The Evolution of Sustainable Development Theory: Types, Goals, and Research Prospects

Environmental policy stringency, ICT, and technological innovation for achieving sustainable development: Assessing the importance of governance and infrastructure

Achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) has garnered significant attention from academia and policymakers worldwide. In this study, we examine the impact of ICT, technological innovation (TI), and environmental policy stringency (EPS) on SDI, considering the moderating role of governance quality (GQI) and transport infrastructure (TIS). A comprehensive dataset of 17 advanced nations is utilized from 1996 to 2021. To capture the dynamic and extreme marginal impacts of these policy instruments on SDG attainment, we employ the advanced technique of Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS). The results demonstrate that ICT has a positive and significant effect on SDGs, particularly when combined with high levels of governance quality (GOV) and transport infrastructure (TIS). Likewise, TI has a positive impact on SDGs, especially in the presence of strong governance. Furthermore, EPS exhibits a positive association with SDGs. The findings also reveal that while governance hurts SDGs, this effect diminishes when combined with higher levels of ICT, TI, and EPS, and when TIS positively moderates the relationships. The robustness estimations using DOLS and PCSE methods validate the FGLS findings. These results underscore the importance of ICT, TI, and EPS in advancing sustainable development. Moreover, they highlight the significance of good governance and robust transport infrastructure in maximizing the positive effects of these factors. These findings hold implications for policymakers and stakeholders involved in promoting sustainable development.

Examining sustainable development goals: are developing countries advancing in sustainable energy and environmental sustainability?

Environmental sustainability is vital in developing countries for sustainable economic development, poverty reduction, food security, climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, global equity, and access to sustainable energy. In contributing to literature, this study computed composite variables following the unavailability of a unified sustainable development goals (SDGs) database to examine the progress of ten sample developing countries. The authors propose the design of a database that utilizes the specific SDG indicators for empirical research. In testing the applicability of the proposed database, we sampled 32 indicators from the World Development Indicators database and employed principal component analysis to compute composite variables. The authors then contribute to broadening the understanding of literature by examining to what extent developing countries advance towards ensuring agricultural, energy, and environmental sustainability. And how the interplay between the SDG indicators differ across the low- and middle-income countries in terms of econometric analysis. The findings suggest that since the adoption of SDGs in 2015, developing countries have made progress in advancing water and sanitation sustainability, leading to improved environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the middle-income countries have demonstrated greater improvements in energy and agriculture sustainability compared to low-income countries in contributing to overall environmental sustainability. The developmental relationship between sustainable energy and agriculture in low- to middle-income countries reveals increased diversity, thereby presenting challenges in attaining synergy within SDGs in developing countries. Therefore, addressing and understanding the intricacies behind the adverse relationship between sustainable energy and agriculture is crucial in formulating curative policies that advance the progress of SDGs. The study concludes that environmental sustainability is a vital developmental concern to be integrated into inter-generational and intra-generational development in the SDG framework. Also, the progress of the SDG indicators is endogenous and the extent to which low-income countries lag behind middle-income towards achieving collective goals requires critical policy intervention.

Psychological adaptation level optimization to attain the goal of sustainable education

The article aimed to study the psychological adaptability of university students. Along with that, the influence of sports activities on enhancing the psychology of students is also examined. The study also analyzes the impact of music on the psychoogy of students. A two-factor model is used for analyzing the level of college students' mental health. In this study, data was collected from 555 first-year undergraduate university students through an online questionnaire survey. Levels of both positive and negative psychological factors among students are examined. The findings indicate that students who participate in sports appear to have higher levels of positive psychological characteristics than students who do not exhibit any interest in participating in sports. Additionally, students that participate in sports have lower levels of negative psychological effects than nonparticipants. As a result, the study concluded that sports and other physical activities have a positive effect on the psychology of university students. The advantages of physical activities and sports in enhancing the mental and emotional health of students are highlighted in this study. To improve students' psychology and attain better academic results, educational institutions should provide students with various opportunities for sports.

