Different Dimensions Of Sustainability Research Articles

Evidence on the multidimensional performance of agroecology in Mali using TAPE

CONTEXTIn 2019, FAO and partners launched the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE), an innovative and comprehensive framework to produce global and harmonized evidence on the multidimensional performance of agroecology and on its potential to contribute to sustainable food systems and the achievement of the SDGs.In 2020, TAPE was used in Mali to assess the status of agroecological transition of local farms and to identify its correlation with farms' quantitative performance across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study is to present the evidence on the multidimensional performance of agroecology produced through the implementation of TAPE in 233 farms in the region of Kayes, in Mali. METHODSThrough a standardized survey filled during farm visits, TAPE provides a characterization of the level of agroecological transition of local farms and an assessment of their performance across the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThe use of TAPE in this study shows that agricultural systems in the region of Kayes are at very different levels of agroecological transition and that more advanced agroecological types of farms have better performances across the different dimensions of sustainability:-produce more and create more wealth from agropastoral activities using less external and industrial inputs;-use less pesticides, have better soil health, have more agricultural biodiversity, and higher presence of natural vegetation and pollinators on farm;-have more empowered youth more prone to continue as farmers and less prone to emigrate, and more family members directly employed in agropastoral production;-enjoy an improved dietary diversity and a higher level of food self-sufficiency. SIGNIFICANCEThere is a growing global interest in agroecology and a growing demand for evidence on its performance across the different dimensions of sustainability and on its potential to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. TAPE has been created with the goal to fill this knowledge gap through the creation of global and harmonized evidence on the multidimensional performance of agroecological systems. The presentation of TAPE's results from Mali is meant to inform all interested stakeholders on the performance of agroecology in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, to support the transition of different types of agricultural systems towards more sustainable production, and to encourage the formulation of adequate programs and policies enabling different processes of transition that take into consideration agroecological practices and principles. Such evidence is particularly needed in Sub-Saharan Africa where agroecology as a science, a practice and a social movement has been less promoted than in other regions.

Past, present, and future of E/HF for sustainability: A perspective from the HFSD Technical Committee.

Sustainability is a highly important theme worldwide and currently is being tackled by almost all disciplines. Indeed, the future of humanity is dependent on the actions taken now and in the immediate future. The Ergonomics and Human Factors (E/HF) community has not been indifferent to this issue, and one of the concrete actions adopted by the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) was the establishment of the "Human Factors for Sustainable Development" (HFSD) Technical Committee. To identify future paths of action, this paper recognizes the trajectory of the HFSD Technical Committee, summarizes the contributions presented at IEA2021, the International Congress on Ergonomics held virtually in Vancouver in 2021, and reflects on key aspects that should be boosted by the Technical Committee. This is a qualitative interpretative study that reflects on the contributions of members of the HFSD community working on E/HF for sustainability. Central topics and opportunities in E/HF and sustainability include complexity of systems, behaviors, and work; energy use and consumption; co-design, interconnectivity, territories, and the relationships with stakeholders. Although the contributions have been growing, there is still a lot of work needed, both theoretically and practically. Themes to be discussed include the concepts of sustainability and work. Considering the centrality of human beings (i.e., decision making for achieving the different dimensions of sustainability), the authors identify a set of values as core principles for leading the discussion.

THE VARIOUS DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY IN RELATION TO VALUE CREATION

This paper aims to understand the relationship between sustainability and value creation by conducting a descriptive and conceptual research from a multidimensional approach, both at microeconomic and macroeconomic level. The research delves into the various characteristics, differences and similarities of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, in relation to value creation. The study also examines the different dimensions of sustainability that have evolved over time, such as weak sustainability, strong sustainability, circular economy, corporate social responsibility, and corporate sustainability, and how they relate to the change of economic theories. The research takes into account the current national and global situation, characterized by socio-economic inequalities, health crises, interstate conflicts, and climate change, and how the transition towards sustainability is becoming increasingly important to ensure the well-being of present and future societies. The research methodology includes analyzing specialized literature, including books, articles, and data provided by the European Commission, various institutions/organizations supported by the United Nations, and other relevant data sources. The research aims to answer the main research question of how microeconomics and macroeconomics can interact to achieve the transition towards sustainability and the subsequent creation of sustainable value. The results of this research based on the interdependence of sustainability-value creation are presented in the content of the work through numerous figures, which, through their own approach, aim to highlight the way to achieve the proposed objectives. In addition, the paper concludes that circular economy, as a component part of sustainable development, perhaps it is the most appropriate to the current trends of ensuring and maintaining the sustainability of economic processes, representing a vector in the creation of sustainable value, respecting and combining its own principles, alongside those of weak sustainability and corporate sustainability.

