Sustainability (Organisational Strategy) Research Papers (original) (raw)

Urban Sustainability in Theory and Practice responds to the crises of sustainability in the world today by going back to basics. It makes four major contributions to thinking about and acting upon cities. It provides a means of reflexivity learning about urban sustainability in the process of working practically for positive social development and projected change. It challenges the usually taken-for-granted nature of sustainability practices while providing tools for modifying those practices. It emphasizes the necessity of a holistic and integrated understanding of urban life. Finally it rewrites existing dominant understandings of the social whole such as the triple-bottom line approach that reduces environmental questions to externalities and social questions to background issues. The book is a much-needed practical and conceptual guide for rethinking urban engagement.

- by Paul James and +2
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- Social Theory, Ontology, Social Sciences, Sustainable Production and Consumption

Universities play a central role in addressing key challenges of social, economic and environmental sustainability. For this role to be delivered effectively it is critical to identify not only what strategies are most productive but also how to ensure they are successfully led and implemented. This project seeks to apply the proven change leadership framework developed in the ALTC's 'Learning Leaders in Times of Change' project to the distinctive area of effective turnaround leadership for sustainability in higher education. The project is being undertaken in a collaboration between the University of Western Sydney, the Australian National University, the Sustainable Futures Academy and the University of Gloucestershire. It will produce a validated change leadership framework for building Education for Sustainability (EfS) successfully into the core activities of our universities, as well as a package of leadership development resources for use in individual recruitment, promotion, development and performance management activities. It will also document a range of successful practice models.

- by Daniella Tilbury
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- Educational Leadership, Higher Education, Leadership, Organisational Change

Global energy requirements are rising tremendously because of increasing urbanization and the human population. In the last few centuries, the consumption of fossil fuels has caused increased emissions of greenhouse gases resulting in environmental concerns like global warming, climatic change, and biodiversity loss. As a result, progress in sustainable energy has become the centre of attention in climatic change agenda and economic growth. Until now, various methods of renewable energy production have been extensively studied such as geothermal energy, wind energy, and solar energy. In addition to this, the utilization of biofuels from different sustainable sources are also being considered to reduce greenhouses gas emissions. New approaches and developments are still required for the creation of more sustainable, efficient, and affordable renewable energy systems and for the mitigation of global environmental threats. This special issue aims to advance novel developments in the su...

- by M Tazli Azizan
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- Environmental Science, Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Sustainability Indicators

Mythmaking presents us with an idiosyncratic fusion of language and metaphysics so as to simply convey meaning as language does, and also communicate an entire metaphysics at a level of meaning beyond language and image. Claiming so, is to attest to the relevance of myths in the operationalization of ecological worldviews. In this paper, I will assume such an operational relationship between myths and ecological worldviews. First and foremost, our worldviews act as 'first principles' in establishing our interaction with our environment. At a time when anthropogenic ecocide presents a grave threat to the balance of life on earth, this fundamental notion is of great relevance. Specifically, this paper will study how myths mediated human interaction with nature in the past and continue to do so today. By comparing sets of myths of the Tukano Indians of the Amazon and Hindus of India, I will identify two functions of myth as mediator between man and nature.

Worldwide organisations are continually searching for new sources of competitive advantage. At the same time, they are under increasing pressure to carry out their activities so as not to harm the environment in addition to having a positive impact on society. Given these facts, our paper analyses whether, and under what conditions, sustainable development could be an opportunity rather than a threat for organisations. In particular, the research focuses on investigating a possible link between sustainable development and museums' competitiveness. In order to achieve this goal, after an in-depth study of the literature, we distributed and collected surveys from 87 museums of different sizes, types, and importance from all Romanian development regions. Subsequently, we used Spearman's correlation coefficient to test the statistical hypotheses. The findings indicate that both social and environmental pillars of sustainability have positive links with the economic performance o...

