Regional sustainability contrasts in Brazil as indicated by the Compass of Sustainability – CompasSus

The current need for assessing sustainable processes and states is a driving assumption for this article, having as objective to present preliminary results of a new assessment approach, the Compass of Sustainability (CompasSus), applied to administrative regions of Brazil. Its methodological approach is based on a combination of existing assessment methodologies, such as the Human Development Index and the Ecological Footprint. CompasSus is elaborated under the perspective of rather complementary operational concepts of sustainable development, namely weak and strong sustainability, which are often seen as competing ones. In spite of the advances on the perspective of sustainable development perceived in international agreements for conservation of nature, as well as in the implementation of national policies aiming at sustainability, there still exists an operational ambiguity of the concept of sustainability. Thus, its fuzzy theoretical consolidation for clear definition of objectives and lines of action still leads to different assumptions for diverse stakeholders and authors. Looking at the Brazilian case, conservation strategies are needed to protect the world's largest tropical rainforest against a predatory business – as-usual frontier expansion. As for addressing trade-offs between environmental conservation and regional development demands the CompasSus introduces a combined hemispheric assessment of sustainability. In 2006, the state in which the sustainability index had the best performance was DF (Distrito Federal). This, the seat of the capital city, presents an economy based on the public and the service sectors, both very little carbon and energy intensive. Furthermore, the high income per capita, and good social indicators associated with the small relevance of the agrarian sector grants it the best sustainability index, which is determined by performances in two components representing strong and weak sustainability. In the other extreme is São Paulo (SP) where a high population density and major impacts on waterways have implied a worse performance in weak sustainability index, whereas the high consumption of energy together with high carbon emissions have also determined a low performance in strong sustainability index.     

An exploration of measures of social sustainability and their application to supply chain decisions

Sustainability recognizes the interdependence of ecological, social, and economic systems – the three pillars of sustainability. The definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) often advocates ethical behavior with respect to these systems. As more corporations commit to sustainability and CSR policies, there is increasing pressure to consider social impacts throughout the supply chain. This paper reviews metrics, indicators, and frameworks of social impacts and initiatives relative to their ability to evaluate the social sustainability of supply chains. Then, the relationship between business decision-making and social sustainability is explored with attention initially focused on directly impacting national level measures. A general strategy for considering measures of social sustainability is proposed, and a variety of indicators of CSR are described. Several of these indicators are then employed in an example to demonstrate how they may be applied to supply chain decision-making.     

Towards a sustainability criteria and indicators framework for legacy mine land

Sustainable development practices have become an integral part of most major mining companies’ business activities. However, the history of mining and the negative impacts it has had on the natural and social environment mean future mining activities, rightly or wrongly, will be judged against the legacies of the past and current poor performers. Legacy mine land, defined here as land which has been mined and is now being used for another purpose, or is orphaned, abandoned or derelict and in need of remedial work, is one management challenge that will be judged in the context of sustainable development. Globally, millions of such sites exist. Having criteria against which to measure progress toward or away from sustainable development goals is a key to delivering results. The aim of this research was to develop a sustainability criteria and indicators framework to suit the particular needs of legacy mine land. The resulting framework consists of 14 criteria and 72 indicators.     

全球主要国家环境可持续性综合评估——基于碳、水、土地的足迹-边界整合分析

随着地球生态系统的交互性、复杂性与整体性特征日益显现,综合分析和比较各类人为环境影响及其最大安全阈值,对于从整体上判断人类活动的可持续性、揭示承载力的超载程度具有重要意义.基于环境足迹和行星边界两项新概念,运用极差法和目标距离法对全球30 个主要国家的碳、水和土地赤字数据进行了标准化与权重化处理,得到一个复合的国家环境可持续性压力指数,并结合3 项环境赤字的实际分布状况,将所有国家划分为4 类:环境强可持续性(3 国)、环境弱可持续性(8 国)、环境弱不可持续性(9 国)、环境强不可持续性(10 国).总体上,环境可持续性压力呈现南美洲国家低、亚洲和非洲国家居中、欧美发达国家高的地域格局,亚洲是4 类国家并存的唯一大洲.全球的碳、水和土地足迹-边界比分别为3.0、0.6、0.7,表明就全球尺度而言,温室气体排放已处于严重超载状态,水资源消费和土地利用尚处于盈余状态,这与现有文献结果相吻合,从而在一定程度上验证了本研究结论的可靠性.     

