Scope Of Sustainable Development Research Articles

Strategic Choice And Responsible Innovation: Integrating Approaches To Foster Sustainable Business Development

The study focuses on addressing businesses' growing need to integrate sustainability into their decision-making processes, given the recognized worldwide environmental impacts derived from industrial and technological growth. The study proposes a decision-support artifact that aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In light of the principles of Design Science Research (DSR), it combines the Strategic Choice Approach (SCA), which helps manage uncertainties, with Responsible Innovation (RI) principles to guide the socially and environmentally conscious innovation process. As another novel, this artifact adopted the Borda voting system to select the best sustainable development courses of action. Data from a Brazilian solar energy company were considered to demonstrate the artifact’s application. Our results deliver a decision-making support artifact whose results serve as inputs for strategic planning for the business. These artifacts highlight the importance of collaborations for decision-making within the scope of sustainable development. This paper proposes a novel and holistic approach that recognizes peculiar aspects of managerial commitment to advancing sustainability within a business context, contributing to the literature. Managers also can apply this decision artifact to improve sustainability performance.

Comparing Machine Learning Regression Models for Early-Age Compressive Strength Prediction of Recycled Aggregate Concrete

A branch of artificial intelligence called machine learning is well-positioned as a prediction method that can take into consideration several influencing factors and complex inter-factor connections. Without being specifically trained to do so, these machine learning models have the ability to generalize, predict, and learn from data. Regression theory is a key topic in statistical modelling and machine learning. The main goal of this study is to compare the performance of several popular machine learning regression models for predicting the early-age compressive strength of concretes made from recycled concrete aggregates from a structure that demolished following the Sivrice-Elazig earthquake on January 24, 2020. Early-age concrete compressive strength is even more crucial due to factors like the fact that there are thousands of newly built structures in the aftermath of the earthquake, the quick manufacturing of these structures, and the completion of the project in the lowest amount of time. Determining the early-age concrete strength with high accuracy and in a useful manner is crucial for this reason. Seven different classical machine learning algorithms were employed in this study to achieve all of these goals. Early-age concrete compressive strength values were considered for 1 and 3 days. The relationship between the experimental results and the predicted outcomes of the employed algorithms was investigated, and a thorough comparison of these intelligent regression algorithms was conducted. Within the scope of sustainable development and circular economy goals, it is thought that this article will make significant contributions to the literature in terms of utilizing these waste materials and determining the early-age compressive strengths of the concretes produced with high accuracy.

Development and Evaluation of Peace-Oriented Education Activity for Preschool Children within the Scope of Sustainable Development

The aim of this research is to develop contemporary peace education that can be implemented in the pre-school period to ensure global citizenship. In this study, action research design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The study group of this research consisted of five-year-old children who attend a public kindergarten and their parents, classroom teacher, and researcher. The data were collected by means of the peace value attitude questionnaire prepared for parents and classroom teachers, the technology-supported child interview form, the teacher diary form, and the researcher diary form. Research was carried out in three stages: needs analysis, implementation, and evaluation. Educational activities covering peace education were developed, and they were administered to the children for 12 weeks. Within the framework of the results obtained, it was determined that the five-year-old children who made up the study group consciously gained the value of peace, were sensitive to the multicultural structure, and strengthened their communication with their peers. In light of these results, we should develop integrated programs in preschool education, place the value of peace at the center, and provide peace education widely in the preschool period by all stakeholders for global citizenship.

A hierarchical optimization approach to maximize hosting capacity for electric vehicles and renewable energy sources through demand response and transmission expansion planning

