Spatial multicriteria analysis for sustainability assessment : a new model for decision making

Policy makers have to consider the sustainability perspective in strategic planning decisions. Identifyand measure the level of sustainability, through its three dimensions, is a priority. Therefore, the aim of this work is to present a new model, called GeoUmbriaSUIT, integrating Multicriteria Analysis and Geographic Information Systems, specifically developed for helping Decision Makers to take policy decisions about sustainability in planning. The model provides outputs which are easy to be understood by not experts; the evaluation path is traceable and transparent, thanks to back analysis. To better explain the potentiality of GeoUmbriaSUIT and its functioning, a case study about Malta is described. Our results showed that in four regions of Malta the best dimension was the environmental one, while only for two regions (Northern Harbour and Southern Harbour) respectively the economic and social dimensions obtained the best scores. The integration of MCDA-GIS resulted to be a useful tool for sustainability assessment.peer-reviewe

Sustainability experiments in the agri-food system : uncovering the factors of new governance and collaboration success

In recent years, research, society and industry recognize the need to transform the agri-food system towards sustainability. Within this process, sustainability experiments play a crucial role in transforming the structure, culture and practices. In literature, much attention is given to new business models, even if the transformation of conventional firms toward sustainability may offer opportunities to accelerate the transformation. Further acceleration could be achieved through collaboration of multiple actors across the agri-food system, but this calls for a systems approach. Therefore, we developed and applied a new sustainability experiment systems approach (SESA) consisting of an analytical framework that allows a reflective evaluation and cross-case analysis of multi-actor governance networks based on business and learning evaluation criteria. We performed a cross-case analysis of four agri-food sustainability experiments in Flanders to test and validate SESA. Hereby, the key factors of the success of collaboration and its performance were identified at the beginning of a sustainability experiment. Some of the key factors identified were risk sharing and the drivers to participate. We are convinced that these results may be used as an analytical tool for researchers, a tool to support and design new initiatives for policymakers, and a reflective tool for participating actors

How are indicators in Green Building Rating Systems addressing sustainability dimensions and life cycle frameworks in residential buildings?

The use of tools capable of evaluating the sustainability of buildings throughout their life cycle represents a key point enabling the transition towards a sustainable built environment. To this end, different Green Building Rating Systems (GBRS) have been developed over the last few decades. All of them are voluntary schemes and propose a set of indicators to evaluate the associated impacts of buildings throughout their life cycle. However, it is unclear how GBRS are addressing sustainability dimensions and the life cycle frameworks, and particularly in residential buildings, which are responsible for a great part of these impacts. The aim of this study is to explore, in detail, how indicators in GBRS are covering the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social and economic) and the information modules proposed by EN 15978, along the life cycle stages of the building construction process. To do so, eight GBRS were selected and the 387 sustainability indicators included in them were analysed and clustered according to three different classification criteria, namely, sustainability dimension, information modules and stage of the construction process life cycle. The analysis and clustering process of indicators was carried out by a panel of experts in the field of study, with multidisciplinary academic and professional background, throughout an iterative process of four rounds and meetings, which led to achieve a consensus in the findings. The results of the analysis revealed that the environmental dimension is the one that is considered most among the tools, and both the social and economic dimensions require more attention to achieve a good balance. GBRS are more focused on the evaluation of the embedded impacts of the building, since most of the indicators are related to the product and construction stages (A1-A5) and therefore need to acquire a more holistic approach throughout the whole life cycle; the indicators should be considered in the very early design stage (not when the building is in operation), when decisions are made and have more potential to improve the sustainability performance of the buildings throughout its lifespan. It was not possible to cluster one set of indicators as they referred to aspects beyond the EN 15978 system boundary (such as site, transport or domestic waste management), thus highlighting the need for more coherence between a building's life cycle and GBRS frameworks, on the one hand, and the inclusion of new information modules covering the above-mentioned additional aspects, on the other.Funding for open access charge: CRUE-Universitat Jaume

Investigating the factors affecting information systems evaluation within sustainable environments

