Transferring Sustainability Solutions across Contexts through City–University Partnerships

The urgency of climate change and other sustainability challenges makes transferring and scaling solutions between cities a necessity. However, solutions are deeply contextual. To accelerate solution efforts, there is a need to understand how context shapes the development of solutions. Universities are well positioned to work with cities on transferring solutions from and to other cities. This paper analyses five case studies of city–university partnerships in three countries on transferring solutions. Our analysis suggests that understanding the interest, the action on sustainability, and the individual and collective sustainability competences on the part of the city administration and the university can help facilitate the transfer of sustainability solutions across contexts. We conclude that the nature of the city–university partnership is essential to solution transfer and that new and existing networks can be used to accelerate progress on the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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Educational Illustration of the Historical City, Education Citizenship, and Sustainable Heritage

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13105706 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 5706

Author(s):

Francesc Xavier Hernàndez-Cardona ◽

Rafael Sospedra-Roca ◽

David Íñiguez-Gracia

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Archaeological Site ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Sustainable Cities ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Conceptual Organization ◽

History Of ◽

Development Goals ◽

The University ◽

The City

The Sustainable Development Goals identified by the United Nations (2030 agenda) aim to promote sustainable cities, the need to safeguard cultural heritage, and the importance of quality education. Through different projects, the DIDPATRI research group at the University of Barcelona has developed didactic iconographic models on the historical and heritage dimension of cities. Comprehensible proposals have been made by developing unique techniques and using easily accessible technologies. The working hypothesis has focused on the idea that the models of didactic iconography promote the understanding of the history of the city, and this enables educational actions and contributes to the formation of quality citizenship, aware of the importance of heritage, with a view to the sustainability of urban environments themselves. The components and the layout of the iconographic prototypes tested have been developed with the available technological variables, but, above all, they focus on the conceptual organization of the iconographic contents to show. In other words, it places greater emphasis on techniques than on subsidiary technologies for change. The development of different projects has generated models of empirical effectiveness, which methodologically have contributed to improving, in the key of sustainability, the knowledge of historical urban environments and respect for heritage. The case studies considered in this work are two of the most emblematic developed by the DIDPATRI group: the archaeological site of El Born in Barcelona, and the medieval site of La Seu de Urgell, in the Catalan Pyrenees.

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Using the Sustainable Development Goals to Evaluate Possible Transport Policies for the City of Curitiba

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132112222 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (21) ◽

pp. 12222

Author(s):

Constança Martins Leite de Almeida ◽

Semida Silveira ◽

Erik Jeneulis ◽

Francesco Fuso-Nerini

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Public Transport ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Transport Sector ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Development Goals ◽

The City

Cities across the world are becoming more engaged in tackling climate change and contributing to the achievement of international agreements. The city of Curitiba in Brazil is no exception. In December 2020, the city published PlanClima (Plano Municipal de Mitigação e Adaptação às Mudanças Climáticas), a climate plan developed with local and international organizations. PlanClima aims to guide policies and actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This study focuses on selecting and qualitatively evaluating transport policies that contribute to the city’s 2030 climate and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With PlanClima’s analysis for the transport sector in mind, nine targets for 2030 are identified and connected to different transport policies. To evaluate the possible interactions between the policies and the different dimensions of the SDGs, four types of linkages were designed: essential, uncertain, limited, and opposite. These categories were developed to evaluate the several dimensions in which a policy can have a positive or negative impact. The results show that the implementation of zero emission zones/low emission zones, green public procurement, subsidy schemes for the uptake of clean vehicle technology, and the digitalization of the transport system through smarter public transport and digital platforms that couple bike sharing, taxis, and public transport are some of the measures that can contribute to the achievement of Curitiba’s targets and ensure a positive impact on the sustainable development of the city. The study highlights how different policy instruments can contribute to achieve the city’s targets, thus providing guidance to policymakers.

