Framework For Social Sustainability Research Articles

Revisiting the conceptualization of social sustainability from a health promotion perspective: a scoping review.

Both social sustainability and health promotion emphasize the development of local communities that satisfy human needs and enhance health and well-being. This scoping review aimed to identify frameworks, components, and operationalizations of social sustainability described in peer-reviewed articles and systematize the results from a health promotion perspective. Six databases were searched for relevant articles following the JBI methodology and PRISMA guidelines. Articles were included if they provided a unique framework for social sustainability, that is, a conceptual model outlining the essential components of this concept. Information concerning the components of social sustainability and their operationalizations was analyzed through a six-step narrative synthesis. The final step involved categorizing the operationalizations of social sustainability into distinct levels by employing a socio-ecological model as an analytical tool. This review identified 22 articles presenting a social sustainability framework. The frameworks covered 11 components, of which social equity, safety, and neighborhood quality were the most frequent, while only five included health and well-being. The frameworks commonly provided practical interpretations of the concept with limited theoretical considerations. Furthermore, the identified operationalizations revealed a diverse understanding of social sustainability, encompassing all levels of the socio-ecological model applied. Health promotion research can offer theoretical and empirical insights that enhance the understanding of social sustainability, especially how societal, physical, and social determinants of health and well-being interact to create socially sustainable places. Likewise, the social sustainability literature may provide valuable knowledge underscoring the importance of contextual factors of health and well-being within the field of health promotion.

COVID-19 and social sustainability: the case of Mauritius

ABSTRACT Social sustainability, alongside environmental and economic sustainability, is one of the three key dimensions of sustainability. Unlike environmental and economic sustainability, social sustainability is often missing from research and practice related to sustainability efforts and policies. Using in-depth qualitative interviews and official document review this article studies the COVID-19 pandemic response of the small island developing state, Mauritius. Using the Opp, Susan M. [2017. “The forgotten pillar: a definition for the measurement of social sustainability in American cities.” Local Environment 22 (3): 286–305] framework for social sustainability, this research finds that Mauritius had both successes and failures in maintaining and promoting social sustainability on the island nation and are at a crossroads with respect to the future of social sustainability on the island. Although the island nation holds an impressive record in engaging in social sustainability efforts, longstanding inequalities were exacerbated during the pandemic and the changed economic outlook may jeopardize the small island's momentum towards their 2030 sustainability goals.

A review of the relationships between safety risk factors, practical solutions, and sustainable construction

Sustainability encompasses environmental, economic, and social dimensions, with safety standing as a crucial facet within the construction industry's social sustainability framework. This study addresses this vital concern by comprehensively analyzing published research on prominent safety risk factors and effective mitigation measures in construction projects, considering their influence on the industry's sustainability. A systematic literature review spanning 2008 to 2023 examined 32 pertinent articles from reputable journals. The review revealed 25 identified safety risk factors and 20 corresponding effective measures. These were categorised into labour, environmental, technical, and financial risks, forming the basis for a network diagram illustrating their interrelationships and associated mitigation strategies. Moreover, the study introduced a sustainability criterion, evaluating the various safety risk factor categories, and highlighting labour and environmental risks as the most significant concerns among the factors assessed. Finally, the research proposes future research directions aimed at elevating safety and sustainability within construction projects.

Towards a socially sustainable built environment: a comparative assessment of urban neighbourhoods in Istanbul

PurposeIntegrating and advancing social sustainability is foundational to achieving the urban sustainable development goals. Given the rapid transformation of cities in the Mediterranean region, this study sought to assess residents' evaluation of social sustainability in two socio-spatially diverse neighbourhoods of metropolitan Istanbul.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey, adapted from an empirically well-tested and robust social sustainability framework, was used to collect data from 197 residents from Balat and Rasimpasa neighbourhoods in Metropolitan Istanbul. The study then employed quantitative analytical techniques such as independent sample t-tests and Pearson correlation to analyse the sample data.FindingsIn both neighbourhoods, accessibility and participation were ranked the highest and lowest dimensions of social sustainability, respectively. However, the t-test analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the two neighbourhoods regarding social networking and interaction, safety and security and participation. The differences align with emerging studies on urban social sustainability in the Mediterranean and European cities that when considered from urban spatial contexts, significant differences emerge from a social network and safety perspective.Practical implicationsOur study invites urban planners and policy makers attention to and emphasise on lowly evaluated social sustainability dimensions such as participation in their efforts to promote sustainable urban development at the neighbourhood level. We reason that opening the decision-making process to include diverse voices and experiences of residents through participatory workshops might offer opportunities for context-specific, citizen-led urban planning and design strategies that are socially sustainable.Originality/valuePrevious studies have not fully accounted for how various socio-spatial contexts at the neighbourhood level shape differential evaluation of social sustainability. This paper extends the emerging work on urban social sustainability by situating residents’ evaluation of social sustainability indicators across two unique neighbourhoods with gridded and organic spatial characteristics in Istanbul. This paper is an important addition to ongoing work on how spatial organisation of neighbourhoods can influence experiences of social sustainability from an urban planning and design perspective.