A Maturity-Based Perspective on Sustainability Implementations

With the increasing number of firms adopting different sustainability practices, the theoretical and practical understanding of sustainability has been changing in depth and scope. This transition has fundamentally changed the way firms make sustainability trade-offs. The extant literature on trade-offs tends to focus on established firms that predominantly indulge in market-oriented decisions where economic priorities drive the deployment of scarce resources to “other” sustainability dimensions. In contrast to a market-oriented understanding, emerging studies on highly committed firms have demonstrated the importance of nonmarket-based factors that bolster the social, environmental, and political standings of firms. Such studies have cast doubts on our current understanding of the trade-off between different dimensions of sustainability. Aiming to inform the sustainability trade-off literature, we carried out a mixed-method study to explicate the rationale and dynamics of trade-offs between sustainability practices.

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES: A THEORETICAL EVALUATION ON A COUNTRY’S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Recent years have seen many challenges associated with sustainable construction practices, which stem mainly from the need to maintain a balance between the different dimensions of sustainability, including economic, social, and environmental. As a result, the paper investigates previous literature on the challenges of implementing sustainable practices in the South African construction industry. The data for this paper came from a systematic literature review, which included references to published theoretical literature. According to literature findings, one of the major challenges in sustainability implementation is capital cost, which is followed by information gathering, a lack of legislative incentives, leadership/management barriers, the challenges of chronic labor shortages, a lack of innovation and adaptability among industry stakeholders, and the industry's overall resistance to change. The study is primarily a literature review on the challenges of implementing sustainable practices as well as contributing innovative strategies to the thinking on sustainability in the South African construction industry. It is recommended that the construction industry be robust, have an attitude shift in finding practical solutions to tackle sustainable construction barriers, and develop standards and training objectives to ensure that the construction processes undertaken by various construction firms result in higher levels of education and environmental awareness.

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES: A THEORETICAL EVALUATION ON A COUNTRY’S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Recent years have seen many challenges associated with sustainable construction practices, which stem mainly from the need to maintain a balance between the different dimensions of sustainability, including economic, social, and environmental. As a result, the paper investigates previous literature on the challenges of implementing sustainable practices in the South African construction industry. The data for this paper came from a systematic literature review, which included references to published theoretical literature. According to literature findings, one of the major challenges in sustainability implementation is capital cost, which is followed by information gathering, a lack of legislative incentives, leadership/management barriers, the challenges of chronic labor shortages, a lack of innovation and adaptability among industry stakeholders, and the industry's overall resistance to change. The study is primarily a literature review on the challenges of implementing sustainable practices as well as contributing innovative strategies to the thinking on sustainability in the South African construction industry. It is recommended that the construction industry be robust, have an attitude shift in finding practical solutions to tackle sustainable construction barriers, and develop standards and training objectives to ensure that the construction processes undertaken by various construction firms result in higher levels of education and environmental awareness.

Can economic development be a driver of food system sustainability? Empirical evidence from a global sustainability index and a multi-country analysis

Despite representing a growing element of the international community’s discourse, the sustainability of food systems and the challenge of its empirical measurement are still highly debated. In this paper, we propose to address this gap by computing a global food system sustainability index which we then use in a cross-country analysis covering 94 countries in low-, middle- and high-income regions. The analysis reveals a strong non-linear but positive correlation between the food system sustainability index and countries’ individual GDP per capita. This relationship suggests some possible degree of endogeneity between food system sustainability and economic development. We then use the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways framework and Individual Conditional Expectations modeling techniques to explore how the sustainability of food systems is projected to evolve in the future as countries move up the economic development ladder. The projections indicate that for lower income countries, the change is usually more significant than for higher income countries. The analysis also reveals that the different dimensions of sustainability will not all contribute equally to future improvements in food system sustainability. In particular, investments targeting social and food security & nutrition dimensions are projected to have a greater effect on the sustainability of food systems than investment/interventions aiming at the environment or economic domains. For countries located at the lower end of the economic development spectrum, this would imply that, even with limited resources, policy-makers could substantially improve the sustainability of countries’ food systems by prioritizing (sub)national policies and interventions focused on social and food security & nutrition domains.

