scholarly journals Glancing through Two Decades of Research on the Human Side of Sustainable Innovation: The Past, the Present, and Directions for Future Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6355
Author(s):  
Jan Kratzer ◽  
Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufseß ◽  
Gunter Festel

The increasingly negative effects of climate change are caused by humans and can be solved only by humans. In the past two decades, researchers have conducted considerable studies devoted to the human side of sustainable innovation. The present work aimed to provide a structured overview of these studies in the frame of the Special Issue: The Human Side of Sustainable Innovations. In contrast to the concepts capturing the human side, the definitions and operationalizations of sustainability and sustainable innovations are considerably ambiguous. We identified six journals that exemplify three factors on the human side of sustainable innovation and elucidate the concept. For their findings to be conclusive, researchers need to engage in significant efforts in investigating the differences in the interpretation and recognition of sustainability, in establishing consensus on the sustainable behavior of actors, and in executing comparable studies and experiments. Moreover, future research needs to establish generally accepted evaluations and measurements of sustainability.

Author(s):  
Max Visser ◽  
Thomas C. Arnold

AbstractThe rise of the platform economy in the past two decades (and neoliberal capitalist expansion and crises more in general), have on the whole negatively affected working conditions, leading to growing concerns about the “human side” of organizations. To address these concerns, the purpose of this paper is to apply Axel Honneth’s recognition theory and method of normative reconstruction to working conditions in the platform economy. The paper concludes that the ways in which platform organizations function constitutes a normative paradox, promising flexibility and autonomy while at the same time creating working conditions that undercut these promises. The paper ends with a critical discussion of Honneth’s approach, possible supplementing ideas and further lines of future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephane Hallegatte ◽  
Marianne Fay ◽  
Edward B. Barbier

AbstractBecause their assets and income represent such a small share of national wealth, the impacts of climate change on poor people, even if dramatic, will be largely invisible in aggregate economic statistics such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Assessing and managing future impacts of climate change on poverty requires different metrics, and specific studies focusing on the vulnerability of poor people. This special issue provides a set of such studies, looking at the exposure and vulnerability of people living in poverty to shocks and stressors that are expected to increase in frequency or intensity due to climate change, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, and impacts on agricultural production and ecosystem services. This introduction summarizes their approach and findings, which support the idea that the link between poverty and climate vulnerability goes both ways: poverty is one major driver of people's vulnerability to climate-related shocks and stressors, and this vulnerability is keeping people in poverty. The paper concludes by identifying priorities for future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 343-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vally Koubi

The link between climate change and conflict has been discussed intensively in academic literature during the past decade. This review aims to provide a clearer picture of what the research community currently has to say with regard to this nexus. It finds that the literature has not detected a robust and general effect linking climate to conflict onset. Substantial agreement exists that climatic changes contribute to conflict under some conditions and through certain pathways. In particular, the literature shows that climatic conditions breed conflict in fertile grounds: in regions dependent on agriculture and in combination and interaction with other socioeconomic and political factors such as a low level of economic development and political marginalization. Future research should continue to investigate how climatic changes interact with and/or are conditioned by socioeconomic, political, and demographic settings to cause conflict and uncover the causal mechanisms that link these two phenomena.


Author(s):  
Gabriela Soreanu ◽  
Igor Cretescu ◽  
Mariana Diaconu ◽  
Maria Ignat ◽  
Valeria Harabagiu ◽  
...  

This study presents an introduction in air revitalisation practice by using a microalgae-based biosystem. Although the study is developed in the light of space applications, it opens new horizons for implementing such systems for terrestrial applications as well, where biotechnologies for addressing climate change and other issues associated with air pollution is in high demand. The experiments have been performed at laboratory-scale by using Arthrospira (spirulina) platensis as microalgae model. Influence of culture and illumination conditions, as well initial gas composition and other factors/techniques such culture filtration on the biosystem performance were investigated and the relevant results are presented and discussed. Based on the actual findings, future research needs are addressed.


Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helder Fraga

The importance of viticulture and the winemaking socio-economic sector is acknowledged worldwide. The most renowned winemaking regions show very specific environmental characteristics, where climate usually plays a central role. Considering the strong influence of weather and climatic factors on grapevine yields and berry quality attributes, climate change may indeed significantly impact this crop. Recent-past trends already point to a pronounced increase in the growing season mean temperatures, as well as changes in the precipitation regimes, which has been influencing wine typicity across some of the most renowned winemaking regions worldwide. Moreover, several climate scenarios give evidence of enhanced stress conditions for grapevine growth until the end of the century. Although grapevines have a high resilience, the clear evidence for significant climate change in the upcoming decades urges adaptation and mitigation measures to be taken by the sector stakeholders. To provide hints on the abovementioned issues, we have edited a special issue entitled: “Viticulture and Winemaking under Climate Change”. Contributions from different fields were considered, including crop and climate modeling, and potential adaptation measures against these threats. The current special issue allows the expansion of the scientific knowledge of these particular fields of research, also providing a path for future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 555-559
Author(s):  
Elettra Agliardi ◽  
Marco Casari ◽  
Anastasios Xepapadeas

AbstractClimate change is one of the most significant and complex challenges facing the world's economies. The necessity to enlarge the knowledge base regarding climate change and its impacts and to design efficient policies is widely accepted by the scientific community, the decision makers and the general public. This special issue, which will be published in two parts in the current and subsequent issue of Environment and Development Economics, is a selection of papers related to the topic of the international workshop on ‘The Economics of Climate Change and Sustainability’ organized by the Economics Department of the University of Bologna in April 2018. The papers in this special issue cover a wide range of climate-change-related topics, which include endogenous growth and overlapping generation models; climate-related financing and green bonds; demographics; location decisions; technology diffusion; quantitative relationships and experimental approaches. We hope that this special issue will provide some new insights into the economics of climate change and help to identify new directions for future research.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Zeng ◽  
Ming-Guo Ma ◽  
Dong-Rui Di ◽  
Wei-Yu Shi

Separating the impact of climate change and human activities on runoff is an important topic in hydrology, and a large number of methods and theories have been widely used. In this paper, we review the current papers on separating the impacts of climate and human activities on runoff, summarize the progress of relevant research methods and applications in recent years, and discuss future research needs and directions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Tomaszkiewicz ◽  
Majdi Abou Najm ◽  
Daniel Beysens ◽  
Ibrahim Alameddine ◽  
Mutasem El-Fadel

Over the last 20 years, dew harvesting has evolved to fruition because of a better understanding of its physics, thermodynamics, and the radiative cooling process of condensing substrates. Although resultant yields are relatively small, dew positions itself as a viable water resources supplement because it occurs naturally and frequently in many locations globally, particularly in the absence of precipitation or when more traditional water sources are subject to depletion. Moreover, dew water is generally potable, especially in rural locations, where it is most beneficial. This review summarizes dew harvesting research achievements to date including formation processes, collection in various environments, prediction models, water quality, and applications. The paper concludes with outlining existing gaps and future research needs to improve the understanding and performance of dew harvesting in the context of adaptation to climate change.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-273
Author(s):  
Lynn A. Addington ◽  
Glenn W. Muschert

This introduction provides an overview to the special issue, which marks the twentieth anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School by considering the effect on policy addressing school violence and mass shootings. We asked each of the contributors to consider changes in their area of interest over the past two decades as well as future research and policy issues. The resulting five contributions take various forms: three are traditional scholarly articles, one is a personal commentary, and one is an afterword that combines a scholarly format with professional reflection. In our introduction, we summarize each one. As each article identifies the need for continued work in this area, and we conclude by providing a few examples of this research.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D Ringel

In this issue of Endocrine-Related Cancer we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the first reported therapeutic use of radioiodine with a special issue dedicated to the history, current uses, and future research for this cornerstone of thyroid cancer therapy. Edited by Professor Christopher McCabe, one of our outstanding Associate Editors and an expert in thyroid cancer biology, a panel of expert authors provide six comprehensive and up-to-date reviews covering important topics for endocrine oncology researchers and clinicians.


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