The construction industry has a negative impact on the environment, due the exploitation of raw materials, transportation of materials and the construction process itself. In Brazil, discussions around the alternatives towards a more sustainable construction have led to the adoption of some foreign systems for the environmental evaluation of buildings – particularly the North American LEED certification. On August 2016, registers indicated 354 certified buildings in the country. Despite the dissemination, LEED's validity to orient the production of sustainable buildings should be discussed. This research has the intent to analyse the contribution of LEED rating system for the improvement of environmental performance in Brazilians' buildings. The research method includes, at first, the assessment of certification map, in order to identify LEED type most widely adopted – which revealed the preference for LEED CS (for Core and Schell). Second, the analyses of the scoreboard for each LEED CS certified building. Results indicate that some relevant environmental targets had been often ignored by certain LEED CS certified buildings. So, it is necessary to review the exaggerated importance given to environmental rating systems, and to enlighten some new possibilities that will lead civil construction industry to the next level towards sustainable development.

Paper setting out questions for directors and boards to ask in relation to environmental governance, strengthening markets, monitoring developments, securing an integrated response, cooperation and collaboration, environment cities, environment management and behaviour, creative environments and innovation, and aesthetic, supportive and inclusive environments prepared for 17th World Congress on Environment Management.

Purpose: To develop a transdisciplinary approach called eco-business modelling. Design/Methodology/Approach: The first step is an analysis of the ways triple bottom line and circular economy emplotments have colonized and co-opted the United Nations and European Union Agenda 2030 initiatives by privileging business-as-usual scenarios. The second step is to construct a storytelling approach model to business modelling. The third step is to propose a ‘self-correcting’ storytelling science method to make the transition from the contemporary business-as-usual model to eco-business modelling. Findings: The challenge is to create comprehensive ecological business models that foster worstcase and best case scenario comparisons with status quo business-as-usual. Originality Value: We propose that business modelling is about storytelling, making ‘bets on the future’ scenarios, and we propose a ‘five worlds of storytelling model’ business modelling. Research Implications: The contribution is ...

Quantification of nuclear liability insurance is difficult without arbitrary liability caps; however, post-mortem calculations can be used to calculate insurance costs. This study analyzes the Fukushima (Daiichi) nuclear power plant disaster to quantify the cost per unit electricity ($/kWh) of nuclear energy from the lifetime of the plant after accounting for the true cost of the liability needed to cover the damages from the nuclear disaster determined from news reports. These costs are then compared to the cost of electricity currently paid by Japanese consumers, and then are aggregated to determine the indirect subsidy for nuclear power providers in both Japan and the USA. The results show that the reported costs of the Fukushima nuclear disaster are 20–525billion,whichresultsinarealinsurancecostfromthelifetimeofelectricityproducedattheplantsbetween20–525 billion, which results in a real insurance cost from the lifetime of electricity produced at the plants between 20–525billion,whichresultsinarealinsurancecostfromthelifetimeofelectricityproducedattheplantsbetween0.22–5.78/kWh. These values are far higher than the current insurance costs by Japanese law of $0.01/kWh and even the total costs consumers pay for electricity. Although the spread in the input costs is large and the reported metrics are incomplete, the nuclear insurance subsidy is clearly substantial in Japan and in the USA. Ideally, energy sources should be economically sustainable without the need for a government insurance subsidy. For the electricity market to function effectively and efficiently in all other countries using nuclear power, the insurance costs should be reported accurately and included in nuclear electricity costs without arbitrary government liability caps.

- by Joshua Pearce
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- Risk Management and Insurance, Electrical Engineering, Japanese Studies, Economics

The book introduces students to the background and key issues of sustainability and suggests ways in which these concepts can be applied in business practice. Though the book takes a business perspective, it is interdisciplinary in its nature and draws on knowledge from socio-economic, political, and environmental studies, thereby providing a practical understanding of sustainability in the changing paradigm of global business.

