scholarly journals Same Same but Different: How and Why Banks Approach Sustainability

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Sustainability Strategies ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Intermediary Role ◽  
Strategy Types ◽  
External Sustainability

Given their intermediary role and resulting influence on other industries, banks are pivotal in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs), for which they approach ecological and social challenges in numerous ways. This study aims at creating a typology of the sustainability strategies that banks implement. To this end, 26 in-depth interviews were conducted within the German banking industry to detect patterns in the sustainable practices of these financial institutions. The strategy types identified are narrow, peripheral, balanced, and integrative, which are similar in structure but substantially different with respect to the kind of practices. Specifically, three main features distinguish these strategies. First, banks focus on either their core businesses or the peripheries of their business. Second, banks can concentrate on social or environmental issues. Third, within the peripheries of their businesses, banks can support external sustainability projects in terms of finances or content. It is also found that the choice of strategy is driven by varying combinations of business, social, and environmental motives. I thus explore the ways by which financial institutions contribute to the realization of the SDGs. The typology established in this work improves understanding with regards to the implementation of sustainability strategies and serves as inspiration to sustainability managers of banks. It also adds to sustainability research in the service context, which, unlike the manufacturing industry, is a widely under-researched setting.

scholarly journals Financial Institutions’ Risk Profile and Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7738
Author(s):  
Nicolás Gambetta ◽  
Fernando Azcárate-Llanes ◽  
Laura Sierra-García ◽  
María Antonia García-Benau
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Risk Profile ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Impact

This study analyses the impact of Spanish financial institutions’ risk profile on their contribution to the 2030 Agenda. Financial institutions play a significant role in ensuring financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth and usually incorporate environmental and social considerations into their risk management systems. The results show that financial institutions with less capital risk, with lower management efficiency and with higher market risk usually make higher contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to their sustainability reports. The novel aspect of the present study is that it identifies the risk profile of financial institutions that incorporate sustainability into their business operations and measure the impact generated in the environment and in society. The study findings have important implications for shareholders, investors and analysts, according to the view that sustainability reporting is a vehicle that financial institutions use to express their commitment to the 2030 Agenda and to higher quality corporate reporting.

scholarly journals Promotion of Social Innovation through Fab Labs. The Case of ProteinLab UTEM in Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 8790
Author(s):  
Macarena Valenzuela-Zubiaur ◽  
Héctor Torres Bustos ◽  
Mónica Arroyo-Vázquez ◽  
Pablo Ferrer-Gisbert
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Quadruple Helix ◽  
Third Mission ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Mixed Analysis ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Effective Instrument

Fab Labs as manufacturing laboratories that stimulate innovation and collaboration are nowadays proliferating within universities. Given the new social challenges, framed within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), we formulate the following research question: Are Fab Labs an effective tool for the promotion of social innovation from universities? To answer this question, a mixed analysis has been carried out focusing on the case of ProteinLab UTEM. The approach aims to generate a model for the promotion of social innovation from universities through Fab Labs, linking the quadruple helix actors. The objective of this model is to show how Fab Labs can become an effective instrument to promote social innovation from universities. The contribution of this article lies in linking Fab Labs with social innovation through the university’s third mission. Our approach considers Fab Labs as an instrument for the development of social innovations within the university, which contribute, through the third mission, to the social and sustainable development of its environment. As a result of this research, a model is presented for the development of social innovation from universities through Fab Labs. Our research concludes that Fab Labs are an effective instrument for the promotion of social innovation from universities.

