Socio-environmental Sustainability Research Articles

Social weaknesses versus environmental conservation of Extractive Reserves in the Amazon

Extractive Reserves (RESEXs) in the Amazon were created in order to improve the living conditions of its inhabitants and protect natural resources. Seeking to observe this reality, this study aimed to evaluate social and productive policies from the perspective of socio-environmental sustainability of two RESEXs from the Brazilian Amazon. Data and information were generated through observations, interviews and use of a questionnaire with 150 residents of 29 communities of the RESEXs Alto Juruá (Acre) and Rio Ouro Preto (Rondônia) located in the Brazilian Western Amazon. The results indicate the distance between social, economic and forest protection policies led the RESEXs to decline. The conclusion is that the sustainability of these areas depends on social policies associated with economic, ecological and partnership policies that value environmental resources and ensure the maintenance of the minimum living conditions of the inhabitants.

Grasping at digitalisation: turning imagination into fact in the sugarcane farming community

Nutrient runoff from catchments that drain into the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a significant source of stress for this World Heritage Area. An alliance of collaborative on-ground water quality monitoring (Project 25) and technologically driven digital application development (Digiscape GBR) projects were formulated to provide data that highlighted the contribution of a network of Australian sugar cane farmers, amongst other sources, to nutrient runoff. This environmental data and subsequent information were extended to the farming community through scientist-led feedback sessions and the development of specialised digital technology (1622™WQ) that help build an understanding of the nutrient movements, in this case nitrogen, such that farmers might think about and eventually act to alter their fertilizer application practices. This paper reflects on a socio-environmental sustainability challenge that emerged during this case study, by utilising the nascent concept of digi-grasping. We highlight the importance of the entire agricultural knowledge and advice network being part of an innovation journey to increase the utility of digital agricultural technologies developed to increase overall sustainability. We develop the digi-MAST analytical framework, which explores modes of being and doing in the digital world, ranging from ‘the everyday mystery of the digital world (M)’, through digital ‘awareness (A)’, digitally ‘sparked’ being/s (S), and finally the ability of individuals and/or groups to ‘transform (T)’ utilising digital technologies and human imaginations. Our digi-MAST framework allows us to compare agricultural actors, in this case, to understand present modes of digi-grasping to help determine the resources and actions likely to be required to achieve impact from the development of various forms of digital technological research outputs.

Sustainability Assessment in Soy, Family and Agroforestry Farms: Application of the Rise Tool to the Cerrado

Over the last 30 years, extensive areas of Cerrado, the Brazilian savannah, have been converted to export-oriented agribusinesses. The social, environmental and economic impact of such large-scale land-use conversion is massive. To understand whether the current farming development in the Cerrado is sustainable, this study analyzes the sustainability performance of single farms applying the triple bottom line approach. Its aim is to assess the sustainability of soy, family and agroforestry farms. Fifteen farms were analyzed through the indicator-based sustainability assessment tool «RISE». The sustainability scores of RISE themes revealed that soy farms are economically sustainable, while their socio-environmental sustainability degree is rather critical. They scored lower than the other two farm types in all RISE themes except in the «economic viability» and «water use». Family farms and agroforestry are environmentally sustainable according to RISE.The sustainability degree of their social themes is either critical or scarcely positive mainly due to the high number of working hours and the low wage and income level. Looking at the economic sustainability, family farms reached a critical degree and agroforestry farms a barely positive degree. While the difference of sustainability performance between soy farms and the two others is large, it is minimal between agroforestry and family farms. RISE was a valid tool to assess with a moderate amount of data the sustainability performance of highly diverse farm types in the Cerrado.

ЭТИЧЕСКИ-ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКОЕ СРАВНЕНИЕ США И РФ

The ethical comparison is based on data on relationships in society, on conflicts, on racism and crises, on unethical major political steps (false demonstration of white powder as the beginning of a major war), data on environmental ethics (including the new ethics of empathy), etc. The environmental comparison is based on data on the nature of countries, its conservation, pollution, the socio-environmental sustainability (elasticity) of countries, the environmental footprint, the use of renewable resources, etc. In environmental ethics and ethical ecology it is necessary to take into account ethical interaction with the entire multiple world of nature. The new ecological ethics of empathy, empathy, proposed by the author differs from others in that it is more objective and multiple. Performed ethically - ecological comparison of the two countries on a number of important indicators gives grounds to speak about advantage of the Russian Federation, associated with both objective factors (large size of the territory, area of forests, reserves of fresh water, etc.), and with subjective (less environmental footprint, non-use of nuclear weapons, not the use of destruction of nature to punish the enemy, the absence of racism, the lack of unethical use of lies for the sake of solving the problems of war, public health, etc.).

