Rethinking growth: Towards the well-being economy

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 496-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Lang ◽  
Terry Marsden

This article considers the impact of growth on economic, social, environmental and cultural sustainability. Although it refutes an extractive model of growth, it suggests that a form of socially and ecologically positive and sustainable growth might have beneficial impacts in certain circumstances and locations. It argues that currently applied models of growth are both inefficient and unsustainable, as they are extractive of finite natural and human resources, and lead to inequalities that produce unaffordable costs. It therefore calls for a more intelligent, efficient, sustainable and place-based approach. Undertaking a general review of Wales, where recent well-being legislation places a sustainable development obligation on all devolved public bodies, it outlines the results of three ‘Deep Place’ case studies that offer an alternative approach to growth within the sustainable place-making context.

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract The relationships that exist between the fundamental drivers of our physical, social and economic environments and the immediate or eventual impacts these environments or “places” have on population health and inequalities are well documented. Successfully empowering communities to positively influence and help shape the decisions that impact on current and future living environments is a fundamental driver of health and well-being. The Place Standard Tool is a flexible product that translates complex public health and place making theory into a simple tool that supports communities, organisations and businesses to work together and identify both the assets of a place and areas deemed priority for improvement albeit within places that are well-established, undergoing change, or still being planned. The tool consists of 14 easy to understand questions or dimensions which cover both the physical and social elements of a place. On completion the tool is designed to provide both a quantitative (a score of 1-7 for each theme) and qualitative response through free text. The quantitative scores are displayed on a compass diagram and allow at a glance an immediate understanding of what dimensions of place work well (a score of 7 is the highest) and what areas require improving (a score of 1 is the lowest). Critical to establishing this full picture is ensuring that all ages and populations successfully contribute to the process. International developments continue to proceed at pace. The European Network for WHO Healthy Cities takes interest in spreading the tool to its members, and adaptations of the tool are already available in 14 European countries. These countries include the Netherlands, Denmark, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Greece, Germany and Spain. This workshop aims to bring together current international experience and developments with the tool, and to reflect on transferability, replicability, possible health impacts and equity aspects in terms of participation and data analysis. Another aim is promote availability of the tool more widely and to allow increased awareness and application to assist with the creation of healthy places. The objectives of the workshop are: To outline the connection between place, health and health inequalitiesTo introduce and explain how, where and when to use the Place Standard Tool to support the design of healthy and equitable placesTo enable participants through a variety of case studies explore whether the Place Standard is a suitable tool to use in their particular context which might be at a national, city and or neighbourhood delivery level. This will be achieved through an introduction to the tool and case studies from the Netherlands, Spain and Germany. Time will be provided at the end for discussion. Key messages Knowledge and awareness of a free and practical product to engage with partners, communities and politicians in taking forward an evidence based, and inclusive approach to healthy place design. An opportunity to contribute to and learn from a growing community of experience and expertise in healthy place making.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olesea Sirbu ◽  
Rodica Crudu ◽  
Augustin Ignatov

Abstract In the present conditions when the demographic pressure upon the environment is higher than ever, the humanity faces the challenge of sustainability. Namely the sustainability of human activities is important and nothing can assure it better than sustainable energy supplies. The European Union is the leading global power in terms of adjusting its policies to increase innovation to assure a sustainable growth of its energy sector as a key to an advanced economic system. The present research focuses on the impact of European Union policies on the sustainable development of its energy sector by analyzing quantitatively and qualitatively various indicators intended to offer a throughout insight. The results obtained focus on the identification of the main innovation paradigms; the description of the main modern environmental challenges, especially in the energy domain; the determination of the relation between innovation and energy sustainability, and its analysis at the level of European Union.


Author(s):  
Ifeoluwa Garba ◽  
Richard Bellingham

Access to energy is crucial in tackling many of the current global development challenges that impact on people’s economic, health and social well-being as well as the ability to meet the commitments of reducing carbon emissions through clean energy use. Despite increased attention from multiple governments and agencies, energy poverty remains a serious sustainable development issue in many developing countries. To date, most research have focused on general access to electricity and the generation of clean energy to replace fossil fuels, failing to address the lack of basic access to clean energy for cooking and heating. More people in the world lack access to clean cooking fuels than to electricity. This issue is one aspect of a broader research which investigates the impacts of optimized energy policy and energy business models on sustainable development in developing countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9941
Author(s):  
Najah Al-Garawi ◽  
Ismail Anil

