these tools are designed to maximize profits: in social programs maximizing profits is not the objective, social sustainability is. Field research was conducted and it was found that the operation of social programs is considered more socially sustainable if it meets two criteria: Efficiency and Equity; in other words, if the program can help more people who need it the most. This paper proposes a methodology centered in the development of mathematical formulas for the concepts of Efficiency and Equity, so that, by being able to measure them, government programs operation can be enhanced with engineering tools. The methodology is illustrated with a case study, a subsidized milk distribution program in Mexico, called Liconsa. Once the formulas were developed and used in a simulation model for Liconsa, different policies were tested and their results regarding Efficiency and Equity were compared. Results showed the best policies for Liconsa are the balanced ones: where help is increased for beneficiaries, while cost reduction commitments are obtained. In the discussion it is argued how the developed Equity and Efficiency indicators help to understand the tradeoffs between the objectives in opposition: instead of analyzing dozens of indicators, some of them improving and others worsening, the two formulas allow to capture all effects into two objectives and evaluate decisions based on their integral impact. Conclusions show that the mathematical definition of Equity and Efficiency supports better and more informed decision making towards improving the social sustainability of the programs operation. The mathematical definition of Equity and Efficiency and its use in engineering models helps balance the opposing objectives of social programs operation and promotes

  9. The Nišava river water quality as the indicator of the sustainable development of the city of Niš

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Branković Saša

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The Nišava river has a great importance for the sustainable development of the city of Niš. From the Mediana spring, which is on the bank of the Nišava, the city of Niš satisfies around 30% of its water demand. The aim of this paper is to, on the basis of the analysis of several tens of parameters of water quality; determine whether the Nišava river is a limiting factor to the sustainable development of the city of Niš. For this purpose the data of Public Utility Company Naissus have been used, as it collects daily samples of the Nišava river water. The number of conducted analyses, depending on the water quality parameters, varies from 1 to 1,240. The obtained results, which have been presented in detail in the paper, indicate that a great majority of analyses, of almost all the water quality parameters, is within predicted range. At the end of the paper, certain measures have been proposed, which should contribute to the sustainable development of Niš in this field. .

  10. The Role of Cultural Heritage in Sustainable Development: Multidimensional Indicators as Decision-Making Tool

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesca Nocca

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The concept of sustainable development has been the main topic of many international conferences. Although many discussions are related to the role of cultural heritage in sustainable development, they develop only on theoretical level. The answer to the main question, that is if the cultural landscape can play a role in sustainable development, could be positive only if we are able to produce empirical evidence about its contribution to improve economic, social, and environmental productivity of the city. It is necessary to produce empirical evidence to demonstrate that cultural heritage conservation/valorization is an investment and not a cost. To date, there are few researches about the indicators that are able to support the relationship between cultural heritage conservation/regeneration and sustainable development. This paper intends to go beyond this limit and approach this issue in operational terms. It is focused on the role that cultural heritage can play in the sustainable development framework. An assessment framework that is able to capture the multidimensional benefits of cultural landscape conservation/valorization is proposed here starting from the analysis of 40 case studies of culture-led regeneration projects. A matrix of multidimensional indicators (divided into nine categories about the impacts produced by these 40 cultural heritage conservation/valorization projects and its critical analysis is here proposed, mainly focusing the attention on the double relationship between the tourism sector and climate change. Although the analyses often refer to sustainability, it is not concretely addressed because there is an imbalance among the dimensions: in most cases, only the economic component is highlighted, leaving out the social and environmental dimensions. Furthermore, the impacts related to cultural-led projects are mainly interpreted in terms of tourism and real estate impacts.

  11. Collective Hunger in the Vision of Amartya Sen as One of the Impeditive Factors of Sustainable Human Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Torres Roberti

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The study aims at collective hunger in the vision of Amartya Sen as one of the impeding factors of Sustainable Human Development. In the economist's view, collective hunger goes beyond chronic hunger, involves a sudden outbreak of deprivation for a portion of the population. To eliminate hunger in the modern world, it is crucial to understand the cause of collective hunger in a broad way, and not just because of some mechanical imbalance between food and population. By illustrating the deprivation of liberty, child labor is included as one of the impediments to sustainable human development.

  12. Analysis of Kerch by Local Indicators of Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazygula, E.; Kharlamova, M.; Kozlova, E.

    2017-11-01

    This article presents an analysis of the city of Kerch (Crimea Republic, Kerch Peninsula) in accordance with the local sustainable development indicators. The authors carried out the assessment of the existing environmental problems in the city which was necessary for the further development of the environmentally oriented infrastructure under various development scenarios. Due to the natural and economic factors, Kerch can develop both as an industrial and recreational centre of the peninsula. The analysis of the atmospheric air condition, use of water and energy resources and the waste management system was conducted. The presented results showed the presence of major environmental problems in almost all spheres.

  13. Application of groundwater sustainability indicators to the Upper Pliocene aquifer in Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngo, T. M.; Lee, J.; Lee, H.; Woo, N. C.

    2013-12-01

    Groundwater plays an importance role for domestic, industrial, and agricultural uses in Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam. This study is objected to evaluate the sustainability of groundwater by using groundwater sustainability indicators (GWSIs) defined by UNESCO/IAEA/IAH Working Group on Groundwater Indicators at aquifer scale (the Upper Pliocene aquifer). There are four main indicators selected and one new indicator designed for the particular characteristic of Ho Chi Minh city which is under influence of by saline-water intrusion. The results indicated groundwater of the Upper Pliocene aquifer, the main groundwater supply source, is generally in the unsustainable state. The abstraction of groundwater, which was much greater than its capability, is probably causing the serious state of annual groundwater depletion and saline-water intrusion. The GWSIs, which expressed in such a simple way but scientifically-based and policy-relevant, proved its usefulness in evaluating the sustainability of groundwater at the aquifer scale in Ho Chi Minh city, and subsequently should be incorporated in water resource management practices.

  14. The Water Footprint as an indicator of environmental sustainability in water use at the river basin level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellicer-Martínez, Francisco; Martínez-Paz, José Miguel

    2016-11-15

    One of the main challenges in water management is to determine how the current water use can condition its availability to future generations and hence its sustainability. This study proposes the use of the Water Footprint (WF) indicator to assess the environmental sustainability in water resources management at the river basin level. The current study presents the methodology developed and applies it to a case study. The WF is a relatively new indicator that measures the total volume of freshwater that is used as a production factor. Its application is ever growing in the evaluation of water use in production processes. The calculation of the WF involves water resources (blue), precipitation stored in the soil (green) and pollution (grey). It provides a comprehensive assessment of the environmental sustainability of water use in a river basin. The methodology is based upon the simulation of the anthropised water cycle, which is conducted by combining a hydrological model and a decision support system. The methodology allows the assessment of the environmental sustainability of water management at different levels, and/or ex-ante analysis of how the decisions made in water planning process affect sustainability. The sustainability study was carried out in the Segura River Basin (SRB) in South-eastern Spain. The SRB is among the most complex basins in Europe, given its special peculiarities: competition for the use, overexploitation of aquifers, pollution, alternative sources, among others. The results indicate that blue water use is not sustainable due to the generalised overexploitation of aquifers. They also reveal that surface water pollution, which is not sustainable, is mainly caused by phosphate concentrations. The assessment of future scenarios reveals that these problems will worsen if no additional measures are implemented, and therefore the water management in the SRB is environmentally unsustainable in both the short- and medium-term. Copyright © 2016

  15. Using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for Prioritizing and Ranking of Ecological Indicators for Monitoring Sustainability of Ecotourism in Northern Forest, Iran

    OpenAIRE

    Godratollah Barzekar; Azlizam Aziz; Manohar Mariapan; Mohd Hasmadi Ismail; Syed Mohsen Hosseni

    2011-01-01

    Ecotourism has been identified as a form of sustainable tourism which is expected to contribute to both conservation and development. Unfortunately, due to inadequate environmental assessment, many ecotourism destinations tend to be both hazardous and self-destructive. Indicators are an important tool to provide a means toward sustainability. Among all different aspects of indicators, ecological indicators are significant for monitoring and evaluating sustainable management of ecotourism. In...

  16. Indicators for sustainable development. One of the five key areas to sustainable development where progress is possible with the resources and technologies at our disposal today

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    Energy is essential to economic and social development and improved quality of life. Much of the world's energy is currently produced and used in ways that may not be sustainable in the long term. In order to assess progress towards a sustainable energy future, energy indicators that can measure and monitor important changes will be needed. The 41 indicators resulting from the IAEA activity in this field are listed in this document, 23 are identified as 'core indicators', meaning that they are either specific to energy or especially important, given the interest in working with the most compact, but still meaningful number of indicators possible

  17. Indicators for the Analysis of Peasant Women’s Equity and Empowerment Situations in a Sustainability Framework: A Case Study of Cacao Production in Ecuador

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga de Marco Larrauri

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Family agriculture is a fundamental pillar in the construction of agroecological agri-food alternatives fostering processes of sustainable rural development where social equity represents a central aspect. Despite agroecology’s critical openness, this area has not yet incorporated an explicit gender approach allowing an appropriate problematization and analysis of the cultural inequalities of gender relations in agriculture, women’s empowerment processes and their nexus with sustainability. This work presents an organized proposal of indicators to approach and analyze the degree of peasant women’s equity and empowerment within a wide sustainability framework. After a thorough bibliographical review, 34 equity and empowerment indicators were identified and organized into six basic theoretical dimensions. Following the collection of empirical data (from 20 cacao-producing families, the indicators were analyzed and reorganized on the basis of hierarchical cluster analysis and explanatory interdependence into a new set of six empirical dimensions: (1 access to resources, education and social participation; (2 economic-personal autonomy and self-esteem; (3 gender gaps (labor rights, health, work and physical violence; (4 techno-productive decision-making and remunerated work; (5 land ownership and mobility; and (6 diversification of responsibilities and social and feminist awareness. Additionally, a case study is presented that analyzes equity and empowerment in the lives of two rural cacao-producing peasant women in Ecuador.

  18. Towards data-driven decision-making for sustainable diets in Vietnam: Identifying priority indicators through stakeholder engagement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayton, H.; Beal, T.; Rubin, J.; Sanchez, A.; Heller, M.; Hoey, L.; Khoury, C. K.; Jones, A.

    2017-12-01

    Globally, food systems impact and are impacted by the sustainability of environmental, societal, political, and public health factors. At the center of these systems are human diets, which vary substantially by culture and region, and have significant influence on human health, community livelihoods, climate change, and natural resources. However, rapidly growing and highly diverse lower middle-income countries like Vietnam face challenges in gathering data and defining clear policy intervention points and approaches that will provide a net-positive systemic influence across sectors. A new collaboration, Entry points to Advance Transitions towards Sustainable diets (EATS), between the University of Michigan and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) aims to identify ways that existing data and insights into the policy process can be leveraged to inform decision-making on where and how to intervene to effectively shift multiple axes of food systems to enhance the sustainability of diets. As a first step towards developing a model that other policy communities could follow, researchers aggregated and characterized approximately 50 major existing datasets on food, agriculture, and nutrition in Vietnam. They also created a conceptual framework for evaluating the sustainability of diets and for characterizing existing datasets, including eight domains and over 200 unique, measurable indicators. Figure 1 summarizes these domains and their key relationships, which forms a foundation for identifying leverage points that can positively impact multiple aspects of sustainable diets. Researchers then engaged food system stakeholders through informal interviews, surveys, and collaborative workshops to prioritize indicators and identify additional relevant data sources. Stakeholders included national government, research, NGO, and private sector representatives from across the range of identified domains. The key indicators identified by stakeholders will

  19. Stakeholders willingness to apply sustainable adventure tourism indicators: a case of Waterval Boven in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    NN Tshipala

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In South Africa and across the globe, the development of adventure tourism industry has resulted in a multitude of different types of activities, destinations, risks, impacts and unsustainable practices. The development of adventure tourism in many destinations has boosted many economies across rural communities and countries. The added benefits of developing adventure tourism in a sustainable manner include the promotion of responsible investment, infrastructure development and a host of other positive economic, social and environmental impacts. This study investigates the stakeholders will to utilise sustainable adventure tourism indicators from residents, tourists, business owners and government employees at Waterval Boven if made available. Descriptive statistics were presented; Cronbach Alpha and Chi-square tests were also applied. In general, the respondents perceived the indicators positively and felt they could assist in the sustainable development of adventure tourism. The study contributes towards the development of sustainable adventure tourism destinations that can make a significant contribution towards poverty alleviation by maximising social and economic benefits for locals, enhancing cultural heritage and reducing any negative impacts on the environment.

  20. Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: analysing the contextual and social network factors influencing the use of sustainability indicators in a health system--a comparative study in Nepal and Somaliland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanchet, Karl; Palmer, Jennifer; Palanchowke, Raju; Boggs, Dorothy; Jama, Ali; Girois, Susan

    2014-08-26

    Health systems strengthening is becoming a key component of development agendas for low-income countries worldwide. Systems thinking emphasizes the role of diverse stakeholders in designing solutions to system problems, including sustainability. The objective of this paper is to compare the definition and use of sustainability indicators developed through the Sustainability Analysis Process in two rehabilitation sectors, one in Nepal and one in Somaliland, and analyse the contextual factors (including the characteristics of system stakeholder networks) influencing the use of sustainability data. Using the Sustainability Analysis Process, participants collectively clarified the boundaries of their respective systems, defined sustainability, and identified sustainability indicators. Baseline indicator data was gathered, where possible, and then researched again 2 years later. As part of the exercise, system stakeholder networks were mapped at baseline and at the 2-year follow-up. We compared stakeholder networks and interrelationships with baseline and 2-year progress toward self-defined sustainability goals. Using in-depth interviews and observations, additional contextual factors affecting the use of sustainability data were identified. Differences in the selection of sustainability indicators selected by local stakeholders from Nepal and Somaliland reflected differences in the governance and structure of the present rehabilitation system. At 2 years, differences in the structure of social networks were more marked. In Nepal, the system stakeholder network had become more dense and decentralized. Financial support by an international organization facilitated advancement toward self-identified sustainability goals. In Somaliland, the small, centralised stakeholder network suffered a critical rupture between the system's two main information brokers due to competing priorities and withdrawal of international support to one of these. Progress toward self

  1. Exploring the Strengths and Limits of Strong and Weak Sustainability Indicators: A Case Study of the Assessment of China’s Megacities with EF and GPI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lu Huang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The perspective of strong/weak sustainability has a great impact on sustainability assessment. In this study, two most widely used indices, Ecological Footprint (EF and Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI for strong and weak sustainability assessment, were employed to evaluate the sustainability of China’s ten megacities between 1978 and 2015. The results showed that the ecological footprint had been enlarged in the past twenty years; while the genuine economic welfare started to increase since 2005. The cities of Xi’an, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shanghai met the threshold of below 2.5 global hectares for EF/capita, and over 3000 dollars/capita (in 2010 US$ for GPI/capita. By analyzing and comparing the characteristics, the processes and results, and the complementary features of evaluation methods of EF and GPI, the research suggested that: (1 Strong and weak sustainability indicators, with their own pros/cons in sustainability assessment, should be used carefully; (2 Weak sustainability indicators could be analyzed from the perspective of strong sustainability; (3 Strong sustainability indicators need to be developed urgently. The results in this study could guide the selection of sustainability indicators, and help interpret the results of sustainability assessment.

  2. Methods for specifying spatial boundaries of cities in the world: The impacts of delineation methods on city sustainability indices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uchiyama, Yuta; Mori, Koichiro

    2017-08-15

    The purpose of this paper is to analyze how different definitions and methods for delineating the spatial boundaries of cities have an impact on the values of city sustainability indicators. It is necessary to distinguish the inside of cities from the outside when calculating the values of sustainability indicators that assess the impacts of human activities within cities on areas beyond their boundaries. For this purpose, spatial boundaries of cities should be practically detected on the basis of a relevant definition of a city. Although no definition of a city is commonly shared among academic fields, three practical methods for identifying urban areas are available in remote sensing science. Those practical methods are based on population density, landcover, and night-time lights. These methods are correlated, but non-negligible differences exist in their determination of urban extents and urban population. Furthermore, critical and statistically significant differences in some urban environmental sustainability indicators result from the three different urban detection methods. For example, the average values of CO 2 emissions per capita and PM 10 concentration in cities with more than 1 million residents are significantly different among the definitions. When analyzing city sustainability indicators and disseminating the implication of the results, the values based on the different definitions should be simultaneously investigated. It is necessary to carefully choose a relevant definition to analyze sustainability indicators for policy making. Otherwise, ineffective and inefficient policies will be developed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. The data collection/data distribution center: building a sustainable African-American church-based research network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldmon, Moses; Roberson, James T; Carey, Tim; Godley, Paul; Howard, Daniel L; Boyd, Carlton; Ammerman, Alice

    2008-01-01

    This article describes the Carolina-Shaw Partnership for the Elimination of Health Disparities efforts to engage a diverse group of Black churches in a sustainable network. We sought to develop a diverse network of 25 churches to work with the Carolina-Shaw Partnership to develop sustainable health disparities research, education, and intervention initiatives. Churches were selected based on location, pastoral buy-in, and capacity to engage. A purposive sampling technique was applied. (1) Collecting information on the location and characteristics of churches helps to identify and recruit churches that possess the desired qualities and characteristics. (2) The process used to identify, recruit, and select churches is time intensive. (3) The time, energy, and effort required managing an inter-institutional partnership and engage churches in health disparities research and interventions lends itself to sustainability. The development of a sustainable network of churches could lead to successful health disparities initiatives.

  4. Sustainable transport project evaluation and decision support: indicators and planning criteria for sustainable development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Salling, Kim Bang; Pryn, Marie Ridley

    2015-01-01

    is adopted. The SUSTAIN-DSS model rests upon multi-criteria decision analysis and planning workshops in order to combine the use of qualitative and quantitative assessments. This article stresses the necessity of revising current planning paradigms such as cost-benefit analysis (CBA) but also to make clear......This article will expose the necessity for a sustainable planning and decision support framework for transport infrastructure assessment. This will be operationalized through a set of planning criteria and scenario alternatives, which is assessed in the SUSTAIN decision support system (SUSTAIN......-DSS) model. A part of the decision support framework will be tested in a case study in Denmark, concerning the problem of congestion on the current bridge crossing Roskilde Fjord in the city of Frederikssund. This article suggests including in a combination both reference class forecasting and quantitative...

  5. Tall-Building Projects Sustainability Indicator (TPSI: A New Design and Environmental Assessment Tool for Tall Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hasim Altan

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the features of Tall-building Projects Sustainability Indicator (TPSI—a “Sustainability Rating System” that specializes in tall-building projects. The system comprises two components; the “Technical Manual” in the form of a booklet and the “Calculator” in the form of an Excel tool. It can be used as a “design tool” and/or as a “checklist” to compare and to improve the sustainable performance of tall-building design schemes. At the same time, the system can be used to evaluate the sustainability of existing tall-building projects. The first version of the TPSI rating system (TPSI 2012 Version was released as an online tool (GreenLight and thoroughly examined and validated by multiple parties.

  6. Considering the normative, systemic and procedural dimensions in indicator-based sustainability assessments in agriculture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Binder, Claudia R.; Feola, Giuseppe; Steinberger, Julia K.

    2010-01-01

    This paper develops a framework for evaluating sustainability assessment methods by separately analyzing their normative, systemic and procedural dimensions as suggested by Wiek and Binder [Wiek, A, Binder, C. Solution spaces for decision-making - a sustainability assessment tool for city-regions. Environ Impact Asses Rev 2005, 25: 589-608.]. The framework is then used to characterize indicator-based sustainability assessment methods in agriculture. For a long time, sustainability assessment in agriculture has focused mostly on environmental and technical issues, thus neglecting the economic and, above all, the social aspects of sustainability, the multi-functionality of agriculture and the applicability of the results. In response to these shortcomings, several integrative sustainability assessment methods have been developed for the agricultural sector. This paper reviews seven of these that represent the diversity of tools developed in this area. The reviewed assessment methods can be categorized into three types: (i) top-down farm assessment methods; (ii) top-down regional assessment methods with some stakeholder participation; (iii) bottom-up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary methods with stakeholder participation throughout the process. The results readily show the trade-offs encountered when selecting an assessment method. A clear, standardized, top-down procedure allows for potentially benchmarking and comparing results across regions and sites. However, this comes at the cost of system specificity. As the top-down methods often have low stakeholder involvement, the application and implementation of the results might be difficult. Our analysis suggests that to include the aspects mentioned above in agricultural sustainability assessment, the bottom-up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary methods are the most suitable ones.

  7. Sustainable material selection for construction industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Govindan, Kannan; Shankar, Madan; Kannan, Devika

    2016-01-01

    a hybrid multi criteria decision making (MCDM) methodology with a specific examination of the UAE. The indicators collected from existing literatures were used in evaluation of sustainable construction materials with the assistance of construction sector-based respondents. The proposed framework...

  8. Towards sustainable urban water governance in Denmark: collective building of capabilities in local authorities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Marina Bergen

    2016-01-01

    be achieved. The ‘urban water platform’ was tested and is hereby presented as a course concept for building collective capabilities for integrated sustainable water design among local authorities in Denmark. The course is an innovation because: 1) it invites urban planners, road and park managers and sewage...

  9. Energy indicators for sustainable development: Country studies on Brazil, Cuba, Lithuania, Mexico, Russian Federation, Slovakia and Thailand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2007-02-01

    This publication presents seven national case studies from a coordinated research project on Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development conducted during the 2002-2005 time period. The project was led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). The case studies were developed by research organizations from Brazil, Cuba, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, Slovakia and Thailand. This publication is being issued just prior to the 15th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development for which energy for sustainable development is a major theme. The 15th session of the Commission will focus on policy decisions on practical measures and options to expedite implementation in selected clusters of energy issues. The application the energy indicator, especially their quantification, enables systematic monitoring of progress made towards the implementation of energy-related targets. This publication presents actual examples of how these indicators are developed at the national level, how they can be used to assess national energy systems and how they assist in reviewing the effectiveness of policies undertaken or planned. Energy continues to pose a fundamental dilemma for achieving sustainable development goals - its use is necessary prerequisite for economic growth and social development while energy production and use are associated with adverse impacts on public health and the environment. Win-win situations specific to energy production and use do exist and national governments and institutions, and regional and international bodies have identified and promoted policies, initiatives and measures that encourage energy efficiency, alternative fuels, advanced and cleaner technologies that in one way or another result in foster economic activity with less energy per unit of output, increased access to affordable energy services and reduced environmental pollution

  10. The Construction of an Environmental Management Model Based on Sustainability Indicators on a Higher Education Institution in Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nieblas-Ortiz, Efrain C.; Arcos-Vega, José L.; Sevilla-García, Juan J.

    2017-01-01

    Without depreciating the importance of environmental regulations directed to university environmental managements systems in this country, nowadays, the instruments of international importance like the Sustainable Development Goals or ONU's 2030 Agenda; as well as those of domestic nature, like sustainability indicators proposed by the Mexican…

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  12. Sustainability indicators for innovation and research institutes of nuclear area in Brazil; Indicadores de sustentabilidade para institutos de pesquisa e inovacao da area nuclear

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alves, S.F.; Barreto, A.A.; Rodrigues, P.C.H.; Feliciano, V.M.D., E-mail: sfa@cdtn.br, E-mail: aab@cdtn.br, E-mail: pchr@cdtn.br, E-mail: vmfj@cdtn.br [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

    2016-11-01

    Indicators are relevant tools for measuring sustainability process. In this study, the relevance of sustainability indicators appropriate for research and innovation institutes in Brazil is discussed. As reference for case study, nuclear research and innovation institutes were chosen. Sixty-nine sustainability indicators were considered. Some of these indicators were obtained from lists in the literature review, distributed between the dimensions environmental, economic, social, cultural and institutional. The other indicators were developed through discussions between professionals from nuclear, environmental, economic, social and cultural areas. Among the investigated indicators, 32 were selected as being the most relevant. Discrepancies were found during the analysis the opinions of the experts in relation to sustainability dimensions proposed. (author)

  13. Indicators for sustainable development 2010; Indikatorer for baerekraftig utvikling 2012

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brunvoll, Frode; Kolshus, Kristine E.

    2011-07-01

    This report presents an updated set of Norwegian sustainable development indicators and describes the development of the indicators together with relevant supplementary information. Whilst compiling the report, we have had an effective collaboration with a number of institutions, which have supplied data, text and assessments for various subject areas. A number of divisions and departments in Statistics Norway have made contributions to their respective specialist areas. The main responsibility for compiling the report has rested with the Division for environmental statistics in the Department of economics, energy and the environment. The report has been edited by senior advisers Frode Brunvoll and Kristine E. Kolshus. Main findings within the policy areas of the Norwegian strategy for sustainable development: International cooperation for sustainable development and combating poverty. Norwegian official development aid is increasing. In 2010, Norway contributed over 1 per cent of GNI as official development assistance. Following a decrease in 2009, the imports to Norway from developing countries increased again in 2010. However, the imports from the least developed countries decreased substantially. Climate, ozone and long-range air pollution The two-year decrease in Norwegian greenhouse gas emissions was followed by a new increase in 2010, when the emissions amounted to 53.7 million tonnes CO2 equivalents. This is 4.8 per cent more than in 2009, and 3.6 million tonnes CO2 equivalents above the Norwegian Kyoto target. In 2010, Norway's emissions of NOX increased by 4 per cent. This is 20 per cent above the obligation for 2010 set in the Gothenburg Protocol. However, the emissions of the other acidifying gases and NMVOCs were below the obligations. Biodiversity and cultural heritage. In mountain areas and cultural landscapes the populations of nesting birds have decreased. The figures for forest birds show no clear trend. The water quality in Norway, also

  14. Оrganizational attention deficit as sustainability indicator: assessment and management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvana Markovska-Simoska

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to contribute towards dealing with the attention indicator in a standard Pressure-State-Response (PSR framework of sustainable development. Hence, the daily information overflow is identified as a pressure variable adversely affecting the attention. This is manifested by an increased likelihood of missing key information when making decisions, diminished time for attentive reflection, difficulty in holding others’ attention, as well as by decreased ability to focus when necessary, which are symptoms of the so-called organizational attention deficit disorder - OADD. As to the state variable there were combined techniques from cognitive neuroscience and applied sciences in order to objectively measure the incidence of OADD. In particular, the use of neuropsychological procedures for objective assessment of OADD will be summarized. Namely, few attention diagnostic tests of the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks Program (ANT will be considered for determining the focused, shifted and sustained attention. As intervention measure attention strengthening techniques is applied. In particular, in research were proposed the neurofeedback technique as response variable and have shown its effectiveness in coping with the OADD. This approach represents a new perspective in social psychophysiology and expands the potential applications of ANT and neurofeedback methodology. 

  15. Addressing Complex Societal Problems: Enabling Multiple Dimensions of Proximity to Sustain Partnerships for Collective Impact in Quebec

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nii A. Addy

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable solutions for complex societal problems, like poverty, require informing stakeholders about progress and changes needed as they collaborate. Yet, inter-organizational collaboration researchers highlight monumental challenges in measuring seemingly intangible factors during collective impact processes. We grapple with the question: How can decision-makers coherently conceptualize and measure seemingly intangible factors to sustain partnerships for the emergence of collective impact? We conducted an inductive process case study to address this question, analyzing data from documents, observations, and interviews of 24 philanthropy leaders and multiple stakeholders in a decades-long partnership involving Canada’s largest private family foundation, government and community networks, and during which a “collective impact project” emerged in Quebec Province, Canada. The multidimensional proximity framework provided an analytical lens. During the first phase of the partnership studied, there was a lack of baseline measurement of largely qualitative factors—conceptualized as cognitive, social, and institutional proximity between stakeholders—which evaluations suggested were important for explaining which community networks successfully brought about desired outcomes. Non-measurement of these factors was a problem in providing evidence for sustained engagement of stakeholders, such as government and local businesses. We develop a multidimensional proximity model that coherently conceptualizes qualitative proximity factors, for measuring their change over time.

  16. Sustainability of sources of electric generation: indicators and global qualification using fuzzy logic; Sustentabilidad de fuentes de generacion electrica: indicadores y calificacion global empleando logica difusa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martin del Campo M, C.; Francois L, J L [Facultad de Ingenieria, UNAM, Laboratorio de Analisis en Ingenieria de Reactores Nucleares, Paseo Cuauhnahuac 8532, 62550 Jiutepec, Morelos (Mexico)

    2005-07-01

    A methodology developed to evaluate the sustainability of sources of electric generation but used in Mexico and in the World is presented. For it was applied one matrix of sustainability indicators that considers the principles and criteria of general sustainability as 'not exhaustion of natural resources', 'non production of non degradable waste', and 'not high sensibility to social and environmental factors'. The approaches to evaluate in a wide way these principles are numerous and to each approach associates an indicator, call sustainability indicator. The contribution of this work consists on the development of a methodology to qualify globally the sustainability of each option of electric generation, combining all the sustainability indicators. The methodology applies a system of diffuse control to build the function of global qualification of sustainability dependent of all the indicators. (Author)

  17. An Investigation of Global Reporting Initiative Performance Indicators in Corporate Sustainability Reports: Greek, Italian and Spanish Evidence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lara Tarquinio

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This study has two main purposes. First, it explores the performance indicators disclosed in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI-based Sustainability Reports (SRs produced by the companies of three different countries: Italy, Spain and Greece. Second, it verifies how some corporate variables, country of origin variables and “attributes” of the SRs can explain the disclosure of GRI indicators. To verify the quantity and type of the indicators disclosed, we performed a content analysis of the SRs. We use a regression trees technique to describe how the companies’ variables explain a different use of the indicators. The findings show that Spanish companies, on average, disclose the greatest number of indicators. The social indicators related to Labour are those more frequently reported in the SRs of the three countries. The least reported are social indicators related to Human Rights. The results show the central role that assurance, ROA and sector may have in classifying the disclosure level of indicators. The study contributes both theoretical and empirical literature on sustainability indicators. It also sheds further light on the determinants of the disclosure of indicators.

  18. Comprehensive highway corridor planning with sustainability indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-01

    "The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) has initiated major planning efforts to improve transportation : efficiency, safety, and sustainability on critical highway corridors through its Comprehensive Highway Corridor : (CHC) program. This pr...

  19. International Tourists’ Perceived Sustainability of Jeju Island, South Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min-Seong Kim

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the causal relationships between international tourists’ perceived sustainability of Jeju Island, South Korea and environmentally responsible behavior, revisit intention, and positive word-of-mouth communication. Perceived sustainability was employed as a multidimensional construct comprised of economic, cultural, and environmental aspects. Data were collected from international tourists that visited Jeju Island. The results indicated that environmentally responsible behavior was influenced positively by cultural sustainability, and negatively by environmental sustainability. Revisit intention and positive word-of-mouth communication were significantly affected by the three dimensions of sustainability. Based on the findings, associated implications were suggested for sustainable destination management of Jeju Island.

  20. Sustainability of sources of electric generation: indicators and global qualification using fuzzy logic; Sustentabilidad de fuentes de generacion electrica: indicadores y calificacion global empleando logica difusa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martin del Campo M, C.; Francois L, J.L. [Facultad de Ingenieria, UNAM, Laboratorio de Analisis en Ingenieria de Reactores Nucleares, Paseo Cuauhnahuac 8532, 62550 Jiutepec, Morelos (Mexico)]. e-mail: cmcm@fi-b.unam.mx

    2005-07-01

    A methodology developed to evaluate the sustainability of sources of electric generation but used in Mexico and in the World is presented. For it was applied one matrix of sustainability indicators that considers the principles and criteria of general sustainability as 'not exhaustion of natural resources', 'non production of non degradable waste', and 'not high sensibility to social and environmental factors'. The approaches to evaluate in a wide way these principles are numerous and to each approach associates an indicator, call sustainability indicator. The contribution of this work consists on the development of a methodology to qualify globally the sustainability of each option of electric generation, combining all the sustainability indicators. The methodology applies a system of diffuse control to build the function of global qualification of sustainability dependent of all the indicators. (Author)

  1. BUSINESS VALUATION IN TERMS OF INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  2. Measuring sustainability as a programming tool for health sector investments: report from a pilot sustainability assessment in five Nepalese health districts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarriot, Eric; Ricca, Jim; Ryan, Leo; Basnet, Jagat; Arscott-Mills, Sharon

    2009-01-01

    Sustainability is a critical determinant of scale and impact of health sector development assistance programs. Working with USAID/Nepal implementing partners, we adapted a sustainability assessment framework to help USAID test how an evaluation tool could inform its health portfolio management. The essential first process step was to define the boundaries of the local system being examined. This local system-the unit of analysis of the study-was defined as the health district.We developed a standardized set of assessment tools to measure 53 indicators. Data collection was carried out over 4 weeks by a Nepalese agency. Scaling and combining indicators into six component indices provided a map of progress toward sustainable maternal, child, health, and family planning results for the five districts included in this pilot study, ranked from "no sustainability" to "beginning of sustainability."We conclude that systematic application of the Sustainability Framework could improve the health sector investment decisions of development agencies. It could also give districts an information base on which to build autonomy and accountability. The ability to form and test hypotheses about the sustainability of outcomes under various funding strategies-made possible by this approach-will be a prerequisite for more efficiently meeting the global health agenda.

