Sustainable Development In Europe Research Articles

Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals in Times of Rising Right-Wing Populism in Europe

This article discusses two ostensibly antagonistic themes: right-wing populism (RWP) and the UN 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). European politics has seen a sharp increase in right-wing populist influence over the last few election periods. More recently, such political influence has led to questions about right-wing populism’s impact on environmental and sustainable development policy. This paper takes a novel approach to understanding the potential connections between the rise of RWP in Europe and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs in two ways. First, the paper is based on two workshops, informed by a preceding literature review on the topic of RWP in Europe, requested and organised by the European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN). Secondly, the results from the workshops are used to discuss and interpret the role of potentially differing worldviews (ontology, axiology, epistemology and societal vision) and how these relate to specific policy and governance responses, thereby impacting upon the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs in European countries.

Raising awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals through Ecological Projects in Higher Education

This research demonstrates a novel method to communicate in Higher Education and raise awareness of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and particularly of Sustainable Development Goals, a vital step in accelerating action for their fulfillment. Students of the Faculty of Engineering during the “Ecology” course participated in groups in ten Ecological Projects covering a wide range of fields. These creative and experimental Ecological Projects focused on Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15 were inspired by Environmental science and Ecology. Their presentation occurred as event for the World Environment Day and the European Sustainable Development Week in the central square of the capital city of a region, which is a lignite mining region and the country’s energy heart. The Ecological Projects’ overall impacts were investigated through questionnaires completed by the participating students. Various statistical techniques were conducted. Nineteen questions establish as a measurement tool in its final form the questionnaire, whose Cronbach’s alpha is 0.895 indicating that an excellent reliability was estimated. The central tendency of the responses in Questions such as Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q8, Q10, Q14, Q15, Q16, Q17, Q18, Q19 indicates that Ecological Projects had enough impact on students’ cognitive, social and moral level. The Ecological Projects’ implementation and presentation sufficiently raised awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals. In three questions were detected statistically significant differences between the genders. Finally, according to the questionnaire responses, pairs of questions with moderate or strong monotonic association between them are presented too.

China: Investing and Touristing in Europe

The aim of this article is to interface the development and evolution approach of the Chinese tourist movement to Europe with the necessity and urgent need for measurement, evaluation and preliminary studies, in order to prioritize the fact that tourism development in Europe to continue sustaining SDG achievement, and to strategically orient the best investment in the tourist supply. It is important to emphasize that this study is also an attempt of a critical analysis by using a qualitative methodology. This methodology is based on the international strategic documents of key tourism development policies, Europe and Chinese strategic investment documents in general. Based on the theory and principles of sustainable tourism development as well as international policies for the sustainable development in Europe through tourism, this article includes a guide with such targeted strategies and policies in order for Europe's development to pursue its sustainability through tourism as a highly strategic sector, despite the massive growth that the Chinese boom could have in Europe. A panorama of the current situation and the changes in Europe’s decades-long journey (way of traveling) is given. It includes a review of all the policies aimed at Europe’s journey towards the sustainable development while trying to maximize revenue, output and level of employment that could happen from the China’s movement towards Europe. This study ends by giving suggestions regarding the policies and strategic attitudes that Europe needs to take in consideration while keeping in mind China’s strategic investment in Europe to pursue sustainable development, as well as some suggestions for the Chinese boom to have its own impact in Europe.

Welfare Mentality as a Challenge to European Sustainable Development. What Role for Youth Inclusion and Institutions?

This paper takes a free-market approach to the idea of welfare. That is, the analysis does not reject the role of the welfare state to fight against poverty and inequality but underlines the perils of the welfare mentality’s proliferation. Sustainable development requires more individual responsibility and less dependence on the state and its redistribution function. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it aims at showing that welfare mentality imposes challenges on sustainable development. The second aim is to identify the factors associated with welfare mentality. We use data from several international databases and apply correlation, principal components, and multiple regression analyses on a sample of 28 European countries. The results of our study show that welfare mentality negatively influences sustainable development by being positively correlated with the risk of poverty and the percentage of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEET). At the same time, countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and Luxembourg, widely acknowledged as welfare policy heavens, register low values in terms of preference for redistribution. The main determinants of welfare mentality are found to be a high level of NEET and a low level of economic freedom. This result points to the role of youth inclusion and free-market institutions in diminishing people’s welfare expectations and encouraging them to take better control of their own lives to reach prosperity and not depending on state support.

