scholarly journals Stakeholder participation in sustainability assessment of non-wicked problems: The case of a future seaweed industry in Sweden

AMBIO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Potting ◽  
Jean-Baptiste E. Thomas ◽  
Fredrik Gröndahl
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Wicked Problems ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Substantial Role ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
Stakeholder Interaction ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
Seaweed Industry

AbstractAcceptance by, and cooperation with relevant stakeholders in developing new sustainability initiatives when they are generally perceived as positive, is one of the keys for successful implementation of such new sustainability initiatives later on. It is remarkable, however, that ample literature exists about involving stakeholders in research projects focusing on problems with diverging views (controversy) around facts and values (wicked problems), but there is very little literature addressing whether and how to involve relevant stakeholders in case of initiatives where diverging norms and values do not play a (substantial) role, like in sustainability assessment for a future seaweed industry. This perspectives paper addresses that gap, and explores how to design such sustainability assessment, illustrated by how stakeholder interaction influenced the assessment and its results for a future seaweed industry in Sweden, followed by a discussion whether and how a similar approach may benefit sustainability assessment of other non-wicked sustainability initiatives.

scholarly journals Blockchain for Electric Vehicles Energy Trading: Requirements, Opportunities, and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasser Al-Saif ◽  
Raja Wasim Ahmad ◽  
Khaled Salah ◽  
Ibrar Yaqoob ◽  
Raja Jayaraman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fault Tolerance ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Data Provenance ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Energy Trading ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Trusted Data

Today's technologies, techniques, and systems leveraged for managing energy trading operations in electric vehicles fall short in providing operational transparency, immutability, fault tolerance, traceability, and trusted data provenance features. They are centralized and vulnerable to the single point of failure problem, and less trustworthy as they are prone to the data modifications and deletion by adversaries. In this paper, we present the potential advantages of blockchain technology to manage energy trading operations between electric vehicles as it can offer data traceability, immutability, transparency, audit, security, and confidentiality in a fully decentralized manner. We identify and discuss the essential requirements for the successful implementation of blockchain technology to secure energy trading operations among electric vehicles. We present a detailed discussion on the potential opportunities offered by blockchain technology to secure the energy trading operations of electric vehicles. We discuss several blockchain-based research projects and case studies to highlight the practicability of blockchain technology in electric vehicles energy trading. Finally, we identify and discuss open challenges in fulfilling the requirements of electric vehicles energy trading applications.

scholarly journals “Doing” Sustainability Assessment in Different Consumption and Production Contexts—Lessons from Case Study Comparison

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7041
Author(s):  
Tobias Engelmann ◽  
Daniel Fischer ◽  
Marianne Lörchner ◽  
Jaya Bowry ◽  
Holger Rohn
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Sustainability Assessments

Sustainability as a guiding idea for societal and economic development causes a growing need for reliable sustainability assessments (SAs). In response, a plethora of increasingly sophisticated, standardizAed, and specialized approaches have emerged. However, little attention has been paid to how applications of SAs in different contexts navigate the challenges of selecting and customizing SA approaches for their research purposes. This paper provides an exploration of the context-specific conditions of SA through a case study of three research projects. Each case study explores the different approaches, methodologies, as well as difficulties and similarities that researchers face in “doing” SA based on the research question “What are common challenges that researchers are facing in using SA approaches?” Our case study comparison follows a most different approach for covering a wide range of SA applications and is structured along with three key challenges of doing SA: (i) Deliberation, learning and assessment; (ii) normative assessment principles; (iii) feasibility, especially regarding data quality/availability. Above all, the comparative case study underlines the role and importance of reflexivity and context: We argue that a more explicit and transparent discussion of these challenges could contribute to greater awareness, and thus, to improving the ability of researchers to transparently modify and customize generic SA methodologies to their research contexts. Our findings can help researchers to more critically appraise the differences between SA approaches, as well as their normative assumptions, and guide them to assemble their SA methodology in a reflexive and case-sensitive way.