Background: This work investigated attitudes and public perception regarding the impact of allowing women to drive on social, environmental, and economic aspects of the sustainable development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The study includes the perspectives of both women and men towards the potential implications of this decree on society in general and women’s well-being in particular. Methods: The methodology consisted of an online survey that was conducted before and after the decree was activated in 2017, where 62,065 individuals participated from thirteen provinces of the KSA. Geographic information systems (GISs) and statistical methods were applied to the obtained datasets to examine the geographical distribution and modeling of the effect of women driving on sustainable development of the KSA. Results: The results show that the attitudes towards allowing women to drive are geographically and statistically diverse. The study revealed that the economic impact of women driving was the highest significance, especially in increasing employment opportunities for women and decreasing household travel expenses for women. Conclusion: Overall, 70.4% of respondents agreed that women driving will positively affect the sustainable development of the KSA in terms of social and economic impact. The study also revealed that geographic location is one of the dominating factors on the attitudes towards the social impact of women driving within 95% confidence interval. Additionally, participants strongly believe (with an agreement rate of 85.1%) that Saudi women driving will improve economic development and the female job market.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Eichler ◽  
Erich Schwarz

Interest in social innovations (SIs) from both the academic and the policy side is growing. Nonetheless, we still know little about which sustainable development goals (SDGs) SIs already address. Furthermore, only little is known about who the innovators developing and implementing SIs are. In this paper, we aim to bring more clarity and structure to the field of SIs. Firstly, a systematic literature review was conducted, before a content analysis was used to analyze the definitions used with regard to similarities. Secondly, all case studies described in the reviewed articles were then further systematically analyzed in order to identify the social or environmental problems addressed and the innovators involved. For the purpose of classifying the diverse types of problems, we used the globally known and broadly accepted 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). Results showed that most SI case studies deal with an improvement of health and well-being. Furthermore, our study illustrates that there is a pronounced difference in the focus of SIs between developing and developed countries. Concerning the innovators, our results indicate that five types of innovators are fundamentally involved in developing and implementing SIs: social entrepreneurs, NGOs and non-profits, public institutions, civil society, firms, and social enterprises. Our definition analysis as well as the identification and classification of the innovators and addressed social needs bring much-needed clarity and structure to the field. However, our systematic review shows that SI is still in its infancy and it will be interesting to see where the field will head.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Kiseľáková ◽  
Beáta Šofranková ◽  
Miroslav Gombár ◽  
Veronika Čabinová ◽  
Erika Onuferová

In this paper, the following research problem was addressed: Is there a significant economic impact of multidimensional specified competitiveness within the EU (28) countries on the competitive business environment, human development, and sustainable growth? Based on the mentioned research problem, we formulated the aim of paper: To detect the significant interrelations among the assessment of global competitiveness, business environment as well as human development in the EU (28) countries for the period of 2006–2017. To address these problems, the methodology of global multi-criteria indices, namely the global competitiveness index (GCI), doing business index (DBI), and human development index (HDI), as well as panel analysis and non-linear regression analyses with ANOVA, were applied. The panel analysis results suggest that there is a direct linear relationship between the GCI and HDI. Moreover, the impact of the DBI on the change in the GCI score was not confirmed. We identified the main areas of countries’ interest, and important economic and statistical significant relations of competitiveness by creating three models: The GD model (constructed by GCI and DBI scores), GH model (GCI and HDI scores), and GDH model (GCI, DBI and HDI scores). Based on the results, all interrelations were confirmed. However, the highest extent of variability for the explanation of the selected data was recorded in the case of the GDH model (87.12%). We detected the impact of the business environment and human resources as competitive advantages on global macroeconomic competitiveness. As the business sector in EU (28) countries is represented mainly by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), enterprise activities play a key role in the process of sustainable competitive economic development. Moreover, human resources are considered to be another important driver of the internationalization of European SMEs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 279-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Fedorowicz-Kruszewska

