Advanced silicate composites – a contribution to sustainable construction

Concrete is the most used man made material nowadays. The environmental impact associated with cement production is very significant due to the extent of concrete use. At the same moment cement production is associated with large energy consumption and high amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Development of concrete technology during last twenty years has lead to a significant quality shift of technical parameters and also of related environmental impacts. New types of optimized concrete mixes have significantly improved characteristics from the perspective of strength, mechanical resistance, durability and resistance to extreme loads. The use of alternative non-steel reinforcement from various types of fibres can increase reliability, durability and reduction of environmental impacts. Due to optimization of production technology, concrete is gradually becoming a building material appropriate and advantageous for sustainable construction of buildings. In this context increase of reliability and durability within whole life cycle is essential. New approaches in concrete technology like utilization of high performance and ultra high performance concretes, use of textile reinforcement, shape optimization and conceptual approach for integrated life-cycle assessment of concrete structures are presented in the paper. Some of principles are demonstrated on results of experimental research performed by author and his team at the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU).

Digital social innovation: An overview and research framework

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Requires Transdisciplinary Innovation at the Local Scale

Additive Manufacturing (AM), often referred to as 3D printing, is a production technology that creates objects layer by layer and applies to a variety of materials. 
 
 AM is expected to have a high impact on the industry as well as on society. The inherent characteristics of AM make it possible to solve not only particular problems but fundamental global challenges as well, which can be examined by reference to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. This is the first paper that examines the connection of AM and the 17 SDGs through a literature review.
 
 In this work, it is outlined which SDGs have a high or moderate potential to be fostered by AM. In each section, one of these SDGs with high or moderate potential will be introduced and corresponding studies relevant to the respective SDG are presented. At the end of each section, the potential of AM to contribute to the achievement of the SDG is evaluated, using the qualitative grades “high” or “moderate”. SDGs with low potential will be subsumed in the last subsection.
 
 It is found that six out of 17 SDGs have high potential to be fostered by AM. These are SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Furthermore, four SDGs have been identified that have moderate potential to be fostered by AM. These are: SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

From 2005 to 2017, the prevalence of mortality in Vietnamese children under five years old showed large regional disparities. In 2017, mortality in the wealthiest region was 12.6‰, whereas the most disadvantaged region it was three times as high, at 36‰. This study aims to identify factors affecting regional disparities of the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in Vietnam. We applied Structural Equation Modelling to estimate the degree and the pathway through which undernutrition and socio-economic status (SES) contributed to the under-five mortality disparities. SES is estimated as a common latent factor of three socio-economic measures, that is, education, poverty and income. The direct effect of SES on U5MR is at 2.16 through the underweight pathway, which is 5 times higher than the effect of underweight on U5MR. Through the stunting channel, this direct impact is 1.43, nearly twice as high as the impact of the stunting rate. SES also has an indirect effect on U5MR through these undernutrition pathways. In total, we estimate that an increase in SES index will make the U5MR increase by 2.73‰. Among the three indicators of SES, poverty conveys the strongest signal of a considerable change in SES, thus to a subsequent change in U5MR. Among two types of undernutrition, the effect of stunting on U5MR is dominant, more than 3 times as high as that of underweight. These findings have important implications for socio-economic and health interventions: those that strongly focus on the reduction of regional poverty and stunting rates would be effective in bridging the regional gap in the U5MR in Vietnam.

The European Commission's Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy, under the European Green Deal, acknowledges that innovative techniques, including biotechnology, may play a role in increasing sustainability. At the same time, organic farming will be promoted, and at least 25% of the EU's agricultural land shall be under organic farming by 2030. How can both biotechnology and organic farming be developed and promoted simultaneously to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? We illustrate that achieving the SDGs benefits from the inclusion of recent innovations in biotechnology in organic farming. This requires a change in the law. Otherwise, the planned increase of organic production in the F2F strategy may result in less sustainable, not more sustainable, food systems.

From MDGs to SDGs: Implications for Maternal Newborn Health in Africa.

Scientific and technological information products and services are one of the important factors that create the scientific and technological information potential of each country. In the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution having a strong impact on all aspects of socio-economic life, the policy of applying information technology to the development of information science and technology products and services needs improving to promote the provision of scientific and technological information products and services to organizations, individuals and businesses. On the basis of systematization and assessment of current regulations on information technology application policies in the development of information science and technology products and services, the study proposes some orientations to improve the current policy.

