ALBERT

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 10, Pages 77: Designing a Climate-Resilient Environmental Curriculum—A Transdisciplinary Challenge Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su10010077 Authors: Cheng-Yu Yu Yi-Chang Chiang Building resilience is a promising transdisciplinary area that contributes to addressing the impacts of climate change. This paper focused on the design of climate-resilient environmental curriculums to enhance environmental quality. Transdisciplinary approaches have been recognized as being well-placed to assist responses to climate change, which is a complex phenomenon and problem. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore how climate-resilient environmental education can be integrated into the design, implementation, and practice transdisciplinary manner into curriculums. Transdisciplinary curriculum design is an important factor determining the quality of modules, especially in the field of environmental design, due to its real-life setting characteristics. As students are trained with new projects, and under different socioeconomic and environmental conditions, curriculum design requires modification. Moreover, promoting transdisciplinary studies is a new trend that influences curriculum design. Compared to the interdisciplinary approach, the transdisciplinary approach is concerned with issues and subjects that exist between disciplines, across different disciplines, and beyond all the disciplines, leading to an immense space of new knowledge. This approach leads to integrated research that involves non-academic participants. We concluded that the transdisciplinary approach is beneficial for students in two ways: better performance in practical modules, and addresses the real interests of the students. Feedback from students about the curriculum design suggested that, to consider the individual student’s personal circumstances, multiple training methods should be used. The transdisciplinary approach to climate-resilient environmental curriculum design using a participative process amongst stakeholders is crucial; however, in this study, different opinions amongst interviewed tutors may obstruct the realization of the students’ wishes.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 10, Pages 73: International Tourists’ Perceived Sustainability of Jeju Island, South Korea Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su10010073 Authors: Min-Seong Kim Brijesh Thapa Hany Kim This study investigated the causal relationships between international tourists’ perceived sustainability of Jeju Island, South Korea and environmentally responsible behavior, revisit intention, and positive word-of-mouth communication. Perceived sustainability was employed as a multidimensional construct comprised of economic, cultural, and environmental aspects. Data were collected from international tourists that visited Jeju Island. The results indicated that environmentally responsible behavior was influenced positively by cultural sustainability, and negatively by environmental sustainability. Revisit intention and positive word-of-mouth communication were significantly affected by the three dimensions of sustainability. Based on the findings, associated implications were suggested for sustainable destination management of Jeju Island.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 10, Pages 75: Exploring the Patterns and Mechanisms of Reclaimed Arable Land Utilization under the Requisition-Compensation Balance Policy in Wenzhou, China Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su10010075 Authors: Lin Lin Hongzhen Jia Yi Pan Lefeng Qiu Muye Gan Shenggao Lu Jinsong Deng Zhoulu Yu Ke Wang Arable land in China is undergoing significant changes, with massive losses of arable land due to rapid urbanization and the reclamation of arable land from other lands to compensate for these losses. Many studies have analyzed arable land loss, but less attention has been paid to land reclamation, and the utilization of reclaimed land remains unclear. The goal of our study was to characterize the patterns and efficiency of the utilization of reclaimed land and to identify the factors influencing the land utilization process in Wenzhou using remote sensing, geographic information systems and logistic regression. Our results showed that only 37% of the total reclaimed land area was under cultivation, and other lands were still bare or had been covered by trees and grasses. The likelihood that reclaimed land was used for cultivation was highly correlated with the land use type of its neighboring or adjacent parcels. Reclaimed land utilization was also limited at high elevations in lands with poor soil fertility and in lands at a great distance from rural residential areas. In addition, parcels located in the ecological protection zone were less likely to be cultivated. Therefore, we suggest that the important determinants should be considered when identifying the most suitable land reclamation areas.

Description: The aim of this paper is to identify the correlations between energy consumption and the factors that control usage in the city of Tangshan. To do this, we first analyze the current status of Tangshan’s economic development and energy consumption, and then applied the logarithmic mean Divisia index to identify the factors affecting the changes in energy consumption of all sectors. The findings are summarized as follows: (1) secondary industry accounts for an extremely high percentage of industry in Tangshan city, much higher than the national average; from 2007 to 2012, the proportion of secondary industry increased in Tangshan city; (2) Tangshan’s energy consumption in 2013 was nearly twice that in 2005. Coal and coke coal consumption was responsible for 96.2% of total energy consumption in 2005 and 95.1% in 2013; (3) Tangshan’s energy intensity decreased from 3.00 tce/thousand Yuan in 2005 to 1.85 tce/thousand Yuan in 2013. However, the energy intensity of Tangshan was far more than the average for China, and the decline in Tangshan’s energy intensity was much slower than the average for China; (4) The technical effect plays a dominant role in decreasing energy consumption in most sectors, and the scale effect is the most important contributor to increasing energy consumption in all sectors. Input structural and final use structural effects play different roles in energy consumption in different sectors.

Description: The Transition Network is a global grassroots network that supports community-led resilience in the face of global change. This paper reports on an ethnographic study of one of its longest-running projects, Transition Town Lewes (TTL) in the United Kingdom. The aim of the study is to analyse TTL as a community. More specifically, we ask two questions: (1) what type of community is TTL? and (2) what are the challenges TTL faces as a community? With this, we contribute to the existing literature on local sustainability initiatives and in particular on Transition initiatives, by providing an in-depth understanding of the challenges and social dynamics at play in a day-to-day setting. We conducted three months of intensive ethnographic fieldwork using participant observation, interviews, and a focus group. Our analysis shows that TTL is a community that, on the one hand, is motivated by explicit intentions and goals, but that, on the other hand, leaves openness and flexibility regarding the level and specifics of participants’ engagement. We introduce the novel concept of ‘light intentional community’ to describe this type of community. We first investigate intentionality in TTL, finding that differences exist between individual participant motivations and stated TTL objectives. We go on to describe the ‘light’ aspect of TTL—the differences in levels of engagement between community participants. Our analysis shows that TTL and its participants face two main challenges. First, TTL participants experience ‘multi-dimensional liminality’: they operate in a liminal space between mainstream society and TTL practices, and additionally experience a continuous sense of transitioning toward a moving goal. Second, TTL as a community faces internal and external frictions. These challenges are interrelated and stem from the structure and dynamics of TTL as a light intentional community. We conclude by reflecting on our analysis of the nature and challenges of ‘light intentional communities’, identifying what opportunities this concept brings for overcoming the challenges of grassroots globalization initiatives amidst mainstream society.

Description: On-site management of construction waste commonly determines its destination. In the case of plasterboard (PB), on-site segregation becomes crucial for closed-loop recycling. However, PB is commonly mixed with other wastes in Spain. In this context, the involvement of stakeholders that can contribute to reversing this current situation is needed. This paper analyzes on-site waste management of PB in Spain through a pilot study of a construction site, with the main objective of identifying best practices to increase waste prevention, waste minimization, and the recyclability of the waste. On-site visits and structured interviews were conducted. The results show five management stages: PB distribution (I); PB installation (II); Construction waste storage at the installation area (III); PB waste segregation at the installation area (IV) and PB waste transfer to the PB container and storage (V). The proposed practices refer to each stage and include the merging of Stages III and IV. This measure would avoid the mixing of waste fractions in Stage III, maximizing the recyclability of PB. In addition, two requisites for achieving enhanced management are analyzed: ‘Training and commitment’ and ‘fulfilling the requirements established by the current regulation’. The results show that foremen adopted a more pessimistic attitude than installers towards a joint commitment for waste management. Moreover, not all supervisors valued the importance of a site waste management plan, regulated by the Royal Decree 105/2008 in Spain.

Description: Forests are receiving more attention for the ecosystem goods and services they provide and the potential change agents that may affect forest health and productivity. Highlighting case examples from coastal forests in South Carolina, USA, we describe groundwater processes with respect to stressors and potential responses of a wetland-rich forested landscape, the roles that this area has served, and the need for water resource data to inform forest management decisions. Forested lands in the southeastern U.S. coastal plain provide a rich set of goods and services for the region, and in one case, the Francis Marion National Forest acts as a buffer to urbanization from the surrounding Charleston metropolitan area. Information from two decades of studies in the forested watersheds there may inform scientists and managers in other coastal forested systems. The common hydrological theme in this region, which has a higher average annual rainfall (1370 mm) than the annual potential evapotranspiration (PET = 1135 mm), is a shallow (〈3 m) water table condition that supports a large range of natural wetlands and also creates management challenges across the region. Modest changes in the position of the water table can lead to either groundwater flooding and concomitant management challenges for forest services, or ecosystem stresses related to dry conditions in wetlands during times of below-normal precipitation or due to groundwater withdrawal. Development pressures have also stressed forest resources through the extraction of materials such as timber and sand mining, and the conversion to housing construction materials. These areas are also targeted for land development, to meet housing demands. In this paper, we discuss the role of groundwater in coastal forests and highlight opportunities for collaborative studies to better inform forest resource management.

Description: Nowadays, any business manager is concerned about sustainability issues and is wondering how to implement social and environmental practices creating economic and social value at the same time. The implementation of social responsibility programs is justified by the benefits that result from a good relationship of the firm with key stakeholders. The present research investigates the links among firms’ relationship with stakeholders, firms’ champion behavior, stakeholders’ satisfaction and firms’ competitive success in regional contexts where social responsibility is promoted. Using the resource-based theory and the concept of shared value, a conceptual model is proposed in which a strong firm relationship with stakeholders will cause the stakeholder’ satisfaction and will help the firm to become a champion in the market, contributing to improved competitiveness. This empirical analysis was based on survey data through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) from 130 Spanish firms in the Region of Extremadura. Participants were firm managers in regional clusters involved in the social responsibility journey promoted by the local government. The results suggest that a good relationship of the frim with stakeholders directly and positively influences firm competitive success, and also, it is enhanced by improvements in stakeholders’ satisfaction and firm champion behavior.

Description: Urban roads constitute most of the existing roads and they are directly managed by small administrations. Normally, these small administrations do not have sufficient funds or sufficient qualified personnel to carry out this task. This paper deals with an easy-implementation Pavement Management System (PMS) to develop strategies to maintain, preserve and rehabilitate urban roads. The proposed method includes the creation of the road network inventory, the visual surveys of the pavement and the evaluation of its condition by the Pavement Condition Index (PCI). The method intends to give a valid tool to road managers to compare alternative maintenance strategies and perform the priority analysis on the network. With this aim, the procedure assesses the Vehicle Operating Costs (VOC) by a written regression between PCI and International Roughness Index (IRI). The proposed method has several advantages because it can be easily adapted to various situations and it does not require a large amount of time and money for its implementation.

Description: Regions dependent on agricultural production are concerned about the uncertainty associated with climate change. Extreme drought and flooding events are predicted to occur with greater frequency, requiring mitigation strategies to reduce their negative impacts. Multi-purpose local farm water retention systems can reduce water stress during drought periods by supporting irrigation. The retention systems’ capture of excess spring runoff and extreme rainfall events also reduces flood potential downstream. Retention systems may also be used for biomass production and nutrient retention. A sub-watershed scale retention system was analysed using a dynamic simulation model to predict the economic advantages in the future. Irrigated crops using water from the downstream reservoir at Pelly’s Lake, Manitoba, Canada, experienced a net decrease in gross margin in the future due to the associated irrigation and reservoir infrastructure costs. However, the multi-purpose benefits of the retention system at Pelly’s Lake of avoided flood damages, nutrient retention, carbon sequestration, and biomass production provide an economic benefit of $25,507.00/hectare of retention system/year. Multi-purpose retention systems under future climate uncertainty provide economic and environmental gains when used to avoid flood damages, for nutrient retention and carbon sequestration, and biomass production. The revenue gained from these functions can support farmers willing to invest in irrigation while providing economic and environmental benefits to the region.

Description: Carbon allowances traded in the EU-Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) were initially designed as an economic motivation for efficiently curbing greenhouse as emissions, but now it mimics quite a few characteristics of financial assets, and have now been used as a candidate product in building financial portfolios. In this study, we examine the time-varying correlations between carbon allowance prices with other financial indices, during the third phase of EU-ETS. The results show that, at the beginning of this period, carbon price was still strongly corrected with other financial indices. However, this connection was weakened over time. Given the relative independence of carbon assets from other financial assets, we argue for the diversification benefits of including carbon assets in financial portfolios, and building such portfolios, respectively, with the traditional global minimum variance (GMV) strategy, the mean-variance-OGARCH (MV-OGARCH) strategy, and the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) strategy. It is shown that the portfolio built with the MV-OGARCH strategy far out-performs the others and that including carbon assets in financial portfolios does help reduce investment risks.

Description: In this study, we evaluated the physicochemical and microbial qualities of source and stored household waters in some communities in Southwestern Nigeria using standard methods. Compared parameters include: physicochemical constituents; Temperature (T), pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Magnesium ion (Mg2+) and Calcium ion (Ca2+) and microbiological parameters included Total Coliform Counts (TC), Faecal Coliform Counts (FC), Fungal Counts (Fung C), Heterotrophic Plate Counts (HPC).Comparing Stored and Source samples, the mean values of some physicochemical parameters of most of the stored water samples significantly (p 〈 0.05) exceeded that of Sources and ranged in the following order: T (15.3 ± 0.3 °C–28.3 ± 0.5 °C), pH (6.4 ± 0.1–7.6 ± 0.1), TDS (192.1 ± 11.1 ppm–473.7 ± 27.9 ppm), TH (10.6 ± 1.7 mg/L–248.6 ± 18.6 mg/L), BOD (0.5 ± 0.0 mg/L–3.2 ± 0.3 mg/L), Mg2+ (6.5 ± 2.4 mg/L–29.1 ± 3.2 mg/L) and Ca2+ (6.5 ± 2.4 mg/L–51.6 ± 4.4 mg/L). The mean microbial counts obtained from microbial comparison of different points (Stored and Source) of collection showed that most of the stored water had counts significantly exceeding (p 〈 0.05) those of the source water samples (cfu/100 mL) which ranged as follows: TC (3.1 ± 1.5–156.8 ± 42.9), FC (0.0 ± 0.0–64.3 ± 14.2) and HPC (47.8 ± 12.1–266.1 ± 12.2) across all sampled communities. Also, the predominant isolates recovered from the samples were identified as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Aspergillus spp., Mucor spp., Rhizopus spp. and Candida spp. The presence of these pathogenic and potentially pathogenic organisms in the waters and the high counts of the indicator organisms suggest the waters to be a threat to public health.

