University third mission and sustainable development: an exploration into Indian academia' environmental sustainable technologies patenting activity

Author(s):  
Lourden Selvamani ◽  
P.G. Arul
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8658
Author(s):  
Vojko Potocan

This study examined the importance of technologies in advancing modern organizations’ corporate social responsibility (CSR). Drawing upon environmentalist and technological theories, we analyzed the shift from the traditional development of technology to the development of sustainable technologies for the further sustainable advancement of organizations. Technology has decisively influenced the development of humankind, but its research has traditionally excluded sustainable development issues. Newer technological visions have addressed the incorporation of technologies in all industries more comprehensively to solve social issues related to environmental protection and sustainable economic development. Such an orientation is followed by several conceptual solutions, such as the sustainable use of traditional technologies, development of sustainable technologies, and interdisciplinary treatment of sustainable technology to extend the CSR model. The results of our study have theoretical implications, highlighting the effects of technological development and new technologies on the course of further societal sustainable development. Practical implications include extending CSR’s Triple Bottom model with a technological dimension to improve organizations’ further sustainable operating and behavior.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 8790
Author(s):  
Macarena Valenzuela-Zubiaur ◽  
Héctor Torres Bustos ◽  
Mónica Arroyo-Vázquez ◽  
Pablo Ferrer-Gisbert

Fab Labs as manufacturing laboratories that stimulate innovation and collaboration are nowadays proliferating within universities. Given the new social challenges, framed within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), we formulate the following research question: Are Fab Labs an effective tool for the promotion of social innovation from universities? To answer this question, a mixed analysis has been carried out focusing on the case of ProteinLab UTEM. The approach aims to generate a model for the promotion of social innovation from universities through Fab Labs, linking the quadruple helix actors. The objective of this model is to show how Fab Labs can become an effective instrument to promote social innovation from universities. The contribution of this article lies in linking Fab Labs with social innovation through the university’s third mission. Our approach considers Fab Labs as an instrument for the development of social innovations within the university, which contribute, through the third mission, to the social and sustainable development of its environment. As a result of this research, a model is presented for the development of social innovation from universities through Fab Labs. Our research concludes that Fab Labs are an effective instrument for the promotion of social innovation from universities.


Energies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 278
Author(s):  
Marzena Podgórska ◽  
Iwona Zdonek

The aim of the article is to examine technological innovations developed by engineers as part of Project-Based Learning at one of the Polish technical universities. We examined whether the innovations being developed meet the goals of sustainable development and whether they provide the basis for the introduction of sustainable business models. We analyzed reports from 49 projects implemented in the years 2018–2020 in which 146 scientists, 282 students of the Silesian University of Technology, and 126 experts from the university’s business environment were involved. We performed the analysis using content analysis and visualization techniques. The results show that the studied innovations implement the goals of sustainable development and most of them may become the basis of sustainable business models. The most frequently pursued goals are Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure and Good Health and Well-Being. Most of the studied innovations can become the basis of the archetype of a sustainable business model called “maximize material and energy efficacy”. We also provide the characteristics of projects that implement the diagnosed goals of sustainable development.


2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Winkler

The increasing demand on primary energy and the increasing concern on climatic change demand immediately a sustainable development, but still there remain open questions regarding its technical realization. The second law of thermodynamics is a very simple but efficient way to define the principle design rules of sustainable technologies in minimizing the irreversible entropy production. The ideal, but real process chain is defined by a still reversible structure or logic of the process chain—the reversible reference process chain—but consisting of real components with an irreversible entropy production on a certain level. It can easily be shown for energy conversion and for transportation that hybridization in general can indeed be a measure to meet the reversible process chain and to minimize the entropy flow to the environment. Fuel cells are principal reversible converters of chemical energy and thus a key element within hybridization. Depending on application, combined heat and power process (CHP) may be a hybridization step or only a slight improvement. There is a fundamental difference in heating a house or in supplying an endothermic chemical reaction with reaction entropy. The use of heat recovery and isolation is a necessary measure to minimize the entropy flow to the environment and can be described by a reversible reference process as well. The application of reversible reference process chains shows that hybrid systems with fuel cells are a technical feasibility to approach very closely the thermodynamic potential. This development differs from the past where the technical possibilities of materials and manufacturing limited the technology to meet reversibility and thus sustainability.