Introduction The current economic, social and environmental problems faced by society are some of the most emerging concerns of the main governmental institutions. In this sense, Education for Sustainable Development and integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the education system seems to be a key link for its mitigation. Within education, physical education (PE) could provide positive synergy and contribute to achieve the SDGs. However, the relationship between PE and Sustainable Development is still in its nascent stage. Objective Overall, we aim to explore the ways in which the literature has addressed the SDGs and PE. To this end, this scoping review has two objectives. The first is to provide a synthesis of the research to date on PE and the SDGs, presenting the results in terms of the types of literature, methods, samples, provenance of authorship and the main findings. The second is to investigate which specific SDGs and targets have appeared most frequently in research within the field of PE. Method Due to the emergent nature of the topic under examination, we present a scoping review. After identifying the parameters to be analysed, we redefined the topic of study. We applied a number of criteria and selected relevant studies the introduction of the SDGs (2015) until June 2022. We searched Web of Science, SPORTdiscus, Scopus, Google Scholar and PROquest using words such as ‘Sustainable Development’, ‘SDGs’ and ‘PE’. Results and discussion We reviewed 22 papers that met the inclusion criteria. We noted several characteristics in these studies. Most studies published between 2015 and 2022 come from international institutions (Commonwealth, UNESCO, etc.), and critical view articles, which theorise about the potential relation between PE and the SDGs. Beginning in 2021, there has been much more empirical research, mainly in the form of qualitative and quantitative cross-sectional studies. Most of this empirical research has been developed with undergraduate students in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE). Some researchers have used pedagogical models such as service learning and cooperative learning as valid didactic tools to work on the SDGs. On the other hand, the countries that seem to show the greatest interest in research on the SDGs and PE are European, especially Spain and Sweden. Finally, SDGs 3 (Health and Wellbeing), 4 (Quality-Education) and 5 (Gender-Equality) have the greatest relationship with PE, specifically target 4.5 on inclusion and equity, target 5.1 to avoid discrimination based on sex and target 3.6 concerning physical and mental health. Conclusions The relationship between PE and the SDGs is an emerging topic. While papers published within the five years after definition of the SDGs have a strong theoretical character, empirical research has begun to predominate since 2021. The focus of future research should be to deepen the ways in which PE can contribute to the SDGs (pedagogical perspectives, content, objectives …). Researchers should use practice-based models to look for more sustainability-related content and, above all, to try to get students to reflect on how their daily actions can contribute to a more sustainable and durable world.

PurposeMotivated by the dearth of studies examining how and why managers adopt sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly in developing countries struggling with economic, environmental and social problems, this study aims to investigate the rationales and business management approaches for adopting and integrating SDGs in the Sri Lankan corporate context, which is gradually adopting sustainable practices and sustainability reporting.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was adopted to provide deeper insights and an understanding of corporate engagement with SDGs, offering a richer analysis of rationales and business management approaches that quantitative methods may overlook. Top Management attached to the sustainability function of seven companies that had varying levels of SDG-related disclosures were interviewed based on Santos and Silva Bastos’s (2021) theoretical framework for understanding the rationale and the priority management level for SDG adoption.FindingsThe main motivation to adopt SDGs stems from contextual and ethical rationales, with the influence of the United Nations Global Compact serving as a notable contextual factor. The prioritized levels of management focus for integrating SDGs were strategic and operational focuses. SDGs enhance the existing strategic position established by the sustainability efforts of the companies. Even though strategic and operational management focuses were highlighted for integrating SDGs, the elements of sustainability were present across all the management levels (normative, strategic and operational), emphasizing that these focuses should interrelate to effectively integrate SDGs. Further analysis revealed that all three underlying rationales – ethical, contextual and economic – influence managers to integrate SDGs across different management focuses.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first few to contribute to the handful of studies holistically looking at the drivers and management approaches to engaging with SDGs from the perspective of a developing country. Furthermore, it extends the theoretical framework developed by Santos and Silva Bastos (2021) through the findings to show that all underlying rationales impact the integration of SDGs at different management focuses.

