Perceived importance of sustainability dimensions in the Portuguese metal industry

The growing interest of stakeholders regarding the contribution of organizations to Sustainable Development is influencing organizational behavior and strategic planning. The purpose of the present paper is to analyze the perception of the importance of organizational sustainability dimensions in a relevant economic sector: the metal industry. Survey data was collected from a sample of 211 Portuguese industries, and non-parametric statistical tests were used to validate five research hypotheses regarding the importance of the economic, environmental, social and cultural dimensions of sustainability. The results obtained demonstrate awareness of the sampled industries regarding all sustainability dimensions, recognizing that their importance has been increasing over the years, and prospecting that this importance will continue to increase in the future. The industries in this sample revealed different degrees of perceived importance for the different sustainability dimensions: the highest importance was given to the economic dimension, and culture was considered the least important sustainability dimension. However, the perception of the respondents is that these differences will be less relevant in the future. The results also show that companies with certified management systems reveal a higher perceived importance regarding sustainability dimensions. Also, industries with higher values of annual turnover, number of employees and export sales tend to give higher degrees of importance to sustainability dimensions. Considering the economic, environmental and social impacts of metal industries at an international level, the awareness of this industrial sector regarding the importance of sustainability is a relevant step to the commitment towards Sustainable Development.     

Barriers to worldwide institutionalization of social and environmental disclosure

This study analyzes how groups of organizations that share their social and environmental information are formed in a similar way to identify barriers to the homogenization of social and environmental disclosure (SED) at the international level. Based on a sample of observations of listed firms from six different countries, results suggest that SED does not homogenize globally, spontaneously, because of cultural and geographical barriers. The institutions of environmental disclosure (ED) and social disclosure (SD) are different, thus forming different organizational fields at the international level. The spoken language is a barrier to the international isomorphism of ED and therefore to its comparability. However, language is a less important barrier to SD. When cultural institutions are weaker or have the same roots as North American institutions, cultural diversity does not stop the homogenization of the SD. Moreover, the ED is more isomorphic/comparable at the global level than SD, while the SD is more isomorphic/comparable at the level of culturally distinguishable subsets than ED.     

The business case for SDGs: an analysis of inclusive business models in emerging economies

In September 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were endorsed by the United Nations and adopted by all 193 Member States. The SDGs integrate the 5P’s: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership and clearly stress the need for all stakeholders to collaborate to create a sustainable world. Most importantly, the SDGs appeal to the central and diverse role that the business sector can play to deliver on the SDGs. This paper provides an analysis of inclusive business (IB) models as market-based solutions to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and benefit those at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). We investigate the IB models and their social impact in 20 organizations from emerging economies across five different sectors. The findings should help increase the uptake and scale of quality IB models and practices among the private sector, development communities, and governments to promote inclusive economic growth and social impact.     

Systematic review of conservation interventions to promote voluntary behavior change

Understanding human behavior is vital to developing interventions that effectively lead to proenvironmental behavior change, whether the focus is at the individual or societal level. However, interventions in many fields have historically lacked robust forms of evaluation, which makes it hard to be confident that these conservation interventions have successfully helped protect the environment. We conducted a systematic review to assess how effective nonpecuniary and nonregulatory interventions have been in changing environmental behavior. We applied the Office of Health Assessment and Translation systematic review methodology. We started with more than 300,000 papers and reports returned by our search terms and after critical appraisal of quality identified 128 individual studies that merited inclusion in the review. We classified interventions by thematic area, type of intervention, the number of times audiences were exposed to interventions, and the length of time interventions ran. Most studies reported a positive effect (n = 96). The next most common outcome was no effect (n = 28). Few studies reported negative (n = 1) or mixed (n = 3) effects. Education, prompts, and feedback interventions resulted in positive behavior change. Combining multiple interventions was the most effective. Neither exposure duration nor frequency affected the likelihood of desired behavioral change. Comparatively few studies tested the effects of voluntary interventions on non-Western populations (n = 17) or measured actual ecological outcome behavior (n = 1). Similarly, few studies examined conservation devices (e.g., energy-efficient stoves) (n = 9) and demonstrations (e.g., modeling the desired behavior) (n = 5). There is a clear need to both improve the quality of the impact evaluation conducted and the reporting standards for intervention results.     

Emergent conservation outcomes of shared risk perception in human-wildlife systems

Human perception of risks related to economic damages caused by nearby wildlife can be transmitted through social networks. Understanding how sharing risk information within a human community alters the spatial dynamics of human-wildlife interactions has important implications for the design and implementation of effective conservation actions. We developed an agent-based model that simulates farmer livelihood decisions and activities in an agricultural landscape shared with a population of a generic wildlife species (wildlife-human interactions in shared landscapes [WHISL]). In the model, based on risk perception and economic information, farmers decide how much labor to allocate to farming and whether and where to exclude wildlife from their farms (e.g., through fencing, trenches, or vegetation thinning). In scenarios where the risk perception of farmers was strongly influenced by other farmers, exclusion of wildlife was widespread, resulting in decreased quality of wildlife habitat and frequency of wildlife damages across the landscape. When economic losses from encounters with wildlife were high, perception of risk increased and led to highly synchronous behaviors by farmers in space and time. Interactions between wildlife and farmers sometimes led to a spillover effect of wildlife damage displaced from socially and spatially connected communities to less connected neighboring farms. The WHISL model is a useful conservation-planning tool because it provides a test bed for theories and predictions about human-wildlife dynamics across a range of different agricultural landscapes.     

