The #weResilient strategy for downscaling local resilience and sustainable development: the Potenza province and municipalities of Potenza and Pignola case

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 793-810
Author(s):  
Alessandro Attolico ◽  
Rosalia Smaldone
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Wide Area ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Resilience

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the progresses made by the Potenza province in implementing #weResilient strategy, a risk-informed sustainable development policy-making action at territorial/local levels based on a structural combination of environmental sustainability, territorial safety and climate change contrasting policies; results obtained in supporting and coordinating the municipalities of the provincial territory for creating local conditions to manage risks and sustainable development with a multiscale and multilevel holistic approach based on a wide-area outlook and so contributing directly to the SFDRR Target E, SDGs 11 and 13 and to other goals and targets; The effectiveness of the accountability system on which the approach is based.Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual basis: A strong governance based on multi-stakeholder and community engagement; The interdisciplinary nature of risk; Enhancing local resilience is an essential pre-condition for achieving all of the SDGs; Downscaling the experience of Potenza Province to the urban context; 10;The design: Description of #weResilient, the multiscale and multilevel approach in Local Resilience and sustainable development adopted by the Province of Potenza: the Vision and institutional commitment; the accountability; the multi-stakeholder engagement; community and people-centered iaction; the achieved results; the critical points. Description and analysis of the performed supportive actions to the municipalities with a subsidiary and wide-area approach.FindingsA significant progress in establishing the basis for a risk-informed decision-making at local level; Further significant progresses in promoting inclusive Resilience across the provincial territory; Progress in Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and disaster risk-informed Sustainable Development at local level, including in support of the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and the New Urban Agenda. Achievements and progresses made in local communities engagement; Achievements in performing actions for including communities and people in relevant institutional decision making processes, building capacities, developing capabilities, raising awareness, increasing political will and public support in local disaster risk reduction and achievement of the SDGs.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is a field-testing of the implementation results of the #weResilient strategy, a risk-informed sustainable development policy-making action at territorial/local levels based on a structural combination of environmental sustainability, territorial safety and climate change contrasting policies; of the coherence of the multiscale and multilevel approach in integrating risk informed and sustainable development pathways; of the improved governance at urban level thanks to the downscaling of the strategy.Practical implicationsTransforming DRR and Resilience to disasters into real “structural” policy-making and actions to be implemented by coordinating territorial and urban development and land-use, with a wide area vision and holistic approach is crucial for the effectiveness of the territorial sustainable development. Moreover, participatory mechanisms can boost althe political will and consequently the related public support. The bottom-up approaches, especially when structured on well defined and clear strategies and supported by concrete actions, are a strategic tool for enhancing the institutional commitment and for enriching the implementation paths also with additional and innovative strategic solution.Social implicationsIn the #weResilient strategy implementation most of the efforts have been devoted to setting-up a complex system of progressive engagement having the main purpose of entrusting and engaging key-actors and community in the institutional policy-making regarding territorial and urban sustainable and resilient development. Engaging community in decision-making processes allows governments to tap into wider perspectives and potential solutions to improve decisions, services and actions. At the same time, it provides the basis for productive relationships, improved dialogue, increased sense of belonging and, ultimately, concrete better democracy.Originality/valueMultiscale and multilevel holistic approaches in downscaling local well defined Resilience and Sustainable Development integrated strategies (#weResilient) provide for the best approach in terms of future growth. Setting a vision, outlining a strategy and implementing actions on those elements with multiscale and holistic approaches is key- success of every local long-term development; various worldwide leading experiences demonstrated by particularly shining governments are a tangible proof of it. So, the value of this work is to illustrate a concrete example of translation of words into actions so to provide guidance and inspiration to other worldwide governments in performing similar path.

scholarly journals Τοπική Διακυβέρνηση και Πολιτική: Το Πεδίο της Εταιρικής Κοινωνικής Ευθύνης

2018 ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Ευάγγελος Ταλιούρης ◽  
Ναπολέων Μαραβέγιας
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Stakeholder Management ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Market Competitiveness ◽  
Employment Generation ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

