Pillars Of Sustainable Development Research Articles

Sustainability Report of Portuguese Municipalities: The Three Pillars of Sustainable Development

AbstractStudies regarding the economic, social, and environmental impacts of sustainable policies and practices in the public sector are scarce. This is an important gap, as the public sector is oftentimes one of the largest, if not the largest, employer in a region or a country. The current study characterizes the sustainability reporting of the Portuguese municipalities in terms of their most recent sustainability report published online, aiming to better understand the pillars of sustainability. The research is based on secondary data publicly available. Results show that only 28 municipalities (out of 308) published a sustainability report, and that most information are focused on showing a balance between environmental and economic data; the results also show that there is a lack of social information, and that only a few reports show an alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Trust as a determinant of green finance through information sharing and technological penetration: Integrating the moderation of governance for sustainable growth

This study makes the first attempt to evaluate trust as a determinant of green finance as well as the collective effect of trust and green finance on the pillars of sustainable development. It further explores two parallel mediators (information sharing and technological penetration) and the moderation role of good governance in this relationship. The empirical evidence is based on Hayes's process analysis and the following findings were established: (1) Trust has a positive impact on green finance both directly and indirectly through technological penetration; (2) Good governance has a strengthening influence on the link between trust and green finance, particularly when trust levels are low; and (3) Trust and green finance collectively foster sustainable development. Thus, our study emphasizes the need to source funds in a manner that is transparent and digitally accessible. Overall, the result provides empirical support for the need for trustworthy collaborations and funding to drive sustainable development. An important policy implication is to reset the minimum information coverage and technological penetration levels to at least 6.86% and 7.54%, respectively.

Approaching road design from a sustainability perspective

The construction industry began emphasizing the three major pillars of sustainable development after the 1987 Brundtland Report. Sustainable design methodologies focus on life-cycle costs and the associated impacts of construction, operation, and maintenance. Maintaining road infrastructure accounts for a significant portion of the development budget owing to recurring costs, construction, and material extraction, while also resulting in other difficulties for the society. Poor road quality induce increased cost of living and degraded quality of life. Owing to front-end costs, road owners are typically motivated to pursue designs focused on the project’s initial cost. This is primarily attributable to a lack of understanding of sustainable development parameters. Life cycle cost attempts to quantify the environmental costs of sustainable construction. However, societal factors have been generally ignored. Currently, road section design is open to the designers’ choice of conventional unreinforced sections or a wide variety of planar and three-dimensional geosynthetic reinforcements. This study defined quantitative and scaled qualitative measures for designing road infrastructure using a sustainable approach. The methodology was explained using a full-scale real-life road project.

Recycling of Egyptian Shammi Corn Stalks for Maintaining Sustainable Cement Industry: Scoring on Sustainable Development Goals

This study focuses on recycling Shammi corn stalks in the cement industries, further avoiding air and soil pollution caused by their improper disposal. This crop residue was thermally treated at 700 °C for 2 h under an oxygen-rich environment to produce Shammi corn stalk ash (SCSA). This SCSA was used as a cement replacement material (2–10%, w/w), whereas the control sample included only cement. The compressive strength values for the 4% (w/w) replacement ratio at 2-, 7-, and 28-day ages were greater than those for the control by 26.5%, 15.8%, and 11.4%, respectively. This 4% (w/w) also maintained a better flexural strength than other mixtures, with proper initial and final setting times (135 and 190 min), workability (18.5 cm), and water consistency (27.5%). These mechanical/physical properties were integrated with socio-enviro-economic data collected from experts through a pairwise comparison questionnaire, forming the inputs of a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model. Recycling SCSA in the cement-manufacturing process attained positive scores in the achievement of the three pillars of sustainable development, revealing an overall score greater than the control. Hence, the study outcomes could be essential in developing green concrete, cement blocks, and mortar, based on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) agenda.

Energy consumption baseline for public schools in the West Bank-Palestine

Schools play a significant role in social development which is one of the three major pillars of sustainable development. Schools are also a hub to promote sustainable practices, and hence, it is imperative to measure the actual energy performance of school buildings. This research was designed to quantify the actual energy consumption in public school buildings in the West Bank in Palestine to establish a baseline for energy consumption in public school buildings. Methodologically, the historical energy performance of a representative random sample consisting of 103 schools in the West Bank was statistically analysed. The results show that the average annual energy consumption in public school buildings is 10,368 kWh, while the annual energy use intensity is around 8.35 kWh/m2/year, and 35.44 kWh/student/year. The results presented in this research are not surprisingly low due to the fact that energy consumption in school buildings is heavily determined by heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems which often do not exist in public school buildings in the West Bank. This research is the first to provide empirical statistical evidence about the actual amount of energy consumed in public school buildings in the West Bank, as well as it is the first to present a baseline energy consumption for public schools. The results presented in this research can be used as an industry benchmark by policy and decision-makers to assess green schools’ performance which, besides reducing the negative impacts on the environment, have the potential to improve health, productivity and, education environment.

