scholarly journals Factors influencing countries on their path to sustainable development: implications for organizations

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 474-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Veselovská

Nowadays sustainable development is a central concept for our age. It is both a way ofunderstanding the world and a method for solving global problems. It is currently a crucial concept for the world to understand and to implement. This research study focuses on examining the foundations of achieving sustainable development and main factors influencing this process at a national level. The aim is to characterize those factors which influence this implementation process mainly from the economic point of view. However, other noneconomic factors related to human well-being and organizational development are not omitted. Countries’ political and legislative environment are also evaluated since they can have significant implications for development of individual organizations conducting their business activities within countries' borders. The focus of examining the topic of countries’ sustainable development is on the cross-country comparison. Values of some important indicators are also provided in terms of comparison among selected countries which enables us to explain the reasons for differences in countries’ development, as well as predictions for the future. Historical perspective provides data which enable to evaluate influence of selected factors in terms of countries’ path to achieving sustainable development.

All over the world, more and more professionals are aware of the urgent need to invest in a healthy and ecological built environment. This landmark shift can occur through the introduction of the principles of salutogenic design, according to which the constructed buildings should be a place that contributes to the saving and improving health, a sense of well-being. The amazing results of the influence of the built environment on health are obtained, which brings the concept of salutogenic design to the fore of the global opportunities of urban planning in providing the health of the population. Salutogenic design and architecture can take its worthy place in the forefront of preventive strategies that have the potential to reduce (decrease) the burden of noncommunicable diseases and change our lives for the better. The review considers the principles and approaches to planning urbanized built environment of the future from the perspective of salutogenic design with one simple goal: to create a healthy society. The solution of this problem requires an interdisciplinary and interagency approach, joint efforts of a number of specialists: architects, medical experts, psychologists, sociologists, designers, engineers, planners. Only a comprehensive approach will make it possible to organize the urban environment in such a way that it allows to preserve health, ecology and would be beneficial from an economic point of view.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-256
Author(s):  
Alina Rădoiu

AbstractThe theory of sustainable development shows an international dynamic evolution and more and more countries develop socio-economic development methods and techniques, whose main objective is to ensure a balance between economic, social and environmental aspects. Romania is working to ensure a sustainable future, implementing various strategies that aim to transform our society into a truly sustainable and modern one. The analysis of sustainable development indicators can be a solid basis for periodic monitoring progress in achieving the strategic sustainable development goals. The present paper aims to analyze the steps that Romania takes in this process of transforming the economy into a sustainable one and its challenges according to the trends of sustainable development indicators. From the economic point of view, for Romania the economic growth does not have to be a purpose itself, because the economy must work for people and the planet. Therefore, sustainable development and the well-being of citizens must be at the center of the actions, and to achieve these goals the great challenge of our country is the combination of dimensions such as environmental sustainability, increased productivity, equity and macroeconomic stability. The long-term economic challenges related to climate change, digitization and demographic developments must be addressed through a growth model, which will allow to maintain economic competitiveness and achieve the goal of climate neutrality.


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 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-120
Author(s):  
Sabrekova Maria S. ◽  

The article is devoted to the analysis of the scientific and philosophical thought development, which served as a challenge to the renewal of the content of environmental education at the beginning of the XXI century. The analysis of the stages of domestic environmental education development, its content from the point of view of reflection in it of relations between society and nature is carried out. A new stage in the environmental education development in the 21st century is associated with the spread of ideas of sustainable development, which determine the transformation of all spheres of human culture. The article provides examples of tasks that currently exist in the educational literature for one of the primary school subjects, and a variant of their change from the standpoint of environmental education in the interests of sustainable development is proposed. The modern literature on the methodology of teaching the subject “The World Around” in primary school is considered from the point of view of the representation of the content of environmental education in it. The author comes to the conclusion about the insufficiency of the natural science orientation of environmental education for the formation of students’ ideas about the environmental imperative – a key category for understanding the conditions for harmonizing nature, society and the world of things. Based on the analysis performed, a conclusion was made about the relevance of updating the content of school environmental education. It is substantiated that this will contribute to the achievement of its planned result – the formation of a modern ecological culture among students. Keywords: general education, environmental education, educational content, environmental imperative, environmental culture


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-351
Author(s):  
Mariola Grzebyk ◽  
Agata Pierścieniak ◽  
Małgorzata Stec

The analysis of management efficiency is an important element in evaluating the functioning of public administration from an economic point of view. In order to achieve greater efficiency of the management process, and thus the quality in public administration, it is important to analyze and evaluate its elements. Modern research usually covers individual elements, parts of the management process. However, the current study proposes a comprehensive approach to this process. The objective of the article is the evaluate levels of management efficiency of local government offices using a single synthetic indicator and also to identify areas that hinder management efficiency. The study applies the institutional analysis methodology, adjusting it to the needs of the article. The article postulates that areas that call for immediate changes in Poland's local government offices should include such areas as strategic and financial management, invigorating economic development, project management and public service offers. Any changes thus introduced in these areas may enhance improvements in management processes, effectiveness and efficiency of activities, the quality of the office's functioning, organizational development, which togethr indirectly affects local development.


