Sustainable Indicator System Research Articles

The Influence of Policy Investment on the Sustainable Development of Universities in Underdeveloped Regions: An Empirical Analysis of China’s Higher Education Landscape

The regional disparity in higher education development is critical for the sustainable advancement of the national education system. To address this issue, the Chinese government has implemented targeted support policies for higher education in underdeveloped regions, with the “Ministry-Province Co-construction Policy” serving as a notable example. This study investigates the impact of such policies on the development of universities in China’s underdeveloped central and western regions. First, the study analyzes policy documents to identify six primary policy pathways through high-frequency word extraction, social semantic analysis, and path integration. These policy pathways are quantified using representative indicators, which constitute the independent variables of the study. Second, by employing the framework of modern university functions, the study develops a sustainable development indicator system for higher education institutions. The performance scores for the sustainable development of 14 universities, derived using the entropy method, serve as the dependent variables. The study subsequently measures the effects of individual and combined policy pathways through two equations. The results indicate that some pathways are more effective than others. While all combined policy pathways yield positive effects, an excessive number of combinations can lead to diminishing returns. Finally, the study elucidates the measurement results, emphasizing that effective pathways highlight the essential roles of faculty, research, and teaching. Conversely, less effective pathways stem from inadequate inputs or slow responses. Although combined policy pathways generally exert positive impacts, an overabundance of combinations can dilute these benefits. The study suggests that administrative support for higher education in underdeveloped regions is advantageous. It underscores the necessity of distinguishing between more and less effective input methods, concentrating on resource allocation, and ensuring universities’ autonomy in utilizing support resources to achieve sustainable development in higher education within these regions.

Analysis of Tourism Sustainability in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil

Purpose: Analyses tourism sustainable development of Fernando de Noronha state district through usage of Tourism Sustainable Indicators System. Theoretical framework: The systems of sustainability indicators emerged as an important analysis tool, allowing to infer about different dimensions that make up the reality of a place or activity, and assisting in the search for Sustainable Development. Method: The methodology proceeds with an integrative outreach utilizing semi-structured, surveys and interviews about environmental, cultural, social, economical, touristic and institucional dimensions applied to public authorities, civic society and private iniciative agents, that allow to imply the archipelago is placed among sustainable, parcially sustainable and, as indicate some indicators, unsustainable. Results and conclusion: The results achieved show the importance of a sustainable resource administration, considering essential the two protected areas in the island. Nevertheless, a warning need to be done: the harmful effects of population increase and high touristic flow present serious negative impacts to sensitive environment and rich biodiversity. Research Implications: The research has local and global relevance, allowing us to infer that the archipelago is situated between sustainable, partially sustainable and, as some indicators indicate, unsustainable, and thus contributing to the planning towards sustainability. Originality/value: The indicator system used has been adjusted to adapt to the island context. Islands present themselves as excellent opportunities for sustainability analysis, given their context of isolation.

International comparison and insights on sustainable competitiveness of water industry management models: evidences from France and China.

The sustainability of water industry management model is one of the essential means to achieve sustainable utilization of water resources. Based on existing research on the sustainability of water industry, this study explores the factors affecting the sustainable competitiveness of water industry management model. It constructs a more complete sustainable competitiveness evaluation indicator system. Evidences taken from France and China were selected as the references for the study, and the principal component analysis was used to evaluate the overall sustainable competitiveness and main component dimensions. It is found through this study that the overall competitiveness indicator in the sustainable water industry management model and the sub-dimensional competitiveness indicators in resource support, development base, and environmental impact of water industry of France are better than those of China. China is more competitive in social inclusion, technological innovation, and sustainability of water industry. Based on the research results, this study provides insights into solving the existing issues in the sustainable development of China's water industry to support how China can adjust its water industry management model to improve its sustainable competitiveness.

Sustainable Water Management and the 2030 Agenda: Comparing Rain Forest Watersheds in Canada and Brazil by Applying an Innovative Sustainability Indicator System