Re-examining sustainable development in Europe: a data envelopment approach

Re-examining sustainable development in Europe: a data envelopment approach

Assessing the Role of the Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation ‘Horizon 2020’ and ‘Horizon Europe’ in Sustainable Development of the European Union

The authors present the results of their research into the European Union’s innovation policy and the framework programmes for research and innovation as a key tool for ensuring sustainable development in Europe. The study has found that the EU innovation policy has a strong focus on achieving the goals of the economic, social and environmentaldimensions of the sustainable development agenda. Besides, attaining certain innovation indicators itself is a target of sustainable development. The current Horizon 2020Programme and the future Horizon Europe Programme are clearly aligned with the EU’s sustainable development strategic documents. As one of the leaders in the practical implementation of this concept, the European Union is setting standards and directions for further action for other countries and regions while remaining open to cooperative research and projects.

Re-examining sustainable development in Europe: a data envelopment approach

Sustainable development is a widely known concept in public and academic circles and in macroeconomic policy. This study applies data envelopment analysis to 37 European countries for the period 2004-2016 in order to evaluate sustainable development objectively. The model uses gross domestic product per capita as desirable output, CO2 emissions and Gini Index as undesirable outputs and three input variables: unemployment rate, fixed capital formation and energy consumption. Thus, all three pillars of sustainable development are included in the analysis. This is the first comprehensive analysis of European countries carried out with this methodology. Several model specifications are observed, in order to check for robustness of results. The results indicate that countries which are already highly ranked by existing world indices are ranked similarly in the empirical results of this research. Moreover, the most inefficient countries have shown an increase in sustainable development efficiency score over the observed period.

The Impact of Powering an Engine with Fuels from Renewable Energy Sources including its Software Modification on a Drive Unit Performance Parameters

The application of fuels from renewable energy sources for combustion engine powering involves a great demand for this kind of energy while its production infrastructure remains underdeveloped. The use of this kind of fuel is supposed to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and the depletion of natural resources and to increase the share of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption and thus support sustainable development in Europe. This study presents the results of research on selected performance parameters of transport by internal combustion engines including: power, torque, the emission of sound generated by the engine, the content of exhaust components (oxygen O2, carbon monoxide CO, carbon dioxide CO2, nitrogen dioxide NO2), and the content of particulate matter (PM) in exhaust emission. Three self-ignition engines were tested. The fuel injection controllers of the tested internal combustion engines were additionally adjusted by increasing the fuel dose and the load of air. The material used in the tests were mixtures of diesel oil and fatty acid methyl esters of different concentration. A statistical analysis was performed based of the results. The purpose of the work was to develop a resulting model for assessing the operation of engines fueled with biofuel and diesel mixtures while changing the vehicle’s computer software. A computer simulation algorithm was also developed for the needs of the tests which was used to prognose the state of the test results for variable input parameters.

Bioética y bioeconomía: disciplinas para supervivencia del mundo planetario

El objetivo de este artículo es identificar las diferentes posturas sobre bioética y bioeconomía, relacionadas con el desarrollo sostenible, a partir de perspectivas diversas que se enmarcan en los contextos europeo, latinoamericano y estadounidense. La revisión bibliográfica tuvo en cuenta teorías relacionadas con las tres categorías de análisis mencionadas. Se revisaron fuentes primarias y secundarias, con enfoques cualitativo y epistemológico-hermenéutico, para el análisis crítico de las fuentes. El desarrollo sostenible constituye un movimiento global que se relaciona con el medioambiente y no se opone a los avances de la ciencia y la tecnología, por el contrario, propende la preservación de un ambiente sano, uso y respeto de los recursos naturales para satisfacer las necesidades de las generaciones actuales sin poner en peligro la supervivencia de las generaciones futuras. La bioética y la bioeconomía son disciplinas que hacen compatible los intereses del ser humano de manera que sus conductas se cimienten en la moral, respeto de los recursos naturales y aplicación del principio de responsabilidad.

