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Sustainability
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Sustainability Development: Challenges and Opportunities in Dynamic Times
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Sustainability Development: Challenges and Opportunities in Dynamic Times

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2023) | Viewed by 18769

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Gerard J. Lewis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Applied Sciences Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Interests: strategic decision-making; perceived environmental uncertainty; sustainability; corporate responsibility; business ethics; industry clustering; scenario development; business models; resource-based view; systems theory; viable systems
Prof. Dr. Andrzej Raszkowski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Regional Economy, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53–345 Wroclaw, Poland
2. Faculty of Business Administration, University of Applied Sciences Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Interests: sustainable development; marketing; organization development strategies; promotion and tourism development strategies; feasibility studies; revitalization programs; investment attractiveness; research reports and market analyses
Prof. Dr. Ralph Sonntag

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Applied Sciences Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Interests: business models; innovation management; start-ups; sustainability; social value creation; marketing; digital marketing; e-learning; university development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, the implementation of the sustainable development concept remains the greatest challenge to mankind. The general sustainable development goal is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development Report, 1987). The global agenda includes:

  • The effects of global climate change: How will humanity manage a changing climate?
  • Loss of biodiversity: The implications of species extinction and ecosystem damage;
  • The effects of toxic and plastic waste: What we eat, drink, and breathe matters;
  • Resource use: Rucksacks and footprints, sources and sinks;
  • Pandemics: Is the cure worse than the disease?
  • Inter- and intragenerational equity: Escalating social inequalities, exclusion, discrimination, and poverty;
  • Demographic change: Population growth, megacities, obesity, education, aging and longevity, migration, generation gaps, and household structures;
  • Consumers and consumerism: How much is enough?
  • Neoclassical economics: What next? Ecological economics, economics of the commons, economics for the common good, the growth paradigm;

This Special Issue emphasizes the importance of sustainable development in today’s dynamic world by inviting researchers to the scientific debate on its challenges and opportunities.

The presented research results should have practical value for the institutions and stakeholders developing or implementing sustainable development policies in today’s turbulent global business context. The research may address, but is not confined to, the following areas of the sustainable development debate:

  • Identification and assessment of smart cities;
  • Determinants for the development of innovation, digitization, and virtualization of the economy, e.g., creative industries;
  • Spatial diversity covering poverty, social exclusion, wealth, and social inequalities;
  • Analysis of sustainable development threats, such as adverse climate, environmental, and epidemic changes (COVID-19); population aging and the resulting dependency ratio;
  • Location attractiveness of countries, regions, and cities; foreign direct investment (FDI); sustainable development success factors.

Prof. Dr. Andrzej Raszkowski
Prof. Dr. Gerard J. Lewis
Prof. Dr. Ralph Sonntag
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable development
  • innovations
  • smart cities
  • digitalization
  • creative industries
  • social inequalities
  • foreign direct investment
  • investment attractiveness
  • pandemic
  • COVID-19
  • economic crisis
  • demographic change