- by Helen Kopnina
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- Business, Management, Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility

While many studies in the field of environmental communication have focused on exploring the environmental impact of social media, this research paper takes a different turn. It investigates, through a qualitative content analysis, 391 websites that support and provide green hosting services. This study is considered the first in the field that aims to examine in-depth how these green websites tend to communicate their green services. Therefore, its contribution is to enhance the relevant bibliography and present more insights regarding green websites and sustainability. The results showed that most of the websites were trying to highlight the positive impact their services will have on the environment. In addition, many websites tried to educate their consumers concerning sustainable development and make them part of a broader green cultural tradition. Nevertheless, on many websites, green hosting seemed a supplementary factor for choosing the company’s services.

- by Minos-Athanasios Karyotakis and +1
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- Cultural Studies, Communication, Social Sciences, Climate Change

(1) Background: The article provides a methodologically coherent analysis of technological development in the context of the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 and its impact on changes in sustainable development policy. (2) Methods: Using a Comparative Automated Content Analysis (ACA) approach, the article compares recent scientific work on sustainable development and the fourth industrial revolution with the discourse in the news media on sustainable development and industry 4.0. (3) Results: The scientific literature focuses more on changes in business models, production processes, and technologies that enable sustainable development. Newspaper and magazine articles write more about sustainable or green investments, sustainable standards, and sustainable reporting. The focus is on topics that are directly relevant to current sustainable business development and the promotion of research and development of clean and smart technologies and processes. (4) Conclusions: The ACA allows a more systematic comparison of different data sources. The article provides a starting point for sustainable development professionals to gain useful insights into a specific context with the help of the ACA.

The debate about how to “fix” business schools is intensifying which has coincided with a call for a greater attention to sustainability in business and business education. Teaching sustainability in MBA programs, however, raises a number of questions and challenges. This article presents a few straightforward ideas to address these challenges and offers findings from MBA level sustainability courses I have taught at a major U.S. business school- including a study abroad course to Scandinavia- in which these ideas have demonstrated their effectiveness.

Dokonujący się dynamiczny rozwój globalnej gospodarki przyczynia się do wzrastającego zainteresowania marketingiem. Marketing w ostatnim stuleciu stał się znaczącym czynnikiem zmian - siłą, która kształtuje obraz dzisiejszego świata. W demokratycznym świecie konsumpcji, stworzonym przez rozwinięte i zamożne społeczeństwa jest powszechnie wiadomym, że to marketing dostarcza produkty i usługi, które są konsumowane. Proces marketingowy wykorzystywany jest w grze politycznej zarówno na arenie lokalnej jak i globalnej. Marketing wspiera decyzje gdzie i jak inwestować oszczędności, gdzie i czego się uczyć, jakie kolejne miejsca odwiedzać podczas wakacji, którą organizację charytatywną wesprzeć, jakich informacji spodziewać się w mediach oraz czy prawidłowo dbamy o nasze zdrowie i wreszcie czy i w ja-kim stopniu powinniśmy włączać się w pojawiające się inicjatywy społeczne.

When it becomes publicly known that products are associated with suppliers that engage in unsustainable behaviors, consumers protest, as Nestlé, Zara, and Kimberly Clark, among others, have learned. The phenomenon by which consumers hold firms responsible for the unsustainable behavior of their upstream partners suggests the notion of “chain liability.” This study aims to generate insights into the antecedents and consequences of such consumer responsibility attributions. Using data from four vignette-based survey experiments, the authors find that the chain liability effect increases if an environmental degradation incident (1) results from supplier behavior rather than force majeure, (2) results from a company decision rather than the decision of an individual employee, and (3) is more severe. Responsibility attributions do not differ with varying organizational distance from the supplier, firm size, strategic importance of the supplied product, or the existence of environmental management systems. The chain liability effect also creates strong risks for the focal firm; higher responsibility attributions increase consumers’ anger and propensity to boycott. Therefore, firms should work to ensure sustainable behavior throughout the supply chain, to protect them from chain liability.