Sustainable Institutions: How to Secure Values

AbstractSocial sustainability plays a prominent role in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, but a proper analysis of the concept is still lacking. According to a widespread conception, a system is sustainable when it is preserved or developed in a robust manner. I argue, however, that social sustainability is best understood in explicitly normative terms. Formulating suitable development goals requires a conception of the kind of society that is worth sustaining. I propose that, for a system to be socially sustainable is for it to secure a range of values, including justice. Furthermore, I argue that social sustainability is first and foremost a property of institutions. I go on to ask what it takes for an institution to secure values and why justice is so important for institutions. The answers culminate in a social sustainability framework, which explains why making institutions more sustainable is so challenging.

Public inertia towards the new toponymic landscapes in Vinnytsia, Ukraine

The paper focuses on the practices of everyday use of street names after the massive toponymic cleansing under the frameworks of decommunisation and de-Russification in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. Employing a mixed method approach, which includes a social experiment with the passersby on the streets of the city, analysis of the real estate advertisement and a series of interviews with the citizens, the authors reveal various practices of everyday use of new and old street names as a public response to the officially imposed city-text. The findings indicate that the transition from the old to the new toponymic system after the ideologically-driven toponymic cleansing does not represent an immediate and a single-step action, and should be considered a long-lasting, protracted and multi-staged process that requires several years or even decades. The gradual introduction of a new place name into various spheres of public life represents a kind of heterochronic coevolution driven by the collision of top-down vs. bottom-up interests. Another finding is that public inertia towards the new toponymic landscapes may be driven almost totally by motivations that have no relationship to ideology and politics. Also, it has been found that the actual communicative practices after the renaming depend on a variety of predominantly local factors and actors, including the specific place, place name, communicative situation and characteristics of the interlocutors. The findings are discussed in the framework of social sustainability, pointing at the need for clearly articulated and coherent municipal politics aimed at familiarising the community with newly introduced place names.

A framework for social sustainability on the building level: a contextual approach

Purpose This study aims to build on a contextualised approach for revealing the particularities of social sustainability indicators on the building scale within the particular context of Jordan, focusing on the buildings of the Dahiyat Al Hussein suburb. Design/methodology/approach This study relied on a review of the relevant previous research as well as global, regional and local rating tools, followed by working with a diversified participant base comprising experts as well as users through Delphi rounds and analytic hierarchy process-based assessments. Findings This study resulted in several key indicators that were classified into three main categories: environmental friendliness, comfort and convenience and social blend. It resembled a step on the path towards the standardisation of context-specific social sustainability indicators, an effort that would be further supported by future research addressing other development within Jordan. Originality/value The sustainability debate has, for long, acquired the undivided attention of its key stakeholders. With the continuous rise of global attention, the conceptualisation of sustainability has grown more specialised in both function and scale, and sustainable measures have been developed at the macro and micro levels. With the further spread of the concept, recognition of its contextual differences between various countries became more vivid, where the social dimension attains particular importance.

Assessing the social sustainability impact on suppliers: the role of global value chains governance strategies.

Stakeholder awareness of social sustainability issues is growing, but few recognize what motivates companies to implement social sustainability in their supply chain management or return on investment in developing countries, where cultural norms might vary widely. We address this question by broadening stakeholder and institutional perspectives to investigate how customers, sustainability culture, management, and external stakeholders influence companies' acceptance of social sustainability in their supply chains. We collected information on 356 apparel and footwear manufacturers from 5 South Asian countries that sell to customers in Western Europe and North America. Our findings highlight the interdependence of organizational and institutional structures and define the boundaries of GVC governance mechanisms within a social sustainability framework. Our research shows that the success of examining social sustainability interventions applied by leading firms or the effects of collaboration-based global value chains depend on the supplier's local institutional framework. Social sustainability organizational practices influence supplier perceptions and responses to key corporate needs in the supplier's country. We demonstrate that GVC governance models are most conducive to suppliers' social sustainability implementation when contextualized with the local institutional needs for social sustainability in the supplier's country.