Key considerations and challenges in the application of social-network research for environmental decision making

Attempts to better understand the social context in which conservation and environmental decisions are made has led to increased interest in human social networks. To improve the use of social-network analysis in conservation, we reviewed recent studies in the literature in which such methods were applied. In our review, we looked for problems in research design and analysis that limit the utility of network analysis. Nineteen of 55 articles published from January 2016 to June 2019 exhibited at least 1 of the following problems: application of analytical methods inadequate or sensitive to incomplete network data; application of statistical approaches that ignore dependency in the network; or lack of connection between the theoretical base, research question, and choice of analytical techniques. By drawing attention to these specific areas of concern and highlighting research frontiers and challenges, including causality, network dynamics, and new approaches, we responded to calls for increasing the rigorous application of social science in conservation.     

Three lessons for gender equity in biodiversity conservation

Amid a growing global agenda, biodiversity conservation has embraced gender equity as a pillar of equitable and effective practice. Gender equity has become enshrined in the global environment and development agenda through global commitments, policy and funding. However, for various reasons, conservation biodiversity often takes a simplistic view of gender as synonymous with women or as a dualism between women and men. This narrow view risks promoting inequitable processes and ineffective outcomes. Deeper engagement with feminist theory, and feminist political ecology in particular, could help advance biodiversity conservation's approach to how gender is understood, framed and integrated. Engaging with lessons from feminist political ecology can help advance gender equity in conservation through attention to power dynamics, intersectionality, and subjectivity.     

Effects of amusing memes on concern for unappealing species

There is limited knowledge of the mechanisms that can inspire people's concern and engagement in the protection of unpopular and unappealing species. We analyzed Polish people's interest in themed internet memes featuring the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) and the consequences of this interest for conservation marketing. We examined Google Trends data, used Google Search, and searched popular media materials to estimate interest in the proboscis monkey in Poland. Photos of the proboscis monkey when presented with humor in internet memes attracted as much interest as usually more popular species (e.g., koala, panda, and orangutan) used in marketing by nongovernmental organizations. Amusing internet memes spread by social media positively correlated with increasing interest in the unappealing species, such as proboscis monkey. Interest in amusing internet memes positively correlated with individuals’ decisions to donate to 6 crowdfunding actions. Thus, conservation marketing that includes amusing memes and social media may provide a worthwhile complement to traditional campaigns and are likely to influence individuals who are unaffected by the usual means.     

发展型心理契约视角下情感性组织安全文化对员工安全风险作用机理研究——基于国有煤炭企业的调研数据

为了探索情感性组织安全文化对员工安全风险的作用机理,从发展型心理契约视角出发,设计情感性组织安全文化、发展型心理契约及员工安全风险测度量表,采用结构方程方法分别构建了情感性组织安全文化对员工安全风险直接作用、间接作用和两种作用耦合情形下的作用模型。结果表明:"情感性组织安全文化"对"员工安全风险"有正向影响,"情感性组织安全文化"对"发展型心理契约"有显著正向影响,同时"发展型心理契约"对"员工安全风险"有显著正向影响;在以上直接作用和间接作用耦合情形下,"情感性组织安全文化"对"员工安全风险"不存在直接的正向作用,但"情感性组织安全文化"通过"发展型心理契约"对"员工安全风险"产生正向影响的效果更加显著。研究表明,通过情感性组织安全文化建设降低员工安全风险,融入促进员工发展型心理契约均衡因素,能起到事半功倍的效果。     

黄河三角洲及珠江三角洲生态足迹分析

利用遥感解译数据,分析了解珠江三角洲及黄河三角洲自然资本的供需状况,通过分析两大三角洲地区的生态足迹,探讨在经济发展程度不同的情况下,人类对生态环境的影响程度。并借鉴珠江三角洲经济发展过程中出现的问题,对黄河三角洲今后发展可能出现的问题提出预防措施,以减少对资源的不合理需求,提出正确的功能定位,制定正确的发展方向。研究结果表明,(1)黄河三角洲和珠江三角洲的生态足迹需求均高于全国0.8hm2/人的平均水平,珠江三角洲地区生态足迹需求为1.5403hm2/人;黄河三角洲地区生态足迹需求为1.3514hm2/人。(2)化石燃料的供需状况是影响两大三角洲地区生态赤字的关键因素,珠江三角洲地区对化石燃料的需求占总生态足迹需求的72.67%,位居全国第一位;黄河三角洲地区对化石燃料的需求占总生态足迹需求的49.85%。(3)珠江三角洲除林地尚有少量生态盈余外,其他生态足迹需求均存在明显的生态赤字。受城市化及工业化进程的影响,黄河三角洲化石燃料用地和耕地资源已出现生态赤字。(4)与西方一些发达国家相比,两大三角洲的生态足迹均呈现“低需求,低供给”的特点。