Description: Elderburbs, defined as old suburban neighborhoods in terms of their ‘built environments’ and ‘demographic structures’, have emerged prominently in academic discussion due to the social vulnerability and outdated built environments of senior dominant neighborhoods that barely meet the needs of their aging populations. Even though previous literature has revealed concerns about suburban decline and the growing number of seniors, these two points of interest have largely been examined in isolation from one another. Thus, this paper attempts to unveil the spatial and social morphology of Elderburbs in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas from 1990 to 2010. Elderburbs were identified by two major criteria; built year (first-generation suburbs built between 1950 and 1970) and demographic aging (based on elderly, elderly-child, and elderly dependency ratios). The findings of this study indicate that Elderburbs have increased and expanded out to suburban areas, especially in the Northeast and Midwest. On the contrary, Elderburbs in the South have decreased and moved closer to core cities. Differing from our assumptions, both Elderburbs and Elderurbans were found to be less socially vulnerable than ordinary suburban and urban neighborhoods.

Description: While patents do have many advantages, their disadvantages include requiring disclosure of technical information and imposing the burden of patenting and litigation costs. In this study, we investigate the relationship between a firm’s negative perception on patents, technology management strategies, and subsequent performance. For this purpose, we use a categorical canonical correlation analysis of the top 200, large, R&D-intensive firms in Korea. We find that negative perceptions such as burdensome transaction costs, non-patenting culture, and uncertainty of the outcome of patent litigation are associated with firms’ technology management strategies, such as purchase of licenses, and subsequent performance, such as an increase in the number of inventions from the cross-fertilization of different technologies. The results of this study are expected to contribute to a better understanding of firms’ negative attitudes toward the effects of patents, their subsequent technology management strategies, and resulting performance.

Description: The food system, the most important driver of planetary transformation, is broken. Therefore, seeking a sustainable and socially-fair transition pathway out of this crisis becomes an issue of utmost priority. The consideration of food as a commodity, a social construct that played a central role in this crisis, remains the uncontested narrative to lead the different transition pathways, which seems rather contradictory. By exploring the normative values on food, this paper seeks to understand how relevant is the hegemonic narrative of food as commodity and its alternative of food as commons to determine transition trajectories and food policy beliefs. Applying the multi-level perspective framework and developing the ill-studied agency in transition, this research enquired food-related professionals that belong to an online community of practice (N = 95) to check whether the valuation of food is relevant to explain personal stances in transition. Results suggest that the view of food as commodity is positively correlated with a gradually-reforming attitude, whereas food as commons is positively correlated with the counter-hegemonic transformers, regardless of the self-defined position in the transition landscape (regime or niches). At a personal level, there are multiple loci of resistance with counter-hegemonic attitudes in varied institutions of the regime and the innovative niches, many of them holding this discourse of food as commons. Conversely, alter-hegemonic attitudes are not positively correlated with the alternative discourse, and they may inadvertently or purportedly reinforce the neoliberal narrative. Food as commons seems to be a relevant framework that could enrich the multiple transformative constituencies that challenge the industrial food system and therefore facilitate the convergence of movements that reject the commodification of food.

Description: Agricultural soils are suffering from increasing heavy metal pollution, among which, paddy soil polluted by heavy metals is frequently reported and has elicited great public concern. In this study, we carried out field experiments on paddy soil around a Pb-Zn mine to study amelioration effects of four soil amendments on uptake of Cd and Pb by rice, and to make recommendations for paddy soil heavy metal remediation, particularly for combined pollution of Cd and Pb. The results showed that all the four treatments can significantly reduce the Cd and Pb content in the late rice grain compared with the early rice, among which, the combination amendment of lime and phosphate had the best remediation effects where rice grain Cd content was reduced by 85% and 61%, respectively, for the late rice and the early rice, and by 30% in the late rice grain for Pb. The high reduction effects under the Ca + P treatment might be attributed to increase of soil pH from 5.5 to 6.7. We also found that influence of the Ca + P treatment on rice production was insignificant, while the available Cd and Pb content in soil was reduced by 16.5% and 11.7%, respectively.

Description: Natural climate change and human activities are the main driving forces associated with vegetation coverage change. Nanxiong Basin is a key ecosystem-service area at the national level with a dense population and highly representative of red-bed basins, which are considered as fragile ecological units in humid regions. In this study, the authors aimed to determine the trends in vegetation cover change over past two decades and the associated driving forces in this study area. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of 2000–2015, derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) remote sensing dataset along with the application of statistical methods and GIS (geographic information system) techniques were used to quantify vegetation cover change. The results show that human-induced factors can explain most variations at sites with significant cover change. That is to say that human activities are the main drivers of vegetation dynamics in this study area, which shows a significant reduction trend in vegetation cover during the industrialization and urbanization processes of the study period and noticeable recovery trend in 2000–2015 under the plantation and enclosed forest policy.

Description: This paper used a Vanadium Redox flow Battery (VRB) as the storage battery and designed a two-stage topology of a VRB energy storage system in which a phase-shifted full bridge dc-dc converter and three-phase inverter were used, considering the low terminal voltage of the VRB. Following this, a model of the VRB was simplified, according to the operational characteristics of the VRB in this designed topology of a VRB energy storage system (ESS). By using the simplified equivalent model of the VRB, the control parameters of the ESS were designed. For effectively estimating the state of charge (SOC) of the VRB, a traditional method for providing the SOC estimation was simplified, and a simple and effective SOC estimation method was proposed in this paper. Finally, to illustrate the proper design of the VRB ESS and the proposed SOC estimation method, a corresponding simulation was designed by Simulink. The test results have demonstrated that this proposed SOC estimation method is feasible and effective for indicating the SOC of a VRB and the proper design of this VRB ESS is very reasonable for VRB applications.

Description: Sustainability indicators and assessments are vital in promoting campus sustainability. Despite the plethora of indicator frameworks, campus sustainability assessment in developing countries encounters many challenges including lack of, or restricted access to, data and difficulties in measuring indicators. There is also a limited application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in campus environmental sustainability assessment, although campus operations have spatial dimensions. This article proposes a GIS-based model for environmental sustainability assessment of campus operations and demonstrates its usefulness using King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. The model applies spatial analysis techniques, including inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation, to statistically assess the various campus operational activities by using land use data to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from energy use, water consumption, solid waste, and transportation. The integration of spatial dimension in the model facilitates the collection and measurement of spatially related indicators, helps identify hotspots of campus operations, and provides better visualization of the existing condition and future scenario of campus environmental sustainability status. This model can assist decision-makers to construct strategies for improving the overall environmental sustainability of university campuses. The paper concludes by highlighting how the model can address some challenges of campus sustainability assessment in developing countries.

Description: Reclamation is capable of creating abundant land to alleviate the pressure from land shortages in China. Nevertheless, coastal reclamation can lead to severe environmental degradation and landscape fragmentation. It is quite important to monitor land use and cover change (LUCC) in coastal areas, assess coastal wetland change, and predict land use requirements. The siltation of tidal flats will result in the dynamic growth and continuous expansion of coastal areas. Therefore, the process of land change in coastal areas is different from that under the fixed terrestrial boundary condition. Cellular Automata and Multi-Agent System (CA-MAS) models are commonly used to simulate LUCC, and their advantages have been well proven under the fixed boundary condition. In this paper, we propose CA-MAS combined with a shoreline evolution forecast (CA-MAS-SEF) model to simulate the land change in coastal areas. Meanwhile, the newly increased area, because of the dynamic growth of tidal flats, is considered in the simulation process. The simulation results using the improved method are verified, and compared with observed patterns using spatial overlay. In comparison with simulation results that do not consider the expansion of tidal flats, the Kappa coefficient estimated while considering the dynamic growth of tidal flats is improved from 65.9% to 70.5%, which shows that the method presented here can be applied to simulate the LUCC in growing coastal areas.

Description: In the present work, we tested the validity of using novel, bio-augmented, aerobic composting with carcass-degrading microorganisms for the ex situ stabilization of carcasses at pilot scale with previously poorly decomposed carcasses excavated from a 3-year old burial site. The significantly decreased chemical oxygen demand (COD, 160,000 mg/kg to 40,000 mg/kg) and inorganic nitrogen species (total nitrogen, 5000 mg/kg to 2000 mg/kg) indicated effective bio-stabilization of carcasses by bio-augmented composting. The subsequent germination assays and the quantitative characterization of potentially pathogenic bacteria using NGS (next-generation sequencing) showed that the burial–composting sequential system with the carcass-degrading microorganisms and mechanical agitation successfully reduced plant toxicity as well as microbial risk to human health, suggesting that the composting by-product is suitable for farming or/and landfill use(s).

Description: In this paper we suggest considering sustainability as a moral framework based on social justice, which can be used to evaluate technological choices. In order to make sustainability applicable to discussions of nuclear energy production and waste management, we focus on three key ethical questions, namely: (i) what should be sustained; (ii) why should we sustain it; and (iii) for whom should we sustain it. This leads us to conceptualize the notion of sustainability as a set of values, including safety, security, environmental benevolence, resource durability, and economic viability of the technology. The practical usefulness of sustainability as a moral framework is highlighted by demonstrating how it is applicable for understanding intergenerational dilemmas—between present and future generations, but also among different future generations—related to nuclear fuel cycles and radioactive waste management.

Description: Xinjiang’s industrial sector accounted for more than 80% of the total energy-related carbon emissions. A further understanding of each industrial sub-sector’s carbon intensity is very necessary to make differentiated policies and measures. This paper applied index decomposition analysis and attribution analysis to examine the influencing factors and each sub-sector’s contributions to the changes in influencing factors. The results demonstrated the following: (1) energy intensity effect contributed most to the decreases in industrial carbon intensity, and mining and quarrying, foods and tobacco, and other manufactures were the most representative industrial sub-sectors; (2) energy structure effect showed a positive effect on industrial carbon intensity, but its effect was not significant, and fuel processing, smelting and pressing of metals, metal products, and textile were mainly responsible for the increases in energy structure effect; (3) industrial structure effect showed significant fluctuations, but its accumulative effect promoted the increases in industrial carbon intensity, and fuel processing, mining and quarrying, and textiles were the main sub-sectors, which exerted negative effects on the decreases in industrial structure effect; (4) fuel processing, smelting and pressing of metals, and mining and quarrying significantly influenced these three decomposed factors from 2000 to 2014; (5) since 2009, energy-intensive sub-sectors increased rapidly, and the energy structure was not optimized, while attention was not paid to controlling the energy efficiency, thus all decomposed factors promoted the increases in industrial carbon intensity; and (6) mining and quarrying, textiles, fuel processing, and transport equipment were primarily responsible for the increases in energy structure effect. Fuel processing, chemicals, and smelting and pressing of metals were primarily responsible for the increases in energy intensity effect. Fuel processing, chemicals, smelting and pressing of metals, and other manufactures were primarily responsible for the increases in industrial structure effect.

Description: Global warming will increase the rate of chloride ingress and the rate of steel corrosion of concrete structures. Furthermore, in coastal (atmospheric marine) zones, sea level rise will reduce the distance of concrete structures from the coast and increase the surface chloride content. This study proposes a probabilistic model for analyzing the effects of global warming and sea level rise on the service life of coastal concrete structures. First, in the corrosion initiation stage, an improved chloride diffusion model is proposed to determine chloride concentration. The Monte Carlo method is employed to calculate the service life in the corrosion initiation stage; Second, in the corrosion propagation stage, a numerical model is proposed to calculate the rate of corrosion, probability of corrosion cracking, and service life. Third, overall service life is determined as the sum of service life in the corrosion initiation and corrosion propagation stages. After considering the impacts of global warming and sea level rise, the analysis results show that for concrete structures having a service life of 50 years, the service life decreases by about 5%.

Description: The port is an important node in logistics, and its energy consumption constitutes a considerable proportion of the transportation industry. In port logistics, not only does the energy consumption generate carbon emissions, but other business activities do as well. This paper firstly characterizes the sources of carbon emissions and the basic elements in the port system, and proposes the concept of a port-integrated logistics system. Secondly, a case study of The Port of Shenzhen is conducted and a method is provided to measure the carbon emissions in the port-integrated logistics system. This paper then suggests two approaches to reducing carbon emissions, and their economic and environmental benefits are compared. Finally, some policies are put forward to reduce carbon emissions, such as improving the efficiency of loading and unloading, and replacing the heavy fuel oil by low sulfur fuel oil and shore power. The proposed method of carbon emission reduction for port-integrated logistics systems can be generalized for the analysis of various types of ports.

Description: The 2010/2011 foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Korea produced about 4500 burial sites for 3.5 million animal carcasses, which can be summarized as quick, mass burials, at or near the outbreak farms. An FMD outbreak has occurred nearly every year since the big outbreak, although the sizes of these outbreaks have been small. This article presents the rationale behind government policies for FMD outbreaks and disposal sites, the secrecy of the government administration and the neglect of scientific data. We compared government news announcements with news from the non-governmental sector by analyzing all the news for FMD and disposal sites from 29 October 2010, the first day of the big outbreak to August 2016. We found that the Korean response to the FMD outbreak originated from political purposes. We present four rationales for our arguments including: (1) a military collision between North and South of Korea; (2) the reformation of four big rivers; (3) the incident at the Fukushima Atomic Energy Plant of Japan; and (4) the national elections. We believe that the next response should be based on scientific data and proof, and also from the environmental perspective, not the political or industry perspective.

