scholarly journals Towards Sustainable Innovations - essay in memoriam of Andries Nentjes

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 133-158
Author(s):  
Yoram Krozer

Aim: This paper assesses theoretically and empirically three key factors for sustainable development within context of debates about economy and environment: autonomous technological change, induced technological change and barriers of entry to innovations.   Design/research methods: The paper covers a literature review on strong versus weak sustainability, followed by an explanation of autonomous technological change. Statistical analysis with literature review on induced technological change due to consumers’ and policy demands for sustainable innovations, as well as literature review on policy support for the incumbent interests that rival sustainable innovations is provided. The information used is largely based on two chapters in the book on sustainable innovations (Krozer 2015), and presented in the context of long scientific cooperation with the late Andries Nentjes.   Conclusion/findings: The economic theoretical debates are hardly relevant for policies on sustainable innovations, because political views are inconsistent with observations and change during fluctuations in economic outcomes. The main conclusion is that autonomous technological change is the driver of sustainable innovations. Present policies pose barriers of entry to sustainable innovations, where the global value of support for vested interest exceeds the market potential for induced technological change due to demands of policies and consumers put together.   Originality/value of the paper: The study contribution to understanding of autonomous and induced technological change, showing that shifting policy support away from the incumbent interests towards sustainable innovations is key for sustainable development.

Author(s):  
Melanie SARANTOU ◽  
Satu MIETTINEN

This paper addresses the fields of social and service design in development contexts, practice-based and constructive design research. A framework for social design for services will be explored through the survey of existing literature, specifically by drawing on eight doctoral theses that were produced by the World Design research group. The work of World Design researcher-designers was guided by a strong ethos of social and service design for development in marginalised communities. The paper also draws on a case study in Namibia and South Africa titled ‘My Dream World’. This case study presents a good example of how the social design for services framework functions in practice during experimentation and research in the field. The social design for services framework transfers the World Design group’s research results into practical action, providing a tool for the facilitation of design and research processes for sustainable development in marginal contexts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-324
Author(s):  
Stevan Kjosevski ◽  
Atanas Kochov ◽  
Darko Danev ◽  
Aleksandar Kostikj

Sustainable development and sustainable transport are becoming of higher and higher importance. A scientific approach to sustainable development analysis means, first of all, identification of relevant indicators. Based on literature review and regional professionals’ view, a total of 90 indicators have been chosen. They have been structured in five hierarchic levels. A total of five personal transport means alternatives have been analyzed in the research. The AHP method of analysis has been employed in which 75 professionals from the Western Balkan countries have filled appropriate questionnaire. The research presents their opinion about the capacity of each of the alternatives to contribute to the sustainable transport in the region, but also puts a light on perception of the professionals on importance of chosen indicators. The results of this research could be used for further research and could also help to decision making levels regarding sustainable transport and sustainable development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7683
Author(s):  
Amila Omazic ◽  
Bernd Markus Zunk

Public sector organizations, primarily higher education institutions (HEIs), are facing greater levels of responsibility since adopting and committing to the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development (SD) and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). HEIs are expected to provide guidance for various stakeholders on this matter, but also to implement this agenda and the SDGs in their institutions. Although the role of these organizations has been recognized, the fields and issues that HEIs should address on their path towards sustainability and SD are still unclear. To provide further clarity, a semi-systematic literature review on sustainability and SD in HEIs was conducted to identify both the key concepts and main research themes that represent sustainability and SD in HEIs and to identify research gaps. This review increases our knowledge of this topic and enhances our understanding of sustainability and SD in the context of HEIs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1600
Author(s):  
Weijiang Liu ◽  
Mingze Du ◽  
Yuxin Bai

As the world’s largest developing country, and as the home to many of the world’s factories, China plays a crucial role in the sustainable development of the world economy regarding environmental protection, energy conservation, and emission reduction issues. Based on the data from 2003–2015, this paper examined the green total factor productivity and the technological progress in the Chinese manufacturing industry. A slack-based measure (SBM) Malmquist productivity index was used to measure the bias of technological change (BTC), input-biased technological change (IBTC), and output-biased technological change (OBTC) by decomposing the technological progress. It also investigated the mechanism of environmental regulation, property right structure, enterprise-scale, energy consumption structure, and other factors on China’s technological progress bias. The empirical results showed the following: (1) there was a bias of technological progress in the Chinese manufacturing industry during the research period; (2) although China’s manufacturing industry’s output tended to become greener, it was still characterized by a preference for overall CO2 output; and (3) the impact of environmental regulations on the Chinese manufacturing industry’s technological progress had a significant threshold effect. The flexible control of environmental regulatory strength will benefit the Chinese manufacturing industry’s technological development. (4) R&D investment, export delivery value, and structure of energy consumption significantly contributed to promoting technological progress. This study provides further insight into the sustainable development of China’s manufacturing sector to promote green-biased technological progress and to achieve the dual goal of environmental protection and healthy economic growth.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (14) ◽  
pp. 1633
Author(s):  
Zhiwu Zhou ◽  
Julián Alcalá ◽  
Víctor Yepes