Copyright @ 2013 EMCIS.Currently, organizations and stakeholders are more concerned with environmental issues, thus the role of information systems (IS) and information technologies (IT) within organizations towards ecological being sustainability has changed. Environmental or Green initiatives is realized as having credibly to assist in shifting to a sustainable society. Furthermore, the elements within IS/IT evaluation including costs, benefits and risks within organizations associated with IS evaluation and sustainability are taken into account in terms of the challenges concerning green practices (Green IS/IT) leading the organizations to attempt to diminish the impact of their IS/IT operations towards the environments socially and ethically, which indirectly assist them in achieving competitive advantages competitors through adopting and implementing environmental sustainability practices. In addition, government sectors are taking a step closer in order to create awareness and incorporate green into all components of the business functions. Practitioners and scholars are motivating to use the existing frameworks and models to evaluate IS/IT initiatives with sustainability taken into perspectives. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to critically review the normative literature associated with IS evaluation within sustainable environments and to develop a conceptual framework or model for IS evaluation within sustainable organizations that measures the impact of environmental sustainability factors and highlight a number of research gaps that need to be addressed in future research

Raising awareness for potential sustainability effects in Uganda: A survey-based empirical study

Copyright © 2019 for this paper by its authors. In July 2019, we ran the 3rd International BRIGHT summer school for Software Engineering and Information Systems at the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The participants developed a group project over the course of the week, which included the application of the Sustainability Awareness Framework. The framework promotes discussion on the impact of software systems on sustainability based on a set of questions. In this paper, we present the educational evaluation of the Sustainability Awareness Framework in a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results indicate that the framework can provide supportive guidance of the societal and environmental challenges in the given context

Politikrelevante Nachhaltigkeitsforschung : Anforderungsprofil für Forschungsförderer, Forschende und Praxispartner aus der Politik zur Verbesserung und Sicherung von Forschungsqualität - ein Wegweiser

Research aimed at helping to solve pressing societal problems must meet specific quality requirements: The knowledge it produces must not only be sound but also useable. This is particularly true of research that aims at bringing specific knowledge to bear on policy issues relating to sustainable development. This guide provides detailed actor-specific requirements profiles for this type of “policy relevant sustainability research.” This guide is aimed at research funding agencies and contracting entities, researchers themselves and policymakers1 who participate directly in the research process. It can be used both for cases where the research funding agency/contracting entity and the policymaker are different institutions or where they are identical. However, policy consulting by specialized agencies that do not perform original research is not addressed. The requirements profiles serve two functions. First of all, they should function as a guide for the three stakeholder groups, aiding them in their efforts to increase and ensure the quality of research processes and research outcomes. And, secondly, they should improve the reflexive communication among stakeholders regarding the means and the goals of research... The results presented here are part of a research and development project (Research Code Number: 3711 11 701) funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA). The project was carried out by the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE, project management), the Institute for Ecological Economy Research and the Environmental Policy Research Center for of the Freie Universität Berlin (FFU) (project duration: 09/2011-01/2013). The aim of the project was to develop concepts that can be used to increase the relevance of sustainability research for the design of environmental policy in Germany. In addition to the requirements profiles for a policy relevant sustainability research presented in this guide, recommendations, based on empirical studies, have been developed regarding how the coordination between different government departments with respect to funding such research can be optimized. The project's final report will be available starting March 2013 from the UBA.orschung, die einen unmittelbaren Beitrag zur Lösung drängender gesellschaft-licher Probleme leisten will, muss sich besonderen Qualitätsanforderungen stellen: Sie soll nicht nur gesichertes, sondern auch anwendbares Wissen bereithalten. Dies gilt besonders für Forschung, die darauf zielt, Politik in Fragen nachhaltiger Ent-wicklung mit spezifischem Wissen zu unterstützen. Für diesen Typ einer „politik-relevanten Nachhaltigkeitsforschung“ präsentiert der vorliegende Wegweiser ein detailliertes Anforderungsprofil. Der Wegweiser richtet sich an Förderer oder Auftraggeber einer solchen Forschung, an die Forschenden selbst und an Akteure aus der Politik1, die sich direkt an For-schungsprozessen beteiligen. Er kann dabei sowohl für den Fall genutzt werden, dass Forschungsförderer oder Auftraggeber und politische Praxispartner verschie-dene Institutionen sind, als auch für den Fall, dass sie identisch sind. Politische Beratung durch spezialisierte Agenturen, die keine eigene Forschung leisten, wird dagegen nicht adressiert. Die im Detail ausgearbeiteten Anforderungen haben zwei Funktionen. Sie sollen zum einen den drei genannten Akteursgruppen als Orientierung dienen, wie sie dazu beitragen können, die Qualität von Forschungsprozessen und Forschungs-ergebnissen zu erhöhen und zu sichern. Zum anderen sollen sie die reflexive Kommunikation zwischen den Akteuren über Mittel und Zwecke der Forschung verbessern.... Die hier vorgestellten Ergebnisse wurden im Rahmen eines vom Bundesministe-rium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (BMU) und dem Umwelt-bundesamt (UBA) finanzierten Forschungs- und Entwicklungsvorhabens erarbeitet (Forschungskennzahl 3711 11 701). Das Vorhaben wurde vom Institut für sozial-ökologische Forschung (ISOE, Vorhabenleitung), dem Institut für ökologische Wirt-schaftsforschung (IÖW) und dem Forschungszentrum für Umweltpolitik der Freien Universität Berlin (FFU) durchgeführt (Laufzeit: 09/2011–01/2013). Ziel des Vorhabens war es, Konzepte zu entwickeln, mit deren Hilfe die Relevanz der Nachhaltigkeitsforschung für die Gestaltung von Umweltpolitik in Deutschland erhöht werden kann. Neben dem hier vorgestellten Anforderungsprofil für eine politikrelevante Nachhaltigkeitsforschung wurden auf Basis empirischer Erhebun-gen auch Empfehlungen erarbeitet, wie die Abstimmung zwischen verschiedenen Bundesressorts bei der Förderung von Nachhaltigkeitsforschung optimiert werden kann. Der Abschlussbericht des Vorhabens kann ab März 2013 über das UBA bezo-gen werden

