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To minimize chemical waste and protect the environment, our team has used green analysis with natural reagents. In this work, we designed a natural-reagent assay kit for iron determination and implemented it in chemistry education in Thailand. The iron assay method was adapted from Thai local wisdom of testing water quality using guava leaves. The guava leaf powder served as a natural reagent in the assay. The kit included equipment, standard and buffer solutions and a manual. A smart device with a built-in camera was used as a detector. Educators in six universities in Thailand implemented the kit in laboratories with modifications depending on their learning outcomes. The kit implementation was evaluated using a survey with questions in four aspects: usability, learning achievement, green chemistry and portability. The high average scores for all questions (&gt, 4.00 of 5.00 points), with the average overall score of 4.53 ± 0.60, indicated satisfaction regarding in all aspects. Using a locally available bio-resource as a natural reagent for green analysis in chemistry education supported sustainable education in Thailand, in terms of quality education (SDG 4) and reduced inequalities (SDG 10) and environmental sustainability (SDG 6—Clean water and sanitation, 12—Responsible consumption and production and 14—Life be-low water).

The digitalization of societies, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is an unstoppable process. This paper seeks to answer the question: what post-COVID-19 digital competences are needed for a sustainable society? It also aims to analyze the digitalization processes in education for shaping a sustainable digital society. A bibliographic search was performed on some of the most relevant international databases of scientific literature and the selected documents were analyzed through a content analysis. It is concluded that digital education has experienced a strong increase, reinforced by COVID-19, shaping the digital presence in all dimensions of life. However, it is not sufficient to assume that the new generations are naturally engaged in and can master digital social sustainability. The results demonstrate the importance of literacy and the unavoidable promotion of sustainability in a digital society. However, this digitalization of the educational process poses several challenges: it requires both software and hardware conditions, as well as digital literacy as a result of a complex of literacies. It also implies that teachers and students change their standpoints and practices with the attainment of new teaching and learning competences in order to fight the digital divide and to foster the widest possible social inclusion for the promotion of sustainable society—digitainability.

Crop fertilization with sulfur is an important part of agricultural practices, as is the systematic increase in soil organic matter content. Materials of waste origin constitute a source of plant-available sulfur, as well as soil organic matter. The study was to verify the hypothesis assuming that combining waste sulfur pulp and its mixtures with organic materials enables simultaneous soil enrichment with readily available sulfur and organic matter. A 240-day incubation experiment was conducted, on two soils: very light and heavy; with two sulfur doses applied to each soil (20 and 40 mg S/kg d.m. for very light soil, and 30 and 60 mg S/kg d.m. for heavy soil). The sulfate sulfur content in the incubated soil material, treated with the addition of sulfur pulp and its mixtures with organic materials, increased significantly up to day 60 and then decreased. The application of these materials significantly increased the content of available sulfur and decreased the pH value of the incubated material. The effect of the introduced materials on dehydrogenase activity depended on soil granulometric composition (the impact of the applied materials on the activity of these enzymes in very light soil was small, and in heavy soil, their activity was usually limited by the presence of introduced materials). Application of the studied materials had little effect on the total organic carbon content in the incubated soil material (a significant change in the value of this parameter, in relation to the control soil, was recorded in some treatments of heavy soil).

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced analytical chemistry educators in Thailand to change methods of teaching and learning to new normal ones. Higher education has faced additional challenges because of a lack of hands-on experiments and an increasing number of students in foundation chemistry courses being hindered from practicing skills. This work aimed to develop a Lab-at-Home (LAH) for new normal, analytical chemistry experimentation. The LAH implemented a hands-on green chemistry experiment, i.e., colorimetric determination of iron using non-hazardous reagents (supporting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12-responsible consumption and production). The LAH was sent to students at their location before the synchronous class, where the instructors were prompt to supervise. Thus, this supports SDG4-quality education and SDG10-reduced inequalities. The learning outcome achievements, i.e., the analytical characteristics and colorimetry principles comprehension, as well as the ability to perform data analysis, were evaluated by a quiz and laboratory report. LAH satisfaction was assessed by questionnaire and focus group discussion. The learning outcomes were successfully achieved, although students who performed the experiment individually received higher scores than those who did in groups. Students were very satisfied with the LAH as a tool for new normal experimentation, yet some students faced a poor Internet connection during the synchronous online class.