A Thermo-Economic Measure of Sustainability

Recently, an improvement of the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), named the Thermodynamic Human Development Index (THDI), has been introduced to link socio-economics to environmental and technical pillars of sustainable development. In this paper, the THDI is linked to the Kaya identity to bring out the quantities useful in energy economics and to obtain a clearer tool for the evaluation of sustainability. Moreover, the THDI has been normalized for use as an index for the analysis of sustainability. The component related to environmental emissions, which is included in the THDI, can be linked to the Kaya identity. This linkage allows us to use the THDI for the analysis of scenarios, which is useful for evaluating the possible impacts of any future actions on the development of countries.

Eco-efficiency as a prioritization tool in the reduction of food waste in restaurants

Striving towards eco-efficiency means creating more value while generating a product or service with a reduced environmental impact. This quest makes it possible to link objectives associated with both the environmental and the economic pillars of sustainable development. Eco-efficiency could therefore be an interesting tool to evaluate the impacts of food waste (FW) and the potential of various food waste reduction strategies (FWRSs). However, the use of eco-efficiency to assess the interest in implementing FWRSs has never been explored in the foodservice sector. This work firstly aims to carry out an in-depth analysis of the costs of the FW generation of an independent restaurant. Secondly, based on these costs data and on some previously documented environmental impact data with a life cycle assessment according to ISO 14045:2012, this work also aims to model and evaluate the performance of FWRSs from a perspective of improving a restaurant eco-efficiency. The impact of each FWRS on the eco-efficiency of the restaurant under study was measured by modeling their economic and environmental net benefits over three implementation periods (one week, one month and six months) and under scenarios of strong and weak adherence. The study identified the most eco-efficient FWRSs to be implemented to reduce FW in the studied restaurant. In addition, key factors affecting eco-efficiency were raised, namely the period following the implementation of FWRSs, the FW reduction rate between FWRSs affecting the same type of FW, the specificity of the FWRSs and their ability to limit the waste of vegetables, meat, sea products and food requiring significant processing time by the cooks. Thus, these elements will guide foodservice managers in adopting FWRSs aimed at reducing FW generated in their restaurant and at improving its eco-efficiency. In addition, this work proposes a new methodology intended for the scientific community to identify FWRSs that have a strong impact on a restaurant eco-efficiency.

Sustainability and Human Rights Practices and Training

Twenty-first century citizens live in an interconnected, diverse and intensively changing world. Developing sustainability and human rights practices is of major importance for the survival of both the present and the future generations. This research study comes to investigate primary education teachers’ sustainability practices in their daily lives concerning the three basic pillars of sustainable development, environment, society and economy. At a second level, it is sought to investigate whether there is a correlation between teachers’ practices and their training in sustainability and human rights issues. The "Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire", in its short version with closed-ended questions-statements was delivered, whereas its reliability and validity were positively assessed. The technique of convenient sampling process was applied, and the sample consisted of 452 primary education teachers working in the Region of Western Greece. Data were analyzed by using IBM SPSS v.28 software. Percentages, frequencies of the mean value and standard deviation were calculated. The test of normality of variables for skills was done with Kolmogorov-Smirnov, and the parametric t-Test was applied to investigate correlations. The internal consistency reliability of the questions of the sustainability practices questionnaire is satisfactory. The findings of the research indicate that the participants are sensitive towards the necessity of recycling, waste management, saving energy, respecting others, and supporting economically weaker people. Finally, it is worth mentioning that teachers who have been trained in sustainability and human rights issues show a greater positive attitude towards sustainability practices than those who have not been trained.