Evaluation of Enterprise Green Mine Construction Based on DPSIR Model

As a new mode of mining development, green mine optimizes the development and utilization of mineral resources with a minimum of the environmental impact, and how to objectively evaluate the construction level of the green mine has become the key to promote green mine construction and it has also been an important path to achieve sustainable development of mineral resources. The evaluation system and methods of green mine construction, however, are not perfect at present as the existing green mine evaluation mostly adopts the index scoring accumulation method, with which the internal relations between the indicators are ignored, and the subjective influence it causes is too large. Based on the framework model of driving forces, pressure, state, impact and response, an indicator system is constructed in this paper to express the internal relationship between indicators more intuitively. Combined with subjective and objective combination weighting method to determine the index weight, TOPSIS and coupling coordination degree models are introduced to quantitatively evaluate the spatio-temporal evolution process of green mine construction and the coupling coordination between subsystems, analyze and obtain the main obstacle factors affecting the green mine construction of enterprises, and provide suggestions and countermeasures for the improvement of green mine construction of enterprises. The applicability of the model is verified by an actual case study of a mine in China. The model enriches the connotation of green mines, making the evaluation process and results fairer and more reliable, thus providing an effective way to promote the sustainable development of mines.

Assessing key factors for sporting industry sustainable development through multilayer artificial perceptron neural network approach

Sustainable development (SD) has recently emerged as a critical axis in industrial strategic management and debate. Apart from the scarcity of resources, the influence of economic difficulties on human life and society has increased the relevance of SD. However, estimating and analyzing the SD of any business are still in its infancy. Thus, the SD of the sports goods industry is assessed using a multilayer artificial perceptron neural network (MLP) technique employing eight distinct characteristics connected to production efficiency, international and internal environment, export, and domestic development by using Statistica software. To discover an ideal model for SD in the sports goods business, stepwise models with varied input parameters were built. The identity activation function was used to create and train an error propagation algorithm-based network. The results of various eight network models revealed that, among other models, the accuracy of our fifth model, which incorporates production efficiency, international and internal environment, strategic management, and domestic distribution organization, gives the best answer. This model has the lowest root-mean-square error (RMSE) = 0.002 and the greatest R square = 0.922, demonstrating its efficacy and effectiveness in terms of SD. Based on these findings, it is possible to conclude that using artificial neural networks is beneficial in determining an optimal solution for SD and other similar problems since this tool is important and would be utilized for forecasting and decision-making in any business.

Digital Finance and Green Development: Characteristics, Mechanisms, and Empirical Evidences

As the emergence of digital finance is relatively short, research results on digital finance mainly focus on products, services, coverage, policies, etc. The mechanism and role of digital finance in influencing green development are still lacking attention. In the above context, this paper used spatial analysis methods to describe spatiotemporal characteristics in detail, and empirically tested the mechanism and path of digital finance affecting green development through spatial econometric models and intermediary models. The results showed that: (1) During the study period, digital finance and green development have been improved to varying degrees, but the inter-provincial differences are still obvious. (2) The spatial trends of digital finance and green development are similar, and the overall performance is "high in the east, low in the west, high in the south, and low in the north". (3) The empirical tests found that digital finance is an effective force to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP and improve the level of green development. It validates Hypothesis 1. Meanwhile, the Heterogeneity effect is noteworthy due to different regions, types, and levels. (4) The promotion of green development by digital finance is mainly concentrated in the local region and has not yet shown a significant green spillover effect for surrounding areas. It validates Hypothesis 2. (5) Energy structure, industrial upgrading, and technological progress are three paths for digital finance affecting green development. Hypothesis 3 is verified. Finally, the innovation of this paper lies in the design of the research framework, diversity of research methods, and policy implications. The main contribution is to enrich and expand the environmental finance theory and provide detailed empirical evidence. In addition, we put forward effective measures and suggestions including local governments, financial institutions, and enterprises based on the empirical results. Local governments should pay attention to policy implementation and operation effects, financial institutions constantly need to strengthen the supply of advanced digital financial products and services, and enterprises should attach importance to the use of digital financial tools to achieve green and low-carbon development in the future.

Digital finance and regional green innovation: evidence from Chinese cities

Digital finance realizes the combination of finance and technology, makes up for many deficiencies of traditional finance, and brings opportunities for green and innovative development. However, systematic research on regional digital finance and green innovation is still lacking. Based on this, this study aims to analyze the impact of digital finance on the regional level of green innovation. For the analysis, the fixed-effect model, the mediating effect model, and the moderating effect model are used to perform regression on the panel data of Chinese cities. The results show that digital finance can significantly improve the level of regional green innovation. Improving the level of regional green financial services is its main mechanism, but the intermediary role of industrial structure optimization and upgrading fails to pass the test. In addition, the results of heterogeneity analysis show that digital finance plays a greater role in promoting green innovation in areas with high levels of traditional financial supply and Internet infrastructure construction. It is worth noting that digital finance does not really play the role of universal benefit, widening the regional green innovation gap. The main contributions of this study are to prove the positive effect of digital finance on green innovation at the regional level, clarify its transmission mechanism and urban heterogeneity analysis, and find that the current digital finance cannot bridge the gap of regional green innovation.

