Search

This paper presents an academic exploration of the shifting landscape of business models toward greater sustainability, considering the environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The United Nations has emphasized the need for companies to prioritize sustainability, leading to scholarly discussions on the topic. While economic sustainability remains important, decision-makers must now navigate the transformation of their business models to incorporate environmental and social sustainability, driven by emerging regulations such as the European Union's Green Deal. This transition may initially appear as an additional task accompanied by potential investment costs and reduced profits. However, it also presents opportunities for economic growth through the creation of new value propositions, entry into untapped markets, access to novel customer segments, the provision of innovative services, and the facilitation of data-driven supply chains. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review on sustainability as a pivotal future value proposition for companies and identifies potential pathways that can leverage its transformative potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine methods of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Ghana, map their perceived impacts on water resources, and analyse the implications of these perceptions for meeting the targets related to Clean Water of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). The paper draws on 74 interviews with artisanal and small-scale gold miners and other stakeholders to investigate communities' perceptions of the effects of ASM methods (alluvial mining, surface/open-pit mining, and underground mining) on water bodies. We find that different ASM methods impact surface and groundwater in distinct ways while concurrently having a synergistic negative effect on water bodies. Stakeholders – including community leaders – perceive that the mining methods employed in ASM cause various forms of environmental degradation – thus affecting progress towards SDG 6, target 6.3 (water quality) – and severely hinder the availability of clean water for domestic and agricultural purposes, thus endangering the livelihoods of communities and affecting progress towards SDG 6, target 6.4 (sustainable water use). The community perceived impacts of ASM activities on water resources have implications for community acceptance of formalisation efforts in Ghana. We contend that a better understanding of these perceived impacts can help shape the country's policy for achieving the targets of SDG 6 in relation to Clean Water by 2030. In particular, we propose that the integration of the Community Mining Scheme as part of formalisation efforts of informal gold mining in Ghana not only responds to SDG 6 target 6b (participation of local communities in water management) but also has the potential to reverse the current large-scale mining 'bias' in policy, while addressing the galamsey challenge that contributes to the increasing impact of informal gold mining on SDG 6, targets 6.3 and 6.4. • There is a nexus between ASM methods (alluvial, surface/open pit, and underground mining) and their impacts on water resources. • ASM methods impact surface and ground water in distinct ways. • Formalisation policy and ASM methods have implications for achieving the targets related to SDG 6, Clean Water and Sanitation. • The Community Mining Scheme (CMS) in Ghana has the potential to challenge the large-scale mining 'bias'. • The CMS provides directions for other African countries which face similar ASM concerns such as the formalisation hurdles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations require relevant social changes that sometimes involve the development of innovative projects that cause rejection and confrontation. Agent-Based Models (ABM) are powerful tools to represent the behavior of systems, and they have become valuable for the social sciences as they can simulate the behavior of a society under different conditions. Superblocks are innovative city projects that reorganize urban space and minimize private motorized transport. In this paper, we present an ABM that simulates the implantation of superblocks in two Spanish cities: Vitoria-Gasteiz and Barcelona. The interest of this model is to provide policymakers with relevant scientific information that can be used to support their planning and decision-making processes by running possible alternative policy scenarios. This paper presents the details of the designed model and the simulation of different policy scenarios to increase the acceptability rates of citizens about the project, demonstrating how the model takes into account local differences and its usefulness for those political leaders from other cities interested in implementing this type of project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to introduce a new sustainable business excellence model, called Knowledge Management Excellence Model 21 (KMEM21), a theoretical framework that combines Knowledge Management and Business Excellence Models (BEMs), proposing an approach applicable to organizations to directly contribute towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper through a qualitative-exploratory methodology makes an analysis and benchmarking, emphasizes the integration of Knowledge Management and three specific Business Excellence Models (Management Excellence Model (MEG) from Brazil, Baldrige Excellence Framework, and EFQM). This integration uncovers relationships between organizational concepts associated with Knowledge Management and BEMs, which contributes to new insights in the literature regarding these concepts' interplay. BEMs are presented as tools that can catalyze the power of Knowledge