Holistic Sustainable Development Research Articles

PREVALENCE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AMONGST WOMEN IN PUNJAB: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

The rise in domestic violence against women in India, especially in the pandemic and post-pandemic period, is an alarming issue that needs immediate attention. The dominant explanation for this emerging trend is structural inequality, internalized patriarchy, and misogyny. Factors such as patriarchal nature of society, hierarchy of relationships, perception of women as housewives, caregivers and child bearers they being the lower sex, encourage their suppression. Domestic violence in families is influenced by instability in relationships, excessive male power, control over the mobility of women, poverty, power relationships, preference for male offspring, alcohol and drug abuse by the male partner, and economic imbalance. This study has attempted to identify frequency of different forms of domestic violence such as physical violence, emotional violence, social violence, economic violence and sexual violence. The study revealed that all forms of violence were reported to be prevalent among the respondents. Considering each type of violence, emotional violence topped the chart, followed by economic violence and social violence. Respondents also reported to suffer from sexual violence and physical violence. The study suggests that for holistic sustainable development and women empowerment, different forms of domestic violence and causes/situations leading to it, needs to be identified. Additionally, the society needs to be sensitized how it affects the physiological, psychosocial and psychological wellness of women, at large, thus hampering their empowerment.

A Strategic Framework for Sustainable Business Model of Renewable Energy Services

Purpose: The main objective of this research is to investigate the ongoing scientific investigations into sustainable business models framework in the energy sector, with a particular focus on the shift towards renewable energy sources. This entails comprehending how firms may adjust to and propel the transition towards sustainability in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Theoretical Framework: The theoretical foundation of this study is anchored in the concept of the triple bottom line, which emphasizes the need for businesses to focus on three key areas: economic, social, and environmental dimensions. This approach is essential for achieving sustainable development, as it ensures that business models are designed to contribute positively to society and the environment, in addition to being economically viable. Methodology: A comparative literature review serves as the methodology for this research. This method involves systematically analyzing existing literature on sustainable business models in the energy sector to identify trends, gaps, and theoretical underpinnings. The comparative aspect allows for the evaluation of different approaches and the identification of best practices and areas for future research. Findings: The research identifies that while there is a growing trend towards the adoption of renewable energy sources, significant challenges remain. These include technological limitations, regulatory barriers, and financial constraints. However, by refining the business model canvas to incorporate elements of sustainability, businesses can create adaptable frameworks that address these challenges. This revised canvas includes components that emphasize economic viability, socio-cultural values, and ecological integrity. Research & Practical Implications: The conceptualization of a sustainable business model canvas is a key practical implication of this research. It offers businesses a clear and systematic way to integrate sustainable practices into their operations. This tool is designed to promote holistic sustainable development and informed decision-making by incorporating economic, socio-cultural, and ecological values into the business planning process. By doing so, it has the potential to facilitate the transition towards more sustainable business practices in the energy sector and beyond, thereby contributing to the achievement of the SDGs. Originality: The originality of this study is grounded in its comprehensive approach to integrating sustainability into business models, its adaptation of existing frameworks to better suit sustainable development goals, and its forward-looking perspective that seeks to guide future research and practical applications in the energy sector and beyond.

Models for Sustainable Open Access Land Management That Integrate Economic, Social, and Environmental Balance

This study delves into the intricate process of crafting a sustainable model for managing open access land, utilizing an integrative approach that employs structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis while broadening the conventional triple bottom line framework. By amalgamating the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of the triple bottom line with the governance variables inherent in the pentuple bottom line concept, this approach aims to achieve a more nuanced and holistic balance in the management of open access land. Through a meticulous blend of primary and secondary data collection methods, the study employs SEM analysis to scrutinize the intricate interplay between variables representing each dimension. The findings of this research shed light on the intricate mechanisms through which open access land management can be guided toward a more comprehensive sustainability paradigm, enriched by the multifaceted considerations encapsulated within the pentuple bottom line model. The ramifications of these revelations extend far beyond academic discourse, advocating for the adoption of a more all-encompassing model in open access land management practices, thereby fortifying collective efforts toward achieving holistic sustainable development objectives.