Corporate Social Responsibility is a policy making fi eld that highlights the signifi cance of business potential role and contribution to Europe’s sustainable development, via the empowerment of responsible entrepreneurship initiatives towards society wellbeing, market competitiveness and environmental sustainability. Moreover, the concept of CSR is traditionally related with business ethics and administration fi elds, as well as corporations’ stakeholder management. Furthermore, the policy evolution of CSR in Europe was mainly developed via its implicit and explicit characteristics at the beginning of the ‘90s. The CSR was accompanied with the perspectives about the state’s role in a global society as well as the overall policy framework of EU in sustainable development, social welfare, competiveness and other international initiatives. The policy making process of CSR became more explicit in EU at the beginning of 21st century, and since then is a signifi cant policy fi eld for European institutions, member states and regions. In Greece, the CSR is considered nowadays as a developing policy fi eld both at national and local level, which seems to infl uence regional development policy and generate stakeholder synergies towards environmental sustainability, employment generation, social capital improvement and responsible entrepreneurship.

scholarly journals Reflections on the L’Aquila trial and the social dimensions of disaster risk

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 434-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Jonas Imperiale ◽  
Frank Vanclay
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Earthquake Swarm ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Court Case ◽  
Civil Protection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on what can be learned about disaster risk reduction (DRR) from the L’Aquila trial of scientists. The court case was initiated because of a controversial meeting on 31 March 2009 of the Major Risks Committee (MRC), held under the auspices of the Italian Department of Civil Protection. The purpose of the meeting was to consider (prior to the fatal earthquake of 6 April 2009) disaster risk in the L’Aquila area, which was being affected by an earthquake swarm since October 2008. Design/methodology/approach The authors undertook a document analysis of trial materials, and a review of academic and media commentary about the trial. Findings The legal process revealed that disaster governance was inadequate and not informed by the DRR paradigm or international guidelines. Risk assessment was carried out only in a techno-scientific manner, with little acknowledgement of the social issues influencing risks at the local community level. There was no inclusion of local knowledge or engagement of local people in transformative DRR strategies. Originality/value Most previous commentary is inadequate in terms of not considering the institutional, scientific and social responsibilities for DRR as exposed by the trial. This paper is unique in that it considers the contents of the MRC meeting as well as all trial documents. It provides a comprehensive reflection on the implications of this case for DRR and the resilience of peoples and places at risk. It highlights that a switch from civil protection to community empowerment is needed to achieve sustainable outcomes at the local level.

Employees as a vector of strategic intent: an examination of corporate, social and environmental strategic intent recognition by employees

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat Auger ◽  
Timothy M. Devinney ◽  
Grahame Dowling
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Environmental Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Intent ◽  
Csr Strategy ◽  
Corporate Social

PurposeOne of the hallmarks of strategizing is having a clearly articulated vision and mission for the organization. It has been suggested that this provides a compass bearing for the organization's strategy, helps in motivation, commitment and retention of employees, serves as a guide to internal sensemaking and decision-making, has a potential performance effect, helps establish the identity of the organization and positions its desired reputation. The compass bearing role is important because it guides the selection of the goals and strategic orientation of the organization which in turn shapes its overall strategy and much of its internal decision making. The inspirational role is important because it helps to motivate and engage employees and other stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachThis study provides a more rigorous indication as to whether employees can, in the first instance, recognize and distinguish their corporate and environmental strategy from that of their competitors within their own industry and random other companies from other industries. This first issue addresses, to a degree, if and why, such strategic communiqués are effective inside a range of different organizations. Secondly, the authors examine whether there are any specific individual level effects that could explain variations in these responses. Finally, the authors examine the extent to which the recognition rates the authors observe, relate to how employees are rewarded through appraisals, promotions and salary increases. This helps in the authors’ understanding of the role of hard incentives versus soft motivations. The authors’ approach to assessing employee knowledge of their organization's strategy is unique. Rather than survey employees about their knowledge, the authors use a matching study and a discrete choice measurement model to assess if they can recognize their organization's strategy from those of their competitors and some other randomly selected organizations. This approach allows us to mitigate social desirability and common method biases and directly estimate the underlying behavioral model being used to assess their organization's strategy.FindingsOverall, the authors found that few employees could correctly identify their corporate strategy statements. In the case of corporate strategy statements, the authors find that, on average, only 29 percent of employees could correctly match their company to its publicly espoused corporate strategy. When the authors look at the environmental sustainability strategy of the firm, this is worse overall, with individuals doing no better than random on average. When the authors look at company training and communication practices across the realm of different strategies, the authors see a number of factors leading to the general results. First, most of the authors’ respondents could not recall a significant effort being given to communication and training by their employer. Indeed, most communication/training is simply related to having documentation/brochures available. Second, respondents indicated that more effort is put into communicating corporate strategy to employees in a more systematic manner than communication about environmental/corporate social responsible (CSR) strategy. Third, the authors see that individuals are evaluated more on and give more weight to, evaluations relating to their ability to meet individual/group financial and market performance metrics (targets) and work as a team than their involvement in environmental and social responsibility programs. Finally, the employees studied seemed to be more confident in understanding the corporate strategy. When asked to put their corporate strategy into words – a task the authors asked respondents to do after the matching phase of the study – 40% of participants did so for the corporate strategy but only 14% did so for the environmental strategy and seven percent for the CSR strategy.Practical implicationsThe primary implication of the study is that the values-mission-strategy logic of strategic motivation seems to have limited validity and with respect to the view that employees are a vector of corporate strategy. It is hard to argue that employees can be a vector for something they cannot recall or even distinguish between.Originality/valueThe study is unique in terms of (1) asking the very simple question of whether employees internalize their company's strategies and (2) in the methodological approach to examine employee knowledge and informativeness.