2021 ◽  

Bioeconomy has evolved as a solution to economic, social and environmental problems within and across all the sectors of world economies. It has brought about the materials technology shift from synthetics to bio-based raw materials to introduce sustainable technologies. Activities in the bioeconomy primarily involve the production of biomass from plants, animals, microorganisms and its conversion into bio-based products. Agriculture is a major component in a bioeconomy. Countries with a larger landmass have a competitive advantage in biomass production through agriculture hence a larger bioeconomy. Sri Lanka, with its limited land availability, cannot expand the land further for biomass production through traditional agriculture. The bioeconomy of Sri Lanka therefore have to move beyond traditional agriculture pursuing more scientific approaches for biomass production and conversion. The use of crops as a renewable industrial feedstock and the application of biotechnology are, therefore, indispensable for the implementation of sustainable development strategies in the country. The rich biodiversity on land and the sea of the country is still underutilized and has a great potential to be used in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. There is a pressing need in the country to create a motivated society to pursue the promising prospects offered by the bioeconomy in development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 296 ◽  
pp. 08003
Author(s):  
Tatyana Chernysheva

The paper describes the measures taken by Russian universities to implement the Sustainable Development Goals proclaimed by the United Nations in 2015. These goals are in line with the Third Mission activities of a modern university. The core argument is that an environmentally sound interaction should be formed in the depths of educational ecosystems, resulting in an ecological culture. It is advisable to start the transition to a new type of development at universities, since only in this case Russian technologies will eventually meet the environmental requirements. The paper considers the initiatives of the leading Russian universities to introduce economic and social changes aimed at satisfying the needs not only of the living, but also of the future generations [1].


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aldona Kluczek ◽  
Władysław Włosiński

Abstract Manufacturing techniques are concerned with quality, cost, productivity and sustainability. With today‘s environmental awareness and the pressure of the sustainability requirements, existing manufacturing techniques of heating devices are evolving into the redesign manufacturing unit processes to increase overall sustainability. Also, these techniques need a measurement method to assess processes-related sustainability performance indicators. The purpose of this paper is to stress the role of manufacturing techniques: welding, cleaning and painting in the manufacture of heating appliances (solid fuel fired boilers used renewable energy sources) in terms of incorporating into the field the concept of sustainable development. It then focuses on the environmental, technical, economical and social impact of sustainable technologies and argues for the need to ensure that the concept is being applied to the manufacture of heating devices. In this paper, author tries to propose a unified, standard scientific factory-level methodology to evaluate the influence of manufacturing techniques on the sustainability of enterprises producing heating devices. The proposed methodology in the terms of the case study is a comprehensive answer to the question of to what extent the improvements in those techniques influence the sustainable development of the enterprises. An industrial case study demonstrates that the proposed improvements can effectively influence the sustainability of enterprise. The results of this assessment can be applied to broad industry sectors, and can lead to the accepted measures and practices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 05005
Author(s):  
Sayana Vologzhina ◽  
Natalya Ryazanova ◽  
Vasily Eroshenko

The aim of the study is to introduce practical experience and explore the possibilities of sustainable development ideology in the region and to involve youth activists in international processes of regional reflection. Objectives: research of possibilities of youth organizations and universities in realization of non-formal education for overcoming environmental problems in the region; development of practical experience in realization of environmental education for sustainable development (ESD); development of pedagogical technology for non-formal work; creation of pedagogical model of interaction of different segments of youth organizations. Methodology: creation of the World Water Forum youth model. Work directions: adaptation of the international agenda to the regional one (Baikal region) and creation of the pedagogical model of practice-oriented work of youth communities for implementation of the third mission of HEIs. Regional ministries, youth government of Irkutsk region, colleges and universities of the region were involved in the model development. As a result of the thematic groups’ work, an inventory of the region’s problems was made by the activities of each working group; lists of the most promising areas of work to improve the environmental and social situation in the region were compiled; and road maps to achieve the set goals for up to 5 years were developed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haili Zhang ◽  
Michael Song ◽  
Xiaoming Yang ◽  
Ping Li

This article examines perceived importance of sustainable technologies and how organizational buyers and individual buyers differ in their willingness to pay for sustainable technological innovations an emerging market. Extensive field research was conducted to develop the study measures. Using Weber’s step-by-step method of coding, we selected 24 sustainable technologies that are representative of the technological preferences and demands of truck drivers in China. We also conducted pretests with trucking company executives to improve the final survey instrument. We collected data from 510 organizational buyers and 2680 individual buyers. Results show that organizational buyers and individual buyers have similar preferences for 15 of the 24 sustainable technologies. The individual buyers have a significantly higher preference than organizational buyers for sustainable technologies, such as comfort, image, and service attributes. However, the study findings suggest that organizational buyers have a greater preference in the total cost of ownership dimension. Through content analysis of survey responses in China, we identified the most influential and popular sustainable technology in the business-to-business trucking industry in emerging markets, such as China. Our research expands the application of sustainable buying behavior theory to the trucking industry in an emerging market. We suggest management and marketing strategies to sustainable development of trucking industry.


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