Watershed management varies greatly across the world. Local conditions are generally dictated by how watershed management is regulated at national, regional, and local scales. Both multisectoral and community-based participatory involvement in watershed management can positively impact the quality and effectiveness of outcomes. This localization can also be vital to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. In recent years, the term “sustainability” has become overused, has limited quantifiable meaning, and can create “fuzzy” targets. We suggest that an outcome that focuses on “thrivability” is more appropriate; this refers to the ability to not only sustain positive conditions for future generations but to create conditions that allow for all living things (present and future) to have the ability and opportunity to thrive. A thrivability approach aligns with the 2030 Agenda’s ultimate goal: prosperity for all beings on earth. This study uses a thrivability lens to compare two study sites. Primary and secondary data were collected for both the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN), Canada, and Hydrographic Region VIII (HR-VIII), Brazil, and have been input and analyzed through our Thrivability Appraisal to determine each region’s watershed thrivability score. The Thrivability Appraisal uses seven sustainability principles as the overarching framework. These are then related to four individual subcomponents of watershed health and three common interest tests based on primary environmental perception and secondary technical data as inputs. Assuming the centricity of water for prosperity, the final scoring is a culmination of the 49 total indicators. A comparison is then drawn to the regions’ capacity to achieve the eight targets for UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. The outcome illustrates each region’s water management strengths and weaknesses, allowing for lessons to be learned and transferred to other multijurisdictional watersheds.

Sustainability assessment of pig production: a study in Santa Catarina, Brazil

This study aimed to identify the sustainability practices of pig creation on rural properties in the West region of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The analysis included the system of sustainability indicators in pig farming. Although managers comply with the regulations and legislation, there are practical difficulties related to the destination of production waste, water use, expenditure controls, and social interaction. The sustainability analysis allowed investigating 30 properties and using a scale of 0-10 points, rate factors related to organizational, social, and environmental practices. Nine rural properties had a general performance, indicating characteristics of in search for sustainability, while 21 obtained a performance between 2.5 and 5.0 points, indicating fragilities in organizational, environmental, and social practices. It highlights the importance of analyzing sustainability indicators as a mechanism to control and implement better practices to assist in the search for sustainable development.

ФІНАНСОВІ ІНДИКАТОРИ В СИСТЕМІ МОНІТОРИНГУ ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ БЕЗПЕКИ КРАЇН

The article is devoted to the systematization of financial indicators for assessing the level of countries economic security and defining the role and importance of indicators in the system of economic security monitoring. It is determined that the indicator approach is the most common in terms of assessing and monitoring the level of financial security and allows for effective management of financial risks. In this case, indicators act as measures of the degree of stability, reliability and efficiency of the country's economic system. The authors prove that indicators form the methodological basis for monitoring the level and status of economic and financial security. The indicators are classified according to security subsystems and take into account the peculiarities of their formation. The authors analyze the approaches to systematization of financial indicators used in Ukrainian practice, in particular, within the framework of the official methodology for assessing the level of Ukraine’s economic security, as well as within the methodology for assessing the level of financial stability and sustainability used by the National Bank of Ukraine. Among the approaches developed and implemented at the international level, the author examines the IMF Financial Sustainability Indicators System, the IMF and World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework, The World Bank Global Findex Database, and The system of Financial Indicators for Socioeconomic Development of The World Bank (Open Data). Keywords: financial indicator, economic security, financial security, security monitoring, resilience.

Sustainable development trial undertaking: Experience from China's innovation demonstration zones.

In December 2016, China proposed creating about ten sustainable development demonstration zones to create a batch of replicable and extendable demonstration models to fully realize the 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and provide a reference for similar regions of emerging economies. It has now approved six cities that act as green and low carbon lifestyle laboratories. However, very few documents quantitatively evaluate this policy's natural, economic, and social impact. This article comprehensively uses dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) methods and input-output methods to portray the urgency of sustainable development in China. This article sets the sustainable indicator system for the approved six cities and sets scenario simulations based on transformation needs for quantitative evaluation. The results show that demonstration zones policies would lead to a decline in the output of heavily polluting industries. However, in China's current coal-dominated energy structure, the degree of positive impact on the growth of clean industry output would be less than the intensity of the impact on heavily polluting industries.

Towards sustainable smart cities: Maturity assessment and development pattern recognition in China

Rapid population growth and urban sprawl create pressure on environmental resources along with a growing demand for physical resources in cities. The concept of a smart sustainable city proposes a framework to ensure citizens a better life and protect the environment to maintain sustainability through information and communication technologies. This paper constructed a sustainable smart city development indicator system using the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) maturity model and assessed the maturity level of 35 cities in China. Spectral clustering was adopted to recognize development patterns on three dimensions and 53 indicators. The results indicated four development patterns. Completing developing elements converged in comprehensive-development cities. Environmental-friendly cities enhanced environmental quality under government guidance supported by information and communications technology. Welfare cities showed good social welfare via the government's highly focused strategy but lacked economic support. Innovation, trade, capital investment, mental poverty, and poor living conditions characterized undeveloped cities. Practical implications are recommended for each type according to development differences to build a better smart sustainable city.