ETHICAL AND SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS OF TRANSHUMANISM AND TECHNOLOGIES OF THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

This paper deals with the impact of transhumanism and the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on ethics and environment of the emerging society. Transhumanism, with its ideas of radical technological transformation of human being aiming at creating a new being – a hybrid form developed from the fusion of man and machine, with transhuman, as a transi-tional form, and posthuman, as the ultimate stage of the human-machine fusion, brings many controversies and radically affects the position and essence of the human being. The ethics of transhumanism is being manifested through the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which, based on new set of technologies, enables a radical transformation of the human being, requiring the necessity of a new approach to ethics, from the point of view of technological ethics. Technologies within the framework of 4IR bring new, hitherto unimagined challenges that require the entire global community to review current ethics and adopt new measures and tasks for the purpose of redefining, reorganizing and restructuring the relationship between humans and technologies, in the direction of preserving the stable, humanist, holistic sustainable development of human society.

Environmental Sustainability: A Major Component of Sustainable Development

Without embracing environmental sustainability (ES), the universal concept of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved in today's world. As an inseparable part of SDGs, ES can help the nations to fulfil the goal of Agenda 2030. The world, particularly the developing countries, is now encountering several environmental problems, including carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, hazardous pollution, climate change, global warming, floods, droughts, deforestation, excessive and less rainfall crisis, scarcity of food, water and other natural resources, misuse and overconsumption of natural resources, and loss of biodiversity. All these factors heavily impact our natural environment and cause irreparable loss. Our study finds that with unsustainable socio-economic development, environmental degradation is rising worldwide. We argue that human activities in the name of development are the main reasons for destroying the environment and natural resources. In this study, we explore that despite taking significant initiatives by the United Nations engaging the member countries to protect the earth from the aboementioned environmental problems, these problems are still prevalent in many countries in the world. Our study finds that irresponsible human activities primarily hinder sustainable development progress, which is essential for present and future generations. In this article, we find that embracing the environmental sustainability approach for all countries is necessary to ensure holistic sustainable development.

Human Rights and Economic Growth Should Complement Each Other for Holistic Sustainable Development

Human right is the natural right of every human being. Human rights and economic development should move together, but unfortunately many times human rights of working and suffering class are violated to earn more income and thereby economic growth. Even in communist China the human rights are often violated, despite high economic growth. The western countries often condemn China for its dubious human rights record. The growth becomes inclusive and meaningful with human development. If human rights and economic growth moves together, complement each other, it is perfect script for holistic development. The Millennium Declaration has rightfully recognized the link between human rights, good governance and development.

Nature governance for collective well-being: reconciling holistic sustainability and human development

PurposeThis article aims to contribute to the literature linking the three pillars of sustainable development with the human development field. To do so, it analyzes how a group of stakeholders that participate in collective action for nature governance in Segre–Rialb, Catalonia, build collective capabilities and reconcile a holistic sustainable development with human development and collective well-being. The analysis is performed using nature governance and the capability approach theories. In particular, the framework providing the lenses to examine the collective action for nature governance is based on Elinor Ostrom's Institutional and Analysis framework and the collective capabilities concept.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on documental analysis (legal document namely and online resources available in Catalonian website) and a few online interviews since all fieldwork was canceled due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.FindingsThe case study reveals that collective action for nature governance has a twofold function: it materializes holistic sustainability and produces capabilities, reconciling sustainable and human development. Therefore, the research proves that people who work together to govern nature can boost a holistic perspective of sustainability and reconcile sustainable and human development.Originality/valueFirst, this work aims to reconcile sustainable and human development fields that have been usually separated in academia, contributing to the research body that has attempted to relate human development and sustainability. This analysis uses a holistic perspective of sustainability, including the social, economic and environmental aspects connecting them to human development; this was not deeply explored before. Finally, the rigorous documental analysis, namely legal texts that allow reaching conclusions, is relevant since all fieldworks were canceled in 2021.

