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The purpose of this paper is to debate how companies may better become a sustainable learning organization by offering the most used and insightful concepts of sustainability.

Through literature review, learning organization and sustainability perspectives are explored and compared.

Learning sustainability experiences around the world have provided tools and mechanics to companies to enhance economic growth without affecting environment and communities.

The paper explains points of convergence and divergence between learning organization and sustainability approaches and provides insightful remarks from literature.

The purpose of this paper is to identify research priorities to guide transportation stakeholders in their practice, education, and research.

A literature review of published, conference proceedings, agency reports, books, and web site documents was conducted, aiming at the identification of the diverging strategies and practices undertaken by transportation stakeholders in order to be able to generate initial meaningful insights about a sustainable transportation system.

Sustainable transportation systems are in certain way a new paradigm where a business-as-usual approach is not possible. Vehicle makers produce more energy efficient vehicles. Nevertheless, fossil fuel is still the predominant source of energy. Regarding the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, non-motorized transport modes are preferable over motorized transport modes, and public transportation modes preferable to private transportation modes. It is also import to include environmental consideration along the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of the transportation infrastructure. While vehicles powered by alternate fuel such as biofuel, electricity, and/or fuel cell are becoming more popular, shifting to more sustainable transport modes would also require changes on commuter behaviors and individual preferences.

The paper discusses the efforts that are underway for decoupling transport and CO₂ emissions, being useful for transportation stakeholders to implement or improve the effectiveness of their potential or current sustainability transport initiatives through the identification of strategies, opportunities, and barriers.

Although there is plenty of good information about sustainability and transportation modes in literature, most of the articles analyzed focus on specific factors of the whole transportation system. The originality/value of this paper is found in the holistic perspective, here presented, of the state of the art issues that a sustainable transport system would encompass.

While the adoption of corporate social responsibility reporting has been growing, less interest has been evoked in how organizations are in fact responding to organizational sustainability, or what their relevant optimal strategies ought to be. Triple Bottom Line Sustainability (TBLS) as a desirable organizational goal is now generating some interest, and it is defined here, together with an exploration of the systemic issues which influence organizational attitudes regarding its achievement. Attention is drawn to lessons to be learned from how a learning organization, on either the local or global scale, might respond to the challenges of achieving sustainability. By exploring research and practitioner viewpoints bearing on sustainability‐related promotion of organizational learning, and means to change industrial‐age mindsets, this special issue aims to help organizations remove cultural and structural barriers to progressing sustainability.

General sustainability‐related concerns and challenges are reviewed, and individual authors voice their understanding of various elements of sustainability based on their research, their case studies, and the extant literature.

Findings include enhanced understanding of how economic vested interests and political dynamics can block effective decision making in the sustainability field, even though the many sustainability experiences from around the world have provided practical means for companies to enhance their economic growth without affecting environments and communities. The impact of two different styles of leadership on the creation of a positive and a negative sustainability‐enabling environment is explained, and it is suggested that having a better understanding of an organization's ability to adapt and self‐regulate on crucial issues for sustainability may help to develop a path through the ongoing socio‐ecological crisis. In addition, the importance of an organization having an extended view of its endeavors in corporate and business ethics is revealed. An action research study is also presented to show how organizations currently view and implement sustainability, and to identify which critical systemic components are yet to be seriously addressed.

The opinions and research presented provide new and unique understanding of the elements contributing to organizational sustainability. Further value is added via the assessment of progress toward the sustainability ideal, the identification of barriers, and by studying the many practical examples of means to facilitate progress toward that ideal.

Students play an unequivocal role in sustainable universities as they are theorized to embody the mission of a sustainable university through a sustainable lifestyle and spread sustainability practices during their professional careers. Despite this, it is not well known how or why students come to embody a sustainable lifestyle. This study aims to better understand the relationship between happiness, academic achievement and sustainability behaviors among the student population in a Mexican higher education institution.

In a questionnaire study, engineering and psychology university students at a large public university in northwestern Mexico answered questions regarding their environmental sustainability behaviors, happiness and academic performance. A stratified random sampling technique was used to obtain the sample population that best represents the entire population. After chi-square tests, it was confirmed that the three variables were independent of one another. Therefore, a series of correspondence analyses were conducted to examine clusters or patterns that could indicate relationships among the three variables.

The main finding from this work was that the happiest and most academically astute participants were only slightly environmentally sustainable or not sustainable at all. The lack of environmental sustainability in students from one of the most top-rank sustainable universities in Mexico does not align with previous sustainability reports. External factors to the university, such as cultural values and extreme weather conditions, may have influenced students’ sustainability behaviors.