Highly Porous Curcumin-Loaded Polymer Mats for Rapid Detection of Volatile Amines

Here, the development of highly porous colorimetric indicators that are able to rapidly sense the presence of amine vapors is presented. Specifically, porous, curcumin-loaded polycaprolactone fibers are formed by electrospinning through non-solvent-induced phase separation. In comparison to the non-porous fibers, the developed system shows significantly higher sensitivity and responsivity to the presence of dimethylamine vapors, with a distinct color change at very low vapor concentrations (2.33 ppm compared to 9.26 ppm) within the first 5 s of exposure. Indeed, CIELAB analysis proves that the induced color changes can be easily perceived visually, as the differences between the initial and the final color of the indicator after its interaction with the modified environment are well above the limit for visual perception, even by inexperienced users. Furthermore, the color changes are reversible, enabling the use of the same indicator several times, making it, thus, a sustainable colorimetric indicator system that can be used in applications where the rapid detection of low concentration of alkaline vapors is necessary.

Determining the economic sustainability reserve of economic entities in modern operating conditions

In complex socio-economic and political conditions, economic entities must have a sufficient level of economic stability and its reserve for normal life activities. Therefore, the problems of assessment and analysis of economic stability and its reserve are urgent and require immediate solution. The purpose of the article was to study the determination of economic sustainability of economic entities, its reserve, substantiation of the logic of the stages of this determination, and the formation of an appropriate analytical tool. In the research process, general scientific and special research methods were used: abstract-logical method, systematic approach, methods of analysis and synthesis, graphic method, method of building an integral taxonomic indicator of development, multi-criteria optimisation, multi-factor regression analysis, genetic algorithm, marginal utility method, cluster analysis. The article presents the selection of a system of economic sustainability indicators for economic entities of the state sector of Ukraine across regions from the point of view of their legislative basis. In order to determine the reserve of economic sustainability of public sector economic entities across the regions, an economic-mathematical model of multi-criteria optimisation of economic sustainability indicators was developed and solved using a genetic algorithm, which is a new analytical support in economics in solving this problem. A new result in economic-mathematical modelling is the method of forming partial criteria in multi-criteria regression dependency optimisation. The article provides a procedure for implementing the marginal utility method for justifying the final single optimal solution of the multi-criteria optimal problem of determining the optimal values of economic sustainability indicators. It has been proven that it is advisable to determine the absolute value of economic sustainability reserve for economic entities in the regions by their clusters, which were obtained on the basis of the system of indicators of economic sustainability and regional gross product per person. The practical significance lies in the fact that such a scientific-methodical approach to determining economic sustainability and its reserve allows for the objective development of management decisions at industrial enterprises to ensure their normal life activities in difficult war and post-war conditions

The adoption of the key performance indicators to integrate sustainability in the business strategy: A novel five‐dimensional framework

AbstractOver the past few years, the role of the organization has radically changed, moved from the traditional value creation process, based on the accounting data and cost analysis, to an innovative and proactive approach, sustainability oriented. The resulting sustainable development (SD) issues and their integration in the business strategy for managing environmental complexity are more relevant than ever. Despite the growing interest of the literature related to these themes, a more in‐depth analysis on the key value drivers of sustainability, positively perceived by managers, and their integration at a business level is strongly required to support an effective SD process. Accordingly, to generate a strategic alignment in the sustainability transition process, scholars and practitioners require a clear view of the key drivers, metrics, and potential solutions. To this end, we focused on two main purposes aimed (1) to provide a sustainable key performance indicator (KPI) system useful to support decision‐making process of managers and (2) to identify how can sustainable indicators be integrated into business strategy with a view to performance improvement, suggesting future paths to analysis. In view of the research proposes addressed, based on semistructured interviews with 110 managers specialized in sustainable practices, we provided a novel five‐dimensional framework, built on a specific set of SD indexes. The model aims to provide a structured way to adequately integrate sustainability at a strategic level. The results generate a robust roadmap for future analysis in this research field.

Characterizing and analyzing the sustainability and potential of China’s cities over the past three decades

China’s cities have made substantial advances in sustainable development through the development of ecological-civilization cities and green cities. Characterization of the level, development potential, and future direction of sustainable urban development is complex, thereby necessitating social, economic, ecological environment, and resource indicators. Synthesizing these indicators in a logical manner requires a deep understanding of cities and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, based on the existing classification framework of SDG indicators, this study develops an urban sustainability characterization framework and indicator system applicable to China’s cities. We also quantify the potential for sustainable urban development, and the sustainability and sustainable potential of all China’s cities are calculated over 1985–2015. The results not only show a significant increase in the sustainable development capacity of cities, but also a decrease in the spatial heterogeneity of cities. Overall, cities have been developing toward a more sustainable state. The proposed framework is also used to develop a dashboard of sustainability for individual cities. This research can help government decision makers and researchers understand the level and state of sustainable development of individual cities globally, as well as identify future directions and key indicators to improve their potential for sustainable development.