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Education for sustainable development in building higher studies

Advances in Building Education ◽

10.20868/abe.2021.2.4720 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 23

Author(s):

Cristina Marieta ◽

Íñigo León ◽

Jose Antonio Millán-García ◽

Alexander Martín-Garín

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Academic Staff ◽

Basque Country ◽

Administrative Staff ◽

Technical Architecture ◽

Development Goals ◽

Sustainability Challenges ◽

The University

AbstractUNESCO highlights the crucial role of higher education in achieving each of the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Thus, students should acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. In this context, the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) has developed the Campus Bizia Lab programme as an initiative derived from the Project Erasmus University Educators for Sustainable Development. The aim of the initiative has been to promote a collaborative process between academic staff, service and administrative staff and students, creating a transdisciplinary community to respond to sustainability challenges within the university. In the framework of the programme, pedagogical approaches for sustainable development have been developed for the Grades of Technical Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU. The paper presents the methodologies developed and analyses the effect on learning process

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WASTE CREATION ON ACHIEVING 12TH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)

ICCD ◽

10.33068/iccd.vol1.iss1.91 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 617-627

Author(s):

Arin Fithriana ◽

Jeanie Annissa

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Waste Management ◽

Community Service ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Human Life ◽

Economic Value ◽

Household Waste ◽

Responsible Consumption ◽

Development Goals ◽

The Individual

SDGs have 5 foundations, namely human, planet, welfare, peace, and partnerships that want to achieve three noble goals in 2030 in the form of ending poverty, achieving equality and tackling climate change. Some efforts to overcome poverty are to account for what we have produced and consumed. This is such in 12th SDGs target that accountability is part of the efficiency of natural resources as a means of supporting human life and directly preserving the environment by reducing waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. To support the achievement of the SDGs target, one of the things that can be done is by waste management, especially household waste. Household waste is the biggest source of waste. One way of managing it is the existence of a waste management that can be carried out by citizens in this case is the individual. Utilization of waste to produce new uses product that have economic value. Therefore, relating to the achievement of the SDGs' objectives, the implementation of Community Service activities is focused on achieving the 12th SDGs, namely responsible consumption and production; guarantee the continuity of consumption and the pattern of distribution through the waste management socialization to give citizens awareness on climate change.

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Environmental and Climate Declarations as Tools for Exporting Russian Construction Materials

Stroitel nye Materialy ◽

10.31659/0585-430x-2020-786-11-47-53 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 786 (11) ◽

pp. 47-53

Author(s):

A.V. DERBENEV ◽

◽

D.M. VADIVASOV ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Environmental Management ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Construction Materials ◽

Modern Society ◽

Environmental Agreements ◽

Management Tools ◽

Development Goals ◽

Environmental Requirements ◽

The Russian Federation

Environmental protection, climate change, and the protection of the planet’s biodiversity are becoming top priorities in modern society. Environmental agreements, while important and necessary, including for achieving sustainable development goals, impose additional restrictions on products and producers of these products. These restrictions can be used by countries to create barriers to the import of construction materials. Countries that have ratified environmental agreements may restrict the import of products that do not meet environmental requirements or criteria in one way or another. International environmental management tools are described, in particular environmental and climate declarations, which can serve as tools for solving the problem of possible restrictions and barriers in the export of construction materials produced in the Russian Federation.

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Climate Justice

10.1093/oso/9780198813248.001.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Climate Justice ◽

Policy Discourse ◽

Mary Robinson ◽

The Public ◽

Development Goals ◽

To Come ◽

Run Up ◽

High Level

Climate justice requires sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its resolution equitably and fairly. It brings together justice between generations and justice within generations. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals summit in September 2015, and the Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015, brought climate justice center stage in global discussions. In the run up to Paris, Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, instituted the Climate Justice Dialogue. The editors of this volume, an economist and a philosopher, served on the High Level Advisory Committee of the Climate Justice Dialogue. They noted the overlap and mutual enforcement between the economic and philosophical discourses on climate justice. But they also noted the great need for these strands to come together to support the public and policy discourse. This volume is the result.