Land use and cover modeling as a tool for analyzing nature conservation policies – A case study of Juréia-Itatins

Land Use and Cover Changes (LUCCs) have been a cause of great concern for socio-environmental sustainability. Applied study in this field should take into account the history of the interaction between man and nature, and the effect on the landscape that this dynamic projects. This paper’s objective is to assess LUCCs with regard to the effect of a nature conservation policy and correlate such changes with the practice of shifting cultivation. For that, historical aerial photos of the study site (a protected area located in São Paulo, Brazil) were analyzed and Markov and Cellular Automata models were built and compared to simulate different scenarios, including a counterfactual one. The results showed that the policy was important to stop pressures against nature conservation and that there is a lack of correlation between shifting cultivation and reducing forest cover, highlighting the fact that the ban on shifting cultivation, justified by nature conservation, can be overestimated.

Understanding the Stickiness of Commodity Supply Chains Is Key to Improving Their Sustainability

Summary Commodity trade is central to the global economy but is also associated with socio-environmental impacts, for example, deforestation, especially in producer countries. It is crucial to understand how geographic sourcing patterns of commodities and commercial relationships between places and actors influence land-use dynamics, socio-economic development, and environmental degradation. Here, we propose a concept and methodological approach to analyze the geographic stickiness of commodity supply chains, which is the maintenance of supply network configurations over time and across perturbations. We showcase policy-relevant metrics for all Brazilian soy exports between 2003 and 2017, using high-resolution supply chain data from www.trase.earth . We find that the Brazilian soy traders with the largest market share exhibit stickier geographic sourcing patterns, and that the supply network configurations between production places and traders become increasingly sticky in subsequent years. Understanding trade stickiness is crucial for supply chain accountability, because it directly affects the effectiveness of zero-deforestation commitments.

Qualidade de vida no trabalho pela ótica da sustentabilidade

Ao se falar sobre a Responsabilidade Social Coorporativa (RSC) é necessário analisar sobre a QVT, pois o bem-estar social está também vinculado ao bem-estar dos funcionários. A QVT associada a sustentabilidade apresenta a maioria de seus estudos na área de engenharia. O tema ainda vem conquistando espaço nas publicações de Administração e Ciências sociais, o que representa um gap a ser explorado por novas pesquisas. Diante deste cenário essa pesquisa colabora para que se avance em termos de melhoria da saúde do trabalhador, de sua produtividade, contribuindo para uma melhor compreensão do contexto da relação entre empresa, funcionário e prática sustentável. A abordagem escolhida foi a de método qualitativo. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi composto por um roteiro contendo questões norteadoras abertas, baseadas na perspectiva de Walton e na dimensão social dos Indicadores Ethos para negócios sustentáveis e responsáveis. As conclusões da pesquisa revelaram que a empresa pesquisada, mesmo não tendo um programa de QVT formalizado, oferece uma boa qualidade de vida fora do trabalho a seus funcionários e que embora a empresa não manifeste formalmente práticas relativas a sustentabilidade, as ações da empresa vão ao encontro do que se preconiza na sustentabilidade socioambiental.

Efficiency and Sustainability in Farm Diversification Initiatives in Northern Spain

The value-added diversification strategy provides an option for guaranteeing the sustainability of small farms. This study examines how factors related to managerial strategy and socio-environmental sustainability influence the efficiency of diversification initiatives. For this purpose, we use a novel and unique database of value-added ventures implemented by 49 dairy farms located in northern Spain. We construct a production frontier using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to estimate technical efficiency. The mean technical efficiency of the initiatives was 0.56 and 0.59 for the constant and variable returns specifications, respectively. Determinants of efficiency are analyzed with a two-step procedure with a double bootstrap. We find that the elaborations of more complex products other than fresh milk are negatively associated with efficiency. However, specialization in one product with different variants and direct sales both have a positive association with efficiency. In terms of socio-environmental variables, there is a positive association between efficiency and the use of quality schemes such as ‘protected designation of origin’ (PDO), the use of organic labelling and the farmer having university education, and a negative association with the percentage of family labor. Our findings support the idea that value-added diversification contributes to more resilient pathways of development and underlines the importance of good quality management of marketing and operational factors.

