Pub Date : 2023-08-30DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.1196849
Friederike Gölitzer, J. Barbir, João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio
Recently, the need for energy saving has become a challenge for German society. Rising prices of energy, and urgent need to mitigate and adapt to climate change, made it necessary to reflect and change behaviors on a population level. Simultaneously, the population faces increased sedentary lifestyle and health system promotes benefits of daily movement and sports. By using stairs, instead of taking the elevator, could be part of the solution for both problems. This applies for buildings, such as universities, which usually have hundreds of students and staff circulating daily. In this sense, this study aims to analyse how an intervention to increase stair usage, by involving motivational stickers and posters, could impact the behavior of students and staff. To achieve its goal, a field study and a questionnaire has been conducted at one German University. The results showed, after the intervention, that the elevator usage decreased by nearly 7%. According to the questionnaire nearly a fifth of all participants felt motivated by the stickers to choose the stairs over the elevator. While before the intervention male participants were 1.76 times more likely than females to take the stairs, the difference in stair usage after the intervention was not statistically significant anymore. Individual students and staff members were 1.44 times more likely to take the stairs than when grouped with others. This difference in stair usage individually or in a group increased from nearly 8% before the intervention to 17% after the intervention. Although short, the intervention showed to be successful and the results indicated that elevator interventions should be utilized in future contexts at a population level to spread the message that by reducing elevator usage, energy can be saved, and human fitness improved.
{"title":"Saving energy at university campus via intervention to reduce elevator usage – a case study from Germany","authors":"Friederike Gölitzer, J. Barbir, João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio","doi":"10.3389/frsus.2023.1196849","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1196849","url":null,"abstract":"Recently, the need for energy saving has become a challenge for German society. Rising prices of energy, and urgent need to mitigate and adapt to climate change, made it necessary to reflect and change behaviors on a population level. Simultaneously, the population faces increased sedentary lifestyle and health system promotes benefits of daily movement and sports. By using stairs, instead of taking the elevator, could be part of the solution for both problems. This applies for buildings, such as universities, which usually have hundreds of students and staff circulating daily. In this sense, this study aims to analyse how an intervention to increase stair usage, by involving motivational stickers and posters, could impact the behavior of students and staff. To achieve its goal, a field study and a questionnaire has been conducted at one German University. The results showed, after the intervention, that the elevator usage decreased by nearly 7%. According to the questionnaire nearly a fifth of all participants felt motivated by the stickers to choose the stairs over the elevator. While before the intervention male participants were 1.76 times more likely than females to take the stairs, the difference in stair usage after the intervention was not statistically significant anymore. Individual students and staff members were 1.44 times more likely to take the stairs than when grouped with others. This difference in stair usage individually or in a group increased from nearly 8% before the intervention to 17% after the intervention. Although short, the intervention showed to be successful and the results indicated that elevator interventions should be utilized in future contexts at a population level to spread the message that by reducing elevator usage, energy can be saved, and human fitness improved.","PeriodicalId":253319,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainability","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131263474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-29DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.1231731
Verena Bauernschmidt, Beatrice Beitz, Hendrik Schröder
Especially for the younger generation, climate change is a threat, and therefore, environmental protection and pro-environmental behavior (PEB) are most important. The Fridays for Future movement speaks up for the young generation. Based on the social identity approach, the study is the first to investigate the role of stereotypes related to identification with the movement as a political expression of youth. Using structural equation modeling (n = 543), the study demonstrates that identification is higher when pupils connect the movement with positive stereotypes, aligning with previous research findings for other activists, such as feminists. Whereby environmental concern has an additionally significant but low impact on identification, pro-material value orientation has no effect. Furthermore, the study investigates the relationship between identification with the movement and different types of PEB. The relationship is strongest with public sphere PEB in the form of future participation in a demonstration of the movement. Nevertheless, there is also a positive relationship with private sphere PEB such as nature-compatible actions in everyday life, for example, a meat-free diet and buying an environmentally friendly product. This is partly additionally confirmed through a conjoint analysis also conducted as part of the study. These findings enhance the understanding of the relationship between activism and different types of PEB among pupils and they contribute to closing this research gap. Finally, the implications and limitations of the work are discussed, along with an outlook for future research.