Coupling Coordination and Interactive Response Analysis of Ecological Environment and Urban Resilience in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

There is a complex dynamic coupling interaction process between the ecological environment and urban resilience. It is important to clarify the coordination relationship and interactive response mechanism between them for sustainable development construction of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The coupling coordination degree model and the panel vector autoregressive model (PVAR) were adopted to quantitatively examine the dynamic coordination and interactive response of the ecological environment and urban resilience in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2000 to 2019. Our study's results are the following: (1) The ecological environment index and urban resilience index have a generally positive trend of fluctuation and increase during the study period but show significant regional differentiation. (2) The coupling coordination degree of ecological environment and urban resilience in the Yangtze River Economic Belt increased steadily, forming a spatial distribution pattern of "strong in the east and weak in the west", with cities in the region mainly at the basic coordination level and generally lagging behind in development. (3) Both the ecological environment and urban resilience systems in the Yangtze River Economic Belt have significant self-reinforcing mechanisms, but the reinforcing effect is gradually decreasing, and the two positively promote each other, with urban resilience showing a more obvious promoting effect on the ecological environment.

Social values and sustainable development: community experiences

BACKGROUND

This paper presents a review of the literature and trends related to social values and sustainable development and describes a set of case studies from a variety of community-based projects which illustrate the advantages that social values bring about as part of efforts to promote sustainability. Three approaches were used to develop this study: a bibliometric analysis of the topic "social values and sustainable development", an analysis of case studies that concretely present community projects addressing social values and sustainability, and the development of a framework linking up bibliometric clusters and the cases studies.

RESULTS

While the bibliometric analysis revealed clusters where social values are strongly connected with sustainable development, the case studies indicated the lack of a common terminology and understanding of the relation between social values, sustainable development, and community-based projects.

CONCLUSIONS

The study concludes by suggesting a set of measures that could be deployed to better take social values into account when planning policies or making decisions related to community projects.

Sustainable Textiles in the Past “Wisdom of the Past: Inherited Weaving Techniques Are the Pillars of Sustainability in the Handloom Textile Sector of Sri Lanka”

The paper aims to identify characteristics of the driving force of the domestic handloom textile industry of Sri Lanka. A qualitative data analysis methodology was chosen for the research. Data were gathered from observational studies and semi-structured interviews. The observational study was carried out in museum collections, scholarly written books, and research journal articles. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with weavers, designers, technical instructors, and administrative officers. Data were analyzed according to observational study, coding, and concept development. Identified characteristics are interlinked with inherited craft knowledge, Buddhist culture, and the networks of people who live and work in a particular industrial society. The industry is developed through hands-on experience and prolonged engagement, where human resources are the key factor. The research scrutinized seven concepts related to the sustainable survival of the weaving structures. Learning is the direct enforcer. The infrastructure is supplied by the Textile Department. The research suggests recognition of a consistent infrastructure supply chain as national policy. The paper recommends to policymakers with the factors found to connect culture with an active action plan.

Tools and Technologies for Sustainable Territorial Development in the Context of a Quadruple Innovation Helix

The study of the problem of sustainable development of urban areas led to the understanding of the important role that population involvement plays in solving the issues related to forming a comfortable urban environment. It is normal practice to take into account the proposals and recommendations of citizens and organizations when making decisions in the field of territorial development. Nevertheless, the implementation of participatory governance mechanisms faces significant difficulties. This is primarily due to the lack of effective tools for analyzing the opinion of citizens and technologies for integrating urban communities into existing institutions of governance. This article discusses the ways of organizing expert polls based on the principles of “Socratic dialogue”. The idea of using social networks for testing and promoting urban development projects by analyzing social reactions to various urban initiatives is considered. The possibility of predicting public opinion about a specific solution for urban development using historical data from social networks has been investigated. An approach to the gamification of work with a social response to the urban environment state through virtual interactions with infrastructure objects is proposed. The prospects for gamification to motivate civic participation and improve the efficiency of feedback mechanisms between the city and its residents are discussed.