Description: New information technology constantly improves the efficiency of social networks. Using optimization and decision models in the context of large data sets attracts extensive attention. This paper investigates a novel mathematical model for designing and optimizing environmental economic policies in a protection zone. The proposed model is referred to as the quadratic knapsack problem with conflict graphs, which is a new variant of the knapsack problem family. Due to the investigated problem processing a high complex structure, in order to solve efficiently the problem, we develop a metaheuristic which is based on the large neighborhood search. The proposed method embeds a construction procedure into a sophistical neighborhood search. For more details, the construction procedure takes charge of finding a starting solution while the investigated neighborhood search is used to generate and explore the solution space issuing from the provided starting solution. In order to highlight our theoretical model, we evaluate the model on a set of complex benchmark data sets. The obtained results demonstrate that the investigated algorithm is competitive and efficient compared to legacy algorithms.

Description: In the process of end-of-life construction machinery remanufacturing, the existence of uncertainties in all aspects of the remanufacturing process increase the difficulty and complexity of resource benefits evaluation for them. To quantify the effects of those uncertainty factors, this paper makes a mathematical analysis of the recycling and remanufacturing processes, building a resource benefits evaluation model for the end-of-life construction machinery. The recycling price and the profits of remanufacturers can thereby be obtained with a maximum remanufacturing resource benefit. The study investigates the change regularity of the resource benefits, recycling price, and profits of remanufacturers when the recycling price, quality fluctuation coefficient, demand coefficient, and the reusing ratio of products or parts are varying. In the numerical experiment, we explore the effects of uncertainties on the remanufacturing decisions and the total expected costs. The simulated analysis shows when the quality fluctuation coefficient is approaching to 1, the values of the profits of remanufacturer, the maximal resource benefits and recycling price grade into constants.

Description: Private sustainability standards are increasingly important in food trade with developing countries, but the implications for smallholder farmers are still poorly understood. We analyze the implications of different coffee certification schemes in Ethiopia using cross-sectional survey data, and regression and propensity-score-matching techniques. We find that: Rainforest Alliance (RA) and double Fairtrade-Organic (FT-Org) certifications are associated with higher incomes and reduced poverty, mainly because of higher prices; Fairtrade (FT) certification hardly affects welfare; and Organic (Org) certification reduces incomes, chiefly due to lower yields. Cooperative heterogeneity importantly shapes these results. Results imply that private standards may not always deliver what they promise to consumers.

Description: This article focuses on the role that the provisions of the Natura 2000 Network play in affecting land-taking processes by looking at the Italian region of Sardinia, where strict rules on land development have been enforced since 1993 through regional landscape plans and where an extensive Natura 2000 Network, covering nearly 19% of the regional land mass, was established in compliance with Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora and Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds. The results and inferences of our study could be easily generalized to other European Union regions, provided that similar geographic datasets are available. By shedding some light on the relation between land take on the one hand, and nature conservation and landscape protection on the other, it is possible to enhance regional planning policies to prevent or hinder land-taking processes, and, by doing so, to help implementing the European Commission recommendation on no net land take by 2050 into the EU regional policies.

Description: The growing trend market of fresh products is driven by a consumer oriented to new lifestyles and environmental issues. The berries market in Europe represents a good example of a consumer driven supply chain, due to the capacity to answer all the sequences of the system. To explore the process developed by fruit growers’ associated groups in Italy, the research is organized into four stages. The first stage provides a review of the organization of the fresh fruit supply chain (FFSC) and the need to innovate it in light of the driven demand. The second section focuses on the innovation displayed towards storing, managing and maintaining the quality of fruit during the supply. The third section considers the case study. The manuscript concludes by summarising the main results and discussing the implications for future research. The use of a modified active packaging system (MAP) with “green” films has enabled the maintenance of the quality of the fruits for two months, as well as the presence of the company blueberries market for longer periods, and has finally led to improving the exports, thus reaching new European countries, increasing the turnover of the associated group and better remuneration for the fruit growers as a consequence.

Description: This paper takes a Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) perspective to integrate important aspects of social inequality into Socio-Ecological Metabolism (SEM) research. SEM has dealt with biophysical features of pre-industrial agricultural systems from a largely apolitical perspective, neglecting social relations and conditions of peasant production and reproduction. One of the politically and economically most important manorial systems in Early Modern Austria (Grundherrschaft Grafenegg) serves as a case study to reconstruct the unequal distribution of central resources between ruling landlords and subjected peasants. We show that peasant land use systems generated small surpluses only, whereas landlords enjoyed significant economies of scale. Furthermore, we explore what these conditions of landlord surplus and peasant scarcity implied for their respective agro-ecological sustainability. Finally, we argue that within pre-industrial agrarian systems sustainability costs of inequality were severely limiting margins for agricultural intensification and growth of peasant economies.

Description: A hierarchical model predictive controller (HMPC) is proposed for flexible and sustainable buildingautomation. Theimplicationsofabuildingautomationsystemforsustainabilityaredefined, and model predictive control is introduced as an ideal tool to cover all requirements. The HMPC is presented as a development suitable for the optimization of modern buildings, as well as retrofitting. The performance and flexibility of the HMPC is demonstrated by simulation studies of a modern office building, and the perfect interaction with future smart grids is shown.

Description: Global agricultural and food systems face the challenge of feeding a growing world population in the face of finite and diminishing resources. To guide the redesign of agricultural systems, farmers and policymakers are increasingly turning to agroecology. Organic agriculture has historically integrated agroecological practices within its regulatory framework; however, questions remain as to the extent to which organic farmers are maintaining and expanding agroecological practices. In this paper, we will address convergences and divergences of agroecological and organic practices. Using cover cropping as a model agroecological practice, we conduct a preliminary assessment on the degree to which organic vegetable farms in Wisconsin, USA are integrating agroecological concepts into their farm management, drawing upon the results of a 2013 cover cropping practice survey. The survey data demonstrates varying degrees of complexity and diversity in cover cropping practices, potentially illustrating the desire of organic farmers to promote a high degree of agroecosystem services. Farmers’ integration of cover crop diversity and complexity was not correlated to farm size or revenue. These results offer preliminary evidence that Wisconsin’s organic vegetable farmers are integrating agroecological practices on their farms, even as growth in the organic market continues to occur.

Description: This paper examines how a residential podium garden design can enhance the use of a garden and the satisfaction of its users. Two public and private housing estates are selected to analyze and compare spatial use and the perception of space in podium gardens for public use. First, this paper explores the relationship between residential satisfaction and the physical conditions of podium gardens in public and private housing estates in Hong Kong. A total of 135 questionnaires are collected from two cohorts for each of these groups. People’s perceptions are compared with the physical conditions of the podium gardens. Second, this paper investigates how visibility and accessibility influence the quality and usability of podium gardens. The sense of community, safety and hygiene, and accessibility are examined and compared between public and private housing estate cohorts. In conclusion, opening a podium garden to public use can promote the degree of tolerance and enhance community cohesion. Regardless of whether a podium garden is open to the public or not, according to the responses, more people using the podium garden can increase its usability. Since public monitoring can enhance safety and hygiene, podium gardens should be highly visible from the surrounding buildings. A well-planned podium design thus can improve the social and physical qualities of living environments.