  3. Building sustainability indicators in the health dimension for solid waste management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiane Bonametti Veiga

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: to prepare a list of sustainability indicators in the health dimension, for urban solid waste management. Methods: a descriptive and exploratory study performed jointly with 52 solid waste specialists, using a three-steps Delphi technique, and a scale measuring the degree of importance for agreement among the researchers in this area. Results: the subjects under study were 92,3% PhD's concentrated in the age group from 30 to 40 years old (32,7% and 51% were men. At the end of the 3rd step of the Delphi process, the average and standard deviation of all the proposed indicators varied from 4,22 (±0,79 to 4,72 (±0,64, in a scale of scores for each indicator from 1 to 5 (from "dispensable" to "very important". Results showed the level of correspondence among the participants ranging from 82% to 94% related to those indicators. Conclusion: the proposed indicators may be helpful not only for the identification of data that is updated in this area, but also to enlarge the field of debates of the environmental health policies, directed not only for urban solid waste but for the achievement of better health conditions for the Brazilian context.

  4. Sustainable transportation for tourism : indicators and standards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-01

    The overall project goal of guiding planning and management of transportation to serve the needs of : sustainable tourism focused on three tourism-related transportation contexts. The first context was : selected types of roads important to tourism i...

  5. Inclusion of social indicators in decision support tools for the selection of sustainable site remediation options.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cappuyns, Valérie

    2016-12-15

    Sustainable remediation requires a balanced decision-making process in which environmental, economic and social aspects of different remediation options are all considered together and the optimum remediation solution is selected. More attention has been paid to the evaluation of environmental and economic aspects, in particular to reduce the human and environmental risks and the remediation costs, to the exclusion of social aspects of remediation. This paper investigates how social aspects are currently considered in sustainability assessments of remediation projects. A selection of decision support tools (DSTs), used for the sustainability assessment of a remediation project, is analyzed to define how social aspects are considered in those tools. The social indicator categories of the Sustainable Remediation Forum - United Kingdom (SuRF-UK), are used as a basis for this evaluation. The consideration of social aspects in the investigated decision support tools is limited, but a clear increase is noticed in more recently developed tools. Among the five social indicator categories defined by SuRF-UK to facilitate a holistic consideration of social aspects of a remediation project only "Human health and safety" is systematically taken into account. "Neighbourhood and locality" is also often addressed, mostly emphasizing the potential disturbance caused by the remediation activities. However, the evaluation of 'Ethics and Equality', Communities and community involvement', and 'Uncertainty and evidence' is often neglected. Nevertheless, concrete examples can be found in some of the investigated tools. Specific legislation, standard procedures, and guidelines that have to be followed in a region or country are mainly been set up in the context of protecting human and ecosystem health, safety and prevention of nuisance. However, they sometimes already include some of the aspects addressed by the social indicators. In this perspective the use of DST to evaluate the

  6. Does Corporate Governance Affect Sustainability Disclosure? A Mixed Methods Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeeshan Mahmood

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This research paper aims to understand the impact of corporate governance (CG on economic, social, and environmental sustainability disclosures. This paper adopted an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach. The data regarding corporate governance and sustainability disclosure were collected from top 100 companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE for the period ranging from 2012 to 2015. In addition to the quantitative data, we collected qualitative data through interviews with five board members of different companies. Overall, our results indicate that CG elements enhance sustainability disclosures. This study concludes that a large board size consisting of a female director and a CSR committee (CSRC is better able to check and control management decisions regarding sustainability issues (be they economic, environment, or social and resulted in better sustainability disclosure. This paper, through quantitative and qualitative analysis, provides a methodological and empirical contribution to the literature on corporate governance and sustainability reporting in emerging and developing countries.

  7. Further development of the environment related sustainability indicators and environment core indicator system for balancing the progress in the German sustainability strategy; Weiterentwicklung der umweltbezogenen Nachhaltigkeitsindikatoren und des Umwelt-Kernindikatorensystems zur Bilanzierung der Fortschritte in der deutschen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schoenthaler, Konstanze; Pieck, Sonja [Bosch und Partner GmbH, Muenchen (Germany)

    2013-05-15

    The Core Set of Environmental Indicators (KIS) presented by the Federal Environment Agency aims to inform policy makers and the interested public in an updated and concise form about environmental progress for a sustainable development in Germany. The Core Set completes the environmental indicators of the National Sustainability Indicator Set by several additional indicators describing environmental impacts and their causes. New legal regulations and political programs as well as innovations in the field of indicator development on the international and national level make a revision of the over ten-years-old Core Set of Environmental Indicators necessary. The project makes structural and content related proposals for such a revision. Following these proposals the Core Indicators shall cover a broader spectrum of environmental themes and problems in order to display cause-and-effect relationships in a more detailed way. The indicator set, which is proposed for the revised edition of KIS, comprises a total of 92 indicators, 49 out of them are directly focused on environmental issues. 43 indicators describe the activities of different economic sectors having relevant impacts on the environment. Furthermore the project offers a new thematic structure for the indicator set and a new classification of the indicators which shall facilitate the orientation and more effective search for themes and indicators within the system. A proposal for a metadata information system consisting of indicators and data factsheets was elaborated to better handle flow of information within the Federal Environment Agency.

  8. A Consensus Proposal for Nutritional Indicators to Assess the Sustainability of a Healthy Diet: The Mediterranean Diet as a Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donini, Lorenzo M; Dernini, Sandro; Lairon, Denis; Serra-Majem, Lluis; Amiot, Marie-Josèphe; Del Balzo, Valeria; Giusti, Anna-Maria; Burlingame, Barbara; Belahsen, Rekia; Maiani, Giuseppe; Polito, Angela; Turrini, Aida; Intorre, Federica; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Berry, Elliot M

    2016-01-01

    There is increasing evidence of the multiple effects of diets on public health nutrition, society, and environment. Sustainability and food security are closely interrelated. The traditional Mediterranean Diet (MD) is recognized as a healthier dietary pattern with a lower environmental impact. As a case study, the MD may guide innovative inter-sectorial efforts to counteract the degradation of ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, and homogeneity of diets due to globalization through the improvement of sustainable healthy dietary patterns. This consensus position paper defines a suite of the most appropriate nutrition and health indicators for assessing the sustainability of diets based on the MD. In 2011, an informal International Working Group from different national and international institutions was convened. Through online and face-to-face brainstorming meetings over 4 years, a set of nutrition and health indicators for sustainability was identified and refined. Thirteen nutrition indicators of sustainability relating were identified in five areas. Biochemical characteristics of food (A1. Vegetable/animal protein consumption ratios; A2. Average dietary energy adequacy; A3. Dietary Energy Density Score; A4. Nutrient density of diet), Food Quality (A5. Fruit and vegetable consumption/intakes; A6. Dietary Diversity Score), Environment (A7. Food biodiversity composition and consumption; A8. Rate of Local/regional foods and seasonality; A9. Rate of eco-friendly food production and/or consumption), Lifestyle (A10. Physical activity/physical inactivity prevalence; A11. Adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern), Clinical Aspects (A12. Diet-related morbidity/mortality statistics; A13. Nutritional Anthropometry). A standardized set of information was provided for each indicator: definition, methodology, background, data sources, limitations of the indicator, and references. The selection and analysis of these indicators has been performed (where possible) with

  9. Ecological Sustainability of a Wheat-cotton Agroecosystem in Khorassan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  10. Sustainability of the Tourism Industry, Based on Financial Key Performance Indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana Dutescu

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Even if there is a real need of a set of key performance indicators for small and medium sized enterprises, this is not yet considered to be satisfied. Our research is focused on two main aspects, each of them individually important for the users of accounting information: the basic indicators specific for analysing operational performance and for decision making and the trend of the key performance indicators in the context of the economic crisis. The starting point of the study is a questionnaire addressed to small and medium sized enterprises activating in the tourism area, especially in the hotel industry. The respondents answered the questions in perfect anonymity by choosing one of the multiple choices for some of them and offering open answers to the others. Our analysis reveals a fair view of the dynamic of the most used key performance indicators in Romanian hotel industry, the limits of their interpretation and usage and the evolution of the financial and economic performance. The declared purpose of the research is to set the bases of a starting point in order to provide solutions for improving the relevance and the usage of these indicators in this domain, in the context of a sustainable business, taking into account the nowadays status of the economy in general and in particular the hotel industry.

  11. Fluid collections in amputations are not indicative or predictive of infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polfer, Elizabeth M; Hoyt, Benjamin W; Senchak, Lien T; Murphey, Mark D; Forsberg, Jonathan A; Potter, Benjamin K

    2014-10-01

    In the acute postoperative period, fluid collections are common in lower extremity amputations. Whether these fluid collections increase the risk of infection is unknown. The purposes of this study were to determine (1) the percentage of patients who develop postoperative fluid collections in posttraumatic amputations and the natural course of the collection; (2) whether patients who develop these collections are at increased risk for infection; and to ask (3) are there objective clinical or radiologic signs that are associated with likelihood of infection when a fluid collection is present? We performed a review of all 300 patients injured in combat operations who sustained at least one major lower extremity amputation (at or proximal to the tibiotalar joint) and were treated definitively at our institution between March 2005 and April 2009. We segregated the groups based on whether cross-sectional imaging was performed less than 3 months (early group) after closure, greater than 3 months (late group) after closure, or not at all (control group, baseline frequency of infection). Our primary study cohort where those patients with a fluid collection in the first three months. The clinical course was reviewed and the primary outcome was a return to the operating room for irrigation and débridement with positive cultures. For those patients with cross-sectional imaging, we also collected objective clinical parameters within 24 hours of the scan (white blood cell count, maximum temperature, presence of bacteremia, tachycardia, oxygen desaturation), extremity examination (presence of erythema, warmth, and/or drainage), and characteristics of the fluid collections seen (size of the fluid collection, enhancement, complexity (simple versus loculated), surrounding edema, skin changes, tract formation, presence of air, and changes within the bone itself). The presence of a fluid collection on imaging was analyzed to determine whether it was associated with infection. We

  12. The indicators of the national strategy for sustainable development 2010-2013 - 2012 issue

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2012-02-01

    The French national strategy for sustainable development has been adopted within the context of the Grenelle de l'Environnement. Fifteen key indicators (raw materials, early exits from the education system, research and development, women participation to governance bodies, aggregated emissions of six greenhouse gases, carbon print, renewable energies, energy consumption in transports and GDP, abundance index of common bird populations, soil artificialization, life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, monetary poverty rate after social transfers, senior employment rate, share of young people out of work and out of education, public aid to development) and four indicators of economic and social context (gross domestic income and GDP per inhabitant, unemployment and under-employment rates, income distribution, total fertility rate) have been defined. These indicators are presented and discussed with respect with nine different challenges

  13. Limitations of Carbon Footprint as Indicator of Environmental Sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laurent, Alexis; Olsen, Stig I.; Hauschild, Michael Z.

    2012-01-01

    change but also other environmental problems, like chemical pollution or depletion of natural resources, and the focus on CFP brings the risk of problem shifting when reductions in CFP are obtained at the expense of increase in other environmental impacts. But how real is this risk? Here, we model...... runs the risk of inadvertently shifting the problem to other environmental impacts when products are optimized to become more “green”. These findings call for the use of more broadly encompassing tools to assess and manage environmental sustainability.......Greenhouse gas accountings, commonly referred to with the popular term carbon footprints (CFP), are a widely used metric of climate change impacts and the main focus of many sustainability policies among companies and authorities. However, environmental sustainability concerns not just climate...

  14. EEG indices correlate with sustained attention performance in patients affected by diffuse axonal injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coelli, Stefania; Barbieri, Riccardo; Reni, Gianluigi; Zucca, Claudio; Bianchi, Anna Maria

    2018-06-01

    The aim of this study is to assess the ability of EEG-based indices in providing relevant information about cognitive engagement level during the execution of a clinical sustained attention (SA) test in healthy volunteers and DAI (diffused axonal injury)-affected patients. We computed three continuous power-based engagement indices (P β /P α , 1/P α , and P β / (P α + P θ )) from EEG recordings in a control group (n = 7) and seven DAI-affected patients executing a 10-min Conners' "not-X" continuous performance test (CPT). A correlation analysis was performed in order to investigate the existence of relations between the EEG metrics and behavioral parameters in both the populations. P β /P α and 1/P α indices were found to be correlated with reaction times in both groups while P β / (P α + P θ ) and P β /P α also correlated with the errors rate for DAI patients. In line with previous studies, time course fluctuations revealed a first strong decrease of attention after 2 min from the beginning of the test and a final fading at the end. Our results provide evidence that EEG-derived indices extraction and evaluation during SA tasks are helpful in the assessment of attention level in healthy subjects and DAI patients, offering motivations for including EEG monitoring in cognitive rehabilitation practice. Graphical abstract Three EEG-derived indices were computed from four electrodes montages in a population of seven healthy volunteers and a group of seven DAI-affected patients. Results show a significant correlation between the time course of the indices and behavioral parameters, thus demonstrating their usefulness in monitoring mental engagement level during a sustained attention task.

  15. Water footprints of cities - indicators for sustainable consumption and production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoff, H.; Döll, P.; Fader, M.; Gerten, D.; Hauser, S.; Siebert, S.

    2014-01-01

    Water footprints have been proposed as sustainability indicators, relating the consumption of goods like food to the amount of water necessary for their production and the impacts of that water use in the source regions. We further developed the existing water footprint methodology, by globally resolving virtual water flows from production to consumption regions for major food crops at 5 arcmin spatial resolution. We distinguished domestic and international flows, and assessed local impacts of export production. Applying this method to three exemplary cities, Berlin, Delhi and Lagos, we find major differences in amounts, composition, and origin of green and blue virtual water imports, due to differences in diets, trade integration and crop water productivities in the source regions. While almost all of Delhi's and Lagos' virtual water imports are of domestic origin, Berlin on average imports from more than 4000 km distance, in particular soy (livestock feed), coffee and cocoa. While 42% of Delhi's virtual water imports are blue water based, the fractions for Berlin and Lagos are 2 and 0.5%, respectively, roughly equal to the water volumes abstracted in these two cities for domestic water use. Some of the external source regions of Berlin's virtual water imports appear to be critically water scarce and/or food insecure. However, for deriving recommendations on sustainable consumption and trade, further analysis of context-specific costs and benefits associated with export production will be required.

  16. The quantification of environmental indicators for sustainability assessment of future electricity supply options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simons, A.; Bauer, Ch.; Heck, T.

    2011-02-01

    Within the project NEEDS (New Energy Externalities Development for Sustainability) a range of criteria and indicators were defined according to the widely recognised 'three pillar' interpretation of sustainable development in order to assess future electricity generating technologies including their associated fuel cycles. The basic characteristics of the 26 technologies were defined as being appropriate in 2050 according to 'realistic/optimistic' development scenarios. The potential environmental impacts of each technology were assessed by initially determining the various criteria necessary to describe the range of significant impact areas. These criteria were then expressed and measured by one or more quantifiable indicators which were calculated using Life Cycle Inventories established earlier in the project. This report contributed to Research Stream RS2b of the project by quantifying and comparing the results of these indicators for each of the four countries used in the assessment: France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The environmental assessment showed that the nuclear technologies cause relatively very low impacts according to most of the indicators. The Generation IV, European Fast Reactor, has significant advantages over the European Pressurised Reactor but the availabilities of the two reactors will be quite different. Whereas the first examples of the EPR are already under construction, the design finalisation of the EFR is not yet complete meaning that the first plant is not expected to be constructed before 2040. An overarching and clear distinction between the fossil fueled technologies was less possible and the application of carbon capture and storage, whilst showing large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, was shown to be counteracted in a number of other indicators. The integration of solid fuel gasification prior to combustion also showed both benefits and disadvantages. For most indicators, the natural gas combined cycle options

  17. Agenda 21 and Indicators of sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klinda, J.

    1996-01-01

    This book contains the basic document - Agenda 21 century which was accepted on the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and document from Forty sitting of the Commission of the United Nations for sustainable development (18 April 1996 in New York (in the shortened text)

  18. A methodology approach for analysis of sustainability indicators as a tool for decision making using fuzzy logic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quinhoneiro, Fernando Henrique Franchi

    2015-01-01

    The greatest challenge of this century is focused on sustainability, due to world population growth and consequently to the increased demand for resources such as water, food and energy. The main difficulty when discussing the issue of sustainable development is the evaluation methodology. Because of this, there is a need for a measurement tool that addresses these resources in a holistic manner and be able to translate data into results that can be interpreted. There are tools validated for this purpose like, 'Dashboard of Sustainability' and other developing like the CLEW Nexus by the International Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA. This study aims to develop a new model to analyze the correlation between variables, energy, water, land use and climate, using Artificial Intelligence through Fuzzy Logic, having as a data source, indicators that represent one or more resource, considering the relative and temporal distribution required to research results and behaviors. The result is a final index generated by mapping these input data. The results presented using this methodology are indicators of Brazil, but can be applied to any other country, allowing a comparison analysis of the behavior of indices between regions. The contribution of this project will be the availability of a tool with powerful computational resource, aimed at decision makers to assist in developing strategies and development policies. (author)

  19. Quality of life of the population as an indicator of sustainable development of rural territories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Larisa Alexandrovna Tretiakova

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is theoretical justification of socio-economic foundations of sustainable livelihoods in rural areas and development of practical recommendations for evaluating and improving quality of life in rural areas. The subject of this study is a system of socio-economic relations that defines processes and patterns of sustainable livelihoods in rural areas. Methodological basis is a systematic approach and method of dialectical cognition, which examine processes of development of rural territories in relationship and complementarity. The results described in this paper are: the degree of differentiation of rural population under qualitative levels of well-being was studied; the authors’ system of indicators of regional socio-economic development on a basis of detailed hierarchical structure was presented; priority areas for improving standards and quality of life of the rural population were identified. A scope of results was developed and science-based recommendations and suggestions for sustainable development of rural territories based on authors’ methodology for evaluating quality life in rural areas may be subject to legislative and executive authorities in development socio-economic projects and programmes aimed at enhancing rural employment and income were made. The conclusions are: sustainable development of rural territories involves not only increase of efficiency of rural economy, but, above all, increasing and improving the quality of life of the rural population; on a system of complementarities, the evaluation of sustainability of livelihood strategies should take into account the economic, environmental, social and institutional factors

  20. Building sustainability indicators in the health dimension for solid waste management 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veiga, Tatiane Bonametti; Coutinho, Silvano da Silva; Andre, Silvia Carla Silva; Mendes, Adriana Aparecida; Takayanagui, Angela Maria Magosso

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Objective: to prepare a list of sustainability indicators in the health dimension, for urban solid waste management. Methods: a descriptive and exploratory study performed jointly with 52 solid waste specialists, using a three-steps Delphi technique, and a scale measuring the degree of importance for agreement among the researchers in this area. Results: the subjects under study were 92,3% PhD's concentrated in the age group from 30 to 40 years old (32,7%) and 51% were men. At the end of the 3rd step of the Delphi process, the average and standard deviation of all the proposed indicators varied from 4,22 (±0,79) to 4,72 (±0,64), in a scale of scores for each indicator from 1 to 5 (from "dispensable" to "very important"). Results showed the level of correspondence among the participants ranging from 82% to 94% related to those indicators. Conclusion: the proposed indicators may be helpful not only for the identification of data that is updated in this area, but also to enlarge the field of debates of the environmental health policies, directed not only for urban solid waste but for the achievement of better health conditions for the Brazilian context. PMID:27508905

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  2. Indicators for sustainable development 2012; Indikatorer for baerekraftig utvikling 2012

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brunvoll, Frode; Homstvedt, Svein; Kolshus, Kristine E.

    2012-11-01

    This report presents the updated set of Norwegian sustainable development indicators and describes the development of the indicators together with relevant supplementary information. This report is the result of a fruitful collaboration with a number of institutions, which have supplied data, text and assessments for various subject areas. A number of divisions and departments in Statistics Norway have also made contributions from their respective specialist areas. The main responsibility for compiling the report has rested with the Division for energy and environmental statistics in the Department of economics, energy and the environment. Main findings: Economic capital, The net national income per capita shows an increasing trend in the period from 1985, The generational accounts indicate a need to tighten public finances with an amount equivalent to between 7.8 and 10 per cent of GDP to ensure balanced long-term public finances. Social and human capital: Life expectancy in Norway continues to increase, The level of education in Norway has increased substantially over the last 30-40 years, The household income distribution in 2010 is at about the same level as in the 1990s. The income inequality in Norway is small compared to many other European countries and in a global context, Unemployment is low in Norway by international standards. About 10 per cent of the population receives a disability pension. Still, few other countries have a higher labour force participation rate. Natural resources and environmental capital: The energy intensity of the economy is decreasing, but the total energy use is still increasing. The percentage renewable energy is not significantly higher today than it was thirty years ago. Several important fish stocks in Norwegian waters are currently at high levels, and they are being harvested sustainably. The size of the spawning stock of Northeast Arctic cod is now at the highest level seen during the whole times series which goes back to

  3. [Sustainable development of the three economic patterns in China: The application of genuine progress indicator in the sustainability assessment of six typical cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jing; Huang, Lu; Yan, Li Jiao

    2016-06-01

    Three economic patterns, i.e., Zhujiang Model, Wenzhou Model and Sunan Model, were all generated in the developed areas of China. Sustainability assessment of those areas plays an important role in guiding future development of the economy of China. Genuine progress indicator (GPI) was adopted in this study to evaluate the sustainability of 6 typical cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wenzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou) of the three economic patterns from 1995 to 2012. During the study period, the values of GDP for the six cities had experienced exponential growth, while the values of GPI started to increase since 2005 after a relatively constant period between 1995 and 2005. The gap between GPI and GDP had been widening from a historical perspective. Zhujiang Model made great progress in economic growth, however, the economic, social, and environmental costs were evident. It should tackle income inequality, traffic jam, and environmental pollution to reach sustainability. The development of Wenzhou Model slowed down in the late pe-riod, with inadequate potential to develop. Its income inequality was tough, social and economic development was slow, and the economic development pattern needed to be urgently changed. Sunan Model had a higher value of GPI and the potential to reach sustainability, with remarkable growth of economy, median level of the GPI costs, and steady improvement of social development, although its natural resources were depleted. Three economic patterns should focus on the three dimensions of sustainability (economy, environment, and society), and Zhujiang Model and Wenzhou Model needed to be more active to search for transition of their development.

  4. Sustainability labels on food products

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grunert, Klaus G; Hieke, Sophie; Wills, Josephine

    2014-01-01

    of sustainability was limited, but understanding of four selected labels (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Carbon Footprint, and Animal Welfare) was better, as some of them seem to be self-explanatory. The results indicated a low level of use, no matter whether use was measured as self-reported use of different......This study investigates the relationship between consumer motivation, understanding and use of sustainability labels on food products (both environmental and ethical labels), which are increasingly appearing on food products. Data was collected by means of an online survey implemented in the UK......, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Poland, with a total sample size of 4408 respondents. Respondents expressed medium high to high levels of concern with sustainability issues at the general level, but lower levels of concern in the context of concrete food product choices. Understanding of the concept...

  5. Assessing Urban Sustainability Using a Multi-Scale, Theme-Based Indicator Framework: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta Region, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng Li

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Urban sustainability is a great concern worldwide. However, how to evaluate urban sustainability is still a big challenge because sustainable development is multifaceted and scale dependent, which demands various assessment methods and indicators that often do not reach a consensus. In this study, we assessed urban sustainability of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD, China during 2000–2014 at two spatial scales (corresponding to the administrative levels of province and prefecture. A theme-based indicator framework, cluster analysis and Mann–Kendall test were used for urban sustainability assessment. Our results showed that the overall (OS, social (SS, and economic sustainability (EcS scores for two provinces and sixteen prefectural cities increased from 2000 to 2014 in general, but the environmental sustainability (EnS scores decreased over time. According to the performance of SS, EnS and EcS at the prefectural level, three distinct city clusters were identified: Cluster 1 with high SS and EcS but low EnS; Cluster 2 with low SS and EcS but high EnS; and Cluster 3 with moderate SS, EnS and EcS. The three sustainability dimensions—society, environment and economy—all changed over time and differed among cities at the two administrative levels. Our results implied that, according to the “strong sustainability” perspective, the cities of the YRD became less sustainable or unsustainable because the social and economic progresses were at the expense of the environment. The level of urban sustainability was lower at the provincial level than the prefectural level, implying that the problems of unsustainability are even greater at the provincial level than the prefectural level in the YRD region.

  6. Predicting soil nitrogen content using narrow-band indices from ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Optimal fertiliser applications for sustainable forest stand productivity management, whilst protecting the environment, is vital. This study estimated soil nitrogen content using leaf-level narrow-band vegetation indices derived from a hand-held 350–2 500 nm spectroradiometer. Leaf-level spectral data were collected and ...

  7. Grassland Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    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...

  8. Sustainability index for Taipei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Y.-J.; Huang Chingming

    2007-01-01

    Sustainability indicators are an effective means of determining whether a city is moving towards sustainable development (SD). After considering the characteristics of Taipei, Taiwan, discussions with experts, scholars and government departments and an exhaustive literature review, this study selected 51 sustainability indicators corresponding to the socio-economic characteristic of Taipei City. Such indicators should be regarded as a basis for assessing SD in Taipei City. The 51 indicators are classified into economic, social, environmental and institutional dimensions. Furthermore, statistical data is adopted to identify the trend of SD from 1994 to 2004. Moreover, the sustainability index is calculated for the four dimensions and for Taipei as a whole. Analysis results demonstrate that social and environmental indicators are moving towards SD, while economic and institutional dimensions are performing relatively poorly. However, since 2002, the economic sustainability index has gradually moved towards SD. Overall, the Taipei sustainability index indicates a gradual trend towards sustainable development during the past 11 years

  9. 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.

  10. Sustainable Consumer Behaviour: A Collection of Empirical Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerrit Antonides

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available We summarise the contributions in this special issue on sustainable consumer behaviour and place them in perspective. Several studies focus on macro- and meso-issues, and others on micro-issues of consumer behaviour. The studies employ a variety of methods, including surveys, field experiments, eye tracking, scale development, and contingent valuation. The 12 contributions from authors of 13 different countries show the wide and varied application of consumer research focused on sustainability issues.

  11. A consensus proposal for nutritional indicators to assess the sustainability of a healthy diet: the Mediterranean diet as a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorenzo M Donini

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Background: There is increasing evidence of the multiple effects of diets on public health nutrition, society and environment. Sustainability and food security are closely inter-related. The traditional Mediterranean Diet (MD is recognized as a healthier dietary pattern with a lower environmental impact. As a case study, the MD may guide innovative inter-sectorial efforts to counteract the degradation of ecosystems, loss of biodiversity and homogeneity of diets due to globalization, through the improvement of sustainable healthy dietary patterns.This consensus position paper defines a suite of the most appropriate nutrition and health indicators for assessing the sustainability of diets based on the MD.Methods: In 2011, an informal International Working Group from different national and international institutions was convened. Through online and face-to-face brainstorming meetings over four years, a set of nutrition and health indicators for sustainability was identified and refined.Results: Thirteen nutrition indicators of sustainability relating were identified in five areas: •Biochemical characteristics of food (A1. Vegetable/animal protein consumption ratios; (A2. Average dietary energy adequacy; (A3. Dietary energy density score; (A4. Nutrient density of diet: •Food Quality (A5. Fruit and vegetable consumption/intakes; (A6. Dietary diversity score: •Environment (A7. Food biodiversity composition and consumption; (A8. Rate of Local/regional foods and seasonality; (A9. Rate of eco-friendly food production and/or consumption: •Lifestyle (A10. Physical activity/Physical inactivity prevalence; (A11. Adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern•Clinical Aspects; (A12. Diet-related morbidity/mortality statistics; (A13. Nutritional Anthropometry. A standardized set of information was provided for each indicator: definition, methodology, background, data sources, limitations of the indicator and references.Conclusions: The selection and

  12. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INDICATORS OBTAINED BY CORINELAND COVER METHODOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE USE OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Slaviša Popović

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Serbian Environmental Protection Agency followed international and national indicators to do monitoring of forested landscape area for the period 1990-2000. Based on the data obtained by Corine Land Cover methodology following the indicators like Forest area, Forested landscape, Forest land and Forest and semi natural area, analysis was done. The forested landscape indicators analysis helped trends monitoring during the period from 1990 - 2000 year. Dynamic of forested area changes could have direct impact on the practical implementation of indicators. Indicator Forest area can be used in planning sustainable use of forests. Recorded growth rates value in 2000year, compared to the 1990th is 0.296%. Indicator Forested landscape increase for 0.186% till 2000 year, while the indicator Forested Land recorded value growth rate of 0.193%. Changes in rates of those indicators can be used in the future for “emission trading”. The smallest increment of rate change of 0.1% was recorded in indicator Forests and semi natural area. Information given by this indicator can be used for monitoring habitats in high mountain areas.

  13. Review of recycling performance indicators: a study on collection rate in Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Lihchyi; Lin, Chun-Hsu; Lee, Soo-Cheol

    2009-08-01

    The Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (Taiwan EPA) launched a national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system after integrating eight private recycling organizations in 1998. After that, the environmental performance of the EPR system brought a lot of attention to policy makers. Many studies show positive environmental effects of the EPR system in Taiwan. However, there are controversial questions remained, such as whether the performance indicators used are the right choice to estimate the environmental effects of the recycling policy? Can those estimated results really reflect the performance of the system? This paper would therefore like to more accurately evaluate the performance indicators of the EPR system based on data observed over the past decade in Taiwan. In the process of evaluating the performance indicators, we have found that the collection rates for durable goods are often ignored in countries that pursue a zero waste policy. This may affect the actual recycling outcome and resource direction targeted by producers. However, in order for the collection rate to be adopted as a policy indicator, how to estimate the amounts of retired or waste products during a period is critical. In this paper, we estimate the collection rate for electrical and electronic waste by using the survival analysis and ownership data analysis approaches. We also provide a comparison of both approaches and put forward suggestions for directions in the future in solid waste management.

  14. Review of recycling performance indicators: A study on collection rate in Taiwan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wen Lihchyi; Lin Chunhsu; Lee, Soo-cheol

    2009-01-01

    The Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (Taiwan EPA) launched a national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system after integrating eight private recycling organizations in 1998. After that, the environmental performance of the EPR system brought a lot of attention to policy makers. Many studies show positive environmental effects of the EPR system in Taiwan. However, there are controversial questions remained, such as whether the performance indicators used are the right choice to estimate the environmental effects of the recycling policy? Can those estimated results really reflect the performance of the system? This paper would therefore like to more accurately evaluate the performance indicators of the EPR system based on data observed over the past decade in Taiwan. In the process of evaluating the performance indicators, we have found that the collection rates for durable goods are often ignored in countries that pursue a zero waste policy. This may affect the actual recycling outcome and resource direction targeted by producers. However, in order for the collection rate to be adopted as a policy indicator, how to estimate the amounts of retired or waste products during a period is critical. In this paper, we estimate the collection rate for electrical and electronic waste by using the survival analysis and ownership data analysis approaches. We also provide a comparison of both approaches and put forward suggestions for directions in the future in solid waste management.