{"title":"A new generation of consumers? A study on the pro-environmental behavior of the Fridays for Future generation based on the social identity approach","authors":"Verena Bauernschmidt, Beatrice Beitz, Hendrik Schröder","doi":"10.3389/frsus.2023.1231731","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1231731","url":null,"abstract":"Especially for the younger generation, climate change is a threat, and therefore, environmental protection and pro-environmental behavior (PEB) are most important. The Fridays for Future movement speaks up for the young generation. Based on the social identity approach, the study is the first to investigate the role of stereotypes related to identification with the movement as a political expression of youth. Using structural equation modeling (n = 543), the study demonstrates that identification is higher when pupils connect the movement with positive stereotypes, aligning with previous research findings for other activists, such as feminists. Whereby environmental concern has an additionally significant but low impact on identification, pro-material value orientation has no effect. Furthermore, the study investigates the relationship between identification with the movement and different types of PEB. The relationship is strongest with public sphere PEB in the form of future participation in a demonstration of the movement. Nevertheless, there is also a positive relationship with private sphere PEB such as nature-compatible actions in everyday life, for example, a meat-free diet and buying an environmentally friendly product. This is partly additionally confirmed through a conjoint analysis also conducted as part of the study. These findings enhance the understanding of the relationship between activism and different types of PEB among pupils and they contribute to closing this research gap. Finally, the implications and limitations of the work are discussed, along with an outlook for future research.","PeriodicalId":253319,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainability","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125161677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-24DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.1237514
Lelo Tshivhase, C. Bisschoff
The growing need for environmental awareness accentuated the importance of green and sustainable business practices. This is also true for universities that modernly expanded their green training and research to engage in green operational practices.This article summarises the main principles and factors of implementing green initiatives. Firstly, a generic theoretical approach conceptualizes implementing green initiatives at universities. The investigation analyses existing and current green initiatives at the universities, considers the benefits and barriers of implementing green initiatives, and develops a theoretical model for implementing green initiatives at South African public universities. An adapted conceptual model consisting of twenty significant literature antecedents (p ≤ 0.05) and 13 latent variables (factors) could be hypothesized. This model was tested empirically with reliable data (α = 0.749) from a five-point Likert scale questionnaire administered to 144 responding green managers at eight selected South African public universities.Although the regression model explains satisfactory variance (R2 = 0.862; R2 adjusted = 0.841), only five of the 20 antecedents in the theoretical model are significant. They are Cost of green products (r = 0.527; p ≤ 0.05), Lack of awareness and training (r = 0.435; p ≤ 0.05), Managerial attitude and commitment (r = 0.369; p ≤ 0.05), Digitisation (r = 0.552; p ≤ 0.05), and Management Committee (r = 0.451; p ≤ 0.05). Further analysis revealed that the data possess embedded intelligence. Resultantly, 13 factors were identified, explaining a cumulative variance of 61.8%. However, only six factors are reliable and, therefore, usable (α ≥ 0.57). They are F1: Convenience and efficient workflow, F2: Personnel cooperation, F3: Efficient use of resources, F5: Learning and improvement, F6: Delegation of authority, and F7: Improved management attitude. Cumulatively, the six usable factors explain a cumulative variance of 45.5%.The model aspires to demonstrate and measure the implementation of green initiatives at public universities. Although the theoretical model is detailed, the empirical study showed that not all of the antecedents are usable for measuring and managing the implementation of green initiatives at South African public higher institutions. This study validated five of the antecedents and six factors for immediate use. The model's unvalidated antecedents and unreliable factors require empirical revalidation before operationalizing it fully. Researchers and scholars exploring this avenue of green initiatives implementation models can also benefit from this article.
{"title":"A conceptual model to measure and manage the implementation of green initiatives at South African public universities","authors":"Lelo Tshivhase, C. Bisschoff","doi":"10.3389/frsus.2023.1237514","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1237514","url":null,"abstract":"The growing need for environmental awareness accentuated the importance of green and sustainable business practices. This is also true for universities that modernly expanded their green training and research to engage in green operational practices.This article summarises the main principles and factors of implementing green initiatives. Firstly, a generic theoretical approach conceptualizes implementing green initiatives at universities. The investigation analyses existing and current green initiatives at the universities, considers the benefits and barriers of implementing green initiatives, and develops a theoretical model for implementing green initiatives at South African public universities. An adapted conceptual model consisting of twenty significant literature antecedents (p ≤ 0.05) and 13 latent variables (factors) could be hypothesized. This model was tested empirically with reliable data (α = 0.749) from a five-point Likert scale questionnaire administered to 144 responding green managers at eight selected South