Description: In this study, the support vector machine (SVM) was applied and validated by using the geographic information system (GIS) in order to map landslide susceptibility. In order to test the usefulness and effectiveness of the SVM, two study areas were carefully selected: the PyeongChang and Inje areas of Gangwon Province, Korea. This is because, not only did many landslides (2098 in PyeongChang and 2580 in Inje) occur in 2006 as a result of heavy rainfall, but the 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in these areas. A variety of spatial data, including landslides, geology, topography, forest, soil, and land cover, were identified and collected in the study areas. Following this, the spatial data were compiled in a GIS-based database through the use of aerial photographs. Using this database, 18 factors relating to topography, geology, soil, forest and land use, were extracted and applied to the SVM. Next, the detected landslide data were randomly divided into two sets; one for training and the other for validation of the model. Furthermore, a SVM, specifically a type of data-mining classification model, was applied by using radial basis function kernels. Finally, the estimated landslide susceptibility maps were validated. In order to validate the maps, sensitivity analyses were carried out through area-under-the-curve analysis. The achieved accuracies from the SVM were approximately 81.36% and 77.49% in the PyeongChang and Inje areas, respectively. Moreover, a sensitivity assessment of the factors was performed. It was found that all of the factors, except for soil topography, soil drainage, soil material, soil texture, timber diameter, timber age, and timber density for the PyeongChang area, and timber diameter, timber age, and timber density for the Inje area, had relatively positive effects on the landslide susceptibility maps. These results indicate that SVMs can be useful and effective for landslide susceptibility analysis.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1409: Comparing Food Provided and Wasted before and after Implementing Measures against Food Waste in Three Healthcare Food Service Facilities Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081409 Authors: Christina Strotmann Silke Friedrich Judith Kreyenschmidt Petra Teitscheid Guido Ritter The aim of the study was to reduce food waste in a hospital, a hospital cafeteria, and a residential home by applying a participatory approach in which the employees were integrated into the process of developing and implementing measures. Initially, a process analysis was undertaken to identify the processes and structures existing in each institution. This included a 2-week measurement of the quantities of food produced and wasted. After implementing the measures, a second measurement was conducted and the results of the two measurements were compared. The average waste rate in the residential home was significantly reduced from 21.4% to 13.4% and from 19.8% to 12.8% in the cafeteria. In the hospital, the average waste rate remained constant (25.6% and 26.3% during the reference and control measurements). However, quantities of average daily food provided and wasted per person in the hospital declined. Minimizing overproduction, i.e., aligning the quantity of meals produced to that required, is essential to reducing serving losses. Compliance of meal quality and quantity with customer expectations, needs, and preferences, i.e., the individualization of food supply, reduces plate waste. Moreover, establishing an efficient communication structure involving all actors along the food supply chain contributes to decreasing food waste.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1412: Are Rainfall and Temperature Really Changing? Farmer’s Perceptions, Meteorological Data, and Policy Implications in the Tanzanian Semi-Arid Zone Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081412 Authors: Msafiri Mkonda Xinhua He Although various climate models, statistical crop models and economic simulations have been established to determine the level of farmers’ vulnerability, there has been little systematic assessment of farmers’ perception towards climate change in association with meteorological analyses and policy implications in Tanzania. The results from this assessment will enhance the formation of robust policies that improve resilient livelihoods and the capacity to adapt to climate change and variability. This paper seeks to (i) reveal the farmers’ perception on variation, change of rainfall, and temperature in the Tanzanian semi-arid area; (ii) depict meteorological evidence for the perceived rainfall and temperature changes; (iii) assess the policy perception and responses for the changing climate; and (iv) discuss the correlation between farmers’ perception and meteorological data. Household surveys, informative interviews and discussions were employed during data collection. The Mann-Kendall Test and SPSS (version 20) were used for climate data analyses, while qualitative data were thematically analyzed. The results showed that from 1980 to 2015 the mean annual rainfall decreased ( R2 = 0.21) while temperature increased (R2 = 0.30). Even though majority farmers agreed with these results, they had not yet taken serious measures to curb the situation. Besides, Agricultural Policy has lightly addressed and enforced the implementations of adaptation strategies to reduce climate impacts and vulnerability. Thereby, creation of awareness and intensification of climate adaptation strategies is needed at both farm and policy level.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1416: Assessing the Efficiency of Public Universities through DEA. A Case Study Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081416 Authors: Delimiro Visbal-Cadavid Mónica Martínez-Gómez Francisco Guijarro This paper presents the results of an efficiency study of Colombian public universities in 2012, conducted using the methodology of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the models CCR, BCC and SBM under output orientation. The main objective is to determine technical, pure technical, scale and mix efficiencies using data acquired from the Ministry of National Education. An analysis of the results shows the extent to which outputs of inefficient Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) could be improved and the possible cause of this inefficiency. The universities were also ranked using a Pareto efficient cross-efficiency model and a study was made of changes to overall productivity between 2011 and 2012. The results showed Tolima, Caldas and UNAD to be the best-performing universities, with Universidad del Pacífico as the worst performer. Malmquist index was applied to analyze the change in productivity from 2011 to 2012. The Universidad de La Guajira showed great improvement in technical efficiency between 2011 and 2012.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1420: DEMATEL-ANP Risk Assessment in Oil and Gas Construction Projects Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081420 Authors: Gholamreza Dedasht Rosli Mohamad Zin M. Ferwati Mu’azu Mohammed Abdullahi Ali Keyvanfar Ronald McCaffer Oil and gas construction projects are complex and risky because of their dynamic environment. Furthermore, rising global energy demand has increased the need for trustworthy risk assessment models for such projects that can provide adequate and precise policy planning. Traditional risk assessments in oil and gas construction projects do not consider the interrelationships of factors in the best-fit models. The Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Analytic Network Processes (ANP), called the DEMATEL-ANP approach, have been applied to other research disciplines to address this shortcoming. This method is able to construct a structural relationship among the different influence factors to visualize complex correlations. Thus, the purpose of this study is to showcase the DEMTAL-ANP risk assessment model to assess the overall risk factors of OGC projects. This study thus identifies the crucial risk criteria of such projects. Data were collected in 2016 through interviews with experts active in OGC projects in Iran. DEMATEL in this situation is used to determine the interdependencies’ relative strengths among the risks. The ANP method is applied to assess the relative importance of the risk factors and to determine the best strategy for implementation of a risk management program. The results presented in this study are a novel adaptation of the risk assessment methodology to OGC projects that determines the important risk factors that directly affect the project success, which in turn helps in formulation of policies for ensuring reliable energy supply planning.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1415: Cutting GHG Emissions at Student Housing in Central Mexico through Solid Waste Management Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081415 Authors: Quetzalli Aguilar-Virgen Paul Taboada-González Eduardo Baltierra-Trejo Liliana Marquez-Benavides Solid waste characterisation studies have been conducted at the household or municipal level, but fewer studies have assessed the composition of solid waste within institutions of higher education or university student residences. Studies carried out in universities usually refer to the academic buildings, yet, reports of waste characterisation from student housing and the associated greenhouse gas emissions are scarce. The goal of this work was to present a study case where both equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2eq) emissions and waste reductions were successfully attained in student housing after implementation of a solid waste management strategy. Two waste characterisation studies were carried out, before and after a waste management program was implemented to reduce waste generation. The waste generation per capita (GPC) per day was estimated at 1.5 kg for the first study (2014) and 1.1 kg for the second (2015); in addition, 87% of the waste stream was diverted from the landfill through vermicomposting and recycling. The percentage of food waste used for vermicomposting was 2.83%. The CO2eq emissions in 2014 were estimated at 12,624 kg CO2eq (0.43 kg/capita/day) and 761 kg for 2015 (0.03 kg/capita/day). Appropriate solid waste management was revealed to have a fundamental role in cutting indirect CO2eq emissions.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1419: Economic Sustainability in Franchising: A Model to Predict Franchisor Success or Failure Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081419 Authors: Esther Calderon-Monge Ivan Pastor-Sanz Pilar Huerta-Zavala As a business model, franchising makes a major contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). A model that predicts franchisor success or failure is therefore necessary to ensure economic sustainability. In this study, such a model was developed by applying Lasso regression to a sample of franchises operating between 2002 and 2013. For franchises with the highest likelihood of survival, the franchise fees and the ratio of company-owned to franchised outlets were suited to the age of the franchise. Surviving franchises were those that opened franchised outlets at a sustainable pace, increased the franchise fee as intangible assets increased, and effectively managed profitability and efficiency.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1422: Impact of Hydroelectric Dam Development and Resettlement on the Natural and Social Capital of Rural Livelihoods in Bo Hon Village in Central Vietnam Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081422 Authors: Hien Nguyen Ty Pham Lisa Bruyn The study examined the natural and social capital of Bo Hon villagers in central Vietnam, before and after resettlement within Binh Thanh commune due to the building of Binh Dien Hydroelectric dam on the Huu Trach River. (1) Background: The two-fold aim was to develop solutions to the impacts of resettlement on natural and social capital, and strategies for timely intervention and new livelihoods after households were resettled. (2) Methods: Livelihood survey of all 46 households was conducted in 2010, and villagers were asked about 2004, before resettlement, and about 2009, when the occupants of Bo Hon village had been moved to a new location 15 km away from the original one. The research employed mixed-methods by using household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The impacts of displacement and resettlement on production activities and daily life of rural people were examined in the following areas: (i) land resource; (ii) access to common-pool natural resources; (iii) income structure; (iv) agriculturally based livelihoods; (v) material assets; (vi) customary practices; and (vii) social relationships. (3) Results: The most significant impact was on the type of production activities that could be conducted after resettlement and reduction in land area to grow profitable commodities such as Lồ Ô Bamboo. Specifically, land for growing rice and other crops were significantly affected with the land area substantially reduced or flooded. Also harvesting of common pool resources from the forest (NTFPs) were reduced such as honey and rattan, and only 25% of the villagers continued to fish in the river. (4) Conclusions: Strategies were put in place to reduce the level of disruption to the villagers’ livelihoods, but some parts of the compensation package were short-lived or inequitably distributed (e.g., land), while infrastructure developments such as sealed roads have made the village far more accessible to Hue City some 25 km away.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1403: Benchmarking the Performance of Solar Installers and Rooftop Photovoltaic Installations in California Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081403 Authors: Dadi Wang Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems are rapidly proliferating around the world. Whether the PV systems have been efficiently installed is an issue of utmost importance for both solar installers and policymakers. However, the impact of solar installers on PV performance is not well understood. In this paper, we investigate the performance of rooftop PV installations and the solar installers using a dataset of 1035 projects developed by 213 installers in California. Based on data envelopment analysis (DEA), our study takes the PV system capacity, electricity generation, cost, modules, solar irradiance, and ambient temperature into account simultaneously to construct a unified measure for the efficiency of PV installations. We analyze the relationship between installer characteristics and PV system performance. We find PV installations with the installer also being the module manufacturer, exhibit significantly better performance than other installations. PV installations by subsidiaries of oil firms have inferior performance. PV installations by large installers on average do not perform better than the installations by small installers. Geographic diversification of an installer’s operations is significantly and inversely related to the performance of installations. We demonstrate the aforementioned findings have significant implications for policymakers and the solar installation industry.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1432: The Impact of Institutional Quality and Efficient Cohesion Investments on Economic Growth Evidence from Italian Regions Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081432 Authors: Roberta Arbolino Raffaele Boffardi Literature stresses that efficient institutions are necessary to achieve the highest returns from public policies. It has been recognized by the European Union (EU) that regional institutions have a fundamental role in obtaining the highest results from Cohesion and Structural investments, which represent the main fiscal and anticyclical instruments available for the regions. The paper aims at analyzing the impact of the quality of regional governments, and their management of EU cohesion funds on the economic growth of Italian regions. In order to measure the quality of institutions, we have combined the Institutional Quality Index (IQI) with a set of efficiency indexes, calculated in order to evaluate the ability of regional policymakers to manage European Funds. We conduct a two-way fixed effect panel regression model during the period between 2007 and 2015. The results underline that, in general, Cohesion investments and IQI are positively related to the regional growth; instead, efficiency indexes are important key factors mainly in the Southern area, characterized by structural weaknesses.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1435: Sustainable Supply Chain Management Implementation–Enablers and Barriers in the Textile Industry Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081435 Authors: Nelly Oelze The distinct definition of accordance in the perceived barriers and enablers for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) policy implementation has been the subject of various research studies, but a distinct focus on the textile sector has been the object of limited previous attention. However, it has been found that it affects the approach to developments in company approaches to sustainable supply chain management within that industry. This article presents the results of an in-depth comparative case study analysis, drawing on 23 interviews with managers of 10 companies from the textile industry. The analysis demonstrates that specific modes of collaboration can both enable an effective SSCM and diminish barriers for policy implementation. The width and depth varies between a collaborative management approach for an effective internal SSCM versus industry collaboration and buyer supplier collaboration to address external barriers and enablers.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1434: Mapping Urban Expansion and Exploring Its Driving Forces in the City of Praia, Cape Verde, from 1969 to 2015 Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081434 Authors: Patrik Silva Lin Li Urban expansion is the outcome of intensive human activity within a certain natural environment and may cause ecological and environmental problems, especially on small islands where land is a scarce resource. Praia is the capital city of Cape Verde, located on such an island. Understanding urban expansion will provide good knowledge for urban planning and policy making in balancing urban economic development and natural resource protection. According to available data, the urban expansion in Praia between 1969 and 2015 is observed in four phases (1969–1993, 1993–2003, 2003–2010, and 2010–2015). In order to integrate various data sources, this study applies an available method to coordinate and calibrate map data with different scales and forms into a consistent dataset and then introduces some improvements in the delineation of urban areas. With this data, the driving forces in each phase are explored using regression analysis, by which the main urban expansion processes are presented. We found a decrease in annual growth rate (AGR) of urban expansion after the year 2003 and a parallel stabilization of urban utilization density (UD) and land consumption per capita (LCR). This study also indicates that population is not always the persistent driving factor for urban expansion and the majority of horizontal expansion has occurred in zones with less infrastructure.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1440: Improving Thermal Comfort of Low-Income Housing in Thailand through Passive Design Strategies Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081440 Authors: Nafisa Bhikhoo Arman Hashemi Heather Cruickshank In Thailand, the delivery of adequate low-income housing has historically been overshadowed by politics with cost and quantity being prioritised over quality, comfort and resilience. In a country that experiences hot and humid temperatures throughout the year, buildings need to be adaptable to the climate to improve the thermal comfort of inhabitants. This research is focused on identifying areas for improving the thermal performance of these housing designs. Firstly, dynamic thermal simulations were run on a baseline model using the adaptive thermal comfort model CIBSE TM52 for assessment. The three criteria defined in CIBSE TM52 were used to assess the frequency and severity of overheating in the buildings. The internal temperature of the apartments was shown to exceed the thermal comfort threshold for these criteria throughout the year. The internal operating daily temperatures of the apartment remain high, ranging from a maximum of 38.5 °C to a minimum of 27.3 °C. Based on these findings, five criteria were selected to be analysed for sensitivity to obtain the key parameters that influence the thermal performance and to suggest possible areas for improvement. The computer software package Integrated Environmental Solutions—Virtual Environment (IES-VE) was used to perform building energy simulations. Once the baseline conditions were identified, the software packages SimLab2.2 and RStudio were used to carry out the sensitivity analysis. These results indicated that roof material and the presence of a balcony have the greatest influence on the system. Incorporating insulation into the roof reduced the mean number of days of overheating by 21.43%. Removing the balcony increased the number of days of overheating by 19.94% due to significant reductions in internal ventilation.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1445: Spatiotemporal Agglomeration of Real-Estate Industry in Guangzhou, China Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081445 Authors: Peng Wang Xiaoyan Lin Dajun Dai Real estate development is critical to healthy economic growth and regional development. Using real-estate data in Guangzhou, China from the 1970s to 2015, we examined the spatiotemporal agglomeration and evolution of Guangzhou’s real estate industry with spatial and spatiotemporal techniques. This study shows that real estate businesses were initially agglomerated in the city center with socioeconomic advantages, and later spread into suburbs as new growth foundations. We also found that different business types, depending on their functions, evolved and agglomerated in different time periods. The findings provide valuable support to the formulation of effective government policy and the management of real estate enterprises in China.