This conceptual paper explores the implications of servant leadership and sustainable leadership for strategic decision making by the top management of an organization. It is argued that a different type of leadership is required if effective strategic decisions are to be made in organizations striving to become more sustainable and that servant leadership and sustainable leadership approaches provide a sound basis to inform these decisions. The contributions of these two leadership approaches are explored, before considering the implications for leadership development. Particularly, the inclusion in leadership development programmes of values based leadership, and the development of integrative thinking, is discussed.

District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat sales. Due to the changed climate conditions and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease, prolonging the investment return period. The main scope of this paper is to assess the feasibility of using the heat demand – outdoor temperature function for heat demand forecast. The district of Alvalade, located in Lisbon (Portugal), was used as a case study. The district is consisted of 665 buildings that vary in both construction period and typology. Three weather scenarios (low, medium, high) and three district renovation scenarios were developed (shallow, intermediate, deep). To estimate the error, obtained heat demand values were compared with results from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors. The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications (the error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered). The value of slope coefficient increased on average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the decrease in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and renovation scenarios considered). On the other hand, function intercept increased for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the coupled scenarios). The values suggested could be used to modify the function parameters for the scenarios considered, and improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations. Abstract This study aims to examine the nonsterilized fermentation conditions for coproduction of pectinases and lipase enzymes using several fruit wastes as an energy source. Thermophilic fungal strain, Penicillium expansum CMI 39671 was used as a fermenting strain. The effect of process conditions including; nitrogen sources, pH, temperature, time and moisture contents, on the production of both enzymes were studied. The highest activities of pectinase and lipase (2817, 1870 U/g dry substrate) enzymes were found with orange peel feedstock, whereas the lowest activities of 1662 U/g and 1266 U/g were found with banana peel and papaya peel feedstocks respectively. Overall, pectinase showed higher enzymatic activities than lipase enzymes, both having similar increasing and decreasing trends, at all studied conditions. The optimum process conditions of peptone as a nitrogen source, pH 7, 40°C, 5 days and 70% moisture contents, were found to show highest enzymatic activities for both enzymes. The orange peel feedstock showed no significant difference in both enzymes' activities at sterilized and nonnotarized process conditions. Pectinase and lipase enzymes showed (13791 U/g) and (8114 U/g) for sterilized and (14091 U/g) and (8324 U/g) for nonnotarized process conditions respectively. In addition, the fungal strains also produce bacteriocin-like compounds that could inhibit microbial growth. These findings will help to design and develop robust, cost-effective and less energy intensive enzyme production processes and consequently an efficient fruit waste to energy system through open fermentation. Abstract This study aims to examine the nonsterilized fermentation conditions for coproduction of pectinases and lipase enzymes using several fruit wastes as an energy source. Thermophilic fungal strain, Penicillium expansum CMI 39671 was used as a fermenting strain. The effect of process conditions including; nitrogen sources, pH, temperature, time and moisture contents, on the production of both enzymes were studied. The highest activities of pectinase and lipase (2817, 1870 U/g dry substrate) enzymes were found with orange peel feedstock, whereas the lowest activities of 1662 U/g and 1266 U/g were found with banana peel and papaya peel feedstocks respectively. Overall, pectinase showed higher enzymatic activities than lipase enzymes, both having similar increasing and decreasing trends, at all studied conditions. The optimum process conditions of peptone as a nitrogen source, pH 7, 40°C, 5 days and 70% moisture contents, were found to show highest enzymatic activities for both enzymes. The orange peel feedstock showed no significant difference in both enzymes' activities at sterilized and nonnotarized process conditions. Pectinase and lipase enzymes showed (13791 U/g) and (8114 U/g) for sterilized and (14091 U/g) and (8324 U/g) for nonnotarized process conditions respectively. In addition, the fungal strains also produce bacteriocin-like compounds that could inhibit microbial growth. These findings will help to design and develop robust, cost-effective and less energy intensive enzyme production processes and consequently an efficient fruit waste to energy system through open fermentation.

