(2020). Promoting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in IJSDWE. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology: Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 387-388.

This research article presents a diagnosis and synthesis of three case studies of universities that have transformed themselves as organisations towards sustainability with signature pathway approaches. These took place in 2016 at Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Arizona State University, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. These universities first invested significant time, energy, and

Sustainable banking is an issue that has been growing in importance around the world since the 2008 global crisis. Because the banking system is a major economic and financial intermediary, it has a significant impact on diverse stakeholders. In this context, understanding the determinants of long-term survival of the banking industry appears to be important to ensuring sustainable banking. Based on

Internationally cities are increasingly applying Sustainable Stormwater Management (SSM) to mitigate urban stormwater problems caused by rapid urban sprawl and climate change. However, a gap exists in specific guidance and supporting case studies for SSM (termed Water Sensitive Design or WSD in New Zealand) at industrial sites. This paper uses a two-step New Zealand case study to identify priority

In this work, we show the usefulness of a new Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method, called Unweighted TOPSIS (uwTOPSIS), in helping decision making, aiming at achieving the objectives of sustainable development. uwTOPSIS is a new TOPSIS approach that does not require the decision-maker to determine the relative importance of each criterion. This makes the method more robust, since the results

In the era of the Anthropocene, understanding the dynamic interactions between humans and water is crucial for supporting both human well-being and the sustainable management of resources. The current water management challenges are inherently unpredictable and difficult to control. Social-ecological systems (SESs) approaches explicitly recognize the connections and feedbacks between human and natural

There has been an ongoing debate about the difference in the health and safety performance of projects that adopt green construction practices on account of the type of clients. This paper aims to explore how the type of client influence the health and safety performance of projects that adopt green construction practices in Nigeria. The moderating effect of client type was tested empirically by data

Neighborhood characteristics increase human well-being and happiness and is becoming a key criterion for residential location decisions nowadays. This paper proposes a tool to measure neighborhood characteristics, especially those that increase its sustainability, and to rank neighborhoods based on different residents’ profiles. The proposed ranking procedure, based on multiple decision criteria, combines

Sustainability is one of the main challenges of society. Progress in operational tools that help with environmental management and decision-making is slower and more complex than expected. The objective of the research is to show the usefulness of calculating composite indicators of environmental sustainability as a management tool. The proposed scientific model applies a multicriteria analysis, in

Increase in consumer awareness, and criticism from a multitude of stakeholders are often the cause of enormous pressure on organizations to take sustainability initiatives in order to minimize the ecological and social impacts of their businesses. Consequently, they are expected to track, measure, improve, and report financial as well as the non-financial performance of their operations. The main objective

A ‘Park to Live’, a social inclusion project with the aim of making socially active a heritage of high natural and landscape value, such as the Regional Natural Park of Lama Balice, located in the city of Bari (Apulia Region, Italy), through the introduction and testing of environmental and green healing activities for the psycho-physical well-being of users with mental illness. The spaces surrounding

The Sundarbans (West Bengal) is highly vulnerable to hydro-meteorological hazards such as coastal storm surges, flooding, cyclones and other climatic events. These events often lead to loss of productivity in ecosystem-based livelihoods, biodiversity, ecosystem goods and services. Communities directly dependent on socio-ecological systems for primary livelihood need to strengthen their resilience for

ABSTRACT The success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends on solving the ‘nexus’ challenge: how can positive interactions between SDGs be optimised, and negative interactions minimised, in order to create co-benefits and reduce trade-offs? Due to their varying impacts on the SDGs, the economic activities undertaken by organisations present a key lever for operationalising this SDG-nexus

The transition from fossil fuel to a green economy has led to the rise of renewable energy sources. Wind energy stands out because it is free, clean, inexhaustible, has the capacity to generate greater power, and has lower energy costs. From local to global scales, the environmental effects of wind power are frequently positive, in contrast to the negative impacts associated with fossil fuel technologies

Many inhabitants of the Northeastern region of India (NER) are poor and have to rely on subsistence farming for a livelihood and are therefore vulnerable to negative impacts of climate change. To enhance the resilience of the farmers and the entire agricultural sector of NER, stakeholders need to acquire additional and/or specialized competencies to deal with the negative impacts of climate change