As with any other questionnaire study, the provided data is subject to interpretation, judgment and bias. In addition, the environmental and happiness index used in this study are not free of criticizing, and some author had disputed its efficacy. Finally, this study’s findings did not determine any causality or directionality between any of the latent variables. However, causality and directionally between environmental sustainability-happiness and happiness-academic performance have to be found in both directions.

Despite the unsustainability of students in this study, this study has several contributions. First, it provides an evaluation of a sustainable university from the perspectives and behaviors of students. The views of students as they relate to the complexities and visions of a sustainable university have remained relatively underexamined. Second, these analyses point to specific sustainability-oriented challenges and inadvertent barriers (e.g. extreme weather patterns) toward the embodiment of a sustainable lifestyle. These challenges and barriers suggest that sustainable universities need to address the dynamic changes inherent in sustainable development. Finally, this study indicates that the link between happiness, academic performance and sustainability may be more complicated and driven by cultural and structural barriers. The issue of barriers, as they relate to sustainability behaviors, is highly relevant and presents important opportunities and questions for future research.

This study provides an evaluation of a sustainable university from the perspectives and behaviors of students. Students’ views as they relate to the complexities and visions of a sustainable university have remained relatively underexamined. Second, these analyses point to specific sustainability-oriented challenges and barriers as they relate to the embodiment of a sustainable lifestyle. These challenges and barriers suggest that sustainable universities need to address the dynamic changes inherent in sustainable development. Finally, this study indicates that the link between happiness, academic performance and sustainability may be more complicated and driven by cultural and structural barriers.

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 is at the core of many sustainability initiatives on Mexican higher education institutions (HEIs). Yet, progress to SDG 13 and the entire 2030 Agenda might today appear unlikely to meet. To change this situation, it is necessary to form professionals aware of the impacts of climate change and competent to respond efficiently to its adaptation and mitigation. In this context, the purpose of this study is to reveal the beliefs and concerns about global warming of Mexican students enrolled in engineering bachelor's degrees at higher education institutes that promote sustainability.

In an exploratory study, engineering university students at six large public universities in Mexico answered questions regarding their beliefs and concerns regarding climate change. The study was carried out by using the Global Warming's Six Americas survey questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed by a research team from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication at Yale University to identify different audiences within the American public regarding climate change. Participants were recruited via convenience/snowball techniques which provided access to a diverse sample. Those who agreed to partake in the study were directed to an online platform via Google forms. Data were collected from January to April 2021. Coding and data treatment was conducted according to the developers' codebook and SPSS scripts. After running the statistical program scripts to determine the respondents' segment, a univariate descriptive analysis was performed for each item in the questionnaire to describe general properties in each variable. Subsequently, a series of correspondence analyses was conducted to examine the existence of clusters or patterns that could indicate relationships among selected questions.

The findings of this study revealed that the majority of the Mexican engineering higher education students participating in the survey fell in the segment of alarmed, 47.3%, or the segment of concerned, 46.%. Furthermore, 78.6% of higher education students in the alarmed segment were extremely sure that global warming is happening. In addition, 98% believed that it is caused mostly by human activities. Furthermore, 89% stated that global warming would harm them personally significantly and 96% thought that future generations would be harmed considerably. About 78% believed that people in Mexico and the USA are currently being harmed by global warming. On the other hand, about 45% of students in the concerned group noted they were extremely sure. In addition, 96% of them thought that global warming is being produced mostly by anthropogenic activities. Furthermore, 39% said global warming will harm them personally to a great deal. However, nearly 80% noted that global warming would also hurt future generations. Although those students in the alarmed and concerned group show similar beliefs and concerns about global warming, the magnitude of concern was more significant for those in the alarmed segment.

