Concept Of Environmental Sustainability Research Articles

Barriers to implementation of blockchain into supply chain management using an integrated multi-criteria decision-making method: a numerical example

Information and product visibilities have been crucial in today’s supply chain processes, as economic, environmental and social sustainability concepts, which have been frequently focused on in recent years, prioritize the transparency of business processes. Blockchain technology, with continuously expanding application areas, has been revealed to be applicable in supply chain processes. On the other hand, integration of blockchain technology into supply chain processes will not be as smooth as estimated, since some challenges and constraints have already been identified. Therefore, companies aiming to integrate blockchain into supply chain processes should qualify and investigate each of these challenges. In the literature, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no study addressing the issues arising during the integration process. Moreover, most studies related to blockchain technology have merely examined the positive aspects. This study, on the contrary, discusses the technologic, financial, organizational and environmental challenges that are confronted on a sectoral basis during the integration process. The fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS methods, which are used in uncertainties and are capable of simultaneous multi-criteria evaluation, were employed. Furthermore, it is intended to produce a study that is of benefit to industrial actors by analyzing the findings related to the challenges merging during technological transformation. The outputs of this study are as follows: (i) High investment costs, data security and utility are important; (ii) integration is harder for the health and logistic sectors; (iii) the supply chains, which are less complicated, will be able to coordinate faster than the blockchain technology does. Consequently, the obtained results are evaluated, and strategic outputs are shared for the decision-makers aiming to integrate blockchain technology into the supply chain processes.

Sustainability: Nutrition and Dietetic Students’ Perceptions

Opportunities exist for nutrition and dietetic (N&D) professionals to contribute to sustainable development and support actions towards the attainment of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SGD’s). Students undertaking higher education are well-placed to develop skills and capabilities in creative and critical problem solving for sustainability. However, there is limited literature exploring nutrition and dietetic students’ perceptions of sustainability that would help to inform an effective and constructively aligned embedding of sustainability content and active learning opportunities into curriculum. This descriptive cohort study design utilised a 17-question online survey to explore 95 Australian N&D undergraduate students’ self-reported familiarity with and perceived importance of sustainability and related concepts, and view of sustainability for future practice. Participants reported being more familiar with the term environmental sustainability and related concepts than economic or social sustainability. Varying levels of familiarity of 42 sustainability related concepts within economic resilience, environmental integrity, social development and cross-cutting issues were reported. Most participants (82%, n = 78) reported sustainability was very important in general (82%, n = 78), and for professional practice (63%, n = 60). Over half of the participants identified government led initiatives to address the future of society (65%, n = 71). Our study highlights the complexity of sustainability in a discipline specific context and the need for understanding students’ perceptions of sustainability to inform N&D curriculum design.

Development of Photocatalytic Coatings by Thermal Hydrolysis of TiCl4 on Ceramic Roofing Tiles Made from Ferroalumina and Evaluation of De-Pollution Properties.

The development of new, environmental friendly building materials with photocatalytic properties remain still on the top of the investigations both for academy and industry. The main drive is the increasing air pollution and the greenhouse gas emissions that have negative effect on public health and buildings. Ceramic roofing tiles functionalized with TiO2 can contribute on tackling these severe environmental problems by improving their properties. In this study, heavy clay ceramics manufactured from clay-body mixture and a Bayer process bauxite residue (ferroalumina) are used as substrates for the deposition of TiO2 coatings in order to produce self-cleaning ceramic surfaces. The process is based on the thermal hydrolysis of TiCl4 which takes place in a CVD reactor under atmospheric conditions. All coated samples were annealed at 600 °C and characterized in means of XRD, SEM/EDS and degradation ability of an organic pollutant. The formation of titania mixed phases (rutile and perovskite) shows positive results regarding the photocatalytic activity of the samples. The ones containing ferroalumina decomposed 100% the indigo carmine solution after 4 h, in comparison with the reference one which presented lower efficiency. Finally, this paper addresses technical feasible solutions for the production of photocatalytic active ceramics within the concept of circular economy and environmental sustainability.