Measuring and comparing the sustainability of coastal tourism destinations in Germany, Lithuania, and Indonesia

An important aim of the European Sustainable Development Strategy is to measure the state of sustainability in coastal communities. While numerous indicators have been developed to estimate a regions sustainability, they go largely unused, due to the difficulty in applying them over a broad region. In an effort to improve upon this situation, we have improved the indicator set developed within the SUSTAIN project and merged these indicators with the QualityCoast label for sustainable tourism destinations, creating a joint methodology and developing an applicable self-assessment spreadsheet tool. The tool includes six categories, subdivided into 117 single indicators. We then tested the tool by applying it to ten contrasting tourism destinations in Germany, Lithuania, and Indonesia. In total, 17 unique applications were run, with the objective being to test the tools applicability, reproducibility, and utility for coastal communities. The applications showed that results can be biased, stemming from an evaluators’ perception of a given site or ecosystem. Thus, results are not easily reproducible, which negatively affects comparability with other destinations. However, results indicate that the tool can be used to categorize the sustainability of a region, helping to raise community awareness and guide future planning. Furthermore, communities benefit from the fact that a positive assessment will easily enable them to apply for the QualityCoast label. With clear guidelines and reference values, repeated applications can help communities evaluate whether their efforts are contributing to a sustainable coastal development.

Migration and Mobility as a Factor of Sustainable Development in Europe

Abstract Contemporary discourse on the international and national level of individual countries concerning the dilemma of sustainable development and the future of societies pays particular attention to the phenomenon of migration in Europe. The article aims to identify social factors, especially migration processes, affecting sustainable development in Europe and Poland. Synchronization of economic, social and environmental capital is to prevent the creation of one-line development plans. In addition, it is intended to eliminate potential conflicts related to uneven development. The starting point for the considerations is the definition proposed by I. Sachs "Sustainable development is a process by which it is possible to harmonize the exploitation of all natural resources, direct investment and technical and institutional changes, as well as meet the current and future needs of people according to the production and assimilation capacity of ecosystems" (Sachs, 2000) [Own translation from Polish].Specific questions and research problems arise What impact do contemporary migration processes have on sustainable development? Is sustainable development possible in a situation of growing social disproportions? How do economic migrants affect sustainable development? Foreign students, (migrants), as the capital building large urban centers.

European Sovereignty and Sustainable Development: Disenchanted Analysis of a Clear-Obscure Political Speech

This article demonstrates the new innovative approach to the significant legal and political correlations and is been written in the form of Presidential political speech analysis, which foresees the deep synthesis and knowledge of legislative provisions, reflections on national sovereignty, ecological transition, climate change and European Union legislation.

European cities in the face of sustainable development

Motivation: The paper rises the issue of sustainable development in the context of challenges that present cities face. Development of innovative and sustainable economy is an aim for the whole society in the European Union. Three pillars of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental management and social inclusion are fundamental and occur across all economic sectors. Predominantly, they influence cities e.g. fast urbanization process, infrastructure, energy development as well as transportation. Cities in Europe are precursors of the transformation towards a low carbon and resource efficient economy. City authorities are planning and acting towards a more sustainable future characterized by investing in innovative, integrated technologies and services such as buildings, mobility, lighting and broadband communications. Aim: The aim of the article is to present challenges facing European cities in the light of sustainable development. The paper explores trends in regional policy undertaken by the European Union relating to sustainable development. The first part outlines the global vision of present and future goals of sustainable development in the world. The next part focuses on the cities and challenges they face referring to sustainable and smart development. Results: The conducted research shows sustainable development as still valid, important and topical. The research indicates that the structures of the EU are not the exclusively supportive and responsible for sustainable development in Europe. The entities such as cities play a very important role in achieving sustainability. Numerous European cities are still establishing programs integrating the energy, transport and ICT sectors in order to deliver more efficient services to their inhabitants. Finally, more and more cities are going to become smart in the nearest future.

