Sustainable Welfare Research Articles

Social Entrepreneurship Impact in Ten EU Countries with Supportive Regulations

AbstractThis research examines the impact of social entrepreneurship (SE) on sustainability and innovation by considering the determining factors of entrepreneurship as identified in the literature. The authors undertake an empirical analysis with structural equation modeling for ten European Union countries with supportive regulations related to SE: Belgium, Holland, Slovenia, Spain, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Romania. The data used is obtained primarily from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor-Specific report on SE (GEM), Eurostat Database, and SDG Index database. The findings show that social and economic factors are positively related to SE. The impact of SE on sustainability and innovation is also found to be positive. SE becomes an important asset by creating economic benefits through innovation and sustainable welfare. This research contributes to the gap in current empirical research. The authors identify reasons for these findings and offer some practical insights to design policies, such as an adequate legal and fiscal framework, to promote social entrepreneurship.

Wasted GDP in the USA

Whether or to what extent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can measure human development is disputed. This article develops a notion of “wasted GDP”, with a case study on the performance of the USA based on analysis of Human Development Index (HDI) data. Like Herman Daly’s notion of ‘uneconomic growth’, the perspective of wasted GDP addresses the benefits and costs of economic growth and favors prioritization of policies that promote genuinely sustainable wellbeing. Over the last three decades, the USA has fallen behind several other highly developed countries in the HDI, despite solid economic growth. More than 20 countries, large and small, now outperform the USA on the Human Development Index, and 27 countries currently do better than the USA by nonincome HDI. 21 countries outperform the USA by this measure despite having a lower GDP per capita. The notion of “wasted GDP” implies that GDP is wasted if it does not support welfare. While a country´s welfare performance is measured by nonincome HDI, a comparison with better-performing countries that have a lower GDP indicates the share of GDP that is wasted from a human development perspective. The results, based on highly conservative estimates, show that the top 5 performers by lowest GDP per capita achieve better outcomes than the USA with an average GDP per capita that is 37.5% lower. All better performers achieve better outcomes with an average GDP per capita that is 26.9% lower. Without any wasted GDP, the annual US CO2 emissions could have been at least 1.268 million tonnes lower (all better performers estimate) and possibly as much as 1.767 million tonnes lower (top 5 performers estimate), accounting for 3.6–5.0% of global emissions. Similarly, the USA´s material footprint could have been between 2.625 million and 3.659 million tonnes lower, accounting for 2.7–3.8% of humanity´s global material footprint.

Harnessing welfare state theories to explain the emergence of eco-social policies

As complex challenges such as climate change and social inequality become more and more politically salient, eco-social policies are emerging as suitable public policy tools to pursue integrated environmental and social objectives. In spite of this, the sustainable welfare literature has been, at least until now, dominated by prescriptive studies, paying little attention to the politico-institutional conditions required for these policies to emerge. Against this background, this article aims to help filling this gap, by proposing a set of four theoretical expectations pointing to possible causal drivers and mechanisms behind the adoption of this particular kind of policies. It does so by harnessing the most established welfare state theories and reflecting on their potential and limitations when applied to the study of eco-social policies. Selected theoretical strands – functionalism, historical institutionalism, interest-based and ideas-based theories – are first reviewed and then applied to the specific object of the study, with a view to deriving the four expectations by deduction. The ultimate aim is to generate a politico-institutional theory of eco-social policies, which can guide future empirical research. The article argues that eco-social policies can be expected to emerge in strong environmental states and/or in weak welfare states, in which equally powerful labour and green interests engage in political exchanges, or where advocacy coalitions form around ambiguous ideas, such as ‘just transition’. The article concludes by arguing that only an actor-centred approach based on empirically observable policy preferences can help us to craft minimally sufficient causal inferences about the emergence of eco-social policies.