Management towards achieving SDGs. However, it's noted that the existing BEMs might not be adequate, as the goal extends beyond organizational improvement and excellence to encompass sustainable development aligned with SDGs. The article suggests that specific organizational concepts, identified through a literature review and aligned with Knowledge Management and BEMs, can be selected as indicators associated with the constructed KMEM21 and the SDGs. These indicators are intended to form a bridge between the new model and the SDGs. However, given the comprehensive nature of the theory, model development, application, result acquisition, and analysis, the article's primary contribution will be in its focus on elaborating the instrument and technique, demonstrating the creation of a theoretical framework for the SDGs. Future works will showcase the application of the proposed KMEM21 method in five Brazilian organizations, members of Global Compact, to compare the achieved objectives and the results obtained with the organizations' performance and their sustainability reports. [Display omitted] • There is a visible relationship between knowledge management and business excellence models, aided by shared organizational concepts. • Achieving the SDGs in organizations can be done by using the traits incorporated into knowledge management and business excellence models. • The Knowledge Management Excellence Model 21 represents an original approach, acting as a new sustainable business excellence model. • A comprehensive model can be constructed using a methodology that incorporates an instrument, a technique, and a method. • KMEM21 presents a strategic path that aligns with business excellence principles and the sustainable development objectives, offering a framework for organizational success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are inherently complex. This paper contributes to the literature on co-production of knowledge at the interface of science, policy, and society in integrated, transdisciplinary research (TDR) projects. By analysing five projects of the Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA) implemented in nine African cities, the paper identifies the pathways for science-policy-society interactions (SPSI) within the TDR projects, the cross-scale and contextual dynamics influencing the interactions as well as the challenges of foregrounding the interactions. We identified four SPSI pathways: i) TDR processes, ii) explicitly conceptualising and communicating research projects in relation to mandates and policies, iii) the global sustainability agenda, and iv) relationships and networks. We argued that these pathways can be construed as important windows for foregrounding SPSI in TDR projects. Cross-scale dynamics such as the spatial scale of interactions, actors' roles, and purposes of engagement were critical determinants of the intensity and frequency of the interactions between the project actors. The analysis suggests that being context-sensitive is key to foregrounding SPSI in TDR projects. Conceptual threshold crossing, resource intensity, power differentials, discontinuity, as well as a history of academic and practice silos present formidable challenges to SPSI in TDR projects. These challenges can be addressed through the identified pathways, adequate capability development; incentivising academics and practitioners engaged in co-production of knowledge; stimulating co-production through adequate resources; building redundancies within the project teams, ideas, and processes, and paying attention to the politics of co-production of knowledge. • Context-sensitivity is crucial to SPSI in Transdisciplinary research (TDR). • Science-policy-society interactions (SPSI) is complex in TDR projects. • Intensity and frequency of SPSI interaction depends on actor's role. • The supra-system is important to understanding influence of external context. • SPSI in TDR contributes to addressing the sustainable development goals (SDGs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational assessment of the regional sustainable development level is an important prerequisite for formulating development strategies and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, little literature provides nuanced understanding for national sustainable development from the perspective of county sustainability. Such studies can provide more accurate regional heterogeneity characteristics and policy decision support. Thus, this paper applies the entropy weight method and Chinese county data from 2000 to 2017 to reassess the sustainability of Chinese counties. The results show that China's county sustainability (Sustainable Development Index, SDI) is slowly improving. County sustainability performance is poorer in ethnic minority agglomerations, poor counties, old revolutionary counties, and central and western regions, better in county-level cities and eastern regions. The decomposition results show that economic sustainability and environmental sustainability are the main supporters of SDI growth, and livelihood sustainability is in urgent need of improvement. The regional inequality of SDI in Chinese counties gradually decreases, and inter-group differences are the main contributors to regional inequality in SDI. This paper provides support for China to develop county-level sustainable development measures and practice the SDGs. The findings could be useful for policymakers. [Display omitted] • Based on the entropy weight method and the Chinese county data, the sustainable development levels of 1533 counties in China from 2000 to 2017 are estimated. • Analyses of spatial-temporal dynamic heterogeneity, Linear decomposition, and Dagum decomposition are conducted to study the features of sustainable development in Chinese