Indicators of sustainable production: framework and methodology

This paper presents a new tool for promoting business sustainability — indicators of sustainable production. It first introduces the concept of sustainable production as defined by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts Lowell. Indicators of sustainable production are discussed next, including their dimensions and desirable qualities. Based on the Lowell Center Indicator Framework, the authors suggest a new methodology of core and supplemental indicators for raising companies' awareness and measuring their progress toward sustainable production systems. Twenty-two core indicators are proposed and a detailed guidance for their application is included. An eight-step model provides a context for indicator implementation. The paper concludes with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology as well as recommendations for testing the indicators.     

The role of co-operation between academia and policymakers for the development and use of sustainability indicators – a case from the Finnish Kymenlaakso Region

In this article, we analyze the co-operation between academia and other stakeholders in the development and use of sustainability indicators. The empirical case is a self-assessment of a Life-Environment project, ECOREG (2002–2004), in which eco-efficiency indicators were constructed for the Finnish Kymenlaakso Region. In the article the relationship between academia and local decision-makers in both the ECOREG Project and the activities thereafter is examined. Contrary to many sustainability indicator initiatives the ECOREG indicators have been updated and used after the original project ended. A main conclusion of the article is that the use of the indicators is largely influenced by how they were originally developed. More specifically, that knowledge was jointly produced instead of being merely transferred from academia to policymakers affected the relevance of the indicators as well as the capabilities of local actors to use, update and further develop the indicators.     

Evaluating the impacts of global environmental assessments

There are currently no widely accepted procedures for comparing the performance of global environmental assessments (GEAs) and this may be a barrier to improving their methodology. To encourage greater self-reflection within the GEA community, it is proposed to introduce consistent evaluation approaches. Two elements from current evaluation practice are reviewed here that could be particularly useful for evaluating GEAs. The first are logic models which provide a transparent visual mapping of how activities in a GEA are intended to have impacts on policies. The second are performance metrics. It is proposed that GEAs adopt two kinds of metrics: (i) A common generic set for use in all GEAs to provide a basis for comparing the performance of GEAs, and (ii) a specific set of measureable metrics for each particular GEA derived from/linked to the generic set. Although many issues arise in applying these and other elements from evaluation theory and practice to GEAs, the potential benefits are greater comparability of GEA performance and new knowledge about how to improve them. This Short Communication is part of a Special Issue on solution-oriented GEAs.     

Tools and concepts for sustainable development,how do they relate to a general framework for sustainable development,and to each other?

We present a general framework to plan for sustainability and then relate it to some well-known tools for sustainable development. This framework follows from principles for how a system is constituted (ecological and social principles), and contains principles for a favorable outcome for the system (sustainability), as well as principles for the process to reach this outcome (sustainable development). The principles for sustainability define the favorable outcome and direct problem-solving upstream towards problemsources. A program of activities is then constructed by backcasting from defined outcomes to the current problems. This is followed by “metrics”, i.e. various concepts for measuring and monitoring the activities. Most concepts and tools for sustainable development function as metrics, for instance life cycle assessment (LCA), ecological footprinting (EF), and Factor X. An environmental management system (EMS), like ISO 14001 or EMAS, is an administrative vehicle that should systematically align a firm's specific outcomes, activities and metrics with a general framework for sustainability. From a strategic point of view, metrics should measure alignment of activities with the principles contained in a framework for sustainability. A framework is not an alternative to concepts and tools for metrics. We need them all, because they represent different interrelated levels of strategic planning.     

Social construction of sustainability in water companies in the Dutch coastal zone

This article addresses the question, “How is the concept of sustainable development translated into the business practices of the Dutch drinking water sector?” Two companies along the Dutch coast developed their own versions of sustainability, based upon their particular context and influential stakeholders. Operating in the coastal zone means that they have to deal with vulnerable freshwater systems and this leads to more use of surface water instead of groundwater.     

Transdisciplinary sustainability research beyond engagement models: Toward adventures in relevance

Transdisciplinary models of research are increasingly upheld as the gold standard of collaborative science to solve complex social and environmental problems, promising to ‘close the gap’ between knowledge and action, inject science with greater accountability, democratic participation, and include stakeholders as practitioners of research. Absent in transdisciplinary models are more ‘risky’ questions of relevance, subject positionality, and the lived encounters between researchers and stakeholders. Who are the ‘holders’ and who determines the ‘stakes’? This article examines how notions of roles, typologies, and effectiveness constrain relationships between researchers and stakeholders; and document the ways in which research teams, shot through with these tensions, in turn develop new roles, typologies, and markers of ‘success’. In drawing on recent philosophical scholarship on social science practices, we argue that relevance in transdisciplinary research cannot rest on typologies, logics, and templates of collaboration in which effectiveness is determined in advance. The growing business of team science and its predictive aspirations risk rendering transdisciplinary research irrelevant if its practitioners do not loosen the grip on realist perspectives on stakeholder roles, research outcomes, and metrics of success. Instead, we argue for the development of skills for paying attention to the categories, friction, and tensions that are provoked by collaborative interactions, discourses, and techniques with stakeholders. Environmental researchers must learn to be responsive to the durable existence of stakeholders and seek to develop the means to reveal what matters, and therefore is relevant, to them.     