Towards Developing Sustainable Smart Cities in India

The present paper provides a comprehensive review of frameworks for Sustainable and Smart Cities. The key findings highlight the large gap between the concept of Smart Cities and Environmental Sustainability. We recommend to improve the sustainability quotient by incorporating the use of Information and Communication Technology, thus developing Sustainable Smart Cities. In India, the stipulated guidelines regarding Smart Cities have been proposed by Ministry of Urban Development (MOUD) and 14 environmental indicators have been proposed. The extensive review of literature and the present guidelines demands an urgent need of framework for Sustainable Smart Cities in India. Moreover, the indicators selected must fulfill the criteria for smartness and sustainability. The paper concludes by suggesting a framework comprising of four steps: Indicator selection, Benchmarking, Assigning weights and development of Sustainable Smart Cities Environmental Index by the use of selected indicators. The framework developed in this order ensures the Sustainable Smart Cities appear attainable in India.

Lactic Acid Fermentation to Re-cycle Apple By-Products for Wheat Bread Fortification.

Apple by-products (ABP) underwent fermentation (48 h at 30°C, Fermented-ABP) with a selected binary culture of Weissella cibaria PEP23F and Saccharomyces cerevisiae AN6Y19. Compared to Raw-ABP and Chemically Acidified-ABP (CA-ABP), fermentation markedly increased the hydration properties of ABP. Fermentation led to the highest increases of total and insoluble dietary fibers (DF). Raw-, CA- and Fermented-ABP, at 5 and 10% (w w–1 of flour), were the ingredients for making fortified wheat breads. Addition of ABP and mainly fermentation enhanced dough water absorption and stability, and markedly increased the content of DF. Fortification mainly with 5% of Fermented-ABP did not interfere with bread rheology and color. As shown by profiling volatile compounds, Fermented-ABP imparted agreeable and specific sensory attributes, also appreciated by sensory analysis, and decreased bread hydrolysis index, and delayed mold contamination and firming. Fermented-ABP were suitable ingredients to fortify wheat bread formula, which agreed with bio-economy and environmental sustainability concepts.

Implementation of Green Design Strategies by Architects in Southwest Nigeria

In proposing new structures and renovating existing ones around the globe, environmental impact is becoming a major consideration. Among architecture professionals and other stakeholders in the building industry in Nigeria and globally, it is also becoming a major discussion topic. This has therefore brought about a need for a compromise between quality buildings and environmental responsibility. One important way of achieving this compromise is the use of green design strategies which seek to reduce the negative impacts buildings have on the natural environment and the health of the building occupants, while also being economically responsible. This study aims to investigate the level of implementation of green design strategies by practising professional architects in southwest Nigeria, identifying areas for further improvement. The methodology employed centres around the pragmatic research philosophy that uses a mixed method research approach to gather and analyze data. Data collection was carried out by textual analysis of relevant literature and the use of structured questionnaires to collect data from 60 respondents made up of practising professional architects in southwest Nigeria. Qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis, while the quantitative data was put through inferential statistical analysis. The result is presented using a descriptive approach. The study identified various green design strategies for achieving environmental sustainability in the study area. The study also found that a high level of awareness of environmental sustainability concepts exists among practising architects in the study area and provided appropriate recommendations for encouraging the implementation of green design strategies in Nigeria.

Hybrid biomimetic design for sustainable development through multiple perspectives

In the bio-technological era the boundary between the biological world and synthetic world is increasingly fading, as well as, the limit between different disciplines in the perspective of multidisciplinary and anti-disciplinary. Conversely, the overcoming of barriers is not to be considered as a symptom of homogenization or loss of complexity, but rather, as a paradigm, in which new forms of connection and intersection between design and science are created. In this vision, hybrid products can be generated in which nature and artifice co-exist: a change of paradigm that deeply revises the concept of environmental sustainability. This paper aims to illustrate activities, methods and results of the Hybrid Design Lab-(HDL)- Department of the Campania University "Luigi Vanvitelli"- specifically dedicated to different forms of collaboration and intersection between design and bio-sciences, specifically aimed to environmental sustainability.