Sustainable supplier selection for water environment treatment public-private partnership projects

Sustainable supplier selection is critical to the operation of water environment treatment Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects. This paper considered the sustainability of suppliers and established a sustainable supplier selection indicator system using five aspects. This paper introduces the Shapley value method to modify the index weights determined by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in order to overcome differences in expert cognition. The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) decision model based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs) was constructed to select sustainable suppliers for water environmental treatment PPP projects. The decision-making model was used to select a supplier for a case, and the result of that selection was compared and verified with different decision-making methods. The use of IVIFSs in the decision-making process can reduce the ambiguity and uncertainty of expert judgment. The results show that the supplier's own sustainability has an important impact on the sustainable development of the project. Moreover, the supplier's sustainable financial capabilities and sustainable technology solutions are key factors that need to be considered when choosing a sustainable supplier. This paper conducts comparative verification and sensitivity analysis to verify the effectiveness of the method. This article considers the sustainability of suppliers, which provides a new research direction for improving the sustainability of PPP projects. The index system and decision-making methods in this article can help governments in developing countries select suitable water environment treatment suppliers and improve the sustainability of public services.

Кластеризация российских регионов по уровню долговой устойчивости

The subject of the paper is the assessment of regional debt sustainability in accordance to the Budget Code of the Russian Federation. The relevance of the study is due to the aggravation of the regional debt problems at the end of 2020 and the need to have an assessment system that allows to timely respond to a decrease in the level of regional debt sustainability. The novelty of the study consists in the analysis of the system of debt sustainability indicators and their threshold values using the methods of cluster analysis. The article aims to examine if the current assessment system allows to classify regions by the level of debt sustainability quite clearly. As a result of the study, it was shown that the used debt sustainability indicators partially duplicate each other, and the methods of their calculation and the established threshold values discriminate against subsidized regions. In addition, it was shown that the grouping of regions based on the current assessment system does clearly distinguish between regions with high and medium levels of debt sustainability. The conclusion of the study is that in order to improve the system for assessing debt sustainability, it is necessary to change the set of debt sustainability indicators and the procedure for calculating them, as well as to set appropriate new threshold values for the new set of indicators. The prospect of the study is to conduct a similar analysis based on data for 2020 and refine new thresholds for debt sustainability indicators.

EARLY WARNING SYSTEM OF EXTERNAL SUSTAINABILITY OF AN ECONOMY: CASE OF UKRAINE

Abstract. The paper deals with the early warning system that allows monitoring the external sustainability of an economy due to external economic shocks. For this purpose, the analysis of the external sustainability indicators system of an economy (example of Ukraine) was implemented. It consisted of statistical analysis of the system of indicators of external sustainability of an economy, probabilistic assessment of their dynamics due to external economic shocks. The analysis of external sustainability indicators includes verifying their volatility, stability and variability relative to GDP. It means calculation of standard deviation for testing the volatility, autocorrelation to check the stability of the indicator and correlation between its value and GDP growth rate to measure the variability relative to the economy’s performance. The calculations of threshold percentiles for indicators of external sustainability of Ukraine’s economy, noise-signal ratios and probabilities of the occurrence of unsustainable external perturbationsare based on signal approach. The analysis of indicators of external sustainability of Ukraine’s economy shows that most indicators are volatile relative to their average values. It is shown that most indicators of the external sustainability of Ukraine’s economy are acyclic as they are weakly correlated with the growth rate of GDP, although their turning points coincide in many cases. Procyclical indicators are the ratio of reserve assets to «broad money», the ratio of net foreign assets to GDP, the average interest rate on external government liabilities, countercyclical indicators are the ratio of reserve assets to short-term external debt, the share of external public debt denominated in foreign currency to the total amount of external government obligations (except for SDR). Keywords: external sustainability, early warning system of external sustainability, external economic shocks, commodity prices, debt sustainability, social and market efficiency. JEL Classification F30, F40, F62 Formulas: 0; fig.: 1;tabl.: 0; bibl.: 24.

