Environmental indicators for small and medium enterprises in the Philippines: An empirical research

Environmental indicators allow a firm to make measurements related to its environmental performance. In practical terms, they can be used to form a measuring, benchmarking and monitoring tool to track environmental performance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Within an Environmental Management System (EMS), environmental indicators can be used to check if a firm has met the targets it is required to set for itself. It can also be used in firms that have not yet implemented an EMS. The use of an Environmental Indicators System (EIS) is thus recommended for SMEs, many of which do not have an EMS, in order to enhance their environmental performance. As noted in A Guide to Corporate Environmental Indicators published by the Federal Environment Ministry (Bonn) and the Federal Environmental Agency (Berlin), three categories of environmental indicators can be developed, depending on whether they describe: (1) a company's environmental impact (environmental performance); (2) the management's environmental activities; or (3) the external condition of the company's environment.The objective of this paper is to present how environmental indicators were established and implemented for Philippine SMEs and to show that the indicators significantly correlate with the environmental performance of the SMEs. In order to test this hypothesis, a survey-questionnaire was designed and administered among SMEs covering six industrial sectors in the Philippines. Based on the survey responses, a Gap analysis between the environmental performances of SMEs and state-of-the-art companies was performed. The Gap analysis showed that environmental indicators were indeed able to capture the features of actual environmental performance.Further, a structural equation model was proposed and validated. It yielded a significant linkage between the environmental indicators and environmental performance.     

Certification and integration of management systems: the experience of Portuguese small and medium enterprises

The purpose of this study was to characterize the situation of Portuguese Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) concerning the certification of their Quality Management Systems (QMS), Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS), in their individually form, to identify benefits, drawbacks and difficulties associated with the certification process and to characterize the level of integration that has been achieved. This research was based on a survey carried out by the research team; it was administered to 46 Portuguese SMEs. Our sample comprised 20 firms (43%) from the Trade/Services activity sector, 17 (37%) from the Industrial sector, 5 (11%) from the Electricity/Telecommunications sector and 4 (9%) from the Construction area. All SMEs surveyed were certified according to the ISO 9001 (100%), a quarter of firms were certified according to the ISO 14001 (26.1%) and a few certified by OHSAS 18001 (15.2%). We undertook a multivariate cluster analysis, which enabled grouping variables into homogeneous groups or one or more common characteristics of the SMEs participating in the study. Results show that the main benefits that Portuguese SMEs have gained from the referred certifications have been, among others, an improvement of both their internal organization and external image. We also present the main difficulties in achieving certification. Overall, 7 of the Portuguese SMEs examined indicated that the main benefits of the IMS implementation management included costs reduction, increased employee training and easier compliance of legislation. The respective drawbacks and difficulties are also presented. Finally, we presented the main integrated items in the certified Portuguese SMEs we examined.     

Cross-cultural education for sustainability: development of an introduction to sustainability course

This paper reports on Ball State University's activities in the area of education for sustainability and current activities to develop an Internet-based Introduction to Sustainability course. As the course will be Internet-based, it will mesh well with and can serve as the introductory course in the sustainability curriculum of Ball State University Land Design Institute's international network of Sustainability Consortia, and can be used in sustainability education programs within the context of other international partnerships. This course will serve as a foundation for that effort and for a broader curriculum that can be delivered across cultures. Ball State University's Clustered Minors in Environmentally Sustainable Practices utilizes three courses to address the social, environmental, and economic aspects of sustainability: environmental ethics; ecology; and environmental economics. The intention is to compose a course comprising elements from all three dimensions. The course will include Internet content and assignments and will exploit the emerging ability for Internet-based teleconferencing for real-time interactions among students and faculty at diverse international sites.     

The feasibility of including sustainability in LCA for product development

The feasibility of combining the concept of sustainability principles and the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is examined. The goal is to achieve an operational tool that incorporates sustainability in product development and strategic planning. While the method outlined has the structure of LCA, it emphasises aspects and parameters often omitted from traditional LCA. The analysis and results can be either qualitative or semi-quantitative. Although a qualitative analysis is less time consuming, it can still highlight the important issues. Qualitative information, which is easily lost in a quantitative analysis, can be emphasised. One of the conclusions is that the method is well suited for screening analysis.     