The Influence of TiO2 Nanoparticles on the Physico–Mechanical and Structural Characteristics of Cementitious Materials

The urgent need for sustainable construction that corresponds to the three pillars of sustainable development is obvious and continuously requires innovative solutions. Cementitious composites with TiO2 nanoparticles (NT) addition show potential due to their improved durability, physico–mechanical characteristics, and self-cleaning capacity. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of NT on cementitious composites by comparing those with 2%–5% nanoparticles with a similar control sample without nanoparticles, as well as an analysis of cost growth. The experimental results showed an increase in bulk density of the material (4.7%–7.4%), reduction in large pore sizes by min. 12.5%, together with an increase in cumulative volume and cumulative specific surface area of small pore sizes, indicating densification of the material, also supported by SEM, EDS, and XRD analyses indicating acceleration of cement hydration processes with formation of specific products. The changes at microstructural level support the experimental results obtained at macrostructural level, i.e., modest but existent increases in flexural strength (0.6%–7.9%) and compressive strength (0.2%–2.6%) or more significant improvements in abrasion resistance (8.2%–58%) and reduction in water absorption coefficient (37.5%–81.3%). Following the cost–benefit analysis, it was concluded that, for the example case considered of a pedestrian pavement with a surface area of 100 m2, using 100 mm thick slabs, if these slabs were to be made with two layers, the lower layer made of cementitious composite as a reference and the upper layer with a thickness of 10 mm made of cementitious composite with 3% NT or 4% NT, the increase in cost would be acceptable, representing less than 15% compared to the cost for the exclusive use of cementitious composite without NT.

A Qualitative Analysis of Climate Impacts on Egyptian Ports

Ports are vital in the global trading system but are also vulnerable to climate-related threats. This problem has not been widely studied, especially in Egypt. However, there is an urgent need to address climate-related threats to Egyptian ports, which could have significant economic and trade-related consequences. Therefore, exploring the Egyptian port administrations’ and stakeholders’ perceptions regarding climatic hazards is an urgent and essential matter for sustainable and resilient ports, considering their strategic economic importance. Consequently, this article is the first to examine how the port authorities perceive and respond to climate hazards in one of the most important and largest commercial Egyptian ports; it also explores their adaptation strategies and plans, considering the national agenda to develop the coastal ports respecting the sustainable development pillars, and fills the gaps in regional and national studies on seaports and climatic hazards. The paper focuses on the Great Alexandria Port, which includes the Alexandria and El-Dekheila ports. A questionnaire is designed and distributed in different port sectors for gathering relevant data and conducting interviews, discussions, and workshops. The findings declare obvious concern about developing the Egyptian ports under the national projects umbrella. Also, the port authorities are aware of the risks of climate change and believe some adaptation measures are necessary and could be essential soon. They are taking steps to adapt their ports, considering a specific strategy that includes rehabilitating infrastructure (breakwater and berths), functional facilities, and services, improving drainage systems to enhance their port’s resilience, and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our research findings suggest that there are opportunities for scientists to engage with the port stakeholders to proactively develop plans to alleviate climate change’s effects on their ports.

Regional Tourism Ecosystem as a Tool for Sustainable Development during the Economic Crisis

The paper aims to examine the perspective on the development of regional tourism ecosystems as one of the pillars of sustainable development in Russian regions. In order to meet the research objective, we combined a variety of methods: the Delphi method to analyse expert views and carry out the process of weighting indicators, mathematical and statistical processing of the evaluation results to obtain a comprehensive estimate of tourism development in Russian regions. We moved through four stages, namely: studying the local ecosystems and natural resources; examination of historical and cultural resources; studying the socioeconomic resources in the regions; evaluating the skills and competencies of regional tourist office staff. Using complex sustainability indicators, we attempted to ascertain, on the one hand, how the current state of the tourism industry in Russian regions affects the overall sustainability of regional development. As a result, we presented rankings of the Russian regions depending on their complex sustainability indicators. On the other hand, we attempted to confirm that the availability, implementation, and establishment of novel approaches determine the future possibilities for the growth and strengthening of regional tourism sustainability. We found that there is a need for pervasive integration of innovations into conventional management approaches, including digital instruments supporting successful regional tourism ecosystem development. Finally, we proposed a model of such an ecosystem as a component of an innovative hypercluster.

Managing Material, Information and Human Flows in Circular Manufacturing Systems with the Help of Emerging Digital Technologies

The Circular Economy is struggling to establish itself in manufacturing systems, with the latest Circular Gap report showing that circularity is declining as the environmental situation worsens. Against this backdrop, several researchers have suggested that implementing emerging digital technologies of Industry 4.0 could be a key resource in this transition towards greater circularity in production. As circular manufacturing systems imply a relatively high complexity of flows, emerging technologies could be particularly useful in this context. After a brief review of the literature on material, information and human flows, a coupling with digital technologies is proposed to address the challenges of flow management in the circular economy. A critical analysis of the research on the use of digital technologies in the management of flows in circular manufacturing systems is then carried out. Finally, the perspectives for research in this area are presented, emphasising the need for multidisciplinary research and distinguishing the areas of research that can be commissioned to fill these research gaps. As part of a multidisciplinary project combining engineering, humanities and social sciences, this research prioritises an approach that equally integrates the three pillars of sustainable development (financial and technical, environmental and social).