The sustainability of urban renewal projects: a model for economic multi-criteria analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Nesticò ◽  
Francesco Sica
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Urban Renewal ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Compromise Solutions ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Investment Programme

Purpose The decisions taken today relating to urban renewal interventions are rarely supported by logical and operational methodologies capable of effectively rationalising selection processes. For this purpose, it is necessary to propose and implement analysis models with the aim of promoting the sustainable development of the territory. The purpose of this paper is to define a model for the optimal allocation of scarce resources. Design/methodology/approach The Discrete Linear Programming (DLP) is used for selecting investments aimed at achieving financial, social, cultural and environmental sustainability. Findings The proposed model lends itself to the construction of investment plans on behalf of both types of decision makers, of both a public and a private nature. Research limitations/implications All projects are evaluated according to multi-criteria logics, so that it is possible to find compromise solutions, in accordance with the stakeholders’ different preferences. Practical implications The model, written with A Mathematical Programming Language using DLP logics, is tested – case study – so as to define an investment programme finalised for urban renewal of a vast area. Social implications The proposed econometric model makes it possible to obtain the optimal combination of projects for urban renewal with a view to achieving the sustainable development of the territory. Originality/value Using the proposed model, all projects are evaluated according to multi-criteria logics, so that it is possible to find compromise solutions, in accordance with the stakeholders’ different preferences.

Self-counciousness competence as driver of innovation and environmental commitment in higher education students

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1507-1523
Author(s):  
Marian Buil Fabregá ◽  
Núria Masferrer ◽  
Josep Patau ◽  
Albert-P. Miró Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Commitment ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills ◽  
Management Students

Purpose The purpose of this research is to analyse the relationship between entrepreneurial skills and innovation commitment and entrepreneurial skills and environmental commitment as drivers of awareness on sustainable development of higher education students. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 1,318 business and management students out of the 3,535 students of Tecnocampus Pompeu Fabra University in Spain during the 2017-2018 academic year was selected to conduct a survey regarding their entrepreneurial skills and sustainability commitment, resulting in a total number of responses of 515. A structural equation model is proposed to contrast the hypothesis. Findings The statistical analysis showed the existence of a positive relation between the entrepreneurial skill of self-consciousness, innovation and environmental commitment to foster sustainability and sustainable development. It is one of the few studies related to the self-conciousness competence of the entrepreneurial skills which found, as a novelty, that the entrepreneurial skill of self-consciousness is the skill with the greater impact on innovation and environmental commitment. Research limitations/implications The limitations of the study are that it is based on a sample of students taking entrepreneurship courses at a specific Spanish University that is not representative of all entrepreneurs in all universities. Practical implications The research proposes including entrepreneurial skills programmes in higher education and research programmes as a way to assure commitment to innovation and environmental sustainability. Originality/value Promoting entrepreneurial skills among higher education students could act as drivers for sustainable development.