Students’ perceptions of HEI regarding environmental sustainability – a comparative analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabete Correia ◽  
Fátima Conde ◽  
Rosa Nunes ◽  
Clara Viseu
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Major Stakeholder ◽  
Spearman Correlation Test ◽  
Sustainability Practices ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
Portuguese Higher Education

Purpose This paper aims to compare the environmental sustainability practices at the campus operations between two Portuguese higher education institutions (HEIs) at different stages of the implementation of an Eco-School Programme. It also seeks to analyse the involvement of the students in the process of implementing these practices in their institutions. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was carried out in two HEIs (a green and a non-green institution). Data were collected from a total of 832 students. Techniques of descriptive statistics and inferential statistical techniques such as the Mann-Whitney test, χ2 and Spearman correlation test, were applied. Findings The results obtained show that, from the students’ perspective, and in both institutions, there is still much to be done on the path towards sustainability, particularly in transport and landscaping. Significant differences were found only between some environmental sustainability practices at the campus level. However, students from the green institution are more participative in sustainability activities. Practical implications This study provides a picture of two HEIs’ sustainability behaviour from the students’ standpoint, which can be important for decision-makers in HEIs, in as much that students are one of the HEIs’ major stakeholder groups; furthermore, it enables them to better guide their efforts towards sustainability. Originality/value This paper focusses on the students’ perspective and their role in the sustainability initiatives undertaken by HEIs. It can be useful for future research that attempts to analyse the importance of HEIs’ stakeholder participation in sustainability.

scholarly journals Avenues for improving farming sustainability assessment with upgraded tools, sustainability framing and indicators. A review

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Chopin ◽  
Chipo P. Mubaya ◽  
Katrien Descheemaeker ◽  
Ingrid Öborn ◽  
Göran Bergkvist
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equity ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Socioeconomic Impacts ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Farm Sustainability ◽  
System Sustainability ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe sustainability of agriculture is questioned due to major negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts. To improve the state of agriculture, various management changes have been proposed. Different tools, with varying characteristics, sustainability framing and indicators, have been used to evaluate the impact of these changes on sustainability. Here, we review 119 tools for farm sustainability assessment and compare their use, sustainability dimensions, themes and types of indicators used for biodiversity conservation, farm viability and gender equity. Our main findings are that (1) tools could be classified into five groups that differ in stakeholder participation and model used for calculating sustainability, (2) seven different sustainability framings are used and (3) only two out of 29 indicators screened address impacts of farming system while the others address drivers, pressures or states of the system. The tools were grouped in “Long-term monitoring of farm activities” (11%), “Ex-ante assessment of sustainability with bioeconomic models” (9%), “Survey- and indicator-based assessment of tools” (41%), “Consultation-based assessment” (25%) and “Active engagement of stakeholder-based assessment” (14%). The “classical view of sustainability”, with the economic, social and environmental pillars, was used in 61% of the papers. Based on these findings, we suggest (1) development of temporal dynamic assessment of farm sustainability with active involvement of stakeholders in the framing of sustainability and design of indicators to achieve reliable and relevant assessment outcomes. We recommend (2) adoption of more complex sustainability framings dealing with emerging system properties, namely resilience, viability and stability. In these, (3) governance/institutional dimensions should be emphasised, and social themes targeting farmers’ characteristics should be included. Finally, (4) use of impact indicators in farm sustainability assessments is critical, and they should be designed to contribute to scientifically rigorous and relevant assessments of farming system sustainability.

scholarly journals Agricultural Sustainability: A Review of Concepts and Methods

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 5120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Lampridi ◽  
Claus Sørensen ◽  
Dionysis Bochtis
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Agricultural Sustainability ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Review Criteria ◽  
Level Analysis