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1468: Exploring Alternative Use of Medicinal Plants for Sustainable Weed Management Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081468 Authors: Kwame Appiah Hossein Mardani Asma Osivand Sylvia Kpabitey Christiana Amoatey Yosei Oikawa Yoshiharu Fujii This paper presents the first application of ethnobotanical studies to screen for allelopathic species among medicinal plants for sustainable weed management. This study assesses the possible relationship between ethnobotanical indices and allelopathy of medicinal plants. Ethnobotanical data were collected in 2016 by using semi-structured interviews with 140 informants in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality, Ghana. Data were analysed using statistical tool and ethnobotanical indices including use value (UV), Fidelity Level (FL), Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC). The Sandwich and Dish pack methods were respectively used to evaluate allelopathy through leachates and volatiles of collected samples. Ninety-five species belonging to 43 families are reported in this study, with leaves (52%) cited the most utilised plant part. Cleistopholis patens (UV = 0.54; FL = 90.7%; RFC = 0.37) and Ocimum gratissimum (UV = 0.37; FL = 38.4%; RFC = 0.35) were among the most cited species. Thirty-two species showed inhibition (≥49.3%) by leachates, while twenty-four species were found with potential volatile inhibitory compounds against lettuce radicle growth. There was a significant positive correlation (Pearson) between the UV and RFC of medicinal plants and allelopathy by leaf leachates (r = 0.639 **; p = 0.01 and r = 0.653 **; p = 0.01 respectively). This systematic documentation of medicinal plants in Ejisu-Juaben Municipality shows medicinal plants with ethnomedicinal values and potential allelopathy that can be utilised in sustainable weed control.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1467: Heatstroke Risk Predictions for Current and Near-Future Summers in Sendai, Japan, Based on Mesoscale WRF Simulations Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081467 Authors: Masataka Kasai Tsubasa Okaze Akashi Mochida Kazumasa Hanaoka The incidence of heatstroke has been increasing in Japan, and future climate change is likely to increase heatstroke risk. We therefore developed a method to quantify the spatial distribution of outdoor heatstroke risk and predicted future changes in this risk considering the predicted climate change in Sendai, Japan. Heatstroke risk was quantified by assessing hazard, vulnerability and exposure. Daily maximum wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) was selected as the hazard index. The distribution of WBGT was predicted by mesoscale meteorological simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The relationship between daily maximum WBGT and the daily incidence rate was approximated by analyzing emergency transport data. This relationship was selected as the vulnerability index. Using the hazard and vulnerability indices, a spatial distribution of the monthly incidence rate was obtained. Finally, the total number of heatstroke patients per month was estimated by multiplying the monthly incidence rate by the population density. The outdoor heatstroke risk for August was then estimated for current (2000s) and near-future (2030s) climatic conditions in Sendai. WBGT at coastal areas in the 2030s increased owing to increases in humidity, while WBGT at inland areas increased owing to increases in air temperature. This increase in WBGT drove increases in heatstroke risk.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1466: Factors Affecting Spatial and Temporal Concentration Variability of Pharmaceuticals: Comparison between Two WWTPs Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081466 Authors: Cristiana Morosini Milena Marsoni Vincenzo Torretta Fabio Conti Marco Ragazzi Elena Rada Gabriela Cioca The presence of emerging organic micropollutants (such as pharmaceuticals) in sewage has been, for a long time, an issue of great concern within the international scientific debate. This item represents one of the main challenges related to a sustainable development, with particular concern to the public health control. While most of the work has been concentrated on their detection and the evaluation of their average level, little is known about the spatial and temporal variability of concentrations of these compounds in the effluent and its capability to affect the concentrations in time of the receiving water body. In this study, three sampling campaigns were carried out at two different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Varese area (Northern Italy) with the aim of monitoring the occurrence of some pharmaceuticals to evaluate their removal efficiency. The detected pharmaceuticals were: Ofloxacin, Ibuprofen, Atenolol, Bezafibrate, Carbamazepine, Salbutamol, Cyclophosphamide and Hydrochlorothiazide. The results obtained, together with the analysis of the characteristics of the chemicals and of the two WWTPs, allowed evaluating the factors affecting the spatial and temporal concentration variability in effluent waters and the potential influence of this variability in driving the exposure of the aquatic ecosystems in the receiving water body.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1474: Conceptual Design and Energy Analysis of Integrated Combined Cycle Gasification System Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081474 Authors: Hossam Gabbar Mohamed Aboughaly Stefano Russo In this paper, an integrated gasification combined cycle conceptual design that achieves optimum energy efficiency and 82.9% heat integration between hot and cold utilities is illustrated. The integrated combined gasification cycle (IGCC) is also modeled and evaluated for the co-production of electricity, ammonia and methane for 543.13 kilo tonne per annum (KTA) of municipal solid waste (MSW). The final products are 1284.89 MW, 8731.07 kg/h of liquid ammonia at 8 °C and 32,468 kg/h of methane gas at 271 °C. The conceptual design includes advanced heat integration between syngas and hot and cold streams in all process units. The water gas shift (WGS) unit includes integration between equilibrium reactors and cold streams. The air separation unit (ASU) includes four air compressors followed by a pressure swing adsorber (PSA), which separates oxygen and nitrogen gases into separate streams. Both O2 and N2 gases are compressed and sent to gasifier and syngas cleaning unit, respectively. The overall design shows reliability and solved steady state equations for all process units with improvements in thermal efficiency in comparison with single cycle gasification plants. The environmental emissions for GHGs such CO2 and SO2 are lower due to higher overall energy efficiency.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1473: Evaluation of Developmental Progress in Some Cities of Punjab, Pakistan, Using Urban Sustainability Indicators Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081473 Authors: Ambreen Ghalib Abdul Qadir Sajid Ahmad Sustainable urbanization is a challenge to human beings in the modern era of technology. Cities all over the world are facing several problems due to urbanization and industrialization. Urban problems could be assessed through development of indices of urban sustainability on the basis of its three dimensions: environment, economics and social. The present study was conducted to identify indicators to develop indices for assessment of sustainability in some populated cities of Punjab. The study focused on the indicators based on environmental, economic and social development to develop a rational indicator system on the basis of secondary data collected from 2004 to 2014. A total of 40 indicators were identified to assess the urban sustainability progress in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala and Faisalabad cities. The result of the sub-indices indicated that poor performance was evident in the environmental sector, rather than in the economic and social sectors. The cities scored between 0.27 and 0.58 in environmental dimensions, showing a decreasing trend from 2004 to 2014. The declining trend of indices was due to population influx, rapid urbanization, reduction in green areas, industrialization, high level of atmospheric and water pollutants. In case of the economic sector, an increasing trend was observed which indicates the gradual improvement in living standards of people. In the social dimensions of the indicator system, less variations were observed among the cities and ranged between 0.49 and 0.58. Overall, the results of the urban sustainability index showed score was ranges between 0.41 to 0.52. None of the Punjab cities attained the position as a sustainable city (0.75) Lahore (0.52) and Faisalabad (0.52) were ranked as moderately sustainable cities, whereas, Rawalpindi (0.48), Gujranwala (0.47) and Multan (0.41) were ranked as weak sustainable cities. The study highlighted that the urban sustainability indicator system could be useful to determine the existing sustainability in cities of the developing countries for better resource management practices.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1470: The Inclusion of Forest Hydrological Services in the Sustainable Development Strategy of South Korea Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081470 Authors: Jean-Lionel Payeur-Poirier Trung Nguyen In the last decade, the South Korean government has implemented an unprecedented series of plans and policy actions to promote sustainable development, including the National Strategy for Green Growth. Some of these initiatives were direct responses to the evolving challenges in the water sector, and put forest hydrological services into perspective. To a certain extent, water was managed within a wider environmental context through the combination of forest and water management. However, the efforts to enhance forest hydrological services did not correspond to the immense potential of forests for the achievement of sustainable water management. We present a comprehensive and current view of the major challenges and opportunities related to forest hydrological services in South Korea. We identify key forest hydrological services in view of the major biophysical, environmental, and economic challenges in the water sector. We propose guidelines for the enhancement of forest hydrological services and for a better inclusion of these services in South Korea’s sustainable development strategy. An increased contribution of forests to the provision of high-quality water in sufficient, regulated amounts, and to the preservation of a safe environment in regards to natural hazards is imperative for the long-term development of South Korea.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1491: A Multiple Criteria Decision-Making Approach to Evaluate the Sustainability Indicators in the Villagers’ Lives in Iran with Emphasis on Earthquake Hazard: A Case Study Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9081491 Authors: Beniamino Murgante Mohamad Salmani Mohamad Molaei Qelichi Mehdi Hajilo Natural hazards such as earthquakes take place around the world and when combined with humans create natural disasters. Earthquakes, a form of natural hazard, have, in recent years, caused damage and destruction in many rural areas due to the lack of sustainability in political, economic, social, physical and operational criteria. Thus, to overcome the damage caused by earthquakes in rural areas, an assessment of sustainability status seems necessary to plan and strengthen in relation to the status of sustainability indicators. Data collection was performed through field methods and questionnaires. To test the hypothesis, T statistical methods, correlation method and F-test were performed using SPSS software (V22.0, IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). The results of the study showed that villages were at a low and undesirable level for all aspects, except social index in terms of sustainability. Comparisons showed that there was a significant mean difference among villages in terms of sustainability. The multi-criteria decision-making analysis has been considered and applied to a ranking of villages in terms of sustainability against the hazard of earthquakes. Finally, in order to improve the sustainability indicators of villages, some strategies have been presented.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1505: Spatio-Temporal Variations of Health Costs Caused by Chemical Fertilizer Utilization in China from 1990 to 2012 Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091505 Authors: Hong Yang Xiaoyan Shen Li Lai Xianjin Huang Yan Zhou The health impacts caused by chemical fertilizer utilization have challenged long-term sustainable development in many countries, particularly developing countries. Based on the emergy analysis method, we estimated the temporal and spatial variations of the health costs, through atmospheric, water, and soil pathways, of chemical fertilizer utilization in China during the period from 1990 to 2012. The results showed an obvious increasing trend of health costs from 1.8 billion Yuan in 1990 to 23.0 billion Yuan in 2012, while the ratio of health costs to agriculture output value declined slowly and became stable in recent years. Regional differences were remarkable and were significantly correlated to the levels of economic development (r = 0.843 and p < 0.001) and crop-sown area in the region (r = 0.588 and p < 0.001). Economically developed regions, especially the eastern coastal provinces, had much higher costs than the western regions. Meanwhile, fertilizer consumption shifted from the eastern to the northwest region, which was the same as the health costs. This study provides a reference to estimate the health costs of fertilizer utilization, and the results highlight the importance of sustainable development in China.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1510: A Framework for Integrating Ecosystem Services into China’s Circular Economy: The Case of Eco-Industrial Parks Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091510 Authors: Changhao Liu Raymond Côté Identified as critical for sustainable development, ecosystem services are increasingly being put on the policy agendas of governments and corporations. China is now facing serious environmental challenges caused by losses of ecosystem services and recently has recognized that the country is reaching its environmental capacity. The circular economy (CE) has been positioned as a key strategy for national economic and social development by the national government as a way to resolve problems of resource depletion and environmental pollution. It will be increasingly critical to link ecosystem services to the CE. This means that the CE needs to be expanded to include restoration and regeneration of ecosystem services. This paper proposes a framework comprised of components including policies, governance, techniques and technologies, business development, key actors and support organizations for incorporating ecosystem services into the CE and focuses on industrial ecosystems, specifically eco-industrial parks (EIPs), as microcosms of a CE. Taking China as an example, this paper explores whether this framework can be applied to EIPs. The paper concludes that there are many opportunities to apply the framework to China’s EIPs.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1506: Smart Cities as Organizational Fields: A Framework for Mapping Sustainability-Enabling Configurations Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091506 Authors: Paul Pierce Francesca Ricciardi Alessandro Zardini Despite the impressive growth of smart city initiatives worldwide, an organizational theory of smart city has yet to be developed, and we lack models addressing the unprecedented organizational and management challenges that emerge in smart city contexts. Traditional models are often of little use, because smart cities pursue different goals than traditional organizations, are based on networked, cross-boundary activity systems, rely on distributed innovation processes, and imply adaptive policy-making. Complex combinations of factors may lead to vicious or virtuous cycles in smart city initiatives, but we know very little about how these factors may be identified and mapped. Based on an inductive study of a set of primary and secondary sources, we develop a framework for the configurational analysis of smart cities viewed as place-specific organizational fields. This framework identifies five key dimensions in the configurations of smart city fields; these five dimensions are mapped through five sub-frameworks, which can be used both separately as well as for an integrated analysis. Our contribution is conceived to support longitudinal studies, natural experiments and comparative analyses on smart city fields, and to improve our understanding of how different combinations of factors affect the capability of smart innovations to translate into city resilience, sustainability and quality of life. In addition, our results suggest that new forms of place-based entrepreneurship constitute the engine that allows for the dynamic collaboration between government, citizens and research centers in successful smart city organizational fields.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1507: Circular Economy and Decision Models among European SMEs Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091507 Authors: Ana-Maria Zamfir Cristina Mocanu Adriana Grigorescu While targeting waste reduction and maintaining the value of products and resources in the system as much as possible, undertaking circular economy practices at the company level is a way of achieving entrepreneurial sustainability. This paper explores entrepreneurial decision models for adopting circular economy practices, focusing on European SMEs. Decision tree models are applied on data from Flash Eurobarometer 441 in order to uncover business strategies in relation to the implementation of circular economy practices at the company level and with the optimal level and nature of investments in the circular economy for improving economic performances of companies. The main findings of the article offer a better understanding of the relation between characteristics of European SMEs and their decisions in the field of circular economy. Such results are relevant from both macro and micro perspectives, as they can be used for customizing circular economy programs and intervention strategies for various groups of SMEs, as well as for supporting sustainable entrepreneurial decisions.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1498: Sustainability Matter and Financial Performance of Companies Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091498 Authors: Carlos Lassala Andreea Apetrei Juan Sapena The relationship between social and environmental performance and financial performance in companies has been a subject widely debated in the literature but the results obtained to date are not conclusive. This research employs the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and offers new evidence on the relationship between both types of performance in a sample of companies listed in the Spanish capital market. Financial performance is measured by the return on equity (ROE) ratio, variable that is widely used in Finance and Accounting related research. The corporate performance of the company is measured by its inclusion or not in the sustainability index used as reference for the Spanish capital market, the FTSEGood4 IBEX. The model also incorporates other business variables that might affect the relationships between both types of performance, such as return on assets (ROA) ratio, company size, debt ratio, and industry. The results suggest that, for specific industries, return on assets is a necessary condition for companies with leverage to reduce the cost of debt due to their sustainability profile and consequently boost their ROE.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1524: Influencing Factors of the Adoption of Agricultural Irrigation Technologies and the Economic Returns: A Case Study in Chaiyaphum Province, Thailand Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091524 Authors: Ratchaneewan Chuchird Nophea Sasaki Issei Abe This empirical research investigates the factors influencing the adoption of three irrigation technologies using a probit statistical model: water wheel (WW), water pump (WP), and weir (WR) irrigation technologies as well as their economic returns per unit of rice cultivated area. The influencing factors were categorized into demographic, socioeconomic, topographical, institutional, and attitudinal factor groups by 207 rice-growers in the Chaiyaphum province in northeastern Thailand. The results revealed that the land holding size, farm income, and water use association (WUA) membership factors were highly positively associated with the WW adoption. Meanwhile, age, farm income, skills training, and WUA membership were negatively correlated with the WP adoption. Nevertheless, proximity to a water source and upstream farmland location were positively correlated with the WP adoption. The WR adoption was positively associated with age but negatively correlated with the land holding size, upstream farmland location, and group participation factors. The cost–benefit analysis indicated that the WW irrigation scheme generated the highest economic return with the benefit-to-cost ratio schemes. The findings suggest that the WW irrigation technology would be deployed in the water management of other agricultural areas in the region to overcome the unfavorable geography and alleviate the local farmers’ disadvantageous economic conditions.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1525: Some Results on the Vulnerability Assessment of HAWTs Subjected to Wind and Seismic Actions Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091525 Authors: Alberto Avossa Cristoforo Demartino Pasquale Contestabile Francesco Ricciardelli Diego Vicinanza The spread of the wind energy industry has caused the construction of wind farms in areas prone to high seismic activity. Accordingly, the analysis of wind turbine loading associated with earthquakes is of crucial importance for an accurate assessment of their structural safety. Within this topic, this paper presents some preliminary results of a probabilistic framework intended to be used for the estimation of the probability of failure of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine-supporting structures when subjected to the wind and seismic actions. In particular, the multi-hazard fragility curves of the wind turbine-supporting structure were calculated using Monte Carlo simulations. A decoupling approach consisting of aerodynamic analysis of the rigid rotor blade model and subsequent linear dynamic Finite Element analyses of the supporting structure, including aerodynamic damping, was used. The failure condition of the tower structure was estimated according to the stress design procedure proposed by EC3 for the buckling limit state assessment. Finally, the vulnerability assessment of HAWTs to wind and seismic actions was evaluated in terms of fragility curves describing the probability of failure of the supporting tower structure as a function of the Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) for each parked and operational wind condition. In particular, the results highlight a probability of failure larger than 50% for high levels of seismic action (PGA greater than 0.7 g) combined with the rotor in parked condition (wind speed of 3 m/s) or in operational rated condition (wind speed of 11.4 m/s).

