Sustainability Outlook Research Articles

Shippers/freight forwarders’ acceptance of dedicated rail freight corridors for freight mobility in India

This paper investigates the acceptance of a mega rail freight infrastructure as a sustainable alternative to road transport for domestic freight movements in India. The dedicated rail freight corridors (DFCs) are the freight-only rail corridors proposed by the Indian government to improve freight mobility from a sustainable outlook. A shipper/freight forwarder survey was conducted to gather information on mode attributes and their stated preferences toward DFCs. We employ discrete choice (binary logit) and machine learning algorithms (random forest and extreme gradient boosting) to analyse the choice behaviour. The machine learning methods exhibited higher prediction accuracy, while discrete choice models offered better interpretability. On-time performance and transport costs are crucial factors that influence mode choice. Large-scale companies are more willing to shift to DFCs compared to small and medium firms. The policy scenario analysis indicates that providing a better on-time performance can gain a substantial share of DFCs.

Nitrogen and oxygen self-doped hierarchical porous carbon nanosheets derived from turmeric leaves for high-performance supercapacitor

It is a formidable challenge to develop efficient and low-cost nanostructured carbonaceous materials for electrochemical energy storage application. Herein, a hierarchical porous carbon nanosheet is successfully synthesized in a facile manner from turmeric leaves by a two-step chemical activation strategy using KOH activator. The biomass-derived interconnected two-dimensional (2D) carbon framework prepared at 900 °C presents high self-doped N (11.42 at%) and O contents (7.77 at%) together with specific surface area and pore volume of 541 m2/g and 0.47 cm3 g−1, respectively. Consequently, the resultant electroactive functional material shows a specific capacitance of 389 and 310 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g in acidic and neutral electrolytes, respectively. Additionally, an assembled symmetric supercapacitor device in Na2SO4 electrolyte delivers good capacitance retention of 90 % after 5000 consecutive charge–discharge cycles along with high specific energy (39.44 Wh kg−1at specific power of 0.49 kW kg−1). This work provides a cost-effective, eco-friendly and sustainable outlook to prepare high-valued porous carbons from reliable biomass sources for high-performance supercapacitor application.

A Sustainable Approach for Multiple Dwellings Development Through Joint Procurement

Infrastructure and construction projects majorly contribute to the national economy of developing nations. Development strategies in such up bound moves in the construction industry need to align with the housing system improvements models. Joint Procurement (JP) of resources and services result in sharing of resources, costs and energy requirements. This perspective paper aims to figure out critical parameters of JP for the medium level construction businesses in India and reveals that such an approach would seriously consider economic growth, sustainable quality life, and increasing per capita income. Bridging the knowledge gap between disperse stakeholders through JP methods would give rise to a new construction approach when support and cooperation between all the stakeholders exist. The JP model's adoption gives further initiatives to minimize the detrimental impacts of construction on the environment and society, besides developing sustainability outlook and performance within the community.

Groundwater quality enumeration and health risk in the extended part of Chhotanagpur granite gneiss complex of India.

The majority of people on the earth bank largely on groundwater to quench their thirst. In the era of rapid population growth, the over-exploitation of groundwater gives rise to water scarcity, and people find themselves in distress to manage safe drinking water. In this backdrop, the present study is carried out in the terrain of Pre-Cambrian igneous and high- to low-graded metamorphic rocks, to assess the groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) and evaluation of groundwater quality. The map of GWPZ is produced employing the multi-criteria decision-making model and geospatial technology. It unveils that around 29% area of the watershed enjoys good GWPZ, whereas around 43% area experiences low GWPZ. The overall accuracy of the simulated model is 92%. The water quality index indicates that 68% of water samples belong to excellent to good water quality. A significant proportion of water samples (24%) are found to be unsuitable for drinking, which may be due to groundwater contamination by the process of leaching of mineral-rich weathered rocks. The presence of fluoride (F-) beyond the maximum permissible limit (1.5mg L-1) of WHO is recorded among 18% samples of the watershed, where 24,963 souls including 3457 children aged between 0 and 6years lived and might have ingested F- through drinking water. Hence, the health risk of those people is quite high. Children are at a more non-carcinogenic health risk of F- than adults. The study also confirms no statistically significant difference (p ˃ 0.05) is observed between low and high GWPZ with respect to groundwater quality. The study recommends adopting a sustainable outlook to explore GWPZ, and an assessment of drinking water quality must be done before drinking.