African public universities.Although the regression model explains satisfactory variance (R2 = 0.862; R2 adjusted = 0.841), only five of the 20 antecedents in the theoretical model are significant. They are Cost of green products (r = 0.527; p ≤ 0.05), Lack of awareness and training (r = 0.435; p ≤ 0.05), Managerial attitude and commitment (r = 0.369; p ≤ 0.05), Digitisation (r = 0.552; p ≤ 0.05), and Management Committee (r = 0.451; p ≤ 0.05). Further analysis revealed that the data possess embedded intelligence. Resultantly, 13 factors were identified, explaining a cumulative variance of 61.8%. However, only six factors are reliable and, therefore, usable (α ≥ 0.57). They are F1: Convenience and efficient workflow, F2: Personnel cooperation, F3: Efficient use of resources, F5: Learning and improvement, F6: Delegation of authority, and F7: Improved management attitude. Cumulatively, the six usable factors explain a cumulative variance of 45.5%.The model aspires to demonstrate and measure the implementation of green initiatives at public universities. Although the theoretical model is detailed, the empirical study showed that not all of the antecedents are usable for measuring and managing the implementation of green initiatives at South African public higher institutions. This study validated five of the antecedents and six factors for immediate use. The model's unvalidated antecedents and unreliable factors require empirical revalidation before operationalizing it fully. Researchers and scholars exploring this avenue of green initiatives implementation models can also benefit from this article.","PeriodicalId":253319,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainability","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126370728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-24DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.983218
Q. Meng, Xiaoying Zhou
Reducing chemical exposure is a crucial principle in alternatives assessment (AA) frameworks. Since the release of the report, A Framework to Guide Selection of Chemical Alternatives by the National Research Council in 2014, comparative exposure assessment (CEA) has been increasingly viewed as an essential part of selecting safer alternatives to chemicals of concern in consumer products. However, CEA has not been fully integrated into existing AA frameworks. CEA remains merely a technical step, disconnected from other AA components. This paper advocates for the integration of CEA as an essential part of AA, providing a holistic approach to identifying safer alternatives. The paper aims to illustrate the connection between CEA and other AA components, such as problem formulation, hazard assessment, life cycle assessment, economic assessment, and decision-making. It suggests systematic integration of CEA with cross-cutting AA considerations, including transparency, uncertainty, chemical mixtures, and sensitive receptors. This integration will enable the selection of a fit-for-purpose CEA approach based on the decision context and foster a more comprehensive approach to identifying safer alternatives. While the examples provided are not exhaustive, they aim to encourage further discussion on the integration of CEA into AA.
{"title":"Enhancing the value of comparative exposure assessment in alternatives assessment","authors":"Q. Meng, Xiaoying Zhou","doi":"10.3389/frsus.2023.983218","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.983218","url":null,"abstract":"Reducing chemical exposure is a crucial principle in alternatives assessment (AA) frameworks. Since the release of the report, A Framework to Guide Selection of Chemical Alternatives by the National Research Council in 2014, comparative exposure assessment (CEA) has been increasingly viewed as an essential part of selecting safer alternatives to chemicals of concern in consumer products. However, CEA has not been fully integrated into existing AA frameworks. CEA remains merely a technical step, disconnected from other AA components. This paper advocates for the integration of CEA as an essential part of AA, providing a holistic approach to identifying safer alternatives. The paper aims to illustrate the connection between CEA and other AA components, such as problem formulation, hazard assessment, life cycle assessment, economic assessment, and decision-making. It suggests systematic integration of CEA with cross-cutting AA considerations, including transparency, uncertainty, chemical mixtures, and sensitive receptors. This integration will enable the selection of a fit-for-purpose CEA approach based on the decision context and foster a more comprehensive approach to identifying safer alternatives. While the examples provided are not exhaustive, they aim to encourage further discussion on the integration of CEA into AA.","PeriodicalId":253319,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainability","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115216262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-22DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.1249328
M. Kleespies, P. Dierkes
Universities and institutions of higher education play an important role in today's society. They educate the next generation of decision-makers and therefore have a great influence on the decisions made in society. In today's world, where many people's livelihoods are threatened by environmental issues, it is not only necessary for universities to operate sustainably, but also to motivate students to adopt more sustainable behaviors. We believe that promoting a connection to nature is an important starting point for this, as it is a key influencing factor for sustainable behavior. Due to decreasing contact with nature and increasing urbanization worldwide, connection to nature is currently in decline. In this perspective, we propose six starting points that can help increase the connection to nature of university students: (1) Bringing students to nature, (2) bringing nature to students, (3) environmental education, (4) virtual nature contact, (5) incorporating other human-nature relationships and concepts (6) combining 1–5. For each point, we explain possible recommendations for university decision-makers.