Paths to Promote the Sustainability of Kindergarten Teachers’ Caring: Teachers’ Perspectives

Caring is a crucial aspect of early childhood education (ECE) and is an essential attribute possessed by kindergarten teachers. The sustainable development of ECE in aging China calls for the sustainable development of teachers’ caring. However, research into teachers’ caring in education for sustainable development in ECE has been scarce. This paper aims to emphasize a concern for the theme of caring in the sustainability of ECE and to provide a Chinese perspective on this topic. This study explored the path to promote the sustainability of teachers’ caring from the perspective of Chinese kindergarten teachers, based on an analytical framework of cognition, emotion, will, and behavior. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 Chinese kindergarten teachers. The data were analyzed using MAXQDA, qualitative data analysis software, and the descriptive analysis technique. Main themes were generated and then the views were aligned under the themes. Research shows that reading, leisure and art activities, cultural immersion, and mentoring practice can bring many benefits to the promotion of teachers’ caring. Continuous reading can awaken teachers’ caring conscience and promote the sustainability of caring cognition while sufficient leisure and art activities can generate their caring emotions and promote their sustainability. Cultural immersion can cultivate teachers’ caring beliefs and promote the sustainability of caring will while mentoring practice can shape teachers’ caring behaviors and promote their sustainability. The four paths cited above successfully helped teachers overcome the obstacles to caring that they faced and promoted their caring abilities. This study provides systematic paths for promoting the sustainability of kindergarten teachers’ caring and emphasizes their self-care as critical to ensuring teachers’ caring. The necessity of providing effective institutional and policy support to promote the sustainable development of teachers’ caring is suggested.

Sustainable Local Development: Consolidated Framework for Cross-Sectoral Cooperation via a Systematic Approach

Cross-sectoral cooperation (CSC) has gained recognition as the key to achieving sustainable development goals within a locality. However, existing studies focused on sustainable local development (SLD) initiatives resulting from CSC remain sparse. This article aims to review the CSC–SLD literature, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. Research questions were constructed using the PICOC (population, intervention, comparison, outcomes, and context) structure. The identification of scientific works occurred through the search of relevant keywords, which resulted in a final set of 38 peer-reviewed manuscripts, from 1994 to 2021. First, the main driving forces for adopting CSC, to achieve SLD, which are dispersed at multiple levels, were captured and contextualised into the micro-, meso-, macro- and mega-framework. Second, salient aspects addressed in the literature for effective CSC implementation were identified and classified into approaches, governance, structure, key actors, psychological and social aspects, and experiences themes. This resulted in a consolidated guiding principles framework for implementing CSC, to pursue SLD. Additionally, the use of theories in different aspects of CSC–SLD initiatives was discussed. This study informs the practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers the fundamentals that need to be considered when planning, designing, and implementing effective CSC interventions for SLD.

A Trial Patch to Sustainable Development: Perspectives from Extracurricular Activities of Elementary Schools in Turkey

Sustainable development (SD) and science education have become interwoven categorical issues under the name of science education for sustainable development (SESD). Education can play a crucial role in merging the dimensions of SD as ecology, economy, and energy, along with society in a united holistic goal. Furthermore, it can provide the necessary motivation and self-fulfillment for individuals and communities. Extracurricular activities should also be implemented along with formal ones in courses that are related to socio-scientific issues like SD. In line with this perspective, this study mainly aims to find new means of developing an extracurricular module program based on the principles of SD, in order to address the defects, deficiencies, and needs in science education around the world. The module program was constructed through use of the concepts of energy transformations, biodiversity, and narrating socio-scientific problems that would foster positive student decision-making on SD issues. The study also aims to examine whether the SESD module program would have a significant effect on the academic success and opinions regarding SD of primary school students in science lessons. The study sample comprised 92 Turkish fifth-grade students. Mixed methods using both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. Data analysis revealed that the SESD module program significantly affected fifth-grade students in terms of their knowledge and opinions for increased willingness to take action and responsibility.