Intricacies for Gender Equality in Formal and Informal Structures through Governance Enhancement; a Kenyan Perspective

The misconceptions and ideology misconstrue of gender equality as constituting women empowerment programs have hampered the accurate intent that gender equality stands for in formal and informal governance structures. The resistance to gender equality elucidates the gaps that exist in governance instruments over the last decades. The governance instruments’ deficiencies in supporting gender equality in all sectors highlight the intricacies that could be addressed when these instruments are enhanced. The study aimed at focusing on the governance instruments of policy and regulations, organization structures, and feedback mechanisms that capture the inadequacies in upholding gender equality. Much focus has been placed on the obstacles to gender equality but few studies have been undertaken on the scope of governance enhancement whose impacts are highlighted by the formal and informal structures. The study was conducted through a systematic literature review of relevant articles on governance instruments and gender equality and adopting the Prisma model of systematic literature review. Through the reviewed literature, data indicated the gaps that exist in knowledge, attitude, and practice in top management office holders in implementing gender equality policies. Further findings indicate the misconception of gender equality for women empowerment programs as opposed to it being a key tenet in enhancing governance. Governance structure imbalances further impacted gender equality and equity aimed at enhancing equilibrium in various national and county policies and laws. Governance instruments when structured to support gender equality can bring sustainable development noted in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5. The intricacies between governance enhancement and gender equality serve a symbiotic relationship and the outcomes adopt a sustainable outlook. Investment in governance enhancement will provide a basis for change in knowledge, attitude, and practice across the board and further increase ownership and cohesion for gender equality.

Corporate sustainability performance, stock returns, and ESG indicators: fresh insights from EU member states.

It is believed that sustainable practices like environmental, social, and governance mechanisms help in providing a sustainable outlook for both companies and the governments. Such practices have their long-term impact on the stock returns and sustainable performance dynamics. This research aims to investigate the dynamic relationship between ESG indicators, stock returns, and sustainable performance reflected through economic, environmental, and social dimensions during 2010-2018. Panel data has been collected from various listed companies working in EU member states and analyzed through advanced panel estimations. The study findings inferred a significant and positive impact of all three measures of sustainable practices as reflected by targeted firms in the EU region on economic, environmental, and social dimensions of performance. On the other hand, those firms reporting higher ESG disclosure in their annual reports confirm better stock returns. Finally, study findings reveal that ESG dynamics provide a valuable contribution in creating some sustainable edge under the theoretical foundation of different theories. The study findings would greatly support providing a meaningful model for the listed firms to focus on their ESG indicators for higher performance in EES and stock returns. Finally, the current study expects to stimulate more theoretical and empirical work on ESG and EES. Future studies are suggested to consider the relationship between the stated variables regarding pre- and post-pandemic duration.

Transition Metal Non-Oxides as Electrocatalysts: Advantages and Challenges.

The identification of hydrogen as green fuel in the near future has stirred global realization toward a sustainable outlook and thus boosted extensive research in the field of water electrolysis focusing on the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). A huge class of compounds consisting of transition metal-based nitrides, carbides, chalcogenides, phosphides, and borides, which can be collectively termed transition metal non-oxides (TMNOs), has emerged recently as an efficient class of electrocatalysts in terms of performance and longevity when compared to transition metal oxides (TMOs). Moreover, the superiority of TMNOs over TMOs to effectively catalyze not only OERs but also HERs and ORRs renders bifunctionality and even trifunctionality in some cases and therefore can replace conventional noble metal electrocatalysts. In this review, the crystal structure and phases of different classes of nanostructured TMNOs are extensively discussed, focusing on recent advances in design strategies by various regulatory synthetic routes, and hence diversified properties of TMNOs are identified to serve as next-generation bi/trifunctional electrocatalysts. The challenges and future perspectives of materials in the field of energy conversion and storage aiding toward a better hydrogen economy are also discussed in this review.

Food waste in foodservice provided in educational settings: An exploratory study of institutions of early childhood education

Educational institutions play an important societal role by shaping sustainability outlook of young consumers. No research has however been undertaken on such major sustainability challenge as food waste in foodservice provided by institutions of early childhood education, such as nurseries and kindergartens. This hampers an understanding of the opportunities for food waste prevention in this important institutional context of foodservice provision. This study employs sequential mixed methods to collect data on food waste and its management in foodservice provided by 40 public and private kindergartens in Russia. The study finds that, compared to public kindergartens, private kindergartens waste substantially less food and manage food waste more effectively. Such factors as: (1) smaller size; (2) closer contacts with parents and children; (3) more freedom in food procurement; (4) better operational flexibility; and (5) stricter control procedures over food preparation in the kitchen minimize food waste occurrence in private kindergartens. The study offers first benchmarks of food waste generated in foodservice provision in kindergartens which can be used for a comparative analysis in future research on food waste and its management in educational institutions. The study identifies ‘best practices’ in managing food waste in kindergartens and discusses the theoretical foundations which can justify broader application of these practices in institutions of early childhood education in Russia and beyond.