Research of Chosen Acoustics Descriptors of Developed Materials from Old Automobile Recycled Materials †

Legislative regulations and standards have been approved for noise control, aimed at controlling noise minimization. This problem is also under the public interest, because noise is increasing in many counties. EU directive 70/157/eec determines and controls limits of environmental noise and is aimed at creating less noisy and more pleasant outdoor and indoor environments for European residents within “sustainable development in Europe”. This study focused on the utilization of new, so-called acoustic more convenient materials, based on and produced from old materials from automobiles, e.g. foam, textile, rubber, and tires. The chosen acoustic parameters—sound absorption coefficient and sound transmission loss—of these materials were tested, and the acoustic properties of materials were subsequently improved compared to tested values and potential applications for them were found.

Responsibility for Sustainable Development in Europe: What Does It Mean for Planning Theory and Practice?

ABSTRACTResponsibility in planning for sustainable development (SD) is little conceptualised in the planning literature. This paper sets up a theoretical framework to extend its understanding by drawing on ethics and political constructions of responsibility at their intersection with planning studies and SD debates. This is then applied to explore responsibility outlooks in planning practice in Sweden and England. It is argued that planning theory needs to further engage with the ethics of responsibility in planning but also with its politics, while the variety of responsibility landscapes in planning practice calls for a re-examination of responsibilities in planning for SD.

System integration is a necessity for sustainable development

Following the 2015 Paris Agreement, the main challenge for world economies nowadays is to commit themselves to long-term reforms aimed at increasing and promoting sustainable, inclusive and balanced development. An adequate response to this challenge will certainly require using the best available scientific knowledge and constant re-evaluation of the development process in light of the scientific findings. To ensure that the sciences are responsive to the emerging needs and to address sustainable development issues. This Virtual Special Issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production is dedicated to both Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems 2016 Conferences – 2nd South East European Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Conference and 11th Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Conference. The Virtual Special Issue is focused on four main fields: Energy issues, Water issues, Environmental engineering and management, and Sustainable engineering solutions and large-scale sustainability approaches. The division of selected papers follows the previous Journal of Cleaner Production Special Sections and Volumes dedicated to the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems Conference series.

Витоки та рушійні сили європейської інтеграції: ретроспективний аналіз.

The article presents an author’s view of the origins and driving forces of European integration processes. As one of the key driving forces of political and economic development in Europe, the author examines the evolution of bourgeois values, which were largely complemented by the achievements of the Reformation and the Enlightenment. The evolution of the elites who were bearers of these values had a projection in a series of bourgeois revolutions in European countries (the Netherlands, England, and France).The article proposes consideration of general tendencies of foreign policy vectors of European countries in conjunction with a retrospective analysis of conflicts from the beginning of the Modern Age to the middle of the twentieth century. An overview of the main European wars, which involved almost all states complemented by the analysis of post-war system agreements and European scenarios. In particular, the formation of the Westphalian, Viennese, Versailles-Washington systems of international relations was analysed, which greatly deepened the contradictions between the leading European countries and every 50- 60 years experienced devastating wars.The study of the formation of the ideas of European unity from the age of the Enlightenment to the completion of the Second World War as a method of preventing military conflicts, complemented the general picture of the retrospective. An overview of the concepts of "Eternal Peace" (I. Kant), "PanEuropean Union" (R. Kudenhov-Kallergi), "Declaration of Schumann" is presented.The post-World War II system of peace and sustainable development in Europe initially united the coal and steel industries in the form of the European Coal and Steel Community. The organization joined France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The said structure became one of the first to establish a system of cooperation in key sectors of the post-war economy, reconciling France and Germany, creating the preconditions for further integration processes in Europe.