Assessing socio-environmental sustainability at the level of irrigation and drainage network

Assessing pre- vs. post environmental and social effects of present irrigation projects is vital to provide sustainable socio-environmental roadmaps for the upcoming similar development projects. Such sustainability was assessed for the first time in the present study at a 20- year old irrigation and drainage network (TIDN) area in the north of Iran covering about 70 thousands ha. A 32- year period data on groundwater level and surface- and groundwater quality as well as data on harvested area and crop production was analyzed to evaluate environmental sustainability. Inverse distance weighting (IDW) method was used to prepare the zoning maps and to analyze the descriptive data. Social response to the TIDN was assessed using a cross-sectional survey through completing a questionnaire. The raw data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS software. During the operation of the TIDN, the cropping area increased gradually from about 34,000 ha to about 53,000 ha. In this period, the average yield of early- and late- matured rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties, predominant crops grown in the area, increased steadily from about 5300 to 6700 kg ha−1. Groundwater table depth declined gradually with an annual reduction of 7.5 cm mainly due to agricultural intensification. Groundwater quality parameters such as electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, sodium, chloride, bicarbonate and magnesium decreased substantially especially in the semi- deep wells, while nitrate concentration showed a little increase without human effects. The TIDN project improved rural sustainability, hope feeling, security feeling, tourism development, cultural development, trust, social solidarity, social participation and life quality. The results indicate that similar comprehensive analyses can provide an important contribution to assess socio- environmental sustainability in irrigated catchments.

Assessing the eco-environmental performance: an PLS-SEM approach with practice-based view

ABSTRACT Awareness of environmental issues is increasing, which is also putting pressure on firms, requiring their supply chain operations to be green. The objective of this article is to examine the impact of green supply chain practices (GSCPs) on competitive advantage, economic, environmental, and organisational performance under the influence of internal environment management and green information systems. The data of 415 manufacturing firms are gathered and employed PLS-SEM modelling to test the hypotheses. The findings show that Internal Environmental Management (IEM) and Green Information Systems (GISs) strongly and positively support the execution of green supply chain practices. The outcomes also revealed that green supply chain management (GSCM) practices significantly improves firms’ competitiveness, economic, and environmental performance, which finally translates into organisational performance. The study presents an experimental assessment of the influence of IEM and GISs on GSCPs, which leads towards competitiveness, economic, environmental, and organisational performance. The findings provide an advantageous understanding, and the results also offer a policy-framework for manufacturers, managers, legislators to further promote GSCPs for better socio-environmental sustainability.

Sustainable Irrigation Management in Paddy Rice Agriculture: A Comparative Case Study of Karangasem Indonesia and Kunisaki Japan

Irrigated paddy rice agriculture accounts for a major share of Asia Pacific’s total water withdrawal. Furthermore, climate change induced water scarcity in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to intensify in the near future. Therefore, methods to reduce water consumption through efficiency measures are needed to ensure the long-term (water) sustainability. The irrigation systems, subak of Karangasem, Indonesia, and the tameike of Kunisaki, Japan, are two examples of sustainable paddy rice irrigation. This research, through interviews and an extensive survey, comparatively assessed the socio-environmental sustainability of the two irrigation management systems with special reference to the intensity and nature of social capital, equity of water distribution, water demand, water footprint, and water quality, etc. The prevailing social capital paradigm of each system was also compared to its overall managerial outcomes to analyze how cooperative action contributes to sustainable irrigation management. Both systems show a comparable degree of sustainable irrigation management, ensuring an equitable use of water, and maintain relatively fair water quality due to the land-use practices adapted. However, the systems differ in water demand and water efficiency principally because of the differences in the irrigation management strategies: human and structural. These findings could help devise mechanisms for transitioning to sustainable irrigation management in the commercially-oriented paddy rice agricultural systems across the Asia-Pacific region.