Implementation of cleaner production in small and medium-sized enterprises

The aim of this article is to analyse whether it is possible for an external group to act as a catalyst when trying to make small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt a cleaner production concept. At Linköping University, Sweden, nine SMEs cooperated in a cleaner production project that uses the University and the County Administration as catalysts. This article is based on a survey that evaluated the project. The survey shows that the SMEs did modify their products and processes after taking part in the project. They were especially successful in changing their products. Why products were changed to a larger extent than processes is not fully understood. Maybe this was done as a part of introducing a preventive environmental care system. Most SMEs did, as a part of introducing an environmental care system, introduce an environmental policy and an educational programme. The SMEs also experienced lower costs and better cooperation with the authorities. A reason for this is the good cooperation between the three participants of the project. In general, the SMEs did not think that they had gained marketing benefits. This attitude could have been different if more SMEs from the same value chain (supplier-producer-wholesalers-customer) had been involved.     

Creating and implementing a model for sustainable development in tourism enterprises

The quest for sustainable tourism presents a challenge to integrate economic, social and environmental issues in tourism planning and—in order to implement this—to change attitudes and traditions among the different stakeholders within tourism. This calls for involvement of the different stakeholders in the change processes towards sustainable tourism and, accordingly, the creation of new patterns of interaction and collaboration between the stakeholders. This paper analyses how a project on sustainable tourism development in Mid- and North Jutland, Denmark, has engaged 26 small and medium sized tourism enterprises in an incremental change process towards sustainable tourism.Using the theory of collaboration, the paper analyses the process of identifying the common interests, defining the problems, setting the directions, and developing and starting the implementation of a four-step model for sustainable development in tourism enterprises. The question addressed is how to create a change process in the enterprises that is at the same time realistic and innovative.     

Capability development of local communities for project sustainability in afforestation/reforestation clean development mechanism

It has been recognized that the involvement of local community is essential to ensure the sustainability of A/R CDM (afforestation/reforestation clean development mechanism) project. This study verifies if the risks of non-permanence and leakage are addressed in a registered small scale A/R CDM project in Vietnam. Workshops, interviews, and a questionnaire survey of local villagers revealed that the project has caused a shortage of land for conventional activities such as grazing, fuel wood collection and shifting cultivation, and consequently posed the risks of project non-permanence and leakage. It is suggested that participation of all stakeholders in the community to the A/R CDM project beyond existing land tenure and adequate carbon benefit sharing according to the level of contribution to the project are required to reduce the risk of non permanence. To ensure the participation, the community should have capability such as consensus building and collective action. Leakage would be minimized if the community has alternative measures to the conventional activities before starting the project. We argue that it is necessary to first develop a community’s capabilities in the readiness phase of any A/R CDM project in order to reduce the risks for the project sustainability, and that new sources of funding are needed for this purpose.     

An approach to assessing sustainability integration in strategic decision systems for product development

This article aims to explore a new approach to assess company decision systems regarding sustainability-related communication and decision support between senior management and product development levels. The assessment approach was developed in theory and its applicability was directly tested in action research in two small and medium-sized companies and two large companies. The results were validated against experiences made by two management consultancies. Our study indicates that successful companies should: (i) integrate sustainability into business goals and plans, backed up by suitable (ii) internal incentives and disincentives and (iii) decision support tools. Our study also indicates that the new assessment approach can be used as a template to assess the current state of sustainability integration in company decision systems.     

经济发展可持续性状态与趋势定量评价方法研究

提出了基于环境绩效的可持续经济发展的定义,并设计了一个三角图．通过经济发展、资源能源消耗和环境污染三相互关系的研究,定量评价了经济发展的可持续性．利用三角图法对中国经济发展的可持续性状态和长期变化趋势进行了评价．结果表明,2000年中国的经济发展呈现出相对较弱的可持续性状态,中国大陆31个行政区大部分处于由弱不可持续性到弱可持续性的状态;1980—1991年中国经济发展表现出较弱的可持续性趋势,而1991—2000年则呈现出较强的可持续性趋势．这是中国改革开放20年来在环境保护方面不断加强的结果．案例研究表明,三角图法原理简单、计算简便、结果表现直观、评价指标和对象选择灵活,是一种值得推广的评价经济发展可持续性状态和长期变化趋势的定量方法。     