Construction of a sustainability indicators system for offshore oil and gas production units

Production units located in the Brazilian marine environment are responsible for the production of 95.7% of oil and 78.8% of natural gas of Brazil causing economic, environmental, and social impacts motivating us to construct a system of indicators as a tool aimed to improve the sustainable management practice of these production units. To date, one of the tools most used by the oil industry is the sustainability report, oriented by guidelines from international organizations. However, these reports have a corporate character being unable to help the sustainability management of production units’ activities. The indicators were selected based on a systemic approach, using current knowledge on sustainability indicators, together with the survey of aspects relevant to the operation and management of offshore oil and gas production units. This paper describes the proposed indicators and presents the hierarchical structure of the system, built on the economic, environmental, social, and operational dimensions. The application of the proposed system of indicators, based on multicriterial and multiple decision-making analyses, validates a complex decision process, providing improved sustainable management of offshore production units by identifying points for which the necessary measures and actions can be implemented. Keywords: offshore oil and gas production; sustainability indicators; multicriteria and multiple decision-making analyses.

Sustainability Assessment of Modern High-Rise Timber Buildings

As woodworking and construction technologies improve, the construction of multi-storey timber buildings is gaining popularity worldwide. There is a need to look at the design of existing buildings and assess their sustainability. The aim of the present study is to assess the sustainability of modern high-rise timber buildings using multi-criteria assessment methods. The paper presents a hierarchical system of sustainability indicators and an assessment framework, developed by the authors. Based on this framework, the tallest timber buildings in different countries, i.e., Mjøstårnet in Norway, Brock Commons in Canada, Treet in Norway, Forte in Australia, Strandparken in Sweden and Stadthaus in UK, were compared across the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic/technological, and social). Research has revealed that none of the buildings is leading in all dimensions of sustainability. However, each building is unique and has its own strengths. Overall multi-criteria assessment of the buildings revealed that the Brock Commons building in Canada has received the highest rank in all dimensions of sustainability. The paper contributes to the theory and practice of sustainability assessment and extends the knowledge about high-rise timber buildings. The proposed sustainability assessment framework can be used by both academics and practitioners for assessment of high-rise timber buildings.

Social Value and Urban Sustainability in Food Markets.

Urban food markets can promote sustainable development through the generation of social value in the spaces where they are located and contribute to sustainability on a global scale. To measure this, indicators are required to evaluate and monitor these markets. Studies in this regard are scarce and often developed according to top-down schemes. This study seeks to remedy this relative deficiency and aims to design specific social sustainability metrics for these organizations from a bottom-up perspective. The Integrated Social Value model is used. This social accounting system is considered appropriate in this study due to the phenomenological approach on which it is based and is applied to a service cooperative located in the Canary Islands. The main contribution of this work is that new social sustainability indicators are obtained and applied to the analysis of an entity, and they are relevant and understandable to stakeholders. This would provide, in future developments, a system of sustainability indicators for similar organizations in Spain.

IMPLEMENTING “SUSTAINABILITY-BY-DESIGN” APPROACH IN ORGANIZATIONS BY USING AN EXTENDED RISK INDICATORS SYSTEM FOR MAKING STRATEGIC DECISIONS

The purpose of this article is to identify possible approaches to the development of the “sustainability-by-design” process, which consists in synchronizing the organization's strategy with the trends of sustainable development. For this purpose, a process of “sustainability-by-design” is proposed on the basis of the “safety-by-design” process applied in practice. As a key link in the process, it is proposed to use a system of sustainability indicators, supplemented by indicators of risk and resilience. To strengthen the adaptive capacity of companies in the field of sustainable development, the process of building “sustainability-by-design” is complemented by the inclusion of democratic procedures through structured stakeholder participation. As a result, the proposed process combines a rigid structure of values and goals with a “soft setup” in the form of democratic procedures. This will allow companies not only to reduce the uncertainties inherent to the pacing problem, but also to create an environment for the promotion of the most effective alternatives to the development of companies in the field of sustainability.

Liberating sustainability indicators: developing and implementing a community-operated tourism sustainability indicator system in Boga Lake, Bangladesh

In cases of donor-funded community-based tourism (CBT) initiatives, sustainability indicators are often developed and used by donors or NGOs for progress reporting purposes, and the voice of the local community is often ignored. In cases where bottom-up participatory approaches have been employed, local communities may be involved in the process of indicator development as participants but are usually not given the opportunity to operate the indicator system independently. This study describes a methodological procedure for developing and implementing a local community-operated grassroots level CBT sustainability indicator system in Boga Lake, Bangladesh. The sixteen-step methodological process to formulate CBT sustainability indicators involved in-depth interviews, workshops, working group meetings, and an empirical examination of the indicator system in practice. The local community were able to form a community research team, develop survey questionnaires and observation checklists, collect and analyse data, and write a report. The community believed that their research-based sustainability reports could serve as strong evidence to negotiate with local authorities and other stakeholders, while also helping them learn and adapt their tourism-related initiatives. Further, there is evidence the community considered it as a matter of pride to operate their own indicator system.