Doughnuts for strategies: A tool for an emerging sustainable welfare paradigm

The Degrowth Doughnut (a modification of the original Doughnut visualization of boundaries and foundations created by economist Kate Raworth) can be considered a visualization tool for assessing the current environmental and social capacity of a country to transform into an ecologically and socially sustainable modus operandi. Its sufficiently rich set of criteria, including cultural, socio-economic and biophysical indicators, gives us an overall picture of the problems to be dealt with and the strengths to build on in the immediate future. Its simple boundary-threshold structure presents limiting and aspirational targets in a single image. As such, it is also a tool that can aid eco-social policymaking to prioritize decisions and seek synergies between choices made. This research will present the Hungarian Degrowth Doughnut and use it as a case study when applied to the aims and expected impacts of Hungary’s operational National Clean Development Strategy. We will illustrate the degrowth-relevant priorities and assess the adequacy of the responses proposed by the Strategy, providing a critical analysis of the national policy options. Behind such climate and sustainability strategies are always a wealth of important value choices and moral considerations. Is there a safe and just operating space in the minds of the Hungarian policymakers? To what extent, if at all, are the fundamental principles of post-growth theories incorporated into a Hungarian sustainability strategy? We believe that a case study like this can also provide inspiration for further practical application of the Degrowth Doughnut elsewhere.

The conflicts of ecological transition on the ground and the role of eco-social policies: Lessons from Italian case studies

This paper analyzes the complexity of social-ecological transition policies and processes, focusing on trade-offs and emerging conflicts engendered by combined environmental-social-technological programmes and innovations. To date, there has been only limited focus in the literature on empirical cases, analyzing the ecological transition, distributive effects, social risks and policies to counter them. To help fill this gap, the paper discusses three qualitative case studies as part of a research project on social cohesion in ecological transitions in Tuscany, Italy. In particular, it examines the ongoing transition strategies and practices, bringing out several aspects that highlight the sources of controversies among actors and the contextual variability and complexity of their ‘playgrounds’, namely: (1) the role of time, space and relational patterns, and ensuing problems of governance, coordination and synchronization; (2) the way in which institutional and technological transformations are embedded in trans-contextual relations and conflicts; (3) the role of different sources and kinds of knowledge in supporting or hampering the ecological transitions; and (4) the shifting balances between top-down strategies and regulation, and bottom-up processes of civic associations and social movements. The paper then analyzes the attempts to provide social security by means of more or less explicitly designed eco-social policies and practices, highlighting some relevant lessons learned and methodological recommendations for future sustainable welfare design.

Evaluation of water and animal concepts in terms of scarcity, rights and welfare

Problems such as global warming and cooling, climate change, water and food have been some of the most important issues on the world agenda in recent years. For sustainable welfare, the concepts of equality, justice and rights are indispensable for the ecosystem. Today, the adoption of legal regulations on water scarcity, right to water, animal welfare and animal rights with the awareness of conscientious responsibility in the individual and society has been an important development for the future. 
 Therefore, in this article, it is aimed to contribute to the objective questioning of the concepts of rights and welfare with their emotional, legal and scientific aspects by getting rid of people's presuppositions about life, abandoning the distinction between living and non-living things. The study consists of two parts. In the first part, water scarcity and the right to water and in the second part, evaluations are made in terms of animal welfare and rights. The literatures cited in the article are faithful to the author's views.
 The general acceptance of water consumption as a need rather than a right has turned it into a commodity that can be bought and sold with money. Although there is enough water in the universe, the perception of scarcity consciousness arising from the possible inadequacy of the amount of consumable water needs to be re-questioned at the intellectual level by considering it from the perspective of biological transformation-change.

Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence, Abuse, and Trauma During COVID-19 Lockdown: Gaslighting, Non-consensual Condom Removal, Grooming, Coercive Control, Power Dynamic, and Sexual Entitlement in Emotional and Psychological Abuse

The COVID-19 outbreak has amplified psychosocial and emotional stressors for the more vulnerable segments of population. This article explored the drastic increase in emotional/psychological forms of abuse in intimate partner violence during COVID-19 lockdown period. Additionally, predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors of gaslighting abuse, including non-consensual condom removal, grooming, love bombing, coercion, and power dynamics in controlling relationship, are discussed. Published articles on PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and Elsevier about psychological aspects of abuse in intimate partner violence during COVID-19 have been considered and reviewed. This article facilitates a solution-focused response for mental healthcare practitioners to support sustainable well-being through collective solidarity, empowerment, and resilience for survivors. This article introduced personal-collective growth process through humanistic-centered approaches for individuals to share their experiences, realign meaningfulness, create hope, and develop coping strategies.