The aim of this paper is to establish an international framework for sustainable project management in engineering, to make up the lack of research in this field, and to propose a scientific theoretical basis for the establishment of a new project management system. The article adopts literature review, mathematical programming algorithm and case study as the research method. The literature review applied the visual clustering research method and analyzed the results of 21-year research in this field. As a result, the project management system was found to have defects and deficiencies. A mathematical model was established to analyze the composition and elements of the optimized international project management system. The case study research selected large bridges for analysis and verified the superiority and practicability of the theoretical system. Thus, the goal of sustainable development of bridges was achieved. The value of this re-search lies in establishing a comprehensive international project management system model; truly integrating sustainable development with project management; providing new research frames and management models to promote the sustainable development of the construction industry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4129
Author(s):  
Manuel Sousa ◽  
Maria Fatima Almeida ◽  
Rodrigo Calili

Multiple-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods have been widely employed in various fields and disciplines, including decision problems regarding Sustainable Development (SD) issues. The main objective of this paper is to present a systematic literature review (SLR) on MCDM methods supporting decisions focusing on the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in regional, national, or local contexts. In this regard, 143 published scientific articles from 2016 to 2020 were retrieved from the Scopus database, selected and reviewed. They were categorized according to the decision problem associated with SDGs issues, the MCDM methodological approach, including the use (or not) of fuzzy set theory, sensitivity analysis, and multistakeholder approaches, the context of MCDM applications, and the MCDM classification (if utility-based, compromise, multi-objective, outranking, or other MCDM methods). The widespread adoption of MCDM methods in complex contexts confirms that they can help decision-makers solve multidimensional problems associated with key issues within the 2030 Agenda framework. Besides, the state-of-art review provides an improved understanding of this research field and directions for building a research agenda for those interested in advancing the research on MCDM applications in issues associated with the 2030 Agenda framework.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1887
Author(s):  
Marek Więckowski

As there are very marked relationships between tourism and transport, integrated knowledge of these processes is essential if destinations and tourism enterprises are to be developed, an effective tourism policy pursued, and emerging local and global issues and conflicts surrounding tourism resolved. Beyond this, in an era of huge change reflecting the consequences of the COVID-19 viral pandemic, the importance of sustainable transport in tourism’s sustainable development appears to be of critical importance. Adopting this kind of perspective, this paper seeks to achieve a critical overview of conceptual dimensions of sustainability that link up with tourism and transport. To this end, ideas based on the literature and previous discussions are extended to include certain new propositions arising out of a (hopefully) post-COVID-19 world. Proceeding first with a systematic literature review (SLR), this article discusses the importance of transport to the development of tourism, dealing critically with modes of transport and their changing roles in sustainable development under COVID and post-COVID circumstances. The author summarises likely new way(s) of thinking in the aftermath of the pandemic, with the need for this/these to be far more sustainable and responsible, and characterised by a reorientation of behaviour in a “green” direction. It is further concluded that three aspects of transport–tourism relations will prove crucial to more sustainable utilisation—i.e., proximity, slower and less energy-intensive travel, and green transport.


1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Pearce ◽  
Kirk Hamilton ◽  
Giles Atkinson

ABSTRACTThe search for sustainability indicators should be guided by a theory of sustainable development (SD). In this paper we investigate two such theoretical frameworks and the indicators that they suggest. Indicators associated with weak sustainability are characterized by aggregative indicators such as green national income. We conclude, however, that a more promising offshoot of green accounting is measures of genuine savings (i.e. savings adjusted for loss of assets). To achieve SD, genuine savings rates must not be persistently negative. Strong sustainability indicators accord a more central role to the conservation of critical natural assets within the broader goal of prudently managing a nation's portfolio of assets over time. We discuss two approaches—carrying capacity and resilience—and conclude that, while measures of resilience are potentially attractive, more research is required regarding the resilience–SD link. However, an important conclusion that we can make is that, even in an economy operating under a strong sustainability regime, genuine savings are still key indicators of SD and are complementary to measures of changes in stocks of critical natural assets.


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