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain the concepts related to environmental education in the context of sustainable development, to indicate the links between them as well as to identify and organize elements of library activities that have the potential to implement environmental education.Design/methodology/approachThe method of analysis and criticism of scientific and professional literature and research reports was used. The multiple case study method was also used.FindingsAn analysis of literature and multiple case studies confirms the assumption that sustainable development is now a new paradigm of librarianship. Among the goals of sustainable development are environmental goals, which in libraries can be achieved through environmental education. A broad approach to environmental education has been proposed, which is implemented not only by using library services but also by building green collections, contacts with environmentally involved librarians, using ecological library infrastructure, observing sustainable management methods in libraries, cooperation between the library and the external environment in terms of the natural environment.Research limitations/implicationsAn analysis of 20 case studies was carried out regarding the implementation of pro-environmental measures in libraries. Examination of a larger number of case studies would probably give a more complete picture of this area of activity in libraries. The next stage of research should be the development of standards/guidelines in the field of environmental education in libraries, and then the development of methods and techniques for assessing the quality of library activities in this area and methods for assessing the impact of libraries on society and the environment in the field of environmental education.Practical implicationsThe paper indicates – based on case study analyses – those library elements that have potential in the field of environmental education. They were ordered in categories that were assigned to the three main components of a library: people, artefacts and processes.Social implicationsSustainable development is a new library paradigm. The paper focuses on the environmental area, specifically environmental education. It has been recognized that libraries have considerable potential for environmental education and should be seen as socially responsible organizations that take responsibility for the impact of their decisions and actions on society and the environment.Originality/valueThe paper explains the basic concepts of environmental education and the relationships between them. It defines the area of environmental education in libraries in terms of library activity elements that can be used to organize them according to the three main components of a library, which are people, artefacts and processes. The paper also indicates that sustainable development should be treated as a new paradigm of librarianship, and environmental education as a new research field of library and information science.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyed Meysam Khoshnava ◽  
Raheleh Rostami ◽  
Rosli Mohamad Zin ◽  
Dalia Štreimikienė ◽  
Alireza Yousefpour ◽  
...  

Global economic trends have shown the progression of social inequalities and environmental deterioration in the grey economy. New economic practices and policies need to be developed in order to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). A green economy (GE) has a correlative role with the implementation of sustainable development (SD), which could revive the grey economy, human well-being, and social equity, as well as substantially decrease environmental risks and ecological scarcities. This study aims to develop a hybrid methodological and mathematical approach to prioritize the most effective variables from classified GE and SDGs criteria (23 criteria) to implement SD. This study has deliberated over the Decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique for considering interconnections among numerous criteria to collect the most effective variables (12 criteria) based on three pillars (3Ps) of SD. Likewise, the analytic network process (ANP) technique ranked these effective variables by considering their network relations based on three indicators. Lastly, integration was used to finalize and prioritize the most effective variables based on their weight from the ANP technique. This study will highlight the green economy with exclusive environmental issues and sustainable growth as the greatest effective variables among GE and SDGs criteria for SD implementation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard William Butler

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the role of golf tourism in contributing to the overall sustainability of the destination community of St Andrews, Scotland.Design/methodology/approachIt uses a primarily qualitative assessment of impacts supported by archive material from local sources including the local media.FindingsGolf tourism in the town of St Andrews has a long history and has been integrated into the development of the town for many centuries. This has meant that there has been developed a positive relationship between golf and its organisation and the community, and there is widespread support for golf tourism and acknowledgement of the importance of this activity for the well-being of the town. There is acceptance that residents benefit in many ways from the presence of golf tourism in the town.Research limitations/implicationsNo direct quantitative assessments were made, but previous surveys of the impact of golf tourism on the town are used in drawing the conclusions. Extensive literary research was conducted on attitudes and perceptions of community residents to golf tourism.Practical implicationsIt is clear that the concept of sustainable development is context specific in terms of its validity and effectiveness, and it should be examined in terms of local conditions and arrangements.Social implicationsIn this case, an activity that has taken place in the community for 500 years is widely accepted and improved through tourism development.Originality/valueWhile case studies are not always of benefit and often reflect only a single viewpoint at one time, this paper shows that implications can be drawn from case studies that reflect situations that exist in other destinations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10043
Author(s):  
Qian Zhou ◽  
Shuxiang Wang

In the face of an external environment featuring a high level of risk, multiple changes, and high uncertainty, the supply chain’s emergency replenishment, collaborative management, regulation of organic commodity, and low-cost rapid response will promote its’ sustainable growth and development, which is necessary for today’s economic development. The digitization and flexibility of the supply chain are of great value in obtaining the sustainable development of the supply chain. When dealing with an uncertain environment and market risk, current supply chain flexibility not only functions through its internal organizational flexibility, but also through collaborative creation and an extended supply chain network which will proactively form a replenishment supply sub-chain driven by the need for change responsiveness. This article constructs an associated model consisting of digitization, supply chain flexibility, and sustainability using an empirical analysis method to explore the implicit correlation of these factors. The analysis results of the mediating effect model show that both digitization and flexibility have significant positive effects on the sustainable development of the supply chain. Collaborative knowledge creation and supply chain flexibility play multiple mediating roles while market uncertainty positively moderates the impact of supply chain flexibility on supply chain sustainable development.


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