Delineation of Coastal Regulation Zone of an Ecologically Sensitive Coastal Region in the Southern Indian Peninsula: A GIS Approach

The coastal ecosystems in India are facing a large array of natural and anthropogenic stresses due to climate change and economic developments. Therefore, proper management of these sensitive regions towards a holistic sustainable development is the need of the hour. Coastal regulation zones (CRZ) are created for regulation of activities in the coastal area for the protection of coastal and sea resources under 1986 Environment Protection Act, of India. This research was carried out along the Eastern Ramanathapuram coast of Tamil Nadu in the Indian Peninsula to delineate the coastal regulation zone using GIS. To understand and categorize the most sensitive coastal region. Our analysis further splits CRZ region into CRZ-I A, CRZI B, CRZ II, III-A, and CRZ III B, CRZ-IV B in compliance with Regulation 2019. Here, aligned with the CRZ compliance, 500m buffer area is taken from HTL (High Tide Level) towards the landward side in the ecosensitive coastline, and 100 m buffer area is taken along creeks and estuaries, as per the guidelines of CRZ Notification, 2019. The output is integrated with land use/land cover map of 2020 and population density to analyseand categorize various coastal zones in the study area.

SIGNIFIKASI HUBUNGAN ETNIK RENTAS AGAMA DAN BUDAYA DALAM KALANGAN PELAJAR KE ARAH MENCAPAI MATLAMAT PEMBANGUNAN MAMPAN (SDGs)

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Matlamat Pembangunan Mampan was launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 with the aim of achieving holistic sustainable development by 2030 for the harmony and prosperity of the global community. The SDGs’ principle of ‘Leave No One Behind’ with 17 main goals revolves around the importance of human rights pertaining to social development, economy and the environment. The purpose of this study was to discuss the general relationship between two SGDs – education goal (4th goal) and peace goal (16th goal) – and the aspect of cross-religious and cross-cultural ethnic relationship among students. This qualitative examination utilised the method of content analysis of several related writings and research. This study also sought to explore the interaction experiences of students in schools in the aspect of cross-religious and cross-cultural ethnic relationship utilised the method of quantitative. Data was analysed using the SPSS technique on 207 research respondents’ responses to questionnaires. This was to enable the researchers acquire in-depth understanding of the issues under examination. With this study, a preliminary observation on the significance of cross-religious and cross-cultural ethnic relationship among students could be produced to highlight the importance of integration between the aspects of education and cross-religious and cross-cultural ethnic relationship at the school level towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.

Mindful Application of Digitalization for Sustainable Development: The Digitainability Assessment Framework

Digitalization is widely recognized as a transformative power for sustainable development. Careful alignment of progress made by digitalization with the globally acknowledged Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is crucial for inclusive and holistic sustainable development in the digital era. However, limited reference has been made in SDGs about harnessing the opportunities offered by digitalization capabilities. Moreover, research on inhibiting or enabling effects of digitalization considering its multi-faceted interlinkages with the SDGs and their targets is fragmented. There are only limited instances in the literature examining and categorizing the impact of digitalization on sustainable development. To overcome this gap, this paper introduces a new Digitainability Assessment Framework (DAF) for context-aware practical assessment of the impact of the digitalization intervention on the SDGs. The DAF facilitates in-depth assessment of the many diverse technical, social, ethical, and environmental aspects of a digital intervention by systematically examining its impact on the SDG indicators. Our approach draws on and adapts concepts of the Theory of Change (ToC). The DAF should support developers, users as well policymakers by providing a 360-degree perspective on the impact of digital services or products, as well as providing hints for its possible improvement. We demonstrate the application of the DAF with the three test case studies illustrating how it supports in providing a holistic view of the relation between digitalization and SDGs.

