Integration Of Sustainability Concepts Research Articles

Advancing Sustainable Decision Making in Additive Manufacturing: A Comprehensive Review of Multi-Criteria Decision Making Approaches

Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the technologies of Industry 4.0 that has been contributing to the development of different manufacturing industries. The integration of sustainability concepts into additive manufacturing has been gaining attention among researchers. This integration is essential in the development of AM technologies and can be a significant asset in terms of decision making for organizations. This work aims to present a concise literature review on the integration of decision making, especially multi-criteria decision making, and sustainability into the AM environment. The literature on this topic currently possesses a total of fifteen documents, which were analyzed in this work. Some developments on this topic have been achieved in domains such as material selection, process selection and challenges, and drivers’ analysis of sustainable AM. This review shows that even though there has been an effort in recent years to integrate sustainability into additive manufacturing, there is still a long road to the development of this topic for the future, and so some recommendations for future research paths are presented.

Training Future Managers to Address the Challenges of Sustainable Development: An Innovative, Interdisciplinary, and Multiregional Experience on Corporate Sustainability Education

This paper presents an innovative experience involving students and professors from diverse backgrounds and regions that was designed to integrate corporate sustainability (CS) knowledge into undergraduate programs. An action research approach was adopted, with the course running over one semester. The course involved 146 students with diverse academic backgrounds from universities across Brazil along with eight professors from Brazil, Chile, and South Africa. The proposed approach provides actionable insights into the integration of sustainability concepts in the higher educational setting, thereby contributing to the development of a more environmentally and socially conscious generation of professionals. The learning outcomes are discussed in the light of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda, particularly SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), and SDG 13 (climate action). In addition, it is important to highlight that the dissemination of the course’s key features can be useful for universities, professors, and researchers engaged in training future professionals capable of addressing real-world problems of innovation and sustainability. By employing an action research methodology and fostering collaboration among students and professors with diverse academic backgrounds and from different countries, including Brazil, Chile, and South Africa, this paper presents a multiregional and interdisciplinary perspective that sets it apart from conventional practices. The emphasis on providing actionable insights and its potential applicability for universities, professors, and researchers involved in training future professionals further underscore its distinctive contribution to education for sustainable development.

Secondary Raw Materials for Circular Economy in Construction Sector: A Review

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is very high in quantity, 30% - 40% of total solid waste and their management is inadequate and lack the integration of sustainability concepts. This situation leads to severe environmental effects, which are mainly associated with the production of new building materials due to the low recovery rate. In fact some studies show that 5-10% of total energy consumption across the EU is related to the manufacture of construction products. For this reason, CDW is a priority for many policies globally. For several years, a growing trend towards more sustainable construction processes has been taking place with a focus on secondary raw materials with lower environmental impacts on the entire life cycle. For this reason, this paper intends to contribute to increasing knowledge in this field through a review article. The review has the aim to evaluate the research gap, strategies to reduce construction waste and to promote the recycled materials use for a circular economy in construction sector. The results of the study showed that interest in this field of research has grown strongly over the years: the most publications on the subject relate to the last five years. On the other hand, issues relating to the topic did not attract particular interest in the range 2010-2016, in fact the number of publications in this period did not exceed 4%. The research showed that Europe is among the communities most sensitive to the issue and it has clearly revealed that there are still many barriers and research gaps to be overcome on this issue and the study has tried to identify the main ones.

The contribution of project management to a more sustainable society: Exploring the perception of project managers

Projects are instrumental to the sustainable development of organisations and society. The integration of sustainability concepts into project management is also recognized as an important global project management trend. However, the practices do not reflect this role of projects and project management in sustainability. Therefore, the research reported in this paper studies how project managers perceive the contribution of project management to a more sustainable society, as an indication of the awareness that project managers have about their role in sustainable development. The study adopted grounded theory-based research based on qualitative data collection and analysis. The findings reveal that the sustainability theme is reasonably familiar to the project managers, though mainly in the meaning of sustainability of the project. The other meanings, sustainability by the project, sustainability of the organisation, and the project manager's ethics and behaviour towards sustainability, were much less mentioned. The findings suggest that the project managers perceive the contribution of project management to a more sustainable society primarily related to the project processes and are less aware of the role projects play in changing organisations and society towards sustainability.