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 954 KiB  
Article
Implementation of the Sustainable Cities and Communities Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in the European Union
by Bartosz Bartniczak and Andrzej Raszkowski
Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16808; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142416808 - 14 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2629
Abstract
The study addresses problems related to the implementation of the goal aimed at making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable—Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities—based on the example of the European Union countries. The introduction attempts at defining the concept of [...] Read more.
The study addresses problems related to the implementation of the goal aimed at making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable—Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities—based on the example of the European Union countries. The introduction attempts at defining the concept of sustainable development, with particular emphasis on its complex nature and importance for future generations, including its basic five dimensions. The purpose of the study is to analyze and present the ranking of individual European Union Member States regarding the level of sustainable development measured by the implementation of SDG 11. The conducted research covered mostly the period of 2005–2020 and included 28 countries. Sweden was the country that predominantly took the leading position in terms of the implementation of SDG 11 in the years 2010–2020; other leaders included Ireland, Denmark, Finland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Malta, and Estonia. Romania most often ranked in the last position. Moreover, Finland and Ireland were always ranked among the top 10. The general conclusions allow it to be stated that the situation related to the implementation of SDG 11 in the European space has been gradually improving. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Development: Challenges and Opportunities in Dynamic Times)
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17 pages, 7696 KiB  
Article
Humanitarian Actors’ Cooperation Network in the Social Sustainability Context. Evidence from Poland
by Jakub Marcinkowski
Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5492; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14095492 - 03 May 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1584
Abstract
The humanitarian sector is responsible for minimizing people’s suffering during humanitarian crises and consists of several groups of stakeholders, who are named humanitarian actors (HAs). They play different integrative and supportive roles; however, intersectoral cooperation is not structured and usually relies on chaos. [...] Read more.
The humanitarian sector is responsible for minimizing people’s suffering during humanitarian crises and consists of several groups of stakeholders, who are named humanitarian actors (HAs). They play different integrative and supportive roles; however, intersectoral cooperation is not structured and usually relies on chaos. Thus, this research aimed to answer two questions: (1) what is the level of cooperation of Polish humanitarian organizations with other HAs?; and (2) who could be a leader(s) of humanitarian sector coordination and synchronization, to ensure social sustainability? The research was conducted among 100 Polish humanitarian organizations’ at the turn of the year 2021/2022, with an anonymous survey. The main aim of the paper was to assess the HA cooperation network from the Polish humanitarian organizations’ perspective. To conduct the research, a social network analysis (SNA) was performed. The results suggest a challenge in integrating HAs’ activities. Moreover, their synchronization is hampered by the significant dispersion of activities and the multitude of HAs involved in humanitarian actions. As a result of the SNA, a set of four groups of HAs with different roles were distinguished: a group of leaders, a group of followers, a group of supporters and suppliers, and a group of secondary supporters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Development: Challenges and Opportunities in Dynamic Times)
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22 pages, 1107 KiB  
Article
Convergence of Population Structures of the European Union Member States—The Past and the Future
by Joanna Krupowicz and Ireneusz Kuropka
Sustainability 2022, 14(2), 1024; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14021024 - 17 Jan 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1612
Abstract
The Eurostat projections indicate that, by 2050, most of the European Union member states will see a fall in their population size, a drop in the share of young people, and a simultaneous rise in the share of elderly persons. There exist visible [...] Read more.
The Eurostat projections indicate that, by 2050, most of the European Union member states will see a fall in their population size, a drop in the share of young people, and a simultaneous rise in the share of elderly persons. There exist visible disproportions in the population structures between the EU countries, and the ageing of the population has two dimensions: it is occurring from the top down and from the bottom up. The goal of the study was to assess the stage of advancement and diversity of the ageing of population in the past and in the year 2050. Convergence models were designed for ten variables (indicators for structures by age, demographic dependency, median age) and a synthetic variable characterising the stage of advancement of the ageing of the structures. The occurrence of beta- and sigma-convergence of population structures in EU-27 in the years 2004–2020 and 2020–2050 were verified. The results indicate that absolute beta-convergence of the variables characterising the population structures in the EU countries happened in the past and will happen in around 2050. No unambiguous proof has been found for sigma-convergence, i.e., for any significant decrease over time in the diversity between the countries in terms of the studied variables that characterise the ageing process. In the past, the bottom-up ageing has occurred faster than the top-down ageing, while, in the future, it is expected to be the other way round. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Development: Challenges and Opportunities in Dynamic Times)
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18 pages, 2690 KiB  
Article
Management Styles and Decision-Making: Pro-Ecological Strategy Approach
by Adam Sulich, Letycja Sołoducho-Pelc and Marcos Ferasso
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1604; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13041604 - 03 Feb 2021
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 10089
Abstract
Management style and decision-making create an organization’s culture and influence its performance also in the pro-ecological dimension. Therefore, this paper’s originality lies in how it explores the effect of management style to inform our understanding of decision-making when using a sustainable approach. However, [...] Read more.
Management style and decision-making create an organization’s culture and influence its performance also in the pro-ecological dimension. Therefore, this paper’s originality lies in how it explores the effect of management style to inform our understanding of decision-making when using a sustainable approach. However, the cause-and-effect relations between decisions and management style remain vastly unexplored. The paper’s aim is to explore whether the management style serves as a basis for decision-making or if it is an effect of decisions. This research addresses a research question: is the management style a basis for decision-making or an effect of the decisions in a pro-ecological context? We used a comprehensive literature review by using inductive and deductive approaches to analyze the relations between decision-making and management style. The paper also illustrates how organizational culture images can inform accounts of business realities influencing organizations’ green strategies. The analogies followed relations between color symbol and guiding metaphor. The article presents a theoretical discussion on the influence of management style on decision-making in the organization, based on original literature research in pro-ecological strategy related decisions. As a result, a decision-making style model is proposed. This nonorthodox approach might open up new avenues of thought in the field of decision-making, management styles, and pro-ecological strategy. Theoretical and managerial implications and directions for future research are also addressed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Development: Challenges and Opportunities in Dynamic Times)
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