  15. Sustainability Assessment of Out-of-Home Meals: Potentials and Challenges of Applying the Indicator sets NAHGAST Meal-Basic and NAHGAST Meal-Pro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tobias Engelmann

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Nutrition is responsible for about 30% of global natural resource use. In order to limit the negative impact the nutritional sector has on the environment and on society, the consumption and processing of foodstuffs with assumed low negative impact is an important topic in the effort of sustainable development. In professional kitchens, clearly defined indicators assessing the impact of business activities are needed in this effort. The research and development in the NAHGAST project provides groundwork that could be of important assistance in this effort. Two versions of an assessment tool, with indicators of different complexity (NAHGAST Meal-Basic and NAHGAST Meal-Pro, were developed that can be used by kitchen professionals to determine the sustainability performance of their products—the offered meal. An informed selection of indicators, and a discussion of what processes and impacts this indicator relates to in the wider context, are essential and are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, in the selection of indicators for the purpose of our research certain criteria were considered simultaneously: (1 Communicability—What information an indicator can communicate and how comprehensible this information is for different actors; (2 Feasibility and data availability—Whether there is sufficient data for an indicator to be included and whether it is realistic for companies to integrate this indicator in their daily work practice; and (3 Scientific relevance—Whether the indicator is relevant for sustainability efforts on a larger scale and for related discussions in the scientific community. Insights related to these considerations are valuable for future developments in sustainability assessment in out-of-home gastronomy. The tool has been used to evaluate a number of dishes and results are deemed meaningful. However, assessments must not be understood as an accurate measurement but as an approximation of the sustainability of meals. At

  16. Reporting of Non-Financial Performance Indicators – a Useful Tool for a Sustainable Marketing Strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana Calu

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The current research has as objective to identify the reporting practices of non-financial information through the indicators proposed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI and the degree in which, for marketing purposes, there is a preference for the communication on positive aspects. In this respect we used the information published into the non-financial reports of 19 organizations that had adhered to the pilot programme of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC. We selected a number of 30 environment and social indicators reflecting both positive and negative aspects, and we analysed the manner in which they are presented within the reports published by the organizations, following the activities to be taken into consideration for the development of a sustainable marketing strategy: supply – production – distribution. The results of the study emphasized the fact that, regardless of the sector where the organizations run their activity, though there is no homogenous display, they report mainly the indicators presenting positive information 53 %, whereas the indicators presenting negative information are reported only in proportion of 33%. The organizations holding information regarding suppliers’ sustenability emphasize this aspect in order to create a brand value whereas the rest of the organizations state that they shall proceed to such evaluations in the future. Interpreting these results through the agency of the institutional theory leads to the conclusion that certain organizations’ option to voluntarily report according to a certain referential is carried out mainly in order to obtain rightfulness. Moreover, the sustainable conduct adopted by the main market competitors generates a mimetic-type isomorphism

  17. Examination of sustainability indicators for fall prevention strategies in three states.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Matthew Lee; Durrett, Nicholas K; Schneider, Ellen C; Byers, Imani N; Shubert, Tiffany E; Wilson, Ashley D; Towne, Samuel D; Ory, Marcia G

    2018-06-01

    With 1-in-4 older adults suffering a fall each year, fall prevention efforts have emerged as a public health priority. Multi-level, evidence-based fall prevention programs have been promoted by the CDC and other government agencies. To ensure participants and communities receive programs' intended benefits, organizations must repeatedly deliver the programs over time and plan for program sustainability as part of 'scaling up' the initiative. The State Falls Prevention Project (SFPP) began in 2011 when the CDC provided 5 years of funding to State Departments of Health in Colorado, New York, and Oregon to simultaneously implement four fall prevention strategies: 1) Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance; 2) Stepping On; 3) Otago Exercise Program; and 4) STEADI (STopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries) toolkit. Surveys were performed to examine systems change and perceptions about sustainability across states. The purposes of this study were to: 1) examine how funding influenced the capacity for program implementation and sustainability within the SFPP; and 2) assess reported Program Sustainability Assessment Tool (PSAT) scores to learn about how best to sustain fall preventing efforts after funding ends. Data showed that more organizations offered evidence-based fall prevention programs in participants' service areas with funding, and the importance of programming implementation, evaluation, and reporting efforts were likely to diminish once funding concluded. Participants' reported PSAT scores about perceived sustainability capacity did not directly align with previously reported perceptions about PSAT domain importance or modifiability. Findings suggest the importance of grantees to identify potential barriers and enablers influencing program sustainability during the planning phase of the programs. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  18. ECONOMIC AND TOURISM INDICATORS AS A MEANS OF MONITORING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM: THE CASE OF INLAND ISTRIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikola Vojnovic

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyses indicators to study the sustainability of tourism in inland Istria, which comprises 24 municipalities and towns belonging to Istria County. Taking into account the criteria of availability, reliability, predictability, clarity and feasibility, the following quantitative indicators were used: the Indicator of Tourist Operation (ITO, the Modified Importance Index of major tourism centres (Im, the Specific Overnights Threshold (SOT, tourism-related taxes in the budgets of municipalities and towns, company investments into tourism and hospitality, and the number of employees in tourism and hospitality. According to the ITO indicator, Predominant Tourism Activity was recorded only in Oprtalj Municipality. Being a measure of the spatial distribution of a specific economic activity, the Modified Importance Index established that in all municipalities and towns of inland Istria tourism is either poorly developed or in its incipient stage. The SOT indicator suggests that tourism has no negative effects on local economies and that tourism-related taxes make a minor contribution to the revenue side of municipal and town budgets. Company investment in tourism and hospitality and the number of employees in these industries are indicators that reveal that inland Istria is only beginning to develop into a tourism region. The quantitative indicators were confirmed by the results of qualitative indicators obtained through problem-focused interviews with the representatives of municipalities, towns and local tourist boards. The singular conclusion derived from the interviews was that tourism is a desirable activity, is in its initial stage of development, and is not a threat to local economies. The results of the study confirm the hypothesis that inland Istria is a region of sustainable tourism currently in the involvement stage of the destination lifecycle.

  19. Urban Big Data and Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges and Opportunities

    OpenAIRE

    Kharrazi, A.; Qin, H.; Zhang, Y.

    2016-01-01

    Cities are perhaps one of the most challenging and yet enabling arenas for sustainable development goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the need to monitor each goal through objective targets and indicators based on common denominators in the ability of countries to collect and maintain relevant standardized data. While this approach is aimed at harmonizing the SDGs at the national level, it presents unique challenges and opportunities for the development of innovative ur...

  20. Assessment of the contribution of sustainability indicators to sustainable development: a novel approach using fuzzy set theory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cornelissen, A.M.G.; Berg, van den J.; Koops, W.J.; Grossman, M.; Udo, H.M.J.

    2001-01-01

    As a consequence of the impact of sustainability on agricultural production systems, a standardized framework to monitor sustainable development would have great practical utility. The objective of this paper is to introduce fuzzy set theory and develop fuzzy mathematical models to assess

  1. Statistical analysis in MSW collection performance assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teixeira, Carlos Afonso; Avelino, Catarina; Ferreira, Fátima; Bentes, Isabel

    2014-09-01

    The increase of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated over the last years forces waste managers pursuing more effective collection schemes, technically viable, environmentally effective and economically sustainable. The assessment of MSW services using performance indicators plays a crucial role for improving service quality. In this work, we focus on the relevance of regular system monitoring as a service assessment tool. In particular, we select and test a core-set of MSW collection performance indicators (effective collection distance, effective collection time and effective fuel consumption) that highlights collection system strengths and weaknesses and supports pro-active management decision-making and strategic planning. A statistical analysis was conducted with data collected in mixed collection system of Oporto Municipality, Portugal, during one year, a week per month. This analysis provides collection circuits' operational assessment and supports effective short-term municipality collection strategies at the level of, e.g., collection frequency and timetables, and type of containers. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Culture in Sustainability--Defining Cultural Sustainability in Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    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…

  3. Using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP for Prioritizing and Ranking of Ecological Indicators for Monitoring Sustainability of Ecotourism in Northern Forest, Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Godratollah Barzekar

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Ecotourism has been identified as a form of sustainable tourism which is expected to contribute to both conservation and development. Unfortunately, due to inadequate environmental assessment, many ecotourism destinations tend to be both hazardous and self-destructive. Indicators are an important tool to provide a means toward sustainability. Among all different aspects of indicators, ecological indicators are significant for monitoring and evaluating sustainable management of ecotourism. In this study criteria and indicators were identified by using the Delphi approach through an expert panel from different fields. At the end of the process, a consensus of 9 criteria and 61 indicators was reached. For prioritization and ranking the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP and Expert choice software was used. The 9 criteria include identified: 1-Conservation of Natural resources & biodiversity; 2-Maintenance of sceneries ,natural &physical features; 3-Conservation of soil & water resources; 4-Maintenance of heritage & cultural diversity; 5-existence of legal, institution, legislation and policy frameworks for empowering Ecotourism; 6-promoting economic benefits & poverty alleviation; 7-Educational affairs and public awareness 8-Maintenance of hygiene& tourist safety; 9-Tourists & local people satisfaction. The results showed that, out of the 9 criteria, the first three, which we labeled as Ecological criteria and comprised 21 indicators, stood as the top highest priority. We also continued the ranking of indicators with related criterion and then all of the indicators were ranked and prioritized by AHP method and using of expert choice software.

  4. Collaboration for Innovation and Sustainable Performance: Evidence of Relationship in Electro-Electronic Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcos Roberto Kuhl

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to identify how collaboration for innovation relates to the sustainable performance of the electronics industry in Brazil. We used a quantitative approach, collecting data by means of a cross-sectional survey in a sample of 112 companies. The main result indicates that the relationship between collaboration and sustainable performance is positive and significant, but of low intensity, confirming the indication from the literature. The same is noticed in checking the relationship between the collaboration and the three dimensions of sustainable performance, although no statistically significant difference was found between the degree of correlation and the three dimensions. Intervening factors such as size, age, internationalization and capital structure were also considered in verifying the relationship between collaboration for innovation and sustainable performance.

  5. 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.

  6. Group assessment of key indicators of sustainable waste management in developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tot, Bojana; Vujić, Goran; Srđević, Zorica; Ubavin, Dejan; Russo, Mário Augusto Tavares

    2017-09-01

    Decision makers in developing countries are struggling to solve the present problems of solid waste management. Prioritisation and ranking of the most important indicators that influence the waste management system is very useful for any decision maker for the future planning and implementation of a sustainable waste management system. The aim of this study is to evaluate key indicators and their related sub-indicators in a group decision-making environment. In order to gain insight into the subject it was necessary to obtain the qualified opinions of decision makers from different countries who understand the situation in the sector of waste management in developing countries. An assessment is performed by 43 decision makers from both developed and developing countries, and the applied methodology is based on a combined use of the analytic hierarchy process, from the multi-criteria decision-making set of tools, and the preferential voting method known as Borda Count, which belongs to social choice theory. Pairwise comparison of indicators is performed with the analytic hierarchy process, and the ranking of indicators once obtained is assessed with Borda Count. Detailed analysis of the final results showed that the Institutional-Administrative indicator was the most important one, with the maximum weight as derived by both groups of decision makers. The results also showed that the combined use of the analytic hierarchy process and Borda Count contributes to the credibility and objectivity of the decision-making process, allowing its use in more complex waste management group decision-making problems to be recommended.

  7. The state of the debate on the environment and the economy: environment and sustainable development indicators for Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-01-01

    This document provides a synthesis of results from stakeholder consultations concerning potential opportunities for sustainable development. The extent of consensus and the reasons for disagreement were summarized, and a review of the consequences of action, or lack of it, was included. The promotion of sustainability and the measures that can be implemented by specific stake holders were recommended. The objective is to track how current economic practices impact both natural and human assets. Chapter one provides a brief introduction, and the context is reviewed in chapter 2. The capital model is examined in chapter 4. The national natural and human capital indicators are described in chapter 4. These include indicators for air quality trends, freshwater quality, greenhouse gas emissions, forest cover, extent of wetlands, and a human capital indicator. In chapter 5, the reader is introduced to a better capital information framework. The final chapters summarize the state of the debate and present recommendations for future action. The following 3 recommendations were presented: (1) report annually on a small set of new national-level natural and human capital indicators, (2) expand the System of National Accounts, and (3) improve national environmental information systems. tabs., figs

  8. Application of selected abiotic and ecological indicators of ecologically sustainable tourism on the example of Inner Istria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikola Vojnović

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this work is the analysis of abiotic and ecological indicators to investigate environmental sustainability of tourism in Inner Istria, which consists of 24 municipalities and towns. Five quantitative indicators were chosen, respecting the criteria of availability, reliability, predictability, clarity and feasibility. Within the first indicator, "protected natural areas", the greatest share of natural areas under protection was established in the Municipality of Lupoglav. Indicators "overall tourists’ water consumption" and "maximum water consumption in tourism industry" have confirmed the low share of tourists’ consumption of drinking water in all municipalities and towns in Inner Istria. The analysis of the fourth indicator, "the share of tourist accommodation facilities and connection to the sewerage system", showed that ten municipalities and towns have such facilities on their territories. The fifth indicator analyzed "resorts with tourist accommodation facilities and their coverage with recycling containers for selective municipal waste disposal" and showed that a part of the settlements in the twelve municipalities and towns had this kind of containers. All accommodation facilities in the municipality of Grožnjan have recycling containers. Qualitative indicators realized through problemoriented interviews with experts in the Istrian water-company and municipal companies, and field researches have confirmed the quantitative indicators. The conclusion derived from the interviews is that tourism is currently in its initial stages of development that does not disturb the regular water supply and waste disposal. Finally, the results of this study confirmed the hypothesis that Inner Istria is a region for ecologically sustainable tourism whose touristification does not threaten the protected natural area, water resources and water supply, wastewater and municipal waste disposal.

  9. Limitations of carbon footprint as indicator of environmental sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurent, Alexis; Olsen, Stig I; Hauschild, Michael Z

    2012-04-03

    Greenhouse gas accountings, commonly referred to with the popular term carbon footprints (CFP), are a widely used metric of climate change impacts and the main focus of many sustainability policies among companies and authorities. However, environmental sustainability concerns not just climate change but also other environmental problems, like chemical pollution or depletion of natural resources, and the focus on CFP brings the risk of problem shifting when reductions in CFP are obtained at the expense of increase in other environmental impacts. But how real is this risk? Here, we model and analyze the life cycle impacts from about 4000 different products, technologies, and services taken from several sectors, including energy generation, transportation, material production, infrastructure, and waste management. By investigating the correlations between the CFP and 13 other impact scores, we show that some environmental impacts, notably those related to emissions of toxic substances, often do not covary with climate change impacts. In such situations, carbon footprint is a poor representative of the environmental burden of products, and environmental management focused exclusively on CFP runs the risk of inadvertently shifting the problem to other environmental impacts when products are optimized to become more "green". These findings call for the use of more broadly encompassing tools to assess and manage environmental sustainability.

  10. Key performance indicators (KPIs) and priority setting in using the multi-attribute approach for assessing sustainable intelligent buildings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    ALwaer, H. [The University of Dundee, School of Architecture, Matthew Building, 13 Perth Road, Dundee DD1 4HT (United Kingdom); Clements-Croome, D.J. [School of Construction Management and Engineering, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 219, Reading RG6 6AW (United Kingdom)

    2010-04-15

    The main objectives of this paper are to: firstly, identify key issues related to sustainable intelligent buildings (environmental, social, economic and technological factors); develop a conceptual model for the selection of the appropriate KPIs; secondly, test critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings; and thirdly develop a new model for measuring the level of sustainability for sustainable intelligent buildings. This paper uses a consensus-based model (Sustainable Built Environment Tool- SuBETool), which is analysed using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for multi-criteria decision-making. The use of the multi-attribute model for priority setting in the sustainability assessment of intelligent buildings is introduced. The paper commences by reviewing the literature on sustainable intelligent buildings research and presents a pilot-study investigating the problems of complexity and subjectivity. This study is based upon a survey perceptions held by selected stakeholders and the value they attribute to selected KPIs. It is argued that the benefit of the new proposed model (SuBETool) is a 'tool' for 'comparative' rather than an absolute measurement. It has the potential to provide useful lessons from current sustainability assessment methods for strategic future of sustainable intelligent buildings in order to improve a building's performance and to deliver objective outcomes. Findings of this survey enrich the field of intelligent buildings in two ways. Firstly, it gives a detailed insight into the selection of sustainable building indicators, as well as their degree of importance. Secondly, it tesst critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings. It is concluded that the priority levels for selected criteria is largely dependent on the integrated design team, which includes the client, architects, engineers and facilities managers

  11. The Role of Nuclear Energy in Establishing Sustainable Energy Paths

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bruggink, J.J.C.; Van der Zwaan, B.C.C.

    2001-10-01

    This study juxtaposes the major facts and arguments about nuclear energy and its potential role in establishing sustainable energy paths. The notion of sustainability has a strong normative character and can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Therefore, also the sustainability of energy supply technologies possesses a normative nature. This paper analyses what the major dimensions are that ought to be addressed when nuclear energy technology is compared, in sustainability terms, with its fossil-fuelled and renewable counterparts. It is assessed to what extent energy supply portfolios including nuclear energy are more, or less, sustainable in comparison to those that exclude this technology. It is indicated what this inventory of collected facts and opinions means for both policy and research regarding nuclear energy in the case of the Netherlands. 32 refs

  12. Sustainability assessment of sugarcane biorefinery and molasses ethanol production in Thailand using eco-efficiency indicator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silalertruksa, Thapat; Gheewala, Shabbir H.; Pongpat, Patcharaporn

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Sugarcane biorefinery in Thailand is evaluated using the eco-efficiency concept. • Green cane along with cane trash use for electricity yields highest eco-efficiency. • Proposed biorefinery system increases eco-efficiency by 20–70%. - Abstract: The study aims to evaluate the sugarcane biorefinery and molasses ethanol production in Thailand using the combined environmental and economic sustainability indicator, so called “Eco-efficiency”. Four sugarcane biorefinery scenarios in Thailand are evaluated. The total output values (US$) and the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (kg CO_2eq) are selected as the indicators for characterizing economic and environmental performance, respectively. The results show that the biorefinery system of mechanized farming along with cane trash utilization for power generation yields the highest eco-efficiency. The benefits come from the increased value added of the biorefinery together with the decreased GHG emissions of the biorefinery system. As compared to the base case scenario, the new systems proposed result in the eco-efficiency improvement by around 20–70%. The biorefinery concept induces reduction of GHG emissions attributed to molasses ethanol. Green cane production and harvesting results in further lowering of the GHG emissions. Integration of sugarcane biomass utilization across the entire sugarcane complex would enhance the sustainability of the sugarcane production system.

  13. Indicators for assessment of rural electrification-An approach for the comparison of apples and pears

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ilskog, Elisabeth

    2008-01-01

    Despite a large number of rural electrification projects being implemented in developing countries, there are few published in-depth evaluations of the effects of these projects on sustainable development. There is also no generally accepted method for the assessment of such effects that includes all relevant aspects of sustainability. An issue of growing importance is whether rural electrification implemented by private entrepreneurs or other non-governmental organisations contribute more effectively to sustainable development than the conventional approach where rural electrification is the responsibility of a government utility. This paper presents a method for sustainability evaluation based on the use of 39 indicators. The proposed indicators cover the five dimensions of sustainability: technical, economical, social/ethical, environmental and institutional sustainability. The paper presents the indicators and gives a detailed example of the procedure to calculate an indicator based on information that can realistically be collected in field studies. It is suggested that this interdisciplinary approach will lead to an improved basis for evaluation of projects than previous, more limited approaches. Projects promoted on the basis of information only about prioritised dimensions of sustainability, such as environment, may fail as a result of weaknesses in other dimensions. The proposed method may reduce this risk

  14. 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)

  15. Comprehensive highway corridor planning with sustainability indicators : [research summary].

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-01

    The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) has initiated major planning : efforts to improve transportation efficiency, safety and sustainability on critical : highway corridors through its Comprehensive Highway Corridor (CHC) program. : It is i...

  16. Prothrombin fragment 1+2 in urine as an indicator of sustained coagulation activation after total hip arthroplasty

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borris, L.C.; Breindahl, M.; Ryge, C.

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: Prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 measured in spot urine (uF1 + 2) is an indicator of thrombin generation. We examined whether measured levels of uF1 + 2 can be used to differentiate between patients who do and do not acquire sustained coagulation activation after total hip arthroplasty (THA...

  17. Evaluating Urban Quality: Indicators and Assessment Tools for Smart Sustainable Cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiara Garau

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The analysis of urban sustainability is key to urban planning, and its usefulness extends to smart cities. Analyses of urban quality typically focus on applying methodologies that evaluate quality objectives at environmental, urban, and building levels. Research has shown that a system of indicators can be useful for developing qualitative and quantitative descriptors of urban environments. The first step in this study was to formulate a methodology to measure the quality of urban life based on investigative checklists and objective and subjective indicators, aggregated to develop an index to evaluate a city’s level of smart urban quality. The second step was to apply this methodology to evaluate the city of Cagliari (Italy at the neighbourhood scale, which is considered by literature the most suitable as a self-sufficient spatial unit for showing redevelopment results. In addition to sharing its research findings, this study aims to verify whether the methodology can be applied to similar urban contexts. The main outcomes of this research pertain to opportunities to numerically measure both objective and subjective aspects that affect urban quality. In this way, the most critical areas to be requalified have been highlighted in order to prepare policies congruent with the local context.

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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

  19. Sustainable development. First part

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colombo, U.; Lanzavecchia, G.; Berrini, M; Zambrini, M.; Bologna, G.; Carraro, C.; Hinterberger, F.; Mastino, G.; Federico, A.; Gaudioso, D.; Luise, A.; Mauro, F.; Padovani, L.; Federico, A.

    1998-01-01

    This paper summarizes a collective effort and represents the second edition of: Environment, energy, economy: a sustainable future. In this work are reported various interventions on sustainable development problem [it

  20. Social Sustainability through Social Interaction—A National Survey on Community Gardens in Germany

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole Rogge

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Community gardening has become a growing movement in cities all over the world, where these diverse collectively managed spaces provide various economic, ecological, and social benefits for urban residents. Particularly in developed countries such as Germany, social benefits are the motivation to participate in community gardens more so than the harvests. Although research on community gardens has grown, including the question of their benefits to a sustainable development, there is little literature studying the social importance and social sustainability of community gardens. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine social interaction, participation, and perceived success as a concept to assess social sustainability. The paper further aims to examine the conditions influencing social sustainability within community gardens. With the help of an online survey, we collect data from 123 community gardens throughout Germany, with which we assess diverse degrees of social sustainability. Causalities of gardens’ social sustainability are analyzed with a multiple linear regression model. Results indicate that there is no significant relationship between size of community and social sustainability, rather aspects of trust and management have a strong effect on social sustainability. Findings like these lead to a better understanding of social interaction in urban communities that contribute to more social sustainability.

  1. Comprehensive assessment of Kichwa Ecuadorian Amazon communities for the elaboration of the Strategy for Sustainable Development. II . Socioeconomic indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth Irene Arias Gutiérrez

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available A social and economical diagnosis was made in the Amazonian Kichwa region (Napo and Pastaza Provinces for the ellaboration of a sustainable development strategy. Six communities from Anzu river valley, on the eastern slopes of the central Andes in Ecuador, were studied. The quantitative methodology consisted in surveying the residents, managers of the six communities and the heads of 64 households, scattered around five rural parishes. The measured social and economic indicators were annual dependence on local forest and cultivated resources in percentage; the indicators of education, health services and housing conditions for a proposed strategy in order to enhance a sustainable local rural development in the Ecuadorian Amazonian indigenous communities under study. Qualitative and quantitative methods were appropriately used. There are high rates of illiteracy in the communities. Kichwa families depend on local resources. The difference between the satisfaction degree of mestizo and Kichwa families is related to its population weight. There are high illiteracy rates in Boayaku, Union de Llandia and 24 de Mayo. Primary education is low in the communities, and secondary education is very low in all communities. A proposed strategy for sustainable agro-ecological community development is made.

  2. Indicators and their functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik; Joumard, Robert; Aschemann, Ralf

    2010-01-01

    indicators? How can several indicators be jointly considered? And how can indicators be used in planning and decision making? Firstly we provide definition of 'indicator of environmental sustainability in transport'. The functions, strengths and weaknesses of indicators as measurement tools, and as decision...... for indicators and assessments. As the decision making context influences the perceived and actual needs for indicators and methods, we also analysed the dimensions and context of decision making. We derived criteria and methods for the assessment and selection of indicators of environmental sustainability......This report is the final report of the action COST 356 'EST - Towards the definition of a measurable environmentally sustainable transport'. It tries to answer the following questions: How can environmental impacts of transport be measured? How can measurements be transformed into operational...

  3. Stakeholder Engagement: Achieving Sustainability in the Construction Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Damian Fearon

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Achieving sustainability-related targets in construction projects is increasingly becoming a key performance driver. Yet sustainability is a complex concept in projects and there are many diverse stakeholders. Some stakeholders are generally recognized as important, i.e., the client and main contractor, yet there are others not always perceived as such and whose absence from the decision-making processes may result in a failure to address sustainability issues. Hence there is a need for a systematic approach to engage with stakeholders with high salience in relation to sustainability. This paper reports the results of an exploratory study involving interviews with construction project practitioners that are involved in sustainability in some way. Data were collected from the practitioners in terms of the processes for engaging with stakeholders to deliver sustainability. The data suggests six steps to a stakeholder engagement process: (i identification; (ii relating stakeholders to different sustainability-related targets; (iii prioritization; (iv managing; (v measuring performance; and (vi putting targets into action. The results suggest that understanding the different sustainability agendas of stakeholders and measuring their performance using key performance indicators are important stages to be emphasized in any stakeholder engagement process to achieve sustainability-related goals.

  4. Sustainable nuclear energy dilemma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  5. Can We Improve Indicator Design for Complex Sustainable Development Goals? A Comparison of a Values-Based and Conventional Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gemma Burford

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available A conceptual framework was constructed for United Nations’ complex Sustainable Development Goal (SDG Target 4.7 focusing on education for sustainable development (ESD, and used to analyse the usefulness and character of indicators produced from a values-based approach called ESDinds, compared to a UN process. The analysis shows that the latter generated very few indicators concerning the wider aspects of knowledge such as ‘critical thinking’ or ‘learning to learn’. The values-based approach, created for a different purpose, produced complementary if not better coverage of Target 4.7, including finely-developed concepts for competencies and less tangible aspects. It is suggested that the UN process would benefit from ESDinds design elements such as intersubjective and slightly disruptive elements, purposeful contextualisation at group level, and a holistic and inductive consideration of values. The use of a reference ‘fuzzy framework’ of slightly generalised proto-indicators suited for deep contextualisation locally is recommended, rather than any rigid global-level indicator with unclear local value. It is recommended that ESD practitioners immediately develop localised interpretations of valid measures for whatever final Target 4.7 indicator is selected by the UN, as this localisation process will itself cause important learning towards local ESD achievements.

  6. Analyzing Agricultural Sustainability Indicators,Under Energy Subsidy Reduction Policy(Case Study of Qorveh Plain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Balali

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Generally, subsidies are the amounts of government payments in order to provide all society members with minimum well-being. In several countries such as Iran, the agriculture sector is supported by different methods to achieve goals such as increasing farmers' income, supporting domestic producers and eliminating dependence on imports, preserving employment and reducing poverty. A significant part of agriculture subsidies has been allocated to energy resources, chemical fertilizers, seeds, agriculture machines, vaccines, animal toxins, the interest on bank loans, insurance fees, certain airplane services, distributing young saplings, and government guaranteed purchase of products. However, examining the subsidies system in Iran reveals that most government payments are in the agriculture sector and more specifically on energy resources. Recently, the extra low cost of energy in the agriculture sector, which has had certain government supports, has resulted in low productivity and environmental damage, and has resulted in increased demand for agricultural products due to population growth, changes in life pattern, deviation in energy cost in agricultural sector, environment destruction and influences on sustainable agriculture indicators. Moreover, among different production units, agriculture has the closest relationship with the environment. This relationship is a mutual.On the one hand, erosion and destruction of the environment along with pollution growth and shortage of water resources negatively influences the production and efficiency of agricultural products, and on the other hand, agricultural pollutants and irregular use of chemical fertilizers in this sector impose indispensable damages to the environment.This study aims to apply a partial equilibrium model in order to examine direct and indirect effects of reduction of energy subsidies on economic and environmental indicators of agricultural sustainability in the Qorveh

  7. Biorefinery Sustainability Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    J. S. M. Silva, Carla; Prunescu, Remus Mihail; Gernaey, Krist

    2017-01-01

    This chapter deals with sustainability analysis of biorefinery systems in terms of environmental and socio-economic indicators . Life cycle analysis has methodological issues related to the functional unit (FU), allocation , land use and biogenic carbon neutrality of the reference system and of t......This chapter deals with sustainability analysis of biorefinery systems in terms of environmental and socio-economic indicators . Life cycle analysis has methodological issues related to the functional unit (FU), allocation , land use and biogenic carbon neutrality of the reference system...... and of the biorefinery-based system. Socio-economic criteria and indicators used in sustainability frameworks assessment are presented and discussed. There is not one single methodology that can aptly cover the synergies of environmental, economic, social and governance issues required to assess the sustainable...

  8. New risk indicator approach for Operators, Workers, Bystanders and Residents for a sustainable use of plant protection products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sacchettini, Gabriele; Calliera, Maura; Marchis, Alexandru; Glass, Richard; Ellis, Clare Butler; Machera, Kyriaki; Gerritsen-Ebben, Rianda; Spanoghe, Pieter; Capri, Ettore

    2015-11-01

    In 2009, the European Union adopted the Directive on Sustainable Use of pesticides (SUD, Directive 2009/128/EC) establishing a framework for achieving a sustainable use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) through reducing the risks and impacts of PPP use on human health and the environment, promoting integrated pest management and stimulating effective non-chemical alternatives. The core idea of the SUD is that it is necessary to monitor the use of PPPs through the implementation of an appropriate set of risk indicators to monitor progress and trends in risk reduction within the Member States. To contribute to this direction, following a comprehensive analysis of the risk (including procedures of risk assessment and risk management) and involving stakeholders in the decision process, specific toolboxes of practical indirect risk indicators of exposure of Operators, Workers, Bystanders and Residents were developed and are now available to be used by Member States (MSs) based on their specific context.

  9. Transport, environment and sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Joumard, Robert; Gudmundsson, Henrik; Kehagia, Fotini

    2010-01-01

    This report is the final report of the action COST 356 'EST - Towards the definition of a measurable environmentally sustainable transport'. It tries to answer the following questions: How can environmental impacts of transport be measured? How can measurements be transformed into operational...... indicators? How can several indicators be jointly considered? And how can indicators be used in planning and decision making? Firstly we provide definition of 'indicator of environmental sustainability in transport'. The functions, strengths and weaknesses of indicators as measurement tools, and as decision...... support tools are discussed. We define what "environmental sustainability in transport" may mean through the transport system, the concepts of sustainable development and of environment. The concept of 'chain of causality' between a source and a final target is developed, as a common reference...

  10. Comparative Study of Sustainable Development Indicators in CEE Countries (2000 – 2010

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mara Ursache

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Environment is the basic factor to continue human survival and long-term prosperity of mankind is unthinkable if we are not able to ensure that future generations can enjoy the full benefits of nature. At the same time, development is needed to tackle poverty in developing countries and to empower people everywhere to live in a civilized manner in a more favorable environment. The aim of this article is to examine if the sustainable development indicators (greenhouse gas emissions, resource productivity and people at risk of poverty or social exclusion have an impact on the economic growth and if there are significant discrepancies between countries in 2010 compared to the base year of analysis (2000, using this indicators. The analysis focuses particularly on the countries situated in Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia. Based on the result obtained, the author shall try to trace, in the conclusion, a few guiding lines which could be of strategic importance for stimulating action and awareness that environmental protection and economic development must be contemporary concerns.

  11. 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

  12. 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.

  13. Assessing and Enhancing Environmental Sustainability: A Conceptual Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Little, John C; Hester, Erich T; Carey, Cayelan C

    2016-07-05

    While sustainability is an essential concept to ensure the future of humanity and the integrity of the resources and ecosystems on which we depend, identifying a comprehensive yet realistic way to assess and enhance sustainability may be one of the most difficult challenges of our time. We review the primary environmental sustainability assessment approaches, categorizing them as either being design-based or those that employ computational frameworks and/or indicators. We also briefly review approaches used for assessing economic and social sustainability because sustainability necessitates integrating environmental, economic, and social elements. We identify the collective limitations of the existing assessment approaches, showing that there is not a consistent definition of sustainability, that the approaches are generally not comprehensive and are subject to unintended consequences, that there is little to no connection between bottom-up and top-down approaches, and that the field of sustainability is largely fragmented, with a range of academic disciplines and professional organizations pursuing similar goals, but without much formal coordination. We conclude by emphasizing the need for a comprehensive definition of sustainability (that integrates environmental, economic, and social aspects) with a unified system-of-systems approach that is causal, modular, tiered, and scalable, as well as new educational and organizational structures to improve systems-level interdisciplinary integration.