There are several limitations to the study. First, the online questionnaire did not allow for clarification or follow-up on behalf of the respondents. Therefore, it could be possible that respondents misunderstood some items. However, the research team took the following measures to limit confusion: (1) The questionnaire had been previously used in several studies. None of these studies reported problems related to confusion, so the research team took this fact as evidence of the acceptable reliability of the questionnaire. (2) A face-to-face pilot test was carried out with 30 university students where no problems of comprehension were reported. (3) The target population had adequate prior knowledge of climate change, so the possibility of misunderstandings was likely low. A second limitation relates to the nature of the study. Fighting to mitigate the global climate crisis is a positive social norm. Respondents may have provided answers in line with this social norm and presented themselves as more pro-environmental than they actually are. Second, because of our selection criteria, our data may overestimate the general public's “worldviews” on climate change. Finally, this study was carried on during the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have impacted items' responses. These limitations constitute future opportunities for future research. Specifically, future research might ideally use a large-scale comprehensive study evaluating the broader Mexican public's beliefs and views about climate change. Furthermore, because our data showed that our respondents were very concerned about climate change, but did little in terms of behavioral mitigation, future research should continue to examine and explore differences in various measures of climate friendly behaviors among different segments of the population.

This study's findings have at least twofold implications for university authorities and sustainability practitioners in their pursuit of meeting SDG 13. The first implication is related to academic life. Undoubtedly, having a high percentage of students believing in global warming and mainly that this phenomenon is by anthropogenic activities is a strong indication of their knowledge. But, indirectly, these results validate the sustainability teaching and research efforts in their HEIs, implying the commitment to sustaining and improving the quality of their sustainability-educational initiatives in all institutional areas. The second implication of our findings is related to HEIs' future commitments to address the target of SDG 13 during the present Decade of Actions. Results also lead us to reflect on the role of Mexican HEIs as agents of change, beyond offering good instruction on climate science as an agent of socialization to encourage positive mitigation and adaptation behaviors among the general population.

The social implication behind the environmental values of younger people found in this study is that a deeper understanding of these millennials' beliefs and concerns toward global warming will help Mexican policymakers implement policies in this regard and hopefully will be endorsed by a significant proportion of the Mexican population.

The originality of this study is the application of the Global Warming's Six Americas survey questionnaire in higher education settings. Therefore, the knowledge generated determines the quality of the article. As findings in this study revealed, there is apparently little disagreement among the Mexican engineering higher education students about the belief of the existence of global warming and this phenomenon is being caused mainly by human-related activities. Nevertheless, a minority of students still believe that global warming is caused naturally or not occurring. However, it is not possible to claim victory, as these achievements should not be considered, in any way, a guarantee that students will carry out behaviors in their daily lives that impact a reduction in global warming. Nevertheless, the study provides insights to allow university authorities to ensure that the current beliefs and concerns will not fade in the post-pandemic times. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic should be taken a pivotal era toward the goal of increasing the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

At the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) in Paris, 195 governments reached an agreement pivotal not only for countries but also for companies. The Paris Agreement makes it impossible to practice business as usual. The transition to a low-carbon coffee industry could be achieved by fostering corporate sustainability. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of how to adopt the principles of Paris Agreement by enhancing the corporate sustainability of a Mexican coffee-roaster company using the inventory phase of the life cycle assessment tool.

The data collection process followed the requirements of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System Handbook, developed by the Institute for Environment and Sustainability in the European Commission Joint Research Centre, and data on packaging materials and energy production were drawn from a commercially available database in the LCA software SimaPro.

Compiling data on the energy of the firm’s material flows in a firm revealed opportunities to improve energy efficiency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The results of the inventory analysis can be used to evaluate the specific environmental impacts of the coffee-roasting process at this Mexican coffee company. Data compilation activities for energy flows identified the need to install liquefied petroleum gas measuring devices and individual measuring devices for electricity consumption in different areas of the coffee plant. It is recommended that, while implementing this option, the company also develop an energy management program to achieve energy efficiency.

The inventory data in this case study permit comparisons of the current state of the system studied and its possible future states and offer stakeholders relevant information on resource use. Similarly, the project results provide the basis for future research on environmental performance in the coffee industry in Mexico and for the development of policies regarding the production process in the coffee supply chain. Consequently, this research can help fulfil Mexico’s commitment to the Paris Agreement.

Reaching the goal of the Paris Agreement will require gathering key information for each single company. The current case study has provided key data to foster the principles of sustainability in the Mexican coffee industry to help this sector to transit toward sustainable development, which is a new demand of the Mexican society. Even though it may seem simple, this is the hardest step for enhancing stakeholder involvement in corporate sustainability.

The main contribution of this research to science and practice is to confirm that fostering corporate sustainability is easier and more feasible when energy flow information is available.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the deepening understanding of the diverging pollution prevention (PP) and occupational and safety practices undertaken in the Mexican maquiladora industry.

This study was outlined by a modified version of the PP Program based on a continuous improvement cycle, which identifies areas of opportunity and then, proposes ideas for solving problems. This study was carried out based merely on a quantitative approach. However, when this was not possible, parameters were determined under a qualitative or semi-quantitative approach.