counties. •The influence of natural features and national concern preferences on county sustainable development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere is the first global goal of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Poverty eradication is a long-term process that faces many uncertainties and complex interactions with other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order to better understand poverty and contribute to addressing poverty and sustainability, this paper aims to conduct a systematic review of model-based poverty scenario analyses in the context of the SDGs. We first review 144 studies in terms of bibliometrics (i.e., publication types, research topics for poverty, research objects, research scales and geographic locations) and the characteristics and scope of the models and analyses (i.e., model types, purposes, states, temporal and spatial range, sectors considered, poverty and other SDGs indicators). Second, we discuss the pros and cons of different types of models and identify seven representative models. We also discuss the synergies and trade-offs between poverty and other SDGs. Finally, we identify four potential research gaps in model-based poverty scenario analysis and provide suggestions for future research. The review shows that poverty scenario analysis was carried out mainly from a single perspective, such as economic, ecological, and agricultural. Few studies used effective models to analyze poverty in an integrated analysis of interactions between multiple sectors. Comprehensive multi-sector models are needed for global and regional poverty scenario analysis over the medium- and long-term to enhance the understanding of combined effects, synergies, and trade-offs between poverty and other SDGs. [Display omitted] • We reviewed quantitative poverty scenario analysis in the context of SDGs. • We focused on models linking poverty to other components of the Earth system. • We identified representative models for poverty scenario analysis. • We discussed synergies and trade-offs between poverty and other SDGs. • We proposed gaps and suggestions for poverty and sustainability research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of the sustainability of countries for afordable and clean Energy requires a framework with relevant criteria, simultaneous inclusion of multiple criteria in the evaluation, and consideration of the dynamics of changes in performance over time. A wide variety of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approaches using different algorithms for multi-criteria aggregation are currently available. These methods are suitable for sustainability assessment because they allow the consideration of multiple criteria, the construction of a hierarchical structure of criteria, and the assignment of significance to criteria weights. However, MCDA methods have the limitation of being able to evaluate a data set for a single moment in time, which is insufficient for the sustainability paradigm. The mentioned limitation of MCDA motivates researchers to develop approaches that adapt MCDA methods to temporal assessment. The purpose of this paper is to present the application of a method called Data vARIability Assessment Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (the DARIA-TOPSIS method) for multi-criteria temporal assessment of European countries for affordable and clean energy. This aspect of sustainability is included in Sustainable Development Goal 7 proposed by United Nations in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The DARIA-TOPSIS method combines the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method for multi-criteria evaluation with a Gini coefficient-based measure of result variability. The method has identified the best-scored countries in terms of implementing sustainable energy policies focused on affordable and clean energy, including Norway, Iceland, and Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past seven years, the advancement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is gaining increasing attention in the African context. Consistent with this effort, the present study aims to review the existing literature systematically to document contribution and methodological gaps. Specifically, the review systematically explores, through bibliometric literature and systematic method reviews, authors, countries, cited papers, journals, author's keywords, topic dendrogram, and methodological choices of papers associated with Africa SDGs scholars. The R Studio software is used to analyze 200 papers on SDGs, authored by 606 scholars and published in 102 peer-reviewed leading sources between 2015 and 2022. The results reveal that SDGs literature in Africa is an imminent study area, and there are two main strands of literature advancing SDGs in Africa: (1) business growth, entrepreneurship, and poverty reduction, and (2) renewable energy, tourism, and ICT. Key findings from the analysis of the papers are discussed, and implications for future research directions consisting of research questions, research methods and designs, and SDGs research are provided. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the interaction among innovation, tourism, and climate change has become a point of focus recently. This study examines the impact of innovation and tourism development on the sustainable development of the G7 economies. Panel data from 2000 to 2019 was analyzed for cross-sectional dependency, and a series of panel unit root tests were used to confirm the variables' unit root properties. Pedroni and Kao's tests confirm the cointegration relationship among the variables. The fully modified OLS and dynamic OLS results show that higher economic prosperity and lower environmental pollution are associated with innovation as measured in scientific publications and patents, highlighting the importance of innovation. The results highlight the positive significant impact of tourism arrivals on pollution reduction and economic expansion, which mark the steps for sustainable development. The study finds further evidence that asylum refugees did not positively contribute to economic prosperity, nor were they active in the environmental correction plans of the countries. The level of education provides strong evidence supporting sustainable development by encouraging economic growth and discouraging environmental degradation. Overall, the results recommend raising the level of innovation, tourism development, and higher technical education for the sustainable development of the G7 economies. These findings offer important contributions to firms, policymakers, and UN sustainable development agendas. [Display omitted] • The paper assesses the impact of innovation and tourism on sustainability. • The results show that innovation helps improve environmental quality. • The results reveal that innovation helps foster economic prosperity. • The paper finds that tourism helps in pollution reduction and economic expansion. • The results show that the level of education is important for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an idea analysis of AI in the policy documents and reports of the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Economic Forum. The three organisations expect AI to contribute to sustainability and a prosperous future with better data analysis, greater amounts of quantitative knowledge, and by making economic and social activities less wasteful and more energy efficient. Several challenges are also named: ethics, human rights, cybersecurity, access to reliable data, transparency, and the digital gap. The solutions presented are multi-stakeholder collaboration, cohesive but flexible governance frameworks, but also taking the lead to push for ethical and value-based AI and making sure AI is sustainable. Ideas about AI appear to stem from discourses of ecological modernisation and green governmentality. This framing turns political and structural challenges into technical issues to be solved with more data, greater collaboration, and technical progress. The similarities in ideas between the EU, the UN, and the World Economic Forum also suggest that ideas about AI and sustainable development have reached discourse institutionalisation. Ideas about AI are therefore likely to reinforce already existing institutional and discursive settings. • The EU, the UN, and the World Economic Forum see AI as a tool for sustainability and an object of governance. • Ideas about AI and sustainability correlates to ecological modernisation and green governmentality discourses. • Strong focus is put on data accessibility and analytics compared to other sustainability challenges brought by AI. • These include material extraction, relation to other knowledge systems and political and personal transformation. • Ideas about AI are likely to strengthen already existing institutional settings and sustainability discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment and monitoring of society's progress towards sustainability requires a multidisciplinary approach in which tools, indicators and data are integrated across existing frameworks. In this sense, the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework introduced by UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative are two of the most important references used by practitioners to assess sustainability at territorial level, in the first case, and at process, product, or organizational level, in the second case. However, due to the different scopes of SDGs and LCSA, the integration between the two tools has been limited so far and the synergies mostly remained untapped. Building on LCSA literature, and with the aid of text-mining analysis, this manuscript analyzes how linkages between product LCSA and SDGs have been and could be addressed, also highlighting key challenges and needs for connecting LCSA with SDGs in a coherent and operational way. The paper highlights that, although SDGs and LCSA are complementary and could inform and feed each other, as of today there is no harmonized way to set up and analyze the connections between the two and progress still seems far from reaching general consensus. Further research is needed to consistently link LCSA metrics to SDGs goals and thus ensure that improved products sustainability effectively contributes to progress towards more sustainable territories. • LCSA and SDGs are key sustainability assessment frameworks for products and territories. • Linkages between product LCSA and SDGs are analyzed based on literature and text-mining. • Further research is needed to consistently link LCSA metrics to SDGs goals. • Key challenges and needs for connecting LCSA with SDGs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the challenges in monitoring target 12.3 of United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) under the SDG 2030 17 significant goals. SDG 12 focuses on ensuring production and consumption patterns are sustainable. Target 12.3 aims to reduce food waste by 50% at the retail and consumption stage and food loss at the production stage, including post-harvest losses, by 2030. With the help of SDG reports, an extensive literature review and expert opinions, 14 challenges were selected and hybrid multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) was applied. The first phase obtained the inter-relationship between the challenges using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). The second phase included quantification and ranking of the challenges using fuzzy AHP