  14. Competitiveness as an Indicator of Sustainable Development of Tourism: Applying Destination Competitiveness Indicators to Ethiopia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wondowossen, T.A.; Nakagoshi, N.; Yukio, Y.; Jongman, R.H.G.; Dawit, A.Z.

    2014-01-01

    Competitiveness can be applied to predict the economic sustainability of tourism in destinations which has been measured in terms of leakages and linkage related to employment and income generation opportunities to the destinations. This article examines destination competitiveness of Ethiopia based

  15. Assessment of the Sustainability Capacity of a Coordinated Approach to Chronic Disease Prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Combs, Todd; Polk, LaShaun; Dexter, Sarah

    2017-12-07

    This article outlines some factors that influenced the sustainability capacity of a coordinated approach to chronic disease prevention in state and territory health departments. This study involved a cross-sectional design and mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool (PSAT), a 40-item multiple-choice instrument that assesses 8 domains of sustainability capacity (environmental support, funding stability, partnerships, organizational capacity, program evaluation, program adaptation, communications, and strategic planning). Qualitative data were collected via phone interviews. The PSAT was administered to staff and stakeholders from public health departments in 50 US states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, who were involved in the implementation of coordinated chronic disease programs. Phone interviews were conducted with program coordinators in each state. Sustainability score patterns and state-level categorical results, as well as strengths and opportunities for improvement across the 8 program sustainability domains, were explored. On average, programs reported the strongest sustainability capacity in the domains of program adaptation, environmental support, and organizational capacity, while funding stability, strategic planning, and communications yielded lowest scores, indicating weakest capacity. Scores varied the most by state in environmental support and strategic planning. The PSAT results highlight the process through which states approached the sustainability of coordinated chronic disease initiatives. This process included an initial focus on program evaluation and partnerships with transfer of priority to long-term strategic planning, communications, and funding stability to further establish coordinated chronic disease efforts. Qualitative interviews provided further context to PSAT results, indicating that leadership, communications, partnerships, funding stability, and policy

  16. Assessing urban sustainability of slum settlements in Bangladesh: Evidence from Chittagong city

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nasir Uddin

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the sustainability of urban development through the livelihood conditions of slum dwellers in Bangladesh. The empirical data were collected through interview schedule and FGD from 97 respondents in two slum areas of Bangladesh. The respondents were selected purposively from the second largest city of Bangladesh namely, Chittagong. The results clearly indicate that there exist significant diversity and differences of sustainability indicators, particularly household and housing characteristics, health, drinking water, waste disposal system and security. More specifically, the finding shows that slum dwellers have been experiencing with a wide range of substandard, overcrowded and unhealthy housing conditions in one hand. On the other hand, they have scarce and insufficient health, sanitation, water and waste disposal services which are unswervingly impeding to sustainable development in urban areas. Although the majority of slum dwellers have access to electricity, they are still threatened by the insecurities of women, drug dealing, eviction and natural disaster. Therefore, the findings suggest a holistic approach to address the multi-faceted sustainability issues that affect the livelihoods of slum dwellers within the framework of context-driven development policy of the country. Keywords: Sustainability, Urban slum, Sustainable development, Chittagong city, Bangladesh

  17. Tracking and unpacking rapid Arctic change: Indicators of community health and sustainability in northern Alaska and links to cryospheric change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eicken, H.; Sam, J. M.; Mueller-stoffels, M.; Lovecraft, A. L.; Fresco, N. L.

    2017-12-01

    Tracking and responding to rapid Arctic change benefits from time series of indicator variables that describe the state of the system and can inform anticipatory action. A key challenge is to identify and monitor sets of indicators that capture relevant variability, trends, and transitions in social-environmental systems. We present findings from participatory scenarios focused on community health and sustainability in northern Alaska. In a series of workshops in 2015 and 2016 (Kotzebue workshop photo shown below), over 50 experts, mostly local, identified determinants of community health and sustainability by 2040 in the Northwest Arctic and North Slope Boroughs, Alaska. Drawing on further research, an initial set of factors and uncertainties was refined and prioritized into a total of 20 key drivers, ranging from governance issues to socio-economic and environmental factors. The research team then developed sets of future projections that describe plausible outcomes by mid-century for each of these drivers. A plausibility and consistency analysis of all pairwise combinations of these projections (following Mueller-Stoffels and Eicken, In: North by 2020 - Perspectives on Alaska's Changing Social-Ecological Systems, University of Alaska Press, 2011) resulted in the identification of robust scenarios. The latter were further reviewed by workshop participants, and a set of indicator variables, including indicators of relevant cryospheric change, was identified to help track trajectories towards plausible future states. Publically accessible recorded data only exist for a subset of the more than 70 indicators, reaching back a few years to several decades. For several indicators, the sampling rate or time series length are insufficient for tracking of and response to change. A core set of variables has been identified that meets indicator requirements and can serve as a tool for Alaska Arctic communities in adapting to or mitigating rapid change affecting community

  18. Indicadores de sustentabilidade na Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Piranha, Manacapuru, Amazonas, Brasil Indicators of sustainable of the Piranha Development Reserve, Manacapuru, Amazonas, Brasil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Luiz Menezes de Andrade

    2007-01-01

    agricultural communities of the Piranha Development Reserve, being three of them from the sustainable use zone and six of them from the damping zone north and south in Manacapuru-AM. The methodology procedure adopted in the inquiry is quantitative. The data were collected, through the action oral stories, participant observations, structuralized and semi-structuralized interviews, informal colloquies and secondary data. The collected data were organized by capitals and later used in the comparison of the indicators and construction of a Local Sustainable Development Index - LSDI. The obtained results have demonstrated a better development of the ways of communitarian life in the communities of the sustainable use zone, with prominence for the financial capital. The LSDI constructed has showed a representative local reality, of ease application, efficient to measure the performance of the integrant indicators of the capitals. In this way, directions are pointed to take decisions in agreement with the principles of the sustainability and recommendations of global Agenda 21.

  19. Strategic collective system building to commercialize sustainability innovations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Planko, J.; Cramer, J.M.; Chappin, M.M.H.; Hekkert, M.P.

    2016-01-01

    The implementation of innovative sustainability technologies often requires far-reaching changes of the macro environment in which the innovating firms operate. Strategic management literature demonstrates that the chances of a successful diffusion and adoption of an innovative technology in society

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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

  1. EMPIRICAL STUDY REGARDING SUSTAINABILITY OF ROMANIAN PENSION SYSTEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oprean Delia

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper is part of a broad, applied scientific research, based on popular empirical procedures (such as natural observation. Positivistic and constructive research methodology used was based on the consensual-inductive system (Locke, which is why we studied the different views of specialists on sustainability of pensions in Romania, necessary to formulate the problem of generating relevant information. Research strategies used were the comparative and longitudinal ones, as we analyzed the time evolution of qualitative indicators VUAN (unitary value of net asset specific to pension funds Pillar II and Pillar III of Romania, concomitant with the number of participants in these funds, as to determine their direct relationship with the need for sustainability in this area. The hypotheses regarding causal relationship efficiency – participants - sustainability and needed measures for pension reform were built in this paper inductively (by analyzing the sustainability issues of pensions in time, causally (by explaining the cause and effect phenomenon studied, deductively, logically and subjectively (due to the existence and perpetuation of conflict premise between generations and social inequality between employees and pensioners. The qualitative approach of the phenomenon studied by collecting information (using mediated data collection technique has allowed the relevant findings and practical solutions necessary for all those involved in this concerted action of pensions, which affects us all.

  2. Developing a validation for environmental sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adewale, Bamgbade Jibril; Mohammed, Kamaruddeen Ahmed; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd; Aziz, Zulkifli

    2016-08-01

    One of the agendas for addressing environmental protection in construction is to reduce impacts and make the construction activities more sustainable. This important consideration has generated several research interests within the construction industry, especially considering the construction damaging effects on the ecosystem, such as various forms of environmental pollution, resource depletion and biodiversity loss on a global scale. Using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling technique, this study validates environmental sustainability (ES) construct in the context of large construction firms in Malaysia. A cross-sectional survey was carried out where data was collected from Malaysian large construction firms using a structured questionnaire. Results of this study revealed that business innovativeness and new technology are important in determining environmental sustainability (ES) of the Malaysian construction firms. It also established an adequate level of internal consistency reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity for each of this study's constructs. And based on this result, it could be suggested that the indicators for organisational innovativeness dimensions (business innovativeness and new technology) are useful to measure these constructs in order to study construction firms' tendency to adopt environmental sustainability (ES) in their project execution.

  3. Assessment of indicators and collection methodology to estimate nutrient digestibility in buffaloes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciana Felizardo Pereira Soares

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Dry fecal matter production was estimated from neutral detergent indicators on indigestible fiber, indigestible acid detergent fiber, indigestible dry matter, incubated for 144 hours and 288 hours, as well as chromium oxide (Cr2O3 and enriched and purified isolated lignin (LIPE® in two sampling schemes (3 and 5 days on buffaloes. Sample consisted of five castrated animals with average weight of 300 ± 0.6 kg fed on elephant grass cv Cameroon (Pennisetum purpureum. Experimental design consisted of randomized blocks in subdivided plots. Production of dry fecal matter was overestimated when using Cr2O3, indigestible acid detergent fiber 144 hours, indigestible neutral detergent fiber 144 hours, indigestible neutral detergent fiber 288 hours and indigestible dry matter 144 hours, while indigestible acid detergent fiber 288 hours, indigestible dry matter 288 hours and LIPE® did not differ from total collection. The same result was observed for apparent digestibility of nutrients. There was no difference in dry fecal matter production and digestibility between both collection periods of 3 and 5 days, demonstrating that a collection period of three days can be used to estimate dry fecal matter production in buffaloes. A three-day period of sample collection, in order to estimate dry fecal matter production and apparent digestibility coefficients, is therefore recommended. The use of LIPE®, fibers in indigestible acid detergent and indigestible dry matter as indicators, both latter incubated for 288 hours, result in accurate estimates of dry fecal matter production in confined buffaloes, fed on a forage based diet.

  4. 78 FR 27189 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Developing Social Wellbeing Indicators for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-09

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Developing Social Wellbeing Indicators for Marine Management AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Department of...

  5. Performance Indicator Framework for Evaluation of Sustainable Tourism in the Taiwan Coastal Zone

    OpenAIRE

    Shih-Hao Wang; Meng-Tsung Lee; Pierre-Alexandre Château; Yang-Chi Chang

    2016-01-01

    Surrounded by the ocean, Taiwan has been increasingly developing coastal tourism projects. Concerns that negative impacts might be brought about by prosperous tourism have resulted in a recent focus on sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism involves policies that acknowledge the interdependences among the environment, the community, and the economy. The goal of sustainable tourism is to enhance and protect the environment while satisfying basic human requirements, as well as those of the co...

  6. Sustainability assessment of energy technologies via social indicators: Results of a survey among European energy experts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallego Carrera, Diana; Mack, Alexander

    2010-01-01

    Sustainability assessment of energy technologies oftentimes fails to account for social repercussions and long-term negative effects and benefits of energy systems. As part of the NEEDS project, an expert-based set of social indicators was developed and verified by the European stakeholders with the objective of contributing in the development of social indicators for the assessment of societal effects of energy systems. For this purpose, scientific experts from four sample countries France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland were interviewed to assess 16 different energy systems on a specific stakeholder reviewed indicator set. The indicator set covers the four main criteria: 'security and reliability of energy provision; 'political stability and legitimacy'; 'social and individual risks' and 'quality of life'. This article will review the process of indicator development and assessment and highlight results for today's most prominent and future energy technologies and some likely to make an impact in the future. Expert judgments varied considerably between countries and energy systems, with the exception of renewable technologies, which were overall positively assessed on almost all evaluation criteria.

  7. Analysis on The Society Indicator of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR of PT Antam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuraini Sari

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Stakeholders believe that CSR report of a company provides significant information as well as the financial information reported in financial statement. The purpose of this research is to analyze the comprehensiveness and information on society indicator stated in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR reporting. The Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (version 3.1 provides indicators to analyze the CSR of company. This research focuses on society aspect as one of the performance indicators. Comprehensive reporting contains three types of information: (i vision and goals, (ii management approach, and (iii performance indicator. The methodology used in this research was data collection. This research analyzed the disclosure of society aspect by PT Antam on their financial statement and annual CSR report for the year 2012. The result of this research explains that PT Antam’s sustainability report for the year 2012 was comprehensive because they reported all the six aspects of society indicator. However, PT Antam failed to report the total value of financial and in kind contributions to political parties, politicians, and related institutions by country (SO6 as part of public policy aspect in their sustainability report.

  8. Using soil quality indicators for monitoring sustainable forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    James A. Burger; Garland Gray; D. Andrew Scott

    2010-01-01

    Most private and public forest land owners and managers are compelled to manage their forests sustainably, which means management that is economically viable,environmentally sound, and socially acceptable. To meet this mandate, the USDA Forest Service protects the productivity of our nation’s forest soils by monitoring and evaluating management activities to ensure...

  9. Healthcare Building Sustainability Assessment tool - Sustainable Effective Design criteria in the Portuguese context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castro, Maria de Fátima; Mateus, Ricardo; Bragança, Luís

    2017-01-01

    Tools and methods to improve current practices and quality in the healthcare building sector are necessary to support decision-making at different building life cycle phases. Furthermore, Healthcare Building Sustainability Assessment (HBSA) Methods are based on criteria organised into different levels, such as categories and indicators. These criteria highlight aspects of significant importance when designing and operating a sustainable healthcare building. To bring more objectivity to the sustainability assessments, the standardisation bodies (CEN and ISO) proposed core indicators that should be used in the evaluation of the environmental, societal and economic performances of buildings. Nevertheless, relying on state of the art analysis, it is possible to conclude that there are aspects of major importance for the operation of healthcare buildings that are not considered in the HBSA methods. Thus, the aim of this paper is to discuss the context of sustainability assessment methods in the field of healthcare buildings and to present a proposal for the incorporation of Sustainable-Effective Design (SED) criteria in a new HBSA method. The used research method is innovative since in the development of the list of sustainability criteria it considers the opinion of main healthcare buildings' stakeholders, the existing healthcare assessment methods and the ISO and CEN standardisation works in the field of the methods to assess the sustainability of construction works. As a result, the proposed method is composed of fifty-two sustainability indicators that cover the different dimensions of the sustainability concept to support decision making during the design of a new or retrofitted healthcare building in urban areas. - Highlights: •A new system to assess the sustainability of healthcare buildings is presented. •We propose a method to develop the list of sustainability indicators for hospitals. •We propose a new concept – Sustainable-Effective Design (SED

  10. Indication of the onset of collectivity in 30P

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ray, Indrani; Kshetri, Ritesh; Saha Sarkar, Maitreyee; Banerjee, P.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Dey, C. C.; Goswami, A.; Chatterjee, J. M.; Mukherjee, A.; Bhattacharya, S.; Dasmahapatra, B.; Basu, Moumita Roy; Sarkar, S.; Datta, P.; Jain, H. C.; Bhowmik, R. K.; Muralithar, S.; Singh, R. P.

    2007-01-01

    30 P has been studied by in-beam γ-spectroscopy following the fusion-evaporation reaction 16 O( 16 O,pn) at E lab =40 MeV, using the Indian National Gamma (Clover) Array (INGA) up to moderate spins (I=5). Polarization measurements of seven gamma rays have been performed for the first time. To understand the underlying structure of the levels and transition mechanisms, experimental data have been compared with the results from large basis cross-shell shell model calculations. The results for the negative parity states are especially important in this respect. Positive parity states indicate an onset of collectivity, whereas the negative parity states are members of ν-π multiplets

  11. Canadian environmental sustainability indicators : air quality indicator : data sources methods 2005

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-01-01

    National indicators of freshwater quality, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions were established in 2004 by the Canadian government in recognition that public health and economic well-being are linked to the quality of the environment. These indicators build on a base of an established national monitoring network and are communicated to the public by Environment Canada, Statistics Canada and Health Canada in an effort to provide reliable information on the state of the environment. Each indicator reported in a given year has an associated data sources and methods report to provide technical detail and background information that will help interpret the indicator. This particular report focused on the basic methods and data for the air quality indicator as it was reported in 2005. It approximated public exposure to ground-level ozone, a key component of smog and a harmful pollutant. Since ozone levels are influenced by weather and transboundary flows of pollutants, this report analyzed observed concentrations in relation to where people live. The indicator measures the seasonal average of the highest 8-hour average ground-level ozone concentration for each day. The indicator reflects possible health impacts related to ozone over the entire season. It is population-weighted and assumes that ozone concentrations are constant within a radius of 40 km around each monitoring station. It was noted that future improvements for the air quality indicator will include measures of fine particulate matter and improvements in monitoring methods. 9 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs

  12. Assessing Viability and Sustainability: a Systems-based Approach for Deriving Comprehensive Indicator Sets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hartmut Bossel

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available Performance assessment in holistic approaches such as integrated natural resource management has to deal with a complex set of interacting and self-organizing natural and human systems and agents, all pursuing their own "interests" while also contributing to the development of the total system. Performance indicators must therefore reflect the viability of essential component systems as well as their contributions to the viability and performance of other component systems and the total system under study. A systems-based derivation of a comprehensive set of performance indicators first requires the identification of essential component systems, their mutual (often hierarchical or reciprocal relationships, and their contributions to the performance of other component systems and the total system. The second step consists of identifying the indicators that represent the viability states of the component systems and the contributions of these component systems to the performance of the total system. The search for performance indicators is guided by the realization that essential interests (orientations or orientors of systems and actors are shaped by both their characteristic functions and the fundamental and general properties of their system environments (e.g., normal environmental state, scarcity of resources, variety, variability, change, other coexisting systems. To be viable, a system must devote an essential minimum amount of attention to satisfying the "basic orientors" that respond to the properties of its environment. This fact can be used to define comprehensive and system-specific sets of performance indicators that reflect all important concerns. Often, qualitative indicators and the study of qualitative systems are sufficient for reliable performance assessments. However, this approach can also be formalized for quantitative computer-assisted assessment. Examples are presented of indicator sets for the sustainable development of

  13. 'Ecological value added' in an integrated ecosystem-economy model. An indicator for sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kratena, Kurt

    2004-01-01

    This paper sets up an input-output system of the relevant ecosystem flows that determine the carbon cycle in the global ecosystem. Introducing energy as the value added component in the ecosystem allows to calculate ecosystem prices expressed in 'energy values'. Linking the ecosystem with the economy in an integrated input-output model then allows to calculate prices of economic activities and of ecosystem activities. In analogy to the 'Ecological Footprint', where productive land is needed to absorb anthropogenic emissions, in this integrated input-output model additional carbon sinks are introduced for emission absorption. These carbon sinks need solar energy input, i.e. 'ecological value added'. Emission absorption as well as GDP therefore become activities valued in the numeraire of the integrated system, i.e.'energy values'. From that sustainability indicators can be derived

  14. Indicators in the governance of sustainable transport policies in Japan

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik; Fukuda, Daisuke

    extent governance frameworks associated with ‘new public management’ reforms in Japan also provide an enhanced basis to promote sustainability within transportation. A framework is derived based on the assumption that the effectiveness of such frameworks in this regard depends on the way sustainability...... is represented, as well as how the framework is integrated with decision making processes. Japan is used as a case, because Japanese transport seems to perform well in certain aspects of ‘sustainability’, while Japanese transportation policy also faces significant management challenges. A range of governance...... evaluation framework for the road sector used by the Japanese Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The second is the so-called ‘Eco-model’ cities program, also undertaken by the MLIT, using the case of Toyama City for illustration. In each case the approach to performance...

  15. The Establishment and Application of Environment Sustainability Evaluation Indicators for Ecotourism Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Han-Shen Chen

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Kinmen National Park is the only battle memorial-themed natural resource conservation park in Taiwan. With the rapid growth in tourism, Kinmen National Park faces the challenge of managing with the resulting environmental impact. For this study, we adopted the tourism ecological footprint (TEF and tourism ecological capacity (TEC to evaluate the ecological conditions of Kinmen National Park from 2002 to 2011. The empirical results indicated the following findings: (a TEF increased by 8.03% over 10 years; (b Regarding the environmental sustainability index (ESI, per capita tourism ecological deficit (PTED yielded a deficit growth rate of 45.37%. In 2011, the ecological footprint index (EFI was at Level 4 with 1.16, and the ESI was at Level 3 with 0.495. According to the aforementioned results, with the increased scale of tourism to Kinmen National Park, the pressure that ecological occupancy exerted on the national ecosystem exceeded its ecological capacity.

  16. The Global Sustainability Index: An Instrument For Assessing The Progress Towards The Sustainable Organization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grecu, Valentin

    2015-09-01

    There is rarely an optimal solution in sustainable development but most frequently a need to build compromises between conflicting aspects such as economic, social and environmental ones and different expectations of stakeholders. Moreover, information is rarely available and precise. This paper will focus on how to use indicators to monitor sustainable development, integrating the information provided by many of them into a complex general sustainability index. Having this general indicator is essential for decision makers as it is very complicated to evaluate the performance of the organization based on multiple indicators. The objective of this paper is to find mathematical algorithms for simplifying the decision-making process by offering an instrument for the evaluation of the sustainability progress.

  17. Development of sustainable performance indicators to assess the benefits of real-time monitoring in mechanised underground mining

    OpenAIRE

    Govindan, Rajesh; Cao, Wenzhuo; Korre, Anna; Durucan, Sevket; Graham, Peter; Simon, Clara; Barlow, Glenn; Pemberton, Ross

    2018-01-01

    This paper presents the development and quantification of a catalogue of Sustainable Performance Indicators (SPIs) for the assessment of the benefits real-time mining can offer in small and complex mechanised underground mining operations. The SPIs investigated in detail include: ‒ grade accuracy and error of the resource model, ‒ high/low grade ore classification accuracy and error, ‒ additional high grade ore identified per unit volume, ‒ profit expected per unit volume, ‒ or...

  18. 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...

  19. Leading for the long haul: a mixed-method evaluation of the Sustainment Leadership Scale (SLS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ehrhart, Mark G; Torres, Elisa M; Green, Amy E; Trott, Elise M; Willging, Cathleen E; Moullin, Joanna C; Aarons, Gregory A

    2018-01-19

    Despite our progress in understanding the organizational context for implementation and specifically the role of leadership in implementation, its role in sustainment has received little attention. This paper took a mixed-method approach to examine leadership during the sustainment phase of the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework. Utilizing the Implementation Leadership Scale as a foundation, we sought to develop a short, practical measure of sustainment leadership that can be used for both applied and research purposes. Data for this study were collected as a part of a larger mixed-method study of evidence-based intervention, SafeCare®, sustainment. Quantitative data were collected from 157 providers using web-based surveys. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of the Sustainment Leadership Scale (SLS). Qualitative data were collected from 95 providers who participated in one of 15 focus groups. A framework approach guided qualitative data analysis. Mixed-method integration was also utilized to examine convergence of quantitative and qualitative findings. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the a priori higher order factor structure of the SLS with subscales indicating a single higher order sustainment leadership factor. The SLS demonstrated excellent internal consistency reliability. Qualitative analyses offered support for the dimensions of sustainment leadership captured by the quantitative measure, in addition to uncovering a fifth possible factor, available leadership. This study found qualitative and quantitative support for the pragmatic SLS measure. The SLS can be used for assessing leadership of first-level leaders to understand how staff perceive leadership during sustainment and to suggest areas where leaders could direct more attention in order to increase the likelihood that EBIs are institutionalized into the normal functioning of the organization.

  20. TECHNIQUES AND SYSTEMS OF INDICATORS USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabina VITALIA

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The present article exposes the summary of a research project whose purpose is measuring sustainable development in Romania at the level of rural areas. Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development in English means better quality of life now and for future generations. According to the vision of sustainable development, progress integrates immediate and long-term objectives, local actions and global economic and environmental issues, all of which are inseparable. Such a vision of society can not be imposed only by political, society as a whole must adopt certain principles (political, economic, social, thinking. Sustainable development can be defined simply as a better quality of life for everyone, both now and for future generations. Sustainable development means: balanced and equitable economic development; high levels of employment, social cohesion and inclusion; a high level of environmental protection and responsible use of natural resources; generating a coherent political system open, transparent and accountable; effective international cooperation to promote global sustainable development (Gothenburg Strategy, 2001.

  1. Urban Big Data and Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges and Opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Kharrazi

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Cities are perhaps one of the most challenging and yet enabling arenas for sustainable development goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs emphasize the need to monitor each goal through objective targets and indicators based on common denominators in the ability of countries to collect and maintain relevant standardized data. While this approach is aimed at harmonizing the SDGs at the national level, it presents unique challenges and opportunities for the development of innovative urban-level metrics through big data innovations. In this article, we make the case for advancing more innovative targets and indicators relevant to the SDGs through the emergence of urban big data. We believe that urban policy-makers are faced with unique opportunities to develop, experiment, and advance big data practices relevant to sustainable development. This can be achieved by situating the application of big data innovations through developing mayoral institutions for the governance of urban big data, advancing the culture and common skill sets for applying urban big data, and investing in specialized research and education programs.

  2. Sustainable Design Re-Examined: Integrated Approach to Knowledge Creation for Sustainable Interior Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Young S.

    2014-01-01

    The article focuses on a systematic approach to the instructional framework to incorporate three aspects of sustainable design. It also aims to provide an instruction model for sustainable design stressing a collective effort to advance knowledge creation as a community. It develops a framework conjoining the concept of integrated process in…

  3. Construction of sustainability indicators for Nuclear Area Innovation and Research Institutes in Brazil; Construção de indicadores de sustentabilidade para institutos de pesquisa e inovação da área de tecnologia nuclear no Brasil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alves, Simone Fonseca

    2017-07-01

    The dissertation consists of a construction of appropriate sustainability indicators for nuclear area innovation and research institutes in Brazil. In order to do so, the results of the construction process, as well as, the perception of the population that resides in the area surrounding this type of institute are presented and discussed. As reference for this case study, the Nuclear Technology Development Center (CDTN) was chosen. It is located in Pampulha, more specifically, on the campus of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. One of the methodological processes present in this research is the Delphi method, because it is the most used in the construction of indicators. Its application in this work allowed obtaining the of specialist group opinions collected through a questionnaire. Initially, sixty-nine sustainability indicators were considered. They were distributed among the environmental, economic, socio cultural and institutional dimensions, some of which were obtained through lists of indicators pointed by literature review. Other indicators were built through discussions with groups from the nuclear, environmental, economic and socio cultural areas. Among the set of indicators investigated, twenty-six were selected as being the most relevant. A questionnaire was then applied to one hundred and twenty individuals living in the vicinity of the CDTN. Discrepancies were found during the analysis the opinions of the experts in relation to sustainability dimensions proposed, as well as, indicators of the same dimensions were varied. However, the opinion of the population and the opinion of the experts had similar results. Finally, this study is the first proposal for the nuclear sector to construct this kind of indicator that takes into account the evaluation of experts and the opinion of the community that resides around these institutions. (author)

  4. Indicator report. Danmark's national strategy for sustainable development: a shared future - balanced development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-08-01

    The Danish vision of sustainable development is based on eight objectives and principles: 1) The welfare society must be developed and economic growth must be decoupled from environmental impacts. 2) There must be a safe and healthy environment for everyone, and we must maintain a high level of protection. 3) We must secure a high degree of bio-diversity and protect ecosystems. 4) Resources must be used more efficiently. 5) We must take action at an international level 6) Environmental considerations must be taken into account in all sectors. 7) The market must support sustainable development. 8) Sustainable development is a shared responsibility and we must measure progress. (au)

  5. 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...

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  7. Framework for Assessing Water Resource Sustainability in River Basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borden, J.; Goodwin, P.; Swanson, D.

    2013-12-01

    indicators to use in the analytical evaluation. A software template guides users through this process. For demonstration, the RBAF-C template has been applied to address competing irrigation demand-anadromous fish flow requirements in the Lemhi Basin, Idaho, and the increase in municipal and industrial demand in the Upper Bhima River Basin, India, which affects water supply to downstream irrigation command areas. The RBAF-A is for quantitatively evaluating the current conditions of water resources in a river basin and testing potential scenarios with respect to the sustainability criterion. The primary foundation for quantifying water movement is a river basin model. Upon this, the RBAF-A Interface organizes input data, collects output data from each discipline, and reports the HWB. Within the RBAF-A Interface, the EGS-HWB Calculator collects output time series data, processes the data with respect to space and time, and computes the ecologic, economic, and social well-being. The Reporting Tool presents the scenario output as values and trends in well-being. To demonstrate the technology, the RBAF-A was applied to the Lemhi Basin, Idaho. The RBAF supports the IWRM process by providing a structured and transparent means to understand the water related issues, analyses to conduct, and indicators to select in assessing the sustainability of water programs and policies in river basins.

  8. Sustainable built environments

    CERN Document Server

    Haase, Dagmar

    2013-01-01

    Sustainable design is a collective process whereby the built environment achieves unprecedented levels of ecological balance through new and retrofit construction, with the goal of long-term viability and humanization of architecture. Focusing on the environmental context, sustainable design merges the natural, minimum resource conditioning solutions of the past (daylight, solar heat, and natural ventilation) with the innovative technologies of the present.  The desired result is an integrated “intelligent” system that supports individual control with expert negotiation for resource consciousness. International experts in the field address the fundamental questions of sustainable design and landscape management: How should the sustainability of landscapes and buildings be evaluated? Which targets have to be set and which thresholds should not be exceeded? What forms of planning and governance structures exist and to what extent do they further the goals of sustainability?  Gathering 30 peer-reviewed ent...

  9. Practical Implementation of Sustainable Urban Management Tools

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Jesper Ole; Hoffmann, Birgitte

    2006-01-01

    The paper discusses how to promote the use of decision support tools for urban sustainable development. The interest in decision support tools based on indicators is increasing among practitioners and researchers. The research has so far focused on indicator types and systems of indicators...... and goals for urban sustainability whereas less focus has been on the context of implementation and even less on what we can learn from practical experiences about the usefulness of urban sustainable indicator tools. This paper explores the practical implementation of urban sustainable management tools....... It is generally agreed that in order to make indicators and other sustainability management tools work it is necessary that they are integrated in the relevant urban organisational levels, in a way that creates commitment to the subsequent goals. This includes involvement of organisations, individuals and other...

  10. Exploration of the Barriers to Implementing Different Types of Sustainability Approaches

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stewart, Raphaëlle Marie Marianne; Bey, Niki; Boks, Casper

    2016-01-01

    Integrating sustainability into business is gaining increased attention. Yet, implementing long-lasting sustainability approaches remains a complex task. Many empirical studies have identified the barriers to such implementation but the variation in challenges faced by companies, depending...... on the focus of the approach being implemented, is not addressed. The aim of this paper is i) to explore the barriers related to implementing different types of sustainability approaches and ii) to look for indications of similarities and differences across types of approaches. The research builds on data...... about the barriers, collected from a sample of twenty-two empirical studies in academic research and additional reports. The findings show that performance measurement systems and access to industry-specific information, benchmark or reference cases are common areas of difficulty across all types...

  11. Sustainable vaccine development: a vaccine manufacturer's perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rappuoli, Rino; Hanon, Emmanuel

    2018-05-08

    Vaccination remains the most cost-effective public health intervention after clean water, and the benefits impressively outweigh the costs. The efforts needed to fulfill the steadily growing demands for next-generation and novel vaccines designed for emerging pathogens and new indications are only realizable in a sustainable business model. Vaccine development can be fast-tracked through strengthening international collaborations, and the continuous innovation of technologies to accelerate their design, development, and manufacturing. However, these processes should be supported by a balanced project portfolio, and by managing sustainable vaccine procurement strategies for different types of markets. Collectively this will allow a gradual shift to a more streamlined and profitable vaccine production, which can significantly contribute to the worldwide effort to shape global health. Copyright © 2018 GlaxoSmithKine Biologicals SA. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  12. WEF nexus indicators: A study on the development of indicators for urban areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, M. H.; Lo, S. L.

    2017-12-01

    Energy shortages and resources constraints have both emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing mankind this century.By 2030, humans will require 30% more water, 45% more energy and 50 % more food. The Food- Energy -Water (FEW) nexus is extensive and few areas are now untouched by it. Competition for energy and resources is increasing , especially in urban areas. To explore ways of meeting the challenges and seizing new opportunities, indicators could provide valuable information on complex issues in a relatively accessible way. In this paper, we develop a framework for selection of indicators, to assess the comprehensive sustainable status and trends to the FEW system .We identify indicators based on related ecosystem services to examine the status of FEW sustainability. We test the framework on two case studies in Taipei and Canberra. Several criteria were used to evaluate the usefulness of the selected indicators, including scalability and sensitivity . This paper identifies the need to establish indicators that entirely and largely reveal the potential of an ecosystem services support by FEW sustainability.

