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This proposal is a case study of the Belo Monte dam. The article deals with human rights and environmental violations arising from the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the northern region of Brazil. This paper aims to evidence human rights violations brought by the construction Belo Monte dam, a glimpse of the COVID-19 scenario and how Brazilian regulation allowed those violations.

To achieve the objective of this article, the Brazilian norms, public policies and the current situation of the affected communities were analyzed, focusing on the human rights violations and the historical timeline of this mega-project. The analysis was directed to the hardcore social sciences, considering analytical and qualitative research.

The data gathered and the references consulted proved that many human rights violations occurred and that the vulnerability of indigenous and local people increased with the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the northern region of Brazil. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this adverse scenario since indigenous and local people already had their vulnerabilities increased with the construction of Belo Monte.

The Belo Monte Dam has had severe and irreversible impacts on the lives of local communities, especially indigenous peoples, as it had destroyed their culture and the environment. The authors were not able to do fieldwork, due to the great distance of the dam. In this sense, the research does not cover all the social–environmental issues, as an ethnographic approach is necessary.

The authors intend to bring attention to harms caused to indigenous people and the local communities, expecting to create an alert of what this kind of project can do to vulnerable peoples' life, especially now with the pandemic scenario, which makes indigenous and traditional communities more vulnerable to diseases due to the loss of their territories.

The purpose of this paper is to show a practical case of dialogic web‐based learning that has provided a set of questions analysing two complex technological projects in “southern” countries with effects on multicultural equity.

Structured online review processes in multicultural and systems science curricula allow for high density of literature‐based reflection and analysis.

The entirety of the set of over 50 questions developed by the proposed web‐based dialogic procedure represents a starting point for an in‐depth assessment of the effects of deploying “northern” technology in “southern” countries.

The present case study concentrates on energy technology, notably on two hydroelectric plants presently under construction in Ilısu, Turkey, and Belo Monte, Brazil.

The multitude of questions calls for complex technological construction projects that have to undertake sound interdisciplinary in‐depth analysis of technological, environmental, economic, cultural and social consequences in order to secure a necessary level of economic, environmental and social sustainability.

Application of widely accepted planning tools such as technology assessment, environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment are useful but have to be complemented by analogous tools at a cultural and social level.

This case study operates through questioning, largely in the Socratic tradition. Questions may trigger a broad discussion process within civil societies – which is the intention of the present text.

This paper aims to expose the violence intrinsic to globalization and to suggest a conceptual and practical domain focused on arresting and preventing the structural violence of globalization.

The paper integrates theory, scholarly literature and the author’s fieldwork analyzed through solidarity and liberationist methodologies.

The paper shows that severe, violent and irreparable destruction of formerly thriving and sustainable cultures and communities around the globe is an inherent component of globalization; current notions of “development” and “poverty” provide ideological cover for such destruction; a wide range of mainstream institutions and organizations (including governments, trade and financial institutions and national and multinational corporations) benefit from the destruction and collude in these dynamics, while a passive majority participates through its silence and consumptive lifestyle; and to arrest these dynamics requires awareness of the structural violence of development and globalization, and that those of us living in currently unsustainable societies commit both to re-localize our effects to our own communities and to change the operating rules of the global system.

This paper offers analysis, perspectives and practical considerations toward transformations essential to ending the structural violence of globalization, while inviting broad-based solidarity for further advancements.

Bridging global and local realities, the paper exposes systematic large-scale structural violence endemic to globalization, “development”, mainstream ideas about poverty and practices of “poverty reduction”. The paper identifies some fundamental requirements for arresting the structural violence of the global system.

The Equator Principles are a transnational corporate social responsibility initiative in the project finance sector. In 2013, the Equator Principles Association celebrated the tenth anniversary of its principles and at the same time the formal launch of the latest generation of the Equator Principles (EP III). The paper describes the historic development of the Equator Principles – from the initial drafting process in the early 2000s up to the latest review process which led to the third generation of the Equator Principles. The paper also analyzes the current state of affairs of the Equator Principles (Association) and gives a brief outlook on potential lines of (future) development. In particular, the paper deals with the following questions: What are the main characteristics of the Equator Principles framework? What are the relevant actors involved in the drafting and reviewing process? Why are the EPs and other organizational and associational codes of conduct in the finance sector so important? What has been achieved so far by the Equator Principles (Association) and the participating (financial) institutions and what remains to be done?