Sustainability represents a commonly agreed global development goal. It aims at ensuring the quality of life on Earth for current and future generations. Sustainability should thus become the fundamental overarching concept for the efficient/high-quality design and operation of any product or service throughout its lifecycle—focusing on all three pillars of sustainability—social, environmental, and economic. Among the different socioeconomic sectors, dealing with the impacts that the construction sector has is fundamental, as it strongly contributes to many of the pressing issues that need to be addressed. Not only do we need to improve the economic, environmental, and social performance of our built environment, but we also need to be better prepared for new conditions that are appearing as a cause of global challenges (e.g., climate change). The importance of this approach is all the more clear in light of an increasing number of man-made and natural disasters occurring globally. Thus, current developments and changes in the environment and socioeconomic situation require improvements in the technology of different processes that are involved in construction projects. In this context, concrete is a particularly interesting material, because it has a great potential for new technical solutions meeting new requirements, leading to the necessary reduction of environmental impacts and at the same time improvement of social and economic conditions, including safety and reliability during emergency situations. However, considering the huge volume of global concrete production and the negative impacts closely linked to its production, the overall environmental negative impact associated with the construction of concrete structures on a global scale is considerable. In view of the above global situation, it is of utmost importance to focus on the introduction of new production and construction technologies, advanced design techniques and efficient operation, maintenance, and recycling techniques of concrete structures. Concrete mixes, concrete products, and concrete structures should be designed to meet the requirements of sustainability—namely, to minimize their negative impacts and increase the positive impact on society, the environment, and the economy. This could be achieved by increasing the quality and durability of concrete structures throughout their life cycle, through (i) improvements in design methods, (ii) development of concrete mixtures, composite materials, and reinforcement methods, (iii) modernization of concrete technology, (iv) development of integrated design approaches, and (v) innovation in maintenance, repair, demolition, and recycling processes. This requires the involvement of all actors in the construction process, from material manufacturers, designers, and builders to users, and their conviction and initiative in the need to achieve better results in terms of sustainability requirements. This special theme of Structural Concrete journal: Sustainability of Concrete Structures collects a selection of contributions related to different aspects of sustainability showing potential of concrete structures to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations in 2015 as an action plan until 2030. The content of this special theme volume covers issues related to Life Cycle Assessment of concrete structures, carbon neutrality, use of recycled concrete and other recycled components, optimization of concrete structures, and many other issues bringing the contribution of concrete research and development to SDGs. We trust that the presented selection of articles is of interest to the concrete community focusing on the development of concrete structures toward a sustainable and resilient built environment as a contribution for future generations. Petr HajekDepartment of Architectural Engineering,Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic; Member of fib COM7, Convener of fib TG7.1: Sustainable Concrete—general framework; Member of fib COM10, TG10.1: Model Code 2020; Member of TG6.3:Sustainability of structures with precast elements and TG1.5:Structural sustainability. Albert de la Fuente AntequeraAssociate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. Nikola TošićUniversitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTECH (UPC), Barcelona, Spain. Irene JosaDepartment of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London (UCL), London, UK. Petr Hajek, Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic; Member of fib COM7, Convener of fib TG7.1: Sustainable Concrete—general framework; Member of fib COM10, TG10.1: Model Code 2020; Member of TG6.3: Sustainability of structures with precast elements and TG1.5: Structural sustainability. Albert de la Fuente Antequera, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Jordi Girona 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. Nikola Tošić, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTECH (UPC), Jordi Girona 1–3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. Irene Josa, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London (UCL), London, UK.

Today great attention is paid to development of advanced technologies for production of ecologically safe, nonpolluting and biodegradable products, including without limitation cosmetic-hygiene detergents and household products. One of the main ingredients in formulation of such products is surfactants. For the purpose of widening of the assortment of such products it is essential to create new types of biodegradable surfactants derived from renewable, as a rule, plant raw materials. The object of this paper is development of technology for production of non-ionic surfactant, alkyl polyglycoside (APG), with improved characteristics on the basis of the alternative plant raw material, sunflower husks, being the waste by-product of sunflower processing, which is the most commonly available raw material in our country. The output of sunflower processing aiming at sunflower oil production is growing year by year and takes the leading place in the oil-and-fat industry, therefore processing of the waste product in the form of husks is of particular interest now. In the course of work the existing technologies of APG production were studied and their shortcomings were identified. According to such technologies alkyl polyglycoside is produced by combining glucose or aqueous syrupy solution of glucose with C10- C16 alcohol. As the sources of starch, from which glucose is produced further, there are used rice, corn, potatoes or wheat. Such products represent no wastes and have rather high production cost. Fatty alcohols are produced from imported palm or coconut oil. The new technology suggested by us is based on usage of the available and cheap raw materials. Glucose syrup is made with the help of the method of hydrolysis of sunflower husks cellulose, and fatty acids are derived from the sunflower processing cycle at the stage of alkali refining of sunflower oil, comprising C16-C18 atoms. Analysis of organoleptic, physical-and-chemical characteristics and evaluation of consumer properties of the resulting alkyl polyglycoside were performed. It was established that according to the suggested method it is possible to produce a non-ionic surfactant with improved detergent (CCM) and foaming power (foam height, foam stability), and also having soft dermatological action. The alkyl polyglycoside, created and produced with the help of our technology, can be used as an alternate substitute of expensive foreign non-ionic surfactants, can be helpful for extension of the assortment of biodegradable foam detergents, nonpolluting and safe for the environment.

