Search results

This paper aims to discuss the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the effective assessment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to smart and sustainable city initiatives.

The study is based on a systematic review of the literature within the Web of Science and Scopus databases, comprising the studies about ICTs related to smart and sustainable city initiatives and sustainable assessment.

The main results point out that there are several different ways of assessing SDGs performance related to ICTs use in smart and sustainable city initiatives. However, the effectiveness of these assessments can be questioned. The intensive use of technology understood as the core of smart and sustainable cities does not imply an improvement in sustainability unless these technologies are strategically addressed to underpin those objectives. Moreover, not all SDGs have considered the use of ICTs in their targets.

The scope of the study is limited to “how” the information is used and managed, rather than analysing the sustainable performance itself. As a limitation, the findings and conclusions do not consider other sources of studies, such as grey literature.

This study suggests some requirements for providing better and more reliable sustainable assessment, making smart and sustainable city initiatives more correlated with the SDGs.

By acknowledging the difficulties associated with SDGs assessment, concerning the municipal level, the study offers valuable insights into the effectiveness of public policies and public management. Besides, the findings shed some light on if and how the use of ICTs can effectively enhance sustainable development issues.

This study offers valuable contributions to the literature by providing a collection of insights regarding how the ICTs may genuinely lead to a sound assessment of sustainable development, especially regarding the SDGs.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an assessment model for corporate social responsibility (CSR) that is interlinked to sustainable development and examine the model on CSR cases in Egypt, exploring whether CSR is embedded into the core agenda of the corporations. This analysis helps in understanding the state of CSR in Egypt and countries with a similar socio-economic background.

The study presents a sustainable development assessment model for CSR, based on combining and modifying Archie Carroll’s model of Hierarchy of Corporate Responsibilities (1979, 2010) and Donna Wood’s Corporate Performance Model (1991) to include sustainable development imperatives. The proposed model analyzes two CSR practices of corporates. Qualitative analysis using in-depth interviews was conducted in the two case studies: a global multinational company represented in Egypt and a family business typical of many Egyptian corporates.

Generalizing from the results of the assessment in Egypt and countries with similar circumstances, most CSR practices in such a context still fall under philanthropy and few under human development or the business case. The lack of the formal institutional framework for organizing the role of the State in CSR promotion leads to missing the opportunity of linking CSR to the Sustainable Development Goals or similar strategies.

The paper presents a CSR assessment model adopted in developing countries, with a focus on incorporating sustainable development indicators since the 1990s. This methodological development since 2010 is timely and particularly useful for relating CSR to the recent global focus on sustainable development.

The urban population in Indian cities is increasing at an alarming speed. Accommodating such a huge population while sustaining the environment is a challenge in urban areas. Compact urban forms with high-density planning is claimed to be a sustainable solution in such situations. Thus, this approach needs to be tested for Indian urban areas.

This paper formulates a neighbourhood sustainability assessment (NSA) framework for monitoring, assessing and managing the population density of urban neighbourhoods. The paper identifies context-specific built density indicators at the neighbourhood scale. It assesses the indicators in neighbourhoods with varying population density by physical and perceived measures. This helps in verifying the feasibility of density by physical density assessment and verifies the acceptability of density by perceived density assessment.

When tested in the Indian context, the framework shows that although high-density neighbourhoods are sustainable, certain indicators may endorse differing densities. The result displays that high-density planning is sustainable compared to low- and medium-density neighbourhoods in the selected cities.

The study demonstrates the application of formulated assessment system in three central Indian cities with useful results. Similar studies can be conducted to identify the gaps for improving sustainability and achieve a livable density pattern.

Although sustainable development goals are part of new planning policies, there exist very few assessment systems to determine the sustainability of neighbourhoods, especially for density. The methodology will assist in developing sustainability assessment frameworks and encourage the practice of sustainability assessment in developing countries like India.

The purpose of this paper is to present a methodological framework and practical application of the sustainable development assessment in Lithuania.

The assessment was performed by deriving composite economic, social and environmental indexes and combining them into the integrated sustainable development index. Each composite index aggregates number of selected indicators, which were essential for the assessment of the country's development during the last decade. Having in mind that sustainable development is the development in consistency, the authors have used equal weights for calculation of economic, social and environmental indexes.

The composite indexes indicate rapid economical growth and environmental state; however, social development was comparatively slow. The economical decline in 2008 has influenced also environmental and social development and revealed new trends of sustainable development in Lithuania. The analysis results demonstrate that goals brought forward in the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Lithuania were not achieved.

The paper provides a methodology of integrated sustainable development index and its application for the Lithuanian case. The greatest advantage of a proposed calculation methodology is its flexibility, because it can be applied for any period of sustainable development evaluation, with a possibility to select a desired number of sustainability aspects that reflect an evolution of a country the best.