Response of Fresh Food Suppliers to Sustainable Supply Chain Management of Large European Retailers

This article analyses new supply chain management (SCM) strategies of the largest retail distribution chains in Europe within the context of differing sustainability concepts and approaches. An analysis is carried out of the strategic plans of such retailers, as well as recent developments in the sector. We begin by identifying the priority actions of retailers and then evaluating, by means of a survey, how small horticultural marketing firms (mainly cooperatives) in southeast Spain respond to the needs of these retailers. Subsequently, an analysis is carried out on these small marketing firm exporters to identify the relative weight which they assign to the variables assessed, while also considering the existing relationships between said weighted variables and business profits. Our results show that retailers tend to establish more simplified supply chains (that is, shorter and more vertical), essentially demonstrating their interpretation of a sustainable supply chain. In contrast, horticultural marketing firms have concentrated more on tactical and operational issues, thereby neglecting environmental, social and logistics management. Thus, their success rate in meeting the sustainability demands of their customers can be considered medium-low, requiring a more proactive attitude. Improved and collaborative relations, and the integration of sustainability concepts between suppliers (marketing firms) and their clients could contribute to successfully meeting sustainability demands. From the point of view of the consumer, close supplier–retail relationships have solved food safety issues, but the implementation of sustainability in other supply chain activities and processes is a pending issue. We propose strategic approximation and collaboration to bridge the gap between the varying sustainability demands in the supplier–retail relationship within perishable supply chains. Although this article specifically addresses fresh vegetable supply chains, the results may be extrapolated to other agri-food chains with a similar structure.

Teaching Case. The Case of Assabi: Expanding the Learning on Sustainability Through an Experiential Qualitative Multi-Criteria Decision Making Activity

ABSTRACTThis teaching case study provides a learning context to explore the integration of sustainability concepts into business decision-making processes from multiple stakeholder perspectives. The case study consists of the simulation of a multi-criteria decision process in a fictitious story about stakeholders interested in the export of frozen fruit pulp from the Amazon forest in Brazil to a large supermarket chain in the UK. Within this case, we present: the key stakeholders and their interests; the alternatives for negotiation and; indicators related to financial performance and the economic, social and environmental impacts predicted by the implementation of each alternative. The learning activities are structured using an integration of Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) and learning in teams with a qualitative engagement with a Multi-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA). Student groups experience the role of stakeholders by representing their values, knowledge, and preferences in an interactive process where they are progressively exposed to different levels of information about the decision and its consequences. The activity has the potential to offer a practical and complementary contribution in different learning environments to accounting and business decision-making for sustainability.

Major Challenges to the Sustainable Operations of Construction Equipment in Malaysia

The growing considerations of people, profit and planet have emphasized the integration of sustainable concepts in the construction processes. The previous research in sustainable construction has underlined the issues pertaining to raw material and its manufacturing; design aspects along with the occupancy phase of a building life cycle. However, concerned over GHG emissions from the operation of non-road diesel equipment are still being ignored in the established literature. These non-road construction equipment consume fossil fuel and a serious threat for green environment. In addition to this, health and safety issues are also important concerns for the human well-being. Thus, mitigating these impacts are the important aspects of sustainable planning for onsite construction activities. A questionnaire survey was carried out to explore the contractors views towards potential challenges that are relevant with the growing attention of sustainability in construction sector. A group of large civil contractors of Malaysian construction industry were solicited through online survey to prioritize the potential barriers. The research findings presents a broader view and a number of challenges that inhibits the contractors for acquiring, adopting and implementing sustainable practices for onsite mechanized construction activities.

Ever deeper and wider: incorporating sustainability into a practitioner oriented engineering curriculum

Whilst valuable debates about how best to plan, promote, and evaluate sustainable futures for our communities are conducted by governments and NGOs at global gatherings, there is an equal, and possibly more pressing, need to inspire and equip engineering graduates with the means to design and implement the required solutions. However, incorporation of sustainability as a subject into existing syllabi is problematic, primarily because of the need for students to acquire both holistic and context specific skills. This contribution first considers the reasons why we should be concerned with the integration of sustainability concepts into graduate and post-graduate curricula. We then go on to discuss the significance of cross-disciplinary thinking and skills as a key element of sustainability relevant knowledge. Finally, we report the design and deployment, within a water engineering degree course, of a post-graduate module in "Process design for sustainability". The implications of our experiences for the theory and practice of engineering education are examined and suggestions made concerning best practice.

Integrating green chemistry and sustainability into a specialty chemical company

Abstract Most companies have embraced the American Chemistry Council (ACC) Responsible Care" program, including Product Stewardship, and are integrating ISO 14001 and other environmental management systems. The Rohm and Haas Company uses environmental improvement objectives that not only focus on compliance with existing regulations and industry trends, but for developing business unit-driven objectives to reduce our environmental footprints for processes and systems. To attain the next level of strategic environmental management, integration of sustainable concepts and activities into a general management framework, new product development and corporate decision-making processes must occur. Businesses need to internalize that operating sustainably creates long-term value, achieves a greater competitive edge, and is not solely a short-term cost-reduction activity. They must recognize and foster implementation of technological advances in green chemistry, life-cycle analysis, risk assessment, and engineering consistent with specific business goals. Development of sustainability improvement objectives for each business unit assists in meeting our global sustainability goals. The process, measures and metrics, challenges, and results for integrating sustainability into the culture at Rohm and Haas will be described during this presentation.