Eco-Initiatives in Municipal Cultural Institutions as Examples of Activities for Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Poznan

The aim of the study is to demonstrate which pro-environmental initiatives consistent with the idea of sustainable development are undertaken by municipal cultural institutions in Poznan—the largest city in the Greater Poland region in Poland. The diagnostic survey was conducted by means of interviews with directors of municipal cultural institutions or their representatives. A total of 12 (out of 15) municipal cultural institutions from the city of Poznan were surveyed. All were asked to cite specific examples of their activities, visualising their institution’s approach to ecology. The results indicated that the institutions undertake numerous eco-initiatives, which very often fit into the discourse on so-called “deep ecology” and address the sources of the existing environmental crisis. Their activities are also aimed at stimulating a “return to nature” of the city’s inhabitants. In addition to initiatives aimed at the recipients of the offer of individual institutions, many institutions also pay attention to pro-environmental internal activities. In effect, the results could be divided into three general groups, which include internal institutional activities, the implementation of projects on environmental themes, and educational activities in the field of ecology. However, these activities were undertaken individually, as the survey revealed a lack of inter-institutional cooperation on ongoing projects.

Strategic Sustainability of Offshore Arctic Oil and Gas Projects: Definition, Principles, and Conceptual Framework

Exploitation of oil and gas resources in the Arctic offshore is one of Russia’s key priorities in such areas as science, economy, and technology. Global trends, harsh climate conditions, fragile ecosystems, conditions of the pandemic and post-pandemic periods, price volatility, and the growing importance of the environmental factor require that the process of developing the Arctic’s hydrocarbon resources should become strategically sustainable. The paper provides a deep literature review on sustainability issues, sustainable development, strategic sustainability, and project efficiency in the Arctic offshore oil and gas sector. The paper analyzes the trends and conditions that substantiate the need to transform the traditional sustainability concept to meet new challenges and comply with new policies. Based on the analysis, the authors propose a definition of and a conceptual framework for strategic sustainability of oil and gas offshore projects in the Arctic.

The Concept of Zero Waste in the Context of Supporting Environmental Protection by Consumers

Zero waste according to the Zero Waste International Alliance is an ethical, economical, effective and forward-thinking concept whereby people can change their lifestyles and habits to one that mimics natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources that can benefit others. The aim of the study was to determine the knowledge of the Zero Waste problem (subject of the study) by respondents in selected Central and Eastern European countries, including Poland, Slovakia (EU countries) and Ukraine (EU associated country), as well as to verify whether the Zero Waste rules are known and implemented in sustainable activities of residents in the studied countries. The research was carried out using the CAWI method. The research tool was a structured questionnaire. The analysis of data from the countries covered by the study showed a significant relationship between the basic elements in the daily functioning of households related to the protection of the environment through responsible consumption, reuse and recovery of selected products, packaging and materials and food and the concept of Zero Waste. Research has shown that respondents consciously identify these activities with Zero Waste. According to the authors, the results of the research are the basis for public discussion at the European and global level in the field of creating legal regulations and educational programs in the context of waste management.

Exploring the Relationship between Leisure and Sustainability in a Chinese Hollow Village

This study explores the relationship between a for-profit leisure program and sustainability issues in the context of a hollow village in China. We studied what forms of relation between leisure and sustainability could be identified through the operation of ‘Mount Qi and the hermit master’ at a hollow village, and to what extent, ‘Mount Qi and the hermit master’ can be considered as a sustainable leisure program. Fieldwork and focus groups were used to collect data. Theoretically, the analyses adopt a comprehensive model of sustainability, which integrates the concepts of weak and strong sustainability, as well as considers the sustainability of human needs. Our findings demonstrate that the leisure program has contributed to a comprehensive sustainable development and helped to meet the villagers’ needs. This study also critically points out the uncertain aspects relating to the sustainability of human needs at the current stage of the program implementation.

Social Innovation for a Just Sustainable Development: Integrating the Wellbeing of Future People

Social innovation has gained increased attention as a mechanism for sustainable development. As the Brundtland Commission highlights, the improvement of present conditions should not compromise future generations’ needs. So far, (social) sustainable development has mostly focused on the amelioration of contemporary people’s wellbeing, relegating its duties towards future generations to second place. Given this, I consider it necessary to (re-)direct social innovation towards the promotion of the wellbeing of future people. I propose the concept of irreplaceable goods, a notion deriving from a strong sustainability perspective, which could then be integrated into social innovation practices related to sustainable development. Focusing on guaranteeing, at least, sufficient fruition of certain goods and resources, I devise this concept as a governance tool for steering development actions towards intergenerational justice, driven by social innovation action. In this article, we firstly delineate the relations between sustainable development and social innovation, while focusing on ‘value-driven’ social innovation. Afterward, I shortly introduce strong sustainability as support for future generations’ wellbeing. Furthermore, I develop the concept of irreplaceable goods as a governance tool in social innovation practices and finalize with a discussion on the application of irreplaceable goods in the assessment of sustainable development strategies.