- by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Nizami and +1
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- Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Science, Energy Economics

La réflexion proposée a pour but de mettre en valeur sur l’industrie musicale, et plus particulièrement sur le segment de la production audio, l’impact de l’apparition probable d’un essaim d’innovations technologiques dans un futur proche. Ces innovations sont à mettre en parallèle avec les modalités existantes de gestion, d’organisation et de création au sein des organisations du secteur. Le but recherché est de mettre en évidence la supériorité des organisations agiles et les mécanismes qui pourraient permettre d’accompagner les prémices de la singularité technologique.

Purpose of the paper: In family business research, sustainability has never received as much attention as large corporations despite the relevance of their global economic impact. Thus, the paper’s aim is to investigate this issue by taking two key structures into consideration: longevity and trans-generational value.
Methodology: Drawing on systems theory, we developed an exploratory conceptual framework (Trans-generational Sustainability Model - TSM) for family firms. We argue that the three pillars for the creation of trans-generational value, representing a long-standing value for family businesses, are growth, family success and local embeddedness quality. An exploratory case study on a long-lived Italian family firm (Amarelli) belonging to the Henokiens association, has been conducted to investigate some of the hypotheses that have been developed in relation to this preliminary model.
Findings: In the case of Amarelli sustainability seems to be the result of the combination of a unique strategic orientation and distinctive competences. The presence of family members in management positions is a major concern for the “enlarged” family and high quality of local embeddedness which are likely to support the creation of trans-generational value.
Practical implications: The balance between the three components of family firms’ sustainability may provide directions for entrepreneurs in their family firms management, particularly during the succession phase or other disruptive changes involving their businesses.
Originality of paper: This article provides a review of significant trends in the strategic management approach by studying family firms’ sustainability. Its original contribution is twofold: firstly by its accumulating evidence that the creation of “enlarged” trans-generational value may determine family businesses’ longevity and sustainability, and secondly, system theory seems as the leading theoretical perspective.

In this research, an integrated system for sustainable agriculture and environment was designed and built at the experimental farm of Palestine Technical University. The system included: a) Hydroponic unit, b) Aquaponic unit, c) Pilot plant for wastewater treatment, d) Home composter. Lettuce crop was used throughout the research to compare its yield under different agricultural systems. In this regard, lettuce was planted in hydroponic and aquaponic systems, whereas, conventional cultivation of the same crop was performed using direct irrigation with hydroponic solution, direct water effluent from fish rearing tank and effluent from wastewater treatment plant, in addition to control trial using fresh water and fertilizers. Lettuce production in each trial was evaluated using different parameters. The obtained results showed that hydroponic system is the most efficient one, where fast production with little resources could be achieved. Nevertheless, and even acceptable results were obtained in aquaponic system, it was clear that more attention should be applied as fish is affected by the surrounded ambient factors, mainly the temperature. Also, the wastes produced by fish may need more time to be degraded, or does not contain all nutrients needed by plants, thus hinder their growth. Both systems used around 80% less water than growing in soil, which is important especially with the scarcity of water resources for agricultural sector.

- by Tahseen Sayaara and +1
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- Environmental Science, Sustainable Development, Aquaponics, Hydroponics

This paper aims to review the previous studies in order to collect the effects of innovative behavior on sustainable development. However, there is just a limited research between innovative behavior and sustainable development. This paper provides a collection of prior studies which have been done regarding the relationship among innovative behavior, innovation, and sustainable development. The importance of this paper refers to sustainable development that is usually focused by companies, which are involved in economic, environmental, and social perspectives. Sustainable development and innovative behavior constitute engines of development today. Innovative behavior is related to the human behavior which can be related to problem recognition, idea generation, supporting idea and idea implementation. This research attempts to review past studies for the purpose of justifying the relation between innovative behavior and sustainable development. Therefore, this paper calls to pay at...