Business Models for Sustainable Finance: The Case Study of Social Impact Bonds

Business models for sustainability (BMfS) are relevant topics on research agendas, given their orientation toward sustainability issues. However, traditional versions of these models are often ill-equipped at solving complex social problems. Cross-sector partnerships for sustainability (CSPfS) have been recognized as a new paradigm that mitigates the failure of traditional models. Impact investing, and social impact bonds (SIBs) in particular, represent an interesting field of research in innovative business models for sustainable finance, even though the literature does not consider SIBs within this broader field. We propose an exploratory study based on qualitative methods aimed at conceptualizing SIBs within the framework of BMfS and understanding how SIB collaboration varies across social sectors and geographical areas. Our study identifies three different models of SIBs characterized by the different degrees of collaboration between actors: (i) SIB as a fully collaborative partnership; (ii) SIB as a low-collaborative partnership; and (iii) SIB as a partially collaborative partnership. Our findings are useful to policy makers and practitioners involved in the SIB design, suggesting that a fully collaborative SIB model may stand a better chance of achieving the expected social impacts

The sweet spot in sustainability: a framework for corporate assessment in sugar manufacturing

The assessment of corporate sustainability has become an increasingly important topic, both within academia and in industry. For manufacturing companies to conform to their commitments to sustainable development, a standard and reliable measurement framework is required. There is, however, a lack of sector-specific and empirical research in many areas, including the sugar industry. This paper presents an empirically developed framework for the assessment of corporate sustainability within the Thai sugar industry. Multiple case studies were conducted, and a survey using questionnaires was also employed to enhance the power of generalisation. The developed framework is an accurate and reliable measurement instrument of corporate sustainability, and guidelines to assess qualitative criteria are put forward. The proposed framework can be used for a company’s self-assessment and for guiding practitioners in performance improvement and policy decision-maki

A holistic and participatory information system for rural water and sanitation sector in Latin America and the Caribbean

The provision of water supply, sanitation and hygiene services has emerged as a top priority in the development agenda in Latin American and the Caribbean. In light of the investments envisaged to reach the targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), information systems (IS) will play a key role in improving decision-making. In this context, this article introduces a global IS which is increasingly implemented in a number of countries across Latin America and the Caribbean as a policy instrument to support national and local decision-making: the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Information System (SIASAR). This information system includes a comprehensive framework for data collection, data analysis and data dissemination that simultaneously fulfils different stakeholders’ needs. This article analyses these three key monitoring issues from the viewpoint of stakeholders’ involvement. Results indicate that SIASAR represents a suitable monitoring framework to analyse sustainable services and the level of service delivered. Additionally, it is highlighted the advantages of adopting a continued participatory approach in system development, namely i) the stimulation of experience exchange and knowledge sharing among recipient counties, ii) the promotion of learnt-by-doing, and iii) an increase of regional understanding, collaboration and comparison.Postprint (published version