Within the scope of sustainable development, integrating electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy sources (RESs) into power grids offers a number of benefits. These include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, diversifying energy sources, and promoting the use of green energy. Although the literature on hosting capacity (HC) models has grown, there is still a noticeable gap in the discussion of models that successfully handle transmission expansion planning (TEP), demand response (DR), and HC objectives simultaneously. Combining TEP, DR, and HC objectives in one model optimizes resource use, enhances grid stability, supports renewable and EV integration, and aligns with regulatory and market demands, resulting in a more efficient, reliable, and sustainable power system. This research presents an innovative two-layer HC model, including considerations for TEP and DR. The model determines the highest degree of load shifting appropriate for incorporation into power networks in the first layer. Meanwhile, the second layer focuses on augmenting the RES and EVs’ hosting capability and modernizing the network infrastructure. System operators can choose the best scenario to increase the penetration level of EVs and RESs with the aid of the proposed model. The proposed model, which is formulated as a multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problem, uses a hierarchical optimization technique to identify effective solutions by combining the particle swarm optimization algorithm and the crayfish optimizer. When compared to traditional methods, the results obtained from implementing the proposed hierarchical optimization algorithm on the Garver network and the IEEE 24-bus system indicated how effective it is at solving the presented HC model. The case studies demonstrated that integrating DR into the HC problem reduced peak load by 10.4–23.25%. The findings also highlighted that DR did not impact the total energy consumed by EVs throughout the day, but it did reshape the timing of EV charging, creating more opportunities for integration during periods of high demand. Implementing DR reduced the number of projects needed and, in some cases, led to cost savings of up to 12.3%.

Enhancing Coastal Flooding Preparedness To Climate Change: An Experimental Analysis Of Urban-Integrated Non-Conventional Adaptation Solutions

Coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to their exposure to mean sea-level rise and an intensification in the frequency and intensity of extreme events. Among the most vulnerable areas in Europe are the coastal urban areas of the Macaronesia Islands territories, since they are characterized with urban settlements in low land areas, being highly exposed to flooding. Within the scope of sustainable development and at the same time with the aim of increasing resilience in these areas, the development of a new methodological framework for implementing risk reduction and adaptation measures in coastal flood-prone areas is being applied with the framework of the LIFE-Garachico project (Tenerife, Spain). One of proposed adaptation options is the implementation of concrete blocks in the form of a bench to be disposed along the municipality seafront with the aim of reducing the impact of water sheets into building, generated by wave overtopping. This study presents the results obtained by means of a hybrid numerical and experimental technique to define the hydraulic performance of different bench configuration. Results are included in a global methodology to define the optimum time to implement this solution due to the consideration of different climate change scenarios.

Optimizing sustainable concrete compressive strength prediction: A new particle swarm optimization‐based metaheuristic approach to neural network modeling for circular economy and disaster resilience

AbstractThis study aims to predict the final‐age compressive strengths of sustainable concrete series produced using different aggregate types with high accuracy using an artificial intelligence model and to reduce environmental degradation and conserve rapidly decreasing natural resources within the scope of sustainable development and circular economy goals. For this purpose, 45 different sustainable concrete series containing all‐natural, recycled, natural, and recycled concrete aggregates were produced and subjected to compressive strength tests at 7 and 28 days. In addition, this study also considers whether deep neural network models, which have gained popularity in recent years but have high time and resource costs, or shallow models are more suitable for determining the compressive strength values with high accuracy. For this purpose, a method is proposed that can automatically generate the optimal neural network model using a metaheuristic approach that eliminates the human factor. For this purpose, the proposed method was extensively compared with different classical machine learning algorithms. The proposed method predicted the 7 and 28‐day compressive strength with a coefficient of determination of 0.999 and presented better compressive strength predictions than all other algorithms. Considering the number of buildings to be constructed after earthquakes, the widespread use of concrete, and the importance of compressive strength, the proposed method will likely provide significant gains within sustainable development, circular economy, and disaster risk reduction.

