scholarly journals Trilemma of Nordic–Baltic Forestry—How to Implement UN Sustainable Development Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5643
Author(s):  
Lars Högbom ◽  
Dalia Abbas ◽  
Kęstutis Armolaitis ◽  
Endijs Baders ◽  
Martyn Futter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Fibre Production ◽  
Forest Carbon Storage ◽  
Baltic Countries ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Environmental Goals

Forests are the dominant land cover in Nordic–Baltic countries, and forestry, the management of forests for improved ecosystem-service (ES) delivery, is an important contributor to sustainability. Forests and forestry support multiple United Nations Sustainability Goals (UN SDGs) and a number of EU policies, and can address conflicting environmental goals. Forests provide multiple ecosystem services and natural solutions, including wood and fibre production, food, clear and clean water and air, animal and plant habitats, soil formation, aesthetics, and cultural and social services. Carbon sequestered by growing trees is a key factor in the envisaged transition from a fossil-based to a biobased economy. Here, we highlight the possibilities of forest-based solutions to mitigate current and emerging societal challenges. We discuss forestry effects on forest ecosystems, focusing on the optimisation of ES delivery and the fulfilment of UN SDGs while counteracting unwanted effects. In particular, we highlight the trilemma of (i) increasing wood production to substitute raw fossil materials, (ii) increasing forest carbon storage capacity, and (iii) improving forest biodiversity and other ES delivery.

scholarly journals Limits and benefits of participatory agenda setting for research and innovation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Gudowsky
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Social Shaping ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Societal Problems ◽  
Current Governance

AbstractCurrent governance of science, technology and innovation (STI) faces tough challenges to meet demands arising from complex issues such as societal challenges or targets, e.g. the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. For decades, scholars and civil society institutions have called for increased public participation in STI, and political institutions have been taking up the request to integrate engagement activities into their decision-making processes, at least in the form of consultations. Moving engagement in research and development further upstream makes early interventions and social shaping of technologies and innovation possible. Since research has also faced repeated requests towards taking on more responsibility for solving societal problems, engagement processes thus help in shaping research. Here, the earliest point for possible engagement can be found within the constituting phase of research agendas as topics, general lines of enquiry and targets are shaped in this phase. These are the boundaries in between which researchers later navigate. This article serves as introduction to this journal’s topical collection on participatory agenda setting for research and innovation (PASE). It provides a review of the literature on theory and practice of PASE activities, summarises the topical collection’s contributions regarding current international cases and analyses respective PASE limits and benefits, thereby promoting its conceptual and practical understanding.

scholarly journals Natural language processing and network analysis provide novel insights on policy and scientific discourse around Sustainable Development Goals

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Bryan Smith ◽  
Raffaele Vacca ◽  
Luca Mantegazza ◽  
Ilaria Capua
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Scientific Discourse ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Related Science ◽  
Environmental Goals

AbstractThe United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are heterogeneous and interdependent, comprising 169 targets and 231 indicators of sustainable development in such diverse areas as health, the environment, and human rights. Existing efforts to map relationships among SDGs are either theoretical investigations of sustainability concepts, or empirical analyses of development indicators and policy simulations. We present an alternative approach, which describes and quantifies the complex network of SDG interdependencies by applying computational methods to policy and scientific documents. Methods of Natural Language Processing are used to measure overlaps in international policy discourse around SDGs, as represented by the corpus of all existing UN progress reports about each goal (N = 85 reports). We then examine if SDG interdependencies emerging from UN discourse are reflected in patterns of integration and collaboration in SDG-related science, by analyzing data on all scientific articles addressing relevant SDGs in the past two decades (N = 779,901 articles). Results identify a strong discursive divide between environmental goals and all other SDGs, and unexpected interdependencies between SDGs in different areas. While UN discourse partially aligns with integration patterns in SDG-related science, important differences are also observed between priorities emerging in UN and global scientific discourse. We discuss implications and insights for scientific research and policy on sustainable development after COVID-19.

scholarly journals Review of Indicators for Localizing Environmental Goals at Sub National and Local Level in Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-307
Author(s):  
Ek Raj Sigdel ◽  
Martina Maria Keitsch
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Stakeholder Consultation ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Government ◽  
Environmental Goals