Polycentric Governance as a Practical Strategy for Balanced Policing: A Cross-Cultural Analysis

Polycentricity is a normative approach to governance. It stresses the degree to which higher levels of formal governance should not crowd out self-organization at lower levels. As central government ruling may limit individual access to shared resources, participatory polycentric governance seems a feasible alternative. Under such a scheme, varied strategies combine local political segments into larger administrative systems. They help manage public goods, solve cooperator problems, and combine direct (and costly) administration with the creation of locally managed para-governmental organizations and spheres of authority to achieve cooperation goals. A federation of independent governing bodies, organized as a set of nested institutions focused on a common goal, contributes to effective, beneficial to all parties involved, sustainable well-being. Thus, I challenge the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and should be regulated by central authorities or privatized. Employing the data for user-managed land, fish stocks, pastures, woods, and (ground) water, I argue that participatory polycentric governance improves communal resilience and stability. Participants became interdependent, willing, and capable of designing and following communication networks to create sustainable well-being. I conclude that the outcomes of such arrangements are often better than predicted by standard economic models.

Patrimonio immobiliare pubblico e servizi urbani

Public real estate management is an important issue at the core of the main government policies, especially in Italy, where public properties represent a significant component of the existing city. This issue has progressively become a priority problem due to the complex development processes, including the phenomenon of shrinking cities, which generates an overabundance of urban voids. This condition requires a comprehensive commitment of public bodies, civil society and the private sector to reuse the built environment thus responding to the needs of contemporary society. Within this framework, the present study proposes a comparative approach to analyze cohousing experiences in Italy and to evaluate to what extent these projects affect the determination of the living conditions of the populations, il line with the equitable and sustainable well-being indicators (Bes), introduced in Italy to evaluate and monitor economic, social and environmental progress.

Forest Farmer Group Development Model for Sustainable Well-Being in Kampar Regency

Sustainable forest resource utilization can alleviate poverty in developing countries, including Indonesia, mainly by rural community groups like forest farmer groups (KTH). However, the capacity of KTH to manage forest resources is still low, leading to a decline in their well-being, exemplified in KTH in Kampar Regency. Unlike previous studies, this research focuses on developing KTH based on institutional, area management, and business aspects. The objective of the study is to analyze the factors influencing KTH’s well-being and build a development model for KTH. The research was conducted in Kampar Regency with 193 respondents using a census method. Data analysis used the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. The study’s findings reveal that business management significantly influences KTH’s well-being in Kampar Regency, followed by institutional and area management aspects. The development model for KTH involves enhancing key indicators in each aspect, such as KTH’s involvement in government/non-government organizations/other institution programs, appropriate area utilization, and increased business capital, as key steps to achieve a productive, self-reliant, prosperous, and sustainable management. Keywords: area, business development, forest farmer group, institutional, Poverty alleviation

Positive Experience Design Strategies for IoT Products to Improve User Sustainable Well-Being

Although the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology has benefited the progress of social life, the relentless pursuit of technological advancement cannot definitely lead to a sustainable increase in customer pleasure and happiness. During the design phase, happiness is often overlooked. Therefore, the objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to provide a comprehensive overview of the importance of sustainable happiness for the IoT product design and to propose 15 positive experience design strategies that can improve user happiness; and (2) to apply the 15 design strategies to the IoT product design practice and validate whether they can effectively guide the designers’ work. The research procedure consisted of four steps. First, qualitative data for developing the design strategies was collected through bibliometrics and expert interviews. Second, the propositions of the design strategies were reviewed, analyzed, and constructed using the qualitative research software program NVivo 20. Third, two researchers categorized the 15 strategy concepts into the four directions of positive experience design approaches for the IoT products. Fourth, we conducted a two-week design workshop to validate the feasibility of the design strategies. The results indicate that the 15 design strategies can effectively guide designers to create ideas that prioritize user well-being and allow for creative exploration in various directions. This paper enriches the IoT product design methodology, which can enhance the users’ sustainable pleasure, future goal achievement fulfillment, and social relationship well-being in the IoT era.

The Importance of Urban Green Spaces in Enhancing Holistic Health and Sustainable Well-Being for People with Disabilities: A Narrative Review

Urban green spaces have been increasingly evidenced to not only improve human health (both body and mind) and well-being but also promote a sustainable way of living for citizens as well as cities. These positive health and sustainable advantages have even greater impacts when applied to people with disabilities, which can ultimately evaluate their quality of life in the long run. Unfortunately, people with disabilities receive less attention and tend to be disregarded in terms of equal access to public facilities, health-related services, and opportunities in society. Therefore, this article emphasizes the value of having green spaces within cities and acknowledges how people with disabilities gain the benefits through active and passive methods as well as direct and indirect means at the global, population, and individual levels. With that, this article argues that urban green spaces or the development of sustainable urbanism must prioritize and include people with disabilities in the planning process, as this inclusive population has the greatest potential for advancing public resources (e.g., environmentally, socially, and economically) and moving cities closer to being truly sustainable.

