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Climate change has been identified as a pressing social, environmental and economical challenge that has been unequivocally linked to human activity through latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. It is here to stay with us for generations to come and is already causing severe tribulations across the world. As nations devise policies to mitigate to climate change to stay within the 1.5 degrees Celsius target and small island developing states (SIDS) like Mauritius and the developing world in general find means to adapt to its consequences, a core shortcoming highlighted is the lack of community engagement and grassroots action so that policies permeate to concrete action. Of prime importance for this to happen is raising awareness on the climate change phenomenon, which has so far been a topic deemed complex for the general public, hence creating systemic barriers for climate action. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) can play a significant role in designing such community outreach programmes based on outcomes reported in literature in the educational sector in support of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education. There is growing interest for a green lifestyle in the world population, and this chapter shows how the home can be used as a basic building block for allowing each household to contribute to climate action, while offering an effective case study to raise awareness on climate change through practical examples and demonstration, in support for SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Based on an energy-water-materials nexus, the circular home concept is a clear contribution to SDG 13: Climate Action, with huge potential to use AI techniques and underpinning technologies to implement and optimise the efficacy of the proposed measures.

The chapter aims to evaluate the efficacy of stakeholder participation in the solid waste management system of Mauritius in view of providing a possible mechanism to attain the goals of a sustainable waste management framework.

The study employs qualitative indicators, namely, User Inclusivity and Producer Inclusivity of the Wasteaware Benchmark Indicators. Secondary data are used to conduct a critical and comprehensive analysis of the sub-indicators falling under each of the two main indicators to determine the overall compliance level with respect to stakeholder engagement of the waste management sector of Mauritius.

The results of the study show a LOW/MEDIUM compliance level for both User Inclusivity and Provider Inclusivity indicators, which indicates that improvement is required in the stakeholder engagement mechanism in Mauritius. The main weaknesses identified comprise of lack of an adequate legal framework with clear definition of waste types with regards to segregation, especially for non-hazardous wastes, low efficiency of sustainable waste management awareness campaigns and lack of inclusion of the informal sector. The main strengths identified consist of a proper bidding mechanism in place and a good level of equity in the provision of waste management services with respect to comingled waste collection. Suggested improvement areas include a revamping of the existing legal framework related to waste management to cater for higher inclusivity of all stakeholders together with including sustainable waste management topics in the formal education curriculum.

The User Inclusivity and Producer Inclusivity indicators were previously applied only to cities to measure the level of stakeholder participation, but this study has demonstrated that these indicators can also be adopted on a nation-wide level to evaluate stakeholder engagement. The use of these indicators together with secondary data presents a less time-consuming method to assess stakeholder participation in the waste sector, which can be particularly useful for Small Island Developing States.

The success of waste management depends on public awareness of environmental issues and the ability of the local government to provide facilities. Many countries have serious problems of financial resources and infrastructure for waste management. As there is a lack of awareness of the population on the importance of waste management, municipal governments only adopt remediation actions to manage waste collection service.

In Angola, during the last decade, the government has been committed to the reconstruction and development of the country, creating infrastructure for the provision of essential services and publishing legal tools to respond to environmental issues. In 2012 the government approved the Strategic Plan for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste (PESGRU). The strategic plan was designed for a time horizon until 2025. Due to the economic crisis that hit the country, the implementation of the plan suffered several setbacks and the deadlines established for the different programmes are being compromised.

A study carried out in 2020 on waste management in Angola, with four of the main provinces as a stage, through the analysis of official documents, direct observation and face-to-face interviews with those in charge of waste management, revealed a lack of funding for the implementation of PESGRU and low assistance from the Ministry of the Environment and the central government and showed the unsustainability of the waste management model in light of the principles recommended by international good practices.

Currently, Mauritius is adopting landfilling as the main waste management method, which makes the waste sector the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) in the country. This presents a challenge for the island to attain its commitments to reduce its GHG emissions to 30% by 2030 to cater for SDG 13 (Climate Action). Moreover, issues like eyesores caused by littering and overflowing of bins and low recycling rates due to low levels of waste segregation are adding to the obstacles for Mauritius to attain other SDGs like SDG 11 (Make Cities & Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe, Resilient & Sustainable) and SDG 12 (Guarantee Sustainable Consumption & Production Patterns). Therefore, together with an optimisation of waste collection, transportation and sorting processes, it is important to establish a solid waste characterisation to determine more sustainable waste management options for Mauritius to divert waste from the landfill. However, traditional waste characterisation is time consuming and costly. Thus, this chapter consists of looking at the feasibility of adopting machine learning to forecast the solid waste characteristics and to improve the solid waste management processes as per the concept of smart waste management for the island of Mauritius in line with reducing the current challenges being faced to attain SDGs 11, 12 and 13.

This chapter will examine two questions. First, how can art and cultural heritage contribute to the health and well-being of a place within the context of the tourism industry? More specifically, can cultural tourism be a driver for community sustainability, that is, not only environmental sustainability but also social empowerment, cultural preservation, and economic vitality? To explore these questions, the author begins by establishing the ways art and environment are closely intertwined, while pondering how cultural production generally – along with the cultural tourists it attracts – can be a driver for sustainability in tourism settings. The benefits that the arts draw from the environment as well as the ways the environment benefits from the arts will be examined. In the next section, the author unpacks how cultural tourism, and more specifically art production, can be drivers for environmental sustainability through social and eco-entrepreneurship and the creation of a shared social value. In the third section, the author identifies some of the challenges inherent in government regulation and preservation of cultural heritage sites. The author argues that communication, cooperation, and relationship building, not just between governing bodies and private stakeholders, but with residents and tourists, should be prioritized in destination management and marketing strategies. In the end, the author proposes that this type of strategy is vital in order to move toward greater cultural, environmental, social, economic, and other kinds of sustainability in the tourism industry.

This chapter offers novel insights into how global corporations can innovate to tackle the global waste crisis and gain sustainable competitive positions. Using two of the most prominent types of global waste crises – food and plastic wastes – we discuss the dilemma of food and plastic waste, why innovations in global firms are needed to address them, and argue that a different perspective among those firms is needed, one which conceptualizes the development, dissemination and use of innovations in waste management, and one which recognizes that innovations, thus, created contribute to advancing the creation of economic, environmental and social value. We conclude using an overarching conceptual framework that depicts the complexity of the new perspective.