A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the sustainability of industrialised building systems: A bibliographic review and analysis of case studies

The building construction has a significant impact on sustainability worldwide. However, industrialised building systems (IBS) might reduce these impacts compared to traditional building systems (TBS). Previous literature reviews have analysed IBS's sustainability, based primarily on environmental aspects and through qualitative indicators, disregarding a detailed quantitative comparison between both technologies and nor considering economic and social sustainability indicators. To fill this gap, this paper aims to evaluate vis-à-vis IBS's sustainability in relation to TBS, based on the quantitative and qualitative indicators studied in the literature. Thus, an exhaustive bibliographic review of IBS and TBS case studies was conducted. In total, 67 scientific papers were selected (papers, book chapters and reports), containing 86 case studies. Major findings indicated that IBS are more sustainable in almost all studied values – except construction costs. Nevertheless, this advantage depends on material design, prefabrication levels, transportation, work management and each author's methodological approaches. These factors are discussed to explain the reasons for IBS′ sustainability. Furthermore, main conclusions indicate that sustainability assessments have been unbalanced in literature, with few analyses of economic and social performance, and some indicators have been poorly studied (e.g., water and acidification potential), so their results are not yet representative. Similarly, reusability, prefabrication levels and the social indicators of IBS were insufficiently analysed in the reviewed case studies. Finally, the current review highlights IBS sustainability indicators that have been less studied in order to motivate new investigations in the broader field, exposing the IBS sustainability outlook and other research gaps.

Mining Technologies Innovative Development: Economic and Sustainable Outlook

Today science faces the task of ensuring the innovative development of the mineral extractive sector of the economy in resource-rich countries, in the context of unfolding two opposite trends [...]

Higher Education Challenges: Developing Skills to Address Contemporary Economic and Sustainability Issues

This paper aims to provide brief insight into the economic and sustainability challenges that higher education institutions are facing today globally. It provides a theoretical overview of key trends and challenges of higher education, relevant for the development of a sustainable and resilient European economy and society. We support our theoretical proposition by a bibliometric analysis of previous studies dealing with the 21st-century business skills and the sustainability outlook to be produced by the higher education sector. Our main findings are related to a significant rise of researchers’ interest in the topic, along with the multi-disciplinary approach being emphasized, as the academic community seeks how to contribute to the pressing issues of ensuring the integration of sustainability with employers’ requirements, related to new skill profiles, relevant for the European transformation toward a more resilient, digital, green economy and society. We evaluate the proposed course of research and provide recommendations to researchers and other higher education stakeholders interested in promoting this educational sector’s sustainability and relevance in the 21st century.

Sustainability Outlook of Thermochemical-Based Second-Generation Biofuel Production: Exergy Assessment

Since the last century, the idea of replacing traditional fossil sources with renewable alternatives has attracted much attention. As a result, auspicious renewable biofuels, such as biohydrogen or bio-oil, have emerged as suitable options. This study provides some knowledge on combining process design, modeling, and exergy analysis as a united framework to support decision making in energy-based projects. The assessment also included a final evaluation, considering sustainability indicators to evaluate process performance. Feedstock selection is crucial for producing bio-oil and hydrogen for process sustainability; this aspect is discussed, considering second-generation sources. Second-generation bio-oil and biohydrogen production are assessed and compared under the proposed framework. Process simulation was performed using ASPEN PLUS. Exergy analysis was developed using data generated in the process simulation stage, containing material and energy balances, thermodynamic properties, chemical reactions, etc. A mathematical formulation for the exergy analysis shows the exergy of utilities, waste, exergy efficiency, and exergy intensity of both processes, based on the same functional unit (1 kg of product). The sustainability evaluation included quantifying side parameters, such as the renewability index, energy efficiency, or global warming potential. The results indicate that pyrolysis obtained the highest resource exergy efficiency (11%), compared to gasification (3%). The exergy intensity shows that more exergy is consumed in the gasification process (4080.21 MJ/kg) than pyrolysis (18.64 MJ/kg). Similar results are obtained for total irreversibility (327.41 vs. 48.75 MJ/kg) and exergy of wastes (51.34 vs. 18.14 MJ/kg).