Towards an eco-welfare state: Enabling factors for transformative eco-social initiatives

In eco-welfare states, welfare provision must operate within planetary boundaries, entailing societal transformations and significant emission reductions. This article contributes to the research on sustainable welfare and eco-social policies by examining transformative and integrative eco-social initiatives that aim to reduce environmental impacts while also ensuring that public actors have the capacities to reach legally binding social outcomes and enhance social inclusion. Theoretically, we combine welfare state transformation research with the concepts of social-ecological systems, provisioning systems and transformative capacity. Our empirical cases in Finland include public actors promoting sustainable public procurement, a network of carbon-neutral municipalities, sustainable lifestyles accelerators at the household level, and carbon footprint calculators as a potential free-to-use technique that supports widespread carbon reductions. We apply a qualitative research design to investigate what kinds of factors are crucial in enhancing the transformative capacity of provisioning systems and how various factors in practice enable the eco-social initiatives to support the transformation towards an eco-welfare state. Our findings identify key enabling factors for transformative capacity: social networks, collaboration and participation; knowledge, learning and monitoring; shared policy frameworks and visions; and financial resources. These factors are interrelated and can be brought to bear in no particular sequence. The results offer valuable insights into how welfare state characteristics with democratically governed public actors may facilitate transformation.

An assessment of sustainable wellbeing and coordination of mountain areas: A case study of Qinba Mountain Area in China

Old economic development theories no longer adequately explain development issues as the world moves toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The key to solving this problem lies in shifting from economic wellbeing with wealth at its core to sustainable wellbeing with equitable development at its core. However, there is a lack of systematic methods and applications for assessing sustainable wellbeing, which leaves policy makers unsure of how to optimize policies for sustainable wellbeing enhancement. Therefore, this research aims to establish a sustainable wellbeing measurement system connection with the SDGs, to value and index sustainable wellbeing, and to explore the progress of sustainable wellbeing in 46 counties in the Qinba Mountain Area from 2009 to 2020, taking the Qinba Mountain Area, which is the most concerned area in China. Methodologically, Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), Ecosystem Services Vuale (ESV), and Life Satisfaction (LS) are valorized separately to represent economic capital, ecological capital, and social capital, thus valorizing sustainable wellbeing, and get the Sustainable Wellbeing Value (SWV). Based on this, we follow the principle of “the best system is one that achieves a simultaneously prosperous” advocated by the theory of sustainable wellbeing, and calculate the Sustainable Wellbeing Index (SWI) by the method of coupling coordination, so as to build up the interconnection of the three capital accounts of sustainable wellbeing: economic, ecological and social. We investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics dynamic changes of sustainable wellbeing in the Qinba Mountain Area based on the valuation and indexation of sustainable wellbeing. The results of the research show that, first, the value of sustainable wellbeing in the Qinba Mountain Area fluctuates upward, with economic capital contributing the most, ecological capital fluctuating the most, and social capital contributing most smoothly. Although economic capital is necessary for the development of all counties, it is obvious that developing counties rely on it more. The SWI in the Qinba Mountain Area fluctuates and rises, and it is overall in a stage of coordinated transition, showing strong social and economic capital and weak ecological capital. By county, the proportion of dysfunctional economic, ecological, and social capital interrelationships declined significantly in all counties. However, some counties still suffer from ecological lag, mainly stemming from an imbalance between human activities and the required ecosystem services. Therefore, it is crucial to clarify the functional territorial zoning of regions and promote the structural transformation of development. This research will provide a valuable reference for the refinement research of Sustainable Development Goals and the optimization of rural development policies in mountainous areas.