scholarly journals Mapping built environment professionals’ educational needs to international policy frameworks for disaster risk reduction – community stakeholder perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 368-384
Author(s):  
Srinath Perera ◽  
Onaopepo Adeniyi ◽  
Solomon Olusola Babatunde ◽  
Kanchana Ginige
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Core ◽  
Policy Frameworks

Purpose Disaster risk reduction is prominent in the international policy agenda, and the year 2015 brought together three international policy frameworks that contribute to disaster risk reduction (i.e. the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Climate Change Agreement – COP21). However, there is a dearth of effort at identifying and aligning the specific educational needs of built environment professionals with the three policy frameworks. This is needed to facilitate the incorporation of the contents of the policy frameworks into built environment professionals’ training. Therefore, this study aims to map the educational needs of built environment professionals with the core areas of the three international policy frameworks. Design/methodology/approach This study utilized CADRE (Collaborative Action towards Disaster Resilience Education) research project outcomes alongside the earlier mentioned three international policy frameworks. A comprehensive desk review was done to map the educational needs identified in the CADRE project with the core priority areas of the three policy frameworks. Findings The study revealed the educational needs that are significant towards an effective implementation of the core priority areas of the three international policy frameworks. Practical implications This study would be beneficial to the built environment professionals involved in disaster risk reduction. They will be aware of the specific knowledge areas that would aid the successful implementation of the aforementioned three international policy frameworks. Originality/value The outcomes of the study would be beneficial to higher education providers in disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. It has identified the knowledge and competency gaps needed to be bridged in the curricula to meet the demands created by the international policy frameworks.

Environmental implication of coal and oil energy utilization in Turkey: is the EKC hypothesis related to energy?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Adewale Alola ◽  
Ulrich Tiamgne Donve
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Energy Utilization ◽  
Kuznets Curve ◽  
Ekc Hypothesis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Energy Mix ◽  
The Government

PurposeIn spite of the drive toward environmental sustainability and the attainment of sustainable development goals (SDGs), coal, oil and natural gas energy utilization has remained the Turkey's largest energy mix. In view of this concern, this study examined the role of coal and oil energy utilization in environmental sustainability drive of Turkey from the framework of sustainable development vis-à-vis income expansion over an extended period of 1965–2017.Design/methodology/approachIn this regard, the authors employ carbon emission as an environmental and dependent variable while the Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDPC), coal and oil energy consumption are the explanatory variables employed in the study.FindingsThe study found that both energy mixes (coal and oil) have a detrimental impact on the environment in both the short and long run, but oil consumption exerts a less severe impact as compared to coal energy. In addition, sustainable development via income growth is not feasible because the income–environmental degradation relationship follows a U-shaped pattern (invalidating the Environmental Kuznets curve, EKC hypothesis) especially when coal and oil remained the major source of lubrication to the economy. At least the EKC hypothesis is unattainable in Turkey as long as the country's major energy mix or primary energy (coal and oil) is in use, thus the application of other socioeconomic, macroeconomic policies might be essential.Research limitations/implicationsConsidering the lingering energy challenge associated with Turkey, this novel insight further presented useful policy perspectives to the government and stakeholders in the country's energy sector.Originality/valueThis evidence (the U-shaped relationship) is further ascertained when the aggregate primary energy is employed. Thus, this study provides a novel insight that attaining a sustainable economic growth in Turkey remained a herculean task as long as a more aggressive energy transition approach is not encouraged.

Rapid, centralised decision-making in a higher education emergency

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigid Freeman ◽  
Peodair Leihy ◽  
Ian Teo ◽  
Dong Kwang Kim
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Institutional Policy ◽  
Policy Governance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
On Line ◽  
Policy Problems ◽  
Policy Shifts