In the past decade, the tools marketers use to engage and influence customers have changed almost beyond recognition. The field of study of consumer behavior is not new and has been well researched; however research is being extended into new facets of the field. Simultaneously, with the all-pervasive nature of technology today, the role of online medium in consumerism has also increased. The objective of the present research is to investigate the previous studies conducted on thesources of online information mediums used by consumers at the pre-purchase stages of decision making, andthe role of online information in pre-purchase decision making process in new passenger car industry. The paper findsthat consumers gather large amount of information from digital media and they find it more convenient to compare the different brands of cars on digital channels rather than on old methods of information. Based on the findings from the literature, a conceptual model is proposed on the sources of online information used during search and evaluation stages in buying process for new passenger cars. Introduction We are all consumers. Every day we spend more time, effort and money in consumption processes than any other activity. Understanding consumer behavior is not easy and extremely difficult to predict. The challenge for the marketer is to know what an average consumer desires as benefits and how these benefits evolve over time. What further complicates the matter is that not only do consumers want tangible benefits, but they are also moved by a complex set of deep emotions. However, our behavior as consumers holds immense importance for marketers. Marketers are particularly interested to understand how and why consumers behave differently at different times and in different situations. This understanding helps marketers formulate the appropriate marketing strategy and develop the right marketing mix. The study of consumer behavior has further gained importance in India over the past two and a half decades. Since liberalization, there has been a rise in people's per capita real income. This has led to a better standard of living, which in turn affects lifestyles, attitudes and preferences. The Indian market in this period has also been flooded with private domestic and foreign producers. Thus, this increased competition coupled with the constantly evolving consumer mind makes the study of consumer behavior critical for the Indian marketer. At the same time, the world of technology is evolving at a mind boggling pace. Technology is constantly changing the way we are accessing information, as well as how we interact and communicate with each other. It's also changing how we choose are buy products. Digital technologies are no longer used by savvy youngsters and geeks only, today ordinary people are integrating them seamlessly

La sustentabilidad empresarial es un paradigma que cada día cobra mayor interés en la teoría administrativa.
El presente artículo tiene como finalidad presentar un modelo de sustentabilidad empresarial, que surge
de la necesidad percibida de generar modelos que favorezcan la permanencia de las pequeñas y medianas
empresas en un contexto en el que alrededor del 65% mueren durante sus primeros dos años de operación.
Dicho modelo consta de cinco diferentes dimensiones, las cuales se abordan desde un punto de vista
teórico, y que al ser gestionadas de modo procesal brindan elementos que favorecen a la permanencia de
la empresa en el mercado. Se presentan las dimensiones que lo conforman, los atributos teóricos y
algunas de las implicaciones que este modelo tendría a nivel operativo.

The concept of circular economy (CE) has recently gained momentum in the political, scientific, and economic debate, especially in China and Europe. As a result, organizations and scholars have started to establish different sets of principles for its adoption. For this reason, it is important to identify and assess the differences and similarities among existing sets of CE principles, and how organizations and individuals understand and translate them into practice. In this paper, we firstly present a brief review and analysis of the coherence among six existing sets of principles. Our analysis finds that, despite the mixed degree of coherence, all sets describe the necessity to implement CE principles at all levels of a company. We then present the results of an in-depth qualitative survey that investigates how 19 key informants representing small, medium, and multinational companies based in China understand and carry out the CE principles laid out by the BSI standard BS 8001:2017; how these principles can transform the culture and processes of these companies; and what are the opportunities and threats that such transformation can bring. Results describe a good awareness and knowledge of the CE principles and an optimistic outlook concerning their adoption. At the same time, numerous barriers and threats that the implementation of these principles might entail are presented. Overall, respondents confirm the complexity of implementing the principles of the CE in an integrated and consistent way in the management and strategies of Chinese companies and highlight the challenges that might arise during their implementation.