Households' preferences for wood in home heating systems: Does sustainability matter?

This study investigates the preferences of Italian home-owners when choosing to buy wood for home heating systems. The focus is on understanding the influence of different dimensions of sustainability on consumer choices. For this purpose, we designed a survey including a discrete choice experiment and administered it to residents in Italy. Our findings reveal that, on average, respondents pay particular attention to wood cultivation systems. However, forest property regime was considered second in terms of importance after wood price. Further analysis found that our sample presents four clusters of wood consumers. These findings showed considerable heterogeneity among respondents, the majority of whom considered important wood cultivation practices and appreciated forest landscape beauties for their decision. Local origin of wood was considered important by the majority of respondents, even if, surprisingly, a group of interviewees preferred foreign wood. To achieve better results and effectiveness in improving sustainable practices of the domestic heating systems, a combination of policies should be used simultaneously. Our results support the hypothesis that policymakers could achieve better results in terms of sustainability by applying a combined policy that levers the importance citizens accord to the different characteristics of wood in home heating systems.

Sustainable Rural Electrification Project Management: An Analysis of Three Case Studies

Universal access to energy is a global challenge for sustainable development that requires granting last-mile access to energy services to rural and isolated communities. However, achieving access is not sufficient: it must be done affordably, reliably and with an adequate quality. Universal access to energy goes beyond the mere selection of a technical solution or infrastructure; it demands being able to design management models for projects aiming to guarantee that households may access energy services in a sustainable way. This study analyzes the main elements (i.e., governance, technological and business models) of management models in universal access to energy projects and their impact on the different dimensions of sustainability (i.e., social, environmental, and economic). The study then presents three case studies of rural electrification projects having different configurations of the management model, with special focus on the differences in the business model, and it analyzes their outcomes from a sustainability perspective. The analysis of the three case studies suggests that the choice of the business model is key to ensuring sustainability, with fee-for-service models giving the best results. The analysis also highlights the importance of collaboration and involvement of the communities in projects engaging multiple agents with different roles.

Exploring the relationship between sustainability and project success - conceptual model and expected relationships

Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. Companies are integrating sustainability in their marketing, communication and their actions. Sustainability has more recently also been linked to project management. The logic behind this link is that sustainability needs change and projects are realizing change. Several studies explored how the concept of sustainability impact project management. The research project reported in this paper elaborates on these works by studying how sustainability affects project success. Project managers, logically, strive for project success and considering sustainability may influence this success. Based upon a review of relevant literature, the paper develops a conceptual model that provides a more detailed understanding of how considering different dimensions of sustainability may affect the individual criteria of project success. The study also provides a conceptual mapping of the different relationships between dimensions of sustainability and criteria of project success. This mapping shows that the most positive relationships are expected for the relationship between sustainability and the success criteria stakeholder satisfaction, future readiness and controlled project execution. The expected relationship between considering sustainability and completing the project on schedule and within budget is uncertain.

Adaptive Reuse as a Tool for Sustainability: Tate Modern and Bilgi University Cases

Examples of “adaptive reuse” have started to be applied for giving new functions to the structures in the historical environment are commonly used in the world and in Turkey. According to the current planning practice, future applications should be done with consideration of different dimensions of sustainability. The aim of this study is to examine Tate Modern and Bilgi University Campus that used to have similar functions and were inhabited before restoration interventions in the sustainability framework. Both cases were refunctioned with adaptive reuse concept. The structures transformed from energy buildings to serve as art museum and educational/cultural functions. Cases were compared in terms of sustainability principles. Social, economic and ecologic benefits of physical interventions were asked on structures which couldn’t continue their original functions and functioned by adaptive reuse. Results support the positive impacts of adaptive reuse not only for the structures themselves but also for the environments they were located.