Smart practices in HEIs and the contribution to the SDGs: implementation in Brazilian university

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liane Dalla Gasperina ◽  
Janaina Mazutti ◽  
Luciana Londero Brandli ◽  
Roberto dos Santos Rabello
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Waste Reduction ◽  
Infrastructure Management ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Development Goals

Purpose Smart campuses can be seen as the future of higher education efforts, especially for their contributions to sustainability and to encourage innovation. This paper aims to present the benefits of smart practices in a Higher Education Institutions and highlights its connections to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach The methodology is divided into three steps: first, an international search and assessment of smart practices at universities; second, the identification of smart practices in a university campus in southern Brazil; and third, the presentation of the benefits of smart practices and their relationship with the SDGs. Findings The results showed that globally, the area most covered by smart practices in universities is the environment and, specifically, focused on waste reduction. in the context of this case study, the benefits of implementing smart practices mainly reach SDGs 4 and SDG 9, especially due to aspects of teaching technologies for the new classroom models and the optimization of campus infrastructure management. Practical implications The study encourages other universities to implement smart practices in their campuses, to becoming smart campuses while they also collaborate in achieving the SDGs while raising the discussion on the importance of committed actions taken on a university campus with the UN SDGs, to leverage synergies on campus operations at universities. Originality/value This paper presents a set of smart practices that universities are applying both globally and locally (in southern Brazil). In addition, it contributes to sustainability research by showing how smart practices have the potential to promote SDGs in universities, especially through campus operations.

Analysis of the prospects for the introduction of a closed-loop economy in the Russian Federation using the example of the Kaluga region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.N. Nikulina ◽  
E.A. Cherikanova ◽  
A.V. Chelenko ◽  
V.V. Grishakova
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Economic Model ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Secondary Products ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Russian Federation

In a number of industrialized regions of the Russian Federation, even when using efficient high technologies in the manufacturing industry under the current linear economic model, especially in the context of pandemic (COVID-19) fails to implement the sustainable development goals in all of its ecological and economic requirements. This paper analyzes models and approaches to the implementation of the concept of renewable production and consumption in conditions of maximum use of resources, including those obtained by processing various types of waste. According to the analyzed one of the models, namely the circulation economic model, resources after consumption in the form of manufactured products and the resulting waste, suitable for processing into production resources, in the form of secondary. Within the framework of rational interaction of the industrially developed regions (Moscow and Kaluga), an experimental confirmation of the efficiency of waste processing of various types is given, by building an Ecotechnopark, implemented within the framework of public-private partnership, and obtaining secondary products. In the proposed circular economic model, resources after consumption in the form of production products are returned to production after processing. In addition, a possible indicator was identified and implemented that allows integrating traditional economic indicators into the "Green" gross national product (GNP), which is the sum of the natural capital of the region and its nominal GNP and is linked to the state of the ecosystem. Recommendations and conclusions on the performed studies are made.

scholarly journals All-Inclusive Sustainability? The Sustainable Development Goals at the Antwerp Port Authority: Compact Case

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Lars Moratis
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Port Authority ◽  
Sustainability Strategies ◽  
Sustainability Strategy ◽  
Compact Case ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
Initial Choice

Launched in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent an authorative global agenda to achieve sustainability. Many organizations have been adopting the SDG and linking it to their sustainability strategies. When the Antwerp Port Authority (APA) adopted the SDGs, it initially focused on five out of these 17 goals. After consulting its stakeholders, APA concluded that its initial choice should be replaced by a choice for focusing on the entire set of SDGs. Since 2017, the SDGs constitute the overarching framework for APA’s sustainability strategy. This brief case aims to enable students to explore and reflect on business organizational approaches towards the SDGs.

Ambitious UN global goals may falter in execution

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Millennium Development Goals ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals

Subject An assessment of the prospects for the SDGs Significance UN member states on September 25 ratified a new set of global benchmarks, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), following the expiry of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) this year. The 17 new goals, with 114 outcome targets, have already drawn criticism for being overly ambitious and lacking direction. Impacts The UN's Paris Climate Talks (COP21) later this year will be heavily influenced by the number of climate goals set out in the new SDGs. NGOs will alter policies to align with the SDG agenda, soliciting funds to broaden programmes beyond the MDG-focus of the last 15 years. Governments and NGOs will increasingly ask international businesses and financial institutions to collaborate on achieving the SDGs.

scholarly journals All-Inclusive Sustainability? The Sustainable Development Goals at the Antwerp Port Authority Teaching Notes

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Lars Moratis
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Port Authority ◽  
Sustainability Strategies ◽  
Sustainability Strategy ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
Initial Choice

Launched in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent an authorative global agenda to achieve sustainability. Many organizations have been adopting the SDG and linking it to their sustainability strategies. When the Antwerp Port Authority (APA) adopted the SDGs, it initially focused on five out of these 17 goals. After consulting its stakeholders, APA concluded that its initial choice should be replaced by a choice for focusing on the entire set of SDGs. Since 2017, the SDGs constitute the overarching framework for APA’s sustainability strategy. This brief case aims to enable students to explore and reflect on business organizational approaches towards the SDGs.