青海省草地畜牧业可持续发展战略与对策

青海省有可利用草地3161×104hm₂,是我国五大牧区之一。在长期传统游牧畜牧业经营方式下 ,对草地缺乏有效的保护和科学的管理 ,片面追求牲畜存栏数 ,超载过牧现象普遍存在 ,导致草地退化问题严重 ,生态环境破坏 ,自然灾害频繁 ,畜牧业经济效益低下。在这样的基础上实施草地畜牧业可持续发展战略 ,需要执行科技兴牧 ,教育先行 ;强化畜牧业生产基础 ,经济效益和生态效益并重 ;大力促进畜牧业产业化 ,走商品化生产发展道路的方针。推行高效集约化经营的畜牧业生产模式 ,发展具有高原特色 ,具有市场竞争力的特色畜产品生产 ,在实现畜牧业向高效益产业转变的基础上顺利地实施生态环境治理和草地资源保护 ,从而达到畜牧业可持续发展的目的。     

人类发展指数的修正与可持续发展的替代指标

本文确认了全球社会-生态问题（过度消费,道德危机）的主要根源并提出了新的可持续发展的愿景,重点要关注精神、道德、心理、生理和人的智力开发（而代替以消费为导主的理念）。讨论了人类发展指标不足所涉及到的因素（寿命预期、人均国内生产总值）,提出了测量人类可持续发展的替代指标,即：健康人口的比例。生态效率也被建议作为转化可持续发展的必要条件,人的精神,根据生态中心立场（社会-生态幸福）。通过适当的教育和体制政策而实现环境和人类健康、公平和整个人类的发展。     

Second-trimester echogenic small bowel: An increased risk for adverse perinatal outcome

2267 singleton fetuses who had one ultrasound examination between 15 and 21 weeks' gestation were prospectively evaluated for echogenic small bowel. Thirty-two cases of echogenic small bowel were detected—a prevalence of 1·4 per cent. Echogenic fetal small bowel was divided into two grades: grade 1, where the small bowel was more echogenic than the liver; and grade 2, where the small bowel had the echogenicity of bone. In contrast to 19/23 fetuses with grade 1 small bowel echogenicity, only 2/9 fetuses with grade 2 echogenic bowel had a normal pregnancy outcome (Fisher's exact test; P⩽0·01). Complications associated with second-trimester echogenic small bowel included in utero cytomegalovirus infection, second-trimester growth restriction, intrauterine fetal demise, and chromosomal abnormalities. Second-trimester fetal echogenic small bowel is associated with an increased risk of an adverse outcome. The prevalence of perinatal and neonatal complications is significantly greater when small bowel echogenicity approaches that of bone.     

我国中小城市生活垃圾优化管理模型

根据我国中小城市生活垃圾基本特点,以区域优化、长期优化和综合处理优化管理为基本准则,以规划系统总处理费用最小为目标,提出我国中小城市生活垃圾处理的优化管理模型程序.模型程序为首先进行基础数据调查与评价,分析系统内生活垃圾状况,之后建立模型方程,通过参数赋值、求解,求出最终优化管理方案,为我国中小城市生活垃圾的运行组织管理和资本运行管理提供科学手段.     

Results of the first adapted design for sustainability project in a South Pacific small island developing state: Fiji

With high population densities concentrated in predominately coastal zones, the South Pacific will, in this century, be heavily impacted by global temperature and sea level rises. Small island developing states do have a number of unique problems, namely, small scale economic development together with environmental sustainability. This paper presents the lessons learnt from the implementation of the first cleaner production and design initiative project conducted in a Pacific small island developing state(s) (SIDS) using the design for sustainability (D4S) methodology. The final product was analysed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. Implemented within a medium-sized enterprise operating in Fiji, the Cook Islands, and Samoa, the project focused on improving an existing product and its associated life cycle to make it more environmentally friendly to manufacture, retail, and dispose of. The project outcomes revealed that D4S provides a suitable tool for a country like Fiji to pursue more intensively an eco-friendly manufacturing agenda. However, when combined with LCA, the qualitative nature of D4S shows that not all solutions produce the best overall result. Specifically, the “improved” design, whilst being less impactful on Fiji in terms of disposal, has a higher impact globally due to the production and manufacture of the new materials used. For this reason designers need to address the impact criteria and decide whether a domestic or international agenda is of greater concern within the SIDS context.     