Nepal, as a member of the United Nations, is committed to achieve the global initiatives of Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030. Toward translating the commitment into action, Nepal has produced preliminary SDGs Report in 2015, even before the formal adoption of the 2030. Moreover, Voluntary National Review Report, Sustainable Development Goals, Status and Roadmap: 2016-2030, and Sustainable Development Goals 2016-2030 National (Preliminary) Report were developed. Further, Nepal has initiated mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda into national policies and plans. The 14th periodic plan, the national budget, and other sectoral plans have been closely aligned with the SDGs and the approach paper for 15th five-year plan is intended to achieve the SDG. The upcoming 15th periodic plan will basically aim to support the government in achieving all the SDGs by 2030 and help Nepal emerge as a middle-income country by 2030. The indicators comprise of renewable energy for electricity and vehicles, injuries due to disaster (number), greenhouse gases, adaptation plans, trained man power, climate change educations, and climate smart villages and farming are identified as indicators under climate and energy goals. Similarly, under forest goals proportion of forest land, forest under community-based management (% of total dense forest areas), protected area (including forest, in % of total land area), handover of forests to leasehold forest groups (000 hectare), wild tigers (number), rhino (number) etc are included. Likewise, conservation of lakes, wetlands, and ponds (number) and potentially dangerous lakes (%) are included under fresh water goals. However, there was no scientific basis how the indicators were derived for the environmental goals. In this backdrop, a study in identifying site specific, measurable, time bound, relevant and attainable indicators was paramount. Based on the secondary literature review, stakeholder consultation at sub national and local level, the indicators were verified and suggested strategies that help localizing the environmental indicators at sub-national and local level in Nepal. The study was therefore centered on reviewing the environmental indicators and suggest appropriate strategies so that it helps expediting localization of SDG in Nepal.

scholarly journals Identifying Business Practices Promoting Sustainability in Aboriginal Tourism Enterprises in Remote Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Skye Akbar ◽  
Rob Hallak
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Barriers To Success ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Remote Areas ◽  
Tourism Product ◽  
Cultural Experiences ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Tourism Enterprises

Aboriginal tourism entrepreneurs operating in remote regions of Australia draw on their 60,000 years of heritage to offer unique and distinct cultural experiences to domestic and international tourists. Living and operating in remote climates presents challenges to achieving successful and sustainable enterprises, including extreme weather, substandard infrastructure, distance from policy makers, distance from markets and the commercialisation of culture, which is customarily owned by and for use by traditional custodians, to produce and deliver a market-ready tourism product. However, many remote Aboriginal tourism entrepreneurs nevertheless achieve success and sustainability. This paper builds on the work of Foley to identify the characteristics of successful remote Aboriginal tourism enterprises and Aboriginal entrepreneurs in remote areas and the resourceful and creative business practices used by remote Aboriginal entrepreneurs to overcome barriers to success and finds that ongoing connections to community and culture are a key factor in that success. It also draws on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals to identify how the characteristics of remote tourism entrepreneurs and enterprises promote or inhibit the achievement of sustainability and suggests that they offer a framework for effective support of remote Aboriginal entrepreneurs. It concludes by noting that the industry would benefit from further investigation of the contributions made to sustainability by remote Aboriginal tourism enterprises and their stakeholders.

scholarly journals Sustainability as a Key Factor in Tourism Competitiveness: A Global Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Rodríguez-Díaz ◽  
Juan Ignacio Pulido-Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Regional Study ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Travel And Tourism ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Competitiveness Index ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between sustainability and tourism competitiveness and potential differences in these parameters between geographical regions. The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) of the World Economic Forum is most commonly used to measure tourism competitiveness, however, this index has been criticized by some academics. We propose a synthetic indicator (Imα) using the multicriteria double reference point method, which can measure tourism competitiveness more accurately by applying different degrees of substitutability among pillars. The Sustainable Development Index (SDG Index) frames the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and was used to analyze sustainability data. The new tourism competitiveness index (Imα) was obtained at both the global and regional level. It is important to note that some countries have a different ranking in the regional and global tourism competitiveness indexes, which shows a different behaviors among regions. The relationship between sustainability and tourism competitiveness is positive in all the analyses performed, though it is stronger when calculated without allowing substitutability, especially when considering the regional index. These trends show the value of this regional study of tourism competitiveness, because in addition to helping managers develop strategies to improve tourism competitiveness, it allows them to know the effect that these strategies will have on sustainability.