Sustentabilidade ambiental e a escassez da água potável

O seleto trabalho tem como alvo explanar sobre o conceito de sustentabilidade ambiental, o momento histórico em que o termo foi inserido e ligado ao meio ambiente, as dimensões que formam a base da sustentabilidade e a questão da escassez da água potável, ou seja, como são aplicadas as políticas públicas e o papel do homem como protetor e fiscalizador em prol da minoração à destruição do meio ambiente.

The Concept of Environmental Sustainability in the Eight Trigrams and Sixty-four Hexagrams

Environmental sustainability has been widely concerned by most countries in the world and has become an increasingly important world problem. This paper used hermeneutics as its research method and took the concept of environmental sustainability contained in Eight Trigrams and Sixty-four Hexagrams as its research object. The research would be carried out from four aspects: (1) the concept of “the Innate theory is the theory of mind,” (2) Sixty-four Hexagrams, (3) Eight Trigrams and (4) environmental sustainability.

Green Supply Chain Management in the Construction Industry: A literature review

The Construction Industry is considered one of the biggest waste generators in the world, and to tackle this problem, the concept of environmental sustainability in the construction sector can act in different areas, as waste reduction, carbon emissions reduction, better selection of materials and others. These areas involve several stakeholders during a life cycle of a project, therefore the implementation of a Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) can help the sustainability aspect of constructions. The concept of GSCM has been already implemented with success in other industries, however the construction industry has its particularities that demands a specific methodology of implementation of these concepts, taking in consideration the differences between the sectors. To address this issue, a systematic literature review was conducted to find how the concept of GSCM can be implemented in the construction industry. This review covered 26 peer reviewed or proceeding papers in the last 10 years about the use of GSCM practices in the construction sector. The results were divided into four distinct areas of research: supply chain relationships, market competitiveness, life cycle and waste management. The biggest findings from this research is that to obtain better sustainable results, these practices must be implemented in the full life cycle of the construction, mainly on the design phase, when the selection of materials happen. Also, most studies found that government incentives are needed to make it more viable for companies to implement GSCM into their operations.

Improving perception and acceptability of aquaculture through hands-on experimental activities for schools

Improving perception and acceptability of aquaculture through hands-on experimental activities for schools

Finite earth, infinite ambitions: Social futuring and sustainability as seen by a social scientist

In a historical sense, humanity has accomplished its mission: it has populated Earth and has used its riches and resources to its own benefit. However, from an environmental perspective, Earth has a limited amount of resources, placing restrictions on these high expectations. Accordingly, humanity clearly needs to identify new ways of living, and make efforts to develop new goals. In light of this situation, it is worth exploring what the connection is between the more or less well-known concept of environmental sustainability and that of social futuring. Is there any overlap between the two concepts, and how can one evolve from the other? Can we identify any local-level (dis)similarities regarding these two in practice? The significant potential inherent in human beings – the unfolding of which is evident on a historical scale – can make interpretation of this issue easier. In this context, it is worth identifying the cornerstones of social futuring so as not to impair human ambition by blaming it for using up the Earth’s limited resources and causing natural disasters. The goal is to give humanity new direction and impetus, while retaining the intensity of earlier ambitions.

Absolute Sustainability‐Based Life Cycle Assessment (ASLCA): A Benchmarking Approach to Operate Agri‐food Systems within the 2°C Global Carbon Budget

SummaryGiven the increasing environmental impacts associated with global agri‐food systems, operating and developing these systems within the so‐called absolute environmental boundaries has become crucial, and hence the absolute environmental sustainability concept is particularly relevant. This study introduces an approach called absolute sustainability‐based life cycle assessment (ASLCA) that informs the climate impacts of an agri‐food system (on any economic level) in absolute terms. First, a global carbon budget was calculated that is sufficient to limit global warming to below 2°C. Next, a share of the carbon budget available to the global agri‐food sector was estimated, and then it was shared between agri‐food systems on multiple economic levels using four alternative methods. Third, the climate impacts of those systems were calculated using life cycle assessment methodology and were benchmarked against those carbon budget shares. This approach was used to assess a number of New Zealand agri‐food systems (agri‐food sector, horticulture industries and products) to investigate how these systems operated relative to their carbon budget shares. The results showed that, in 2013, the New Zealand agri‐food systems were within their carbon budget shares for one of the four methods, and illustrated the scale of change required for agri‐food systems to perform within their carbon budget shares. This method can potentially be extended to consider other environmental impacts with global boundaries; however, further development of the ASLCA is necessary to account for other environmental impacts whose boundaries are only meaningful when defined at a regional or local level.