About the differentiation of anellated 1,2-dithiins in comparison to non-anellated types†

This review describes the synthesis and the reaction behavior of anellated 1,2-dithiins in comparison to non-anellated compounds. Moreover, it focuses on the structure of the cyclic disulfide-molecule related to their mostly red color. Results (thiophenes, trithiepins, tetrathiocins, dimers as 12-membered cyclic disulfides) of occurring evasive reactions during synthesis of anellated 1,2-dithiins are included. It also offers a practical and comprehensive summary of references (including unpublished results) plus valuable hints for a sustainable outlook.

Industry 4.0 opportunities in manufacturing SMEs: Sustainability outlook

Nascent technological innovation is fast advancing, with a promise to reach the most primitive corners of the earth. Industry operations are also fast-changing. Thus, the introduction, and implementation of the different Industry 4.0 (4IR) technologies such as the cyber-physical systems (CSP), big data analytics, 3-D printing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), etc., hold great potential to pilot sustainable manufacturing. The present article explores the opportunities and challenges of 4IR implementation for sustainable manufacturing practices to promote SMEs' operational performances, and future decision to promulgate techno-innovativeness, specifically in Africa. This research aims to benefit organizational effectiveness practitioners and policy strategists within private and public parastatals to proffer industrial solutions that will promote the integration of emerging technologies and sustainable value chain businesses.

Justification for a taxonomic conservation update of the rodent genus Tamiasciurus: addressing marginalization and mis-prioritization of research efforts and conservation laissez-faire for a sustainability outlook

Taxonomy presents itself as the critical basis of any modern scientific decision-making approach in the living world, and therefore accurate classifications have to be sought. Due to ongoing species naming debates, here we would like to facilitate a discussion on the methods and validity used for taxonomic claims and their influence on conservation, ecology, and management for squirrels in the western world as a wider example. Following the established epigenetic approach, we examine the rodent genus Tamiasciurus. We include in our assessment all relevant species-interfering characteristics and present one new perspective, ecological niches. The ecological niche is essential for explaining the species’ behavior patterns and their discrepancies among the congeners, adding insights into phylogenesis. We add the usage of mapping software such as geographic information systems (ArcGIS, Open QGIS) for this genus, as well as best-available open access data and the statistical aid from R. Misclassifications in the taxonomy are known to lead to conservation failures on a continental and societal scale, in part caused by a lack of knowledge by the public and the miscommunication between scientists and the public. As one possible solution, here we suggest a reclassification for Mearns’s squirrel (Tamiasciurus mearnsi) and a description update for the entire Tamiasciurus genus to improve conservation success. Additional solutions are presented to simplify classification with reduced errors and confusion in the animal kingdom. A larger future effort of this style is sought to greatly decrease marginalization, to improve the current lack of research priority and “laissez-faire” attitudes on environmental issues for a better relationship between humans and the biotic world. In conclusion we present important topics and yet unaddressed problems, such as how the rodent’s marginalization influences the pandemic disease transmission to humans (e.g. Covid-19, rabies, and bubonic plague), appropriately assigned budgets for their conservation, and the data transparency in a continuously accelerating climate-changing world.

Lessons From Italy: A Good Pension System Needs an Effective Broader Social Policy Framework

Italy, which is sometimes considered a laggard in terms of social and economic reforms, can boast a pension system that is, by and large, functioning sufficiently well in terms of ensuring an adequate purchasing power to retirees and a financially sustainable outlook in the long term, even when taking into account adverse demographic developments.

Sustainability evaluation of community-based, solar photovoltaic projects in Malawi