Abstract: This article explores the unknown role of Conservation Trust Funds (CTF) through a review of the literature (scientific and technical) and a database of 89 CTF worldwide. It is based on the observation that there is little interest in the scientific literature for this instrument, although it is very well documented and used by conservation actors (NGOs, donors, governments). In the context

ABSTRACT Adaptation is an essential part of climate change policy. In areas where impacts are likely to be severe, migration is considered to be an adaptation option. In Bangladesh coastal areas migration due to climate change is contingent on people’s freedom of choice at individual and household level. Following Amartya Sen’s capability approach, we argue that there should be a line drawn between

In semi-arid sub-Saharan Africa, farming populations face harsh climatic conditions but also very unequal and dynamic social processes that affect their resilience. This study addresses aspects of power and social justice related to the social-ecological system of the Niayes coastal region of Senegal and examines the potential of agroecology to improve the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers.

Recent reports have pointed out that, at the current rate of development, the world will fail to meet Goal 6 of the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure the availability of sanitation and water for all. Over half the world’s population in the middle- and low-income countries will not have sanitation and water with sufficient quality and quantity due to limited financial

Inspired by Chinese traditional art forms and architectural thoughts, landscape ecology or landsenseology emphasizes the integration of human physical senses, psychological perceptions and sustainable development concept into the regional ecol-environmental research and planning-construction-management, which is an inheritance and development to ancient Chinese simple ecological ideas and sustainable

The theory of landsenses ecology is closely connected with Chinese philosophy and ecological wisdom. Many ancient settlements contain the ideas of landsenses ecology in the process of site determination, planning and development. From the perspective of landsenses ecology, this paper takes ancient house, fortress-village, town and city in Yu County, Hebei Province, China, as typical cases, and summarizes

Landsenses ecology emphasizes people’s comprehensive physical senses and holistic psychological perception in ecosystem, as well as their relationships. It elevates the significance of people’s perception characteristics in ecosystem and land-use planning and management to a new level. Taking Gulangyu (Kulangsu) Island in Xiamen City as an example, the study focused on the relationships among different

The extant literature reveals a growing need to rethink urban sustainability. Sustainable urban development is becoming more important to city strategic planning since sustainability is a critical aspect of environmental protection, social cohesion, and economic growth. However, decisions are currently not always taking into account the need to maintain sustainability because either decision makers

Analysis of the evolutionary process and the driving forces of the meliorization model (MM) for sustainable land use is the focus of landsenses ecology. Among different landsenses, the relationships between landscape preference changes and land-use dynamics have not been fully explored. Taking Fujian Province as an example, we investigated landscape preference changes during urbanization, which represents

Bambusa bambos (L.) Voss. expands rapidly in native forests in the dry and intermediate climatic zones in Sri Lanka, raising concerns among environmentalists in recent years. No studies have been undertaken so far to evaluate ecological and socio-economic perceptions of the local communities on this issue. In landsenses ecology, physical senses of the community play a critical role in land-use planning

Land-use planning and design (LPD) is one of the most critical passways toward sustainable development. LPD without thorough considerations can cause many problems, such as disharmony between people’s perception and nature, the chaos of spatial patterns, and the misuse of land resources. Landsenses ecology, a discipline based on natural elements and people’s perception, provide scientific basis to

A biosphere reserve is a protected area that includes smaller areas where restricted development is allowed. This may help solve the conflict between conservation and development in areas where a corner solution is too expensive. The designation and management of a biosphere reserve contribute to what is called landsenses ecology but have their own costs and therefore need to be assessed for their

Urban parks not only improve the urban ecology but also provide cultural ecosystem services to city dwellers. This study investigated the relationship between cultural ecosystem services provided by urban parks and visitors’ perception of urban park from the perspective of landsenses ecology. A perceptual indicator system was developed following the analysis of landsense elements among the park elements

This paper aims to assess the perceived recreational ecosystem services (RES) of Gölcük Nature Park (Isparta) – a legally protected area- in order to evaluate its operational potential in relation to current management practices. To identify the perceived and preferred RES, an in-situ questionnaire survey was carried out. The long- term development plan for the site was used as secondary data to assess

ABSTRACT This paper presents a concept of sustainable development from the perspective of ecosystem services and analyzes some existing problems in ecosystem service assessment. It also proposes the concepts of landsense, landsense creation (LC) and general landsenses ecology in order to expand the research and application of landsenses ecology, and discusses the relationships among landsense creation