From Sustainable Development Goals to Sustainable Cities: A Social Media Analysis for Policy-Making Decision

The United Nations (UN) adopted the seventeen “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) in early September 2015. One of these goals is SDG 11, which refers to the sustainable cities and communities. In this context, local governments face the challenge of aligning with this objective. As a result, they are increasing outreach to their organizational boundaries to involve citizens in policy making and strategy development, continually listening to citizens’ voices. One of the methods citizens use to express themselves is social media. This paper will emphasize social media platforms and specially Twitter to explore the public discourse about cities in the context of SDG 11. We applied descriptive quantitative and qualitative analysis to analyze the tweets that include terms and hashtags referring to the SDG 11. The data analysis process is composed of three major procedures: 1-Engagement analysis, 2-Trends based analysis and 3-Data Insights. Our results show that: 1-the COVID’19 pandemic negatively impacted users engagement towards SDG 11, 2-new technologies such AI and IoT are gaining more importance to help cities reach SDG 11, and 3-the SDGs are related and one SDG can impact other SDGs.

Development of Methodology and Assessment of Ecological Safety of the EAEU and CIS Regions in the Context of Sustainable Development

The trends of sustainable development and green agenda transform the production processes, leading industries, and regional markets, and reveal objective contradictions in ensuring the ecological safety of certain territories. This study aims to develop a methodology and assess ecological safety at aggregated system levels, taking into account natural and socioeconomic factors as well as the factor of human capital development with specification of the place of ecological safety in the concept of sustainable development. The objects of empirical research are the EAEU and CIS countries for the period 2010–2019, as well as 85 Russian regions. The scientific research toolkit is based on the methods of structural-logical, economical-statistical, and comparative analyses, and expert judgments. The concepts of sustainable development and human capital and the theory of the national school of ecological safety are analyzed using the systematic approach. The mixed methodological approach showed the interconnection of four approaches of assessing ecological safety (technogenic, environmental, institutional, resource-based). The authors developed a method for assessing ecological safety taking into account the contribution of human capital. The assessment results are typologized and grouped according to the dynamic trend. For the majority of the considered countries, changes in the level of ecological safety correlate with changes in socioeconomic indicators. The same trend is observed when considering the Russian regional formations. The contribution of human capital was recorded to a lesser extent. For several regions, the increased number of objects polluting the environment is accompanied by a decreased volume of polluting emissions into the atmosphere.

Assessing the Contributions of Urban Light Rail Transit to the Sustainable Development of Addis Ababa

Many of the existing urban transport infrastructures in developing African cities are challenged by the mobility demands of their ever-increasing population and increased vehicle capacity. To address these transportation challenges, the Federal government of Ethiopia through the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) constructed and operates the Addis Ababa light rail transit (AA-LRT). Currently, many other African cities are following in action. This study aims to assess the contributions to sustainable development derived from the services of urban light rail in Addis Ababa. Cross-sectional quantitative research by means of a structured questionnaire survey considering key variables of social, economic, and environmental transport sustainability dimensions was conducted in Addis Ababa. Dimension-wise, the collected data was then analysed in order to measure the contributions made by AA-LRT and to identify the relations amongst each considered variable and each sustainability dimension. The findings of the study indicate a high level of perceived contributions of the economic sustainability dimension as compared to social and environmental sustainability. The study suggests an improved consideration of the environmental and social dimension for a holistic approach to transport sustainability of the city.