THE PEACE, SECURITY, AND DEVELOPMENT NEXUS APPROACH TO ADDRESS VIOLENT CONFLICTS IN AFRICA

Peace, security, and development are the three most important pillars of a healthy social system. Although these concepts are independent of each other, they are mutually interlinked and complementary pillars of sustainable development and peace. Linking development, peacebuilding, and security promotion and integrating them into national strategies and planning processes in post-conflict African countries has the potential to create synergies and more effective policies that prevent relapses into conflict as well as address social and regional inequalities and vulnerabilities. This paper discusses some aspects of the development process in post-conflict countries in Africa based on the case studies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and South Sudan.

Green knowledge management to achieve corporate sustainable development

The mining industry significantly impacts the three pillars of sustainable development: the economy, the environment, and society. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate sustainability principles into operational practices. Organizations can accomplish this through knowledge management activities and diverse knowledge resources. A study of 300 employees from two of the largest mining corporations in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, found that four out of five elements of knowledge management—green knowledge acquisition, green knowledge storage, green knowledge application, and green knowledge creation—have a direct impact on the sustainability of businesses. The calculation was determined using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). However, the study also found that the influence of collectivist cultural norms inhibits the direct effect of green knowledge sharing on corporate sustainable development. The finding suggests that companies operating in collectivist cultures may need to take additional measures to encourage knowledge sharing, such as rewarding employees for sharing their expertise on green initiatives, supportive organizational culture, clear expectations, and opportunities for social interaction.

Leveraging Information and Communication Technologies in Forest Ecotourism: A Case Study from Poland

Ecotourism encompasses various forms of tourism which are implemented in accordance with the principles of sustainable development of the EU. They maintain a balance between the three pillars of sustainable development: economic development, sustainable use of natural resources, and respect for social and cultural values. Ecotourism in forests holds particular significance due to its ability to sustain the ecological, social, and economic integrity of these areas. Activities promoting access to forests focus on ensuring a safe and enriching experience for forest users while simultaneously conserving nature. In response to the needs of forest tourism and recreation enthusiasts, innovative developments and new information and communications technologies (ICTs) such as websites, web platforms, mobile apps, QR codes, and others are being introduced with increasing frequency. These technologies already have a wide range of applications in providing access to tourism information and services in other sectors of tourism management and are now supplanting conventional sightseeing information systems. This paper aims to present the activities currently underway in connection with the development of a new tourism and recreation offering in the forests owned by the State Treasury and managed by the State Forests National Forest Holding in Poland. The research involved conducting an environmental survey among representatives of all forest districts in Poland (n = 425). A questionnaire survey was created using the Microsoft Forms web-based programme and made available online to representatives of all State Forests’ forest districts in Poland participating in the Stay Overnight in the Forest programme. The scope of this paper covers the present day, with a primary focus on desk research and analysis of statistics and source materials pertaining to the period from 2007 to 2022, retrieved from internal documents and reports prepared by the General Directorate of the State Forests. The research demonstrated that technological innovations such as mobile apps, social media, websites, web portals, and YouTube TV, when employed for developing forest tourism and forest recreation in Poland, can contribute to the advancement of the forest’s non-productive role, namely, a social role and in particular, the tourism, leisure, and recreational function of the State Forests.

Sustainable development spillover effects among selected Asian countries: Analysis of integrated sustainability perspective

This study aims to investigate how different pillars of sustainable development in Iran interrelate with those in Russia and Saudi Arabia from the perspective of integrated sustainability. For this investigation, it assesses the spillover effects of sustainable development in these countries by estimating their sustainability elasticities. It maps the regional spillover effects between the sustainability of Iran versus those of Russia and Saudi Arabia using SEY model by estimating the elasticities of sustainability with a combination of Simultaneous Equations System, Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, and Granger causality technique. The results confirm the integrated sustainability perspective in terms of the interconnection of sustainable development spillover effects from Russia and Saudi Arabia to Iran. Most of the estimated coefficients are statistically significant, showing high elasticities of sustainability and considerable spillover effects which confirms the perspective of integrated sustainability with spillover effects as the 4th pillar of sustainability. However, the results reject both weak and strong sustainability perspectives. According to the findings of this study, policy-makers should follow flow-based governance instead of local-based governance. In this approach, strategists should improve the international relationship with other countries, especially Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Moreover, decision-makers should establish a peaceful and strong connection with other countries via signing international agreements, treaties, and understandings.

SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND PRECARIOUS HOUSING: THE CASE OF ALGERIA

After its experience with the Millennium Development Goals program, Algeria is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. This is to develop and improve its regions and cities that suffer from several problems, including the persisting proliferation of precarious housing. The government has set up a national development strategy and implemented it through a policy based on the reconciliation of the three pillars of sustainable development to ensure sustainable cities and regions. Through a review of government policy instruments and their deliverables, this paper explores the extent of success of the policies. It investigates the relationship between sustainable cities and precarious housing by means of an analysis of the measures taken to incorporate the concept of sustainable development into urban planning policies to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Finally, it suggests the need to include communities in any urban planning policy implementation.

Highway Transportation, Health, and Social Equity: A Delphi-ANP Approach to Sustainable Transport Planning

It has become standard practice for governments and transportation engineers around the world to infuse sustainability principles into their plans as higher-level goals and priorities, with indicators to reflect the same. The transformation towards sustainable mobility should involve the three interconnected pillars of sustainable development: environment, social equity, and economy. These pillars, known in the business field as the ‘triple-bottom-line’, require specific indicators that can be used to measure the attainment of each pillar. There is evidence that the social equity impacts of construction projects, such as transport projects, and their distributional effects across various segments of society have traditionally been viewed as secondary or subsidiary concerns relative to their economic and environmental impacts. Recognizing the relative relegation in both academic and policy circles of social impacts and the ‘weak’ tools to identify such impacts, this research aims to employ a hybrid decision method based on the analytic network process and Delphi method to identify the major adverse impacts of highway automobiles on health and social equity in the UAE. In doing so, governments will be better positioned to mitigate adverse impacts through engineering, urban planning, technological, and other appropriate initiatives. Throughout the Delphi process, 15 health and social equity indicators have been validated by experts in the field of sustainability and transportation through an iterative process. Then, experts in the same field were chosen to develop and validate the ANP model based on the validated indicators through pairwise comparison questionnaires. The results and findings revealed that the experts’ judgment preferences are consistent (inconsistency value less than 0.1), wherein the highest priority is the ‘Safety’ indicator, and the lowest priority is the ‘Public participation in transport decision’ indicator.

Trading off sustainable development in Canadian cities: theoretical implications of SDG 11 indicator aggregation approaches

Sustainable Urban Development requires an optimization of multi-dimensional targets across social, economic, and environmental pillars of development. These multi-dimensional targets are largely captured by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which comprise 17 goals spread across pillars of sustainable development. The pursuit of these targets, however, often exposes synergies and trade-offs between the goals. Broader discussions of trade-offs between human and natural capital have been conceptualized along the contours of weak versus strong conceptualizations of sustainable development. This challenge is exposed not only in strategizing sustainable urban development but also in measuring progress toward that aim. With this background in mind, there is limited research to indicate how Canadian cities are progressing toward the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the extent to which trade-offs in SDG performance should be treated. This investigation collected indicators for SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities, on 18 Census Metropolitan Areas in Canada for the purpose of designing an index of SDG achievement. The resulting index aggregation measures compared performance depending on whether the CMAs were allowed to trade-off performance across the SDG 11 indicators. The results expose the significant role of non-compensatory aggregation methods (which do not allow the trade-off of performance) when measuring sustainable development. The implications of these findings demonstrate the need to consider policy pathways that address these trade-offs and consider how that progress is measured.

DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE URBAN REGENERATION (SUR) EVALUATION METHOD FOR THE MALAYSIAN CONTEXT

Sustainable urban regeneration (SUR) represents an advanced and comprehensive approach to urban regeneration, aiming to integrate the three key pillars of sustainable development. While various global framework exist for measuring sustainable urban regeneration performance, a dedicated method tailored to the specificities of the Malaysian context remains absent. This study addresses this gap by developing SUR evaluation method for Malaysia, utilising indicators as a means to gauge sustainability performance. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to solicit assessments from key experts regarding potential SUR criteria and indicators. The resulting data were analysed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to establish weightage based on priority scales. Results from the study identified ten (10) fundamental criteria and thirty-three (33) indicators, each assigned respective weightage, pivotal in achieving sustainable urban regeneration. This study contributes to the improvement of sustainability performance of urban regeneration initiatives in Malaysia by introducing a novel evaluation method. As a way forward, it is recommended that the practicality and capability of the proposed evaluation method be assessed through real-life case study in Malaysia.