This special issue is the first systematic introduction to the progress of landsenses ecology and its applications since its formation in 2016. As a people-oriented, science-technology-based emerging discipline, landsenses ecology connects our physical senses with digital sensors, and balances the local and global considerations of ecosystem services and sustainable development. The progress in landsenses

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of biomass energy consumption and non-renewable energy consumption on sustainable development in OECD countries. Data from 36 OECD member countries for the period 1990–2017 have been obtained with the System-GMM method. According to the estimation results, the effect of biomass energy consumption on per capita sustainable development is positive and

This paper is concerned with a floating island as ecological flood alleviation. Contrary to the flood alleviation scheme proposed by Ministry of Construction, Japan in 1971, Komatsu-Tenmangu-shrine was preserved in the oval-shaped bank by the persevering resistance by citizens, scholars, head and staffs of the shrine, and many others, and the riparian work was finally completed on 19 November 2017

Stormwater runoff is the major source of surface flooding in urban communities. Urban surface water flooding is one of the most worrisome issues, due to their negative impacts on public health. Green infrastructure has developed as an alternative approach to cope with urban surface water flooding. The runoff reduction capacity of green infrastructure needs to be elucidated to better support green infrastructure

Sustainable development indicators (SDIs) are important parameters used to quantify sustainability and to help understand the transformations that occur in a city. The city of Anchieta is located in southeastern Brazil, and until the end of 2015 was characterized mainly by industrial production, a situation that changed after 2015 due to the standstill of a metallurgical/steel plant installed in the

With the increase of civil vehicles, the parking lot has become one of the necessary infrastructures in urban construction in China. Furthermore, the dramatic changes of people’s cognitive ability and needs require innovative methods of parking lot analysis. Landsenses ecology provides new ideas for parking lot evaluation. Through the visual interpretation of images in Google Earth, we extracted the

Through a qualitative case study from the Northern Region of Ghana, this paper examines smallholders’ perceptions of environmental change and contemporary Green Revolution prescriptions promoted by foreign donors, NGOs and the state. These prescriptions seek to commercialise and intensify production in Ghana through increasing use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and faster-growing seed varieties

This journal article explores local and global impacts and responses to climate change. There is a significant need to maintain sustainable food security for present and future populations. Climate change and global population food security are interdependent. Emerging issues that will shape the future of the global population through support from sustainable agriculture are explored. The focus also

This study focuses on examining and enhancing the theoretical basis and robustness of existing methods and practices of life cycle assessment (LCA) and circular economy, when studying the interrelationships among environmental sustainability, food systems and human dietary choice. This study also provides possible directions for improving current methods and practices of LCA, and for harmonized use

In the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD), the mangrove-shrimp-based livelihood model has brought multiple benefits for coastal environment, e.g. coastal protection, biodiversity, sustainable incomes. However, it has been questioned on the grounds on the model’s sustainability and resilience to climate change-induced salinity intrusion along with economic and environmental constraints. This paper aims to

The global environment has been worsening, and governments around the world have realized that the establishment of natural protected areas is one of the important ways to achieve sustainable development. Natural protected areas are spatial carriers for protecting biodiversity, natural resources and cultural heritages, and play a vital role in achieving regional ecological security. Combined with the

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a concept that evolves in line with emerging sustainability issues. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, ESD is embraced in Goal 4, Target 4.7, and reflected in other Goals and Targets. The approach towards the 2030 Agenda is important, not only because of the crucial role that education will play in the implementation of the Goals, but also

Coastal zones (CZ) are social-ecological systems where rapid forms of economic development are disrupting the existing patterns of relationships, raising challenges for governance. Institutional flexibility, broad participation, multilevel governance, and adaptability have been identified as critical conditions for the governance of social-ecological systems. While the importance of agency, through

The Chongming Island Landsenses Ecol-industrial Park is a demonstration park which integrates many kinds of industrial functions to realize the scientific development of clean energy and ecological agriculture, including photovoltaic power generation, freshwater aquaculture, and sightseeing agriculture. In order to establish an Ecol-industrial park with an intergrowth between production process and

In Bangladesh, participation discourse has officially become part of the objectives of the government and international agencies for water management projects since the mid-1990s. At the same historical timeframe, originating from indigenous knowledges Tidal River Management (TRM) has been formalized as a less structural and more natural management intervention to prevent the severe water-logging in