Purpose This study aims to explain the primacy that rapid, centralised decision-making gained in higher education institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on Australian universities. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on discussions regarding policy problems of an international, purpose-convened on-line policy network involving over 100 registrations from multiple countries. It analyses emerging institutional policy governance texts and documents shared between network participants, applies policy science literature regarding traditional institutional policy-making routines and rapid decision-making, and references media reportage from 2020. The paper traces how higher education institutions rapidly adjusted to pandemic conditions and largely on-line operations. Findings The study finds that higher education institutions responded to the COVID-19 crisis by operationalising emergency management plans and introducing rapid, centralised decision-making to transition to remote modes of operation, learning and research under state-imposed emergency conditions. It highlights the need to ensure robust governance models recognising the ascendance of emergency decision-making and small-p policies in such circumstances, notwithstanding longstanding traditions of extended collegial policy-making routines for big-P (institutional) Policy. The pandemic highlighted practice and policy problems subject to rapid reform and forced institutions to clarify the relationship between emergency planning and decision-making, quality and institutional policy. Practical implications In covering a range of institutional responses, the study advances the possibility of institutions planning better for unexpected, punctuated policy shifts during an emergency through the incorporation of rapid decision-making in traditionally collegial environments. At the same time, the paper cautions against the normalisation of such processes. The study also highlights key practices and policies that require urgent reconsideration in an emergency. The study is designed as a self-contained and freestanding narrative to inform responses to future emergencies by roundly addressing the particularities of the 2020 phase of the COVID-19 pandemic as it affected higher education. Originality/value There is only limited research on policy-making in higher education institutions. This research offers an original contribution on institutional policy-making during a prolonged emergency that deeply changed higher education institution’s governance, operations and outlook. Particularly significant is the synthesis of experiences from a wide range of sector personnel, documenting punctuated policy shifts in policy governance (meta-policy), institutional policy-making routines and quality assurance actions under great pressure. This paper is substantially developed from a paper given at the Association for Tertiary Education Management Institutional Policy Seminar, 26th October 2020.

Environmental Policies for Emergency Management and Public Safety

2019 ◽  
pp. 903-922
Author(s):  
Amidu Owolabi Ayeni
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Emergency Management ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Green Policy ◽  
Or Organization

Policy refers to the commitment of people or organization to the laws, regulations, and other green mechanisms concerning environmental issues. Community participation has become important in government, policy makers, and environmentalists over last few decades, and as a result, it is now an established principle as it is widely used not only in academic literature but in policy-making documents, international discussions, as well as in local debates when considering issues dealing with decision-making to achieve sustainable development. Implementation of green policy and community participation programs through representatives—organization, groups of individuals—enhances the benefits of polices and program and adds value to policy as well as making the policy's results and responses more effective and stronger.

scholarly journals Dissemination of Environmental Information and its Effects on Stakeholders’ Decision-Making: A Comparative Study between Swedish and Polish Municipalities

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-47
Author(s):  
Anna Cregård ◽  
Iwona Sobis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Development Economic ◽  
Agenda 21 ◽  
Positive Effects

Abstract According to Action Agenda 21, which was adopted at the Rio Conference in 1992, sustainable development is a major objective for local and global development. Economic growth, good living conditions, and protection of the earth’s natural environment are important to all people in the world. This article focuses on one aspect of sustainable development, i.e. on environmental sustainability. Research shows that local government can take a leading position in protecting the natural environment and disseminating information on it among stakeholders. However, our knowledge about the dissemination of environmental information practices among stakeholders is limited. The purpose of this research is to fill a gap in current knowledge, to describe and compare the practical work with dissemination of such information among stakeholders in Swedish and Polish municipalities. The questions to be answered are: What environmental information is collected and produced by the local government ? At what stakeholders is such information targeted ? and What effects does it have on decision-making by stakeholders in the investigated municipalities ? The study is based on state regulations, the homepages of municipal offices, and policy documents, official reports, and semi-structured interviews with key managers responsible for the protection of the natural environment in the studied municipalities. Data were collected from late 2015 to early 2017. This research indicates that dissemination of environmental information has a positive effect on the decision-making of internal stakeholders. In both countries, the municipal authorities follow the EU recommendations, resulting in innovative work and growing environmental awareness among the municipal authorities, the residents, and other stakeholders. Improvement of the natural environment is perceived as “a must” for the future. Nonetheless, especially larger municipalities face challenges because the production and dissemination of environmental information is time-consuming. In the long run, however, surprisingly positive effects on the local protection of the natural environment appear.

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