scholarly journals Raising awareness on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Lego Serious Play (LSP)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pau Sendra Pons ◽  
Norat Roig Tierno ◽  
Alicias Mas Tur
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Kinesthetic Learning ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Key Skills ◽  
Development Goals

In September 2015, world leaders agreed on a new sustainable development agenda based on a set of global goals aimed at eradicating poverty, ensuring planet protection and guaranteeing prosperity for future generations (Stafford-Smith et al., 2017). Since then, the education sector has played a fundamental role, not only raising awareness among young people about the importance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also promoting innovative ideas around sustainability (Owens, 2017). SDGs implementation needs of business actors rethinking their understanding of economic growth, taking into consideration not only economic aspects but also social and ecological concerns (Crespo et al., 2017). Thus, the traditional paradigm based on continuous economic expansions needs to adopt a triple bottom line perspective (Slaper and Hall, 2011). In this context, it is remarkable to bring economic and business students closer to the importance of SDGs, involving them in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. For this purpose, a LEGO Serious Play (LSP) workshop is held to envision a more sustainable tomorrow and collectively reflect on the main challenges of our society from the business perspective (Kristiansen and Rasmussen, 2014). LSP is an unconventional methodology based on brick-building and metaphoric storytelling. It involves kinesthetic learning given that participants are asked to build metaphoric structures with Lego bricks that respond to a challenge raised by the instructor. This hands-on methodology is often accompanied by facilitated reflection, becoming a language for emotional content and promoting discussion around complex issues (Peabody and Noyes, 2017). The workshop started with an introduction to LSP for students to familiarize themselves with its dynamics. Then, a challenge related to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was raised by the instructors who accompanied students through the process of strategic thinking. The last part of the workshop was devoted to sharing ideas and reflections among participants, both regarding the designed prototypes and the potential of LSP for developing new ideas. This last phase was developed firstly within the different work groups and, after, with the broader group so that participants could receive the feedback of their fellows before presenting the prototypes to all participants. To analyze the results of this innovative education project, we conducted a survey among participants about LSP methodology, workshop dynamics and skills acquisition using a Likert scale. The results show how LSP is especially suitable to foster ideation around SDGs since it raises awareness and understanding about how these goals might be integrated into daily business initiatives. It also allows participants to significantly improve their communication and problem-solving skills. This suggests LSP methodology is suitable in higher education contexts as it allows students to reflect on complex issues through an ideation process where kinesthetic learning plays a crucial role. LSP speeds up the process of finding sustainable solutions and allows unconscious ideas to take shape in 3D. It also helps students to foster self-confidence as well as network with other students, given its socializing nature. All in all, students develop key skills for their professional development. 

scholarly journals Alignment of Islamic Banking Sustainability Indicators with Sustainable Development Goals: Policy Recommendations for Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2607
Author(s):  
Amin Jan ◽  
Mário Nuno Mata ◽  
Pia A. Albinsson ◽  
José Moleiro Martins ◽  
Rusni Bt Hassan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Sustainability Indicators ◽  
Islamic Banking ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Coding Method ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Axial Coding

This study aims to establish the link of key Islamic banking sustainability indicators with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) as a policy recommendation for sustainable development and to mitigate the distressing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit). To identify the key Islamic banking sustainability indicators, the authors selected the most cited sustainability measurement indexes in Islamic banking. Initially, the indexes were divided into 10 broader themes, and then the key Islamic banking sustainability indicators were shortlisted from each theme based on their high-frequency distribution. The shortlisted sustainability indicators were then ratified to be in line with Islamic philosophy based on “Maqasid al-Shariah” (objectives of Shariah) and were subsequently grouped into the three dimensions of economic, environmental, and social sustainability based on the axial coding method. Finally, the categorized sustainability indicators were aligned with the relevant UN SDGs through the axial coding method for policy formulation, and respectively 12 propositions were developed for policy formulation. This study labeled the methodological process of this study as the ECA method (exploration, categorization, alignment). The new ECA method offers a reverse extension in the “SDG compass” developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for aligning business policies with the UN SDGs. The process of aligning Islamic banking sustainability indicators with the UN SDGs will provide a roadmap to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of economic, environmental, and social issues. Due to the diversity of the UN SDG framework, it covers multiples aspects for sustainable development. Therefore, considering the UN SDGs in terms of various banking instruments will mitigate the multiple distressing impacts of COVID-19 on the triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit), it will also promote a sustainable development agenda.