Assessing Livelihood Adaptation Indices and the Sustainability of Rice Farmers in Bangladesh's Northwestern Region

Climate change alters the impact of the environment on economies, and sustainable adaptation which may improve food security is embedded in the actualization of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2, 13, and 14. Hence, this study contributes to the debate by measuring how farmers in the Northwestern region of Bangladesh adapt to climate change. A cross-sectional multistage random sampling is used to collect 500 data points by the face-to-face interview method. For robustness, the study demonstrates climate change adaptations, adaptation indices, and the sustainability indicators in social, economic, and environmental concepts using the composite indicator method. Also, Rasch analysis and marginal contribution were used to explain the adaptation indices. Finally, a trivariate Tobit regression is used to examine sustainability analyses of climate change adaptation strategies and explain how the climate change adaptations affect different dimensions of sustainability. The results showed that dominant male households, extended family, skilled farmers and food security influenced adaptation index as well as adaptation strategies like organic manure, changing planting dates, diseases tolerant varieties and irrigation. Though, most dominant strategies like irrigation and applying fertilizer are not sustainable. The study also found that farm size, credit access, and extension contact significantly affects sustainability. Moreover, off-farm activities, crop diversification, and using high-yield varieties are more sustainable adaptation strategies. Policy should be implemented on the basis of region and sustainable manner.

Can Geographical Indications promote sustainable shellfish farming? The example of Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel mussels

This paper investigates the potential of Geographical Indications to enhance the environmental sustainability of bivalve aquaculture, with a focus on the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) granted to the bouchot mussel of the bay of Mont Saint-Michel (BMSM). First, a retrospective analysis of the PDO application process was carried out to provide insight into specific environmental and regulatory issues facing mussel farming in the BMSM (e.g. common resource management). Second, further assessment relied on a comparative analysis with other public labelling strategies developed by mussel farmers, notably emerging organic certification. This involved setting up an ad-hoc analysis grid to evaluate different dimensions of sustainability, namely economic, environmental and governance. The discussion then addresses the potential of PDO to promote sustainable mussel farming with respect to the current trends in food/mussel labelling in the market and to the increasing demand for environmental preservation in marine and coastal areas. It also emphasises the overlap between different EU labelling schemes that questions their consistency and legibility, particularly for bivalve aquaculture. In conclusion, the system of quality linked to origin has provided an appropriate framework for supporting the implementation of sustainable bouchot mussel farming in the BMSM, thanks to the relevance and inclusiveness of the PDO labelling process and institutional support. Next, to strengthen the legitimacy of the PDO to guarantee the environmental sustainability of farming methods and increase protection on the market, more adaptive management of the PDO label is recommended.

Understanding Circular Economy Trade-offs

With the increasing number of firms transitioning towards a circular economy, the theoretical and practical understanding of sustainability has been changing in depth and scope. This transition has fundamentally changed the way firms make sustainability trade-offs. The extant literature on trade-offs tends to focus on established incumbent firms that predominantly indulge in market-oriented decisions where economic priorities drive the deployment of scarce resources to “other” sustainability dimensions. In contrast to a market-oriented understanding, emerging studies on highly committed firms have demonstrated the importance of nonmarket-based factors that bolster the social, environmental, and political standings of firms. Such studies have cast doubts on our current understanding of the trade-off between different dimensions of sustainability. Aiming to inform the sustainability trade-off literature, we carried out a mixed-method study to explicate the rationale and dynamics of sustainability trade-offs.

From sustainable development to social-ecological justice: Addressing taboos and naturalizations in order to shift perspective

While sustainability was introduced as a game-changing idea, it has often been criticized for its vagueness and its over-accommodating bent toward powerful, vested interests, economic growth, and profit seeking—or, on the contrary, for not being able to enter mainstream politics. As a result, in the current political climate, sustainability policies seem to be everywhere, but so does the social and ecological critique of these policies.In this article, we articulate the seeds of an emerging cross-sectoral shift away from sustainability and toward social-ecological justice. Coming from a multidisciplinary background, we explore commonalities in the shortcomings of sustainability agendas and identify discursive barriers to change across three critical fields: transport, energy, and urban greening. Within each of these fields, we observe an upswing of scholarly work addressing the pitfalls and trade-offs of sustainability, but we also show how taboos and naturalizations embedded in these fields hinder adequately questioning the economy’s role in sustainability thinking and action.To develop our argument that there is an emerging cross-sectoral push away from sustainability agendas and toward social-ecological justice goals, we briefly examine the current state of the wider sustainability discourse together with its critique from a social and ecological justice angle. We then review relevant academic work across the applied fields of transport, energy, and urban greening, focusing on the normative and analytical aspects dealt with, and how they address and conceptualize tensions between the different dimensions of sustainability. In the concluding section, we highlight how a focus on sectoral and local tensions between ecological, economic, and social policy goals uncovers the ways in which injustices or environmental degradation are continually reproduced, despite the sustainability framework. We conclude with suggestions for thinking and acting under the umbrella of social-ecological justice.