违规与公益:跨国公司何来两种环保面孔

今年11月初，在华跨国公司再次引起媒体的聚焦。事件缘起于包括5家“世界500强”企业在华子公司在内的33家知名跨国公司因环保违规，其名同时出现在一份环保黑名单上。而在近年来，有关跨国公司对中国的环保项目进行资助的新闻频频出现。其中，有些项目还形成了品牌效应。     

Environmental impact evaluation using a cooperative model for implementing EMS (ISO 14001) in small and medium-sized enterprises

Certification of an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) is currently an important requirement for those enterprises wishing to sell their products in the context of a global market. The system's structure is based on environmental impact evaluation (EIE). However, if an erroneous or inadequate methodology is applied, the entire process may be jeopardized. Many methodologies have been developed for making of EIEs, some of them are fairly complex and unsuitable for EMS implementation in an organizational context, principally when small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) are involved.The proposed methodology for EIE is part of a model for implementing EMS. The methodological approach used was a qualitative exploratory research method based upon sources of evidence such as document analyses, semi-structured interviews and participant observations.By adopting a cooperative implementation model based on the theory of system engineering, difficulties relating to implementation of the sub-system were overcome thus encouraging SMEs to implement EMS.     

Characterization of atmospheric aerosol (PM10 and PM2.5) from a medium sized city in São Paulo state, Brazil

Air pollution causes deleterious effects on human health with aerosols being among the most polluting agents.The objective of this work is the characterization of the PM_(2.5) and PM_(10) aerosol mass in the atmosphere.The methods of analysis include WD-XRF and EDS.Data were correlated with meteorological information and air mass trajectories(model HYSPLIT)by multivariate analysis.A morphological structural analysis was also carried out to identify the probable sources of atmospheric aerosols in the city of Sao Jose do Rio Preto,Brazil.The mean mass concentration values obtained were 24.54 μg/m~3 for PM_(10),above the WHO annual standard value of 20 μg/m~3 and 10.88 μg/m~3 for PM_(2.5) whose WHO recommended limit is10 μg/m~3.WD-XRF analysis of the samples revealed Si and Al as major components of the coarse fraction.In the fine fraction,the major elements were Al and S.The SEM-FEG characterization allowed identifying the morphology of the particles in agglomerates,ellipsoids and filaments in the PM_(10),besides spherical in the PM_(2.5).The analysis by EDS corroborated WD-XRF results,identifying the crustal elements,aluminosilicates and elements of anthropogenic origin in the coarse fraction.For the fine fraction crustal elements were also identified;aluminosilicates,black carbon and spherical particles(C and O) originating from combustion processes were predominant.The use of multivariate analysis to correlate air mass trajectories with the results of the morpho-structural characterization of the particulate matter allowed confirmation of the complex composition of the particles resulting from the combination of both local and long-distance sources.     

广西近海环境与经济可持续发展水平及协调性分析

通过精心选择泛北部湾经济区广西近岸海域水环境与经济系统指标,采用主成分分析法来计算水环境系统、经济系统的可持续发展水平.结果表明,1996～2005年间,在区域经济取得较快发展的同时,近岸海域水环境质量维持原有较好的质量水平并有所改善;通过计算区域近岸海域海洋环境年均协调系数,泛北部湾经济区广西近岸海域环境与经济发展属于协调类型.     

The natural advantage of regions: linking sustainability,innovation, and regional development in Australia

The combined impacts of the financial crisis and climate change are driving the evolution of sustainable business and changing the way that governments plan for development. Markets are emerging for a range of environmentally orientated products and services as societies move (or lurch) towards reducing impacts and adapt to changing conditions. National governments are actively formulating policy and providing investment to develop green economies as one of the responses to the global financial crisis. Many of the political and economic drivers have been focused at the international and national scale, and while critical for setting the national framework for development, it often neglects the key role that regions and localities can play in ecological modernization. This paper explores two regional case studies in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, that are initiating shifts towards networks of sustainable businesses and communities and offers recommendations for further policy development. The focus of this paper is on the evolving regional sustainability market and its relationship to other social institutions including governments, communities and the individual. The unifying concept is the idea of the ‘natural advantage’, a model that integrates innovation and sustainability as a part of the regional development policy agenda.