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1541: Uncovering Spatial Structures of Regional City Networks from Expressway Traffic Flow Data: A Case Study from Jiangsu Province, China Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091541 Authors: Wenqian Ke Wei Chen Zhaoyuan Yu On the basis of the “space of flows” theory, city networks emphasizing factor connectivity and spatial connection have become a core perspective for regional spatial relationships. They provide a context for discussing the spatial structures of city networks and a scientific basis for making regional development policies. Relying on expressway traffic flow data from Jiangsu Province in 2014, this study describes macro-spatial patterns and hierarchical structures of city networks, and uses the Walktrap algorithm of community detection to execute space divisions and elucidate potential spatial connection structures in the city networks. In comparison with other algorithms, the Walktrap algorithm demonstrates significant adaptation and stability to the short expressway traffic flows with the characteristics of strong network density and sparse node distribution. The results indicate that the macro-spatial patterns of Jiangsu’s city networks have clear regional differences. The cities with relatively dense spatial linkages are distributed along the Yangtze River banks, and many different sub-network systems have also developed internally. Cities and linkage axles have clear hierarchical structures. City hierarchies have certain spatial couplings with the cities’ intrinsic social economic attributes and geographical locations. The linkage axles hierarchy has clear spatial interactions and superposition with geographical distance. The community detection algorithm identified six spatially connected “city communities”, the Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou Community (SWCC), the Nanjing-Zhenjiang-Yangzhou-Taizhou Community (NZYTC), the Nantong-Yancheng Community (NYC), the Lianyungang Community (LYGC), the Huai’an-Suqian Community (HSC), and the Xuzhou Community (XZC). The community spatial metaphors had four aspects. First, trans-prefectural linkages were formed through spatially integrated effects of metropolis regions. Second, some communities share the same boundaries with their prefecture level administrative units; this reveals that significant administrative regional economies still exist in contemporary Jiangsu. Third, several cities located in the marginal areas of prefectures and captured by the powerful center cities in neighboring prefectures have been absorbed into the communities of neighboring prefectures. Fourth, the two cities Jiangyin and Jingjiang, divided into different administrative districts, have switched status opposite city community divisions.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1538: Surface Urban Heat Island Analysis of Shanghai (China) Based on the Change of Land Use and Land Cover Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091538 Authors: Haiting Wang Yuanzhi Zhang Jin Tsou Yu Li In this paper, we present surface urban heat island (SUHI) analysis of Shanghai (China) based on the change in land use and land cover using satellite Landsat images from 2002 to 2013. With the rapid development of urbanization, urban ecological and environmental issues have aroused widespread concern. The urban heat island (UHI) effect is a crucial problem, as its generation and evolution are closely related to social and economic activities. Land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) is the key in analyzing the UHI effect. Shanghai, one of China’s major economic, financial and commercial centers, has experienced high development density for several decades. A tremendous amount of farmland and vegetation coverage has been replaced by an urban impervious surface, leading to an intensive SUHI effect, especially in the city’s center. Luckily, the SUHI trend has slowed due to reasonable urban planning and relevant green policies since the 2010 Expo. Data analyses demonstrate that an impervious surface (IS) has a positive correlation with land surface temperature (LST) but a negative correlation with vegetation and water. Among the three factors, impervious surface is the most relevant. Therefore, the policy implications of land use and control of impervious surfaces should pay attention to the relief of the current SUHI effect in Shanghai.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1544: Overheating and Daylighting; Assessment Tool in Early Design of London’s High-Rise Residential Buildings Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091544 Authors: Bachir Nebia Kheira Tabet Aoul High-rise residential buildings in dense cities, such as London, are a common response to housing shortage. The apartments in these buildings may experience different levels of thermal and visual comfort, depending on their orientation and floor level. This paper aims to develop simplified tools to predict internal temperatures and daylighting levels, and propose a tool to quickly assess overheating risk and daylight performance in London’s high-rise residential buildings. Single- and double-sided apartments in a high-rise building were compared, and the impact of their floor level, glazing ratio, thermal mass, ventilation strategy and orientation was investigated. Using Integrated Environmental Solutions Virtual Environment (IES VE), temperature and daylight factor results of each design variable were used to develop early design tools to predict and assess overheating risks and daylighting levels. The results indicate that apartments that are more exposed to solar radiations, through either orientation or floor level, are more susceptible to overheat in the summer while exceeding the daylighting recommendations. Different design strategies at different levels and orientations are subsequently discussed.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1545: A Conceptual Framework for the Integration of Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resource Development Based on Lifelong Learning Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091545 Authors: Thilo Ketschau Companies often see themselves as actors in a process of sustainable development that takes place in society. With this self-conception comes the challenge to act in a socially responsible way. The following paper presents a framework to integrate the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resource Development to create an approach that can address this responsibility. The concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resource Development are linked by the idea of lifelong learning, incorporating concepts and ideas from the field of education into the framework, which makes it possible to examine the issue of promotion and social advancement irrespective of an individual’s social background. The article lays a foundation for the framework by describing the concepts named above and later on conceptualizes a three-part framework that helps to analyse the development of entrepreneurial structures that enable social commitment through company education. With this framework, an innovative approach to link a corporation’s social and educational engagement for mutual benefit is given an applicable form, with the immanent potential for the development of social sustainability. The research presented in this paper is purely theoretical and its results offer a connection point for practical interventions.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1534: A General Equilibrium View of Population Ageing Impact on Energy Use via Labor Supply Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091534 Authors: Taoyuan Wei Qin Zhu Solveig Glomsrød Globally, population ageing is accelerating, i.e., the share of older persons in the population is increasing. The population ageing can have considerable impacts on economic growth, energy use and related carbon emissions, affecting sustainable development. A few studies have analyzed the issue by econometric methods, decomposition and CGE modeling. To facilitate understanding of the simulated results from empirical studies, we developed an analytical general equilibrium model to study the population ageing impact on energy-related emissions, focusing on the long-term potential of economic development by considering the interactions between key productive resources, including labor, capital, and energy. Based on a special case of Cobb–Douglas production function, we show that population ageing can result in considerably less emissions at a lower rate than the ageing in the long term. For example, the reduced global emissions in 2050 can be equivalent to one-recent-year emissions in Japan in the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario. We also find that the price elasticity of energy supply is the most important parameter to determine the potential impact of population ageing on energy use and related emissions. In the future, the price elasticity of energy supply may become more inelastic than today due to strict climate policy and increasing extraction cost of fossil fuels. Hence, the ageing impact on emissions may be diminishing over time.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1543: Impacts of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Voucher Program on Food Lifestyle Behaviors: Evidence from an Employer-Sponsored Pilot Program Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091543 Authors: Jairus Rossi Timothy Woods James Allen Community supported agriculture (CSA) programs have recently received attention for their potential to influence food lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes. We build on and expand inquiries into the relationship between CSA participation and behavior change by presenting the results from a controlled pilot study of first-time CSA shareholders. We offered 95 first-time shareholders a $200 voucher to participate in a CSA. Prior to and immediately following CSA participation, these shareholders completed a survey on food lifestyle behaviors. Using econometric analyses, we measured shareholder behavior changes against an 82 person control group. All participants were drawn from a pool of individuals involved in a university wellness program. From these analyses, we identified potential benefits and changes to shareholders in four unique categories: (1) fresh versus processed food consumption; (2) food prepared at home versus away from home; (3) food purchasing behavior and interest in nutrition; and (4) self-reported health outcomes. Changes within these categories and differences between test and control were more strongly realized in shareholders who reported lower than average health prior to the CSA. We conclude with a discussion about the potential of incentivized CSAs to serve as a novel preventative health intervention.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1553: Long-Term Land Use Changes Driven by Urbanisation and Their Environmental Effects (Example of Trnava City, Slovakia) Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091553 Authors: Zita Izakovičová Peter Mederly František Petrovič Similar to other post-communist countries, Slovakia has undergone significant changes in the last decades—largely through transformation of central planning into a market economy. Unfortunately, this process has been associated with increasing pressure on surrounding ecosystems and their individual components. These changes are subject to various influences, e.g., socio-economic, political and environmental; in addition, urbanisation has also had great influence. This is typified by conversion of productive agricultural land and semi-natural ecosystems into built-up area accompanied by the negative ecological impacts of habitat deterioration and fragmentation. The rapidly changing consumption patterns of luxury living, transportation and leisure have increased the negative consequences on ecosystems and these compound the negative environmental trends. This paper evaluates land use changes in Trnava, which is one of the most rapidly developing cities in Slovakia. Evaluation covers 1838–2015, with explicit emphasis on transformation over the last 25–30 years. We present comparison with developments since 1990 in other cities in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany and then discuss the main processes and environmental problems related to these changes, concentrating on the sustainability of current trends and appropriate planning and management responses.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1554: Application of WEHY-HCM for Modeling Interactive Atmospheric-Hydrologic Processes at Watershed Scale to a Sparsely Gauged Watershed Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091554 Authors: Suhyung Jang Shuichi Kure Noriaki Ohara M. Kavvas Z. Chen Kara Carr Michael Anderson A lack of observations within watersheds can make the production of streamflow data via hydrologic models a big challenge. This study evaluates the model performance of the Watershed Environmental Hydrology Hydro-Climate Model (WEHY-HCM), reproducing streamflow in a sparsely gauged watershed. The fifth generation mesoscale model (MM5) is utilized within WEHY-HCM as an atmospheric module coupling with its process-based hydrologic module, WEHY. The WEHY-HCM is set up over a sparsely gauged watershed and the spatially downscaled reconstructed atmospheric data to a 3-km horizontal grid resolution with an hourly time increment, is obtained by the fifth generation mesoscale model (MM5) from NCAR/NCEP global reanalysis data (reanalysis I). Hydrologic simulations by WEHY-HCM were applied to the Upper Putah Creek watershed based on the reconstructed atmospheric data and the estimated WEHY model parameters. The simulation results of WEHY-HCM were evaluated by means of statistical tests for both calibration and validation periods. The results of statistical tests performed using observed and simulated values indicated that the model performance can be considered as exhibiting an acceptable accuracy during both calibration and validation periods. The spatial maps of the evapotranspiration rate and runoff volume showed that the WEHY-HCM can represent a sparsely gauged watershed with unique topography well. This study found that the WEHY-HCM can be a useful tool to simulate the hydrologic processes in a sparsely gauged watershed.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1558: Life Cycle Analysis of Charcoal Production in Masonry Kilns with and without Carbonization Process Generated Gas Combustion Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091558 Authors: Sueli Miranda Santos Cassiano Piekarski Cássia Ugaya Danilo Donato Aldo Braghini Júnior Antonio de Francisco Ana Carvalho New technologies and emissions controls have been developed for the production of charcoal, but are not widely used in the industry. The present study seeks to evaluate the potential environmental impact of these new technologies as compared to traditional ones. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Brazilian charcoal produced with different technologies without and with the combustion of the gases in burners or furnaces was carried out. The inclusion of furnaces for the combustion of gases reduces all categories of potential environmental impacts by approximately 90% in both a circular masonry kiln and a rectangular masonry kiln with gas combustion. In the process of producing charcoal (gate-to-gate system boundary), in terms of climate change, the rectangular masonry kiln with gas combustion was approximately 63% less impactful than the circular masonry kiln with gas combustion. In the gate-to-gate analysis, the rectangular masonry kiln with gas combustion presented the best performance when not considering NO2 and SO2. Considering these emissions, there were changes in the impact categories of particulate matter emission and terrestrial acidification, and the circular masonry kiln with gas combustion presented better performance (for cradle-to-gate system boundary). The process in a rectangular masonry kiln without gas combustion presented a greater contribution to the categories of terrestrial impact ecotoxicity (98%), due to the emission of acetic acid especially.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1563: Diverse Effects of Consumer Credit on Household Carbon Emissions at Quantiles: Evidence from Urban China Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091563 Authors: Xinkuo Xu Liyan Han This paper surveys the diverse effects of consumer credit on household carbon emissions (HCEs) based on consumption patterns revealed by urban Chinese survey data. Based on the foundation of existing literature, consumption patterns and influential factors are carefully chosen to build empirical models that apply Heteroscedasticity-consistent covariance matrix estimation and quantile regression. The study finds that short-term consumer credit and credit card limits (representing daily consumption) have effects on HCEs at all quantiles, but mortgages (representing long-term consumer credit) only have effects at high quantiles. Consumption categories have distinct effects on HCEs at different quantiles. The effects of mortgages on HCEs occur mainly through the consumption of housing and facilities as well as through the consumption of medical care and transportation, while the effects of short-term consumer credit and credit card limits on HCEs occur through almost all consumption categories. These findings contribute to knowledge of the determinants of HCEs and provide a theoretical basis for consumer financial mechanisms to cut HCEs.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1564: What Makes Firms Innovative? The Role of Social Capital in Corporate Innovation Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091564 Authors: Se-Yeon Ahn So-Hyung Kim This paper offers a social capital explanation for the purported relationship between human capital investment and an organization’s innovation capability. We argue that social capital plays a mediating role in the relationship between the level of individual knowledge of employees and organizations’ innovation capabilities. The mediating mechanism is attributed to the role of social capital in knowledge exchange and combination that help enhance knowledge creation. Using survey data of 319 manufacturing firms in Korea, we conducted structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis to verify the mediating role of social capital in firms’ innovation performance. The results demonstrated that relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital are important mediators in realizing organizational innovation performance.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1585: Reusing Desulfurization Slag in Cement Clinker Production and the Influence on the Formation of Clinker Phases Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091585 Authors: Ying-Liang Chen Juu-En Chang Ming-Sheng Ko The purpose of this study was to investigate the reuse of desulfurization slag in cement clinker production and its influence on the formation of clinker phases. The desulfurization slag that mainly contained Ca and Si was identified as non-toxic, and thus it should be suitable to be reused in clinker production. The addition of desulfurization slag increased the melt phase during clinkerization, but the excess melt phase inhibited the formation of clinker phases. This could be attributed to the sulfur and fluoride derived from the De-S slag. At low desulfurization slag addition (5.4 wt %), the resulting clinker had a mineralogical composition similar to that of the reference clinker. The desulfurization slag added can lower the clinkerization temperature and increase the amount of Ca3SiO5 at 1300 °C, which may be beneficial to energy conservation in clinker burning. Moreover, reusing desulfurization slag additionally has the potential to reduce the energy needed for clinker grinding.