Findings in this study have proven that Cleaner Production and Pollution Prevention (CP&PP) programs are successful to obtain not only environmental but also occupational benefits at the same time; therefore, they should not be seem only as an environmental tool but as a sustainability tool that have the potential to make possible the creation of a sustainable production system in the maquiladora industry where products and processes, and operations are designed to be not risky for Mexican workers, communities, and environment.

The study revealed empirical environmental and occupational practices that took place in nine maquiladoras located in the Northwest of Mexico and analyzes how these practices affect Mexican workers in this industry and their environment.

The study evaluated the feasibility and usefulness of CP&PP programs in the maquiladora industry under an integrative approach that takes into account environmental and occupational aspect in order to understand how this industry is changing their production patterns toward sustainability.

The purpose of this article is to explore the pollution prevention practices performed by workers in the Mexican auto refinishing industry as well as their implications on the occupational, safety and environmental health of workers and community.

Interviewer‐administered questionnaires were conducted with shop owners, workers, and neighbors, and repeated site visits to collect information on occupational practices (personal protective equipment (PPE) in use, engineering controls, hazard communication, level of technology), environmental impact (chemicals usage, wastes amounts, disposal, supply chain, impact to the neighborhood), and possible symptoms of work‐related adverse health effects.

The findings indicate that the Mexican auto body shop industry is not consistent with the accepted precepts of sustainability because it is not addressing the underlying topics of health, safety, and environment. When comparing working conditions between auto body workers in developed countries and those in Mexico, it is evident that Mexican workers perform their tasks under critical conditions; therefore, under considerable occupational and environmental risks.

This article reveals five P2 opportunities that seem to have a potential relevance to the development of prevention and intervention strategies in the region to secure long‐term economic growth while improving environmental and working conditions.

This article provides the first insights about several opportunities for adopting pollution prevention strategies that improve environmental and occupational conditions in the auto refinishing industry in developing countries.

The concepts of sustainable development (SD) and management systems (MS) are finding increasing acceptance in a variety of fields, including academy, politics, and non‐governmental organizations. These concepts are also being used by the general population. This paper aims to describe the perception of different experts by discussing the usefulness of sustainability management systems (SMS) as holistic systems that might integrate environmental, social, and economic elements.

This research was framed by the general systems theory and its nature is totally qualitative and exploratory in order to understand the significant attributes that affect or benefit a management system to reach sustainability. A total of 14 interviews were conducted with several experts around the world. Some are professional persons in sustainability issues in general, and some in environmental, health and safety (EHS) issues in particular.

The results shows that, although there is a continuous debate on the sustainability approach, several core elements can be addressed for sustainability management systems (SMS). For instance, 71.4 percent of the interviewees agreed that management systems are useful for sustainable development, or at least potentially useful, and 42.9 percent of the experts declared that having a clear understanding of the long‐term economic benefits for the company is an important incentive for their implementation.

Interviews were conducted with a limited number of experts and there was no field verification of claims. Therefore, conclusions derived from these sources depend on the veracity of the information provided by participants. Expert bias may also have an impact on the outcomes of this research.

The findings provide management systems' practitioners with key elements when sustainability management systems are being created, maintained and evaluated.

The findings are not results from general concepts, but rather elicited from empirical data from fourteen sustainability, and health and safety experts around the world.

The goal of this study is to further the existing understanding of the diverging pollution prevention and occupational and safety practices undertaken in the Mexican maquiladora industry in order to promote the creation of a sustainable production system.

This study explores in detail the occupational health, safety and environmental practices performed by six electronic maquiladoras located in the State of Sonora, Mexico. The OSHA's program evaluation profile (PEP) and cleaner production and pollution prevention and worker surveys were the instruments used for collecting information. All instruments were complemented with short interviews and walkthroughs in the production lines.

Evidences from this study suggest that today's trends in maquiladoras production patterns continue to go in an unsustainable direction because of the lack of good environmental and occupational and safety practices.

This study reveals the most telling and significant sustainability themes associated to the maquiladora industry that holds the exciting potential of protecting the environment and labor and strengthening economic growth through more efficient and sustainable production.

Sustainability production is an issue that is often neglected into the actual stock of published material about maquiladoras. This study fills this gap through a broad structural approach that takes into account economic, social, and environment aspects as a way to helping the adoption of sustainability practices in the maquiladora industry.