The purpose of this paper is to present a model of corporate social entrepreneurship. The case of Odebrecht demonstrates how companies are using society's sustainability challenges to innovate, in particular by adopting a corporate social entrepreneurship approach that allows the company to differentiate from competitors and create shared value.

This research applies a comparative case study design in combination with a review of the literature in order to present a model of corporate social entrepreneurship.

The case study of two major projects within the Odebrecht group allows us to design a model of corporate social entrepreneurship explaining how the company transforms external triggers such as socio-environmental risks into sustainability innovations, creating competitive advantages.

The two case studies provide some evidence of how companies blend sustainability and innovation within corporate social entrepreneurship strategies. More research is needed in order to refine the patterns and components of the corporate social entrepreneurship model.

Integrating sustainability into the innovation process allows Odebrecht to differentiate itself from competitors and have meaningful engagement with stakeholders. This helps the company to grow, especially in developing economy markets, which face similar sustainability challenges as Latin America.

The combination of corporate entrepreneurship models and these case studies of sustainability innovation helps to create a model of corporate social entrepreneurship explaining how companies can transform external sustainability challenges into shared value creation.

The purpose of this paper is to first define the “jet principle” of (e‐)learning as providing dynamically suitable framework conditions for enhanced learning procedures that combine views from multiple cultures of science. Second it applies this principle to the case of the “Global Studies” curriculum, a unique interdisciplinary curriculum at Graz University in Austria that is targeted to multicultural and developmental learning among students from diverse ethnic and disciplinary backgrounds.

Social and learning procedures are heuristically analysed based on ten years of interdisciplinary experience in interdisciplinary learning settings in a multicultural environment with critical approach to globalisation, while also diverse scientific disciplines are counted as “cultures of understanding”.

The outcomes of the analysis suggest that the negation‐oriented web‐supported five‐level learning suite “Surfing Global Change” (SGC) is capable of providing helpful framework conditions to multicultural learning that can suitably be applied in the “Global Studies” curriculum as well as in other similar international curricula.

Quality criteria are subject to scientific cultures and hence differ from discipline to discipline; thus representing continuous challenge for suitable perception of actors and bystanders.

Complexities of cultural diversity are reflected also by complexities caused by origins in diverse scientific cultures. For constructing thorough and practically implementable consensus solutions, dialogic processes and peer review are best mediated through web‐based discussion, for which this paper provides examples. Discourse‐oriented features and amendments for curricula of “Global Studies” are presented.

Networking among multicultural and interdisciplinary curricula with a critical stance towards globalisation is facilitated through suggestions in this paper.

By offering a new type of graphic notation for learning procedures, this paper facilitates new perspectives on the intrinsic dynamics of learning, adoption of new standpoints and acquiring a 360° view of the institutional landscape and interest patterns in complex multi‐stakeholder issues such as globalisation.

This paper aims to measure the potential for electronic participation of Brazilian citizens via Facebook as social media, identifying latent factors that provide a favorable environment for such participation by Brazilian municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Based on these factors, the Potential Index for Electronic Participation (PIEP) of municipalities is calculated.

The theoretical discussion is based on the literature on electronic government and citizen participation. In the methodology, exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis have been used to identify latent factors and to classify PIEP according to the clusters.

The results of the research point to serious regional discrepancies regarding the level of participation in social media, highlighting an urgent need for national e-government policies to be rethought from a regionalized point of view.

The research enhances understanding of the relation between sociodemographic indicators such as income, education, employment and those concerning the access to and effective use of social media technologies by citizens and local governments.

This study aims to analyze the use of discourse to solve issues related to coordination between advocacy coalitions in processes of gradual and transformative institutional change related to public policies.