The rise of radiofrequency scanner technology has led to its potential application in the observation of people&rsquo, s movements. This study used a Wi-Fi scanner device to track tourists&rsquo, traveling behavior in Hokkaido&rsquo, s tourism area, which occupies a large region that features a unique natural landscape. Inbound tourists have significantly increased in recent years, thus, tourism&rsquo, s sustainability is considered to be important for maintaining the tourism atmosphere in the long term. Using internet-enabled technology to conduct extensive area surveys can overcome the limitations imposed by conventional methods. This study aims to use digital footprint data to describe and understand traveler mobility in a large tourism area in Hokkaido. Association rule mining (ARM)&mdash, a machine learning methodology&mdash, was performed on a large dataset of transactions to identify the rules that link destinations visited by tourists. This process resulted in the discovery of traveling patterns that revealed the association rules between destinations, and the attractiveness of the destinations was scored on the basis of visiting frequency, with both inbound and outbound movements considered. A visualization method was used to illustrate the relationships between destinations and simplify the mathematical descriptions of traveler mobility in an attractive tourism area. Hence, mining the attractiveness of destinations in a large tourism area using an ARM method integrated with a Wi-Fi mobility tracking approach can provide accurate information that forms a basis for developing sustainable destination management and tourism policies.

There has been increased interest over recent years in socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) oriented at developing good relations with employees as a function fostering sustainable organization-building. This is a consequence of our awareness of the fact that employees and personnel processes play a vital role in translating the policy of sustainable development into practice. The objective of this research has been to diagnose the activity of young Polish enterprises in the area of SRHRM as an important corporate social responsibility (CSR) component and to assess relations between SRHRM practices and the sustainable development of organizations. The studies conducted on a representative sample of 150 entities demonstrate both the scope of SRHRM practical implementation and the fields which have disparity in this respect. It has been determined that SRHRM practices are quite frequently adopted by young Polish enterprises. Research has shown that there is a correlation between the assessment of the relationship of SRHRM practices with the sustainable development of organizations and their practical implementation. It has been established that the higher the assessment of the strength of the relations of a given practice, the more often it is implemented in the enterprises studied. Simultaneously, the research has demonstrated a low level of maturity with respect to SRHRM implementation, as evidenced by the adoption of basic practices.

This article is an analysis of the impact of implementing technical and technological solutions in the form of a deodorization system, which was carried out on the basis of a case study in the years 2015 and 2019 of an existing waste management plant named located in the region of Lower Silesia. The method for determining the impact was based on an analytical method for estimating changes in plant operation parameters in relation to the emission of odor compounds, determined at selected reference points, during a period of normal operation before and directly after the implementation of the deodorization system. The purpose of this work is the evaluation of the impact of the deodorization system on the parameters determining the functioning of the plant&mdash, a mechanical-biological waste treatment facility in order to determine sustainability factors and their relative changes.

This paper develops a multicriteria analysis method for effectively making the selection decision on information systems (IS) projects for project management in organizations from a sustainability perspective. The triple bottom line principle of sustainability in organizations is carefully considered in formulating the IS project selection process as a multicriteria analysis problem. The subjectiveness of the decision-making process is modelled by linguistic variables approximated by fuzzy numbers. The positive and the negative ideal solution concepts are used to calculate the overall sustainability performance of individual IS projects in a comprehensive manner. A decision support system framework is then constructed with the use of the developed method for facilitating the IS project selection process. Such a system can provide organizations with an effective mechanism for comprehensively evaluating available IS projects from a sustainability perspective. An example is presented for demonstrating the flexibility and effectiveness of the proposed method in solving the IS project selection problem.

In recent years, increasing concerns regarding the energy costs and environmental effects of urban motorcycle use have spurred the development of hydrogen-electric motorcycles in Taiwan. Although gasoline-powered motorcycles produce substantial amounts of exhaust and noise pollution, hydrogen-electric motorcycles are highly energy-efficient, relatively quiet, and produce zero emissions, features that suggest their great potential to reduce the problems currently associated with the use of motorcycles in city environments. This study identified the significant external variables that affect consumers’ purchase intentions toward using hydrogen-electric motorcycles. A questionnaire method was employed with a total of 300 questionnaires distributed and 233 usable questionnaires returned, yielding a 78% overall response rate. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the research hypothesis. The research concluded that (1) product knowledge positively influenced purchase intentions but negatively affected the perceived risk; (2) perceived quality via hydrogen-electric motorcycles positively influenced the perceived value but negatively affected the perceived risk; (3) perceived risk negatively affected the perceived value; and (4) the perceived value positively affected purchase intentions. This study can be used as a reference for motorcycle manufacturers when planning their marketing strategies.