Effectiveness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in implementation of social sustainability in warehousing of developing countries: A hybrid approach

The field of sustainable supply chain management has been abundantly explored from environmental perspective, however the growing focus on holistic sustainable development demands critical perspective on social dimensions also. Consequently, organizations under national and global pressures tend to implement social sustainability measures in their supply chains. While existing research suggests that social sustainability measures are prevalent in developed countries, the developing nations nonetheless require elaborate efforts. This study aims to explore the initiatives and practices adopted by logistics, specifically warehousing operations organizations. Social sustainability practices identified and finalized using Best Worst Method (BWM) are ranked for their impact on improving social sustainability footprint of organizations. The effectiveness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is evaluated based on the implementation of the social sustainability practices in the warehousing organizations of the developing countries. Taking a survey-based approach data collected from 217 organizations is statistically analysed using binary logistic regression. The hybrid approach results indicate the importance of ‘responsible work environment’ as strong contender for reflecting effectiveness of corporate social responsibility. Contrary to theoretical predictions and expectations, ‘training education and development’ is found lacking for improving social footprints of organizations indicating deeper and rigorous approaches. Additionally, social sustainability practices ‘corporate ethical responsibility commitment’ towards social reforms and ‘Philanthropy’ are considerably lacking the seriousness of corporates and require further exploring.

Assessing the Applicability of Photocatalytic-Concrete Blocks in Reducing the Concentration of Ambient NO2 of Chandigarh, India, Using Box–Behnken Response Surface Design Technique: A Holistic Sustainable Development Approach

Anthropogenic emissions, such as industrial, vehicular, biomass burning, and coal combustion, play a significant role in degrading the atmospheric conditions of India. Therefore, in the present study, applicability of the photocatalytic-concrete blocks was estimated in improving the ambient environment of Chandigarh, India. The photocatalytic-concrete blocks were prepared by mixing the TiO2 particles with cement. All the experiments, designed in accordance with the Box–Behnken approach, in combination with response surface methodology, were performed in a batch reactor. Further, the process parameters, namely, concentration of TiO2 (1 to 5 g), UV-A irradiance (1 to 5 mW/cm2), and relative humidity (RH) (10 to 70%), were optimized to achieve maximum degradation of NO2. Outcomes of batch experiments depicted that the maximum degradation of NO2, that is, 68.32%, was attained at 3.35 g of TiO2, 5 mW/cm2 of UV-A irradiance, and 64.60% RH. The findings of batch experiment were further theoretically applied to degrade the ambient NO2 concentration of Chandigarh, India. It was estimated that using the photocatalytic concrete for construction of Chandigarh’s pavements may reduce the ambient NO2 concentration of Chandigarh, India, to an average of 5.80 μg/m3. Afterwards, reusability of photocatalytic-concrete blocks was also assessed, and it was made evident that after five cycles, their efficiency was reduced by only 7.15%. Subsequently, it was revealed that hydrogen peroxide-based treatment of photocatalytic-concrete blocks could completely regenerate its treatment efficiency. Therefore, it is expected that the findings of this study may prove beneficial in urban planning, as it may assist scientific auditory in identifying the applicability of TiO2-based photocatalysis in mitigating the impacts of vehicular emissions.

Managing food at urban level through water–energy–food nexus in India: A way towards holistic sustainable development

Managing food at urban level through water–energy–food nexus in India: A way towards holistic sustainable development

The Water–Energy–Food Nexus Discovery Map: Linking Geographic Information Systems, Academic Collaboration, and Large-Scale Data Visualization

The Water–Energy–Food (WEF) Nexus framework for holistic sustainable development has spawned independent and academic communities around the globe that utilize the framework in research, implementation, policy development, and technological advancement. These communities, however, are geographically and topically segmented and lack large-scale databasing that clearly catalogs and classifies their work. Recognizing this need, the WEF Nexus Strategic Initiative program at The Pennsylvania State University has developed the WEF Nexus Discovery Map utilizing the Arc Geographic Information Systems’ (GIS) Online Dashboard creation toolkit. In real time, users are able to select from 5040 different combinations of filters with the ease of a few button pushes and see projects pop up or disappear from the map located on the dashboard. Projects can then be clicked on to view their specific information, such as the institution that produced the work, local collaborators, relevant web page, and point of contact. The WEF Nexus Discovery Map demonstrates the early new-age of data resource management with the intersection of visuals, advanced search with built-in filters, and community-driven data collection to provide users with exact needs and connections to better facilitate and deploy the holistic sustainability framework of the WEF Nexus.