Social sustainability of continuing care retirement communities in China

PurposeChina’s population is ageing. Continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) are an emerging living arrangement of older Chinese. Incorporating social sustainability features into CCRCs helps to create age-friendly residential environments for residents. However, it is still unclear what kinds of social sustainability features are incorporated into the residential environments of CCRCs in China. Therefore, this study aims to address this research gap.Design/methodology/approachQualitative content analysis is adopted to analyse the retrieved business information of representative CCRC developers in China.FindingsThis study revealed 36 social sustainability features in CCRCs, with the top-ranked ones being health care and management, social connection and engagement, high-quality and diverse services and daily life support and assistance. Additionally, a preliminary social sustainability framework of CCRCs was proposed, and this framework includes the five components of care and health, environment and management, service and facility, age-friendly life philosophy and social support and inclusion.Originality/valueIn theory, this research’s findings clarify the meaning of social sustainability within the context of CCRCs, which supports future relevant explorations in the CCRC research community. In practice, these findings enhance stakeholders’ understanding of the social sustainability in CCRCs, which promotes the development of age-friendly living environments for older people in an ageing society.

Leveraging Social Sustainability in the Amazonian Forest

The social dimension of sustainability has not gained as much attention in bioeconomy (BE) literature as have the environmental and economic dimensions. Thus, this study's purpose is to analyze how social sustainability of the non-timber forest-based BE enterprise in the Amazonian Forest has been leveraged. A case study was performed in the largest enterprise in Latin America that produces babassu coconut-activated carbon for industrial use. This enterprise is a benefit corporation (B Corp) certified by B lab. The main contributions of the study are: (i) proposing a framework for social sustainability that considers its drivers and elements, for both internal and external stakeholders; (ii) indicating the impact of social sustainability on enterprises' business model; (iii) pointing out the contribution of technological innovations to the circular economy and preservation of traditions and environment; and (iv) studying an under-explored object such as a B Corp in the Amazonian Forest.

Street naming and political identity in the postcolonial African city: A social sustainability framework

ABSTRACT Street naming in Windhoek, Namibia, traces its political origins to the German colonial period. While the role of toponymy as a tool for political construction in the postcolonial epoch is an important matter of scholarly interest, much work remains to be done on the subject in the sub-Saharan African context. Moreover, the dialectical relationships between political identity and sustainable development have largely not been broached. This study seeks to bridge the noted lacunae by propounding a social sustainability framework for street naming premised on the conceptual tripod of postcolonialism, subaltern geopolitics and memorialization. It employs questionnaires administered to residents, interviews with subject matter experts and planners, as well as field visits, photography and document analysis to dissect the ontological processes, characteristics and meanings encapsulated in Windhoek’s approach to street naming. The social sustainability framework evinces the identity of the postcolonial African city in six main facets: urban toponymy and morphology; urban planning and development; political engagement; social equity and innovation; indigenization and cultural identity; as well as transitional justice. Through a cynosure of Windhoek, a southern African city under-researched in the existing literature, it provides important theoretical and empirical insights regarding the political dynamics of sustainable development.

An integrated social sustainability assessment framework: the case of construction industry

PurposeThe discourse of construction practitioners and decision-makers worldwide has begun to appreciate and acknowledge the advantages of sustainable building. Toward this goal, one of the main steps is creating a control mechanism, which provides the context for moving to sustainable buildings by monitoring the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability. The previous research studies indicate the social dimension has received far less attention than the economic and environmental aspects. Therefore, this study aims at developing a social sustainability framework to evaluate building systems.Design/methodology/approachThis research has chosen the Parsons sociological theory as its theoretical framework basis and acquires the research theoretical framework with its modification and completion by grounded theory (GT). In the next step, to realize the GT structure validity and model fitting, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used and the research hypotheses were tested.FindingsAn integrated social sustainable framework is presented with five subsystems: socio-political, socio-cultural, socio-institutional, socio-economic and socio-environmental. This research addresses the void of a comprehensive social sustainability framework in the construction industry, and the findings can contribute to construction industry practitioners and decision-makers to evaluate building systems socially.Originality/valueThe application of this framework is not limited to the construction industry and building systems. It can deliver a general use for integrating social perspectives into decision-making on various subjects. Localization and specialization of current research's social sustainability components and factors can be a high potential research topic for future studies, in all fields and scopes. This framework can be a significant contribution to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as a basis for creating comparable models to assess social aspects of buildings, campuses and urban sustainability.