- by Marco Pesce and +2
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- Environmental Science, Environmental Management, Sustainability (Organisational Strategy), Corporate Sustainability

This paper aims to understand how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) accountability metrics influence 1) firm’s profits and 2) value. The study is a cross-sectional analysis of S&P 500 companies in the US. This study specifically studies 1) the relationship between ESG metrics and Free Cash Flow and 2) the relationship between ESG metrics and Market Capitalization. I find that ESG accountability, specifically Environmental and Employee accountability is correlated with profit creation in the form of free cash flow, while, a significantly negatively correlation is found between the “Community” factor and profit creation. Meanwhile, the value equation yields no such significant results between ESG metrics and market capitalization. Therefore, I conclude that while ESG factors drive profits in large US firms, ESG metrics fail to be accounted for in market performance measures as evident in the market capitalization equation. These findings have two main implications. First, a failure to account for value creating ESG assets will continue to result in the eroding value of firms in the US. Second, the inability of the market to price ESG factors results in imperfect information that creates problems for decision-making for investors and company leaders alike. Therefore, the study concludes that while ESG factors have been an important step in quantifying sustainability accountability in the market system, they nevertheless fall short in providing key sustainability data needed for decision making and are not reflected in market-based measures of firm performance. Therefore, in order for sustainability initiatives to be accounted for, they must be integrated within existing accounting systems and must require material disclosure of sustainability information.

- by Siga Kisielius
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- Organizational Behavior, Finance, Economics, Econometrics

This essay will delve into the finer aspects of the Third Generation Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) transformation and suggest how the SAF, as an institution, can "change the culture, thinking and behaviour of our people about how they should work together." Only then will SAF soldiers be empowered to be the owners and transformers (agents of change) of the Third Generation SAF.

In June 2016, the Singapore Exchange introduced Sustainability Reporting to take effect for any financial year ending on or after Dec 31, 2017. For the initial year, listed company will be given twelve months from the end of their financial year to publish the report. While 2017 is still some time away, the implementation of Sustainability Reporting is inevitable. This article seeks to explain what sustainability reporting is all about and also cover some of the main components that are supposed to be in the report come 2017.

Today, human activities constitute the primary environmental impact on the planet. In this context, commitments to sustainability, or minimization of damage, prove insufficient. To develop regenerative, futuring capabilities, architectural design needs to extend beyond the form and function of things and engage with the management of complex systems. Such systems involve multiple types of dynamic phenomena—biotic and abiotic, technical and cultural—and can be understood as living. Engagement with such living systems implies manipulation of pervasive and unceasing change, irrespective of whether it is valued by design stakeholders or actively managed towards homeostatic or homeorhetic conditions. On one hand, such manipulation of continuity requires holistic and persistent design involvements that are beyond natural capabilities of human designers. On the other hand, practical, political, or creative implications of reliance on automated systems capable of tackling such tasks are as yet underexplored. In response to this challenge, this paper considers an experimental approach that utilized methods of critical making and speculative designing to explore potentials of autonomous architecture. Presented experiments combined knowledge of animal architecture with intelligent behaviors of robotic devices.

- by Stanislav Roudavski
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- Architectural Engineering, Robotics, Robotics (Computer Science), Design

The article presents urban agriculture as a practice that is gaining attention in many cities worldwide, and focuses in particular on the experiences in Mexico City. It first gives a general description of urban agriculture, introduces some conceptual dimensions and presents a policy framework to stimulate agriculture in cities worldwide. It then discusses current practices in the periurban, suburban and interurban parts of Mexico City, and analyses them in terms of their economic, ecological,
social and symbolic dimension.

