Assessment of sustainable development through a multi-criteria approach: Application in brazilian municipalities

The Dynamic Evaluation Model of Health Sustainability under MCDM Benchmarking Health Indicator Standards

The coronavirus pandemic causing millions of deaths around the world has raised awareness of the importance of healthcare in a city, especially its efficiency in the city's system. Although the health dimension is found to have critical effects on sustainable development in addition to the existing three dimensions, the majority of sustainability assessments that are developed based on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) do not define standards for each indicator. On the contrary, an effective assessment model should be dynamic and suitable to the context of each city by referring to standardized criteria, such as those in a health indicator standard (HIS), instead of comparing with other cities. Hence, this research presents a new sustainability assessment model that integrates the health dimension (HEDm) with the other three dimensions generally used in studies of sustainable development (STD) and develops an assessment method to evaluate real data with references to the HIS from reliable organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN), for the SDGs. By using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) with the framework obtained from literature reviews, ISO Standards (ISO37120, ISO37122, ISO37123) and U4SSC, the researchers formed indicators in four dimensions with a total of 15 elements and 45 indicators. Afterwards, the weight of each indicator was determined with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) conducted in each dimension and element, resulting in a four-dimensional sustainability assessment model based on HIS value that limits the need to compare with other cities. The results from Khon Kaen province have shown the weaknesses and strengths of the target city that policymakers can reference to formulate a policy and strategy to improve HIS values in each dimension to meet standards, elevate city capacity and raise quality of life for the people living in the area.

The Organization of Social Sustainability Work in Swedish Eco-Municipalities

Even though large parts of a municipal administration’s work are aligned with social sustainability, this dimension has been somewhat more challenging and there seems to be a vast diversity in how it is approached. Academic literature on the systematic organization of this work is sparse. The aim of this study was to understand how Swedish municipalities organize their work with social sustainability and to find best practices. A survey among 21 municipalities and follow-up interviews with three of them were conducted. The study revealed that the organization of social sustainability work varies considerably among municipalities and that no simple patterns relating to size or existing organizational structures can be detected. Each municipality seems to be finding its own way and is more or less successful in strategically working with this area. Best practice focused on creating additional structures for collaboration across departments, with external actors, and across sectors to at least partly overcome the silo approach engrained in a municipal structure. It was also connected to the active involvement of leaders, clear mandates, and that a common vision for social sustainability was communicated. These lessons can be transferred to other municipalities and help them move towards social sustainability in a strategic way.

Sustainability at airports: Technologies and best practices from ASEAN countries

Sustainability has become a focus area for practitioners and scholars due to the growing socio-economic issues. The sustainability of airport operations is being raised in various international platforms. This paper aims to identify the dimensions of sustainability and evaluate sustainable practices in airports of selected ASEAN countries. The various dimensions associated with the environmental aspect are energy management, emissions management, water and effluents management, solid waste management. It was understood that noise management, employee development, and community investment belong to the social dimension. Similarly, the factors such as economic contribution, passenger experience, airport safety, and security are inclined to economic dimensions of sustainability. It was found that environmentally sustainable practices have greater importance than social and economic initiatives in the airport context which provide quantifiable benefits for airports in the long term. Airport operators in South East Asia strived to mitigate carbon emissions, reduce waste and effluents, enhance the economic contribution, satisfy passengers, and meet employee needs. Compared to the total economic and social benefits obtained from these airports, the negative impacts of airport operation (such as noise emission from aircraft) are minimal but significant. The most common sustainable initiatives in airports, such as employee development, energy management, and passenger safety, supported sustainable development goals (SDG) 8, SDG 9, and SDG 11. A weak connection is observed between SDG 14 & SDG 15 and the airport's sustainable practices. The new technological innovations are concentrated in busy and profitable airports. A slow trend towards the adoption of new technologies for sustainable practices is observed in airports. The paper concludes that major airport operators in South-East Asia have effectively responded to the growing sustainability challenges in aviation markets. The sustainable dimensions and practices discussed will be valuable resource for airports striving to achieve sustainability goals.

Industry 4.0 implementation and Triple Bottom Line sustainability: An empirical study on small and medium manufacturing firms

Background

The current level of industrialization has generated many challenges worldwide, including ecological hazards, climate change, and the overuse of non-renewable natural resources, thereby creating an increasing demand for achieving the goal of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). In this regard, Industry 4.0 can be used as a crunch point to contribute to the production process that can help achieve sustainable development.

Purpose

While the Malaysian government proposed the “Industry4ward” approach to enhance technological adoption, there is scarce empirical evidence in the literature that validates SMEs for Industry 4.0. Using Dynamic Capability View (DCV), this study proposes a framework that includes core determinants like top management commitment, supply chain integration, and IT infrastructure, that can significantly influence Industry 4.0 implementation toward achieving TBL sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing simple random sampling, the study adopted a quantitative approach based on 199 useable respondent's feedback collected through a survey questionnaire of 900 employees from Malaysian SMEs. The statistical analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modeling (Partial Least Square, SmartPLS 3.3.2).

Findings

The results show that top management and IT infrastructure significantly impact Industry 4.0 implementation and sustainability. In contrast, the analysis also demonstrates that supply chain integration is insignificant to Industry 4.0 implementation in SMEs. The findings also indicate that the relationship between the determinants of Industry 4.0 and TBL sustainability can be mediated by the “effective implementation” of Industry 4.0.

Recommendations

The study highlights the practical consequences of the role and use of the determinants in Industry 4.0 implementation. Its findings help managers and policy-makers to optimize value creation to achieve sustainable development goals.

Limitations and future research

Focusing only on Malaysian manufacturing SMEs may restrict the generalization of the study; thus, a benchmarking analysis from other industrial settings is encouraged. The questionnaire-based survey is a further limitation of the study.