Inovação e sustentabilidade ambiental e social: um estudo comparativo entre empresas do Brasil e da Europa

In this descriptive and qualitative study, we evaluated innovation and socio-environmental sustainability as strategic organizational profiles in 78 Brazilian and European public firms traded on BMFBovespa or NYSE Euronext between 2010 and 2013 and listed in at least one of the following indices: the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE), the Carbon Efficient Index (ICO2) and the Low Carbon 100 Europe index®. Information was retrieved from financial reports, explanatory notes and sustainability reports. Innovation was proxied by intangible innovation assets, patents and RD. Sustainability was evaluated based on the disclosure of GRI indicators. The two strategies were found to be strongly incorporated in European firms (i.e., in developed economies). A growing demand for innovation and sustainability was observed in both settings, indicating an indirect relationship between the two strategic profiles. Our results suggest that country-level economic and institutional factors play an important role in the definition of innovation and socio-environmental sustainability as strategic organizational profiles.

Programa Dinheiro Direto na Escola – escolas sustentáveis, em um município do Estado da Bahia: contribuições, desafios e perspectivas

O Programa Dinheiro Direto na Escola – Escolas Sustentáveis é um programa do governo federal vinculado ao Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento da Educação que disponibiliza auxílio financeiro a fim de fomentar a sustentabilidade socioambiental nas escolas da educação básica a partir de três dimensões inter-relacionadas: gestão, currículo e espaço. Esse artigo avaliou a implementação do Programa Dinheiro Direto na Escola - Escolas Sustentáveis em 41 escolas da rede municipal de ensino de um município do Estado da Bahia, pontuando as contribuições no que concerne ao espaço físico, à gestão e à inserção curricular da temática ambiental, bem como aos desafios e às perspectivas para a concretização da escola como espaço educador sustentável, de acordo com os objetivos do Programa Nacional Escolas Sustentáveis. Adotando uma abordagem qualitativa e descritiva, com apoio da análise quantitativa, foram utilizados como instrumentos metodológicos a análise documental, entrevista e observação in loco. Foram entrevistados a servidora responsável por acompanhar a execução dos recursos financeiros liberados; o assessor pedagógico da Secretaria Municipal de Educação e os gestores e coordenadores pedagógicos de cada escola. A análise documental se deu a partir da avaliação do Plano de Ação, da Ata, da Prestação de Contas e do Projeto Político Pedagógico. Também foi realizada a observação in loco, com o objetivo de confrontar os dados obtidos por meio da entrevista e da análise documental com a realidade local. A análise demonstrou que o maior obstáculo para a efetividade desse Programa foi a falta de capacitação, sendo a preparação dos profissionais imprescindível para uma melhor aplicabilidade dos recursos, assim como para um maior envolvimento no programa. Além disso, foi detectada falta de articulação entre os eixos Gestão, Currículo e Espaço Físico, aspecto importante para se consolidar a sustentabilidade socioambiental no ambiente escolar conforme os princípios do Programa Nacional Escolas Sustentáveis.

Industry 4.0, digitization, and opportunities for sustainability

The fourth industrial revolution and the underlying digital transformation, known as Industry 4.0, is progressing exponentially. The digital revolution is reshaping the way individuals live and work fundamentally, and the public remains optimistic regarding the opportunities Industry 4.0 may offer for sustainability. The present study contributes to the sustainability literature by systematically identifying the sustainability functions of Industry 4.0. In doing so, the study first reviews the fundamental design principles and technology trends of Industry 4.0 and introduces the architectural design of Industry 4.0. The study further draws on the interpretive structural modelling technique to model the contextual relationships among the Industry 4.0 sustainability functions. Results indicate that sophisticated precedence relationships exist among various sustainability functions of Industry 4.0. ‘Matrice d’Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée àun Classement’ (MICMAC) analysis reveals that economic sustainability functions such as production efficiency and business model innovation tend to be the more immediate outcome of Industry 4.0, which pays the way for development of more remote socioenvironmental sustainability functions of Industry 4.0 such as energy sustainability, harmful emission reduction, and social welfare improvement. This study can serve Industry 4.0 stakeholders – leaders in the public and private sectors, industrialists, and academicians – to better understand the opportunities that the digital revolution may offer for sustainability, and work together more closely to ensure that Industry 4.0 delivers the intended sustainability functions around the world as effectively, equally, and fairly as possible.