  13. A case study of sustainable urban planning principles in Curitiba (Brazil and their applicability in Shiraz (Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Soltani

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates sustainability principles in the city of Curitiba, in Brazil, as a pioneer which has commenced its sustainability journey since the 1960s. Analyzing sustainability principles in Curitiba, the paper aims to study their applicability in the case of Shiraz in Iran. Considering the complexity of physical, social, cultural and environmental systems in urban planning, the research underlines the vitality of contextual studies, integration and implementation strategies in sustainability achievement in urban scale. It shows how and to what extent sustainability principles in a city can be adapted to other contexts. This comparative study benefits from interpretive methods of data collection and analysis based on primary and secondary resources. A theoretical framework of planning based on equity, economy and ecology is being utilized in data collection and analysis. The investigation indicates that Curitiba’s sustainability agenda is based on a set of integration and implementation strategies which combine decision making, education, transportation, public welfare, heritage conservation and waste management. It is argued that although every urban environment has its specific opportunities and constraints, still there are many things to learn from others.

  14. Model of sustainability of vernacular kampongs within Ngadha culture, Flores

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susetyarto, M. B.

    2018-01-01

    In the indigenous people of Ngadha, Flores (8°52’40.45”South, 120°59’8.18”East), the phenomenon of sustainability could be seen in its very interesting architectural traces in the setting of local factors. The sustainability phenomenon had a high value in their life and it was clearly indicated in daily activities as well as farmers, weavers, or carpenters. The phenomenon was unique and has been successfully created as a model. The research has been done by qualitative method in inductive paradigm. The data collection and comprehensive analysis have done in the field by occasional discussions with some sources of Ngadha traditional experts, vernacular architecture researchers, sociologists, anthropologists, and others. The result was a model of sustainability of vernacular kampongs within Ngadha culture, namely Tuku nunga lo’a ghera adha Ngadha. The concept of sustainability was a cultural event that synergizes the five factors supporting continuously sustainability until the optimum momentum of sustainability occurred in those synergistic conditions. The five factors were natural environment (one nua), indigenous community (mesu mora), vernacular architecture (sa’o bhaga ngadhu ture), economy (ngo ngani), and Ngadha culture (adha Ngadha). The significance and impact of the research were to provide input for the completeness of sustainability knowledge, especially the vernacular kampongs sustainability model.

  15. Sustainable Consumer Behaviour: A Collection of Empirical Studies

    OpenAIRE

    Gerrit Antonides

    2017-01-01

    We summarise the contributions in this special issue on sustainable consumer behaviour and place them in perspective. Several studies focus on macro- and meso-issues, and others on micro-issues of consumer behaviour. The studies employ a variety of methods, including surveys, field experiments, eye tracking, scale development, and contingent valuation. The 12 contributions from authors of 13 different countries show the wide and varied application of consumer research focused on sustainabilit...

  16. Sustainable Sizing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinette, Kathleen M; Veitch, Daisy

    2016-08-01

    To provide a review of sustainable sizing practices that reduce waste, increase sales, and simultaneously produce safer, better fitting, accommodating products. Sustainable sizing involves a set of methods good for both the environment (sustainable environment) and business (sustainable business). Sustainable sizing methods reduce (1) materials used, (2) the number of sizes or adjustments, and (3) the amount of product unsold or marked down for sale. This reduces waste and cost. The methods can also increase sales by fitting more people in the target market and produce happier, loyal customers with better fitting products. This is a mini-review of methods that result in more sustainable sizing practices. It also reviews and contrasts current statistical and modeling practices that lead to poor fit and sizing. Fit-mapping and the use of cases are two excellent methods suited for creating sustainable sizing, when real people (vs. virtual people) are used. These methods are described and reviewed. Evidence presented supports the view that virtual fitting with simulated people and products is not yet effective. Fit-mapping and cases with real people and actual products result in good design and products that are fit for person, fit for purpose, with good accommodation and comfortable, optimized sizing. While virtual models have been shown to be ineffective for predicting or representing fit, there is an opportunity to improve them by adding fit-mapping data to the models. This will require saving fit data, product data, anthropometry, and demographics in a standardized manner. For this success to extend to the wider design community, the development of a standardized method of data collection for fit-mapping with a globally shared fit-map database is needed. It will enable the world community to build knowledge of fit and accommodation and generate effective virtual fitting for the future. A standardized method of data collection that tests products' fit methodically

  17. A Combined Heuristic and Indicator-based Methodology for Design of Sustainable Chemical Process Plants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halim, Iskandar; Carvalho, Ana; Srinivasan, Rajagopalan

    2011-01-01

    The current emphasis on sustainable production has prompted chemical plants to minimize raw material and energy usage without compromising on economics. While computer tools are available to assistin sustainability assessment, their applications are constrained to a specific domain of the design...

  18. 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/.

  19. Using GREENSCOPE Indicators for Sustainable Computer-Aided Process Evaluation and Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manufacturing sustainability can be increased by educating those who design, construct, and operate facilities, and by using appropriate tools for process evaluation and design. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's GREENSCOPE methodology and tool, for evaluation and design ...

  20. Assessing the Sustainability of Different Small-Scale Livestock Production Systems in the Afar Region, Ethiopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ngufor L. Atanga

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Livestock production is a key income source in eastern Africa, and 80% of the total agricultural land is used for livestock herding. Hence, ecological and socio-economically sustainable rangeland management is crucial. Our study aimed at selecting operational economic, environmental and social sustainability indicators for three main pastoral (P, agro-pastoral (AP, and landless intensive (LI small scale livestock production systems for use in sustainability assessment in Ethiopia. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through grey literature and semi-structured interviews, assessing livestock and feed resources, production technology, land tenure, financial and gender issues. Our results suggested that feed shortages (FS are directly related to grazing pressure (G and inversely related to grass recovery rates (R. According to our indicators, AP was the most sustainable while P and LI were only conditionally sustainable production systems. 93% of 82 interviewees claimed that private land ownership was the best land tenure incentive for efficient rangeland management. Farmers perceived Prosopis juliflora expansion, sporadic rainfall, and disease infestation as the most significant causes for decreasing livestock productivity. Landless intensive farmers had the highest equality in income distribution (Gini Index: GI = 0.4, followed by P and AP (each with a GI = 0.5. Neither educational background nor income seemed to determine grazing species conservation efforts. We claimed that sustainability indicators are valuable tools to highlight shortcomings and strengths of the three main livestock production systems and help with future livestock management in Ethiopia. Selecting suitable indicators, however, is crucial as data requirements and availability can vary across livestock systems.

  1. Sustainability in coastal tourism development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Ida Marie Visbech; Blichfeldt, Bodil Stilling; Liburd, Janne J.

    2018-01-01

    explicitly requested nominations for sustainable tourism projects. A comparison between academic sustainability discourse and the approved projects suggests that tourism actors do not address sustainable tourism development as a holistic concept. Long-term perspectives are largely absent, whereas economic...... benefits are emphasized. Key findings also indicate weak political leadership in the envisaged transfer towards sustainable tourism development....

  2. 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 is emerging as a central theme for teaching about the environment, whether it be from the perspective of science, economics, or society. The Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences workshop provided 48 undergraduate faculty from 46 institutions a forum to discuss the challenges and possibilities for integrating geoscience concepts with a range of other disciplines to teach about the fundamentals of sustainability. Participants from community college to doctorate-granting universities had expertise that included geosciences, agriculture, biological sciences, business, chemistry, economics, ethnic studies, engineering, environmental studies, environmental education, geography, history, industrial technology, landscape design, philosophy, physics, and political science. The workshop modeled a range of teaching strategies that encouraged participants to network and collaborate, share successful strategies and materials for teaching sustainability, and identify opportunities for the development of new curricular materials that will have a major impact on the integration of geosciences into the teaching of sustainability. The workshop design provided participants an opportunity to reflect upon their teaching, learning, and curriculum. Throughout the workshop, participants recorded their individual and collective ideas in a common online workspace to which all had access. A preliminary synthesis of this information indicates that the concept of sustainability is a strong organizing principle for modern, liberal education requiring systems thinking, synthesis and contributions from all disciplines. Sustainability is inherently interdisciplinary and provides a framework for educational collaboration between and among geoscientists, natural/physical scientists, social scientists, humanists, engineers, etc.. This interdisciplinary framework is intellectually exciting and productive for educating students at all levels of higher education

  3. INCREASE TAX BASE AS INDICATOR OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Iu. Padalkin

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Summary. The article analyzed the tax burden as an indicator of growth of production and security of financial activity of working capital. The most important duty of the enterprise - the taxpayer in accordance with paragraph 1 of art. 3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is the responsibility to pay the legally established taxes and fees. However, according to article 45 of the Tax Code to claim 1 tax liability must be carried out within the period prescribed by law. Under the tax in accordance with paragraph 1 of article 8 of the Tax Code is understood mandatory, individually gratuitous payment collected from organizations and individuals in the form of alienation of their right to property, economic or operational management of funds for financial support of the state and (or municipalities. Tax regulation - measures the indirect impact on the economy of the state, economic and social processes by changing the types of taxes, tax rates, tax incentives to establish, reduce or increase the overall level of tax payments to the budget. So, tax cuts can stimulate production, and raising taxes - to restrain or even suppress some activities.

  4. Sustainable Consumption and Life Satisfaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Jing Jian; Li, Haifeng

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the association between sustainable consumption and life satisfaction. One aspect of sustainable consumption focused on in this study is the environment friendly purchase or green purchase. Using data collected from consumers in 14 cities in China, we found that consumers who reported green purchase…

  5. Planning and evaluation of sustainability in transport

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Introduction and general approaches 2. Brief overview ofsome projects related to sustainability 3. Examples from research – Decision analysis and support – Policy Influence of indic ators – National Sustainable Transport Planning 4. Some perspectives......Introduction and general approaches 2. Brief overview ofsome projects related to sustainability 3. Examples from research – Decision analysis and support – Policy Influence of indic ators – National Sustainable Transport Planning 4. Some perspectives...

  6. Building the Sustainable Library at Macquarie University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brodie, Maxine

    2012-01-01

    This article explores a number of current issues and challenges in sustainability, both of and in academic libraries of the future, using as a case study the new library opened at Macquarie University, Sydney in 2011. Issues covered include sustainable design and operation of library buildings, sustainability in relation to library collections,…

  7. Sustainability and Indicators Overview from Ecological Economics and Environmental Economics Perspective; Panoramica General de la Sostenibilidad y sus Indicadores desde la Perspectiva de la Economia Ecologica y Economia Ambiental

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cornejo, M

    2012-04-11

    From the emergence of the concept of sustainable development (1987) social sciences have trying to resolve the difficult balance between economy, environment and society and how to measure it with indicators. There are several approaches to sustainability of the economic doctrine which provide different points of view on this issue. The purpose of this article is multiple, firstly we analyze the historical evolution of the relationship between the economic thought and the natural environment. Second, we study the two main economic approaches which study sustainability concerns: the environmental economics and ecological economics. Finally, we examine some of the main economic and environmental indicators. (Author) 40 refs.

  8. Improving the profile of the European tourist destinations through the European tourism indicators system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura CISMARU

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Within the most recent European Policy for Tourism, the competitiveness of the European tourism industry is directly linked to the image of Europe and to its perception, as a collection of sustainable and high-quality tourist destinations. In such context, improving the profile of the European tourist destinations has become a main target. During the last years, the European Commission focused on the sustainable development of tourist destinations. Several projects were developed, the most recent one introducing a practical tool - the European Tourism Indicators System (ETIS for the sustainable development of destinations. The present paper advances the idea that such tool can be successfully used in order to achieve the goal of improving the profile of the European tourist destinations.

  9. Tourism and environmental sustainability in the community of Barra Grande, Cajueiro da Praia, Piauí (PI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anderson Fontenele Vieira

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The community of Barra Grande, tourist destination located in Cajueiro da Praia, Piauí (PI, was the object of investigation of this study. Tourism, in this region, increased creating structural, social and environmental change. The aim of the research was to analyze the environmental impacts of tourism in Barra Grande considering the Environmental Sustainability Indicators of BIGS (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. It was conducted a bibliographic and documentary survey about public politics for tourism and environment, besides the application of semi-structured interviews with eighteen hotels diagnosing three indicators: water supply, sewage disposal, and collection and disposal of solid waste which measure pressure parameters (impacts to the natural environment, qualified the state of that environment and the existence of response mechanisms to minimize the impacts. The scientific relevance consists in the analysis of sustainability through indicators based on Model PER (Pressure-State-Response, adopted by OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in order to conduct strategic actions to solve environmental problems. Regarding the preliminary results, it realizes that the policies have part of their normalizations not carried out in practice. Concerning the field collection in the hotels it was identified that they agree with two of evaluated qualitative parameters, proving that the destination needs to improve as sustainability. Finally, it is expected that data may contribute to tourism planning, as well as building elements to support discussions, new research approaches on the viability and adherence of sustainable tourism segments in Piauí context or in other regions of Brazil.

  10. Towards a Global Sustainable Information Society (GSIS?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian Fuchs

    2008-07-01

    sustainability and vice versa. The discourse on the information society has been accompanied by discussion on how to measure the transition towards this new social formation. Institutions such as the EU, the OECD, and the UN, US Census Bureau, the ASEAN, or WSIS are using and discussing various indicators for measurement. These indicators are classified according to various typologies. There are on the one hand indicators of sustainability that focus on ecological aspects and on the other hand indicators that besides the ecological dimension also take into account broader societal issues. The EU and the UN use a classification scheme that groups indicators according to environmental, economic, social, and institutional aspects. The discourse on sustainability has shifted from an early ecological focus towards the inclusion of economic, political, cultural, and social issues. The approach suggested in this paper argues that sustainability is a multimodal issue having an ecological, a technological, an economic, a political, and a cultural dimension. Existing sustainability indicators lack aspects of information and ICT, existing information society indicators lack aspects of sustainability. What is needed are indicators that measure the degree to which a sustainable information society has been achieved in the various societal dimensions.

  11. Sustainability in the Business Case

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ron Schipper; Gilbert Gilbert Silvius

    2012-01-01

    This paper explores the integration of indicators that reflect the concepts of sustainability into business cases and business case evaluation methods. It is based on the observations that sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time and that sustainable development requires

  12. Mobilizing consumer demand for sustainable development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Trijp, van J.C.M.; Fischer, A.R.H.

    2011-01-01

    A lot of innovation effort is aimed at increased sustainable consumption, while at the same time actual sustainable consumption is not meeting the expectations raised by the positive public attitudes towards sustainability. This is indicative of a gap between attitudes and behaviors in sustainable

  13. 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...

  14. URBAN MORPHOLOGICAL DYNAMICS IN SANTIAGO (CHILE: PROPOSING SUSTAINABLE INDICATORS FROM REMOTE SENSING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. J. Hernández

    2016-06-01

    dates, we used a set of selected landscape metrics and discussed their use as indicators for sustainable urban development. These indicators relate to the dispersion pattern of urban growth, the connectivity of open green space and the complexity in the composition of the UST types within the different sectors of the city. We were able to identify, using the dynamics exhibited by the USTs, three main zones: (1 city centre, where USTs of high-intensity development predominate, (2 eastern high-income areas whose spatial structure is marked by a relatively high urbanisation intensity with a very large proportion of vegetated spaces, and (3 peripheral areas, with significant changes in composition and configuration of USTs, in recent decades, showing high rates of urbanisation, shifting from low-medium to high densities. We concluded that these patterns and their dynamics are mainly determined by the spatial socio-economic stratification of the population.

  15. Urban Morphological Dynamics in Santiago (chile): Proposing Sustainable Indicators from Remote Sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernández, H. J.; Gutiérrez, M. A.; Acuña, M. P.

    2016-06-01

    set of selected landscape metrics and discussed their use as indicators for sustainable urban development. These indicators relate to the dispersion pattern of urban growth, the connectivity of open green space and the complexity in the composition of the UST types within the different sectors of the city. We were able to identify, using the dynamics exhibited by the USTs, three main zones: (1) city centre, where USTs of high-intensity development predominate, (2) eastern high-income areas whose spatial structure is marked by a relatively high urbanisation intensity with a very large proportion of vegetated spaces, and (3) peripheral areas, with significant changes in composition and configuration of USTs, in recent decades, showing high rates of urbanisation, shifting from low-medium to high densities. We concluded that these patterns and their dynamics are mainly determined by the spatial socio-economic stratification of the population.

  16. Sustainability Assessment and Reporting in Agriculture Sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward Kassem

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability assessment is a mainstream business activity that demonstrates the link between the organization’s strategy and commitment to a sustainable global economy. Sustainability indicators describe the environmental, social, economic and governance performance of Small and Medium‑sized Businesses/Enterprises (SMB/SME. Unfortunately, their implementations in the Czech Republic show a low level of engagement in sustainability assessment. The paper presents the results of the authors’ research in sustainability assessment of SMB/SMEs in the agriculture sector of the Czech Republic. An appropriate set of key performance indicators (KPIs in four dimensions (economy, environment, social and governance was developed to suit the SMB/SMEs sustainability assessment in the agriculture sector. A set of KPIs is proposed to help SMB/SMEs to avoid the barriers of sustainability assessment. These indicators are based mainly on Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture, Global Reporting Initiatives Frameworks and on current research state‑of‑the‑art. They have been created following the analysis of a number of agricultural enterprises over the world, particularly within European countries.

  17. A review of corporate sustainability reporting tools (SRTs).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siew, Renard Y J

    2015-12-01

    Sustainability reporting has been increasingly adopted by corporations worldwide given the demand of stakeholders for greater transparency on both environmental and social issues. The popularity of such reporting is evidenced by the development of a range of tools in the last two decades - Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), AA1000 and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) inter alia. These tools, referred to collectively as corporate sustainability reporting tools (SRTs) are important as they serve to inform the progress of corporations towards achieving sustainability goals. However, the rapid growth of corporate SRTs, with different criteria and methodology has created major complications for stakeholders. This paper makes a genuine contribution by providing a review of some of these major tools, spanning across a wide spectrum - framework, standards, ratings and indices. A critique of SRTs is also given. Institutional investors, governments, practitioners and individuals may find this review useful in terms of understanding the nature of different corporate SRTs. As well, it can serve as a useful reference for the development of the next generation of corporate SRTs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Assessment of the municipal solid waste management system in Accra, Ghana: A 'Wasteaware' benchmark indicator approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oduro-Appiah, Kwaku; Scheinberg, Anne; Mensah, Anthony; Afful, Abraham; Boadu, Henry Kofi; de Vries, Nanne

    2017-11-01

    This article assesses the performance of the city of Accra, Ghana, in municipal solid waste management as defined by the integrated sustainable waste management framework. The article reports on a participatory process to socialise the Wasteaware benchmark indicators and apply them to an upgraded set of data and information. The process has engaged 24 key stakeholders for 9 months, to diagram the flow of materials and benchmark three physical components and three governance aspects of the city's municipal solid waste management system. The results indicate that Accra is well below some other lower middle-income cities regarding sustainable modernisation of solid waste services. Collection coverage and capture of 75% and 53%, respectively, are a disappointing result, despite (or perhaps because of) 20 years of formal private sector involvement in service delivery. A total of 62% of municipal solid waste continues to be disposed of in controlled landfills and the reported recycling rate of 5% indicates both a lack of good measurement and a lack of interest in diverting waste from disposal. Drains, illegal dumps and beaches are choked with discarded bottles and plastic packaging. The quality of collection, disposal and recycling score between low and medium on the Wasteaware indicators, and the scores for user inclusivity, financial sustainability and local institutional coherence are low. The analysis suggests that waste and recycling would improve through greater provider inclusivity, especially the recognition and integration of the informal sector, and interventions that respond to user needs for more inclusive decision-making.

  19. Agenda 21 nacional e indicadores de desenvolvimento sustentável: contexto brasileiro National agenda 21 and sustainable development indicators: the brazilian context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tadeu Fabricio Malheiros

    2008-03-01

    organized Civil Society to implement guidelines established by international commitment instruments. Indicators have also been proposed to follow up results and impacts arising out of the implementation of policies. In 2002, Brazil approved its Agenda 21. It was prepared through a participative process, a significant experience in a scenario of great social, environmental, and economic diversity, although the Brazilian government does not have yet a consolidated monitoring and assessing system tailored to its National Agenda 21. Following the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development guiding and support, the IBGE - Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute - published in 2002 the document IDS - Sustainable Development Indicators, Brazil 2002. Even though both efforts have been carried out simultaneously, and have had the same focus - Brazilian sustainable development -, the non-integration of both processes has produced gaps within the set of indicators, weakening the opportunity of creating conditions for assessment and revision of the national sustainable development plan and the several local agendas 21. This is the focus of this document, as it presents an integrated analysis of Brazilian Agenda 21 preparation, understood as a National Strategic Plan for Brazilian Sustainable Development, and of the construction of Brazil's Sustainable Development Indicators as proposed by IBGE, presenting positive aspects, advances, opportunities, gaps, and perspectives.

  20. Declining agricultural production in rapidly urbanizing semi-arid regions: policy tradeoffs and sustainability indicators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dozier, André Q.; Arabi, Mazdak; Wostoupal, Benjamin C.; Goemans, Christopher G.; Zhang, Yao; Paustian, Keith

    2017-08-01

    In rapidly urbanizing semi-arid regions, increasing amounts of historically irrigated cropland lies permanently fallowed due to water court policies as agricultural water rights are voluntarily being sold to growing cities. This study develops an integrative framework for assessing the effects of population growth and land use change on agricultural production and evaluating viability of alternative management strategies, including alternative agricultural transfer methods, regional water ownership restrictions, and urban conservation. A partial equilibrium model of a spatially-diverse regional water rights market is built in application of the framework to an exemplary basin. The model represents agricultural producers as profit-maximizing suppliers and municipalities as cost-minimizing consumers of water rights. Results indicate that selling an agricultural water right today is worth up to two times more than 40 years of continued production. All alternative policies that sustain agricultural cropland and crop production decrease total agricultural profitability by diminishing water rights sales revenue, but in doing so, they also decrease municipal water acquisition costs. Defining good indicators and incorporating adequate spatial and temporal detail are critical to properly analyzing policy impacts. To best improve agricultural profit from production and sale of crops, short-term solutions include alternative agricultural transfer methods while long-term solutions incorporate urban conservation.

  1. Water Footprint Assessment in Waste Water Treatment Plant: Indicator of the sustainability of urban water cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez Llanos, Eva; Durán Barroso, Pablo; Matías Sánchez, Agustín; Fernández Rodríguez, Santiago; Guzmán Caballero, Raúl

    2017-04-01

    The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) represent a challenge for citizens and countries around the world by working together to reduce social inequality, to fight poverty and climate change. The Goal six water and sanitation aims for ensuring, among others, the protection and restoration of water-related ecosystem (target 6.6) and encouraging the water use efficiency (target 6.3). The commitment to this goal is not only the development of sanitation infrastructure, but also incorporates the necessity of a sustainable and efficient management from ecological and economic perspectives. Following this approach, we propose a framework for assessing the waste water treatment plant (WWTP) management based on the Water Footprint (WF) principles. The WF as indicator is able to highlight the beneficial role of WWTPs within the environment and provide a complementary information to evaluate the impact of a WWTP regarding to the use of freshwater and energy. Therefore, the footprint family provides an opportunity to relate the reduction of pollutant load in a WWTP and the associated consumptions in terms of electricity and chemical products. As a consequence, the new methodology allows a better understanding of the interactions among water and energy resources, economic requirements and environmental risks. Because of this, the current technologies can be improved and innovative solutions for monitoring and management of urban water use can be integrated. The WF was calculated in four different WWTP located in the North East of Extremadura (SW Spain) which have activated sludge process as secondary treatment. This zone is characterized by low population density but an incipient tourism development. The WF estimation and its relationship with the electricity consumption examines the efficiency of each WWTP and identifies the weak points in the management in terms of the sustainability. Consequently, the WF establishes a benchmark for multidisciplinary decision

  2. [Sustainability analysis of an evaluation policy: the case of primary health care in Brazil].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felisberto, Eronildo; Freese, Eduardo; Bezerra, Luciana Caroline Albuquerque; Alves, Cinthia Kalyne de Almeida; Samico, Isabella

    2010-06-01

    This study analyzes the sustainability of Brazil's National Policy for the Evaluation of Primary Health Care, based on the identification and categorization of representative critical events in the institutionalization process. This was an evaluative study of two analytical units: Federal Management of Primary Health Care and State Health Secretariats, using multiple case studies with data collected through interviews and institutional documents, using the critical incidents technique. Events that were temporally classified as specific to implementation, sustainability, and mixed were categorized analytically as pertaining to memory, adaptation, values, and rules. Federal management and one of the State Health Secretariats showed medium-level sustainability, while the other State Secretariat showed strong sustainability. The results indicate that the events were concurrent and suggest a weighting process, since the adaptation of activities, adequacy, and stabilization of resources displayed a strong influence on the others. Innovations and the development of technical capability are considered the most important results for sustainability.

  3. Designing a Sustainable Future with Mental Models

    OpenAIRE

    Bernotat, Anke; Bertling, Jürgen; English, Christiane; Schanz, Judith

    2017-01-01

    Inspired by the question of the Club of Rome as to Design could help to translate the ubiquitous knowledge on sustainability into daily practise and Peter Senge's belief on mental models as a limiting factor to implementation of systemic insight (Senge 2006), we explored working with mental models as a sustainable design tool. We propose a definition for design uses. At the 7th Sustainable Summer School we collected general unsustainable mental models and "designed" sustainable ones. These me...

  4. Analysis of the Sustainable Growth Indicator in the Area of Climate Change from the Point of View of Europe 2020 Strategy Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dagmar Blatná

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to present the results of an analysis of the indicator Greenhouse gas emissions (GGE. The GGE is one of the headline indicators tracked under the EU’s main socioeconomic strategy until the year 2020 – the EUROPE 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. In the area of sustainable growth, the Resource-efficient Europe initiative was established. For 2020, the EU has made a unilateral commitment to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from its 28 member states by 20 % compared to 1990 levels. The GGE indicator shows total man-made emissions of the so-called Kyoto basket of greenhouse gases. It presents annual total emissions in relation to those observed in 1990. The aggregate greenhouse gas emissions are expressed in units of CO2 equivalent. The development of the GGE indicator in the EU and in the Czech Republic from 2000 to 2014 from the point of view of the ability to achieve the Strategy objectives is analyzed. In terms of the level of the analyzed indicator, the set of the EU countries can be divided into two significantly different groups – the euro area and the non-euro area; or into groups by the year of their joining the EU. Analyses of the dependency between the growth of GGE and the GDP growth for both the set of the 28 EU countries and the Czech Republic are presented as well.

  5. What is Sustainability in Modern Art Museums?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Campolmi, Irene

    2013-01-01

    aspects this value brings in management. However, art museums have left beside the analysis of sustainability in regards to their cultural policies and internal managerial organization. Though European museums have proposed sustainability strategies in the collection management (brand franchising...

  6. Strategic collective system building by firms who launch sustainability innovations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maryse M.H. Chappin; Julia Planko; Marko P. Hekkert; Jacqueline M. Cramer

    2014-01-01

    The implementation of innovative sustainability technologies often requires far reaching changes of the macro environment in which the innovating firms operate. Strategic management literature describes that firms who want to commercialize an innovative technology can collaborate in networks or

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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

  8. Indicators of environmental sustainability in transport

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    of about thirty researchers meeting regularly to discuss these questions along the period 2005-2010. The researchers were from natural as well as social sciences, and all engaged in the field of transport and environment. The report provides analysis of the functions, strengths and weaknesses of indicators...

  9. Considerations on Gastronomic Tourism as a Component of Sustainable Local Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan Mihnea Diaconescu

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Tourism is a multi-faced activity that links the economic, social and environmental components of sustainability. Firstly, this research analyses residents’ perceptions of the impact of tourism development and examines the factors that influence the support for sustainable tourism development. Secondly, the research discusses Community Based Tourism (CBT and its positive impact of tourism development; CBT is connected to community’s capacity to protect itself from outside threats by negotiating the quality of tourism development. Thirdly, Gastronomic Tourism development is depicted as an interaction between outside developers and local residents that ultimately builds a sustainable dialogue for growth of tourism. Usually, the partnerships established between local community residents and outside tourism developers began with initial resistance from residents and led to the following sequence of behaviour: town meetings, formal organization of residents, petitioning, public demonstration, and legal action. By examining collective action narratives in the study communities, a framework for sustainable rural tourism development is built to understand relationships between tourism impacts, sustainable development and community identity. Findings indicate that residents see tourism as a development factor. The natural, economic, and social-cultural environment as well as infrastructure, age, gender and education are factors that influence the sustainable development of tourism and gastronomic tourism.

  10. Sustainability of melon cultivation in São Romão settlement in Mossoró/RN: determination of indicators by the MESMIS methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivanildo Martins Formiga Júnior

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Currently, agriculture is one of the most discussed topics in the theoretical field of sustainability. Debates regarding this issue are increasingly recurrent and put in question the model adopted from the post-war, the so-called green revolution. In the state of Rio Grande do Norte, the agricultural potential lies mainly in irrigated horticulture, where stands the agropolo Acu-Mossoró as one of the greatest watermelon producing regions of Brazil. The cultivation of watermelon, once dominated by large agricultural companies, is currently developed by agroecosystems whose management is characterized by family participation, including small farmers of rural settlements created by Incra. Aiming to assess the sustainability of this type of cultivation, was used the MESMIS methodology in the in São Romão settlement in Mossoró-RN, which is primarily engaged in the cultivation of irrigated melon. Seven critical points were determined and selected twenty-three indicators that directly affect the sustainability of the researched area.

  11. Is Mass Customization Sustainable?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Thomas Ditlev; Jørgensen, Kaj Asbjørn; Nielsen, Kjeld

    2011-01-01

    Mass customizers are like other companies currently experiencing an increasing customer demand for environmentally sustainable products as well as an increasingly strict legislation regarding environmental sustainability. This paper addresses the issue whether the concepts mass customization...... and sustainability are fundamentally compatible by asking the question: can a mass customized product be sustainable? Several factors could indicate that mass customized products are less sustainable than standardized products; however other factors suggest the opposite. This paper explores these factors during...... three life cycle phases for a product: Production, Use and End of Life. It is concluded that there is not an unambiguous causal relationship between mass customization and sustainability; however several factors unique to mass customized products are essential to consider during product and process...

  12. Pathways to Sustainability: 8-year follow-up from the PROSPER Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welsh, Janet A.; Chilenski, Sarah M.; Johnson, Lesley; Greenberg, Mark T.; Spoth, Richard L.

    2016-01-01

    The large-scale dissemination of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is often hindered by problems with sustaining initiatives past a period of initial grant funding. Communities often have difficulty generating resources needed to sustain and grow their initiatives, resulting in limited public health impact. The PROSPER project, initiated in 2001, provided community coalitions with intensive technical assistance around marketing, communications, and revenue generating strategies. Past reports from PROSPER have indicated that these coalitions were successful with sustaining their programming, and that sustainability could be predicted by early aspects of team functioning and leadership. The current study examines financial sustainability eight years following the discontinuation of grant funding, with an emphasis on sources of revenue and the relationships between revenue generation, team functioning, and EBP participation. This study used four waves of data related to resource generation collected between 2004-2010 by PROSPER teams in Iowa and Pennsylvania. Teams reported annually on the amount and sources of funding procured, as well as annual reports of team functioning and leadership and annual reports of EBP participation by youth and parents. Data revealed that teams' overall revenue generation increased over time. There was significant variation in success with revenue generation at both the community level and across the two states. Teams accessed a variety of sources. Cash revenue generation was positively and predictively associated with EBP participation, but relationships with team functioning and leadership ratings varied significantly by state. State level differences in in-kind support were also apparent. The results indicated that there are different pathways to sustainability, and that no one method works for all teams. The presence of state level infrastructures available to support prevention appeared to account for significant differences in

  13. Sustainability analysis. Development of various indicators of sustainability for technical environmental analysis and evaluation of local heat supply networks on the basis of regenerative energies in comparison to fossil energy sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hehenberger-Risse, Diana

    2013-06-01

    The aim of this thesis is to define indicators to evaluate local heat supply systems based on renewable energy compared to fossil energy reference scenarios. With these indicators a assessment matrix was developed as a planning instrument for the realization of sustainable and energy-efficient local heat supply systems. Further inferences from single projects on regions can be done. In these thesis a method was developed to assess the sustainability of local heat supply systems with the focus on ecology under consideration of economically and social aspects. This method uses a set of indicators composed of Input-, Output-, Efficiency- and Balance indicators. To realize advancement in comparison to present situations, an environmental quality target to advance the environmental impacts of minimum 75% was defined. For the developing and application of the indicators different examples from projects and scenarios of combined heat production from Biomass, Biogas, Solar heat combined with near-surface geothermal storage; geothermal energy and fossil peakload supply were calculated. These scenarios were related to a basis fossil energy scenario. Overall, the two district heating projects Speichersdorf and Mitterteich were compared. In this case, the project Speichersdorf with different coverage areas and decrease heat densities was investigated. The lengths of electrical grid of two areas are 10,828 m and 6,027 m. Those were opposed to the biomass district-heating project Mitterteich with a grid length of 360 m and a higher heat density decrease. Furthermore, a scenario for heat supply was designed and calculated using geothermal plant operating in duplicate to provide heat to the large coverage area for the storage project village. The calculation of the various processes and scenarios was performed with the program GEMIS 4.8 based on the total heat generated (final energy) by the respective supply type. The study examined the main system components; boilers, solar heat

  14. Collective place branding - an alternative strategy for territorial development compared to geographical indications?