BackgroundA novel project sustainability framework is used to evaluate 65 off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) energy system projects in Malawi. This study addresses PV projects serving rural public facilities, a solution known to have had historical issues with poor sustainability. A recent countrywide program targeting such facilities was evaluated against existing projects to determine whether this latest iteration offered better results.MethodSustainability is defined at the project-level with metrics justified under the main themes of technical, economic, social, and organizational. Data captured for each project is based on a custom survey and interview of key stakeholders. Projects are grouped according to age, project implementer, income level, and PV system size to compare relative results.ResultsThe sustainability outlook for each project is evaluated. We find sustainability for most projects to be low. Social sustainability was weak with many projects due to low local community stakeholder engagement in terms of numbers of stakeholders, meeting frequency, and community contributions. Organizational challenges included a lack of key management positions in place and extremely limited training provisions. Furthermore, the evaluation highlights the economic health of the system to be key to sustainability, with the “healthiest” projects affording only 37% of expected operations and maintenance costs. Relative to expected demand, systems were found to be undersized for both panels (53% of required) and batteries (57%). Users reported achieving only 60% of their desired consumption. Poor sizing standards related to the lack of load profiles for first-time electricity users as well as poor quality components reduced the overall technical sustainability.ConclusionRural public facilities with solar PV in Malawi are not well served by isolated community management. Improved sustainability requires the establishment of a robust financial framework prior to project development that includes formal local government support. This paper discusses ideal management frameworks and their ultimate implications for project developers, policy makers, and the research community.

Including aspects of sustainability in the degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics: An evaluation based on student perceptions

Abstract Education is progressing towards having a more sustainable outlook. Numerous approaches to sustainability teaching have been conducted at different educational stages, but few studies have used quantitative methods to measure its impact. The aim of this quasi-experimental intervention was to integrate competences in “Sustainable Development” (SustD) into the teaching syllabus of a degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics through active methodologies. Seven courses were selected to implement ten activities, across four academic levels of this degree. Students completed a questionnaire both before and after the intervention in order to measure their perception of knowledge of SustD and to assess their sustainable intentional behaviour (SIB). According to the results, their SustD related knowledge increased after the intervention, although this was not clearly reflected in their SIB. This study aims to identify good practices and the best conditions for future longitudinal interventions.

Governing Board Attributes as Profitability Influencers under Endogeneity: An Econometric Analysis in South Africa

Presently, the oversight role performed by the governing board has been interrogated due to the demise of several corporate giants. The governing board is responsible for advancing the strategic direction of the company by ensuring superior performance whilst managing risks. Accordingly, this study investigated whether the governing board has any influence on a firm’s profitability by using OLS and GMM estimation on an unbalanced panel of 130 firms over a six-year period. ROA served as a proxy for firm performance and several board-level governance variables were selected namely board size, board independence, CEO duality, director qualifications, and board interlocks. From an econometric contribution, this study found that the addition of instrument variables in the GMM estimation model has proven to be robust in examining corporate governance variables. GMM is also robust in controlling endogeneity and a possible bi-directional causality between board and profitability. From a theoretical contribution, agency, resource dependence and management hegemony theories are highly prevalent in the governing boards of the JSE. The results of this study are as envisaged in the SCP paradigm. All hypotheses were supported, showing overall that profitability is significantly influenced by the board attributes. This study provides a useful analysis of the theoretical framework used by academic writers as a foundation for model specification as well as contributes to the econometric methodology of corporate governance. These findings will also advise future researchers, stakeholders and regulators in better understanding the role of board composition from a profit maximisation and sustainability outlook.

The systematic selection of headline sustainable indicators for the development of future neighbourhood sustainability assessment tools for Africa

The Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment Tool (NSAT) is part of a growing number of strategic tools used in the bid to achieve a sustainable society. Unfortunately, the development of this tool in several countries has been plagued with pitfalls, such as: a lack of transparency in the development process and selection of Headline Sustainability Indicators (HSI), debatable adoption of sustainability pathways, and difficulties in determining a common set and standard number of urban HSI for assessment tools. It should be highlighted that HSI is the grouping of a specific urban issue and/or sustainable indicator(s) under a broad category that best describes the focus of that issue. This study aims to develop a coherent and transparent methodology, which can be used in developing a common set of HSI for NSATs. The motivation of this study stems from the fact that there are currently no NSATs developed for African countries, moreover, developing new sets of HSI in the African context would be both expensive and time consuming. Thus, by investigating the properties of already developed tools, the effectiveness of the HSI selection process for African cities are optimized. The result, which is the methodological process, emphasises four steps in the selection of HSI: (1) consider as many NSATs as possible. (2) Identify the motivation for the study and select a sustainability outlook. In the method developed herein four dimensions of sustainability is chosen, and this includes the institutional dimension which serves as a means of addressing the short comings of the institutional setup in Africa. (3) Allocate sustainability dimensions to all HSI and subsequently merge similar HSI. (4) Use the interrelationships between the dimensions of HSI to select a common set of HSI. In addition to being a foundational research, this study can also serve as a timely inducement to academics, professionals and government parastatals in Africa to commence rigorous investigations on the pathways to developing NSATs suitable for, and implementable in, the African context.