methodology. Probable strategies to overcome these challenges in emerging economies are discussed and ranked using the VIKOR methodology in the third phase, as no single approach can combat all the obstacles. This is the first to examine the challenges and possibilities of monitoring UN SDG target 12.3 in emerging economies like India. The results indicate that data availability, education in sustainable consumption and production (SCP) patterns, financing of SDG targets and data use are the main obstacles to monitoring and achieving target 12.3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To open up opportunities for Second-Life Batteries (SLBs), an evaluation framework to evaluate and compare their sustainability performances is required. Accordingly, this paper frames evaluation indexes in line with sustainable development promoted by the United Nations, covering the multidimensional nature of sustainability. Additionally, we propose an SLB pricing model regarding the dynamics of SLB degradation curves to enable economic evaluation. Finally, we investigate SLBs' sustainability performances in grid-connected PV-battery systems with three typical load scenarios (double peak load, stationary load, and single peak load). The results show that their sustainability performances are primarily affected by their degradation curves, particularly the initial State of Health (SOH) and the degradation rate. A higher initial SOH and a slower degradation rate are more favorable with better sustainability performance. However, when considering the SLB purchasing costs, cheaper SLBs can be competitive even with a fast degradation rate. • Propose a second-life batteries' performance sustainability evaluation framework. • Introduce a second-life battery pricing model. • Batteries with a high initial state of health have better sustainability performance. • Batteries with a low degradation rate have better sustainability performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development goals (SDG) represent one of the pillars of the UN's 2030 agenda aiming to secure a more sustainable future for all nations. The 17 goals comprising the SDG framework form a transformative action plan that is designed to help nations achieve a more sustainable future focusing on their environmental, social, and economic systems. Achieving the goals within the designated timeframe, however, entails overcoming multiple challenges related to policy design, resources management, and harnessing the synergies and trade-offs among the goals themselves. Recognizing the vital role modeling and simulation can play in facilitating the achievement of the SDG, this paper provides a review of the academic literature published between 2015 and 2021 relating to the models developed to tackle SDG related issues. The main purpose of this review is to explore the modeling practices related to SDG and to determine how aligned those modeling practices are with the priorities of sustainability science. We developed a multi-dimension classification scheme to categorize the models retrieved from the literature based on their main characteristics focusing on characteristics such as the modeling approach used, model uncertainty treatment, model temporal and spatial scales, and which science priority the model focuses on. The results of this research show that most of the models focused on studying policy changes needed to achieve the SDG and monitoring the progress of the SDG. The results also highlight missing important characteristics in SDG models such as cross-scale treatment and advanced uncertainty treatment. While this research can be valuable in informing modelers about the gaps need to be filled in SDG modeling and facilitates the communication between modelers and policy makers, it can be further extended by including an evaluation for the modeling approaches used in SDG contexts as well as adding more characteristics to the model categorization scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has introduced a new sustainability paradigm that challenges private firms. According to this, in pursuing sustainable development, companies must face a complex system of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are divided into 17 primary goals, 169 targets, and 244 indicators. This paper outlines an assessment framework to investigate how companies are dealing with this Agenda and reporting their commitment in achieving SDGs, as well as monitoring their progress. Content analysis has been applied to reduce the number of SDG indicators including only the companies' internally actionable ones and to associate them to Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicators. A positioning matrix allows companies to compare their strategies with those of other companies regarding their efforts in achieving SDGs. The relative position of firms in the matrix provides valuable feedback for managers giving insight into how other companies adapt their sustainability practices to the requirements of the SDGs. As a means of exemplification, the framework has been applied to a group of GRI-reporting major electricity companies. The proposed framework presents opportunities for both practice and research allowing to investigate the companies' level of engagement in reporting and monitoring their contributions to SDGs. • The method aids companies in dealing with SDG reporting at an indicator level. • Companies can use the proposed method to compare the quality of their SDG reporting. • A positioning matrix allows companies to compare their strategies regarding SDGs. • The relative position of firms in the matrix provides valuable feedback for managers. • The positioning matrix is helpful in monitoring progress toward SDG contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]