دور سياسات التشغيل الوطنية في تحقيق هدف العمل اللائق في العراق الامكانات والتحديات

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (69) ◽  
pp. 87-113
Author(s):  
نور رسول عبد اللطيف ◽  
أ. د. قصي عبود فرج
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
Employment Policies ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
Institutional Challenges

This research deals with national employment policies and their roles in achieving the goal of decent work for all. The research proceeded from the hypothesis that national employment policies are unable to resolve the problem of unemployment and underemployment, and therefore they are unable to provide a decent work for all. For a while this research aims to identify national employment policies and their ability to raise employment rates and provide a decent work for all, and what are the challenges that faced and prevent them from achieving this goal. For that the sustainable development goals were reviewed, and identified the goals that leading to achieve the decent work for all, and what are the resulting from achieving this goal. Also it was identified the strategies and policies that pursued by Iraqi government to achieve this goal, and what are the difficulties and challenges that faced these policies. This research found that employment policies in Iraq are already unable to address employment rates to the required level due to the economies and social challenges, and the chief among them is the institutional challenges

scholarly journals The COVID-19 pandemic and the growing need to train engineers aligned to the sustainable development goals

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1269-1275
Author(s):  
Rosley Anholon ◽  
Izabela Simon Rampasso ◽  
Diogo A.L. Silva ◽  
Walter Leal Filho ◽  
Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Current Period ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Development Goals

Purpose Considering the requirements of sustainable development regarding professionals training and the challenges evidenced during Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, this study aims to contribute to the debates regarding the need to insert sustainability into engineering education in the current context. Design/methodology/approach For this, the literature about sustainability in engineering education was considered, and the need for sustainability insertion in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic was debated. It is important to emphasize that this debate was based on the authors’ experience regarding sustainability research and teaching. Findings The current moment unveiled companies’ financial management problems, constantly evidenced by media. In this sense, the interest of engineering students in business management may lead them to believe that companies’ survival depends only on financial aspects, neglecting environmental and social aspects. This study is characterized as a reminder to academic staff in the field of engineering to continue valuing the principles of sustainable development with their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value The need to make engineering students understand the importance of social projects in the current period is emphasized. The training of professionals to consider all the sustainability aspects even during crisis moments is evidenced now and should be used as a learning lesson for the future.

scholarly journals An Approach to Sustainability Management across Systemic Levels: The Capacity-Building in Sustainability and Environmental Management Model (CapSEM-Model)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4910
Author(s):  
Annik Magerholm Fet ◽  
Haley Knudson
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Management Model ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
System Complexity ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Further Development

A toolbox for assessing the environmental impacts of processes, products and services has been gradually developed over the last 30 years. The tools and methods place attention on a growing holistic concern to also consider stakeholders’ views connected to impacts of the entire life cycle of products. Another change is the gradual increase in consideration of the economic and social dimensions of sustainability since the 1990s. This paper presents this development using two interlinked models that illustrate the changes from the scopes of time and system complexity. The two initial models are further merged into one, the Capacity-building in Sustainability and Environmental Management model (the CapSEM-model), which presents organizations a systemic way to transition to sustainability, seen from the scopes of system complexity and performance complexity. The CapSEM-model attempts to integrate the different dimensions of systems and of methodologies and their contribution to increased environmental and sustainability performance. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are further mapped onto the model as an example of how they can be useful in the transition to sustainability. The model is, therefore, a conceptualization and needs further development to specify accurate level boundaries. However, it has proven to be helpful for organizations that struggle to find a systematic approach toward implementing sustainability. This is described through a brief example from the manufacturing industry.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document