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Global Health and International Development

The Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190456818.013.14 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 216-235

Author(s):

Andrew Harmer ◽

Jonathan Kennedy

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Global Health ◽

Economic System ◽

International Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Development Goals ◽

The Relationship ◽

Global Population

This chapter explores the relationship between international development and global health. Contrary to the view that development implies ‘good change’, this chapter argues that the discourse of development masks the destructive and exploitative practices of wealthy countries at the expense of poorer ones. These practices, and the unregulated capitalist economic system that they are part of, have created massive inequalities between and within countries, and potentially catastrophic climate change. Both of these outcomes are detrimental to global health and the millennium development goals and sustainable development goals do not challenge these dynamics. While the Sustainable Development Goals acknowledge that inequality and climate change are serious threats to the future of humanity, they fail to address the economic system that created them. Notwithstanding, it is possible that the enormity and proximity of the threat posed by inequality and global warming will energise a counter movement to create what Kate Raworth terms ‘an ecologically safe and socially just space’ for the global population while there is still time.

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Assessing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in academic libraries

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science ◽

10.1177/09610006211005528 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 096100062110055

Author(s):

Clare Thorpe ◽

Lyndelle Gunton

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Academic Libraries ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Societal Implications ◽

2030 Agenda ◽

Development Goals ◽

Library Staff ◽

Stretch Targets ◽

The University ◽

Mapping Exercise

The United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development identifies 17 goals as a shared blueprint for peace, prosperity, people and the planet. Australian academic libraries have started documenting and planning how academic libraries contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the identification of assessment frameworks and key performance indicators. In 2019, the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Library stepped through an exercise of understanding how our day-to-day work and annual planning targets mapped to the SDGs. The article is a case study. The authors outline how an academic library’s services, projects and action plans were mapped to the SDGs and how the mapping exercise was communicated to the community. The article will situate this activity among the broader approaches being taken by the Australian library community, including the 2030 stretch targets for Australian libraries. USQ Library staff found that existing services, collections and projects correlated to eight of the 17 SDGs. Activities were mapped to these eight goals and reported to senior executive of the University. The mapping exercise increased the awareness of library staff about the broader cultural and societal implications of their roles. The communication strategy led to conversations that increased university leaders’ awareness of the SDGs and the value and impact of USQ Library in improving access to information as well as the library’s role in transforming the lives of USQ students and community. By undertaking an exercise to map collections, services and projects to the SDGs, USQ Library has been able to demonstrate how their knowledge and information infrastructures which enable student achievement and research excellence. The SDGs can be used by university libraries as a benchmarking tool and as a challenge to set stretch targets aligned with the United Nation’s 2030 agenda.

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Ordering Artificial Intelligence Based Recommendations to Tackle the SDGs with a Decision-Making Model Based on Surveys

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116038 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6038

Author(s):

Sergio Alonso ◽

Rosana Montes ◽

Daniel Molina ◽

Iván Palomares ◽

Eugenio Martínez-Cámara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Decision Making ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Modern Society ◽

Agenda 2030 ◽

Model Based ◽

Development Goals ◽

Sustainability Challenges ◽

New Research ◽

Decision Making Model

The United Nations Agenda 2030 established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guideline to guarantee a sustainable worldwide development. Recent advances in artificial intelligence and other digital technologies have already changed several areas of modern society, and they could be very useful to reach these sustainable goals. In this paper we propose a novel decision making model based on surveys that ranks recommendations on the use of different artificial intelligence and related technologies to achieve the SDGs. According to the surveys, our decision making method is able to determine which of these technologies are worth investing in to lead new research to successfully tackle with sustainability challenges.

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Higher Education and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)—Potential Contribution of the Undergraduate Courses of the School of Social Sciences of the University of Évora

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13041828 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1828

Author(s):

Elisa Chaleta ◽

Margarida Saraiva ◽

Fátima Leal ◽

Isabel Fialho ◽

António Borralho

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Economic Growth ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Quality Education ◽

The Other ◽

Potential Contribution ◽

Decent Work ◽

Development Goals ◽

The University

In this work we analyzed the mapping of Sustainable Development Goals in the curricular units of the undergraduate courses of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Évora. Of a total of 449 curricular units, only 374 had students enrolled in 2020/2021. The data presented refer to the 187 course units that had Sustainable Development Goals in addition to SDG4 (Quality Education) assigned to all the course units. Considering the set of curricular units, the results showed that the most mentioned objectives were those related to Gender Equality (SDG 5), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8) and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG 16). Regarding the differences between the departments, which are also distinct scientific areas, we have observed that the Departments of Economics and Management had more objectives related to labor and economic growth, while the other departments mentioned more objectives related to inequalities, gender or other.

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