Reducing carbon emissions is a major way to achieve green development and sustainability for China’s future. This paper elaborates the detailed features of China’s carbon flow for 2013 with the carbon flow chart and shows the changing characteristics of China’s CO2 flow from the viewpoint of specific sectors and energies from 2000 and 2013. The results show that (1) from 2000 to 2013, China’s CO2 emissions approximately grew by 9% annually, while the CO2 intensity of China diminished at different rates. (2) The CO2 emissions from the secondary industry are prominent from the perspective of four main sectors, accounting for 83.5% of emissions. Manufacturing plays an important part in the secondary industry with 45% of the emissions, in which the “smelting and pressing of metal” takes up a large percentage of about 50% of the emissions from manufacturing. (3) The CO2 emissions produced by coal consumption are dominant in energy-related emissions with a contribution of 65%, which will decrease in the future. (4) From the aspect of different sectors, the CO2 emissions mainly come from the “electricity and heating” sector and the “smelting, pressing and manufacturing of metals” sub-sector. It is essential and urgent to propose concrete recommendations for CO2 emissions mitigation. Firstly, the progression of creative technology is inevitable and undeniable. Secondly, the government should make different CO2 emissions reduction policies among different sectors. For example, the process emissions play an important role in “non-metallic minerals” while in “smelting and manufacturing of metals” it is energy emissions. Thirdly, the country can change the energy structure and promote renewable energy that is powered by wind or other low-carbon energy sources. Alternatively, coke oven gas can be a feasible substitution. Finally, policy makers should be aware that the emissions from residents have been growing at a fast rate. It is effective to involve the public in energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction, such as reducing the time of personal transportation.

Suitable allocation of residential public services is vital to realizing sustainable communities and cities. By combining network big data and spatial analysis, we developed a composite spatial accessibility assessment method for residential suitability of urban public services covering healthcare, leisure, commerce, transportation, and education services. Xiamen City, China is the test site. We found that although most facilities were concentrated on Xiamen Island, there were shortages in the per capita transportation and education service supplements compared with the average performance of Xiamen City because of the high local population. Meanwhile, Tong’an had advantages in the amount of public facilities due to its long history of regional development. However, high-quality facilities were deficient there as well as in other off-island districts. The residential communities surrounding transportation, commerce, and healthcare facilities had a similar allocation pattern in Xiamen City, whereas the residential accessibility of education and leisure services showed regional differences. Due to unbalanced regional development, evident inequality could be witnessed by comparing the composite assessment results of residential suitability between the communities on Xiamen Island and those in the off-island Areas. Our study hopes to provide dedicated support for designing sustainable communities and cities, especially for those in developing countries.

The revitalization of Northeastern China has been an important topic in China in recent years. Sustainable development of cities plays a strong role in the revitalization process. In this paper, we evaluated the sustainability of the 34 prefecture-level and above cities in Northeastern China. The evaluation process was viewed as a dynamic evaluation problem. A dynamic technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and entropy method was developed by extending the entropy weight and TOPSIS to dynamic situation. It was found that the sustainability levels of the cities in Northeastern China were comparatively low. Only four sub-provincial cities&rsquo, average performances were over 0.5 (accounting for 11.8%). Except for Jixi, nearly all the cities had dim sustainability because of the lower positive or even negative growth rates. In addition to Shenyang, Dalian, Changchun, Harbin, and Daqing, the other cities performed worst in the economic sustainability with performance values below 0.3. This implicates that the necessity and urgency of improving the economic sustainability levels of the cities in Northeastern China to realize the coordinated development of the three dimensions (economy, society and environment). In terms of the cities located in Liaoning province, they need to pay more attention to the economic sustainability, even though their economy basis (or levels) were comparatively better than that in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. For the cities in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, the decline of their environmental sustainability was serious. This case should arouse the attention of local authorities.

The growing role of sustainable development and, above all, its ecological aspect, in the development of modern company competitive edge leads to the popularization of the question of incorporating environmental practices into the area of human resource policy, referred to as Green HRM. The objective of the research was to identify pro-environmental HR practices embraced by young Polish enterprises and to prioritize them in accordance with their effect on company sustainable development. To attain these goals, a survey was conducted among a random, representative population of 150 young enterprises. The study revealed that the Green HRM concept in the Polish reality is relatively. However, there is a strong positive correlation between the evaluation of the impact of individual activities within Green HRM on sustainable company development and their practical implementation. Research demonstrated that the higher the evaluation of the impact of a given activity, the more frequent its implementation in the studied companies. This allowed the formulation of the following conclusion: in order to increase the scope of the implementation of the Green HRM concept in Polish young enterprises, it is necessary to raise awareness and disseminate knowledge concerning the impact Green HRM can have on sustainable development in organizations.