India’s relation with UAE has flourished since the Federation of UAE in 1971 when trade was the primary source of their relation. From the very beginning, UAE has shown interest in maintaining relation with India as one of the growing and emerging economy throughout the world. India has also been trying to regain International power in whole West Asia which has resulted increasing number of visits of the ministers to UAE, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Palestine. Although, India has engaged with a number of West Asian Countries but established a significant strategic relation with UAE. Relation has further blossomed since the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to UAE in 2014 and return visit of UAE’s crown Prince to India in 2016 and in 2017 on the occasion of Republic Day. During these visits, many agreements were signed related to security, defence, trade, investment, and infrastructure, combat terrorism as relation has moved towards strategic from bilateral. UAE has assumed chairmanship of India Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) immediately after India; therefore, greater understanding was developed on the maritime issues as well. It is important to note that with shrinking markets in Europe and the USA, UAE is looking towards India for trade and investment. The aim of this paper is to highlight factors and interest of both countries to come closer in region as well in international arena.

Heightened concern with global issues has led to shifts in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. To capture the distinct nature of this global focus, researchers have developed a three-generation CSR typology. In this paper, we first evaluate the usefulness of this typology for understanding corporate approaches to CSR by examining how several companies position themselves thematically in CEO introductions to sustainability reports. On the basis of this, we then evaluate the practical value of this typology for assisting those who work with CSR strategy. The analysis revealed expressions of all three CSR generations, with third-generation thinking being apparent, but not dominant. It also verified that the three-generation CSR typology can be an instructive means of both evaluating as well as framing a company’s approach to sustainability, though with modifications. On the basis of the identified strengths and weaknesses of the typology, we develop a practitioner-focused, three-tiered model that can strategically guide the development of CSR programs.

Biomass pyrolysis is a promising renewable sustainable source of fuels and petrochemical substitutes. It may help in compensating the progressive consumption of fossil-fuel reserves. The present article outlines biomass pyrolysis. Various types of biomass used for pyrolysis are encompassed, e.g., wood, agricultural residues, sewage. Categories of pyrolysis are outlined, e.g., flash, fast, and slow. Emphasis is laid on current and future trends in biomass pyrolysis, e.g., microwave pyrolysis, solar pyrolysis, plasma pyrolysis, hydrogen production via biomass pyrolysis, co-pyrolysis of biomass with synthetic polymers and sewage, selective preparation of high-valued chemicals, pyrolysis of exotic biomass (coffee grounds and cotton shells), comparison between algal and terrestrial biomass pyrolysis. Specific future prospects are investigated, e.g., preparation of supercapacitor biochar materials by one-pot one-step pyrolysis of biomass with other ingredients, and fabricating metallic catalysts embedded on biochar for removal of environmental contaminants. The authors predict that combining solar pyrolysis with hydrogen production would be the eco-friendliest and most energetically feasible process in the future. Since hydrogen is an ideal clean fuel, this process may share in limiting climate changes due to CO 2 emissions.
Keywords Sustainable and renewable energy source; Fossil-fuel alternatives; Biomass pyrolysis; Biofuel (bio-oil, biogas, biochar); Charcoal (activated carbon); Hydrogen fuel

- by Prof Dr Yehia Fahmy and +2
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- Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, Development Economics, Environmental Economics

The absence of environmental considerations in national accounts can result in misleading economic signals about economic growth and development. While GDP may increase due to rapid liquidation of natural capital, this strategy can jeopardize long-term economic stability. In 1993, the United Nations introduced the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA) in order to encourage a compilation of national environmental accounts. These accounts provide measurement of the stocks and changes in stocks of a country’s natural capital, and how changes in these assets affect national wealth. This knowledge can provide a foundation for informed policy making for pursuing sustainable economic prosperity. To date, however, only 25 countries have partly implemented the SEEA framework for environmental accounting, and no single country has adopted all components included in SEEA. This thesis attempts to explain why.
I analyze three cases (Germany, Australia and China) that have experienced a range of SEEA implementation. Distinct factors, such as the presence of an enabled lead agency, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and clear value of SEEA to policy makers, played a significant role in successful implementation of SEEA within these countries. Therefore, for greater utilization of SEEA as an effective tool for formulating international and national environmental policy, I recommend that lead agencies build support among complementary organizations prior to and during SEEA adoption, and that these agencies work collaboratively with other organizations to embed SEEA into other decision-making tools, such as those used for determining development rights and processes.