Selection of sustainable building materials represents an important strategy in the design and construction of a building. A principal challenge therefore is the identification of assessment criteria based on the concepts and principles of sustainability, and the process of prioritizing and aggregating relevant criteria into an assessment framework. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to fill these gaps by describing the development stages of key assessment criteria used within an assessment tool under development for sustainable building material selection in the UK building industry.

After conducting a thorough and systematic literature review, a total of 24 sustainable assessment criteria (SAC) based on the triple bottom line and the need of building stakeholders were identified. A survey of UK architects and designers was conducted to capture their perceptions on the importance of the criteria. A total of 490 questionnaires were mailed out to participants for completion. An initial and follow‐up administration of the postal survey generated an overall response rate of 20.2 per cent. Factor analysis was utilized to group the criteria into assessment factors for modelling sustainability of building materials.

The result revealed that all criteria were considered important, with “aesthetics”, “maintainability” and “energy saving” the three top criteria considered for building materials selection. Factor analysis shows that these SACs can be aggregated into six factors namely: “environmental impacts”, “resource efficiency”, “waste minimization”, “life cycle cost”, “socio benefit”, and “performance capability”. Since these criteria were derived from the survey through expert opinion, consideration of these six criteria in material selection will ensure sustainability of building projects.

The sampling method does not include other stakeholders, who in a way influence material selection, such as the client. The sample size may need to be extended to include more stakeholders involved in material selection in order to minimize sampling error. However, the importance of the study remains, for the limitations do not detract from them, but merely provide scope for further research.

The current study contributes to the building industry and sustainability research in at least two aspects. First it widens the understanding of selection criteria as well as their degree of importance. It also provides building stakeholders a new way to select materials, thereby facilitating the sustainability of building projects.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse 12 assessment tools of sustainability in universities and develop the structure and the contents of these tools to be more intelligible. The configuration of the tools reviewed highlight indicators that clearly communicate only the essential information. This paper explores how the theoretical concept of a sustainable university is translated into more measurable variables to support practitioners and academics in assessing sustainability in universities.

The main method for this paper was a desk study approach, which incorporated reviewing research papers, graduate theses, academic books, network platforms and websites.

The tools reviewed share similar traits in terms of criteria, sub-criteria and indicators. Five benchmarks are essential for a holistic framework: management; academia; environment; engagement and innovation.

This research can not only be used to improve existing assessment tools but also as a means to develop new tools tailored for universities that face a variety of challenges and lack the ability to measure their sustainability policies.

Making higher education more sustainable through all the criteria mentioned influences students, as well as staff, to maintain a culture of sustainability.

This study contributes to the literature by simplifying and detailing the structure and contents of the tools in a way which indicators are shown, giving a full picture of these tools to enable universities to be more aware of the sustainability issues that affect them.

Developing countries are currently on the verge of adopting principles used in achieving a sustainable urban future. As the urban population increases due to factors like urban–rural migration, increase in birth rate, migration, industrialisation, commercialisation, amongst others, there is a drastic need to adopt sustainability principles within urban spaces. To understand how sustainability can be achieved, there is a need to recognise how developed countries have designed assessment tools that work within their context which can inform how developing countries can work on their assessment tool. Urban neighbourhood sustainability assessment tools are used to reflect on the overall goal of the project and the most important indicators needed to be implemented within the project. Sustainability indicators are used to measure the levels and progress at which sustainability has been implemented within a project based on the data collected and these results can be used to make informed decisions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the development of urban sustainability assessment tool.

This research investigates the techniques utilised in developing an urban sustainability assessment tool Sustainable Composite Cities Environmental Evaluation and Design (SUCCEED-ND) tool within the Nigerian context. The data instrument used includes a questionnaire survey that sampled 50 correspondents, and the results were used to develop an urban assessment tool tailored for the Nigerian countries.

The findings used social, environmental, economic and planning sustainability dimensions in the design of the assessment tool which composes of 21 core sustainability indicators and 105 indicators to develop SUCCEED-ND tool.

This work developed the first urban sustainability assessment tool for the Nigerian urban environment. The result is meant to evaluate and implement sustainability within existing and proposed neighbourhood development.

The systematic implementation and assessment of corporate sustainable development is difficult in the absence of a structured approach. The existing management systems and frameworks do not provide a balanced approach to the management of the triple bottom line of sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of developing a sustainable development management system (SDMS) and provides a basic framework for such a system.

The paper reviews the approaches that can be employed to embody the various elements of a SDMS – including underlying values, system requirements, continual improvement, and assessment approaches. Advantages and disadvantages of developing a SDMS are also reviewed.

Descriptive guidelines augmented by prescriptive requirements could provide a comprehensive guide to corporate sustainable development management and assessment through a hybrid approach. A basic structure for the descriptive guidelines, prescriptive requirements, and assessment approaches is provided.

The paper could provide a needed starting point for managers to structure their thinking related to their organisation's sustainability initiatives.

The existing systems and guidelines addressing sustainable development are characterised by several limitations. This paper provides a unique framework for corporate sustainable development that has not been addressed in previous publications.