More sustainable biomass production and biorefining to boost the bioeconomy

AbstractThe ongoing saga of the fossil carbon‐based economy affects the wellbeing of this planet and its associated life forms, including humans. Although the bioeconomy is widely advocated as a solution, it is not growing quickly enough due to various challenges. Here, we discuss emerging opportunities to overcome these barriers and enhance the bioeconomy's potential to contribute to achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals as a result of developments in biomass production and biorefining. A brief overview of current advances in biomass production, biorefining, and products together with their applications is provided. A comprehensive vision for the development of a sustainable bioeconomy is also given. Leveraging scientific and technological advances along with the support of modeling, assessment, and analyses, can help to address the sustainability concerns of the bioeconomy and accelerate its progress toward a carbon‐neutral future while strengthening bioeconomy concepts of contributing to equitable economic growth based on holistic sustainable development in harmony with nature. © 2021 Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY: MEASURING AWARENESS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DIMENSIONS AMONG EDUCATORS IN MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY

Sustainable development has long gained momentum as an indispensable change-maker of the present and future, across nations, organisations, institutions, and individuals around the globe. Despite its universal recognition, the understanding of the concept’s constituents seems vague and heterogeneous, which has led to piecemeal initiatives that appear to impede the vision of systemic sustainability. In this disposition, many experts reckon that the higher education institutions that are in the sustainably adept nick, capable of cultivating and leading the community towards a holistic sustainable development approach. This portrays the need for a sound knowledge or awareness of sustainable development dimensions among campus actors; in particular, the educators, as it emerges as the prerequisite to campus sustainability endeavours. This paper, therefore, aims to carry out one of the grassroots level efforts, which is to measure the awareness of sustainable development dimensions among academic staff of a private university in Malaysia. This research adopted an online and offline survey to obtain responses from 169 educators. The findings show that there are significant differences in the level of awareness on sustainable development dimensions (economy, social, and environment) among educators of the university. Gaps and needs identified in this study can be useful to the management to better orientate their actions towards campus sustainability plans, such as policies, curriculum development, operations, research, etc.

Descriptive framework for simulation-aided sustainability decision-making: A Delphi study

Making an effective sustainability decision at every stage of a product life cycle is key to achieving a holistic sustainable product development. The extant literature highlights the challenges and lack of effective tools for determining the impact of manufacturing processes on the environmental, economic and social dimensions, as well as the interdependence of the outcome of one dimension on the other. This research paper identifies methodologies, tools, and approaches that can be integrated into a single descriptive framework to enable both assessment and analysis of the aspects of the three sustainability dimensions. The paper also details the development of the framework using inductive methods and conceptual synthesis of key sustainability approaches and a Delphi study involving panels of international researchers and practitioners in the field of sustainable manufacturing. The framework can provide a platform for both practitioners and sustainability analysts to build impact analysis models that will support effective sustainability decision-making. It will also enable a clear perspective of the required elements, processes and indicators that need to be considered in sustainable manufacturing design and assessments.

Aplikasi Prinsip Islam Dalam Pengurusan Alam Sekitar Lestari Menurut Perspektif Kitab Al-Jidar

Halal prevails a holistic area that covers many aspects, including food, beverages, pharmaceutical and others. Islamic jurisprudence in the sustainability of environment is also falls under the rubric of halal and haram. Nature is a precious blessing bestowed by Allah Almighty for the benefit of humankind. Humans are as caliphs of God are accountable to govern and appropriately manage this world. Nevertheless, as a result of human greed in exploiting natural resources, the environment today is jeopardized with degradation and devastation. This situation urges the comprehensive implementation of sustainable development as the best solution for current and future generations. Sustainable development is not a new concept in Islam, but has existed for the past several centuries as described in the Quran and the As-Sunnah. It was also expended by fuqaha’ through their fatwa, judgment, and writing. However, there was limited studies focused on the sustainability from Islamic perspective, in general and based on the classical text of Islamic jurisprudence, in particular. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to identify the application of Islamic principles in sustainable environmental management, according to Kitab Al-Jidar. The elements examined encompass water and wastewater management, waste, sewage, and air quality. This study employs qualitative methods. An in-depth reading is accomplished on Kitab Al- Jidar as the primary resource. The first step is the translation phase of the text, followed by the content analysis method to extract the Islamic principles outlined in the book and glimpse its application for adaptation in the current context. The study found that there are four (4) fundamental principles of sustainable environmental management applied in Kitab Al- Jidar. It covers; a) La Dharar Wa La Dhirar b) Recognizing and respecting the rights of others, 3) Social responsibility, and 4) Objection. The paper concludes that holistic, efficient, and complex sustainable development solutions can be comprehended by fully embracing and adhering to the Islamic principles. It is hoped that this paper will cultivate awareness and a positive impact on the community towards nourishing a sustainable environment according to the Islamic parameters in Malaysia.