UNIVERSIDADE PÚBLICA E LIBERDADE DE ESCOLHER E AGIR

Este artigo propõe diálogos sobre a formação cidadã e a construção de uma cultura de procedimentos democráticos para a universidade pública brasileira, inserida no século XXI, comprometida com a ética, a justiça e a sustentabilidade socioambiental. É fruto de uma dissertação sobre os limites e potencialidades do ambiente educacional de uma Instituição pública de Ensino Superior localizada interior do estado de São Paulo, a ESALQ – USP. Um processo metodológico idiossincrático e a triangulação de dados e fontes foram utilizados para articular as perspectivas teóricas da etnografia e da Análise Crítica do Discurso. A principal suposição é a de que o ensino, a pesquisa e a extensão ainda permanecem sob a dimensão técnica, deixando de lado questões políticas e sociais, como a segurança alimentar e a questão agrária, notadamente a reforma agrária.

Learning From Hybrid Innovative-Vernacular Solutions in Building Design: Emergy Analysis of Sudanese Energy-Saving Technologies

Building design needs to consider that the lifetime of its productswill likely face relevant environmental and socio-economic changes, strongly related to the limits imposed by the geo-biosphere. Taking action to face such limits beyond trendy, debatable “green-washing” policies can be either a forward-looking choice or rather something imposed by necessity. These have been the premises of the collaboration between humanitarian NGO Emergency Onlus and architecture firm TAMassociati in designing hospitals in the African regions of Sahara and Sahel: in fact, several African countries – long living in scarcity – represent an example, and an opportunity to learn of some alternative to the mainstream development model. In this work, some vernacular building techniques are revisited towards a low-tech innovation for energy saving and renewables use that, in a next future, could turn out to be useful also for architecture in the Global North; they are here reviewed under a systemic point of view, and presented with the evaluation of their potential advantages in terms of long-term socioenvironmental sustainability. The investigated low-tech innovations able to use local renewables yield net savings one order of magnitude higher than conventional solutions, while granting a strict energy demand such as that of a specialised North-like hospital in a hot dry area. Such results seem therefore as an encouraging example from which to learn also in other contexts with a milder climate, where possible poorer energy drivers (e.g., the sun) would be clearly matched to less extreme conditions.

The relevance of sustainable management practices to competitiveness in manufacturing companies

This study was conducted with the purpose of investigating the influence, on corporate competitiveness, of strategic management practices based on socio-environmental responsibility. We also sought to understand the interrelationships between the management practices relating to strategy, socio-environmental innovation and sustainable supply chain. We analyzed the aspects of competitive performance with respect to: profitability, cost, revenue, market share and image. The methodology applied was quantitative analysis, in a e-Survey, where, in o129 manufacturing industries. The results indicated a large number of significant correlations between many of the management practices studied and competitive performance, especially in terms of image. As for the practices, the ones that stood out were the initiatives to implement actions that integrate sustainable practices (e.g. inclusion of sustainability criteria in the development of new products and processes); and external relations (incorporation of socio-environmental criteria in the selection of suppliers and capital investment). As a limitation, this research was developed to cover the strategic KPI´s of a corporate competitive performance, and the future research should contemplate the tactical and operational perspectives. Just a few quantitative research’s are done with this propose, and in Brazil, it is quite insignificant, what means that this research is original. The results can be applied to stimulate the enterprises to improve their socio environmental sustainability management practices. Also, this research reinforces some of the SGDs recommended by UN for 2030 agenda which should improve company’s attractiveness for financial market and for people and planet.