Author(s):  
Ильмира Минигулова

Global problems of modern age make deep problems for the formation of socio-economic and political-legal stability in modern states. The most complex is poverty that provokes the new problems, such as the migration crisis. The international community follows the fundamental principles and norms of international law, tries to wipe out poverty, the practical implementation of this activity is reflected in the Concept of Sustainable Development.


2017 ◽  
pp. 234-251
Author(s):  
Abdelkader Djeflat

Arab countries face two major challenges resulting from increasing competition from the rest of the world and persistent reliance on mineral resources for their growth. At the same time, sustainable development is increasingly becoming a major concern for world development. In this respect, and from a sustainability point of view, knowledge economy opens up new and more accessible opportunities through the ‘substitution' of physical resources by immaterial resources. This situation raises two fundamental questions: the first one relates to the opportunity of ensuring sustainable development while the knowledge base remains rather weak and policies often short-sighted. The second one is how an integrated approach based on knowledge can strengthen existing knowledge bases and create new ones to further sustainable development. Looking at a sample of advanced countries and Arab countries, this chapter argues that sustainability of growth rests fundamentally on the capability of properly harnessing knowledge.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Nesticò ◽  
Maria Rosaria Guarini ◽  
Pierluigi Morano ◽  
Francesco Sica

The second half of the 20th century was characterized by rapid growth of the urban population and lack of attention to environmental quality in the urbanizes territories. Thus, the development of many cities during that period took place through policies which, over time, resulted in a disaggregated landscape, both in morphological and functional terms. In some cases, these policies have caused the creation of land portions without a specific characterization, and the generation of urban voids that negatively affect the city’s development. To solve this problem, the public administration sectors of many countries are looking for new intervention strategies that are feasible from a social and economic point of view which are able to guarantee sustainable development. From this perspective, the execution of urban regeneration initiatives, including forestation, allows for the improvement of both environmental quality and citizens’ well-being, and promotes economic development. Considering the multiple effects that these initiatives can generate and the limited availability of public and private resources, it is appropriate to use multi-criteria decision support tools through which it is possible to evaluate the interventions’ complexity and best identify the city areas that lend themselves to be recovered and improved through the forestation. The aim of this work is to develop a support tool for public administrations aimed at identifying the optimal forestry projects’ location according to criteria that not only refer to financial type, but also their social, cultural, and environmental nature. Using Discrete Linear Programming algorithms, the model has been tested through a theoretical case study and reveals the advantages and limitations of the model, as well as future research prospects.


Author(s):  
Subrata Mukherjee ◽  

In 2006, Muhammed Yunus and the Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts through micro-credit to create economic and social development. Muhammed Yunus received the prize not in the field of economics because only sustainable development of the proletariat and the marginalised sections of society can bring peace. More than 80% of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening. The poorest 40% of the world’s population accounts for 5% of global income, while the richest 20% accounts for three quarters of world income. According to the World Bank (WB), the proportion of people in the developing world living on less than $1.25 a day was 20.5% in 2010, down from 43.1% in 1990 and 52.2% in 1981 (in 2005 prices). That is 1.22 billion people lived on less than $1.25 a day in 2010 compared with 0.91 billion in 1990 and 1.94 billion in 1981. In this paper an attempt is made to explain the relevance of Marxism and the need for the co-operative movement to assist in providing a means for social well-being of the downtrodden classes of people. Keywords: Economy and social development, sustainable development, Marxism


NeoBiota ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 213-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Kumschick ◽  
John R. U. Wilson ◽  
Llewellyn C. Foxcroft

Human livelihoods and well-being in almost all regions of the world depend on taxa which are alien. Such taxa also, however, threaten human health, sustainable development, and biodiversity. Since it is not feasible or desirable to control all alien taxa, decision-makers increasingly rely on risk analyses to formalise the best available evidence of the threats posed and whether and how they can be managed. There are a variety of schemes available that consider the risks of alien taxa, but we argue a new framework is needed: 1) given major recent developments in international frameworks dealing with biological invasions (including the scoring of impacts); 2) so that decisions can be made consistently across taxa, regions and realms; 3) to explicitly set out uncertainties; and 4) to provide decision-makers with information both on the risks posed and on what can be done to mitigate or prevent impacts. Any such scheme must also be flexible enough to deal with constraints in capacity and information. Here we present a framework to address these points – the Risk Analysis for Alien Taxa (RAAT). It outlines a series of questions related to an alien taxon’s likelihood of invasion, realised and potential impacts, and options for management. The framework provides a structure for collating relevant data from the published literature to support a robust, transparent process to list alien taxa under legislative and regulatory requirements, with the aim that it can be completed by a trained science graduate within a few days. The framework also provides a defensible process for developing recommendations for the management of assessed taxa. We trialled the framework in South Africa and outline the process followed and some of the taxa assessed to date.


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