This paper presents a methodological framework for the systematic literature review of agricultural sustainability studies. The framework synthesizes all the available literature review criteria and introduces a two-level analysis facilitating systematization, data mining, and methodology analysis. The framework was implemented for the systematic literature review of 38 crop agricultural sustainability assessment studies at farm-level for the last decade. The investigation of the methodologies used is of particular importance since there are no standards or norms for the sustainability assessment of farming practices. The chronological analysis revealed that the scientific community’s interest in agricultural sustainability is increasing in the last three years. The most used methods include indicator-based tools, frameworks, and indexes, followed by multicriteria methods. In the reviewed studies, stakeholder participation is proved crucial in the determination of the level of sustainability. It should also be mentioned that combinational use of methodologies is often observed, thus a clear distinction of methodologies is not always possible.

scholarly journals Assessment of Sustainability Governance in Higher Education Institutions—A Systemic Tool Using a Governance Equalizer

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Niedlich ◽  
Mara Bauer ◽  
Margarita Doneliene ◽  
Larissa Jaeger ◽  
Marco Rieckmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Sustainability Governance ◽  
Governance In Higher Education

The paper aims to add to the discussion on sustainability governance in higher education institutions by examining the role of sustainability assessment and introducing an assessment tool inspired by systemic thinking and centered on a ‘governance equalizer’. It discusses recent research and argues that the complexity inherent in sustainability governance remains to be addressed adequately. While a number of models and frameworks have been proposed, most of them remain caught between narrow, management-oriented approaches on the one hand, and rather abstract approaches that provide little guidance for improving the field on the other. Sustainability assessment tools represent a potential way to bridge this gap. While there are existing tools which include issues of sustainability governance, these are often limited to aspects that are easily quantifiable and neglect more complex aspects. Against this background, the article proposes an alternative tool to assess sustainability governance in higher education institutions. The tool is based on a multi-case study in Germany and has been tested in a series of workshops. Drawing on the concept of a ‘governance equalizer’, it focuses on the functional requirements of sustainability governance in five dimensions—politics, profession, organization, knowledge, and the public—and how they are addressed by the HEI. The tool raises the level of abstraction in order to capture complexity, but at the same time keeps sight of governance structures, processes, instruments, and practices. It combines clearly defined criteria that are assessed using carefully developed maturity scales with a focus on stakeholder participation and knowledge.

scholarly journals From science to practice in implementing the European Union’s Water Framework Directive

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 81-84
Author(s):  
Lisbeth Flindt Jørgensen ◽  
Jens Christian Refsgaard ◽  
Anker Lajer Højberg
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
Directorate General ◽  
Energy Environment

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union aims to achieve a ‘good’ status for all inland and coastal waters by the year 2015 (EC 2000). The directive defines how this should be achieved through the establishment of environmental objectives and ecological targets. Successful implementation of the WFD requires integration into already existing national legislation and a sound combination of issues on technical feasibility, scientific knowledge and socio-economic aspects requiring intensive stakeholder involvement. This calls for appropriate tools such as models to support management of technical and social aspects of different phases of the implementation (Rekolainen et al. 2003; Quevauviller et al. 2005). It is therefore necessary to provide an overview of already existing methods and tools and develop new ones. Research programmes funded by the European Commission (EC) often address issues of current interest for practitioners, such as the Fifth Framework Programme, where a number of research projects to support the practical implementation of the WFD were initiated under the theme ‘Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development’. The funding part (the Directorate-General for Research, DG Research) and the responsible authority for the WFD at European level (Directorate-General of Environ ment) saw the need to cluster these research projects and related activities, and initiated the Harmoni-CA project, a socalled ‘Concerted Action’ (i.e. Harmonised Modelling Tools for Integrated River Basin Management). The objectives of this paper are (a) to briefly describe the overall purpose of the Harmoni-CA project and some of its overarching outputs, and (b) to further illustrate how the implementation of the WFD can be enhanced by combining monitoring and modelling disciplines and by bringing practitioners and researchers together.

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