The implementation of the Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) requires collaboration between actors from different sectors. One way of facilitating exchange between different actors are forums. This article investigates the contribution of different types of forums for SDG implementation. We use the case of Switzerland’s implementation of SDG 6 in the Global South to explore

On the one hand, researchers argue that global governance in forestry is fragmented and ineffective. On the other hand, some argue that global forestry governance is key to reducing forest loss related to climate change issues. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression for a sample of 155 nations, this research tests the association between one type of global governance, the number of ratifications

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) explicitly acknowledges the role of economics in the process of achieving the water quality targets it sets. At the same time, stakeholder participation in water resources management is emphasized in the Directive. In this paper, we examine farmers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for ecological status improvement at a river basin scale. Based on a Contingent Valuation

Over the last decades, managing urbanization poses a great challenge for many developed countries. To overcome, the negative impacts of urbanization and preserve sustainability in urban areas, governments are compelled to undertake measures, to increase the benefits derived from peri-urban and urban green spaces. In this study we tried to document the social and economic value of the peri-urban and

Sustainable development has recently attracted growing attention on behalf of scientists and policymakers. One of the main pillars to achieve sustainable development goals is decidedly linked to the environment. This paper contributes to the existing literature by shedding light on the determinants of environmental degradation in Gulf ‎Cooperation Council countries between 1980 and 2017. More specifically

ABSTRACT Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a conservation tool designed to adequately manage and protect marine resources threatened by human activity by addressing both biological and socioeconomic needs. The Irish Sea is a busy waterway under the jurisdiction of six entities (Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland, England, and Wales). Within this body of water there

Does international trade enable a country to achieve sustainable development? This study presents two empirical analyses. First, the relationship between international trade and some selected indicators of Sustainable Development Goals is investigated by using data from over 100 countries during the period 1990–2014. The empirical findings reveal a significant relationship in which international trade

Sustainable development does not prosper in unhappy societies, as it is a direct indicator of well-being and inequality. As part of well-being, the pursuit of happiness should be understood as a fundamental human goal for all nations and integrate the public policy objectives. The aim of this study is to find the variables explaining happiness in order to provide scientific knowledge to be addressed

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability have been subject to wide academic debate in recent times. However, publications that connect both constructs in most parts are clearly theoretical. The aim of this work is to analyse the possible relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability in Ecuadorian co-operatives. These approaches lead to focusing

ABSTRACT Resources for development are used efficiently when social programs help to promote at the same time the sustainability of grass-root financial associations at the bottom of the pyramid. This study applies machine-learning to a worldwide database of grass-root associations in order to identify which social programs are good predictors of financial returns in the groups. The results indicate

This study was conducted in the Caiman forest on Mahé in the Seychelles – an important water catchment area that suffers from different land use activities and also from invasive species. The aim of this research was threefold: (i) to identify and document plant species in the Caiman forest, (ii) to assess the diversity of plant species, and (iii) based on available saplings, to make inference on future

The control of waste within the industrial, urban or rural sectors of activity, and the efficiency-effectiveness of waste management processes, is one of the main challenges of today’s society. Despite successive attempts over the last few decades, a sufficiently optimal control model has not been achieved. The transition to the Circular Economy seems to be the model of change necessary to achieve

Land investments and global commodity supply chains contribute to food insecurity, deforestation, climate change, and conflict. As a result, donor governments, NGOs, international organizations, and other stakeholders have pushed companies to voluntarily adopt responsible land policies to promote sustainable land use and development. Yet, no study has empirically assessed companies’ normative commitments

The article deals with the state of the atmosphere of Krasnoyarsk (Russia) over the period 2007–2017 in the indicators of sustainable development adopted by the UN, developed in the USA and Russia. For this purpose, data from annual State reports on the state of the environment and recordings from automated city monitoring stations are used. The dynamics of gross emissions of pollutants into the city

The Canadian Arctic is a complex and fragile region which is currently experiencing unprecedented environmental degradation due to climate change. The effects of climate change on the Canadian Arctic is just one example where we’re seeing the decline of ecosystems and socio-culture-environmental traditions. Mineral development in this already fragile ecosystem is indeed a contentious and high-risk