Sustainable social supply chain practices and firm social performance: Framework and empirical evidence

Concerns about social sustainability issues such as child labour, inequality, excessive overtime, and abusive working and living conditions in developing countries' manufacturing sectors have prompted an urgent study on sustainable social supply chain practices. The social pillar of sustainability has then been unnoticed, favouring the more regularly discussed environmental and economic dimensions. This study aims to expand the social sustainability framework to investigate the impact of sustainable social supply chain practices on firm social performance. The electronic survey was conducted on firms that adopted sustainable social practices. The 144 data sets were received from manufacturing firms. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling with PLS-SEM to examine domains and outcomes of sustainable supply chain practices. The result found that social supply chain practices impact the firm's social performance. However, the results indicate that the social element of sustainable procurement does not affect the firm social performance. The results show social fairness challenged manufacturing firms to comply with sustainable production and distribution. Most manufacturing firms are still not aware of their role and social responsibility to develop the local suppliers and community. Sustainability framework has proposed to raise awareness of sustainable practices that drive firms to implement sustainable social supply chain practices and leverage social performance. By being socially responsible, firms can gain improved brand awareness, a favourable corporate reputation, increased sales, observed firm growth and enhanced customer loyalty.

Social Sustainability in Construction Projects—A Systematic Review of Assessment Indicators and Taxonomy

Despite its importance and appeal, the social dimension of sustainability in construction projects is less explored and lacks a comprehensive and standardized framework. This diminishes the holistic view of sustainability. The existing customized frameworks make the selection of factors challenging across different contexts. Eventually, the practitioners have to pick and choose the factors. This reduces the reliability of social sustainability assessments and makes them a procedural challenge. To fill this gap, the current review synthesizes a framework of social sustainability for construction projects. For this purpose, a systematic review of the literature published until 2021 is performed. The indicators are extracted from the selected 22 papers and their content is analyzed to check for similarities. The final set of 76 factors is synthesized into an assessment framework through a thematic analysis based on a bottom-up approach. The framework is organized into 7 enablers or themes, 27 indicators, and 76 sub-indicators. The enablers of social sustainability are stakeholder, safety and health, human resource development, project, industry, community, and government. The framework provides a comprehensive and precise view of social sustainability which can be leveraged to ensure better planning and sustainable development of construction projects.

Understanding Teacher Digital Competence in the Framework of Social Sustainability: A Systematic Review

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, ICT has been urgently introduced in education systems in a generalised manner. In this context, it is essential for teachers to master a spectrum of basic digital competencies and manifest digital leadership in the classroom. In addition, it is necessary to consider the relationship between digital competence development and social sustainability, that is, social and cultural heritage, and to what extent they contribute to improving social cohesion and living conditions in a community. This study presents a systematic review of research on teacher digital competence and social sustainability based on the PRISMA model and a review of 22 studies indexed in SCOPUS. The review reveals that most are intended to measure the digital competence level of teachers, usually in compulsory stages of the educational system and through quantitative studies based on virtual questionnaires comprised of closed-ended questions. However, the studies tend to ignore questions related to social sustainability (access to resources, heritage culture, intergenerational transmission, employability, or gender equality). It is therefore urgent to develop research committed to a sustainable society that is oriented towards social justice.

For Inclusive and Sustainable Education: The Profile of the Educator and Pedagogist in Italy

The changes that have characterized contemporary complex societies and the need to affirm the values of social inclusion have led the Italian educational policy makers to debate on the professional quality within the educational field, to study its changes and its social impact. This debate has gradually led to a redefinition of the professional profile of the educator and the pedagogist giving rise to a legislative provision aiming at recognizing, regulating and protecting these professionals. According to this law, in particular, the socio-pedagogical educator and the pedagogist are required to have specific competences that could promote inclusive and sustainable educational actions. The present theoretical argumentative paper aims at presenting a synthesis of the long debate that led to the approval of Law 205/17 in Italy, involving policy makers and Italian scholars and academics in the redefinition of the educational professions. Specifically, it aims at highlighting the rational and the characteristics of the context which have supported the long legislative process within a conceptual dimension that considers inclusive education as an unavoidable framework for social sustainability. Keywords: inclusive education, sustainable education, educator and pedagogist, Italy