Use of Magnetic Flux Leakage to Diagnose Damage to a Lift Guide Rails System with Reference to the Sustainability Aspect

The scientific objective of the conducted experimental research was to find an answer as to whether the application of magnetic flux leakage would be an effective tool for assessing the technical condition of lift guide rails in which the loss of thickness of the guide part is damage resulting from the brake whose operation destructively affects the surface shown. In particular, the scientific objective was to investigate the potential of this method in the context of quantitative assessment of the degree of damage featuring small increments in depth at the level of tenths of a millimetre. The conducted research was also aimed at determining the correlation of the effect of damage type with the nature of the signal recorded. The article presents the results of our own research, obtained from experiments on the use of magnetic flux leakage (MFL) to diagnose damage occurring on lift guide rails. During operation, lift guide rails are exposed to contact with the friction elements of brakes, resulting in the violation of their surfaces. Damage to the working surfaces of guide rails increases the vibration of the device, noise and wear of other components of the lift, such as guide rails. Currently, diagnostics of lift guide rails are not carried out, and their replacement depends on their technical condition. However, from an economic point of view, there are situations wherein their condition allows their use without their replacement with new ones. This was the main factor that guided the authors; we used a diagnostic head of our own design for the tests. The obtained measurement results showed that magnetic flux leakage can be used with great success to diagnose damage to guide rails. The results obtained in the laboratory shall be further developed in the form of research on correlating the signals obtained from magnetic sensors and the size of the damage, which shall eventually allow for a final quantitative assessment of guide rails regarding their technical condition. The conducted research fits into the scope of sustainable development by reducing the need for the consumption of electric energy and the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere in the overall production balance. This will be made possible by implementing the developed head in industrial practice in the context of assessing the need to replace guide rails with new ones. The economic and environmental efficiency that is the basis of sustainable development in the context of lifts can be achieved at the modernisation stage by repeated (further) use of as many components as possible. An example of this is the guide rail system, the reuse of which is possible after a prior assessment of its wear and tear.

Exploring the sustainable reporting practices of universities in relation to the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for sustainable development

Universities are aware of the imperative of sustainability and are focusing on promoting the aims and principles of sustainable development, such as greening their curriculum, enhancing the environmental performance of their campus and using sustainable criteria in their investment and purchasing behavior. Also, the scope of sustainable development was broadened by the introduction of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda which stipulates new directions for sustainability at a global level. Given this background, this paper examines the level of alignment of universities with the 17 SDGs through an analysis of sustainability reports prepared by universities, in order to highlight the issues which are mostly discussed by universities in relation to SDGs. To do so, an empirical analysis was carried out on a sample of 37 sustainability reports using a methodological framework based on scoring techniques to analyze their content. The findings show that the universities have disclosed more information about climate change mitigation and adaptation practices and less about SDGs regarding quality of education and peace, democracy and strong institutions.

Insurance industry in the scope of sustainable development

Subject. This article discusses the role of insurance sector in promoting the ESG agenda and sustainable development issue. Objectives. The article aims to determine the role of insurance in the sustainable development concept, consider the core principles of the green agenda, proposed by the UN and corresponding associations founded by it and supported in the financial sector, and review the European insurance and reinsurance companies' activities in terms of obligations arising from the sustainable insurance requirements. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of systems and comparative analyses, synthesis, and comparison. Conclusions. The insurance industry, together with other financial and non-financial institutions, supports the worldwide reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5?C above pre-industrial levels. United by this target, the industry is currently moving through a voluntary regime of ESG-oriented topics to a more regulated and compulsory one that provides for more sophisticated reporting rules, disclosure, and transparency. ESG principles change insurers' risk appetite concerning both underwriting and investment aspects, making companies more sensitive to climate-related risks that, as a consequence, leads to revision of existing own risk and solvency assessments models. The path to sustainable insurance has already become visible and is performed via cut of investments from carbon-intensive industries, change of underwriting principles in terms of exit from not-green products and decrease of own emissions. At the same time, the growing awareness defines the place of climate risk in own risk and solvency assessment models.

Use of GIS in Selecting Suitable Tree Crop Cultivation Sites in Mountainous Less Favoured Areas: An Example from Greece

The aim of this paper is the selection of suitable tree crop cultivation sites in mountainous less favoured areas, as a forest policy measure under the scope of sustainable development. Ten different crop types were proposed as being most suitable in the study area, Pierion Municipal Unit, which is located in the Municipality of Katerini, in the Pieria Prefecture of Greece. In order to determine the most suitable sites for cultivation, data layers that involved the factors of topography, climate, pedology and geology were derived from existing maps and free-of-charge datasets, so that they could be consequently processed with the aid of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The data processing was performed by following criteria, which were established in accordance with the current literature and were translated into Boolean algebra expressions. The latter helped to identify locations where the values of the factors that were employed were most favourable for the cultivation of walnut trees (Juglans sp.), olive trees (Olea sp.), cherry trees (Prunus sp.), apple (Malus sp.), dogwood trees (Cornus sp.), pomegranate trees (Punica sp.), chestnut trees (Castanea sp.) and other crop types. Moreover, the resulting map indicated that the majority of the suitable sites for cultivation were considered favourable for growing walnut trees (24.9%), followed by cherry trees (19.6%) and olive trees (12.1%). Proposing the most suitable cultivations within the study area contributes to forest policy planning and promotes the sustainable development of mountainous less favoured areas, leading to a more rational management of natural resources, a raised awareness of environmental protection, the maintenance of the local population and income enhancement through the production of high quality crops and sustainable yields.

Assessment of Historic Cities within the Context of Sustainable Development and Revitalization: The Case of the Walled City North Nicosia

The City of Nicosia contains cultural heritage from different periods of history. Over time, due to user damage, illegal constructions, and abandonment, Nicosia has faced the danger of deterioration in its morphology and the loss of its original identity. With the recent strategic planning, the city of Nicosia has started to be revived. Within the scope of revitalization works, original or re-functional use projects are carried out on existing structures. Revitalization projects in historical cities should be implemented within the framework of sustainable development. In this study, the Arabahmet and Karamanzade regions of Nicosia were selected as the focus of the research. The research aims to assess revitalization works in selected zones within the framework of sustainable development. Three methodologies were followed in the research process: Theoretical, analytical, and practical approaches. As the first step in the theoretical approach, sustainable development was emphasized in historical cities and Nicosia City. Through an analytical approach, a current analysis of Nicosia city was made. In addition, in the practical approach, data highlighting the physical condition and architectural heritage of the regions were collected. In the practical assessment stage, data obtained within the scope of sustainable development and the revitalization works that can be applied in historical cities have been evaluated for the city of Nicosia. Analysis was made according to the data for the regions selected in line with the social, cultural, environmental, and economic criteria, which are the four pillars of sustainable development. In the last stage, the findings and discussion section, the direction of the revitalization works in the regions was assessed. Research reveals that the revitalization works carried out in the region are not fully addressed within the scope of sustainable development. The study reveals that it is essential for the sustainability of the conservation process of the local community.

The Analysis of Latvia Households’ Consumption Expenditure in Scope of Sustainable Development

Basing on critical analysis of Latvia households’ consumption expenditure structure during the period from 2003 until 2010, the authors have identified the main tendencies of changes and characterized the main macroeconomic indicators, which have seriously influenced the consumption structure during different phases of economic cycle. The authors have applied econometric methods to characterize the correlation of particular consumption expenditure groups’ proportion with households’ consumption expenditure. The analysis enabled the authors to detect, which consumption expenditure groups exactly are the most important for ensuring the welfare level, and E. Engel’s regularity was also discussed in this respect. The analysis of the data obtained in scope of the households’ member survey enabled the authors to identify the main directions of consumer behaviour changes during the economic recession period and present proposals for improvement of consumption as a significant indicator of country’s welfare and sustainable development.

Second Life of Post-Mining Infrastructure in Light of the Circular Economy and Sustainable Development—Recent Advances and Perspectives

Current EU policy will force a significant reduction of hard coal mines in the near future due to environmental restrictions. There are also numerous non-coal underground mines that will be excavated in the next few years. Taking the above into consideration, it is worth starting to plan further steps in terms of reclamation of these facilities. Within this manuscript, both recently used and novel approaches to underground space reclamation have been reviewed. Selected methods of reclamation were analyzed in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and the results were compared with the effect of a commonly used approaches (i.e., filling or flooding of underground space after mine termination). The analysis has been performed in the scope of sustainable development. Taking into account the opinion of many stakeholder groups and underground facilities, reuse was considered as an action aimed at fulfilling sustainable development goals and the circular economy concept. Based on numerous surveys, the challenges and opportunities have been determined as well. Finally, most perspectives concerning underground mine reclamation, including environmental impact, social acceptance, and profitability have been proposed and described.

The Role of Rural Tourism in Strengthening the Sustainability of Rural Areas: The Case of Zlakusa Village

The strategic planning of rural development is focused on both economic growth and sustainable development. Sustainable rural development is essential for conserving and improving resources, while economic growth contributes to a better standard of living. The aim of the research is to determine, using the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methodology on the example of the village of Zlakusa, the economic activities developed in the village, the importance of rural tourism, and the scope of sustainable development taken into account in rural development. The results of the research show that the success of the rural community depends on: diversification of economic activities, which is accompanied by cohesion of the population through association and organization; organized activities aimed at local or republican authorities; activation of human and social capital; and initiating activities involving marginalized groups. Educating the population outside formal education improves the sustainable and economic development of the village and enables rural tourism to become an important part of economic activities and a channel for the commercialization of natural and cultural contents.

Electricity generation potential of municipal solid wastes produced in the province of Edirne

As a result of Turkey's economic growth, industrial development has accelerated across the country and this has ultimately led to the environmental sector and waste management gaining importance. In Turkey, where there is a depletion of natural resources, the expansion of energy demand, and the orientation in environmental technologies, waste is no longer a problematic issue that needs to be eliminated; but it has become a source of raw materials whose processing and recycling can be achieved with today's technology. In the scope of sustainable development, the waste hierarchy includes the three priority targets. These are prevention of waste production, reuse, recycling, or recovery respectively. The method for non-recoverable wastes is landfilling with energy recovery if possible. In this context, this study aims to investigate the electricity generation potential of the solid wastes disposed at the Edirne Solid Waste Landfill Facility. When the amount of waste to be sent to the facility, which was assumed to have a 20-year economic life, increases by 5% in parallel with the population profile, it is seen that electricity production will go up rapidly until 2040. However, the results of the study present that the potential of methane production will fall as the stored waste age increases so that a significant decrease in electricity production should be expected from 2045 onwards. Once it is considered that the facility continues to produce electricity for a hundred years beyond 2040, the electricity generated from the facility will contribute to the electricity network and provide the avoidance of approximately 25 thousand tons of CO2 on a national basis.

Light and Hydrogels: A New Generation of Antimicrobial Materials.

Nosocomial diseases are becoming a scourge in hospitals worldwide, and new multidrug-resistant microorganisms are appearing at the forefront, significantly increasing the number of deaths. Innovative solutions must emerge to prevent the imminent health crisis risk, and antibacterial hydrogels are one of them. In addition to this, for the past ten years, photochemistry has become an appealing green process attracting continuous attention from scientists in the scope of sustainable development, as it exhibits many advantages over other methods used in polymer chemistry. Therefore, the combination of antimicrobial hydrogels and light has become a matter of course to design innovative antimicrobial materials. In the present review, we focus on the use of photochemistry to highlight two categories of hydrogels: (a) antibacterial hydrogels synthesized via a free-radical photochemical crosslinking process and (b) chemical hydrogels with light-triggered antibacterial properties. Numerous examples of these new types of hydrogels are described, and some notions of photochemistry are introduced.

The Effect of Gender Mainstreaming on Income of Turkish Independent Audit Organizations within the Scope of Sustainable Development

Purpose: This study focuses on gender mainstreaming that is one of the objectives set for sustainable development. The study aims to determine whether presence of directresses in senior management of independent audit organizations has any effect on income of such organizations. Approach/Methodology/Design: The study sample is formed by independent audit organizations that operate in Turkey and have authority of “KAYIK (public interest entities)”. The Year 2018 transparency reports of said independent audit organizations are reviewed in terms of date of establishment, total equity, capital ratios and numbers of male and female partners, number of key directors and directresses, presence of chairman or chairwoman, number of Public Interest Entities served, income arising out of audit services and total income of the audit organization. Resultant data is subjected to frequency analysis using SPSS statistics software. It is followed by univariate simple linear regression, unpaired t test and multivariate linear regression in line with the created study models. Findings: The findings revealed out that each gender-related independent variable had statistically significant effect on total income, but the significance level was not lost and its effect could be maintained only for the independent variable “number of key directresses”, when independent variables, such as time since date of establishment, number of clients (number of Public Interest Entities audited), total equity and being a member of International Audit Network, were also taken into consideration. Originality/Value It is obvious that, within the scope of the gender mainstreaming goals, women's leadership roles are gradually increasing and they are contributing to economic development in this direction. However, it is a fact that it is not yet at the desired level.

Scientific and theoretical fundamentals of innovative development in modern economic science

The paper is devoted to the study of the nature of innovative development as a phenomenon of social life and economic system. An understanding of the concept of "development" is presented. The nature of economic development is determined. The main approaches to defining the essence of innovative development are considered. The morphological analysis of the concept of "innovative development" is carried out across such components as content, characterizing features, providing factors, and purpose. On the basis of the conducted morphological analysis, the peculiarities of innovative development at the macroeconomic level in the context of structural improvement of the national economy are determined. The paper emphasizes the crucial role of value-added growth that characterizes innovative development and provides an increase in progressive production of the recent types of technological modes. The nature of innovative development at the microeconomic level is defined as a process of continuous introduction of innovations to update products and increase the competitiveness of enterprises. The factors of providing innovative development at the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels are considered. Peculiarities of understanding innovative development in the globalization context are determined. To branch out and define the commonality between the concepts of innovative, sustainable, inclusive, and institutional development, Euler-Venn circles are built. The paper proves that economic development is the intersection of economic growth and innovative development. Inclusive development is fully within the scope of sustainable development. Sustainable development is the intersection of innovation, institutional development, and economic growth. In general, innovative development refers to the implementation of ideas, knowledge, and research results in the form of a continuous process that changes the systems in which they are implemented, creating a new level of quality.

Structural Transformation of the Turkish Economy under the Scope of Sustainable Development

The distribution of the labour force by sectors and the country economic structure indicate the economic development level of countries. The traditional sectoral transformation is observed in all countries during the economic development process. Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, industrialization has been one of the fundamental development policies to be achieved. As an inevitable result of the development, the sectoral distribution of production and employment changed in Turkish economy over the years. This structural transformation is associated with the transition from primary sector to capital intensive production structure in which the manufacturing and the service sectors expand while the agricultural sector shrinks. However, the agricultural sector is still important in Turkey. Today, approximately one-fifth of the labour force is employed in the agricultural sector. This ratio shows the developing country feature of Turkish labour market despite the industrialization and urbanization policies and the structural changes in recent years. In this context, the aim of this study is to analyze the sectoral transformation of the Turkish economy within the scope of the sectors share in the GDP of Turkey and the share of sectors in the total employment, within the changing structure of the labour market and the level of urbanization.Keywords: economic development, structural transformation, Turkish economy

Regional Policy for Disaster Risk Management in Developing Countries Within the Sendai Framework: A Systematic Review.

The recently concluded World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) in Sendai, Japan and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR) have set renewed priorities for disaster risk reduction (DRR) for the next 15 years. This framework is the main guiding instrument for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) within the scope of sustainable development and the eradication of poverty. Disaster management policies and practices should be based on an understanding of risks, not just on an ideological level. Gap and key challenges identified include Still weak coordination, cooperation and linkages among the sectors related to DRR, Lacks of skills in loss assessment and post disaster needs, lack of strategic research agenda, absence of consensus regarding terminology, and limited coordination between stakeholders. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of why disaster risk reduction efforts undertaken by regional policy often fail to improve future disaster responses. These findings can be used to help guide to improve regional policy in disaster risk reduction processes. This research is a systematic review study by collecting articles that are relevant to International Journal of Disaster Risk Science. From the analysis, we found that all four priorities for action in the Sendai Framework are relevant to Disaster Risk Management (DRM) field as follows: 1). Understanding disaster risk; 2). Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; 3). Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience and 4). Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.