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1588: A Credit Scoring Model for SMEs Based on Accounting Ethics Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091588 Authors: Bo Kyeong Lee So Young Sohn Various types of government credit guarantee programs exist for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The SMEs guaranteed by these programs can resolve their financial difficulties by obtaining loans from banks or being included in a pool for the issuance of primary collateralized bond obligations. However, the loan default rate for these supported firms is high owing to their moral hazard, which can be associated with unethical behavior in the accounting process. Since the stakeholders of credit guarantee programs initiated by the government include not only lenders and borrowers, but also taxpayers, the default risk of moral hazard must be minimized. Thus, an additional evaluation step is required to deal with accounting ethics, which has not thus far been considered in the literature. In this study, we propose an accounting ethics-based credit scoring model as a complementary approach, which can be used to select suitable borrowers. The proposed model is expected to reduce the default rate resulting from the moral hazard associated with unethical accounting behaviors in the supported firms.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1587: Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the EU, US, China, and India up to 2060 in Comparison with Their Pledges under the Paris Agreement Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091587 Authors: Yang Liu Fang Wang Jingyun Zheng A greenhouse gas (GHG) emission model was developed based on economic and energy sector development at the national level. Different development scenarios were established, including BAU (scenario with business as usual) and API (scenario with additional policy interventions). We simulated annual GHG emissions under different scenarios for the EU, US, China, and India from 2016 to 2060, and evaluated the impacts of emission changes on their mitigation pledges (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, INDCs). Two main conclusions were obtained. (1) In API, EU’s emissions fell from 4160 to 2340 MtCO2e/year and would probably achieve its INDC pledge. Though US’s emissions fell from 6330 to 4020 MtCO2e/year, it still had a deficit of 370 MtCO2e in 2025. If the Clean Power Plan (CPP) is abandoned, US’s emissions would remain above 6000 MtCO2e/year. (2) In BAU, China’s emissions peaked in 2044 while India’s emissions were already close to the strict INDC target. In API, China and India both achieved a reduction of about 2000 MtCO2e exceeding their INDC targets in 2030. Chinese emissions peaked in 2030, but Indian emissions grew until 2060. This study also indicates that developed countries should play a more important role in future mitigation efforts.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1580: Mapping Entrepreneurs’ Orientation towards Sustainability in Interaction versus Network Marketing Practices Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091580 Authors: Elena-Mădălina Vătămănescu Patrizia Gazzola Violeta Dincă Roberta Pezzetti By gliding sustainability into the mainstream areas of marketing strategy, the purpose of the current research is to analyze the influence of the entrepreneurs’ orientation towards sustainability on relational marketing practices—i.e., interaction versus network marketing. Placed within a comparative setup, the investigation included a sample of 104 business owners of Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the services sector, the selection of participants being subject to well-defined pre-established criteria. Acknowledging the research gap which addresses the type of business strategy fit for entrepreneurs’ orientation towards sustainability, the conceptual model integrated a categorical moderator variable (Planned/Emergent Business Strategies) as indicative of the potential heterogeneity among the hypothesized relationships. Both measurement and structural models were appraised by means of a structural equation modeling technique, respectively, component-based partial least squares (PLS-SEM). As the findings concluded, the entrepreneurs’ orientation towards sustainability accounts for almost 35% of variance in interaction marketing practices and 16% of variance in network marketing practices, thus positing a higher influence on the former. Moreover, evidence was provided that the reification of the entrepreneurs’ orientation towards sustainability in relational marketing practices was not significantly dependent on the type of business strategy.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1584: Exclude Me Not: The Untold Story of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Sweden Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091584 Authors: Arash Kordestani Setayesh Sattari Kaveh Peighambari Pejvak Oghazi This article examines the perspectives of immigrant entrepreneurs on the barriers they face regarding their inclusion in public procurement in Sweden through the so-called supplier diversity programs. Drawing upon modern stakeholder theory and transaction cost economics, this study aims to identify potential barriers such entrepreneurs face in succeeding as suppliers to the public sector. Data were collected through interviews with immigrant entrepreneurs who had experience with the public procurement tender process in Sweden. The results reveal that immigrant entrepreneurs doing business with public procurement face several barriers, ranging from economic to social ones such as information, advertising, human resources, and undercapitalization. The interviewees believe that such barriers weaken their performance and hinder their success in public procurement tenders. When it comes to supplier diversity programs, the entrepreneurs under study were either unaware of such programs in public procurement in Sweden or did not believe in their effectiveness.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1602: Supply Chain Configurations in the Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091602 Authors: Donato Masi Steven Day Janet Godsell As the circular economy (CE) gains traction in literature and practice, several academic communities are opening up spaces that move away from the CE as a pure engineering concept. This systematic literature review (n = 77) analyses and discusses the fragmented body of knowledge on the meso-level of supply chains (SCs): (a) to find common ground that underpins the current implementation of the CE on this level; and (b) to identify drivers, inhibitors, and enablers from which CE SC configurations emerge. The review finds that there remain differences in CE definitions that result from claimed antecedents and scopes, resulting in distinct research streams. On the meso-level, eco-industrial parks, environmental SCs, and closed-loop SCs each face significant challenges. The latter potentially offers the largest environmental benefits but engenders radical changes for business models and exposes SCs to more risk. We firstly argue for moving away from using a prescriptive set of practices as definitions for the CE towards a set of overarching goals to allow for the inclusion of future practices and techniques. Secondly, we highlight that research going beyond the meso-level to consider the wider social and institutional environment is needed to solve current challenges.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1599: Numerical Simulation of a Dual-Chamber Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091599 Authors: Dezhi Ning Rongquan Wang Chongwei Zhang The performance of a dual-chamber Oscillating Water Column (OWC) Wave Energy Converter (WEC) is considered in the present study. The device has two sub-chambers with a shared orifice. A two-dimensional (2D) fully nonlinear numerical wave flume based on the potential-flow theory and the time-domain higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) is applied for the simulation. The incident waves are generated by using the immerged sources and the air-fluid coupling influence is considered with a simplified pneumatic model. In the present study, the variation of the surface elevation and the water column volume in the two sub-chambers are investigated. The effects of the chamber geometry (i.e., the draft and breadth of two chambers) on the surface elevation and the air pressure in the chamber are investigated, respectively. It is demonstrated that the surface elevations in the two sub-chambers are strongly dependent on the wave conditions. The larger the wavelength, the more synchronous motion of the two water columns in the two sub-chambers, thus, the lager the variation of the water column volume.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1601: Impact of Firms’ Cooperative Innovation Strategy on Technological Convergence Performance: The Case of Korea’s ICT Industry Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091601 Authors: Kyunam Kim Various strategies and policies have been established to facilitate technological convergence as it becomes increasingly important. However, the current status and progress direction of technological convergence is still not clear, as it is difficult to define and measure convergence phenomena. In this situation, this study examines how technological convergence has continued in Korea’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry, and, further, which cooperative innovation strategies are more effective in technological convergence. In this study, the convergence level of Korean ICT is measured using patent data from 2011 to 2015. Further, this study analyzes the impact of cooperative innovation strategies on Korean ICT convergence. It is believed that, by classifying technological convergence patent applications by the scope of convergence, the declining inter-field and inter-sector technological convergence has caused a decrease in the number of technological convergence patent applications since 2011. An analysis of the correlations between the strategies and performance of technological convergence indicates that ICT firms’ licensing activities play a positive role in creating technologically convergent performance. Specifically, cooperative innovation strategies for not only licensing but also external research contracts and joint research are determined to positively affect performance in inter-sector technological convergence. Meanwhile, only the licensing strategy in inter-field convergence correlates with technological convergence performance. These results will help interpret the driving forces of technological convergence.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1577: Uncertainties of Two Methods in Selecting Priority Areas for Protecting Soil Conservation Service at Regional Scale Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091577 Authors: Liwei Zhang Yihe Lü Bojie Fu Yuan Zeng Soil conservation (SC) is an important ecosystem regulating service. At present, methods for SC mapping to identify priority areas are primarily based on empirical soil erosion models, such as the RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) based model. However, the parameters of the empirical soil conservation model are based on long-term observations of field experiments at small spatial scales, which are very difficult to obtain and must be simplified when implementing these models at large spatial scales. Such simplification of model parameters may lead to uncertainty in quantifying SC at regional scale. In this study, we have analyzed a new method to map SC in Jiangxi Province of China based on the multiplication of multiple biophysical data. After comparing the spatial-temporal changes of SC from the RUSLE based model and those from the surrogate indicator based method in the study area, the similarities and differences of these methods for identifying SC priority areas were revealed. The result showed that the two methods similarly represented the effects of vegetation coverage and land use types on SC, however, they were significantly different in representing the spatial pattern of SC priority areas and its temporal change. Based on the comparisons, the advantages and drawbacks for both methods were made clear and suggestions were made for the suitable use of the two methods, which may benefit for the research and application of concerning the planning and assessment with SC as key criteria.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1590: A Methodology for Analysing Sustainability in Energy Scenarios Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091590 Authors: Elisa Peñalvo-López Francisco Cárcel-Carrasco Carlos Devece Ana Morcillo Energy is a key factor in sustainability and a very attractive but risky sector for entrepreneurs. The need for sustainability in the energy sector forces the introduction of renewable sources in any scenario considered, but this investment must be thoroughly assessed. A methodology is required that enables the deduction of a realistic level of participation of renewable energy in the energy scenario in each particular case. Such a methodology should take into account all the factors involved and, by conciliating the different constraints imposed by each of them, find the maximum level of renewable energy possible in the system. This paper introduces a new methodology to address this problem by taking into account demand, generation, level of resources and technologies; and applies it to a particular case in a region of Democratic Republic of Congo. The uncertainties present in the energy sector, as well as the numerous factors at play, call for scenario planning, and this paper presents a structured procedure for viewing plausible futures.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1605: Life Cycle Impact Assessment in the Arctic: Challenges and Research Needs Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091605 Authors: Johan Pettersen Xingqiang Song Life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly used for environmental assessment of products and production processes to support environmental decision-making both worldwide and in the Arctic. However, there are several weaknesses in the impact assessment methodology in LCA, e.g., related to uncertainties of impact assessment results, absence of spatial differentiation in characterization modeling, and gaps in the coverage of impact pathways of different “archetypal” environments. Searching for a new resource base and areas for operation, marine and marine-based industries are continuously moving north, which underlines the need for better life cycle impact assessment in the Arctic, particularly to aid in industrial environmental management systems and stakeholder communications. This paper aims to investigate gaps and challenges in the application of the currently available impact assessment methods in the Arctic context. A simplified Arctic mining LCA case study was carried out to demonstrate the relevance of Arctic emissions at the midpoint and endpoint levels, as well as possible influences of the Arctic context on the impact assessment results. Results of this study showed that significant research gaps remain in Arctic-dependent life cycle impact assessment, particularly on: (i) the possible influences of the Arctic-specific features on characterization factors for impact assessment (such as seasonality, cold climate, precipitation, and marine dependence); and (ii) the coverage of impact pathways, especially on the under-addressed marine impacts and marine/near-shore dispersion processes. Addressing those identified research gaps and demand for future Arctic life cycle impact assessment could increase the credibility of LCA as an environmental decision-making support tool for Arctic industries and better support sustainable Arctic development.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1600: Inequality, Bi-Polarization and Mobility of Urban Infrastructure Investment in China’s Urban System Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091600 Authors: Lie Ma Dandan Li Xiaobo Tao Haifeng Dong Bei He Xiaosu Ye In periods of rapid urbanization, investment in urban infrastructure should not only meet the increasing demands of all urban people, but also be equally allocated between cities to achieve social equity and sustainable development. This paper aimed to conduct quantitative research on the unbalance of urban infrastructure investment between cities in China. The measurement models for inequality, bi-polarization and the mobility of urban infrastructure investment were constructed by means of the Gini coefficient, bi-polarization index and mobility function from the urban system, and an empirical study was conducted based on panel data from 2006 to 2014. The results show that: (1) The overall inequality of urban infrastructure investment in China’s urban system was relatively prominent and showed a “U-shaped” change generally. (2) The inequality between different administrative levels or regional cities only partially accounted for the overall inequality of China’s urban system. (3) Inequality and bi-polarization showed inconsistent performance. (4) Mobility played a positive role in reducing the inequality and bi-polarization. Based on the empirical findings and the reality of China’s urban infrastructure investment and financing, targeted policy suggestions were proposed in terms of adjusting inequality and bi-polarization, innovating investment and financing mechanisms, and optimizing urban infrastructure investment strategies.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1606: Cell Membrane Stability and Association Mapping for Drought and Heat Tolerance in a Worldwide Wheat Collection Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091606 Authors: Ibrahim ElBasyoni Mohamed Saadalla Stephen Baenziger Harold Bockelman Sabah Morsy Worldwide periods of heat and drought are projected to be more frequent, longer, and occurring earlier, which could deleteriously affect the productivity of cool-season crops including wheat (Triticum spp.). The coexistence of heat and drought stresses affects plant biochemical and physiological processes including cell membrane function. The increased permeability and leakage of ions out of the cell has been used as a measure of cell membrane stability (CMS) and as a screen test for stress tolerance. The main objectives of this research were to: (1) screen a global spring wheat panel for CMS by exposing leaf tissue to heat treatment and osmotic pressure (PEG 600), (2) identify potential quantitative trait loci (QTL)/genes linked with CMS using genome-wide association mapping, and (3) estimate the relationship between the field performance and measured CMS. The results indicated highly significant differences among the 2111 spring wheat accessions regarding CMS. Moreover, several SNPs were found to be significantly linked with CMS. The annotation of the significant SNPs indicated that most of these SNPs are linked with important functional genes, which control solute transport through the cell membrane and other plant biochemical activities related to abiotic stress tolerance. Overall, this study demonstrated the use of genome-wide association mapping for the identification of potentially new genomic regions associated with CMS. Tolerant genotypes identified in this study proved to be more productive under preliminary field stress conditions. Thus, the identified membrane-stable accessions could be used as parental genotypes in breeding programs for heat or drought stress tolerance.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1609: Identification of Stakeholders of Public Interest Organisations Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091609 Authors: Liliana Hawrysz Jolanta Maj Organisations are responsible for the impact of their decisions and actions on society and environment. This responsibility should be exercised by, among others, transparent and ethical conduct, which contributes to sustainable development, including the welfare and health of society, consideration of the stakeholders’ expectations, maintaining compliance with the current law, and coherence with international standards of conduct, and should be integrated with the organisation’s actions and exercised in its relations. An organisation’s social responsibility, aside from the fact that it is an obligation towards society, can bring the organisation measurable benefits in the long-term, such as an increase in the interest of investors, for whom a company’s financial credibility is often dependent on its social credibility, improved consumer and stakeholder loyalty, as well as increased competitiveness. The purpose of this article, the consideration of which is embedded in stakeholder theory, is to answer the question of whether Polish stock exchange companies identify their stakeholders, and to identify the possible effects of such identification on the organisations. From among 102 organisations that took part in CATI (computer-assisted telephone interview) studies, 28% identify their stakeholders. It is interesting that organisations that identify their stakeholders generated positive financial results more often than organisations that do not identify them. Organisations that identify their stakeholders are more transparent, i.e., disclose their non-financial information. On the other hand, organisations that do not identify their stakeholders do not practically disclose any non-financial information. In the light of the analysis of the subject literature and the obtained results of our research, we deem it necessary to analyse the stakeholders and assess their expectations in order to select the optimal level of co-operation with the stakeholders—in terms of the entity’s vision—and consider their needs in the company value generation strategy. This action offers managers more resources to achieve success.