    OpenAIRE

    Donner, Mechthild

    2016-01-01

    Geographical Indications (GIs) protecting the origin of specific food products are expanding worldwide and promoted as first order tool for agricultural and local development in developing countries. At the same time, collective place brands are adopted by public and private sectors in Europe as novel strategy to jointly valorise and promote a package of place-specific (food) products and (tourism) services, which supports a distinctive territorial identity or a territorial project.We here pr...

  15. Developing an indicators plan and software for evaluating Street Cleanliness and Waste Collection Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iago López

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available An app to evaluate the Street Cleanliness and Waste Collection Service was developed. This app is based on a Plan of Indicators that can be used to evaluate the Street Cleanliness and Waste Collection Service of Santander municipality. Specific methodologies for calculating and evaluating 59 indicators have been developed to obtain information regarding the status of the different elements of the service. The Plan of Indicators has been applied to Santander city. The app was designed to address, but is not limited to, the following goals: i to obtain, store and calculate information regarding the above indicators and ii to disseminate the results of the status of the elements of the Service to the public sector. The app that was developed can provide a quick view of the results obtained for each indicator in each district, which is useful for making an appropriate diagnosis of the city’s cleanliness and is the first step in the decision making and Service optimisation processes. Detailed results for the Street Cleanliness Index are shown for each district of Santander city. The Street Cleanliness Index values are also related to the Frequency Street Cleanliness Services parameters. Pearson correlation coefficient results suggest that an inverse relationship between the Street Cleanliness Index values and the Frequency Street Cleanliness Services/population density ratio exists (R2 = −0.63. The results show that Street Cleanliness Index worst values exist for those districts that have a lower Frequency Street Cleanliness Services /population density parameter. The results are useful for designing and optimising the Street Cleanliness Service. For the decision making process, resources should be allocated where necessary, which seems to be those districts with lower Frequency Street Cleanliness Services /population density ratios.

  16. Collective doses: IRSN view on its indications and contraindications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Supervil, S.

    2002-01-01

    The concept of collective protection appeared in 1959 in the first report of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). During the course of the next decades, ICRP gave details on the use of the collective dose, in particular on its role in the process of optimisation of protection. In 1991, ICRP outlined that the collective dose takes account of the number of people exposed to a source by multiplying the average dose to the exposed group by the number of individuals in the group. At present, the collective dose is currently used by those who practice radiological protection, in a prospective and retrospective way. Its use with respect to the management of the protection of workers scarcely raises any debates. On the other hand, its use to assess the public exposure or to estimate the health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation (workers or population) raises numerous criticisms. Some of these criticisms, relating to ethical nature, underline that the collective does not reflect the inequities among the exposed individuals. Criticisms, scientific in nature, concern the linear-non threshold dose effect relationship hypothesis, which enables the collective dose to be represented in terms of risk of the occurrence of stochastic effects. Other criticisms, of an operational nature, relate to the feasibility and the reliability of some collective dose calculations

  17. The Development and Use of Sustainability Criteria in SuRF-UK’s Sustainable Remediation Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Paul Bardos

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability considerations have become widely recognised in contaminated land management and are now accepted as an important component of remediation planning and implementation around the world. The Sustainable Remediation Forum for the UK (SuRF-UK published guidance on sustainability criteria for consideration in drawing up (or framing assessments, organised across 15 “headline” categories, five for the environment element of sustainability, five for the social, and five for the economic. This paper describes how the SuRF-UK indicator guidance was developed, and the rationale behind its structure and approach. It describes its use in remediation option appraisal in the UK, and reviews the international papers that have applied or reviewed it. It then reviews the lessons learned from its initial use and the opinions and findings of international commentators, and concludes with recommendations on how the indicator categories might be further refined in the future. The key findings of this review are that the SuRF-UK framework and indicator guidance is well adopted into practice in the UK. It is widely recognised as the most appropriate mechanism to support sustainability-based decision making in contaminated land decision making. It has influenced the development of other national and international guidance and standards on sustainable remediation. However, there is room for some fine tuning of approach based on the lessons learned during its application.

  18. Barriers in Sustainable Knowledge Management Model in Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gratiela Dana BOCA

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper present a comprehensive model in education using the data base collected from 101 students from Turkey. The target group was students involved in academic life system. Results are used to design a model where education transfer of knowledge it is investigated in function of possible barriers as internal, external and knowledge management factors of influence in education selection and students vision for education development. As a conclusion, the evaluation of the barriers in sustainable knowledge management in education present a cross-educational model which seems to indicate its highly effective resource for environmental education focused on sustainability, and favours the development of knowledge, attitudes and future intentions of inspiring educational environment. The model can be useful on passing of knowledge from one generation to the next generation, managing succession and distributing the competencies and responsibilities to a repetitive change.

  19. A Systematic Review of Urban Sustainability Assessment Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew Cohen

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available As the world rapidly urbanizes, there is much focus on achieving sustainability outcomes within cities. Accomplishing this goal requires not only envisioning sustainable cities and implementing strategies, but it also demands assessing progress towards sustainable urban development. Despite a growing literature on sustainability assessment, there is room to further understand the application of sustainability assessment in urban contexts. This paper presents a systematic review of urban sustainability assessment literature to (1 identify the most common methods used for urban sustainability assessment, (2 identify the most common framings for urban sustainability assessment, and (3 identify the most common categories for organizing indicators that measure urban sustainability. This research finds that urban sustainability assessment in general lacks a unifying framing and that it could be better aligned with common sustainability principles. The paper provides recommendations for future urban sustainability assessment research, including the employment of mixed-methods research among other strategies. In closing, this research offers a generic framework around which to structure urban sustainability assessment and within which to assign indicators for measuring progress towards sustainable urban development.

  20. Politics of sustainability in the Arctic (POSUSA)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gad, Ulrik Pram; Jakobsen, Uffe; Strandsbjerg, Jeppe

    The concept of sustainability is of central importance in Arctic politics. However, for different actors (governments, indigenious peoples, NGOs) the concept implies different sets of precautions and opportunities. Sustainability, therefore, is much more a fundamental concept to be further...... elaborated than a definable term with a specific meaning. This is the core hypothesis in a collective research project, the POSUSA project (Politics of Sustainability in the Arctic) that aims to map and analyse the role of sustainability in various political and economic strategies in the Arctic....

  1. Implications for a Green Curriculum Application toward Sustainable Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahin, Elvan; Ertepinar, Hamide; Teksoz, Gaye

    2009-01-01

    The aim of present study was two-fold: (1) to determine university students' familiarity and understandings of "sustainable development", (2) to examine their attitudes toward sustainable development, environmental values, and their behaviors toward sustainable life styles. The data collected by on-line administration of a questionnaire…

  2. Monitor Sustainable Netherlands 2011

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2011-09-01

    The Monitor provides an image of the sustainability of the Dutch society. It shows which areas are successful and what the 'concerns for tomorrow' are from the point of view of sustainability. An analysis is conducted of how the Netherlands are doing in the fields of climate change, biodiversity, health, knowledge, graying and social cohesion. These and many other topics are discussed in this monitor by means of a number of sustainability indicators and detail analyses [mk]. [nl

  3. Monitor Sustainable Netherlands 2009

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-02-01

    The Monitor provides an image of the sustainability of the Dutch society. It shows which areas are successful and what the 'concerns for tomorrow' are from the point of view of sustainability. An analysis is conducted of how the Netherlands are doing in the fields of climate change, biodiversity, health, knowledge, graying and social cohesion. These and many other topics are discussed in this monitor by means of a number of sustainability indicators and detail analyses [mk] [nl

  4. Saúde ambiental e desigualdades: construindo indicadores para o desenvolvimento sustentável Environmental health and inequalities: building indicators for sustainable development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Ferreira Carneiro

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available O Brasil, mesmo com os avanços nos indicadores socioeconômicos ainda se apresenta desigual, situação fruto de um desenvolvimento historicamente excludente. Foi escolhido o Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH e indicadores sociais, econômicos, ambientais e de saúde para exemplificar essa problemática. Foram selecionados os municípios que apresentavam mais baixos IDHs no ano de 2000 e comparada sua evolução temporal entre 2000 e 2010 por meio de indicadores relacionados aos pilares econômico, ambiental e social do desenvolvimento sustentável. Estes possuem um IDH classificado como baixo (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 (<0.500, and correspond to countries such as Laos, Yemen, Haiti and Madagascar. At national level, data for the decade show a significant improvement in economic indicators (decrease from 23% to 8.9% of people living on less than a quarter of the minimum wage; social indicators (increase from 86.5% to 90.2% of literacy in women, and the environmental indicator associated with access to the water grid, which also improved to a lesser extent (increase from 81% to 85%. It was concluded that in order to achieve sustainable development with quality of life, the improvement of sanitation and education indicators should be a priority for Brazil.

  5. An Indicator Approach to Assessing Benefits of Carbon Sequestration and Other Ecosystem Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dale, V. H.; Kline, K. L.; Parish, E. S.

    2017-12-01

    While geoengineering offers one approach to carbon management, another tactic is providing land owners and managers with incentives to more efficiently and consistently increase carbon stocks and storage in soils and above ground. Growing bioenergy crops entails such an option. Landscape design can help identify where different strategies best fit into the larger framework of resource management to achieve desired stakeholder objectives. Our research goal is to develop means to assess management options and identify those that offer the highest degree of sustainability as measured by the provision to society of specific economic, environmental and social services with the least costs. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has worked with the US Department of Energy to develop an approach for assessing progress toward better management to improve sustainability. This approach involves six steps with decisions made at each step. First the scope of the assessment is established based on the particular context and options. Next indicators that pertain to the objective are selected and prioritized. Then, baselines and targets are determined for each indicator. Fourth, indicator values are measured, collected, and evaluated. Once the values are in hand, trends and tradeoffs in the indicator set are analyzed. The final step seeks to define and deploy good practices for the activity. ORNL's proposed checklist of environmental and socioeconomic indicators includes greenhouse gases and soil quality (including carbon) and emphasizes that changes in carbon stocks must be viewed in terms of their effects on other indicators, such as those for water quality and quantity, biodiversity, air quality, and productivity as well as on socioeconomic costs and benefits. The framework developed to select and evaluate indicators and assess progress toward sustainability goals is being encapsulated into a visualization tool. Visualization will inform stakeholders about potential effects of

  6. Sustainable operations in nuclear research reactors. A bibliographical study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kibrit, Eduardo; Rodrigues de Aquino, Afonso; Marotti de Mello, Adriana; Tromboni de Souza Nascimento, Paulo

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability is gaining prominence in the area of operations management. By means of a bibliographical research, we identified in literature sustainable operations carried out by operating organizations of nuclear research reactors. The methodology applied consisted in gathering material, descriptive analysis, selection of analytical categories and evaluation of the material collected. The collection of material was performed by a search made on academic and nuclear databases, with keywords structured for the subject of the research. The collected material was analysed and analytical categories on the theme sustainable operations were established. The evaluation of the collected material resulted in references accepted for the study, classified according to the pre-established analytical categories. The results were significant. From then on, a theoretical review on the topic under study was structured, based on pre-defined analytical categories. Thus, we were able to identify gaps in the literature and propose new studies on the subject.

  7. Sustainable operations in nuclear research reactors. A bibliographical study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kibrit, Eduardo; Rodrigues de Aquino, Afonso [Cidade Univ., Sao Paolo (Brazil). Inst. de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares; Marotti de Mello, Adriana [Sao Paolo Univ. (Brazil). Faculdade de Economia; Tromboni de Souza Nascimento, Paulo [Sao Paolo Univ. (Brazil). Faculdade de Economia Administracao e Contabilidade

    2017-10-15

    Sustainability is gaining prominence in the area of operations management. By means of a bibliographical research, we identified in literature sustainable operations carried out by operating organizations of nuclear research reactors. The methodology applied consisted in gathering material, descriptive analysis, selection of analytical categories and evaluation of the material collected. The collection of material was performed by a search made on academic and nuclear databases, with keywords structured for the subject of the research. The collected material was analysed and analytical categories on the theme sustainable operations were established. The evaluation of the collected material resulted in references accepted for the study, classified according to the pre-established analytical categories. The results were significant. From then on, a theoretical review on the topic under study was structured, based on pre-defined analytical categories. Thus, we were able to identify gaps in the literature and propose new studies on the subject.

  8. Options, Sustainability Policy and the Spontaneous Order

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, John

    2005-01-01

    This paper examines the implications for sustainability policy of environmental uncertainty and indeterminacy, and relates the associated problems with a conventional understanding of sustainable development to Hayek's critique of collective planning. It suggests that the appropriate recourse is not, however, a Hayekian endorsement of the free…

  9. 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.

  10. Development of sustainability reports for farming operations in the Basque Country using the Delphi method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Igor Alvarez Etxeberria

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In recent decades, publications of sustainability reports from a variety of organisations all over the world have significantly increased. Most of these companies are large and belong to the secondary and tertiary sector. This paper uses stakeholder theory to attempt to contribute to the development of sustainability reports specifically related to farming operations. This paper also uses the Delphi methodology to collect information from different stakeholders that, in turn, represent different groups of agents within the organisations involved. The conclusions indicate a difference in the assessments from the three subgroups of experts that comprise the panel.

  11. Automated monitoring: a potential solution for achieving sustainable improvement in hand hygiene practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levchenko, Alexander I; Boscart, Veronique M; Fernie, Geoff R

    2014-08-01

    Adequate hand hygiene is often considered as the most effective method of reducing the rates of hospital-acquired infections, which are one of the major causes of increased cost, morbidity, and mortality in healthcare. Electronic monitoring technologies provide a promising direction for achieving sustainable hand hygiene improvement by introducing the elements of automated feedback and creating the possibility to automatically collect individual hand hygiene performance data. The results of the multiphase testing of an automated hand hygiene reminding and monitoring system installed in a complex continuing care setting are presented. The study included a baseline Phase 1, with the system performing automated data collection only, a preintervention Phase 2 with hand hygiene status indicator enabled, two intervention Phases 3 and 4 with the system generating hand hygiene reminding signals and periodic performance feedback sessions provided, and a postintervention Phase 5 with only hand hygiene status indicator enabled and no feedback sessions provided. A significant increase in hand hygiene performance observed during the first intervention Phase 3 was sustained over the second intervention Phase 4, with the postintervention phase also indicating higher hand hygiene activity rates compared with the preintervention and baseline phases. The overall trends observed during the multiphase testing, the factors affecting acceptability of the automated hand hygiene monitoring system, and various strategies of technology deployment are discussed.

  12. Difficulties and Challenges in Applying the European Tourism Indicators System (ETIS for Sustainable Tourist Destinations: The Case of Braşov County in the Romanian Carpathians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Doru Marian Tudorache

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Tourist destinations are increasingly coming across multiple social, economic, cultural, and environmental challenges corroborated with a great urgency for sustainable development. In this context, the European Commission has launched in 2013 a unitary system of indicators for sustainable management of tourism destinations, called The European Tourism Indicators System (ETIS. More specifically, ETIS was configured initially with a total of 27 core indicators and 40 additional (optional indicators. The purpose of this paper is to present the difficulties and challenges encountered in the application of ETIS, having as a case study, the county of Braşov, located almost entirely in the Romanian Carpathians. In this regard, a testing technique has been designed through an innovative Group Decision Support System (GDSS that is applied to our destination. The results show that the selection of ETIS indicators is a flexible process that must be adequate with the particularities of each destination taking into account both the needs of the stakeholders, the information that is useful to them, and the existence and periodicity of the data available. Also, in some cases, when the available indicators are insufficient, additional indicators have to be introduced, and they must be subsequently adapted to the needs and specifics of the destination.

  13. Options of electric generation and sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin del Campo M, C.

    2004-01-01

    In this paper a study on the sustainability of the main electricity generation options is presented. The study is based on a matrix of sustainability indicators developed in Switzerland. A revision of some sustainability studies performed in countries with certain energy diversity and with experience in nuclear power plants operation, is done. Studies, in general, are performed for the power plant life cycle, taking into account economic aspects, fuel prices impact on electricity generation costs, fuel reserves indicators and material consumption. Air emission, waste production and human health impact data are also presented. All the results lead to confirm that nuclear energy has a high degree of sustainability vis a vis other options based on fossil fuels and renewable. Finally some comments are presented in order to highlight the importance that nuclear energy might have in the sustainable development of Mexico. (Author)

  14. PSSD - Planning System for Sustainable Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    PSSD - Planning System for Sustainable Development - is a part of the Baltic Sea Region's INTERREG II C program. The current report describes some theories, methods and tools developed under the PSSD project. First, the theoretical foundation of the project is described. Secondly, the role...... of indicators in sustainable development is discussed and a Web-based indicator generator is described. Thirdly, we describe a number of methods and tools, which support planning for sustainable development. Finally, some technical interface tools - especially a Web-based interface to the methods and tools...

  15. Collection of Recyclables from Cubes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wøhlk, Sanne; Bogh, Morten Bie; Mikkelsen, Hardy

    2014-01-01

    Collection of recyclable materials is a major part of reverse logistics and an important issue in sustainable logistics. In this paper we consider a case study where paper and glass are collected from recycling cubes and transported to a treatment facility where it is processed for reuse. We...... analyze how outsourcing the planning and transportation of the service can result in conflicts of interest and as a consequence cause unsustainable solutions. Finally, we suggest an alternative payment structure which can lead to a common goal, overall economic sustainability, and an improved financial...

  16. Which functional unit to identify sustainable foods?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masset, Gabriel; Vieux, Florent; Darmon, Nicole

    2015-09-01

    In life-cycle assessment, the functional unit defines the unit for calculation of environmental indicators. The objective of the present study was to assess the influence of two functional units, 100 g and 100 kcal (420 kJ), on the associations between three dimensions for identifying sustainable foods, namely environmental impact (via greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE)), nutritional quality (using two distinct nutrient profiling systems) and price. GHGE and price data were collected for individual foods, and were each expressed per 100 g and per 100 kcal. Two nutrient profiling models, SAIN,LIM and UK Ofcom, were used to assess foods' nutritional quality. Spearman correlations were used to assess associations between variables. Sustainable foods were identified as those having more favourable values for all three dimensions. The French Individual and National Dietary Survey (INCA2), 2006-2007. Three hundred and seventy-three foods highly consumed in INCA2, covering 65 % of total energy intake of adult participants. When GHGE and price were expressed per 100 g, low-GHGE foods had a lower price and higher SAIN,LIM and Ofcom scores (r=0·59, -0·34 and -0·43, respectively), suggesting a compatibility between the three dimensions; 101 and 100 sustainable foods were identified with SAIN,LIM and Ofcom, respectively. When GHGE and price were expressed per 100 kcal, low-GHGE foods had a lower price but also lower SAIN,LIM and Ofcom scores (r=0·67, 0·51 and 0·47, respectively), suggesting that more environment-friendly foods were less expensive but also less healthy; thirty-four sustainable foods were identified with both SAIN,LIM and Ofcom. The choice of functional unit strongly influenced the compatibility between the sustainability dimensions and the identification of sustainable foods.

  17. ICT innovations for sustainability

    CERN Document Server

    Aebischer, Bernard

    2015-01-01

    ICT Innovations for Sustainability is an investigation of how information and communication technology can contribute to sustainable development. It presents clear definitions of sustainability, suggesting conceptual frameworks for the positive and negative effects of ICT on sustainable development. It reviews methods of assessing the direct and indirect impact of ICT systems on energy and materials demand, and examines the results of such assessments. In addition, it investigates ICT-based approaches to supporting sustainable patterns of production and consumption, analyzing them at various levels of abstraction – from end-user devices, Internet infrastructure, user behavior, and social practices to macro-economic indicators.   Combining approaches from Computer Science, Information Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, Economics, and Environmental Sciences, the book presents a new, holistic perspective on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S). It is an indispensable resource for anyone working in the area of ICT...

  18. Inequality, Collective Action and Redistribution: a New Indicator for Assessing a Complex Relationship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Federico Traversa

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The predominant theoretical viewpoint about the problem of income redistribution in capitalist democracies continues to postulate that the pressure towards redistribution is greatest in democracies with more inequality. However, this assumption does not seem to be corroborated empirically; perhaps this is because sometimes inequality only increases between the lower reaches of the distribution of income. In these cases, inequality increases the dispersion of earnings among the stakeholders of redistribution, and this increases their collective action problems. This paper proposes a new theoretical principle for the analysis of the relationship between inequality and redistribution, and develops an indicator consistent to this principle. A preliminary empirical exploration is carried out to illustrate how the proposed indicator is signifi cantly associated with the levels of income redistribution in 19 OECD countries between 1974 and 2005.

  19. The impact of green logistics-based activities on the sustainable monetary expansion indicators of Oman

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alshubiri, Faris

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine green logistic activities by three axes (financial economic, social and environment activities) and how these activities affect on sustainable monetary expansion indicators as an evidence of Sultanate of Oman. Design/methodology/approach: This study began by definition elements of logistic green and how evolution of this concept in recent years. This concept analyzed after survey of previous studies on green logistic. The independent variables of green logistic are includes of three components of financial economic , social and environment and applies these components to clarify the impact on expansionary monetary policy indicators ( broad , narrow and reserve money ) as a important signals in determining a country's economy. This study used data published in statistical annual report of central bank of Oman as representative of country economic of sultanate of Oman from the period 2008 to 2015. Findings: The results found two variables of government support to electricity sector (GSE) and subsidy on soft loans to private sector and housing (SSLPH) based on environment activities are statistical significant 1% and 5%. Only one variable of transport and communication (TC) in financial economic activates is statistical significant at 1% and 5% , but all variables community, social and personal (CSP) , cultural and religious affairs (CRA) and social security and welfare (SSW) in social activities are statistical significant at 1% 5% and 10% , finally , also the multiple regression test run of all variables of green logistics activities and each monetary expansion indicators and found there are a statistical significant at 1% and 5%, .The study recommends that should be attention with financial economic activities as a quantitative standard contributes to build the green logistic by diagnosed the priorities and existing economic and financial system that contributes of sustainable development system in the country

  20. The impact of green logistics-based activities on the sustainable monetary expansion indicators of Oman

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alshubiri, Faris

    2017-07-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine green logistic activities by three axes (financial economic, social and environment activities) and how these activities affect on sustainable monetary expansion indicators as an evidence of Sultanate of Oman. Design/methodology/approach: This study began by definition elements of logistic green and how evolution of this concept in recent years. This concept analyzed after survey of previous studies on green logistic. The independent variables of green logistic are includes of three components of financial economic , social and environment and applies these components to clarify the impact on expansionary monetary policy indicators ( broad , narrow and reserve money ) as a important signals in determining a country's economy. This study used data published in statistical annual report of central bank of Oman as representative of country economic of sultanate of Oman from the period 2008 to 2015. Findings: The results found two variables of government support to electricity sector (GSE) and subsidy on soft loans to private sector and housing (SSLPH) based on environment activities are statistical significant 1% and 5%. Only one variable of transport and communication (TC) in financial economic activates is statistical significant at 1% and 5% , but all variables community, social and personal (CSP) , cultural and religious affairs (CRA) and social security and welfare (SSW) in social activities are statistical significant at 1% 5% and 10% , finally , also the multiple regression test run of all variables of green logistics activities and each monetary expansion indicators and found there are a statistical significant at 1% and 5%, .The study recommends that should be attention with financial economic activities as a quantitative standard contributes to build the green logistic by diagnosed the priorities and existing economic and financial system that contributes of sustainable development system in the country

  1. Sustainable agriculture in the picture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brouwer, F.M.; De Bont, C.J.A.M.; Leneman, H.; Van der Meulen, H.A.B.

    2004-01-01

    Sustainable agriculture in the picture provides a systematic overview of the available data that are relevant for debate on transitions towards sustainable agriculture. Review for the agrocomplex, greenhouse horticulture, dairy farming and pig farming. Indicators on economy, environment, nature, animal welfare, human and animal health. Results achieved in practice for the three dimensions of sustainable agriculture, namely economics ('profit'), ecology ('planet') and socio-cultural ('people') [nl

  2. 76 FR 44904 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; State Water...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-27

    ... collection of information, submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the... builds on an expenditure and resource needs data collection effort conducted by EPA in collaboration with... state water quality programs that implement the CWA, thus ensuring the long-term sustainability...

  3. Household Response to Inadequate Sewerage and Garbage Collection Services in Abuja, Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abubakar, Ismaila Rimi

    2017-01-01

    Provision of sanitation and garbage collection services is an important and yet challenging issue in the rapidly growing cities of developing countries, with significant human health and environmental sustainability implications. Although a growing number of studies have investigated the consequences of inadequate delivery of basic urban services in developing countries, few studies have examined how households cope with the problems. Using the Exit, Voice, Loyalty, and Neglect (EVLN) model, this article explores how households respond to inadequate sewerage and garbage collection services in Abuja, Nigeria. Based on a qualitative study, data were gathered from in-depth interviews with sixty households, complemented with personal observation. The findings from grounded analysis indicated that majority (62%) and about half (55%) of the respondents have utilized the informal sector for sewerage services and garbage collection, respectively, to supplement the services provided by the city. While 68% of the respondents reported investing their personal resources to improve the delivery of existing sewerage services, half (53%) have collectively complained to the utility agency and few (22%) have neglected the problems. The paper concludes by discussing the public health and environmental sustainability implications of the findings.

  4. Exploring work-related issues on corporate sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunoro, C M; Bolis, I; Sznelwar, L I

    2015-01-01

    In a research project about work-related issues and corporate sustainability conducted in Brazil, the goal was to better understand how work-related issues were addressed in the corporate context. Particularly, there are some specific initiatives that serve as guides to organizational decisions, which make their performance indicators for the context of corporate sustainability. 1) To explore the presence of work-related issues and their origins in corporate sustainability approach, analyzing a) corporate disclosures; b) sustainability guidelines that are identified as relevant in corporate disclosures; c) documents that are related to sustainable development and also identified as key-documents for these guidelines and initiatives. 2) To present the activity-centered ergonomics and psychodynamics of work contributions to work-related issues in a corporate sustainability approach. An exploratory study based on multiple sources of evidence that were performed from 2012 to 2013, including interviews with companies that engaged in corporate sustainability and document analysis using the content analysis approach. Work-related issues have been presented since the earliest sustainable development documents. It is feasible to construct an empirical framework for work-related issues and corporate sustainability approaches. 1) Although some authors argue that corporate sustainability has its roots based only on the environmental dimension, there is strong empirical evidence showing that social dimension aspects such as work-related issues have been present since the beginning. 2) Some indicators should be redesigned to more precisely translate the reality of some workplaces, particularly those indicators related to organizational design and mental health.

  5. Life Cycle Thinking, Measurement and Management for Food System Sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelletier, Nathan

    2015-07-07

    Food systems critically contribute to our collective sustainability outcomes. Improving food system sustainability requires life cycle thinking, measurement and management strategies. This article reviews the status quo and future prospects for bringing life cycle approaches to food system sustainability to the fore.

  6. Do We Teach What We Preach? An International Comparison of Problem- and Project-Based Learning Courses in Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katja Brundiers

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Problem- and project-based learning (PPBL courses in sustainability address real-world sustainability problems. They are considered powerful educational settings for building students’ sustainability expertise. In practice, however, these courses often fail to fully incorporate sustainability competencies, participatory research education, and experiential learning. Only few studies exist that compare and appraise PPBL courses internationally against a synthesized body of the literature to create an evidence base for designing PPBL courses. This article introduces a framework for PPBL courses in sustainability and reviews PPBL practice in six programs around the world (Europe, North America, Australia. Data was collected through semi-structured qualitative interviews with course instructors and program officers, as well as document analysis. Findings indicate that the reviewed PPBL courses are of high quality and carefully designed. Each PPBL course features innovative approaches to partnerships between the university and private organizations, extended peer-review, and the role of knowledge brokers. Yet, the findings also indicate weaknesses including paucity of critical learning objectives, solution-oriented research methodology, and follow-up research on implementation. Through the comparative design, the study reveals improvement strategies for the identified challenges and provides guidance for design and redesign of PPBL courses.

  7. Sustainable Building Operation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Ole

    2009-01-01

    of sustainable building operation and a survey amongst building administrators from the private and the social housing sector. Our results show that there are many good examples on sustainable building operation in Danish housing estates, where local building managers, residents etc. have gained impressive......Energy-savings in the existing building stock have becomes a main goal in national and international policies. Often focus is on building-renovations, whereas the potential of sustainable building operation to a large extent has been neglected. Nevertheless, international research as well...... as practical experiences from Danish housing estates indicates that there are large potentials for energy savings by focusing on the operation of the buildings. We suggest that in order to achieve sustainability in the existing housing, renovation and operations should be seen as integrated parts...

  8. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanessa Cuzziol Pinsky

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The sustainable development, global competitiveness and rapid technological change increasingly challenge companies to innovate with a focus on sustainability. The objectives of this study were to identify the critical success factors in business management and identify the challenges to implement sustainable products. This is an exploratory, descriptive and qualitative research, using the case study method. Data were collected through semi-structured and in-depth interviews with executives from the marketing and innovation departments, complemented by secondary sources, including sustainability reports, websites and other company documents. The content analysis revealed the critical success factors to implement sustainable products, highlighting the involvement of senior leadership, setting goals and long term vision, the involvement of the value chain in the search for sustainable solutions and have a area of innovation with sustainability goals. The key challenges identified are related to the involvement of the supply chain, using the principles of the life cycle assessment, marketing communication and measurement of results and environmental benefits.

  9. Sustainability appraisal. Quantitative methods and mathematical techniques for environmental performance evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Erechtchoukova, Marina G.; Khaiter, Peter A. [York Univ., Toronto, ON (Canada). School of Information Technology; Golinska, Paulina (eds.) [Poznan Univ. of Technology (Poland)

    2013-06-01

    The book will present original research papers on the quantitative methods and techniques for the evaluation of the sustainability of business operations and organizations' overall environmental performance. The book contributions will describe modern methods and approaches applicable to the multi-faceted problem of sustainability appraisal and will help to fulfil generic frameworks presented in the literature with the specific quantitative techniques so needed in practice. The scope of the book is interdisciplinary in nature, making it of interest to environmental researchers, business managers and process analysts, information management professionals and environmental decision makers, who will find valuable sources of information for their work-related activities. Each chapter will provide sufficient background information, a description of problems, and results, making the book useful for a wider audience. Additional software support is not required. One of the most important issues in developing sustainable management strategies and incorporating ecodesigns in production, manufacturing and operations management is the assessment of the sustainability of business operations and organizations' overall environmental performance. The book presents the results of recent studies on sustainability assessment. It provides a solid reference for researchers in academia and industrial practitioners on the state-of-the-art in sustainability appraisal including the development and application of sustainability indices, quantitative methods, models and frameworks for the evaluation of current and future welfare outcomes, recommendations on data collection and processing for the evaluation of organizations' environmental performance, and eco-efficiency approaches leading to business process re-engineering.

  10. Measuring business performance using indicators of ecologically sustainable organizations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snow, Charles G., Jr.; Snow, Charles C.

    2001-02-01

    The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of ecology-based performance measures as a way of augmenting the Balanced Scorecard approach to organizational performance measurement. The Balanced Scorecard, as proposed by Kaplan and Norton, focuses on four primary dimensions; financial, internal-business-process, customer, and learning and growth perspectives. Recently, many 'green' organizational theorists have developed the concept of "Ecologically Sustainable Organizations" or ESOs, a concept rooted in open systems theory. The ESO is called upon to consider resource use and conservation as a strategy for long-term viability. This paper asserts that in order to achieve ESO status, an organization must not only measure but also reward resource conservation measures. Only by adding a fifth perspective for ecological dimensions will the entity be truly motivated toward ESO status.