The current research deals with the topic (family solidarity and sustainability), a case study of the UAE, as one of the axes of social development, important in facing social and economic problems facing families, thus directly affecting the factors of sustainability of family stability. The research aims to reveal the most prominent procedures, policies, and initiatives undertaken by the UAE in supporting families, and to identify its role in supporting family solidarity in its relationship to sustainability and sustainable development in international standards, especially related to the achievement of economic and social sufficiency of the families, and to confirm its role in supporting the cohesion of families, and the sustainability of their stability. The research was based on the descriptive-analytical method. To fit it with the nature of the subject studied, and relied on collecting information and analysing its content, reviewing the content of data, policy documents, and procedures that the UAE has implemented in the field of family care, and its approach to the concept of family solidarity, sustainability, and sustainable development goals, according to the Global Agenda 2030AD, in addition to a number of relevant statistical indicators. The research shows that the UAE has undertaken many initiatives and measures, and launched a number of policies that work to support family cohesion and enhance elements of solidarity among its members. It showed the integration of these procedures and policies with other dimensions of development, economy, and environment, and their compatibility with the sustainable development goals known as the “2030 Agenda”, the research revealed the existence of gaps that reduce family solidarity and negatively affect family cohesion, such as high divorce rates, and late age of marriage for women, and recommended a number of measures to avoid these gaps, which reflects positively on development, thus ensuring its sustainability.

This study presents a multidimensional analysis of socioeconomic disparities across European regions between 2019 and 2023, focusing on key Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators related to poverty (SDG 1), quality education (SDG 4), gender equality in employment (SDG 5), and decent work and economic growth (SDG 8). Using a dataset at the NUTS-2 regional level, the research adopts a three-dimensional analytical framework to examine how these regions vary across multiple variables over different periods. The study’s core methodology is the Tucker 3 Clustering model, specifically designed to manage complex multidimensional datasets. An in-depth analysis of the T3Clus clusters highlights shared features and regional differences, emphasizing the key drivers of socioeconomic inequalities. The study contributes to policy discussions by shedding light on the interconnectedness of poverty, education, and employment conditions across Europe. It provides valuable insights into how socioeconomic conditions have evolved, identifying 2020 as a turning point year, and pinpoints areas in need of intervention to support more equitable development across Europe. In fact, the analysis reveals significant regional disparities in socioeconomic conditions across European NUTS-2 regions, with Southern Italy, Greece, and parts of Eastern Europe exhibiting the highest levels of poverty and employment challenges, while regions in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Scandinavia demonstrate stronger socioeconomic conditions. In particular, policies promoting labor market integration, gender equality, and educational access are essential to support vulnerable NUTS-2 regions, while high-performing NUTS-2 regions can serve as benchmarks for best practices.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contribute to unite cities, organizations, local governments, and people networks, sharing transformation policies and challenges for the future of the planet. At present, cultural heritage is widely recognised as a fundamental pillar in the achievement of the SDGs in the coming years. Focused on people and their work to place culture, education, heritage, art and social development as a focal point, a project has been developed by the hand of the Jaume I University (Castellón). "17 objectives and a map” is a project based on the 17 SDGs, wich emphasizes the importance of traditional crafts, construction techniques and the heritage conservation to achieve the global goals. The history of construction shows that vernacular architecture have always been creative in adapting and optimizing buildings using the local resources available to fulfill people’s needs in the best way. In this process -in a natural and sustainable way- climatic, economic, social and cultural factors have been taken into account. During the first phase of the proyect (years 2020 and 2021) workshops where heritage communities exchanged experiences and good practices improving mutual learning, were developed in a playful and fluid way, identifying and extracting SDG messages from different projects. With the help of specific designed toolkits, heritage communities became aware of the importance of sustainable actions to transform the heritage future. After several months of workshop, the results of this first phase served the participants to review their projects from an SDG perspective and to restructure some points of them in favor of a more sustainable future. Also, the results constituted an excellent starting point to work, in a pioneering way, in the field of the SDGs from a heritage perspective.