Health monitoring and health indicators in Europe

Demographic change, new health threats and inequalities in health and healthcare provision in and between European Union (EU) member states pose a great challenge to European health care systems. Not only for these reasons does it make sense to collect comparable European health data. Such information provides insights on the distribution of risk and protection factors, the prevalence of chronic diseases and the levels of care provided in the member states and supports the planning and implementation of (health) policy measures. Since 2013, in the context of the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), all EU member states are obliged to collect data on the health status, the provision of healthcare, health determinants and socio-economic conditions of their populations. In Germany, the EHIS is integrated into health monitoring at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The RKI is thus Germany's interface to the European health monitoring presented here. European health monitoring relies on different indicator systems such as the European Core Health Indicators (ECHI), EU social indicators and the health indicators of the European Sustainable Development Strategy. These are based on administrative and survey data, which stem for example from the EHIS or the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey. Comparative data analyses must take into account the differences between health care systems, socioeconomic conditions and the age structures of societies. Variances in the prevalence of allergies for example are also due to differences in the available diagnostic tools. Significant differences in the prevalence of hypertension in Europe (with a range of 20% for women and 17% for men) are also related to different levels of awareness of hypertension. Comparative analyses can support the planning of and provide information for policy measures, and enhance the sharing of experiences between EU member states. A forthcoming EU regulation aims to harmonise the content of and intervals between health and social statistical data collection. Moreover, plans exist to establish a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), which is set to develop and institutionalise European health monitoring.

How managers of small-scale enterprises can create a health promoting corporate culture

PurposeSmall-scale enterprises (SSEs) are important for sustainable development in Europe and account for a significant proportion of private enterprises and their large contribution to employment. The purpose of this paper is to explore workplace health management (WHM) from the perspective of managers in SSEs in Norway and Sweden.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews with 18 managers in SSEs were conducted and a stepwise qualitative analysis was used.FindingsThe findings are presented as two main patterns: inter-organisational dynamics and participative leadership. Managers discussed opportunities for WHM to foster solidarity and flexibility in the workplace, the potential of employees for self-governance and a cultural environment at the workplace characterized by safety, trust, care, loyalty and humour. The managers employed a process-oriented communicator style, were all-rounders, and demonstrated dedicated and distinct management. Managers in SSEs were lone problem solvers and experienced high and conflicting work demands and work-family conflicts.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings should be interpreted with caution concerning representation of SSEs generally. The enterprises were recruited from an intervention project focussing on WHM and might, therefore, have a positive attitude.Practical implicationsThe managers obtain recommended information about what to do and how to address WHM in SSEs.Originality/valueThis study adds important knowledge regarding the preconditions for creating health promoting workplaces in SSEs, an area for which limited research exists. The findings provide insights and knowledge about managers’ possibilities and obstacles in WHM. The findings could be transferrable to management in similar contexts if managers develop more awareness and knowledge.

Iron Metallurgy Slags as a Potential Source of Critical Elements - Nb, Ta and REE

Abstract The recovery of valuable metals from metallurgical slag disposals is a promising option to protect natural resources, limited due to technology development and increased consumption. The Ad-hoc Working Group on Defining Critical Raw Materials within the Raw Materials Supply Group has proposed a list of critical elements which have the greatest economic importance and meet the requirements of sustainable development in Europe. The goal of this study was to examine steelmaking- and blast-furnace slags from metallurgical processes to determine concentrations of elements of the greatest criticality for Poland, e.g. Nb, Ta and REE, and to discuss the viability of their recovery. Slag analyses indicate enrichment of REE relative to UCC, NASC and average chondrite compositions in blast-furnace slags and Nb and Ta in steelmaking slags. To make recovery of these critical elements reasonable and profitable, it is recommended that they be recovered together with other useful raw materials.