Sustainable Development Through Franchise Innovation in the Digital Economy

2022 ◽  
pp. 793-811
Author(s):  
Ye-Sho Chen
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Demand And Supply ◽  
Good Relationship ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Goals

Franchising has been popular as a strategy for businesses to grow and innovate. It is even more so in today's business need of developing digital solutions for sustainability. In responding to United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, using franchise innovation to replicate proven sustainable solutions in other parts of the world is an effective approach to scaling up solutions to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. The essence of a successful franchise innovation lies in managing the good relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee. In this paper, we show that digital business solutions for sustainability play an important role in growing and nurturing such a good relationship. Specifically, we discuss that franchise innovation via Netchising, combining the digital power of the Internet for global demand-and-supply processes and the international franchising arrangement with local business solutions for sustainability, is an entrepreneurial approach to communities' development where economic and social aspects are mutually supportive.

scholarly journals Integrating Business and Medical Pedagogy to Accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-101
Author(s):  
Shannon L. Sibbald ◽  
Nicole Haggerty
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Traditional Learning ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Case Based Learning ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

A quality education is one that best fits the present and future needs of an individual within their current society. Case-based Learning (CBL) is inquiry-based learning which allows self-directed learning, logical reasoning, problem-solving and decision-making. CBL enhances knowledge, teamwork and problem-solving skills; it is used worldwide across various healthcare fields. It can tie theory to practice and go beyond traditional learning outcomes to induce deeper learning. The CBL method has been touted as superior in preparing future healthcare professionals. This preparation is a vital step in attaining the progress needed to achieve the 2017 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We believe the CBL approach will not only foster more competent learners, but also is a necessary and sufficient technique to meet the SDGs. We conclude that healthcare pedagogy should embrace CBL techniques in order to realize sustainable development and the healthy planetary goals.

scholarly journals Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG): What Is Wrong with ESDGs, and What Can We Do Better?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Helen Kopnina
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Ecological Justice ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Social Environmental

This article will discuss social, environmental, and ecological justice in education for sustainable development (ESD) and Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG). The concept of sustainable development and, by extension, the ESD, places heavy emphasis on the economic and social aspects of sustainability. However, the ESD falls short of recognizing ecological justice, or recognition that nonhumans also have a right to exist and flourish. An intervention in the form of an undergraduate course titled Politics, Business, and Environment (PBE) will be discussed. As part of this course, students were asked to reflect on the three pillars of sustainable development: society, economy, and environment, linking these to the fourth concept, ecological justice or biospheric egalitarianism. Biospheric egalitarianism is characterized by the recognition of intrinsic value in the environment and is defined as concern about justice for the environment. Some of the resulting exam answers are analyzed, demonstrating students’ ability to recognize the moral and pragmatic limitations of the anthropocentric approach to justice. This analysis presents ways forward in thinking about the role of “ecological justice” as the ultimate bottom line upon which both society and economy are based.

scholarly journals Redefining the Use of Sustainable Development Goals at the Organisation and Project Levels—A Survey of Engineers

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Mansell ◽  
Simon P. Philbin ◽  
Efrosyni Konstantinou
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Business Skills ◽  
Creating Shared Value ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Local Impacts

The United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to deliver an improved future for people, planet and profit. However, they have not gained the required traction at the business and project levels. This article explores how engineers rate and use the SDGs at the organisational and project levels. It adopts the Realist Evaluation’s Context–Mechanism–Outcomes model to critically evaluate practitioners’ views on using SDGs to measure business and project success. The study addresses the thematic areas of sustainability and business models through the theoretical lens of Creating Shared Value and the Triple Bottom Line. A survey of 325 engineers indicated four primary shortfalls for measuring SDGs on infrastructure projects, namely (1) leadership, (2) tools and methods, (3) engineers’ business skills in measuring SDG impact and (4) how project success is too narrowly defined as outputs (such as time, cost and scope) and not outcomes (longer-term local impacts and stakeholder value). The research study is of value to researchers developing business models that address the SDGs and also practitioners in the construction industry who seek to link their investment decisions to the broader outcomes of people, planet and profit through the UN SDGs.

