scholarly journals Rethinking 21st-Century Businesses: An Approach to Fourth Sector SMEs in Their Transition to a Sustainable Model Committed to SDGs

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernestina Rubio-Mozos ◽  
Fernando Enrique García-Muiña ◽  
Laura Fuentes-Moraleda
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Economic Model ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Continuous Growth ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Depth Interviews

With barely ten years remaining to reach the goals included in the United Nations 2030 Agenda (UN2030A), there is still no agreed-upon universal criterion regarding how businesses can move firmly forward to achieve them. A significant number of laudable initiatives have emerged and been consolidated internationally, highlighting the need to change the outdated mainstream economic model based on continuous growth—whose maximum exponent is the macroeconomic magnitude “Gross Domestic Product” (GDP)—to another sustainable model which considers the ecological "people and planet-centered" oriented limits, prioritizing individual wellbeing and social prosperity, in line with the UN2030A. Facing the prevalent resistance to change, some innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are consciously addressing the transition on their own, but not without difficulties. The purpose of this article was to fill the gap in the social sciences literature by conducting in-depth interviews with Fourth Sector (4S) entrepreneurs, business leaders from purpose-driven companies, and academics, in order to approach and look into their perspective about the role that 4S SMEs are being called to execute to advance toward 2030. The two main contributions of this article are (1) 4S SMEs identify an urgent need to modify the current economic model with metrics aligned with UN2030A and (2) it is essential to assemble and build an “Engagement Ecosystem” through a systemic thinking approach to allow 4S SMEs to make real contributions to the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

scholarly journals Cybersociety and University Sustainability: The Challenge of Holistic Restructuring in Universities in Chile, Spain, and Peru

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Domínguez-Fernández ◽  
Esther Prieto-Jiménez ◽  
Peter Backhouse ◽  
Eduardo Ismodes
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Problematic Situation ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Challenge ◽  
Catholic University ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Goals

The global challenge of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals present a framework of opportunities, in which universities must respond to the demands of a sustainable social organisation by addressing the issues of quality education, the participation and inclusion of different sectors, and the need to promote university social responsibility. In response to this situation, we examine three experiences that highlight the reorganisation demanded at each of the three organisational levels: (1) Macro: the need for cooperation between different universities in Chile’s “macrocampus”; (2) Meso: the organisation and running of faculties in light of the challenges to renew curriculums with the experience implemented by the Social Sciences Faculty of Pablo de Olavide University in Spain; and, (3) Micro: the integration of students and commitment to the needs of the social surroundings, with the E-QUIPU experience implemented at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) in Peru. The report we present is based on a case study, and the findings and conclusions lead us to propose a new holistic-organisational paradigm to facilitate the sustainability of universities. The results of the restructuring allowed us to conduct a meta-evaluation of the sustainability of organisations within a problematic situation (COVID-19), which tested the results of the restructuring objective of Cybersociety.

scholarly journals Sustainable Drinking Bars in China: Evidence, Initiatives, and Guidelines Based on the 2030 Agenda

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Yuanbo Li
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
Management Model ◽  
Market Size ◽  
The West ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Situation Recognition ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Goals

China is a fascinating market in terms of alcohol consumption. Although drinking bars originated in the West, economic and societal developments have spread the concept throughout China. In 2017, there were approximately 59,600 drinking bars in China, with a 44.06 billion RMB market size. Given societal development, the Chinese bar industry has gradually paid attention to environmental protection and sustainable development. A sustainable bar adopts a management model that reduces and recycles waste and saves energy. The social responsibility of bars is reflected in sustainable consumption. The concept of sustainable bars has been well-received worldwide. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) provides direction on sustainable development to relevant stakeholders. The 2030 Agenda contains 17 interactive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the SDG12. Thus, it is important to explore the development of Chinese sustainable bars under the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs. Hence, the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals (TUSDG) of Tsinghua University, Pernod Ricard China, and Kantar China organized one tripartite research group and conducted investigations on drinking bars from three megacities (Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing) to explore the situation, recognition, perspectives, and actions of sustainable bars in China. The results have significant implications. Moreover, the three parties jointly released the “Sustainable Bar Operation Initiatives” and the “Operational Sustainable Bar Application Guidelines” for the bar industry in China.