Criteria-Based Approach to Select Relevant Environmental SDG Indicators for the Automobile Industry

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be met without the private sector. In order to contribute to the fulfillment of the SDGs, companies have to identify their influence and select relevant SDGs. However, so far no research has been conducted on the influence of companies or industries at the most concrete level in the SDG framework—the 247 SDG indicators. In this paper, a criteria-based approach to select relevant environmental SDG indicators for the automobile industry is developed. The three criteria—environmental impact, direct impact, and automobile impact—are defined. By means of a qualitative analysis, 31 influenceable indicators are selected and substantiated by an empirical analysis of the automobile industry’s impact. These indicators belong to 12 SDGs and demonstrate the broad influence of the automobile industry. The outcome of this study is a structured procedure for selecting relevant environmental SDG indicators. This procedure can be applied by companies and can also be adapted to other economic sectors. Finally, it is possible to quantify the level of influence of the selected indicators and thus measure the contributions of companies or economic sectors to the fulfillment of the SDGs.

Challenges and Solutions for Non-Timber Forest Product Businesses in Finland–An Application of the SODA Analysis

This study aims to present a holistic image of the strategic development needs and potential solutions within the Finnish non-timber forest product (NTFP) business sector and demonstrate a new hybrid methodology for collaborative strategy formulation. The perceived challenges and solutions were collected with the 635 group-working method in a nationwide series of NTFP actor workshops. The analysis applied the Strategic Option Development and Analysis (SODA) approach and the formal network analysis. Business actors emphasised two complex and interrelated aims of development at the core of the business activity: (1) to improve the profitability of the NTFP business and (2) to facilitate the growth of the sector. The present bottleneck is perceived in the raw material acquisition and productising, and many wider development themes, such as business logic and sustainability, received little attention.

Co-creating Science Commercialization Opportunities for Blue Biotechnologies: The FucoSan Project

We report the experience of the FucoSan InterReg project that had the ambition to generate commercialization opportunities for biotechnology research in a marine environment. Fucoidan, a promising biomarine polysaccharide extracted from seaweed, offers a broad array of potential applications; however, the supporting innovation value chain is still under development. We explore how the use of business modelling tools can contribute to building a shared understanding of commercialization opportunities across a diverse range of research and development actors. We analyze data (interviews, workshops, and surveys) from a German-Danish network of actors involved in the FucoSan InterReg project to identify how the tools contribute to setting up a base to support future activities across a potential innovation value chain. The results point towards the direct and indirect positive effects of engaging in the co-creation of a shared understanding of the functionality and possibilities of promising biomarine products. The findings support the idea that interdisciplinary and multilateral interactions help actors to identify the necessary connections and interdependencies to build a sustainability-driven innovation value chain.

Quantitative Evaluation and Prediction Analysis of the Healthy and Sustainable Development of China’s Sports Industry

In this paper, to explore the current situation and future trend of the healthy development of China’s sports industry, the health evaluation index system of the sports industry was established by deconstructing the health dimension of the sports industry. The health evaluation model of the sports industry was constructed by using the entropy method and the multi-objective linear weighting method. The model was used to empirically analyze the characteristics and laws of the health of China’s sports industry from 2008 to 2017 and predict the health status of China’s sports industry in the next 10 years with the combination with the GM (1.1) model. The results show that the potential health degree of China’s sports industry exhibits a fluctuating growth trend, the actual health degree of the sports industry, and the health degree of the supporting environment in the sports industry show a steady growth trend on the whole. In the next 10 years, the health degree of China’s sports industry will maintain a healthy state in which the actual health degree and potential health degree of the sports industry will enter a healthy state in 2021 and 2024, respectively. In contrast, the health degree of the supporting environment in the sports industry is always in a very unhealthy state.

Teaching Down to Earth—Service-Learning Methodology for Science Education and Sustainability at the University Level: A Practical Approach

The Bologna Process and the European Higher Education area require the application of new active methodologies in the classroom that place the student at the center of his or her learning process. In the present work, we analyze the application of a Service-Learning (SL) methodology in the context of a Final Degree Dissertation (FDD) in the degree in Environmental Sciences at the University of Extremadura (Spain). The project deals with an isolated Kichwa community in Ecuador and involves the development of alternative science education materials for the capacitation of in-service science teachers. This paper evaluates how an FDD carried out according to Service-Learning (SL) principles can help in the acquisition of so-called “soft skills” and how these can be focused in the promotion of the sustainable development goal (SDG) knowledge and achievement. To this end, a qualitative study of the experience and a deep evaluation, followed by a final reflection, were carried out. According to the preliminary results, we can conclude that Higher Education should include SDGs in its teaching praxis and could do this successfully using the SL methodology.