How to promote Geography for Sustainability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenwu Zhao ◽  
Bojie Fu ◽  
Yanxu Liu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Earth Systems ◽  
Development Goals

<p>Human interactions with Earth systems have accelerated dramatically in recent decades. Human activities are altering the Earth system and exerting significant impacts on the environment, and undermining improvements in human wellbeing and poverty alleviation. In order to secure global prosperity and transform to global sustainability, United Nations launched the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015. The goals include efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and to consolidate efforts to slow climate change and preserve our world environment. The process of implementing the SDGs has created new challenges for policy makers and for the scientific community. Half of the Sustainable Development Goals are related to environment and natural resources. Geographical Science is one of the most important KEY for sustainable development. Geographers have been conducting various experiments and modelling at multi-scales, and tried to identify the relationships between human activities and various earth surface processes, dwell on ecosystem processes and ecosystem services trade off at multi-scale, model the effects of human activity and earth systems, and try to figure out the possible sustainable solutions for regional, national and global developments. It’s time to launch a new journal focus on Geography and Sustainability for the world. That’s why, Faculty of Geographical Science (Beijing Normal University) start to publish the new journal: Geography and Sustainability. The new journal focus on: Geographical processes, Human-Environmental Systems, Ecosystem services and human being, Sustainable development, Geo-data and model for Sustainability. The new journal is also the office journal for IGU Commission on Geography for Future Earth: Coupled Human-Earth Systems for Sustainability.</p>

scholarly journals Raising Perceptions on Corporate Social Responsibility for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Subrata Kumer Pal ◽  
Pramath Chandra Sarker ◽  
Shibu Chandra Odhikari
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Business World ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Corporate Social

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 is the United Nations development agenda for developing the economy, society, and environment. Moreover, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an emerging topic in the business world. The paper aims to pursue business students’ knowledge and perception of CSR activities linked to SDGs. The quantitative research design and descriptive research analysis were used. The data were collected from business learning students of three public universities in Bangladesh. CSR’s perception-related items positively correlated with Spearman’s Rho’s formula. The descriptive statistics revealed perceptions of CSR activities among respondents, which are directly and indirectly related to SDGs. In addition, the two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test showed a variation of perceptions among groups. The findings of this study showed respondents had an acceptable knowledge level on CSR activities. There was a positive perception of respondents on economic and social dimensions of SDGs and mainly included in philanthropic and economic fields of CSR. Besides, their consciousness of the environmental dimension related to ethical and legal activities of CSR concepts was comparatively low. Finally, favourable knowledge and perception of business studying students in CSR activities are imperative for the successful implementation of SDGs.

The Sustainable Development Goals and Business Students’ Preferences: An Exploratory Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 99-114
Author(s):  
James W. Westerman ◽  
Yalcin Acikgoz ◽  
Lubna Nafees ◽  
Emmeline dePillis ◽  
Jennifer Westerman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Business Student ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Corporate Social

To effectively teach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to enhance corporate social responsibility, we need to understand the predictors of business student predispositions towards the SDGs. We examine whether location, authoritarianism, religiosity, and individualism influence university business student SDG preferences. Results (n=262) indicate authoritarian and religious business students emphasize SDGs with an orientation towards the health and economic well-being of their local communities. The results also indicate the most significant factor in predicting SDG preference was university location. Southeastern U.S. students were more supportive of people/prosperity-oriented SDGs, indicating greater concern with the social safety net and basic human needs, whereas Hawaiian students were more supportive of planet-oriented SDGs indicating greater concern for environmental issues. Implications for teaching SDGs to university business students are discussed.

Sustainable Development Through Franchise Innovation in the Digital Economy

2020 ◽  
pp. 39-57
Author(s):  
Ye-Sho Chen
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Demand And Supply ◽  
Good Relationship ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Goals

Franchising has been popular as a strategy for businesses to grow and innovate. It is even more so in today's business need of developing digital solutions for sustainability. In responding to United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, using franchise innovation to replicate proven sustainable solutions in other parts of the world is an effective approach to scaling up solutions to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. The essence of a successful franchise innovation lies in managing the good relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee. In this paper, we show that digital business solutions for sustainability play an important role in growing and nurturing such a good relationship. Specifically, we discuss that franchise innovation via Netchising, combining the digital power of the Internet for global demand-and-supply processes and the international franchising arrangement with local business solutions for sustainability, is an entrepreneurial approach to communities' development where economic and social aspects are mutually supportive.

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