Developing Global Coordination of Solid Earth Research Infrastructures in Support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Wyborn ◽  
Tim Rawling ◽  
Simon Cox ◽  
Ben Evans ◽  
Simon Hodson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Infrastructures ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Domain Integration ◽  
Geoscience Research

<p>AuScope is Australia’s National Geoscience Research Infrastructure Program. As outlined in is 2020-2030 10-year Strategy<sup>1</sup>, AuScope seeks to provide a world-class research physical and digital infrastructure to help tackle Australia's key geoscience challenges, in particular, food and water sustainability, minerals and energy security, and mitigating impact from geohazards. These challenges tie in directly with the following United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG#6 (Clean Water and Sanitation); SDG#7 (Affordable and Clean Energy); SDG#8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth); SDG#9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure); SDG#13 (Climate Action) and SDG#15 (Life on Land). </p><p> </p><p>The SDGs were set in 2015 by the UN General Assembly to be achieved by the year 2030. If the global research sector is to support achieving them, is a rethink required? Current practices tend to focus on building infrastructures in domain and/or national/regional and/or sector (research, government, private) and/or institutional/network silos. These are not necessarily enabling global interoperability, reuse and open sharing of data. For example, AuScope is building high-quality geoscience research data and software infrastructures that are at the heart of positioning Australia to meet these SDG challenges. Equivalent geoscience research infrastructures are also being built internationally (EPOS (Europe); EarthScope, EarthCube (USA)) and AuScope is looking for ways to interoperate more effectively with these.</p><p> </p><p>Within the international geoscience community some interoperable networks are in place to enable global collaborations that share data and software (e.g., Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF), which develops software infrastructure for the management, dissemination, and analysis of model output and observational climate data; the Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks (FDSN) enables members to coordinate station siting and provide free and open data). However, these are the exceptions rather than the rule. </p><p><br>None of the SDGs depend exclusively on geoscience data: all require integration with data from other domains, particularly from the social sciences and humanities. Some initiatives trying to assist data combination between the social sciences and the physical or environmental sciences are emerging (e.g., the Data Documentation Initiative - Cross Domain Integration (DDI-CDI)<sup>2</sup>; the CODATA/ISC Decadal programme on “Making data work for cross-domain grand challenges”<sup>3</sup>) , but traditional organizational and funding arrangements do not usually facilitate this. While there are exemplars of how to achieve integration of global domain and cross-domain research infrastructures and data sharing frameworks, we urgently need to leverage these to develop a roadmap that enables global integration of data and research infrastructures, both within the geosciences and beyond, to ensure sustainable production of data, products and services that support the realisation of the UN SDGs by 2030. In doing so, potentially the main tension will be to ensure that in enabling the broader, global transdisciplinary goals of the SDGs that deeper domain science is not compromised, scarce expertise is not misdirected, and that infrastructure developments within the domains are not unduly hampered.</p><p><sup>1</sup>https://www.auscope.org.au/news-features/strategy-and-investment-plan-launch  </p><p><sup>2</sup>https://ddi-alliance.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DDI4/pages/860815393/DDI+Cross+Domain+Integration+DDI-CDI+Review  </p><p><sup>3</sup>https://codata.org/initiatives/strategic-programme/decadal-programme/ </p>

The Contribution of BRICS to the Quality of Global Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Ricceri
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Global Development ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Quality Approach

This study explores the BRICS platform, composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It discusses its vision and principles, as well as its objectives. I also present a selection of particularly significant and emblematic programs of activities. A core question is how its members will realize their main objective, to contribute to the quality of global development. And how do they relate their objective to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations? Aspects of the current framework of the social quality approach (SQA) will be applied in order to deepen this exploration. In the context of this study, it is relevant to cite the decisions by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to assist the elaboration and dissemination of the SQA.

scholarly journals How the Implementation of BREEAM in Hotels Could Help to Achieve the SDGs

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 11131
Author(s):  
Maria M. Serrano-Baena ◽  
Rafael E. Hidalgo Fernández ◽  
Pilar Carranza-Cañadas ◽  
Paula Triviño-Tarradas
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Hotel Design ◽  
The Past ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Depth Interviews

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was approved in 2015 by the United Nations. It is a call of action to protect our planet, end poverty and improve the lives and prospects of all. Sustainable development has been fundamental in the tourism and construction sectors in the past few decades. Nowadays, developing countries are leaders in green engineering procedures, and progressively, hotels are including sustainable standards in their designs, architecture and management. In places where tourism is the main contributor to the Gross Domestic Product, the incorporation of energy certifications is crucial. In this context, this article explores the positive implications of the application of the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) on hotels in relation to the achievement of SDGs. The study analyses the influence of BREEAM on hotel design using six case studies and examines the sustainable modifications incorporated. Qualitative data were obtained through in-depth interviews and by the analysis of the documentation provided. The results revealed that a BREEAM approach in the initial stage of a project will optimize the sustainability of the hotel and can help with the achievement of several of the SDGs.