Helping the Planet with Healthy Eating Habits

Abstract A growing number of people are paying more attention to the concept of environmental sustainability, implementing sustainable eating practices to minimize the waste of resources, and the production of waste products related to the food production process. The careful application of sustainable eating practices makes it possible to help the environment, public health, and society by increasing the availability of food and farmland to feed every inhabitant on Earth. Individuals impact the environment through their eating because of three factors: food, energy used in the home, and transport. The most powerful of these factors is food. Animal food production involves a greater use of resources (raw materials, land, water, energy) and produces more pollutants (chemical residues from agriculture, greenhouse gases, manure) than plant-based food. Thus, a lifestyle based on eating plant foods is not only beneficial for the environment, but also protective of a consumer’s health. Alternative practices, such as using renewable energy sources or alternative fuels, however desirable they may be in combination with limiting the consumption of animal foods, are more difficult to implement across society. To change one’s eating habits is, on the other hand, a simple, fast, and inexpensive approach.

Eco-design: the methodological approach in designing.

A system of concepts and definitions was generalized, the basic principles of creating eco- objects are defined and formulated in the article. A model of the system representation of the eco-object is proposed to determine the concepts of environmental sustainability and structure ecologization. The concept of ecologization of the life cycle of the object is formulated, the appropriative scheme is proposed. The concept of ecologization of the object's functioning is presented. As a result of the structural analysis of the concept, three concepts of the functioning of the eco-object during the exploitation were formulated and highlighted. The factors that directly or indirectly influence decision-making in the process of shaping were systematized, formulated, presented in the schematic form. As a result of the dissertation research on the basis of analysis of examples from the design practice, systematization of data, development of the typology of objects of eco-architecture in terms of geometric schemes, constructive solutions and their interrelations, elaboration of a proposal for a new method of rational, multivariate use of ecological principles in the objects of different structure and purpose, the algorithm of modeling objects of eco-design as the basis of the decision-making system was developed.

Integrating environmental sustainability in undergraduate mechanical engineering courses using guided discovery instruction

In this paper we discuss a guided discovery instruction approach for integrating environmental sustainability in undergraduate mechanical engineering courses. To validate the proposed approach, we conducted two studies with students in a computer-aided design and prototyping course. The first study verified the feasibility of incorporating guided discovery instruction for teaching environmental sustainability using a structural shape synthesis design task. The second study compared the influences of the guided discovery instruction approach and traditional lecture-based instruction on students' understanding of environmental sustainability concepts. Results show the guided discovery instruction approach facilitated a better understanding of interactions among design parameters and the resulting environmental impact. We also found that students in the guided discovery instruction group gave more prominence to modifying design parameters specific to mechanical engineering concepts taught in the course. These findings suggest that using guided discovery instruction to teach environmental sustainability in undergraduate mechanical engineering courses is beneficial for promoting students' understanding of complex relationships between domain-specific design parameters and environmental sustainability.

Greening is not a priority for human resource: Insights from human resource practitioners

Orientation: In the 21st century, human resource (HR) practitioners are expected to be agile, transformative and environmentally conscious. HR operations are required to be aligned with the current environmental trends to ensure business sustainability and profitability.Research purpose: The aim of this study is to determine whether the implementation of green human resource management (HRM) practices in organisations is a priority or not, and also to investigate the perceptions of HR practitioners on the implementation of green HRM in organisations.Motivation for the study: Although green HRM studies have been conducted on various continents, there is a paucity of information on green HRM on the African continent. The researcher was motivated to investigate the status of green HRM in the African context considering socio-economic development challenges and other pressing priorities that developing African countries and organisations are facing.Research design, approach and method: Qualitative research method was employed in the study. Twenty human resource managers and senior practitioners from higher education institutions formed the population interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data collected.Main findings: Results revealed that the majority of HR practitioners have a perception that greening activities should not be in a list of priorities for the HR division. The results also revealed that HR practitioners are not experts on greening issues and that there were no green HR policies in the institutions surveyed. As a result, the HR division plays little to no role in greening initiatives within the institutions.Practical/managerial implications: Information from the study can be used to advise managers and HR policymakers on the importance of infusing an environmental sustainability concept in HR policies, and also on how green HRM can be implemented effectively within organisations.Contribution/value-add: This study extends green HRM discourse by investigating the importance of green HRM implementation in an African institution.