  11. Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship and Business Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Tur-Porcar

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for society, and the creation of business ventures is one area where sustainability is critical. We examined the factors affecting actions that are designed to foster business sustainability. These factors are related to the environment, behavior, human relations, and business activity. Based on questionnaire responses from experts, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP method was used to rank sustainable business criteria according to their importance for entrepreneurs starting sustainable businesses. The results indicate that the most important drivers of sustainable entrepreneurship are behavioral factors and business factors. Ethical principles and values, together with competitive intelligence, are crucial for undertaking actions that lead to sustainability.

  12. Nanotechnology for sustainability: what does nanotechnology offer to address complex sustainability problems?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wiek, Arnim, E-mail: arnim.wiek@asu.edu; Foley, Rider W. [Arizona State University, School of Sustainability (United States); Guston, David H. [Arizona State University, Center for Nanotechnology in Society, Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes (United States)

    2012-09-15

    Nanotechnology is widely associated with the promise of positively contributing to sustainability. However, this view often focuses on end-of-pipe applications, for instance, for water purification or energy efficiency, and relies on a narrow concept of sustainability. Approaching sustainability problems and solution options from a comprehensive and systemic perspective instead may yield quite different conclusions about the contribution of nanotechnology to sustainability. This study conceptualizes sustainability problems as complex constellations with several potential intervention points and amenable to different solution options. The study presents results from interdisciplinary workshops and literature reviews that appraise the contribution of the selected nanotechnologies to mitigate such problems. The study focuses exemplarily on the urban context to make the appraisals tangible and relevant. The solution potential of nanotechnology is explored not only for well-known urban sustainability problems such as water contamination and energy use but also for less obvious ones such as childhood obesity. Results indicate not only potentials but also limitations of nanotechnology's contribution to sustainability and can inform anticipatory governance of nanotechnology in general, and in the urban context in particular.

  13. Nanotechnology for sustainability: what does nanotechnology offer to address complex sustainability problems?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiek, Arnim; Foley, Rider W.; Guston, David H.

    2012-01-01

    Nanotechnology is widely associated with the promise of positively contributing to sustainability. However, this view often focuses on end-of-pipe applications, for instance, for water purification or energy efficiency, and relies on a narrow concept of sustainability. Approaching sustainability problems and solution options from a comprehensive and systemic perspective instead may yield quite different conclusions about the contribution of nanotechnology to sustainability. This study conceptualizes sustainability problems as complex constellations with several potential intervention points and amenable to different solution options. The study presents results from interdisciplinary workshops and literature reviews that appraise the contribution of the selected nanotechnologies to mitigate such problems. The study focuses exemplarily on the urban context to make the appraisals tangible and relevant. The solution potential of nanotechnology is explored not only for well-known urban sustainability problems such as water contamination and energy use but also for less obvious ones such as childhood obesity. Results indicate not only potentials but also limitations of nanotechnology’s contribution to sustainability and can inform anticipatory governance of nanotechnology in general, and in the urban context in particular.

  14. Uncertainty indication in soil function maps - transparent and easy-to-use information to support sustainable use of soil resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greiner, Lucie; Nussbaum, Madlene; Papritz, Andreas; Zimmermann, Stephan; Gubler, Andreas; Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne; Keller, Armin

    2018-05-01

    Spatial information on soil function fulfillment (SFF) is increasingly being used to inform decision-making in spatial planning programs to support sustainable use of soil resources. Soil function maps visualize soils abilities to fulfill their functions, e.g., regulating water and nutrient flows, providing habitats, and supporting biomass production based on soil properties. Such information must be reliable for informed and transparent decision-making in spatial planning programs. In this study, we add to the transparency of soil function maps by (1) indicating uncertainties arising from the prediction of soil properties generated by digital soil mapping (DSM) that are used for soil function assessment (SFA) and (2) showing the response of different SFA methods to the propagation of uncertainties through the assessment. For a study area of 170 km2 in the Swiss Plateau, we map 10 static soil sub-functions for agricultural soils for a spatial resolution of 20 × 20 m together with their uncertainties. Mapping the 10 soil sub-functions using simple ordinal assessment scales reveals pronounced spatial patterns with a high variability of SFF scores across the region, linked to the inherent properties of the soils and terrain attributes and climate conditions. Uncertainties in soil properties propagated through SFA methods generally lead to substantial uncertainty in the mapped soil sub-functions. We propose two types of uncertainty maps that can be readily understood by stakeholders. Cumulative distribution functions of SFF scores indicate that SFA methods respond differently to the propagated uncertainty of soil properties. Even where methods are comparable on the level of complexity and assessment scale, their comparability in view of uncertainty propagation might be different. We conclude that comparable uncertainty indications in soil function maps are relevant to enable informed and transparent decisions on the sustainable use of soil resources.

  15. Leaving no one behind: a neglected tropical disease indicator and tracers for the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzpatrick, Christopher; Engels, Dirk

    2016-03-01

    The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have emerged as a global pledge to 'leave no one behind'. Under SDG 3, 'Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all', target 3.3 extends the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) beyond HIV, TB and malaria to 'end the epidemic' of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by 2030. Other targets are also relevant to NTDs, especially 3.8 (Universal Health Coverage), 6.1 (water) and 6.2 (sanitation). This commentary summarises the proposed NTD indicator (3.3) and tracers (3.8 and 6.1/6.2). These will help ensure that the world's poorest and most marginalized people are prioritized at every step on the path towards SDG targets. © The author 2016. The World Health Organization has granted Oxford University Press permission for the reproduction of this article..

  16. Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wangel, Josefin, E-mail: josefin.wangel@abe.kth.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Wallhagen, Marita, E-mail: marita.wallhagen@hig.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle (Sweden); Malmqvist, Tove, E-mail: tove.malmqvist@abe.kth.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Finnveden, Göran, E-mail: goran.finnveden@abe.kth.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)

    2016-01-15

    Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods started to emerge around a decade ago. This study analysed the content, structure, weighting and indicators of two established certification systems for sustainable urban development – BREEAM Communities and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Several limitations of these systems were identified: both have a bias for procedure and feature indicators over indicators that assess actual performance; performance demands are set according to a relative understanding of sustainable development; the focus is on internal sustainability, while upstream and downstream impacts of construction are disregarded; the number and distribution of mandatory issues do not cover essential sustainability aspects; and the disproportionately large number of non-mandatory issues makes benchmarking difficult and signals that sustainability aspects are exchangeable. Altogether, this means that an area can be certified without being sustainable. Moreover, the lack of continuous development of certification requirements in the systems means that they risk exerting a conservative effect on urban development, rather than pushing it forward. - Highlights: • BREEAM-C and LEED-ND were analysed in terms of content and structure. • Specific attention was given to the type of indicators used for showing compliance. • In both systems procedure and feature indicators dominate over performance indicators. • Several other limitations of these certification systems were also identified. • Altogether the limitations imply that a certificate does not warrant sustainability.

  17. Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wangel, Josefin; Wallhagen, Marita; Malmqvist, Tove; Finnveden, Göran

    2016-01-01

    Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods started to emerge around a decade ago. This study analysed the content, structure, weighting and indicators of two established certification systems for sustainable urban development – BREEAM Communities and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Several limitations of these systems were identified: both have a bias for procedure and feature indicators over indicators that assess actual performance; performance demands are set according to a relative understanding of sustainable development; the focus is on internal sustainability, while upstream and downstream impacts of construction are disregarded; the number and distribution of mandatory issues do not cover essential sustainability aspects; and the disproportionately large number of non-mandatory issues makes benchmarking difficult and signals that sustainability aspects are exchangeable. Altogether, this means that an area can be certified without being sustainable. Moreover, the lack of continuous development of certification requirements in the systems means that they risk exerting a conservative effect on urban development, rather than pushing it forward. - Highlights: • BREEAM-C and LEED-ND were analysed in terms of content and structure. • Specific attention was given to the type of indicators used for showing compliance. • In both systems procedure and feature indicators dominate over performance indicators. • Several other limitations of these certification systems were also identified. • Altogether the limitations imply that a certificate does not warrant sustainability.

  18. Towards sustainability assessment follow-up

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus, E-mail: a.morrison-saunders@murdoch.edu.au [Murdoch University (Australia); North-West University (South Africa); Pope, Jenny, E-mail: jenny@integral-sustainability.net [North-West University (South Africa); Integral Sustainability (Australia); Curtin University (Australia); Bond, Alan, E-mail: alan.bond@uea.ac.uk [North-West University (South Africa); University of East Anglia (United Kingdom); Retief, Francois, E-mail: francois.retief@nwu.ac.za [North-West University (South Africa)

    2014-02-15

    This paper conceptualises what sustainability assessment follow-up might entail for three models of sustainability assessment: EIA-driven integrated assessment, objectives-led integrated assessment and the contribution to sustainability model. The first two are characterised by proponent monitoring and evaluation of individual impacts and indicators while the latter takes a holistic view based around focused sustainability criteria relevant to the context. The implications of three sustainability challenges on follow-up are also examined: contested time horizons and value changes, trade-offs, and interdisciplinarity. We conclude that in order to meet these challenges some form of adaptive follow-up is necessary and that the contribution to sustainability approach is the best approach. -- Highlights: • We explore sustainability follow-up for three different sustainability models. • Long-time frames require adaptive follow-up and are a key follow-up challenge. • Other key challenges include interdisciplinarity, and trade-offs. • Sustainability follow-up should be a direction of travel and not an outcome. • Only the follow-up for contribution to sustainability model addresses sustainability challenges sufficiently.

  19. Towards sustainability assessment follow-up

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus; Pope, Jenny; Bond, Alan; Retief, Francois

    2014-01-01

    This paper conceptualises what sustainability assessment follow-up might entail for three models of sustainability assessment: EIA-driven integrated assessment, objectives-led integrated assessment and the contribution to sustainability model. The first two are characterised by proponent monitoring and evaluation of individual impacts and indicators while the latter takes a holistic view based around focused sustainability criteria relevant to the context. The implications of three sustainability challenges on follow-up are also examined: contested time horizons and value changes, trade-offs, and interdisciplinarity. We conclude that in order to meet these challenges some form of adaptive follow-up is necessary and that the contribution to sustainability approach is the best approach. -- Highlights: • We explore sustainability follow-up for three different sustainability models. • Long-time frames require adaptive follow-up and are a key follow-up challenge. • Other key challenges include interdisciplinarity, and trade-offs. • Sustainability follow-up should be a direction of travel and not an outcome. • Only the follow-up for contribution to sustainability model addresses sustainability challenges sufficiently

  20. Sustainability Evaluation of Mass Customization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brunø, Thomas Ditlev; Nielsen, Kjeld; Taps, Stig B.

    2013-01-01

    This paper addresses the issue whether the concepts mass customization and sustainability are fundamentally compatible by asking the question: can a mass customized product be sustainable? Some factors indicate that mass customized products are less sustainable than standardized products; however...... other factors suggest the opposite. This paper explores these factors during three life cycle phases for a product: Production, Use and End of Life. It is concluded that there is not an unambiguous causal relationship between mass customization and sustainability; however several factors unique to mass...... customized products are essential to consider during product development....

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. Contributing variables for sustainable livelihood status of the char women in Bangladesh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Al-Amin

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of the study was to determine the contribution of variables to the sustainable livelihood status of char women. The sustainable livelihood status of a char woman was measured by computing a “sustainable livelihood status score” which is considering six major aspects of her livelihoods: food security, ability to provide family education, health and sanitation, shelter and family assets, clothing condition and social upliftment. Data were collected from 200 randomly selected char women by using interview schedule in two Upazilla of Jamalpur district in Bangladesh during November 2006 to March 2007. More than two-fifths (67.5 per cent of the char women were found under “medium sustainable livelihood status” compared to more than one-fifth (20.5 per cent of them belongs to ‘low sustainable livelihood status’ and only 12 per cent to “high sustainable livelihood status”. Pearson correlation test depicted that out of 16 variables, 13 had significant positive relationships with the sustainable livelihood status. Results of stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that five variables namely, annual income, agricultural knowledge, income generating activities, family education and organizational participation contributed significantly which combindly explained 76.3 per cent of total variation to the sustainable livelihood status. Path analysis indicated that these variables had both direct and indirect effects to the sustainable livelihood status. Women who had more annual income, better agricultural knowledge, participation in income generating activities, more family education and more organizational participation were found to better sustainable livelihood status in char area. Government or concern other authorities need to give attention to these variables for any sustainable livelihood upliftment programme.

  4. Sustainable energy in Baltic States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klevas, Valentinas; Streimikiene, Dalia; Grikstaite, Ramute

    2007-01-01

    Integration of New Member States to the European Union has created a new situation in the frame of implementation of the Lisbon strategy and EU Sustainable Development. The closure of Ignalina NPP is the biggest challenge to the energy sector development of the Baltic States. The Baltic States have quite limited own energy resources and in the Accession agreement with the EU Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have verified their targets to increase the share of electricity produced from renewable energy sources (RES-E) by the year 2010. A wider use of renewable energy and increase of energy efficiency can make a valuable contribution to meeting the targets of sustainable development. The article presents a detailed overview of the present policies and measures implemented in the Baltic States, aiming to support the use of RES and the increase of energy efficiency. The review of possibilities to use the EU Structural Funds (SF) for the implementation of sustainable energy projects in the Baltic States was performed.The use of regional social-economic-environmental indicators is the main key to integrate sustainable energy development at the program deployment level. The indicators to be used should describe the contribution of energy programs to the sustainable development, medium- and long-term trends and inter-relationship between them and the typical energy indicators (saved toe, improved energy efficiency, percentage of RES). Municipalities may play a considerable role by promoting sustainable energy since local authorities are fulfilling their functions in the energy sector via a number of roles. The Netherlands' example shows that municipalities may act as facilitators by implementing national environmental policy and increasing energy efficiency in an integral part of these activities. The guidelines for Lithuanian local sustainable energy development using the SF co-financing have been presented

  5. 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.

  6. Factors affecting sustainability of rural water schemes in Swaziland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter, Graciana; Nkambule, Sizwe E.

    The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to reduce the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by the year 2015 has been met as of 2010, but huge disparities exist. Some regions, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa are lagging behind it is also in this region where up to 30% of the rural schemes are not functional at any given time. There is need for more studies on factors affecting sustainability and necessary measures which when implemented will improve the sustainability of rural water schemes. The main objective of this study was to assess the main factors affecting the sustainability of rural water schemes in Swaziland using a Multi-Criteria Analysis Approach. The main factors considered were: financial, social, technical, environmental and institutional. The study was done in Lubombo region. Fifteen functional water schemes in 11 communities were studied. Data was collected using questionnaires, checklist and focused group discussion guide. A total of 174 heads of households were interviewed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data and to calculate sustainability scores for water schemes. SPSS was also used to classify sustainability scores according to sustainability categories: sustainable, partially sustainable and non-sustainable. The averages of the ratings for the different sub-factors studied and the results on the sustainability scores for the sustainable, partially sustainable and non-sustainable schemes were then computed and compared to establish the main factors influencing sustainability of the water schemes. The results indicated technical and social factors as most critical while financial and institutional, although important, played a lesser role. Factors which contributed to the sustainability of water schemes were: functionality; design flow; water fetching time; ability to meet additional demand; use by population; equity; participation in decision making on operation and

  7. Methods of Comprehensive Assessment for China’s Energy Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Zhijin; Song, Yankui

    2018-02-01

    In order to assess the sustainable development of China’s energy objectively and accurately, we need to establish a reasonable indicator system for energy sustainability and make a targeted comprehensive assessment with the scientific methods. This paper constructs a comprehensive indicator system for energy sustainability from five aspects of economy, society, environment, energy resources and energy technology based on the theory of sustainable development and the theory of symbiosis. On this basis, it establishes and discusses the assessment models and the general assessment methods for energy sustainability with the help of fuzzy mathematics. It is of some reference for promoting the sustainable development of China’s energy, economy and society.

  8. Memory-induced mechanism for self-sustaining activity in networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allahverdyan, A. E.; Steeg, G. Ver; Galstyan, A.

    2015-12-01

    We study a mechanism of activity sustaining on networks inspired by a well-known model of neuronal dynamics. Our primary focus is the emergence of self-sustaining collective activity patterns, where no single node can stay active by itself, but the activity provided initially is sustained within the collective of interacting agents. In contrast to existing models of self-sustaining activity that are caused by (long) loops present in the network, here we focus on treelike structures and examine activation mechanisms that are due to temporal memory of the nodes. This approach is motivated by applications in social media, where long network loops are rare or absent. Our results suggest that under a weak behavioral noise, the nodes robustly split into several clusters, with partial synchronization of nodes within each cluster. We also study the randomly weighted version of the models where the nodes are allowed to change their connection strength (this can model attention redistribution) and show that it does facilitate the self-sustained activity.

  9. Deliverable No. D4.7: Database on farm-level production and sutainability indices assessing sustainable diets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zimmermann, A.; Götz, Christian; Leip, A.; Zanten, van H.H.E.; Hornborg, Sara; Ziegler, Friederike

    2017-01-01

    This paper demonstrates that SUSFANS metrics for assessing the environmental sustainability of the European food system can be effectively produced and applied to assess policy measures and potential innovations that aim at achieving sustainable food and nutrition security in the European Union. The

  10. Exploring Culturally Sustaining Writing Pedagogy in Urban Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodard, Rebecca; Vaughan, Andrea; Machado, Emily

    2017-01-01

    We examine how culturally sustaining pedagogy that fosters linguistic and cultural pluralism might be taken up in writing instruction. Using data collected through semistructured interviews with nine urban elementary and middle school writing teachers, we document teachers' conceptualizations and enactments of culturally sustaining writing…

  11. Debt Sustainability of Ukraine: Status, Problems and Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mytrofanova Anastasiia S.

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the article is a comprehensive analysis of indicators and disclosure of problems of debt sustainability of Ukraine, as well as the formulation of recommendations for its management. There built a system of indicators for debt sustainability analysis consisting of the following elements: indicators of the status, structure and dynamics of the state debt; indicators of the state debt servicing; indicators of the state debt factors; indicators of the debt burden forecast. Based on the calculation and analysis of the indicators, a conclusion is drawn on the deepening of the debt crisis in Ukraine, which is manifested in the excess of normative values of the indicators of status, structure and dynamics of the state debt. The reasons for the aggravation of the debt crisis in Ukraine are revealed and divided into three groups: objective historical, socioeconomic and subjective-institutional ones. Based on the analysis of trends in the sphere of violation of debt sustainability, there defined main problems of debt sustainability management, which form three groups: socio-economic problems; problems in the sphere of public administration; negative impact of related debt factors. In addition, risks and threats of deepening the debt burden are identified. Based on the analysis of these problems, a system of recommendations on the state policy of managing debt sustainability is built, including operational, tactical and strategic measures and reflecting the interrelated action of instruments of fiscal, monetary, investment, foreign trade and other economic policies of the state.

  12. Sustainability reporting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kolk, A.

    2005-01-01

    This article gives an overview of developments in sustainability (also sometimes labelled corporate social responsibility) reporting. The article will first briefly indicate how accountability on social and environmental issues started, already in the 1970s when social reports were published.

  13. Consumer Empowerment in the Digital Economy: Availing Sustainable Purchasing Decisions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrizia Gazzola

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The advent of the digital economy and, implicitly, of competition in the online marketplace has triggered new challenges in terms of consumer protection approaches. Online, consumer skills are expected to be improved and the level of consumer awareness and engagement increased. These are the baseline prerequisites of the sustainable purchasing decision and, thus, should be considered as pillars of responsible online consumption. Consistent with the novel consumption challenges, the current paper is intended to advance and test a research model integrating five main constructs, namely, competition in the online marketplace, online consumer skills, online consumer awareness, online consumer engagement and sustainable purchasing decision. A total of 318 college students—a representative population of the new Millennials generation—accepted the invitation to participate in a questionnaire-based survey. In order to pertinently analyze the collected data, a structural equation modeling technique based on partial least squares was employed for the assessment of the measurement and the structural model. The findings indicated that the model explained 24.4 percent of the variance of sustainable purchasing decisions, while the highest influence was exerted by the improvement of online consumer skills. This implies that online providers should revisit their products sustainability standards on purpose to preserve a competitive advantage.

  14. The State of Environmentally Sustainable Interior Design Practice

    OpenAIRE

    Mihyun Kang; Denise A. Guerin

    2009-01-01

    Problem statement: Research that investigates how interior designers use environmentally sustainable interior design criteria in their design solutions has not been done. To provide a base to develop education strategies for sustainable interior design, this study examined the state of environmentally sustainable interior design practice. Approach: A national, Internet-based survey of interior design practitioners was conducted. To collect data, the random sample of US interior design practit...

  15. Drivers of sustained hygiene behaviour change: A case study from mid-western Nepal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMichael, Celia; Robinson, Priscilla

    2016-08-01

    Behaviour change is central to the prevention of many population health problems, yet it is typically difficult to initiate and sustain. This paper reports on an evaluation of a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) intervention in mid-western Nepal, with particular focus on the drivers and barriers for handwashing with soap/ash and elimination of open defecation. The research was conducted during October-November 2014, two and half years following the intervention's end-point. Qualitative data were collected from the target community (n = 112) via group discussions, interviews and drawings/stories of 'most significant change'. Households' handwashing/water facilities and toilets were observed. Analysis was informed by a model that highlights environmental, psychosocial and technological factors that shape hygiene behaviours across multiple levels, from the habitual to the structural (Dreibelbis et al. 2013). Findings indicate the intervention has supported development of new norms around hygiene behaviours. Key drivers of sustained hygiene behaviour were habit formation, emotional drivers (e.g. disgust, affiliation), and collective action and civic pride; key constraints included water scarcity and socio-economic disadvantage. Identifying and responding to the drivers and constraints of hygiene behaviour change in specific contexts is critical to sustained behaviour change and population health impact. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Adopting Sustainability in the Organization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frandsen, Sanne; Morsing, Mette; Vallentin, Steen

    2013-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between sustainability adoption and internal legitimacy construction. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is designed as a critical inquiry into existing research and practice on sustainability adoption, illustrated by two...... corporate vignettes. Findings – Prior studies tend to assume that awareness raising is a sufficient means to create employee commitment and support for corporate sustainability programs, while empirical observations indicate that managerial disregard of conflicting interpretations of sustainability may...... result in the illegitimacy of such programs. Originality/value – The authors suggest that a loosely coupled approach to sustainability adoption is a productive way to understand internal legitimacy construction, as it appreciates complexity and polyphony....

  17. The challenge of sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Orr, D.W.

    1993-01-01

    This paper discusses sustainability in a world that has changed rapidly. The author suggests that ecological assumptions embedded in communism and capitalism are badly flawed, but the flaws were not apparent when there were fewer than a billion people on earth living at low technology levels. Sustaining the earth's vital signs is a challenge to our perception of time, and the numbers - population, environmental damage, oil consumption, waste disposal - are too large to comprehend easily. There is a global debate about what sustainability means. In fact the challenge of sustainability is 6 different challenges: overcoming the tendency to deny inconvenient realities; establishing accurate indicators of human and ecological health; questions about the kinds of technology necessary to make the transition to sustainability; education; the need for an emotional bond between man and nature; rebuilding the existing democratic institutions. 16 refs

  18. Corporate sustainability: environmental, social, economic and corporate performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alena Kocmanová

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with corporate sustainability and environmental and social issues of the integration of corporate performance measurement that may lead to sustainable economic success. Sustainability is a strategy of the process of sustainable development. Sustainability of businesses and sustainable performance can be defined as an integration of environmental, social and economic performance. First and foremost, businesses will want to know what indicators can be used to measure environmental, social and economic performance. What is the mutual relationship between environmental, social and economic performance? How can firms arrive at a comprehensive assessment of their performance in relation to sustainability? The aim of this paper is to analyze corporate environmental, social and economic performance and to analyze their mutual relationships. The final part of the article is an assessment of the contemporary situation and draft Key Performance Indicators (KPI for assessment of corporate sustainability that will be the subject of further research in a selected NACE-CZ sector and in accordance with Corporate Sustainability Reporting. KPI provide businesses with a means of measuring progress toward achieving objectives.

  19. A pathway to a more sustainable water sector: sustainability-based asset management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marlow, D R; Beale, D J; Burn, S

    2010-01-01

    The water sectors of many countries are faced with the need to address simultaneously two overarching challenges; the need to undertake effective asset management coupled with the broader need to evolve business processes so as to embrace sustainability principles. Research has thus been undertaken into the role sustainability principles play in asset management. As part of this research, a series of 25 in-depth interviews were undertaken with water sector professionals from around Australia. Drawing on the results of these interviews, this paper outlines the conceptual relationship between asset management and sustainability along with a synthesis of the relevant opinions voiced in the interviews. The interviews indicated that the participating water authorities have made a strong commitment to sustainability, but there is a need to facilitate change processes to embed sustainability principles into business as usual practices. Interviewees also noted that asset management and sustainability are interlinked from a number of perspectives, especially in the way decision making is undertaken with respect to assets and service provision. The interviews also provided insights into the research needed to develop a holistic sustainability-based asset management framework.

  20. Sustainability Assessment and Reporting in Agriculture Sector

    OpenAIRE

    Edward Kassem; Oldřich Trenz; Jiří Hřebíček; Oldřich Faldík

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability assessment is a mainstream business activity that demonstrates the link between the organization’s strategy and commitment to a sustainable global economy. Sustainability indicators describe the environmental, social, economic and governance performance of Small and Medium‑sized Businesses/Enterprises (SMB/SME). Unfortunately, their implementations in the Czech Republic show a low level of engagement in sustainability assessment. The paper presents the results of the authors’ r...

  1. Sustainable Entrepreneurship: The Role of Perceived Barriers and Risk

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    B. Hoogendoorn (Brigitte); P.W. van der Zwan (Peter); A.R. Thurik (Roy)

    2017-01-01

    textabstractEntrepreneurs who start a business to serve both self-interests and collective interests by addressing unmet social and environmental needs are usually referred to as sustainable entrepreneurs. Compared with regular entrepreneurs, we argue that sustainable entrepreneurs face specific

  2. Team Factors that Predict to Sustainability Indicators for Community-Based Prevention Teams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perkins, Daniel F.; Feinberg, Mark E.; Greenberg, Mark T.; Johnson, Lesley E.; Chilenski, Sarah Meyer; Mincemoyer, Claudia C.; Spoth, Richard L.

    2011-01-01

    Because they often set out with a guarantee of only short-term funding, many community partnerships will face a threat to their sustainability almost as soon as the first money runs out. Research into the factors that enable some coalitions and partnerships to meet the challenge when others fail is limited. This study begins to fill this gap in…

  3. Strengthening European Food Chain Sustainability by Quality and Procurement Policy : Methods and indicators for measuring the social, environmental and economic impacts of food quality schemes

    OpenAIRE

    Bellassen , Valentin; Giraud , Georges; Hilal , Mohamed; Arfini , Filippo; Barczak , Aleksandra; Bodini , Antonio; Brennan , Mary; DRUT , Marion; Duboys de Labarre , Matthieu; Gorton , Matthew; Hartmann , Monika; Majewski , Edward; Muller , Paul; Monier-Dilhan , Sylvette; Poméon , Thomas

    2016-01-01

    The present methodological handbook provides the methodologies which will be applied in each work package of the Strength2Food project. In particular, it contains a list of indicators on how to assess sustainability in food and agro-food supply chains. This methodological handbook aims at facilitating the task for field studies, both proposing several prioritizations (indicator, variable, value chain level), detailing how we will combine relatively common variables (eg., number of animals per...

  4. Dutch policies to manage the transition to sustainable energy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R. Kemp (René); D.A. Loorbach (Derk)

    2006-01-01

    textabstractMany countries are committed to sustainability but are struggling with how to do this. Most countries opted for sustainability councils and the development of sustainability indicators. The Dutch government followed a different track. It believed that sustainability requires some

  5. Sustainability Infused Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibarra, D. L.

    2015-12-01

    The Independent Schools Foundation Academy (ISF) in Hong Kong established a sustainability policy in 2015, which explicitly states, "an experimentally integrated, environmentally and ethically sustainable system of science education and conservation practices based on the 2012 Jeju Declaration of the World Conservation Congress will be implemented through the school". ISF Academy is a private Chinese bilingual school in Hong Kong serving over 1500 students K-12, following the framework and curriculum of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). The strategy behind the implementation of this policy includes: development of a scientific sustainable curriculum that is age appropriate; establish a culture of sustainability within the ISF community and beyond to the wider HK community; install sustainable infrastructure that allows students to learn; and learn first hand sustainable living practices. It is well understood that solutions to the environmental challenges facing Hong Kong and our planet will require multiple disciplines. The current sustainability programs at ISF include: a) a whole school aerobic food waste composting system and organic farming, b) energy consumption monitoring of existing buildings, c) upcoming installation of an air pollution monitoring equipment that will correlate with the AQHI data collected by the Hong Kong government, d) a Renewable Energy Education Center (REEC) that will teach students about RE and also produce solar energy for classroom consumption, and e) student lead environmental group that manages the paper and used cooking oil recycling on campus. The Shuyuan Science and Sustainability faculty work closely with classroom teachers to ensure that the above mentioned projects are incorporated into the curriculum throughout the school. Interdisciplinary units (IDU) of study are being developed that encourage faculty and students to work across subject areas. Projects include Personal Projects, Extended Essays

  6. Sustainability performance evaluation: Literature review and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Büyüközkan, Gülçin; Karabulut, Yağmur

    2018-07-01

    Current global economic activities are increasingly being perceived as unsustainable. Despite the high number of publications, sustainability science remains highly dispersed over diverse approaches and topics. This article aims to provide a structured overview of sustainability performance evaluation related publications and to document the current state of literature, categorize publications, analyze and link trends, as well as highlight gaps and provide research recommendations. 128 articles between 2007 and 2018 are identified. The results suggest that sustainability performance evaluation models shall be more balanced, suitable criteria and their interrelations shall be well defined and subjectivity of qualitative criteria inherent to sustainability indicators shall be considered. To address this subjectivity, group decision-making techniques and other analytical methods that can deal with uncertainty, conflicting indicators, and linguistic evaluations can be used in future works. By presenting research gaps, this review stimulates researchers to establish practically applicable sustainability performance evaluation frameworks to help assess and compare the degree of sustainability, leading to more sustainable business practices. The review is unique in defining corporate sustainability performance evaluation for the first time, exploring the gap between sustainability accounting and sustainability assessment, and coming up with a structured overview of innovative research recommendations about integrating analytical assessment methods into conceptual sustainability frameworks. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Fudo: An East Asian Notion of Climate and Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Baek

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available My paper discusses an East Asian notion of climate and its significance for sustainability. A particular reference is the environmental philosophy of Tetsuro Watsuji (1889–1960, a Japanese philosopher who reflected upon the meaning of climate, or “fudo” in the Sino-Japanese linguistic tradition. Watsuji sees fudo not merely as a collection of natural features—climatic, scenic, and topographical—of a given land, but also as the metaphor of subjectivity, or “who I am”. Furthermore, this self-discovery through fudo is never private but collective. By referring to a phenomenological notion of “ek-sistere”, or “to be out among other ‘I’s”, Watsuji demonstrates the pervasiveness of a climatic phenomenon and the ensuing inter-personal joining of different individuals to shape a collective sustainable measure in response to the phenomenon. My paper lastly concretizes the significance of fudo and its inter-personal ethical basis for sustainability by dwelling upon cross-ventilation in Japanese vernacular residential architecture. Cross-ventilation emerges only through what Watsuji calls “selfless openness” between different rooms predicated upon the joining of different ‘I’s soaked in hotness and humidity. Watsuji’s fudo thus offers a lesson that without considering the collective humane characteristic of a natural climatic phenomenon, any sustainable act is flawed and inefficient.