Framing Open Design through Theoretical Concepts and Practical Applications: A Systematic Literature Review

This study reports on the results of a systematic literature review on ‘open design’ in academic fields including and beyond design and HCI. The review investigates how studies are framed as open design and open-source design (including ‘open hardware’): how researchers contribute to conceptual theorizing about open design or study its practical operationalization, in do-it-yourself ‘making,’ manufacturing and practices in-between these domains. Most of the papers reviewed were empirical studies from diverse fields. Open design was analyzed not only as contributions and solutions, but also as open-to-participate processes, openly shared processes, and open, closed, and modular (open and closed) outcomes. Various research fields presented an open design framing as an alternative to the status quo: new ways to do business and/or to foster socio-environmental sustainability. On the manufacturing side, open design was sought especially to accelerate innovation cycles; on the making side, it was espoused to foster democratization. However, the studies reviewed indicated that companies do not appear to develop much beyond business-as-usual. From the research perspective, the conceptual potential of open design to promote sustainability saw little practical exploration. Additionally, issues around open design community governance and ownership, safety and reliability of open outcomes require further investigation.

“Small in size, but big in impact”: Socio-environmental reforms for sustainable artisanal and small-scale mining

Abstract Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – small sized, largely unrecognized, rudimentary, and an informal form of mining – occurs in more than 70 countries around the world and is mainly hailed for its socioeconomic benefits and reviled for its environmental devastation. As a result, many people are confused about the future of ASM. In Ghana, the government banned ASM in 2017 and formed a security taskforce drawn from the military and police to crack down on nomadic and local ASM workers who defy the ban. This approach is unsustainable, deals less with the fundamental problems, and increases poverty among the already impoverished local populations who depend on this type of mining as their only means of livelihood. To support the argument for sustainable reforms, revenue growth decomposition and growth accounting analyses were performed to determine the factors shaping ASM revenue over 25 years (1990–2016). Results show that production (gold output) is the most important factor that influences revenue growth from ASM, contrary to the usual view that the price of the metal is mainly responsible for the increase in revenue. Thus, increasing labor hours in ASM could significantly increase mining revenue, reduce unemployment, and improve local commerce. We strongly conclude that sustainable reforms such as increasing local participation in decision making, education and training, adoption of improved technology, strengthening regulatory institutions, legislation and enforcement of enactments, and the provision of technical support and logistics could ensure socio-environmental sustainability.

Pensar la sustentabilidad desde América Latina. Retrospectiva del discurso académico a partir de un análisis bibliométrico entre 1970 y 2012

Ante las evidencias de una crisis ambiental global de origen antrópico, la comunidad científica ha sido interpelada para diseñar colectivamente una transición hacia la sustentabilidad socioecológica. Este artículo propone caracterizar los discursos académicos sobre la sustentabilidad en América Latina, a partir de un análisis de la red de citas de una muestra de 93 intelectuales latinoamericanos que han participado en estos debates entre 1970 y 2012. Esta revisión de redes de citas se complementa con un análisis cualitativo del contenido del pensamiento de los autores más influyentes. Empíricamente, el estudio proporciona una cartografía y un análisis sistemático de la participación de los académicos latinoamericanos en las reflexiones globales sobre la sustentabilidad socioecológica.La investigación está secuenciada en tres grandes periodos: el primero se extiende desde 1970, con la emergencia de las preocupaciones ambientales modernas, hasta 1987, año marcado por la publicación del Informe Brundtland. Un segundo periodo (1987-2002) corresponde al momento de institucionalización global de la idea de desarrollo sostenible, hasta la Conferencia de Johannesburgo, donde los acuerdos de Río perdieron su influencia sobre las prioridades políticas globales. El tercer periodo va del 2003 al 2012, año de la Cumbre Rio+20.Durante estos cuarenta años, el campo académico de la sustentabilidad en el subcontinente se ha estructurado gradualmente. Se observa, por una parte, la participación de América Latina y la intensificación del campo de estudio con el paso del tiempo. Por otra parte, se identifican los actores y las subredes más importantes, así como las instituciones que han acogido los proyectos, los equipos y programas de investigación que han tenido un papel crucial en la composición de un pensamiento ambiental latinoamericano. Los resultados de la investigación también muestran que muchos discursos académicos son más bien críticos, dado que apelan a una transformación profunda de las sociedades actuales, y que están construidos en sinergia con ciertos movimientos sociales que luchan por la justicia y la sustentabilidad socioambiental.