A study on the construction and validation of pathways to the sustainable well-being of Chinese vocational students in the post-epidemic era

A study on the construction and validation of pathways to the sustainable well-being of Chinese vocational students in the post-epidemic era

Sustainable Vitality and Learning: The Connotation, Scale, and Heterogeneity of Dualistic Psychological Thriving at Work

Psychological thriving is crucial for the sustainable well-being and continuous growth of employees in the workplace. This study aims to explore the concept, measurement, and heterogeneity of dualistic psychological thriving at work to promote sustainable vitality and learning among employees. In Study 1, we identified psychological thriving at work as a second-order dualistic construct, encompassing the positive psychological state in which individuals experience vitality and learning in their current work and hold high expectations for their future work. This construct consists of two dimensions: psychological thriving of work experience and psychological thriving of work development. In Study 2, we conducted exploratory factor analysis and second-order confirmatory factor analyses using two independent samples, providing empirical evidence for the second-order dualistic structure of psychological thriving at work. Subsequently, we developed a comprehensive scale to measure dualistic psychological thriving at work and assessed its criterion validity by examining its relationship with workplace friendship and work autonomy. In Study 3, we investigated the overall levels and pursuit preferences of dualistic psychological thriving at work among different generations. The findings revealed significant differences in the overall levels and pursuit preferences of dualistic psychological thriving at work across generations. Post-1990s employees exhibited the highest overall level of dualistic psychological thriving at work, while post-1970s employees had the lowest. Moreover, post-1990s employees were more inclined to pursue psychological thriving of work experience, whereas post-1980s employees tended to seek psychological thriving of work development. No significant differences were found among post-1970s employees.

Porównanie Japonii i krajów OECD pod względem zasobów związanych z dobrostanem

While evaluating the concept of well-being for sustainability, which is defined as the feeling of having the physical and psychological resources necessary for a good life, it is essential to benefit from different perspectives referring to socio-psychological factors or their possible effects as well as financial and economic data. The aim of this study, which deals with the well-being level in terms of sustainability resources, is to evaluate the OECD countries and examine the differences and similarities in Japan, one of the G8 countries. According to the results of the multidimensional scaling analysis conducted for this purpose, Japan is in the same cluster as Luxembourg, which has the highest positive value, while Germany is one of the countries with the highest rate of divergence from other G8 countries in the difference matrix.

Innovations and development of artificial intelligence in Europe: some empirical evidences

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship between innovation and the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies in Europe. The use of digital technologies among European companies is studied through a composite index, while the relationship between innovation and AI is studied through a log-linear regression model. The results of the model have made possible to develop interesting indications for economic and industrial policy.Design/methodology/approachThe use of digital technologies among European companies is studied through a composite index of AI and information technology (ICT) (using the Fair and Sustainable Welfare methodology) with the aim of measuring territorial gaps and to know which European countries are more or less inclined to its use, while the relationship between innovation and AI is studied through a log-linear regression model.FindingsIn the paper, two different methodologies were used to analyze the relationship between innovation and the development of digital technologies in Europe. The synthetic indicator made possible to develop a taxonomy between the different countries, the log-linear model made possible to identify and explain the determinants of innovation.Originality/valueThe description of the biunivocal relationship between innovation and AI is a topical and relevant issue that is treated in the paper in an original way using a synthetic indicator and a log-linear model.

The Influence of Mindfulness and Social Connectedness in Strengthening Job Embeddedness through Sustainable Well-Being as a Mediator Variable at Industrial Estate Area - Bekasi Regency

Background: This research aims to identify of Mindfulness, social connectedness and Sustainable Well-Being as intervening variable to strengthen Job Embeddedness
 Research Method: This study adopted a quantitative approach and collected data from 197 respondents and used random sampling. In this study the proposed model uses a structural equation model with assisted data processing using Smart-PLS software.
 
 Results and Conclusion: Sustainable well-being is only influenced by mindfulness and social connectedness. Others variable do not have an impact not only on sustainable well-being, but also on job embeddedness. Mindfulness and social connectedness also do not have a direct effect on job embeddedness but are mediated through the role of sustainable well-being.

A Postcolonial Ecocritical Reading of Zakes Mda’s The Whale Caller and Helon Habila’s Oil on Water

This paper explores environmental devastation in Africa as presented in the works of Zakes Mda’s The Whale Caller (2005) and Helon Habila's Oil on Water (2010). It also investigates how these novels portray the economic activities introduced by colonialism and how they negatively affect the achievement of sustainable development in both South Africa and Nigeria. The research employs a postcolonial ecocritical approach that examines the relationship between post-colonial land and humans and how, together, they form the environment. Therefore, the study analyzes the events and characters associated with environmental problems in the two narratives to critique the hegemony of the Western development discourse and to reveal its contradictions. The narrative highlights the ecological crisis by drawing attention to how uneven development impacts people, flora, and fauna. This study contributes to the ongoing scholarly discussions that focus on the development discourse produced by the neocolonial ideology and questions its viability for the sustainable wellbeing of postcolonial communities and lands.