Modelling land use and land cover dynamics of Dedza district of Malawi using hybrid Cellular Automata and Markov model

The spatiotemporal variation of any landscape patterns is as a result of complex interactions of social, economic, demographic, technological, political, biophysical and cultural factors. Modelling land use and land cover (LULC) changes is essential for natural resource scientists, decision-makers and planners in developing comprehensive medium and long-term plans for tackling environmental or other related sustainable development issues. The current study used an integrated approach that combines remote sensing and GIS to simulate and predict plausible LULC changes for Dedza district in Malawi for the years 2025 and 2035 based on Cellular Automata (CA)-Markov Chain model embedded in IDRISI Software. The model was validated using a simulated and actual LULC of 2015. The overall agreement between the two maps was 0.98 (98%) with a simulation error of 0.03 (3.0%). The more detailed analysis of validation results based on the kappa variations showed a satisfactory level of accuracy with a Kno, Kstandard and Klocation of 0.97, 0.95 and 0.97, respectively. The future projections indicate that water bodies, barren land and built-up areas will increase while agricultural land, wetlands and forest land will substantially decrease by 2025 and 2035 respectively. According to the transition probability matrix, almost 94.8%, 97.6% and 95.7% of water bodies, agricultural land and barren land will more likely remain stable by 2025. In contrast, forest land exhibits the highest probability of change of 64.8% and 85.9% by 2025 and 2035 respectively. Results also indicate that the majority of the forest areas will be converted to barren land with a probability of 60.8% and 79.6% by 2025 and 2035, respectively. These findings serve as an important benchmark for planners, natural resource managers and policy-makers in the studied landscape to consider in pursuit of holistic sustainable development policies/strategies/guidelines for sustainable natural resource management.

The development, application, and refinement of a Regenerative Development Evaluation Tool and indicators

Abstract Ecological indicators are foundational for holistic guidance toward thriving living systems, yet existing indicators are incomplete, fragmented, and do not fully integrate living systems principles. We suggest that thriving living systems (i.e., social-ecological or complex adaptive systems) can and should be the aim of sustainability and sustainable development. Thriving living systems, also called regenerative living systems, are those in which complexity, diversity, capacity to support all life, and the potential to change to provide future options increases. Holistic ecological and sustainability indicators and evaluation tools are needed. The emerging field of regenerative development (RD) offers theoretical and practical guidance for such indicators and tools. We integrate complex adaptive systems science, ecology, sustainability, and regenerative development to construct and pilot the first iteration of a holistic sustainable development evaluation tool—the Regenerative Development Evaluation Tool—in two river restoration projects. The tool identifies RD Principles and Core Characteristics of Regenerative Living Systems that provide general guidance for thinking and decision-making. From these general indicators, place-based quantitative and qualitative indicators are constructed through a co-creative community process. Our case studies reveal factors correlated with degrees of engagement with RD and potential place-based indicators for each project. We recommend continuing the development and expansion of the RD Evaluation Tool, adding RD indicators and strategies. We also recommend developing an RD process tool that can work explicitly across scales, integrating the neighborhood, city, landscape, and regional scales since they are pivotal for sustainability efforts and manifesting thriving living systems. Finally, we recommended integrated research and practice to test and adapt RD tools and processes.