Reducing Food Waste in the Retail Supply Chains by Improving Efficiency of Logistics Operations

One of the basic problems of sustainability in modern society is the reduction of waste, particularly when it comes to food. Food waste has negative impacts on different dimensions of sustainability: social (hunger), economic (resource costs), and environmental (resource consumption and waste generation). This paper focuses on waste reduction through improving the inventory management system in the dairy distribution chain by the application of modern information and communication technologies (ICT). The approach is tested and verified in a case study by application of simulation modelling. Two inventory management models are created, and their impact on waste in the distribution part of the supply chain is examined. Model 1 represents the current dairy inventory management system in the supply of retail stores. Model 2 is based on a higher level of information connectivity between participants (RFID product labelling and the appropriate level of information technology), enabling automatic product ordering and changes in inventory management policy. The obtained results confirm that coordinated inventory management, supported by the application of modern ICT, can significantly contribute to the improvement of the sustainability of the food supply chain, and provide an exact quantification of the given contribution in the case of the dairy industry.

Fostering Cultural Sustainability in Early Childhood Education through a Neighbourhood Project

Culture is the life blood of a society, which influences people’s worldviews, values, and behaviours. Research has confirmed that children’s participation in culture helps develop thinking skills, builds self-esteem, and improves resilience. This paper aims to explore how a purposely designed project can foster cultural sustainability through a case study of a neighbourhood project conducted in Chinese and Norwegian kindergartens. A qualitative research methodology is utilised. Major data sources are an overall project plan prepared by one of the Norwegian university researchers, project descriptions and PowerPoint presentations from the kindergartens, as well as workshop notes taken by one researcher during the workshop, complemented and triangulated by the follow-up reflective narratives from three kindergartens. Qualitative content analysis and comparative analysis are used to analyse the collected data. Findings have indicated that kindergartens hold similar views on culture and cultural stainability. Though the actual activities are diverse and implemented in different ways, the goal of fostering cultural sustainability is achieved in all participating kindergartens. Children not only have gained knowledge of their neighbourhood and problem solving and social skills but also have developed sense of belonging and emotional link with their local culture through the active participation. More importantly, this study has indicated that purposely designed projects/activities can promote early childhood education for sustainability and quality of early childhood education. It is thus recommended cultivating student teachers’ and kindergarten teachers’ competence to design projects/activities integrating different dimensions of sustainability in early childhood teacher education

The different dimensions of sustainability and bank performance: Evidence from the EU and the USA

This paper looks at four different dimensions of sustainability and examines their effects on bank performance in the United States of America and the European Union. Content analysis is applied to a sample of 483 reports to construct a consistent index that reflects the multi-dimensionality of sustainability. Using structural equation modelling path analysis to test the sustainability model, the results reveal a significant positive relationship between the internal social dimensions of sustainability and bank performance while no evidence was found for the relationship between the environmental dimensions of sustainability and bank performance.

A Comparative Study of European Sustainable Finance Labels

This comparative study offers a detailed overview of nine major SRI labels in Europe and compares them on a relative basis along different dimensions of sustainability. The six dimensions that we selected for our comparative study are: (i) eligibility criteria of the SRI label, (ii) structure and composition of the SRI label, (iii) transparency of the SRI label, (iv) governance of the SRI label, (v) stringency of the SRI label, and (vi) impact of the SRI label. The study covers the following sustainability labels: three Green Labels (the French Greenfin label, the Luxflag Climate Finance label, and the future EU Eco-label) and six ESG-focused Labels (the Austrian Umweltzeichen label, the Belgian Towards Sustainability label, the French ISR label, the German-speaking FNG label, the Luxflag ESG label and the Nordic Swan label). The study identifies the leading SRI labels per dimension.

Designing a comprehensive gamification model and pertinence in organisational context to achieve sustainability

The present study outlines the power of gamification to help reduce the attitudinal and engagement-related threats in a given non-game environment. Through this research paper, we proposed an extensive model of gamification, proposed on a series of theoretical models (ELM Model, Fogg Behaviour Model, ABC Model of Attitude, Octalysis Framework and MDE Framework) to be implied in organisations. Enabling participants to eliminate disengagement. Secondly, we have explored the “Intent”, “Mechanism”, and “Outcome” of organizations that have extensively applied gamification for restructuring various functional activities. Further, through this scholarly work, we have brought forward a novel concept of how gamification may help organisations achieve different dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental).