Social Dimension Of Sustainable Development Research Articles

The role of green finance to achieve sustainability through green supply chain management and innovative technologies

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of green finance (GF) on sustainable development and green supply chains, particularly in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic. It explores how GF influences firms' economic, environmental, and social sustainability, with a focus on the moderating effects of modern technologies like big data analytics (BDA) and blockchain. The research is based on data collected from 562 managers in Egypt's industrial and manufacturing sectors through a survey conducted between November 18th, 2023, and January 12th, 2024. The survey, which used a five‐point Likert scale, was distributed via both traditional and electronic methods, and its reliability was ensured through a pilot phase involving seven academics and five SC practitioners. The data was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling, chosen for its effectiveness with non‐normal data distributions. The Bootstrapping method with 5000 iterations was employed to validate the model. The findings reveal that GF significantly enhances green supply chain management (GSCM), particularly when moderated by BDA, though blockchain technology does not have a significant moderating effect. Additionally, GSCM is found to positively influence the environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development, mediating the relationship between GF and these sustainability outcomes. This study provides valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers, emphasizing the critical role of GF and BDA in fostering sustainable development, especially within the Egyptian industrial and manufacturing sectors.

The Impact of the Islamic Financial Wills System on Achieving Sustainable Social Development

Wills within the legislative+ system for donation contracts are considered highly beneficial and have a great impact on both testators and legatees. They hold financial and value dimensions aimed at linking today’s generation with future generations, perpetuating humanitarian work, and extending it beyond death. Consequently, wills, along with other charitable resources such as endowments, constitute significant channels that can contribute to achieving sustainable development in societies. This study aims to illustrate the impact of the relationship between wills and sustainable development. It highlights the importance of wills for societal advancement, noting that they are no less important than endowment systems. This study concludes that the legislation of wills is among systems that encompass intergenerational ties; strengthen social cohesion; elevate societies by maintaining ties of kinship; improve the conditions of financially and socially disadvantaged people; provide education and healthcare for the underprivileged; and foster intergenerational bonds in the forms of compassion, empathy, and integration. Moreover, wills grant individuals participation in shaping a better future for forthcoming generations, in addition to alleviating the suffering caused by poverty and striving for self-sufficiency, social care, and education, thereby embodying the economic and social dimensions of sustainable development.

Innovation and sustainable development among multinational enterprises in Nigeria

This study explores the effect of innovation on sustainable development among multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Nigeria. Utilizing a cross-sectional survey design, the research investigates how innovation practices within MNEs influence the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainable development in the Nigerian context. Data were collected from workers of five multinational corporations using a structured questionnaire. The study hypotheses were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS 3.2.9. The findings demonstrate a positive and significant effect of innovation on all three dimensions of sustainable development. This suggests that MNEs fostering innovation contribute meaningfully to achieving broader societal goals beyond economic profit. The study further recommended that MNEs should integrate sustainability metrics into their innovation performance evaluations. Track how their innovations contribute to economic growth, environmental improvements, and social well-being. This will help them identify the most impactful innovations and guide future investments towards projects that generate shared value for their business and society.

DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN RATIONALIZING DECISIONS TO GRANT GREEN FINANCE IN SAUDI BANKS

Green financing represents a great untapped opportunity, especially in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which are characterized by their developed capital markets, attracting investors from all over the world to pump their capital into projects that have an environmental and social impact, in addition to activating strong governance processes.The study aimed to examine the impact of the dimensions of sustainable development: environmental, social, and economic on green finance in Saudi national banks and fill the gap in sustainability and green finance research in Arabian countries, specifically in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study population covered the national banks in Riyadh city. The data was collected through a questionnaire and the sample size was 125 participants. The study applied linear regression models and the result revealed that the environmental dimension of sustainable development, the social dimension of sustainable development, and the economic dimension have a positive impact on green finance in Saudi banks.

How to Integrate Sustainable Development in English Lessons: Reflections from Teachers, Students and Academicians

This qualitative descriptive study as one small part of a big project sought to examine the opinions and recommendations of different stakeholders (i.e. students, teachers and academicians) as to the basic characteristics of a middle school English language course integrating sustainable development content. Three different interview schedules for each group of participants were developed by the researchers to elicit participants’ ideas about a sustainable development-oriented English course to be developed. Qualitative data were analyzed by means of content analysis and the main components of a course, that is, course aims, course content, learning-teaching experiences and course evaluation practices were utilized as themes to analyze the data. The results from this analysis indicated that the participants from each of these different stakeholder groups all appeared to appreciate and support the education for sustainable development. Their recommendations often pertained to course content that would include real-life videos and materials centering on the reallife issues already put forth by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The utilization of technology and collaborative activities were recommended by all participants as an important dimension of teaching-learning experiences of this course. All stakeholders also emphasized the dominance or popularity of ecological dimension of sustainable development framework within their current experiences pointing out the lack or insufficiency in terms of including the economic and social dimensions of sustainable development for the teaching of English. Teachers and academicians mentioned some psychological conditions like students’ developing ecophobia and losing hope for future and they warned that these should be seriously taken into consideration in the course design process. Several constraints were also reported by teachers and students against the optimal utilization of foreign language teaching irrespective of the integration of sustainable development content.

Unveiling Connections: A Thorough Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals Integration within the Spanish Physical Education Curriculum

This study analyses the relationship between the physical education (PE) curriculum in secondary education in Spain and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Physical education curriculum of compulsory secondary education, as well as the complementary materials, were analysed through document analysis. Although there is no explicit relationship, the analysis reveals links between curricular elements and SDGs targets, particularly with SDG 4 (Quality Education), 3 (Health and Well-being), and 5 (Gender Equality). Other SDGs, such as 10 (Reducing Inequalities) and 12 (Responsible Consumption), are less related. The social dimension of sustainable development is most closely linked to PE. A historical analysis of the treatment of sustainable development in PE curricula in Spain is also presented, examining how they have evolved over time. The manuscript helps clarify how teachers and researchers can mobilize competencies to address global challenges in students’ lives as individuals and world citizens, fostering commitment and social responsibility. Furthermore, this work highlights the importance of integrating the SDGs into education and how PE can be a key tool in this process.

Review of Research on Urban Social Space and Sustainable Development

Urban social space and sustainable urban development are both prominent areas of research in urban studies. The development of a city is closely tied to the development of its social space. The level of sustainable development in a city can be assessed by examining the evolution of its urban social space. Therefore, the two are highly interconnected in a close relationship. However, the social dimension of sustainable development has always received the least attention compared to the economy and the environment. Therefore, this paper examines urban transformation and urban spatial structure, social composition, the activity space and living space of urban residents, the social integration of urban residents in urban communities, and urban planning. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of research on urban social space and sustainable development. On the one hand, this literature review thoroughly examines the correlation between urban social space and sustainable urban development. On the other hand, it broadens the perspectives of urban research, highlights the key role of social dimensions in sustainable urban development, and helps to draw the attention of academics to this topic. In addition, this literature review may provide policymakers with more comprehensive information on urban social space and sustainable development.

Assessing Stakeholders’ Preferences for Future Rice Farming Practices in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Rice farming is the dominating agriculture activity in the Mekong Delta and has been of significant importance for the region’s economic development, but it has also had an impact on the environment. Recent governmental policies emphasize the need for sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture; however, policy reforms pushing for transformation towards sustainable socio-agricultural systems are compounded by a lack of coherent and shared visions. Gaps between policy making and implementation and stakeholders’ divergent visions of what is meant by sustainable agriculture and how that can be achieved hinder progress. To address this, the Q-methodology was used to elucidate and integrate different perspectives from 41 stakeholders on 35 statements related to agriculture developments in the Mekong Delta. Under the theoretical lens of sustainability, and ecosystem services, the results unveiled four major development schemes, namely production through intensification, sustainable intensification, production through nature, and people and nature in balance. The majority of the stakeholders in this study believed that future agriculture strategies in the Mekong Delta should be designed to promote more diverse and integrated farming methods, emphasizing the environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development. They acknowledged the multifunctional benefits of rice field ecosystems and emphasized the importance of supporting, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services for a long-term and healthy production of food and increased resilience of the Delta’s social-ecological systems.

Analysis of shift in aspects of Cultural Sustainability in built environment

The relevance of sustainability is reflected a lot in today’s scenario. Due to this, Sustainability has become a multi-faceted concept, which not only focuses on energy conservation but also respect to culture. Cultural sustainability involves preservation and conservation of various built cultural archetypes which already exist, with a concern of continuity of the culture and beliefs of an area. It is a debatable topic, whether cultural sustainability can be considered as fourth pillar of sustainability (Environment, Social and Economic being the other three). Even though it is mostly accepted, the extent of implementation of the same in the present scenario is questionable. An area without its history or culture loses its uniqueness and identification, for which cultural sustainability is very important in an area. This research paper is an attempt to explore the contribution of culture as possible fourth dimension of sustainability and an integral part of environmental, economic, social dimensions of sustainable development. This article also aims to understand the various aspects contributing to cultural sustainability and briefs upon the need for the same.

Managers’ Attitudes on Sustainable Development Concept Application in Trading Companies

Trading companies face various challenges brought by the modern environment. For this reason, the trading company managers try to adapt their business to various requirements of the environment. This is supported by the fact that recently there has been a global change in the structure of retail, with evidence in the following examples: new sales formats have appeared, there are new categories of retail companies, sales facilities are modernized, soft information is emphasized, flexibility and innovation in business are encouraged, the role of interest groups is valued, unpredictability is accepted as the norm of functioning, the offer of trade mark products is expanded, etc. However, as economic, environmental and social problems gain more and more importance, another very important topic that captures the attention of business managers is sustainable development concept application. Doing business in accordance with the rules of sustainable development implies that trading companies base their work on ecological and moral principles of sustainable social communities. In accordance with the importance that sustainable development concept has today, the aim of the paper is based on the analysis of attitudes of employees in management positions in trading companies in the Republic of Serbia regarding the application of economic, ecological and social dimensions of sustainable development. The research results showed that the application of certain elements of sustainable development basic dimensions in their trading companies has been evaluated by the managers as good.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN POLAND IMPLEMENTATION IN THE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH

The implementation of the principles of sustainable development is widely recognized as one of the key elements of success and competitive advantage of modern enterprises. It is recognized that sustainable development should be incorporated into the organizations value system and function at the strategic level. Meanwhile, the range of sustainable practices and approaches used varies from enterprise to enterprise, which is determined by many variables, including enterprise size. The main purpose of the article is to assess the level of implementation of the principles of sustainable development in small and medium-sized enterprises, taking into account its economic, environmental and social elements, and to diagnose the relationship between the level of sustainability of the organization and its growth potential. To achieve the main goal and verify research hypotheses, the questionnaire survey was conducted in 2023 on a group of 100 small and medium-sized enterprises in the lskie Voivodeship. Statistical analysis was developed using descriptive statistics and Kendalls tau correlation coefficient as one of the nonparametric measures of monotonic statistical dependence. The research confirmed the existence of statistically significant, positive relationships between the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development and the growth potential of the organization.

The impact of the green Middle East initiative on sustainable development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Using econometric analysis, this study intended to determine the influence of the Green Middle East Initiative on sustainable development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 2000 to 2020. This research yielded a number of findings, the most important of which are: The country has tended to reduce carbon emissions by increasing natural gas use and decreasing diesel and crude oil use in electricity generation. The real per capita income increased by 0.8 percent annually due to the unpredictability and instability of the economic growth rate. The Human Development Index has similarly risen, from 0.744 in 2000 to 0.855 in 2020. It was also discovered that a 10% increase in domestic refined petroleum product consumption results in a 7.97% rise in carbon dioxide emissions. And that a 10% rise in predicted carbon dioxide emissions results in 4.71 percent, 0.36 percent, and 0.71 percent decreases in foreign direct investment, real GDP, and the value of the human development index, respectively. And the Green Middle East initiative included planting 10 billion trees irrigated with untapped treated sewage water amounting to 1528.49 million m3, with a value of 2.094 billion riyals. Finally, the gradual transformation of the green economy leads to environmental sustainability and integration between the environment, economic, and social dimensions of sustainable development, and then this study recommends the necessity of following up and evaluating the results of the work of the Green Middle East Initiative so that carbon emissions eliminated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia until 2060.

Doprinos poljoprivrede realizaciji koncepta održivog razvoja

The concept of sustainable development represents a globally accepted development model in all segments of the economy and society, including agriculture. The aim of the paper is to show, by systematizing past experiences, the contribution that agriculture makes in the realm of realizing the concept of sustainable development, with a special emphasis on food security in developing countries. The paper specifically analyzes the impact of agriculture on the ecological, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development. The main contribution of agriculture in the field of ecological sustainability is minimizing the harmful impact on natural resources and ensuring the production of a sufficient amount of healthy and safe food. One of the factors that contributes to the economic sustainability of agricultural farms, and thus of rural areas, is the diversification of the economic activities of the rural population with adequate measures of financial support for agriculture. Ensuring the economic motivation of the rural population to earn money and live in rural areas, with respect for human rights, is the basis for achieving long-term social and demographic sustainability.

The impact of the circular economy on sustainable development: A European panel data approach

The circular economy (CE) has attracted considerable attention because of its potential to help achieve sustainable development (SD). This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the effect of the CE on the three dimensions of SD at the country level. We analysed the impact of each CE source of value (renewable energy, reuse, repair, recycling) and the influence of an overall factor-analysis-derived measure of the CE on the economic, environmental and social dimensions of SD. The aim was to compare the individual impacts and outcomes of the CE and its sources of value in a single study. Panel data analysis was performed using a sample of 25 European countries for the period 2010 to 2019. The findings show a major impact of the CE on achieving SD, which has positive effects on the economy, environment and society. However, the results show that the impact of each CE value source on the three SD dimensions varies. While renewable energies and reuse reduce the impact on the environment, recycling has no effect, and repair increases GHG emissions. However, repair is the only CE source with a positive economic impact at the country level. Finally, renewable energy, repair and recycling reduce unemployment. Decision makers should conduct impact analysis to design suitable, efficient and targeted measures depending on each country's specific objectives.

Sürdürülebilir Kalkınmanın Uygulanmasında “Güçlendirme” Kavramı Üzerine Tartışmalar ve Türkiye Örneği

Sustainable development, being at the centre of today’s global and local policies, has led to discussions about its broad content and applicability since the 1980s. In particular, the most emphasized issues have been prioritizing the economic dimension of sustainable development and understanding the environment as the optimal use of natural capital. However, as was underlined at the World Sustainable Development Summit held in 2002, a social dimension also needs to be taken into account. This study adopts a qualitative approach to explore definitions and dimensions of sustainable development and empowerment to understand how their enlarged content affects their application. The dynamic range of empowerment presented as a critical strategy for implementing the social dimension of sustainable development, the ambiguities related to the meaning of the concepts, and the discourses transmitted from the global to the local level are being investigated through the Turkish case. To explore different definitions of sustainable development and empowerment, the qualitative analysis software Atlas.ti was used. The research sample consists of ten documents on international cooperation initiatives and three Turkish documents on implementing these initiatives. The international and Turkish texts show the fluctuations of empowerment between raising human welfare and increasing production. Thus, the concept of empowerment seems to reflect the contradictions of sustainable development semantically and by the nature of the discourse used.

THE ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (AN EXAMPLE FROM EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES)

Entrepreneurship has had an indecisive role due to its effects in enhancing living standards for usual people, exploiting opportunities in undiscovered areas, improving sustainability in all fields, and encouraging the process of innovation. In this sense, entrepreneurship plays an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (UNSDGs-2030). The main goal of this research is to study the role of entrepreneurship in achieving sustainable development goals through conducting a qualitative method. Granger causality test was used for selected Eastern European countries (2006 – 2016), data were collected from Global Entrepreneur Monitor and World development indicators. The study concluded through Granger’s causality that entrepreneurship causes human development and therefore affects the economic and social dimensions of Sustainable Development. Entrepreneurship is one of the causes of economic growth, and the relationship between entrepreneurship and the extent to which environmental quality is achieved is moving from the environmental dimension to Entrepreneurship.

The dynamic analysis of renewable energy's contribution to the dimensions of sustainable development and energy security.

In sustainable development, energy is critical in human activities and shapes a sustainable future. Thus, it is an unignorable element in human development. This paper analyzes the contributions of renewable energy sources (RES)'s to the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainable development. Moreover, we add energy security as a possible fourth dimension into the analysis. For the sample size, we limit the countries members of the OECD and run generalized methods of moments for the period from 1995 to 2015. This method can produce efficient estimators under the problems of endogeneity, omitted-variable bias, measurement errors, and heteroscedastic residuals. According to the results, RES has a small reducing effect (-.007%) on output in the Cobb-Douglas production function for the economic dimension. We found that RES has a positive contribution to the environmental dimension and abates the level of carbon emission (-.093%). RES also confirms the inverted-U shape of environmental Kuznets curve. In the social dimension, RES improves human development and a 1% increase in RES consumption causes to .0045% increase in human development. In the last contribution, RES has a positive effect on sustainable energy supply security in the context of electricity generation (.032%). Although the effects of RES on the environment, social, and energy security are significant, they are limited. These limitations point to barriers that can be overcome over time. Our conclusions recommend that these effects might flourish with technical developments and political support in the long run. Furthermore, public awareness, rising income level, and economies of scale are also beneficial in this process. As a result, RES might be an excellent source for a sustainable future and development. Especially, RES might have remarkable contributions to the 7th, 11th, 12th, and 13th goals of sustainable development.

Greening of economy in the context of implementation of the sustainable developmentconcept: theoretical aspect

The article examines the theoretical aspect of greening the economy as a process that accompanies the implementation of the sustainable developmentconcept,as a modern paradigm of the global world order. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is a priority of socio-economic strategies of developed countries and for Ukraine, which has already proved its belonging to a progressive democratic world, it is important to ensure high-quality transformation of the economy in accordance with world standards .It is established the relationship between greening the economy and sustainable development using the method of analysis of existing definitions of «green economy» among international organizations, foreign and domestic researchers to identify the main points in their meanings in the context of sustainable development; the quintessence of the concept of «green economy» is clarified on the basis of identified common provisions in groups by authorship of definitions; the nature of the relationship between the concepts of «sustainable development» and «green economy» is determined. According to the results of the study, the definition of «greening the economy» is given, which, although it coincides with the concept of «green economy», but means a process, not a result. In the context of ensuring the process of greening the economy as a way to achieve sustainable development, relevant tools that can be used in this process have been studied. Based on theoretical and empirical approaches, the tools of greening the economy are divided into three packages according to the three dimensions of sustainable development and describe the content of all proposed packages: tools to ensure the economic dimension of sustainable development, tools to ensure the social dimension of sustainable development and tools to ensure the environmental dimension of sustainable development.The problem of the need to adapt the process of greening the economy of Ukraine to the conditions of war was raised. It is proposed to expand the range of sustainable development to another dimension – military with a focus on military decoupling, as a promising area of research in the near future in the context of improving the security situation in the world in harmony with the environment.

Social dimension of sustainable development: the missing piece in the blue economy policy discourse

Social dimension of sustainable development: the missing piece in the blue economy policy discourse

Integrated groundwater management using a comprehensive conceptual framework

With increasing exploitation of groundwater resources, integrated assessment of aquifers is an essential step to maintain aquifers’ sustainability. The DPSIR-GOF (Drivers, pressures, states, impacts, responses-Goal oriented framework) combined approach is used in this study to conceptualize and identify various factors affecting the Najafabad aquifer system in Iran. Neither DPSIR nor GOF frameworks, when used separately, can consider a specific prioritization for the solutions and the proposed scenarios nor can provide a comprehensive view of the system from the past to the future. Therefore, the unique combination of the DPSIR and GOF frameworks in this study is used to conceptualize and evaluate the aquifer system from the past to the future, considering the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development. To implement this combined approach hydrological data (groundwater level, evaporation rate, precipitation rate, temperature rate, etc.) and economic and social data (population rate, employment status, income level, literacy level, etc.) were used. After identifying the links and dimensions of the DPSIR-GOF framework, some scenarios are proposed to improve the aquifer’s state. Furthermore, evaluation indicators including technical indicators (aquifer sustainability and dryness) and economic indicators (productivity and cost-benefit analysis) are used to determine the performance of management scenarios and prioritize their effectiveness in restoring and sustaining the aquifer. Finally, the scenarios of 5% (R1) and 10% (R2) reduction in groundwater exploitation, as well as 10% (C1) and 20% (C2) reduction of cultivated area were introduced. Results show that a decrease in exploitations over 30 years effectively maintained the aquifer balance in all four scenarios. Scenario R2, with crop per drop, benefit per drop, and CBA of 1.62, 9.3, and 0.39, respectively, was preferred to other scenarios during the 30 years of the simulation period. Based on a 41-year sustainability index, scenario R2 performed better in reducing the impact of drought than other scenarios. Sources of uncertainties involved in this study were hydrological data including aquifer inputs and outputs, agricultural costs and crop production based on region's inflation rate. The findings can help decision-makers and managers choose the most appropriate approach and policy to obtain sustainable groundwater resource systems and maintain economic and social security.