Memory for Social Sustainability: Recalling Cultural Memories in Zanqit Alsitat Historical Street Market, Alexandria, Egypt

Historic urban landscapes (HULs) are composed of layers of imbedded tangible and intangible features such as cultural memories. As the collective memories of city inhabitants, cultural memories can affect elements of social sustainability such as health, well-being, community identity, place perception and social engagement. Utilising the popular Zanqit Alsitat (also known as ‘Zanket el-Setat’ or ‘Zane’t El-Settat’), the only remaining historical street market in Alexandria, Northern Egypt, this research proposes a theoretical model for recalling and continuity of cultural memory features in HULs, which can be used to achieve social sustainability. The research explored the site by applying a qualitative methodological approach through semi-structured in-person interviews in the study site, along with analysis of comments obtained from a research-purposed social media (Facebook) group. A qualitative data management software (NVivo12 programme) was utilised for interpretation and charting the features of stored cultural memories relating to this place. The study indicates that educing and maintaining the features of cultural memory in HULs contributes to social sustainability through its influence on the formation of place identity, sense of place, civic pride and quality of life. This framework for social sustainability in HULs can be applied by engaging social groups through participatory planning.

Social sustainability assessment framework for managing sustainable construction in residential buildings

Nowadays sustainability concept has gained worldwide recognition in the building industry worldwide. However, despite the recent trends toward consideration of environmental and economic aspects in sustainability assessment framework for buildings, the concept of social sustainability has given less attention. Therefore, social issues were less included in the main categories of sustainability assessment schemes. As a result, such frameworks failed to effectively correspond to social aspects of sustainability and they have created gaps in analytical support necessary for sustainable decision-making. While there are some researches regarding social aspects of sustainability worldwide, investigations are still lacking in developing countries. In order to resolve this issue, this study aims to propose an assessment framework which addresses social sustainability in residential building construction by prioritizing social sustainability criteria based on Iran context. In this research, after exploiting social sustainability indicators, through multi-criteria decision making approach, criteria priorities were obtained with the aid of local experts. Results revealed that among the proposed criteria, local experts considered safety issues as the most important and site considerations and equipment as the least important criterion to be considered in the social sustainability assessment for residential buildings in Iran. After safety issues, performance and flexibility factor was the third-highest important criterion in terms of social sustainability in planning and construction in this country. From the results, it can be concluded that the establishment of social sustainability scheme with a consideration of priorities in a particular country can be a pivotal step forward to provide a responsive sustainability assessment for buildings, especially in developing countries such as in Iran. This research can shed light on the way in which other developing countries customize such social sustainability framework based on their own context to offer decision makers an efficient approach for measuring the social sustainability status of a residential building.

Social sustainability tensions in multi-tier supply chain: A systematic literature review towards conceptual framework development

As many unethical practices and violations of social norms originate from higher tier suppliers and their sub-suppliers, it is of paramount importance to ensure social sustainability in the entire supply chain, especially for higher tier suppliers. This has led to a considerable increase in interest among the researchers and academicians working in the domain of social sustainability. This article reviews 129 research papers published in different journals and attempted to identify drivers, issues, barriers, tensions, practices, and performances related to social sustainability in multi-tier supply chains. The prevalent theories and governance mechanisms of social sustainability in multi-tier supply chains have also been presented. The commonly used theories are stakeholder theory, institutional theory, resource based view theory, transaction cost economics theory, grounded theory, and resource dependence theory. It is observed that most of the papers have presented drivers, barriers, issues, and practices in generic ways by conducting exploratory case studies using single case or multiple cases; there is a distinct lack of multi-tier perspectives devoted to the context of emerging economies. The tension, an important aspect of implementation of social sustainability practices, has not been addressed adequately in the extant literature for multi-tier supply chains. This review also proposes a conceptual framework of social sustainability linking drivers, issues, barriers, tensions, practices, and performances. Finally, future avenues of research on social sustainability have been outlined.

A policy framework for social sustainability: Social cohesion, equity and safety

AbstractThe purpose of our paper is to characterize the social pillar using the three criteria of social cohesion, equity and safety. Alongside this characterization we develop a policy framework to promote social sustainability, which has been the subject of much academic interest in recent years. In addition, we demonstrate that the social sustainability policies we advocate are capable of embracing environmental sustainability. Our work therefore provides a fresh perspective on sustainable development policies by emphasizing the importance of the social pillar to the policy making process.