Integrated Approach on Energy Management, Treatment and Reuse of Industrial Wastewater for Sustainable Agricultural Development – A Green Food Security Concept

Water is a critical component in the functioning of the earth and of all living forms of life. Raising human population and industrialization have increased tremendous pressures on global freshwater resources and resulting in water scarcity and misuse of fresh water pose serious threats to sustainable economic development, food security and protection of the environment in combination with the climate change. At the same time, it releases a large volume of wastewater into the environment and causes ecosystem damages. In the concept of environmental and economic sustainability, a proper wastewater management and water reuse system can help to a greater extent in the development of national economy. In this context, as a model trial, a textile industry wastewater containing total dissolved solids of 4000 mg/L was introduced in the reactor system, after the equilibrium time of 3hrs; the concentration of TDS in outlet water was 420mg/L. The color of the textile industrial wastewater was reduced to 97.5% with optimum biocarbon dose of 2.5g/100mL. In addition, a pilot scale farming practice was carried out in 12 x 12 sq.ft field for the growth of Fodder grass, Sataria clauca and Sorghum. The productivity results show faster growth of the species and 4.5kg of biomass/sq.ft.

Between rainfall and food poverty: Assessing vulnerability to climate change in an agricultural economy

Abstract The agricultural sector in Nigeria provides a socio-economic resource base for exiting pervasive poverty, and transforming the economy. However, with the challenges posed by climate change through variability in rainfall, the agricultural livelihoods and poverty status of the population could be threatened due to the vulnerability context of the country. This paper explores the relationship between rainfall and food poverty through the assessment of vulnerability to climate change in an agricultural economy by geo-referencing and mapping of rainfall variability and food poverty. It provides a quantification of the scale and location of the area under food poverty and rainfall variability with scenarios that provide alternative sustainable development pathways of desirable outcomes. The coefficients of variation of rainfall or precipitation seasonality were computed from geo-referenced data and topologically overlaid on the most recent food poverty profile for Nigeria. The findings reveal intriguing phenomena bordering on agro-climatic and socio-economic factors of climate change vulnerability. The findings provide a basis for policy formulation and implementation on inequity of food poverty and environmental sustainability. It offers empirical insights on how to rethink concepts of socio-economic and environmental sustainability through landscapes and livelihoods as outcomes of vulnerability contexts. The paper concludes that, there is need for agricultural transformation along vulnerability dimensions. The evidence of the nexus between rainfall and food poverty could be a new model for promoting sustainability of the agrarian economy in Nigeria.

Beyond financial efficiency to support environmental sustainability in economic evaluations

The healthcare sector is one of the largest polluters in the UK, accounting for 25% of total emissions of carbon dioxide of the public sector. Ironically, it is the healthcare sector itself that is primarily affected by any deterioration in the environment affecting individuals' health and their demand for healthcare. Therefore, the healthcare sector is a direct beneficiary of its own steps towards sustainability and is more and more viewed as the one who should lead the change. In this article, we first review the concepts of financial and environmental sustainability. Second, we discuss the existing evidence of sustainable changes within this sector. Third, we propose a simple adaptation of the classic cost-effectiveness analysis to incorporate carbon footprinting to account for these external costs. We illustrate our method using the case of in-centre versus home haemodialysis. We conclude that home dialysis is always a preferable alternative to in-centre treatment based on a cost-effectiveness analysis. Finally, we discuss the limitations of our approach and the future research agenda.