  8. Uncertainty indication in soil function maps – transparent and easy-to-use information to support sustainable use of soil resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Greiner

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Spatial information on soil function fulfillment (SFF is increasingly being used to inform decision-making in spatial planning programs to support sustainable use of soil resources. Soil function maps visualize soils abilities to fulfill their functions, e.g., regulating water and nutrient flows, providing habitats, and supporting biomass production based on soil properties. Such information must be reliable for informed and transparent decision-making in spatial planning programs. In this study, we add to the transparency of soil function maps by (1 indicating uncertainties arising from the prediction of soil properties generated by digital soil mapping (DSM that are used for soil function assessment (SFA and (2 showing the response of different SFA methods to the propagation of uncertainties through the assessment. For a study area of 170 km2 in the Swiss Plateau, we map 10 static soil sub-functions for agricultural soils for a spatial resolution of 20 × 20 m together with their uncertainties. Mapping the 10 soil sub-functions using simple ordinal assessment scales reveals pronounced spatial patterns with a high variability of SFF scores across the region, linked to the inherent properties of the soils and terrain attributes and climate conditions. Uncertainties in soil properties propagated through SFA methods generally lead to substantial uncertainty in the mapped soil sub-functions. We propose two types of uncertainty maps that can be readily understood by stakeholders. Cumulative distribution functions of SFF scores indicate that SFA methods respond differently to the propagated uncertainty of soil properties. Even where methods are comparable on the level of complexity and assessment scale, their comparability in view of uncertainty propagation might be different. We conclude that comparable uncertainty indications in soil function maps are relevant to enable informed and transparent decisions on the sustainable use of soil

  9. Classification of the European Union member states according to the relative level of sustainable development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anna, Bluszcz

    Nowadays methods of measurement and assessment of the level of sustained development at the international, national and regional level are a current research problem, which requires multi-dimensional analysis. The relative assessment of the sustainability level of the European Union member states and the comparative analysis of the position of Poland relative to other countries was the aim of the conducted studies in the article. EU member states were treated as objects in the multi-dimensional space. Dimensions of space were specified by ten diagnostic variables describing the sustainability level of UE countries in three dimensions, i.e., social, economic and environmental. Because the compiled statistical data were expressed in different units of measure, taxonomic methods were used for building an aggregated measure to assess the level of sustainable development of EU member states, which through normalisation of variables enabled the comparative analysis between countries. Methodology of studies consisted of eight stages, which included, among others: defining data matrices, calculating the variability coefficient for all variables, which variability coefficient was under 10 %, division of variables into stimulants and destimulants, selection of the method of variable normalisation, developing matrices of normalised data, selection of the formula and calculating the aggregated indicator of the relative level of sustainable development of the EU countries, calculating partial development indicators for three studies dimensions: social, economic and environmental and the classification of the EU countries according to the relative level of sustainable development. Statistical date were collected based on the Polish Central Statistical Office publication.

  10. Comparing Sustainable Forest Management Certifications Standards: A Meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Rawson. Clark

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available To solve problems caused by conventional forest management, forest certification has emerged as a driver of sustainable forest management. Several sustainable forest management certification systems exist, including the Forest Stewardship Council and those endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, such as the Canadian Standards Association - Sustainable Forestry Management Standard CAN/CSA - Z809 and Sustainable Forestry Initiative. For consumers to use certified products to meet their own sustainability goals, they must have an understanding of the effectiveness of different certification systems. To understand the relative performance of three systems, we determined: (1 the criteria used to compare the Forest Stewardship Council, Canadian Standards Association - Sustainable Forestry Management, and Sustainable Forestry Initiative, (2 if consensus exists regarding their ability to achieve sustainability goals, and (3 what research gaps must be filled to improve our understanding of how forest certification systems affect sustainable forest management. We conducted a qualitative meta-analysis of 26 grey literature references (books, industry and nongovernmental organization publications and 9 primary literature references (articles in peer-reviewed academic journals that compared at least two of the aforementioned certification systems. The Forest Stewardship Council was the highest performer for ecological health and social sustainable forest management criteria. The Canadian Standards Association - Sustainable Forestry Management and Sustainable Forestry Initiative performed best under sustainable forest management criteria of forest productivity and economic longevity of a firm. Sixty-two percent of analyses were comparisons of the wording of certification system principles or criteria; 34% were surveys of foresters or consumers. An important caveat to these results is that only one comparison was based on

  11. Competitive Strategy and Sustainable Performance: The Application of Sustainable Balanced Scorecard

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Riana Sitawati

    2015-03-01

    This study aims to help fill the knowledge gap of Indonesian hotel managers by providing empirical evidence on how competitive strategy could play a role in improving hotel sustainable performance (HSP. The Sustainable Balanced Scorecard (SBSC approach was used to measure HSP based on financial, customer, internal business process, learning and growth, and social and environmental perspectives. A mixed methods research approach was used to test the relationships among the above mentioned variables. Online survey and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. The quantitative data were analysed using Partial Least Square (PLS. The results revealed that competitive strategy, particularly in the form of differentiation, had a significant influence on HSP.

  12. FOOD ENTREPRENEUR SUSTAINABLE ORIENTATION AND FIRM PRACTICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark A. Gagnon

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This exploratory research examines the relationship between food entrepreneur sustainable orientation, mindset and firm sustainable practices in a mixed methods format. In particular we seek to address if entrepreneur behavior and firm practices are congruent with founding entrepreneur espoused support of sustainability. Our survey findings with thirty specialty food entrepreneurs suggest tenuous empirical support for the relationship of entrepreneur sustainable orientation, mindset and firm sustainable practices. However our qualitative results indicate positive relationships between sustainable orientation, mindset and practices. Evidence from this work highlights the critical role of founding entrepreneurs for successful implementation of sustainability along its multiple fronts including profitability.

  13. Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marzia Traverso

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is nowadays accepted by all stakeholders as a guiding principle for both public policy making and corporate strategies. However, the biggest challenge for most organizations remains in the real and substantial implementation of the sustainability concept. The core of the implementation challenge is the question, how sustainability performance can be measured, especially for products and processes. This paper explores the current status of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA for products and processes. For the environmental dimension well established tools like Life Cycle Assessment are available. For the economic and social dimension, there is still need for consistent and robust indicators and methods. In addition to measuring the individual sustainability dimensions, another challenge is a comprehensive, yet understandable presentation of the results. The “Life Cycle Sustainability Dashboard” and the “Life Cycle Sustainability Triangle” are presented as examples for communication tools for both experts and non expert stakeholders.

  14. The Social in Assessing for Sustainability. Fisheries in Australia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kate Barclay

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The notion that sustainability rests on three pillars – economic, environmental and social – has been widely accepted since the 1990s. In practice, however, the economic and environmental aspects have tended to dominate the sustainability agenda, and social aspects have been sidelined. Two reasons for this are: 1 there is a lack of data collected about which to build meaningful pictures of social aspects of sustainability for populations over time, and 2 there is a lack of recognition of the role of social factors in sustainability, and a related lack of understanding of how to analyse them in conjunction with economic and environmental factors. This paper surveys the literature about sustainability in fisheries, focussing on Australia, and focussing on the way social aspects have been treated. The paper finds that the problems that have been identified for assessing the social in sustainability in general are certainly manifest in fisheries. Management of Australian fisheries has arguably made great improvements to biological sustainability over the last decade, but much remains to be done to generate similar improvements in social sustainability for fishing communities. This is the case for government-run resource management as well as for initiatives from the private sector and conservation organizations as part of movements for corporate social responsibility and ethical consumerism. A significant challenge for improving sustainability in Australian fisheries, therefore, lies in improving data collection on social factors, and in bridging disciplinary divides to better integrate social with economic and biological assessments of sustainability.

  15. The Development of a Tool for Sustainable Building Design:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tine Ring Hansen, Hanne; Knudstrup, Mary-Ann

    2009-01-01

    for sustainable buildings, as well as, an analysis of the relationship between the different approaches (e.g. low-energy, environmental, green building, solar architecture, bio-climatic architecture etc.) to sustainable building design and these indicators. The paper furthermore discusses how sustainable......The understanding of sustainable building has changed over time along with the architectural interpretation of sustainability. The paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of the indicators found in different internationally acclaimed and Danish certification schemes and standards...... architecture will gain more focus in the coming years, thus, establishing the need for the development of a new tool and methodology, The paper furthermore describes the background and considerations involved in the development of a design support tool for sustainable building design. A tool which considers...

  16. Identification of Colored Dyes that are Resistant to Fading on Exposure to Ethylene Oxide; Use with Indicating FTA™ Sample Collection Cards

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina Moran

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Regulatory Standards and Forensic Communities are expressing an expectation for HID products to be certified as “DNA-free.” Recently, “DNA-free” status was described for HID-related products using ethylene oxide (EtO; this gas reduces the presence of amplifiable DNA and causes minimal interference to downstream HID-analytical methods. During sample collection, indicating cards, for example, Indicating FTA™ (GE Healthcare Life Sciences, UK, are used to collect and store buccal cell DNA. These cards contain a dye which changes color on application of a colorless sample. Generating “DNA-free” indicating cards using EtO should not impact the dyes' ability to indicate sample location or the efficacy of the card in downstream HID-analytical methods. This study was initiated to identify alternative dyes to those currently used with sample indicating collection cards. The most promising, dyes when applied to cellulose papers exhibited a uniform color distribution and excellent sample indicating properties even when mixed with chemicals associated with FTA™. When dyed cellulose papers were exposed to EtO, ultraviolet radiation, elevated temperature, and humidity, negligible fading or discoloration was observed. The presence of these dyes on cellulose papers did not interfere with direct short tandem repeat (STR profiling. Allelic concordance, first pass success rate, and mean peak heights were comparable to samples applied to Indicating FTA. Biological samples applied to EtO-treated dyed cellulose papers and stored >1 month produced full STR profiles of sufficient quality to allow submission to DNA databases, confirming negligible interference from EtO treatment. These alternative sample indicating dyes resist EtO-mediated fading while fulfilling the Forensic Community's expectation for “DNA-free” with negligible impact on collection card performance.

  17. Indicators for sustainable mobility - a policy oriented approach

    OpenAIRE

    Borken, Jens

    2003-01-01

    Seven indicators are derived to measure transport´s most important environmental impacts. They are proposed for prospective analysis at the highest level of aggregation. With the aid of three valuation criteria adopted from life cycle analysis a transparent ranking and overall assessment can be established. A sensitivity analysis checks the validity of the results with resprect do data uncertainty and different value judgements. These elements can eually be applied as indicators for environme...

  18. The ideal usage of sustainable materials and local resources of the interior space design in Jordan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fahmi Hussien, Mayyadah [Department of Interior Design, Faculty of Architect and Art, Petra University (Jordan)], Email: Mayada19732004@yahoo.com

    2011-07-01

    A large amount of waste is generated by buildings over their life cycle, from construction and operation to destruction. Sustainable design principles and recycling programs in buildings can help moderate this waste. The simplest way is directly through the materials used in the building's construction. The materials and resources used should focus on the health and productivity consequences for the building's inhabitants and its environmental, social and economic impacts. This aim of this study is to make certain recommendations with respect to the use of sustainable building materials and resources in indoor spaces in Jordan. A general overview of collection and storage of recyclable materials, waste management, material reuse, and green and rapidly renewable materials is given. Sustainable material usage in the elements of interior design in Jordan is also discussed in two case studies. A set of indicators is proposed which identify the ideal sustainable materials and resources for use in interior design in Jordan to provide a healthy living environment.

  19. Nuclear Power and Sustainable Development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2016-09-01

    Transforming the energy system is at the core of the dedicated sustainable development goal on energy within the new United Nations development agenda. This publication explores the possible contribution of nuclear energy to addressing the issues of sustainable development through a large selection of indicators. It reviews the characteristics of nuclear power in comparison with alternative sources of electricity supply, according to economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainability. The findings summarized in this publication will help the reader to consider, or reconsider, the contribution that can be made by the development and operation of nuclear power plants in contributing to more sustainable energy systems.

  20. Measuring the sustain ability of the timber industry in Europe. A multi criteria approach based on the aggregation of indicators; La medicion de la sostenibilidad de la madera en Europa. Un enfoque multicriterio basado en la agregacion de indicadores

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Voces, R.; Diaz, L.; Romero, C.

    2009-07-01

    Sustain ability is a multidimensional concept in continuous evolution. However, it is widely accepted the suitability of using several indicators of different nature to characterise and to quantify this concept. Within this orientation, in this paper the sustain ability of the wood industry in a significant number of European countries is analysed. To achieve this purpose, a set of economic, environmental and social indicators are defined for the years 2003 and 2004. With the help of a binary goal programming model, this indicators are aggregated into a synthetic index that measures the overall sustain ability. In this way, it is obtained a ranking in terms of sustain ability of the wood products industry in the European countries studied. (Author) 19 refs.

  1. Knowledge transfer in the field of parental mental illness: objectives, effective strategies, indicators of success, and sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lauritzen, Camilla; Reedtz, Charlotte

    2015-01-01

    Mental health problems are often transmitted from one generation to the next. However, transferring knowledge about interventions that reduce intergenerational transmission of disease to the field of parental mental illness has been very difficult. One of the most critical issues in mental health services research is the gap between what is generally known about effective treatment and what is provided to consumers in routine care. In this article we discuss several aspects of knowledge transfer in the field of parental mental illness. Effective strategies and implementation prerequisites are explored, and we also discuss indicators of success and sustainability. Altogether, this article presents a rationale for the importance of preventive strategies for children of mentally ill parents. Furthermore, the discussion shows how complex it is to change clinical practice.

  2. Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xin (Cissy Ma

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Urban water systems are an example of complex, dynamic human–environment coupled systems which exhibit emergent behaviors that transcend individual scientific disciplines. While previous siloed approaches to water services (i.e., water resources, drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater have led to great improvements in public health protection, sustainable solutions for a growing global population facing increased resource constraints demand a paradigm shift based on holistic management to maximize the use and recovery of water, energy, nutrients, and materials. The objective of this review paper is to highlight the issues in traditional water systems including water demand and use, centralized configuration, sewer collection systems, characteristics of mixed wastewater, and to explore alternative solutions such as decentralized water systems, fit for purpose and water reuse, natural/green infrastructure, vacuum sewer collection systems, and nutrient/energy recovery. This review also emphasizes a system thinking approach for evaluating alternatives that should include sustainability indicators and metrics such as emergy to assess global system efficiency. An example paradigm shift design for urban water system is presented, not as the recommended solution for all environments, but to emphasize the framework of system-level analysis and the need to visualize water services as an organic whole. When water systems are designed to maximize the resources and optimum efficiency, they are more prevailing and sustainable than siloed management because a system is more than the sum of its parts.

  3. Sustainability Reporting in the Aviation sector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Katherine Miles Hill [Global Reporting Initiative (Netherlands)

    2008-09-30

    The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Guidelines are the de-facto standard for sustainability reporting. Thousands of organizations around the world base their annual sustainability report on the GRI G3 Guidelines, including many within the aviation sector, including leading airports, aerospace manufacturers and airlines. The Guidelines are principles based and contain Disclosures on Management Approach and Performance Indicators. To report on the performance indicators a company needs to measure and manage its entities. By doing so targets can be set to improve performance over the years, on sustainability topics ranging from community investment to CO{sub 2} emissions. Each company is different and therefore each company needs to conduct a materiality test to assess which indicators to use, based on Stakeholder Assessments and Decisions and Significance of Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts. Using the Guidelines means that you have a tool for clear and comparable communication with your stakeholders and measuring your performance on sustainability topics like CO{sub 2} emissions. By measuring CO{sub 2} emissions overtime in a uniform way and publishing the emissions in your sustainability report, your stakeholders will appreciate your honesty and better understand when you experience difficulties in meeting your targets to limit the emissions. Additionally it will allow you to be able to benchmark your company against other companies in your sector.

  4. Leveraging best practices to promote health, safety, sustainability, and stewardship.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weiss, Marjorie D

    2013-08-01

    Strategically leveraging health and safety initiatives with sustainability and stewardship helps organizations improve profitability and positively impact team member and customer attachment to the organization. Collective efficacy enhances the triple bottom line: healthy people, healthy planet, and healthy profits. The HS(3)™ Best Practice Exchanges group demonstrated that collective efficacy can leverage the social cohesion, communication channels, and activities within workplaces to promote a healthy, sustainable work culture. This in turn (1) protects the health and safety of workers, (2) preserves the natural environment, and (3) increases attachment to the organization. Community-based participatory research using the Attach21 survey assessed the progress of these companies in their efforts to integrate health, safety, sustainability, and stewardship. Monthly Best Practice Exchanges promoted collective efficacy by providing support, encouragement, and motivation to share and adopt new ideas. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

  5. Impacto de estrategias colectivas en la sustentabilidad de sistemas familiares lecheros en Uruguay Impact of collective strategies on the sustainability of family dairy systems in Uruguay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R García Ferreira

    2011-03-01

    Association of Dairy Producers San José, Uruguay, and different university teams have developed experiences of rural development and support to production, tending to improve the income levels and living standards of these families, enhancing collective processes as countertrends to this central process. The objective of this work was to analyze the sustainability status of family dairy systems of the San José Department, considering the social, economic and agroecological dimensions; an evaluation methodology was applied through sustainability indicators in 100 of these systems and the influence of the use and adoption of collective strategies to support production was analyzed. Among the main results, it stands out that the systems which incorporated more collective strategies (three or more showed high values, in general, for several of the productive and economic indicators (an increase of 66% in the predial income per capita, 39% in liters/ha and 73% in CP/ha as average than those that adopted the strategies in an isolated way (only one. It is concluded that the analysis of these 100 establishments indicates to continue the generation and study of this type of collective strategies, which mainly serve as alternatives in the generation of countertrends that can decrease, buffer or revert the disappearance and degradation of family dairy systems as social group.

  6. Deliverable No. D4.7: Database on farm-level production and sutainability indices assessing sustainable diets

    OpenAIRE

    Zimmermann, A.; Götz, Christian; Leip, A.; Zanten, van, H.H.E.; Hornborg, Sara; Ziegler, Friederike

    2017-01-01

    This paper demonstrates that SUSFANS metrics for assessing the environmental sustainability of the European food system can be effectively produced and applied to assess policy measures and potential innovations that aim at achieving sustainable food and nutrition security in the European Union. The analysis points at important issues that need to be taken into account for the further development and application of metrics.

  7. Healthcare professionals' perspectives on environmental sustainability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunphy, Jillian L

    2014-06-01

    Human health is dependent upon environmental sustainability. Many have argued that environmental sustainability advocacy and environmentally responsible healthcare practice are imperative healthcare actions. What are the key obstacles to healthcare professionals supporting environmental sustainability? How may these obstacles be overcome? Data-driven thematic qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews identified common and pertinent themes, and differences between specific healthcare disciplines. A total of 64 healthcare professionals and academics from all states and territories of Australia, and multiple healthcare disciplines were recruited. Institutional ethics approval was obtained for data collection. Participants gave informed consent. All data were de-identified to protect participant anonymity. Qualitative analysis indicated that Australian healthcare professionals often take more action in their personal than professional lives to protect the environment, particularly those with strong professional identities. The healthcare sector's focus on economic rationalism was a substantial barrier to environmentally responsible behaviour. Professionals also feared conflict and professional ostracism, and often did not feel qualified to take action. This led to healthcare professionals making inconsistent moral judgements, and feeling silenced and powerless. Constraints on non-clinical employees within and beyond the sector exacerbated these difficulties. The findings are consistent with the literature reporting that organisational constraints, and strong social identification, can inhibit actions that align with personal values. This disparity can cause moral distress and residue, leading to feelings of powerlessness, resulting in less ethical behaviour. The data highlight a disparity between personal and professional actions to address environmental sustainability. Given the constraints Australian healthcare professionals encounter, they are unlikely to

  8. Mapping the Indicators. An Analysis of Sustainable Development Requirements of Selected Market Mechanisms and Multilateral Institutions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arens, Christof; Mersmann, Florian; Beuermann, Christiane

    Investors are paying more and more attention to the co-benefits of climate finance. Financing activities aimed at emission mitigation must not only result in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the enhancement of mitigation, adaptive capacity and adaptation strategies, but should also...... produce additional outcomes on other environmental, social or economic aspects of sustainable development. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was created precisely to cover these two aspects: firstly, to achieve cost-effective mitigation of greenhouse gases and secondly, to assist developing countries...... in achieving sustainable development based on their national development priorities and strategies. However, complying with the second objective turned out to be problematic. Registered projects appeared that had no proven sustainable development benefits, or even perceived negative impacts. Consequently...

  9. Figuring rural development : concepts and cases of land use, sustainability and integrative indicators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hobbes, Marieke

    2010-01-01

    Sustainable economic development is essential for hundreds of millions of poor households in rural areas. This book represents a merger of environmental science and rural development economics. It elucidates the linkage between rational choice theory and theories on land use change. It builds a

  10. Sustainability at the local scale: defining highly aggregated indices for assessing environmental performance. The province of Reggio Emilia (Italy) as a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clerici, Nicola; Bodini, Antonio; Ferrarini, Alessandro

    2004-10-01

    In order to achieve improved sustainability, local authorities need to use tools that adequately describe and synthesize environmental information. This article illustrates a methodological approach that organizes a wide suite of environmental indicators into few aggregated indices, making use of correlation, principal component analysis, and fuzzy sets. Furthermore, a weighting system, which includes stakeholders' priorities and ambitions, is applied. As a case study, the described methodology is applied to the Reggio Emilia Province in Italy, by considering environmental information from 45 municipalities. Principal component analysis is used to condense an initial set of 19 indicators into 6 fundamental dimensions that highlight patterns of environmental conditions at the provincial scale. These dimensions are further aggregated in two indices of environmental performance through fuzzy sets. The simple form of these indices makes them particularly suitable for public communication, as they condensate a wide set of heterogeneous indicators. The main outcomes of the analysis and the potential applications of the method are discussed.

  11. Unveiling scientific communities about sustainability and innovation. A bibliometric journey around sustainable terms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Franceschini, Simone; Faria, Lourenco; Jurowetzki, Roman

    2016-01-01

    innovation), and they concluded that such terms are mostly interchangeable. These findings surprise in light of the different positions shown in the innovation for sustainability debate. Our bibliometric analysis tracks meanings and communities associated with these four terms and indicates some overlaps......, especially between eco-innovation and environmental innovation. However, we found relevant differences of meanings and communities that reflect the different positions in the innovation for sustainability debate....

  12. Visualisation of uncertainty for the trade-off triangle used in sustainable agriculture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Paul; Takahashi, Taro; Lee, Michael

    2017-04-01

    Agriculture at the global-scale is at a critical juncture where competing requirements for maximal production and minimal pollution have led to the concept of sustainable intensification. All farming systems (arable, grasslands, etc.) are part of this debate, where each have particular associated environmental risks such as water and air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and soil degradation, as well as issues affecting production efficiency, product quality and consumer acceptability, reflected in the development of agricultural sustainability policies. These challenges necessitate multidisciplinary solutions that can only be properly researched, implemented and tested in real-world production systems which are suited to their geographical and climatic production practice. In this respect, various high-profile agricultural data collection experiments have been set up, such as the North Wyke Farm Platform (http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/farmplatform) to research agricultural productivity and ecosystem responses to different management practices. In this farm-scale grasslands experiment, data on hydrology, emissions, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, productivity and livestock welfare/health are collected, that in turn, are converted to trade-off metrics with respect to: (i) economic profits, (ii) societal benefits and (iii) environmental concerns, under the umbrella of sustainable intensification. Similar agriculture research platforms have similar objectives, where data collections are ultimately synthesised into trade-off metrics. Trade-offs metrics can then be usefully visualized via the usual sustainable triangle, with a new triangle for each key time period (e.g. baseline versus post-baseline). This enables a visual assessment of change in sustainability harmony or discord, according to the remit of the given research experiment. In this paper, we discuss different approaches to calculation of the sustainability trade-off metrics that are required from the farm

  13. Sustainability of a Community-Based CHOICE Program to Improve the Health and Nutrition Status of Mothers and Infants in Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eder, Clara; Khatiwada, Lila Kumar; Schooley, Janine

    2018-02-10

    Objectives Few studies have been undertaken to determine whether and how project results are sustained. University of Notre Dame (ND) and Project Concern International conducted a Post-Project Sustainability Study (PSS) of a USAID-funded program (CHOICE), implemented in Indonesia, Banten province, between 2003 and 2007, in order to determine lasting effects and improve PSS methodologies. Methods Sustainability was measured through a comparison of data collected on mother-infant pairs in 2014 with final evaluation data from 2007; and through a comparison of 2014 data collected from the CHOICE villages and comparison villages. Results The analysis showed positive differences in multiple indicators in CHOICE villages between 2007 and 2014, including births attended by skilled personnel (Mean Difference 48.56, 95% CI 38.68 to 58.43) and treatment of diarrhea (MD 16.42, 95% CI - 0.94 to 33.37). However, only one statistically significant difference between intervention and comparison groups in 2014 was observed, infants with diarrhea whose mothers sought advice or treatment (MD - 5.48, 95% CI - 9.55 to 1.39), showing more mothers in intervention group sought advice or treatment. Because contextual factors were not studied in detail and baseline data was not available for the comparison villages, it is difficult to determine the reasons for the results. Given that longitudinal data was not collected, it is also difficult to determine whether results fluctuated between 2007 and 2014. Conclusions for practice This PSS contributes to the limited body of knowledge in sustainability research. Lessons learned from this study will increase potential for sustainable impact of projects, as more rigorous measurement will lead to greater overall understanding of how sustainability actually "happens".

  14. Merging remotely sensed data, models and indicators for a sustainable development of coastal aquaculture in Algeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brigolin, Daniele; Venier, Chiara; Amine Taji, Mohamed; Lourguioui, Hichem; Mangin, Antoine; Pastres, Roberto

    2014-05-01

    Finfish cage farming is an economically relevant activity, which exerts pressures on coastal systems and thus require a science-based management, based on the Ecosystem Approach, in order to be carry out in a sustainable way. Within MEDINA project (EU 282977), ocean color data and models were used for estimating indicators of pressures of aquaculture installations along the north African coast. These indicators can provide important support for decision makers in the allocation of new zones for aquaculture, by taking into account the suitability of an area for this activity and minimizing negative environmental effects, thus enhancing the social acceptability of aquaculture. The increase in the number of farms represents a strategic objective for the Algerian food production sector, which is currently being supported by different national initiatives. The case-study presented in this work was carried out in the Gulf of Bejaia. Water quality for aquaculture was first screened based on ocean color CDOM data (http://www.globcolour.info/). The SWAN model was subsequently used to propagate offshore wave data and to derive wave height statistics. On this basis, sub-areas of the Gulf were ranked, according their optimality in respect to cage resistance and fish welfare requirements. At the three best sites an integrated aquaculture impact assessment model was therefore applied: this tool allows one to obtain a detailed representation of fish growth and population dynamics inside the rearing cages, and to simulate the deposition of uneaten food and faeces on the sediment and the subsequent mineralization of organic matter. This integrated model was used to produce a set of indicators of the fish cages environmental interaction under different scenarios of forcings (water temperature, feeding, currents). These model-derived indicators could usefully contribute to the implementation of the ecosystem approach for the management of aquaculture activities, also required by the

  15. Environmental indicators for evaluating properties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Grosso

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Property evaluation for tax purposes has traditionally relied on urban and building criteria, mostly resulting from concepts driven by the commercial attractiveness of the property under evaluation, its building and the site itself. Due to the world climate and ecological crisis, awareness has risen about the need for other indicators, which can evaluate the quality of a property, even referring to its potential environmental impact. Technical standards for the evaluation of buildings’ environmental sustainability, which have been developed since the first years of this century, both nationally and internationally, take into account the impact of the building and its relevance for the life-cycle of materials and elements, with reference to the three sectors of sustainability: environmental, economic and social. The social sector includes indicators referring to the user’s health and comfort, which also interact with the morphological and spatial characteristics of the building. However, there is a lack of methodological tools for the evaluation of said indicators and existing ones are mainly of a qualitative type. This paper suggests a methodological approach for the quantitative evaluation of sustainability indicators, relying on the accessibility of a site’s climate resources by the property, as a criterion to evaluate the potential for the reduction of negative environmental impact, as well as a criterion to improve users’ life quality.

  16. Modeling and Advanced Control for Sustainable Process ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    This book chapter introduces a novel process systems engineering framework that integrates process control with sustainability assessment tools for the simultaneous evaluation and optimization of process operations. The implemented control strategy consists of a biologically-inspired, multi-agent-based method. The sustainability and performance assessment of process operating points is carried out using the U.S. E.P.A.’s GREENSCOPE assessment tool that provides scores for the selected economic, material management, environmental and energy indicators. The indicator results supply information on whether the implementation of the controller is moving the process towards a more sustainable operation. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is illustrated through a case study of a continuous bioethanol fermentation process whose dynamics are characterized by steady-state multiplicity and oscillatory behavior. This book chapter contribution demonstrates the application of novel process control strategies for sustainability by increasing material management, energy efficiency, and pollution prevention, as needed for SHC Sustainable Uses of Wastes and Materials Management.

  17. Traditional formwork system sustainability performance: experts’ opinion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taher Al-ashwal, Mohammed; Abdullah, Redzuan; Zakaria, Rozana

    2017-11-01

    The traditional formwork system is one of the commonly used systems in concrete construction. It is considered as one of the least observed activities in term of sustainability performance. In this paper, the sustainability performance of the traditional formwork has been assessed by using a multi-criteria assessment tool to facilitate the decision on the sustainability performance measurement. A quantitative five Likert scale survey study using judgemental sampling is employed in this study. A sample of 93 of engineering construction experts, with different fields including contractors, developers, and consultants in the Malaysian context has made the body of the collected primary data. The results show variety in the distribution of the respondents’ working experience. The sustainability performance is considered moderately sustainable by the experts with only given 40.24 % of the overall total score for the three sustainable categories namely environmental, social and economic. Despite the finding that shows that the economic pillar was rated as the most sustainable aspect in comparison to the environmental and social pillars the traditional formwork system sustainability still needs enhancement. Further incorporation of the social and environmental pillars into the concrete construction the sustainability performance of traditional formwork system could be improved.

  18. Multiscale Methodological Framework to Derive Criteria and Indicators for Sustainability Evaluation of Peasant Natural Resource Management Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    López Ridaura, S.; Keulen, van H.; Ittersum, van M.K.; Leffelaar, P.A.

    2005-01-01

    Design and implementation of more sustainable natural resource management systems is the current objective of many research institutions, development agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders. But, how to assess whether a system is sustainable? How do we know whether the alternatives designed will

  19. An Interpretive Framework for Assessing and Monitoring the Sustainability of School Gardens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Sottile

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available School gardens are, increasingly, an integral part of projects aiming to promote nutritional education and environmental sustainability in many countries throughout the world. In the late 1950s, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization and UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund had already developed projects to improve the dietary intake and behavior through school and community gardens. However, notwithstanding decades of experience, real proof of how these programs contribute to improving sustainability has not been well-documented, and reported findings have mostly been anecdotal. Therefore, it is important to begin a process of collecting and monitoring data to quantify the results and possibly improve their efficiency. This study’s primary goal is to propose an interpretive structure—the “Sustainable Agri-Food Evaluation Methodology-Garden” (SAEMETH-G, that is able to quantifiably guide the sustainability evaluation of various school garden organizational forms. As a case study, the methodology was applied to 15 school gardens located in three regions of Kenya, Africa. This application of SAEMETH-G as an assessment tool based on user-friendly indicators demonstrates that it is possible to carry out sustainability evaluations of school gardens through a participatory and interdisciplinary approach. Thus, the hypothesis that the original SAEMETH operative framework could be tested in gardens has also been confirmed. SAEMETH-G is a promising tool that has the potential to help us understand school gardens’ sustainability better and to use that knowledge in their further development all over the world.

  20. Sustainability of Smallholder Agriculture in Semi-Arid Areas under Land Set-aside Programs: A Case Study from China’s Loess Plateau

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qirui Li

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available This article analyzes agricultural sustainability in the context of land degradation, rural poverty and social inequality, taking China’s Loess Hills as an example. The analysis attempts to understand the multi-dimensionality of sustainability at the farm level and its relationship with physical-socio-economic-infrastructural-technological framework conditions in the context of the land set-aside program viz. the Grain for Green Project (GGP. We developed composite indices of sustainability and its environmental, economic and social dimensions using a principal component analysis (PCA-based weighting scheme. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between the estimated sustainability indicators and the variables representing framework conditions of knowledge, demographics, resource endowment and production techniques. The stated analysis was conducted on a dataset collected by means of household surveys in 2014 in valleys and flood plain areas in Yanhe Township. Findings reveal hidden correlations among the indicators of environmental, economic, and social pillars of sustainability. The ratio of land under the conservation program to actual farmland emerged as a key determinant of overall agricultural sustainability and its social dimension, which reaches the maximum when the ratio is around 0.56 and 0.64, respectively. The results also show that there is need to balance off-farm and on-farm income diversification as well as highlight the role of women in ensuring the sustainability of farming households. The core achievement of the article is the definition of the thresholds for the land set-aside program and the identification of major determinants of agricultural sustainability in the rural Chinese context in particular and in rural farming communities in general.