scholarly journals MEASURING THE SOCIAL WORLD

2020 ◽  
pp. 113-122
Author(s):  
Dietmar K. Pfeiffer
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Theory Of Measurement ◽  
Quality Measurement ◽  
Indicator System ◽  
Education For All ◽  
Human Sciences ◽  
Millenium Development Goals ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Goals

Quantification is no longer a practice of natural science only but has become part of human sciences and everyday life as well. As a direct measurement, which fits the axiomatic of the representational theory of measurement, is mostly infeasible in the social sciences, indicators are used and frequently aggregated to indexes. The index scores can be used to construct a ranking of the units (HDI, PISA). Measurement level and meaning of the data remain often unknown (pseudo-metrical scaling). Furthermore many variables in the field of education are not quantifiable. In the course of globalization and international competition, an indicator system for educational quality measurement (PISA, TIMMS) and goal achievement (Education for All, Millenium Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goals), was established and exerts an increasing impact on national educational systems.The main concerns of indicator-based steering are its methodological limitations and the transformation from a descriptive information base to a normative control system.

Restructuring Educational Systems and Promoting Social Justice for Young People Involved in Drug Trafficking in Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 227 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Sandro Gomes Pessoa ◽  
Linda Liebenberg ◽  
Dorothy Bottrell ◽  
Silvia Helena Koller
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Young People ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Goals

Abstract. Economic changes in the context of globalization have left adolescents from Latin American contexts with few opportunities to make satisfactory transitions into adulthood. Recent studies indicate that there is a protracted period between the end of schooling and entering into formal working activities. While in this “limbo,” illicit activities, such as drug trafficking may emerge as an alternative for young people to ensure their social participation. This article aims to deepen the understanding of Brazilian youth’s involvement in drug trafficking and its intersection with their schooling, work, and aspirations, connecting with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 16 as proposed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015 .

scholarly journals Defining and Quantifying National-Level Targets, Indicators and Benchmarks for Management of Natural Resources to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Dickens ◽  
Vladimir Smakhtin ◽  
Matthew McCartney ◽  
Gordon O’Brien ◽  
Lula Dahir
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
National Level ◽  
Resource Quality ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Country Level ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Global Indicators

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are high on the agenda for most countries of the world. In its publication of the SDGs, the UN has provided the goals and target descriptions that, if implemented at a country level, would lead towards a sustainable future. The IAEG (InterAgency Expert Group of the SDGs) was tasked with disseminating indicators and methods to countries that can be used to gather data describing the global progress towards sustainability. However, 2030 Agenda leaves it to countries to adopt the targets with each government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances. At present, guidance on how to go about this is scant but it is clear that the responsibility is with countries to implement and that it is actions at a country level that will determine the success of the SDGs. Reporting on SDGs by country takes on two forms: i) global reporting using prescribed indicator methods and data; ii) National Voluntary Reviews where a country reports on its own progress in more detail but is also able to present data that are more appropriate for the country. For the latter, countries need to be able to adapt the global indicators to fit national priorities and context, thus the global description of an indicator could be reduced to describe only what is relevant to the country. Countries may also, for the National Voluntary Review, use indicators that are unique to the country but nevertheless contribute to measurement of progress towards the global SDG target. Importantly, for those indicators that relate to the security of natural resources security (e.g., water) indicators, there are no prescribed numerical targets/standards or benchmarks. Rather countries will need to set their own benchmarks or standards against which performance can be evaluated. This paper presents a procedure that would enable a country to describe national targets with associated benchmarks that are appropriate for the country. The procedure builds on precedent set in other countries but in particular on a procedure developed for the setting of Resource Quality Objectives in South Africa. The procedure focusses on those SDG targets that are natural resource-security focused, for example, extent of water-related ecosystems (6.6), desertification (15.3) and so forth, because the selection of indicator methods and benchmarks is based on the location of natural resources, their use and present state and how they fit into national strategies.

scholarly journals Financial Institutions’ Risk Profile and Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7738
Author(s):  
Nicolás Gambetta ◽  
Fernando Azcárate-Llanes ◽  
Laura Sierra-García ◽  
María Antonia García-Benau
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Risk Profile ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Impact

This study analyses the impact of Spanish financial institutions’ risk profile on their contribution to the 2030 Agenda. Financial institutions play a significant role in ensuring financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth and usually incorporate environmental and social considerations into their risk management systems. The results show that financial institutions with less capital risk, with lower management efficiency and with higher market risk usually make higher contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to their sustainability reports. The novel aspect of the present study is that it identifies the risk profile of financial institutions that incorporate sustainability into their business operations and measure the impact generated in the environment and in society. The study findings have important implications for shareholders, investors and analysts, according to the view that sustainability reporting is a vehicle that financial institutions use to express their commitment to the 2030 Agenda and to higher quality corporate reporting.

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

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.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document