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1608: Effect of Uncertainties in Estimated Carbon Reduction from Deforestation and Forest Degradation on Required Incentive Payments in Developing Countries Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091608 Authors: Jichuan Sheng For reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) programs, it is particularly important that monitoring for emission reductions is tied to the revenues a developing country receives from REDD+ projects; any estimated uncertainties will have significant impacts on the emission reduction estimation and incentive scheme of REDD+. However, the effects of estimated uncertainties on incentives for developing countries have not been deeply discussed in the current literature. To fill this gap, two estimation approaches for emission reductions are introduced by considering the incentive coefficient by the principle of reliable minimum estimation. The relationship between estimated uncertainties and incentive coefficient is simulated to illustrate the effects of estimated uncertainties on the emission reduction estimation and incentive scheme. Data from six tropical developing countries is used, including Nigeria, Honduras, Indonesia, Kampuchea, Garner, and Brazil. The results indicate that both the errors of referential and actual carbon stock must be considered when estimating and predicting emission reductions. The effects of the error of actual carbon stock on the emission reduction estimation and incentive coefficient were determined to be more influential. The current incentive scheme was more favorable to developing countries with high carbon stock variability, while developing countries with low carbon stock variability had insufficient incentives to implement REDD+ project.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1610: Power-to-Gas Implementation for a Polygeneration System in Southwestern Ontario Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091610 Authors: Jonathan Ranisau Mohammed Barbouti Aaron Trainor Nidhi Juthani Yaser Salkuyeh Azadeh Maroufmashat Michael Fowler Canada has stockpiles of waste petroleum coke, a high carbon waste product leftover from oil production with little positive market value. A polygeneration process is proposed which implements “power-to-gas” technology, through the use of electrolysis and surplus grid electricity, to use waste petroleum coke and biomass to create a carbon monoxide-rich stream after gasification, which is then converted into a portfolio of value-added products with the addition of hydrogen. A model implementing mixed-integer linear programming integrates power-to-gas technology and AspenPlus simulates the polygeneration process. The downstream production rates are selected using particle swarm optimization. When comparing 100% electrolysis vs. 100% steam reforming as a source of hydrogen production, electrolysis provides a larger net present value due to the carbon pricing introduced in Canada and the cost reduction from removal of the air separation unit by using the oxygen from the electrolysers. The optimal percent of hydrogen produced from electrolysis is about 82% with a hydrogen input of 7600 kg/h. The maximum net present value is $332 M when over 75% production rate is dimethyl ether or $203 M when the dimethyl ether is capped at 50% production. The polygeneration plant is an example of green technology used to environmentally process Canada’s petroleum coke.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1555: Establishing a Framework to Evaluate the Effect of Energy Countermeasures Tackling Climate Change and Air Pollution: The Example of China Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091555 Authors: Jiehui Yuan Xunmin Ou Gehua Wang Due to the large-scale utilization of high-carbon fossil energy, considerable amounts of critical air pollutants (CAPs) and greenhouse gas (GHG) have been emitted, which has led to increasingly serious global climate change and local air pollution problems. Given that climate change and air pollution have the same source, energy systems, the rational development and use of energy for collaborative governance should be emphasized to solve these problems in parallel. This paper presents a multi-dimensional, multi-perspective and achievable analysis framework to quantitatively evaluate the emission reduction effects of energy countermeasures aimed at tackling climate change and governing air pollution in support of sustainable development. As a typical developing country pursuing sustainable development, China is taken as an example to demonstrate an application of the proposed framework to assess the emission reduction effects of energy countermeasures issued for tackling climate change and governing air pollution on CAPs and GHG. The results indicate that the key energy actions proposed in this paper would result in emission reductions of approximately 6 million tons (Mt) of CAPs and 575 Mt of GHG in 2016. By 2020 and 2030, emission reductions of 12 Mt of CAPs and 1094 Mt of GHG and of 21 Mt of CAPs and 1975 Mt of GHG, respectively, will be achieved. The proposed framework can effectively help China identify the emissions reduction effect of a given energy countermeasure and support the development of policy describing the next steps for tackling climate change and haze pollution. The proposed framework in this paper is also beneficial for countries similar to China in their efforts to simultaneously address climate change and improve air quality.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1625: LaVegMod v2: Modeling Coastal Vegetation Dynamics in Response to Proposed Coastal Restoration and Protection Projects in Louisiana, USA Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091625 Authors: Jenneke Visser Scott Duke-Sylvester We have developed a computer model of plant community dynamics for Louisiana’s coastal wetland ecosystems. The model was improved as a part of the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan of 2017 and is one of several linked models used to evaluate the potential effects of climate change and sea levels rise as well as the potential effects of alternative approaches to managing the region’s natural resources to mitigate the effects of sea level rise. The model we describe here incorporates a number of improvements over the previous version of the model developed for the 2012 Master Plan, including an expansion of the number of species and habitat types represented, the inclusion of bottomland forests and barrier islands, and the incorporation of additional ecological processes such as dispersal. Here, we present results from the model used to evaluate large scale ecosystem restoration projects, as well as three alternative management scenarios to illustrate the utility of the model and the ability of current management plans to address the threats that sea level rise pose to Louisiana’s coastal wetland ecosystems.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1629: Efficiency Analysis of Retail Chain Stores in Korea Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091629 Authors: Kyungwan Ko Meehyang Chang Eun-Song Bae Daecheol Kim In today’s low-growth business environment, efficiency management is becoming more important to improve corporate sustainability. In a chain store, the efficiency of individual stores must be well managed to improve the efficiency of the entire enterprise. To do this, it is important to measure the efficiency of individual stores and to find factors that affect efficiency. The main purpose of this study is to find out the factors affecting the efficiency of chain stores and to analyze the results to find out the implications that contribute to an improvement in efficiency. We measured the relative efficiency of individual stores using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and analyzed the factors that affect efficiency with the Tobit regression model. As a result, we found that the number of items per employee and a competitive environment influence the efficiency of stores. An excessive number of items may cause efficiency to be lowered. Therefore, it is necessary to manage the life cycle of the product, considering the trade-off between assortment and efficiency. Competition helps to improve efficiency to some extent, but too much competition can reduce efficiency.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1628: Aesthetic and Spiritual Ecosystem Services Provided by Urban Sacred Sites Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091628 Authors: Peter De Lacy Charlie Shackleton The range and use of ecosystem services provided by urban sacred sites has hardly been considered in studies of urban ecology, sustainability and human wellbeing. This paper examines the perceived ecosystem services supplied by green spaces or gardens associated with places of religious worship and appreciated by worshippers in a mid-sized town in South Africa. A questionnaire with open, closed and Likert scale questions was administered at 30 places of worship (25 with gardens and five without). Respondents identified a wide diversity of ecosystem services provided by gardens, with social ones being more recognized than ecological, and economic services the least. Approximately two-thirds of respondents visited a sacred site garden weekly or more often. The majority of respondents (96%) felt that a garden was necessary because it added to their feelings of connection with God, or helped them relax and so be better able to concentrate, and 54% stated that a garden enhanced their overall spiritual experience. Regression analysis revealed that aesthetic appreciation of a garden was significantly related to woody plant species richness, number and basal area in the garden. On the other hand, spiritual experience was positively related to woody plant basal area, but not species richness nor tree number. Neither size of the garden, nor number of years the respondents had been vising a particular sacred site had any influence on the rated spiritual or aesthetic experiences. These results reveal the widely appreciated ecosystem services provided by urban sacred spaces and their centrality in enhancing spiritual satisfaction for some.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1630: Manufacturing Process Innovation-Oriented Knowledge Evaluation Using MCDM and Fuzzy Linguistic Computing in an Open Innovation Environment Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091630 Authors: Gangfeng Wang Xitian Tian Yongbiao Hu Richard David Evans Mingrui Tian Rong Wang In today’s complex, constantly evolving and innovation-supporting manufacturing systems, knowledge plays a vital role in sustainable manufacturing process planning and problem-solving, especially in the case of Computer-Aided Process Innovation (CAPI). To obtain formalized and promising process innovation knowledge under the open innovation paradigm, it is necessary to evaluate candidate knowledge and encourage improvement suggestions based on actual innovation situations. This paper proposes a process innovation-oriented knowledge evaluation approach using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) and fuzzy linguistic computing. Firstly, a comprehensive hierarchy evaluation index system for process innovation knowledge is designed. Secondly, by combining an analytic hierarchy process with fuzzy linguistic computing, a comprehensive criteria weighting determination method is applied to effectively aggregate the evaluation of criteria weights for each criterion and corresponding sub-criteria. Furthermore, fuzzy linguistic evaluations of performance ratings for each criterion and corresponding sub-criteria are calculated. Thus, a process innovation knowledge comprehensive value can be determined. Finally, an illustrative example of knowledge capture, evaluation and knowledge-inspired process problem solving for micro-turbine machining is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach. It is expected that our model would lay the foundation for knowledge-driven CAPI in sustainable manufacturing.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1626: Long-Term Educational Sustainability: Educational Innovation in Social Vulnerability Contexts Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091626 Authors: Ana Tur-Porcar Alicia Mas-Tur Elisabeth Malonda Vidal This paper investigates the behavior of children from low socioeconomic status families and examines the effects of a socioemotional education program on aggression in children. The results of the program are compared according to the children’s gender and age, the family structure, the parents’ educational attainment, and social status. The results show that applying socioemotional education programs reduces children’s aggression and encourages positive development during adolescence. This positive development fosters open, expressive behavior.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1612: Farmers’ Awareness of Ecosystem Services and the Associated Policy Implications Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091612 Authors: Fangfang Xun Yecui Hu Ling Lv Jinhui Tong This study analyzes the primary factors influencing farmers’ awareness of ecosystem services. This study, through questionnaires, conducts research on farmers’ awareness of and demand for ecosystem service functions. The research encapsulates 156 households from 21 groups of villagers in the Guangxi Karst Ecological Immigration District in China. The results of the factors influencing farmers’ awareness of ecosystem services, analyzed using a regression model, show that: (1) Farmers are concerned with ecosystem service functions that directly benefit them; however, they do not sufficiently understand the ecosystem’s ecological security maintenance or cultural landscape functions; (2) Farmers’ awareness of ecosystem service functions is not consistent with their corresponding demand, including the ecosystem’s leisure and entertainment, social security, disaster prevention and water purification services; (3) Education level, land area cultivated by the household, proportion of the household’s income from agriculture and immigration status directly affect farmers’ awareness of ecosystem services; (4) Farmers’ personal characteristics, family characteristics and subjective attitudes have different effects on the level of ecological service cognition. Understanding farmers’ awareness of ecosystem services, and the influencing factors can help policymakers and development managers plan local development and policies, and enable harmonious development of the human-earth system in immigration regions of China.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1624: Rural Destination Development Based on Olive Oil Tourism: The Impact of Residents’ Community Attachment and Quality of Life on Their Support for Tourism Development Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091624 Authors: Ana Campón-Cerro José Folgado-Fernández José Hernández-Mogollón Residents are an essential part of tourism destinations, which makes gaining a deeper understanding of residents’ attitudes towards tourism development necessary because their favourable attitudes can contribute to destinations’ success. This study sought to understand to what extent rural residents’ perceptions of tourism development in their region affect their intention to support further tourism development. The present research also focused on the influence of the variables of community attachment and perceived quality of life on the relationship between residents’ perceptions of and intentions to support this development. This study concentrated on the case of olive oil tourism development in the Sierra de Gata and Las Hurdes districts in Spain. To test the proposed model, the data were collected from a sample of 245 residents in this region. Partial least squares was used to assess the model’s accuracy. The results highlight the importance of residents’ perceptions and their community attachment and perceived quality of life to destination managers who plan and develop tourism projects.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1631: Perceptions of Future Employees toward CSR Environmental Practices in Tourism Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091631 Authors: Diana Gligor-Cimpoieru Valentin Munteanu Renata Nițu-Antonie Andreia Schneider Gheorghe Preda Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in tourism, with its central evironmental dimension, represents an important component for the sustainable growth of the tourism industry. The related CSR education could prove a major factor for future professional performance in this field of activity. Thus, this article is aimed at identifying the perceptions of current business students about CSR (students from study programs dedicated to business administration in tourism) and the importance they attribute to CSR environmental practices, mainly from their perspective as future employees in the tourism industry. We elaborated a research methodology based on the Ecolabelling principles, designed by the European Union in 2009. Our findings revealed that business tourism students assign more importance to several specific CSR environmental practices and that the importance of these CSR practices is statistically significant (we determined this significance by using the Friedman, Paired-Samples t-, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis and Bartlett sphericity statistical tests). The elaborated research methodology proved to be statistically highly reliable. Results also show the differences regarding the CSR practices preferred by various categories of students according to their study levels and gender. Our results pointed out that our third-year bachelor students showed a higher interest in CSR practices related to their professional training, while students from the master level degree attached more importance to CSR practices related to the environment. We also confirmed conclusions of previous studies that female respondents attach more importance to environmental issues than male respondents. Thus, we can state that a higher level of education is a key factor that supports CSR development in practice. Also, a significant conclusion of our research is related to the academic curricula for business faculties which must incorporate solid CSR and business ethics-dedicated courses and offer the needed support for the development of thematic projects about CSR Environmental practices in hotels。

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1635: Key Factors Affecting the Price of Airbnb Listings: A Geographically Weighted Approach Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9091635 Authors: Zhihua Zhang Rachel Chen Lee Han Lu Yang Airbnb has been increasingly gaining popularity since 2008 due to its low prices and direct interactions with the local community. This paper employed a general linear model (GLM) and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to identify the key factors affecting Airbnb listing prices using data sets of 794 samples of Airbnb listings of business units in Metro Nashville, Tennessee. The results showed that the GWR model performs better than the GLM in terms of accuracy and affected variable selections. Statistically significant differences varied across regions in Metro Nashville. The coefficients illustrate a decreasing trend while there is an increase in the distance from the listed units to the convention center, which indicates that Airbnb listing prices are more sensitive to the distance from the convention center in the central area than in other areas. These findings can also provide implications for stakeholders such as Airbnb hosts to gain a better understanding of the market situation and formulate a suitable pricing strategy.