农业经营规模化发展对环境效率的影响——基于地块层面的实证分析

为探析农业规模化经营与农业环境可持续性之间的关系,对农业经营规模对农业环境效率的影响进行理论分析,并在此基础上构建了物料平衡原则下农业环境效率测算模型和农业环境效率影响模型.基于2004~2016年浙江省农户水稻种植地块层面的面板数据,实证检验了土地面积、劳动投入、资本投入和农业产出等农业经营规模指标对农业环境效率的影响.结果显示,农业规模化发展将因投入和产出的扩张以多种方式影响其环境效率,其中土地面积规模与农业环境效率之间呈倒U型关系,劳动投入和资本投入对农业生产环境效率均有负向的影响,而农业产出规模的增加将促进农业环境效率的提升.     

Integrated environmental assessment: an urban perspective

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An industry perspective of the completeness and relevance of a social assessment framework for project and technology management in the manufacturing sector

A framework has been introduced before to assess the sustainability performances of projects and technology developments in the process industry. The research summarised in this paper verified the completeness of the social dimension of that framework to evaluate operational initiatives. Furthermore, the relevance of the social dimension to the process industry has been validated. The perspectives of decision-makers in industry, i.e. a top-down approach, determined both the completeness and relevance. It was found that, to a limited extent, a smaller set of social assessment criteria might be defined for project and technology Life Cycle Management purposes. Also, it was concluded that quantitative social indicators are not practical in the process industry at present. Rather, checklists and guidelines should be applied during project and technology management, although this requires further investigation. Moreover, the perspectives of other stakeholders in technological systems should also be considered, from a bottom-up approach.     

农业经营规模化发展对环境效率的影响——基于地块层面的实证分析

为探析农业规模化经营与农业环境可持续性之间的关系,对农业经营规模对农业环境效率的影响进行理论分析,并在此基础上构建了物料平衡原则下农业环境效率测算模型和农业环境效率影响模型.基于2004~2016年浙江省农户水稻种植地块层面的面板数据,实证检验了土地面积、劳动投入、资本投入和农业产出等农业经营规模指标对农业环境效率的影响.结果显示,农业规模化发展将因投入和产出的扩张以多种方式影响其环境效率,其中土地面积规模与农业环境效率之间呈倒U型关系,劳动投入和资本投入对农业生产环境效率均有负向的影响,而农业产出规模的增加将促进农业环境效率的提升.     

A simplified matrix of environmental impacts to support an intervention program in a small-scale mining site

This paper describes a tool developed to evaluate environmental risks at a Brazilian artisanal small-scale gold mining site. The tool consists of a matrix used to determine the relevance of such risks through the classification of mining activities according to the likelihood that they may cause environmental impacts. The language and method are very simple, and thus appropriate for local stakeholders. It ensures their participation when developing a plan of action for intervention and training. When applied to a pilot site in the Brazilian Amazon, the matrix revealed the variables that pose higher environmental risks. These activities were subsequently addressed in a training program to promote better practices. As a result, the mining activities were improved by 28.8% when comparing compliance to environmental requisites before and after the training program. Specifically, the training program resulted in improved gold recovery, and reduced environmental and health impacts.     

University engagement and regional sustainability initiatives: some Danish experiences

With an outset in ‘sustainability’ defined as a continuous process requiring balance between (the emergence of) problems and our ability and capability to solve them using four distinct capitals available, i.e. natural, production, human and intellectual, and social capital, a model of universities as factories is used. The model suggests that the most notable products of a university being graduates, and knowledge in the form of books, journal articles etc., i.e. human and intellectual capital. As a consequence, these are also the most important impacts from a university. Using the case of Aalborg University, Denmark, the linkages (actual, potential and missing) between academic work in research and education and sustainability initiatives are explored. The focus is both on the university's core activities as a provider of research and education and on the university's activities as an organisation, i.e. its own operation and its accounting for this. It is suggested that systematic engagement activities could benefit both the university's ability to manage internal university processes (by learning from its peers) and its ability to produce the right graduates and knowledge. As a consequence, the main societal benefit would be the ability to better cope with emerging problems endangering the sustainable development of our societies. It is concluded that Aalborg University with its long tradition for project-based and problem-oriented learning in fact has every opportunity to be able to lead by example and become the link to sustainability.     