scholarly journals Economic globalisation and paradoxes

Temida ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Mirjana Dokmanovic
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equity ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
World Population ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
The North ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Rich

The increased development of technology and integration of markets have created possibilities to eradicate hunger, poverty and other illnesses of the mankind. Contrary, the world is facing opposite trends: the widening gap between the rich and the poor, increasing poverty, human security and conflicts. The negative effects of the globalisation that experience the majority of the world population are rooted at the ruling neoliberal model of macro economy, shaped and dictated by the international financial institutions, WTO, multilateral companies and transnational corporations. This logic is based on the free market economy, free flow of capital, resources, investments and labour force, trade liberalisation, deregulation, privatisation, reduction of social services, and elimination of the concept of ?the public good?. This economic model induces exploitation, discrimination, and inequalities, and therefore, it suits only to the big and powerful (states, markets, companies, individuals...), while brings disadvantages to the small and less powerful (states, markets, companies, individuals...). In addition, it deepens historical and contemporary inequalities based on race, sex, ethnicity, nationality etc. between and within states, and regions, including the West and the North. This context of development especially hurts vulnerable and marginalised groups, including women, resulting in their social exclusion and increased poverty. The efforts regarding the realisation of the UN Millennium Development Goals, including eradication of poverty and hunger, and development of gender equity, will be not effective at all until the neoliberal model should be replaced by the heliocentric, human rights approach to development.

scholarly journals Attaining the sustainable development goals in Africa: The new CSR for multinational corporations

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-105
Author(s):  
Nojeem Amodu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
State Actor ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Corporate Social

The fact that Africa is one of the worst performing regions in global audits about long-term development trends is longer news. The continent has repeatedly missed targets set by the United Nations and there are concerns it might just be left behind in the attainment of the latest 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development set by world leaders in 2015. With a view to complementing states’ responsibilities towards the provision of public goods and social services useful to actualize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa, this article interrogates the nature of multinational corporations (MNCs) and juxtaposing the non-state actor responsibilities within wider societal contexts with state duties in advancing the SDGs. The article not only sets the tone for a “new corporate social responsibility” in terms of improved pursuit of sustainability within business communities in corporate Africa, it also recommends workable measures, integrating progressive roles for both the state and MNCs towards the realization of the SDGs on the continent. Keywords: Corporate Responsibility; MNCs; SDGs in Africa; New CSR Roles; Regional Integration.

scholarly journals Selective Universalism: The Paradoxical Strategy to Achieve Universal Health Coverage in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanchan Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Selective Approach ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Disease Study ◽  
Universal Health

Universal health coverage (UHC), goal three of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has been on the agenda for some time now. However, India has not been able to achieve the less ambitious targets of Health for All (HFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this context, this article identifies inefficiency as one key factor affecting progress towards UHC. One of the key contributors to inefficiency is lack of evidence-informed decisions in India. Using evidence from economic evaluation and global burden of disease study, seven cost-effective targets have been identified for prioritization in the Indian context. It is proposed that a selective approach targeting these seven targets would be a more efficient way of addressing the challenge of UHC in India.

The Context Facets of Sustainability Entrepreneurial Orientation (SEO) Through the Lense of Gender

2020 ◽  
pp. 96-113
Author(s):  
Joana Costa ◽  
Mariana Pita
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Global Entrepreneurship ◽  
Environmental Goals

Addressing sustainable development and societal challenges have been placed at the heart of all government priorities, detachedly of country stage of development, as a mean to achieve prosperity through social cohesion and equality. In this setting, entrepreneurship appears to be a powerful tool to encompass economic, social, and environmental goals, particularly when sustainability oriented. Sustainability oriented entrepreneurs (henceforth SEO) are still focused in profit maximization strategies combined with environmental respect and social inclusion and rely on a firm-based entrepreneurship initiative integrating the triple bottom line. The chapter aims to understand the role of culture (culture and social norms) on SEO activity among several countries, along with gender heterogeneity. Specifically, the study determines the moderating effect of (national) culture on SEO. The study uses a logistic regression and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database from 2015, with information of 60 countries.

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