Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of Public Policies on the Sustainable Development Goals through Budget Allocation and Indicators

The Incorporation of the 2030 Agenda in the Design of Local Policies for Social Transformation in Disadvantaged Urban Areas

According to the United Nations, the current COVID-19 crisis is threatening decades of development gains. This situation is aggravated in disadvantaged urban areas where 25% of the world’s population lives. Such concentration has aggravated the multidimensional problem that requires an integrated policy approach. Internationally, this approach has materialized in the formulation of global policies such as the 2030 Agenda. However, many doubts remain about the extent to which global policy such as the 2030 Agenda is able to inspire the formulation of local policies from the multidimensional perspective proposed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To answer this question, in this contribution we rely on a comparative case study of two public policies aimed at promoting the social inclusion of the most vulnerable groups in the urban context: the “Andalusian Regional Strategy for Social Cohesion and Inclusion. Intervention in disadvantaged areas” (ERACIS) and the “Barcelona Strategy for Inclusion and Reduction of Social Inequalities 2017–2027”. The results show how the government sphere, the logic of intervention, and other aspects of policy design influence the incorporation of the principles of the 2030 Agenda in local policies, highlighting both risks and potentials of such policy transfer, crucial to the effective achievement of the SDGs.

How Intellectual Capital Predicts Innovation Output in EU Regions: Implications for Sustainable Development

Intellectual capital is an overarching concept that includes the intangible, human-related factors that are relevant to the innovation process, such as human capital and social capital. In the present study, intellectual capital was assessed by indicators measuring different aspects of human and social capital. Factor analysis demonstrated the existence of three underlying factors, with all variables of the model having important contributions to them. A linear regression analysis indicated that 8 out of the 12 variables of intellectual capital used have a statistically significant impact on the measure of innovation output. These findings were discussed and their implications for policy were considered. The paper provides research evidence on the importance of intellectual capital for innovation output and discusses potential ways to achieve smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the context of the next generation of sustainable smart specialisation strategies.

Assessment of the Results and Methodology of the Sustainable Development Index for Spanish Cities

In 2017, the United Nations adopted a global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator framework, calling on member countries to collect complementary national and regional indicators. Cities are crucial to channelling efforts towards sustainability through the use of these indicators. They provide an integrated approach to the city situation monitoring sustainability. However, more research is needed to understand how to adapt the goals, targets and indicators to specific municipal contexts. In 2020, the Spanish Sustainable Development Solutions Network launched the 2nd edition of the Spanish Cities Index. A set of 106 indicators allows for monitoring the implementation of the SDGs at the local level for Spanish cities. The objective is to perform a statistical audit to evaluate the consistency of the indicators and the impact of modelling assumptions on the result. The methodology used is an adaptation of the Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicator prepared by the European Commission. The indicator system is well balanced and covers the essential areas of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Spanish ranking is robust enough among the alternatives evaluated. However, some improvements are possible in the selection of indicators, e.g., removing redundant indicators and regional data. Finally, it is recommended to weigh goals based on municipal responsibility to adjust the results to the Spanish municipal context.

Sustainable Risk Assessment of Resource Industry at Provincial Level in China

The development of China’s resource industry is facing great pressures from industrial structure adjustment and environmental restraints, and the sustainable risk of the provincial resource industry is different. Considering the development of the resource industry and environmental pressure, this article selects the panel data of 31 provinces from 2015 to 2019 to construct an index evaluation system with six dimensions: influence, induction, supply and demand safety, regional pollution emission, environment quality, and pollution control. The results showed that Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shanghai had the highest sustainable risk in the resource industry, while Heilongjiang, Jilin, Tianjin, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Qinghai had the lowest sustainable risk. The resource industry model of all the provinces is divided into sustainable, industrial, ecological, and unsustainable. Finally, this article puts forward reasonable suggestions for the four scenarios and argues that the balanced development of the resource industry sector and environmental protection is conducive to reducing the sustainable risks of the resource industry.