Explorations on the University's role in society for sustainable development through a systems transition approach. Case-study of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC)

Focusing on the sustainability challenge, a growing number of Universities are redefining their core strategies in order to adapt to the real social needs and expectations of their stakeholders. Beyond integrating sustainability into the University's internal activities (curriculum, research, operations, etc.), the challenge seems to be integrating the University with the sustainable development paths of society. For the last 10 years the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) has tackled this challenge through an overarching strategic plan. The latest strategy, UPC Sustainable Plan 2015 has adopted a different focus, which was designed through a participatory approach, involving many internal and external stakeholders.This work aims to use a conceptual framework based on systems transitions to assess the systems change potential of a University strategy, in this case, the sustainability strategy of UPC. The main objectives of this paper are: to present the sustainability strategy participatory design process and its outcomes at UPC; to analyse the strategy change potential through a new transition/systems renewal method that is proposed; and to compare it with the UPCs previous environmental strategy; The work concludes that the systems transition potential is currently higher with the new strategy and discusses the elements that explain this finding.     

Environmental decision making in multi-stakeholder contexts: applicability of life cycle thinking in development planning and implementation

According to the targets set for sustainability, integrating the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs is one of the main goals for development projects. A major challenge in the development field is cross-sectoral integrated planning and achieving multi-stakeholder consensus for collaborative joint projects, especially when sustainability is a goal. This increases the complexity of the multi-stakeholder interaction in decision making and requires enhanced mechanisms for stakeholder participation, coordination, and commitment beyond narrow self-interest. A critical aspect in the decision making process is to enable stakeholders to not only interpret and make decisions based on expert judgments, but also to appropriately involve the relevant parties in the research and decision making process. Therefore, scientific analyses in multi-stakeholder contexts have to be more transparent, participatory, and stakeholder-based in order to provide useful information to assist responsible decision making.This paper presents an outline of a stakeholder-based life cycle assessment approach that can be used to support sustainable decision making in multi-stakeholder contexts. The framework is discussed and compared to other common methods used to support environmental decision making in development projects. We argue that the fundamental concept of life cycle thinking can be effectively used to incorporate stakeholders in the research and decision making process, which can lead to more comprehensive, yet achievable assessments in collaboration with stakeholders. Life cycle thinking is not just a way to examine environmental impacts of activities, but also a way to comprehend and visualize a broader set of upstream and downstream consequences of decisions in development planning and implementation. A life cycle framework including the mapping of stakeholder involvement at each activity in upstream and downstream stages would give stakeholders a holistic view that they otherwise may not have.     

An approach to scenario analysis of the sustainability of an industrial sector applied to clothing and textiles in the UK

Companies aiming to be ‘sustainability leaders’ in their sector and governments wanting to support their ambitions need a means to assess the changes required to make a significant difference in the impact of their whole sector. Previous work on scenario analysis/scenario planning demonstrates extensive developments and applications, but as yet few attempts to integrate the ‘triple bottom line’ concerns of sustainability into scenario planning exercises. This paper, therefore, presents a methodology for scenario analysis of large change to an entire sector. The approach includes calculation of a ‘triple bottom line graphic equaliser’ to allow exploration and evaluation of the trade-offs between economic, environmental and social impacts. The methodology is applied to the UK's clothing and textiles sector, and results from the study of the sector are summarised. In reflecting on the specific study, some suggestions are made about future application of a similar methodology, including a template of candidate solutions that may lead to significant reduction in impacts.     

ISO 14001 certification in Brazil: motivations and benefits

Why do firms seek the ISO 14001 certification? This study presents a survey with 63 Brazilian companies from the chemical, mechanical and electronic industries. A Structural Equations Model (SEM) analyzed the relations between motivations and benefits related to the certification. An exploratory factor analysis identified four sources of motivation: reaction to pressures from the external stakeholders; proaction in expectation of future business concerns; legal concerns; and internal influences. Four dimensions characterized the benefits of an ISO 14001 certification: operational changes; financial impacts; relationship with business stakeholders (customers, competitors, suppliers); and relationship with societal stakeholders (government, society and NGOs). The motivations appear in two levels. Internal and legal motivations are the first level (antecedents), while reactive and proactive motivations are second level (consequents). Internal motivations explain reactive and proactive motivations and production benefits. Legal motivations explain proactive motivations, financial benefits, and benefits in relationships with societal stakeholders.