Theoretical background is based on the advocacy coalition framework (ACF), new discursive institutionalism and critical discourse analysis theories. The research examines shorthand notes of public hearings held in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate between 1999 and 2012, carrying out a case study on Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant. The speech extracts were categorized according to the modes of operation of ideology and typical strategies of symbolic construction proposed by Thompson (1995).

The results suggest that the discourse can be an instrument of internal coordination and between coalitions that share beliefs about a policy, as in the case of Belo Monte. Potentially existing coalitions define their identities and set positions on controversial issues, aligning interests and expectations. In the case studied, the modes of operation of ideology verified as instruments of the coalitions were dissimulation, reification, fragmentation, unification and legitimation.

The paper represents a unique analysis of the modes of operation of ideology (Thompson, 1999) in the case of Belo Monte. In addition, the paper aims to contribute to the New Discursive Institutionalism and to the ACF when it uses the critical discourse analysis to articulate a method to analyze the use of the Discourse by the coalitions. In fact, such an approach integrating the ACF, the New Discursive Institutionalism and the critical discourse analysis is something original. Finally, it also addresses a gap in ACF: issues related to advocacy coalition coordination.

Attentive readers linked to organizations working on infrastructure and environmental policies can benefit from the results by envisaging the deliberate manipulation of typical symbolic construction strategies and general modes of operation of ideology.

The study sheds light on the daily and behind-the-scenes disputes among stakeholders who are interested in a certain public policy. It may draw attention to the access and professional use of the shorthand notes of the hearings held at the National Congress.

This paper aims to fill a gap pointed out by Jenkins-Smith et al. (2014) regarding problems of coordination of advocacy coalitions. In addition, it innovates by using critical discourse analysis as a methodological reference in ACF empirical studies. In addition, this work continues a trajectory of two other previously published studies dealing with the same phenomenon: a theoretical essay and a case study.

This study aims to identify and gauge the sustainability indicators (SUSIs) for sustainable Hydroelectric Power (HEP) project development. It examines major SUSIs under the social, economic and environmental (SEE) fronts and categorizes them under push and pull impacts which helps to identify challenges and opportunities associated with projects. Additionally, the study calculates an empirical sustainability index (SI) to assess the sustainability level of HEP. Finally, the study suggests mitigation measures across stakeholders, which will optimize government/developer/investor investments.

This paper examines the interaction of sustainable HEP development with SUSIs using Uttarakhand as a study area. Additionally, SI has been developed quantitatively. For the indicator classification, the authors conducted a literature review and secondary survey of all affected parties, including investors, developers, NGOs and villagers. The fuzzy logic theory (FLT) is used to determine the SI of the study area and classify projects in their level of sustainability. On the basis of expert opinion and literature review, mitigation measures are proposed across stakeholders.

The authors found that there is a mixed effect of SUSIs on HEP development across various projects in Uttarakhand. Furthermore, the authors suggest that index-based assessment and planned collaboration play a significant role in sustainable HEP development. Mitigation measures should be suggested to all affected stakeholders based on specific project issues, i.e. collaborations, training, public awareness campaigns, and initiatives by the government that would improve sustainability conditions.

In addition to supporting the ongoing and upcoming initiatives launched by the Government of India, including the Green Energy Corridor, independent power producers (IPPs); and the India-Renewable Resources Development Project with IDA and participates in Net zero target.

The structured, sustainable HEP planning suggested in the study will help to conserve society, economy, save resources and in parallel reduce the cost and time of developers and policymakers. This will also help to improve the socioeconomic status of the villagers and prolong the life of the project.

The innovative SI-based push-pull approach identifies a sustainable HEP project planning.

This chapter discusses the DRENURBS initiative in Belo Horizonte, a program for urban water drainage using natural ecosystems, using the sociotechnical framework. DRENURBS transformed the logic of canalizing water streams into a new, nature-based solution with significant positive impacts on biodiversity and social benefits. Following a theoretical debate on sustainability transition and innovation concepts, this chapter seeks to map the essential elements for building a successful institutional framework in the public sector for urban biodiversity improvements.