{"title":"Connection to nature for sustainable development at universities—What should be done?","authors":"M. Kleespies, P. Dierkes","doi":"10.3389/frsus.2023.1249328","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1249328","url":null,"abstract":"Universities and institutions of higher education play an important role in today's society. They educate the next generation of decision-makers and therefore have a great influence on the decisions made in society. In today's world, where many people's livelihoods are threatened by environmental issues, it is not only necessary for universities to operate sustainably, but also to motivate students to adopt more sustainable behaviors. We believe that promoting a connection to nature is an important starting point for this, as it is a key influencing factor for sustainable behavior. Due to decreasing contact with nature and increasing urbanization worldwide, connection to nature is currently in decline. In this perspective, we propose six starting points that can help increase the connection to nature of university students: (1) Bringing students to nature, (2) bringing nature to students, (3) environmental education, (4) virtual nature contact, (5) incorporating other human-nature relationships and concepts (6) combining 1–5. For each point, we explain possible recommendations for university decision-makers.","PeriodicalId":253319,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainability","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129312004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-22DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.1241553
J. Lyytimäki, A. Teperi, K. Jylhä, Ricardo da Silva Vieira, Erkki Mervaala
Resilience is often presented as a championing solution for tackling the multi-level environmental, security, health, and financial threats facing the whole humanity or specific ecosystems, communities, institutions, or individuals. However, the popularity of the concept is not proof of its usefulness. Perhaps the greatest problem is that many of the current socio-ecological systems are operating in both resilient and unsustainable ways. The problem turns into a tragedy if resources are used to maintain or advance such unsustainable resilience. We provide a concise review of the use of the concept of resilience in multiple fields. We highlight the dominance of positive connotations of resilience, originating both from theoretical considerations and practice-oriented applications. This optimistic bias masks the fact that unsustainable systems and practices may be highly resilient. In turn, this can lead to poor understanding and inadequate management of risks related to the attempts to create sustainability innovations. We discuss how path-dependencies and shifting baselines can complicate sustainability initiatives. Managing resilience for sustainability involves defining which system states are desirable and managing the pressures that maintain desired and undesired system states. Our conclusion is that active efforts aimed for maintaining resilience should be initiated only if a thorough assessment has shown that the system under consideration can function in a sustainable way.
{"title":"Dark side of resilience: systemic unsustainability","authors":"J. Lyytimäki, A. Teperi, K. Jylhä, Ricardo da Silva Vieira, Erkki Mervaala","doi":"10.3389/frsus.2023.1241553","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1241553","url":null,"abstract":"Resilience is often presented as a championing solution for tackling the multi-level environmental, security, health, and financial threats facing the whole humanity or specific ecosystems, communities, institutions, or individuals. However, the popularity of the concept is not proof of its usefulness. Perhaps the greatest problem is that many of the current socio-ecological systems are operating in both resilient and unsustainable ways. The problem turns into a tragedy if resources are used to maintain or advance such unsustainable resilience. We provide a concise review of the use of the concept of resilience in multiple fields. We highlight the dominance of positive connotations of resilience, originating both from theoretical considerations and practice-oriented applications. This optimistic bias masks the fact that unsustainable systems and practices may be highly resilient. In turn, this can lead to poor understanding and inadequate management of risks related to the attempts to create sustainability innovations. We discuss how path-dependencies and shifting baselines can complicate sustainability initiatives. Managing resilience for sustainability involves defining which system states are desirable and managing the pressures that maintain desired and undesired system states. Our conclusion is that active efforts aimed for maintaining resilience should be initiated only if a thorough assessment has shown that the system under consideration can function in a sustainable way.","PeriodicalId":253319,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainability","volume":"68 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114263247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-15DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.1197659
Cris Garcia-Saravia Ortiz-de-Montellano, A. Ghannadzadeh, Yvonne van der Meer
The circular economy (CE) is gaining global relevance across countries and institutions as a tool to solve some of the most pressing global challenges derived from linear production and consumption systems. However, transitioning to a CE requires significant changes in how businesses and supply chains operate, including redesigning products, processes, and business models. These changes require that future professionals acquire knowledge and skills on the principles of CE, Life Cycle Thinking, and Systems Thinking. However, research on existing higher education programs signals a need for educational resources to develop these skills and knowledge in real-world settings. This paper outlines a new eight-step methodology to introduce students to the principles of CE through the exploratory redesign of a real-world product and value chain in a project-centered learning environment. This methodology was developed in four iterations and was used to teach 251 students from the BSc. Business Engineering at Maastricht University during the academic years 2020–2022. The findings indicate that this method supports students' understanding of complexity, linearity, and the importance of systemic change across the entire value chain, as well as their critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. The methodology provided in this paper supports and encourages educational bodies to implement Education for CE in their curricula and further strengthens the complementary fields of Education for Environmental Sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, educators, professionals and businesses can make use of this tested methodology for exploratory product redesign toward sustainable circularity transitions.
{"title":"The CIRCULAR pathway: a new educational methodology for exploratory circular value chain redesign","authors":"Cris Garcia-Saravia Ortiz-de-Montellano, A. Ghannadzadeh, Yvonne van der Meer","doi":"10.3389/frsus.2023.1197659","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1197659","url":null,"abstract":"The circular economy (CE) is gaining global relevance across countries and institutions as a tool to solve some of the most pressing global challenges derived from linear production and consumption systems. However, transitioning to a CE requires significant changes in how businesses and supply chains operate, including redesigning products, processes, and business models. These changes require that future professionals acquire knowledge and skills on the principles of CE, Life Cycle Thinking, and Systems Thinking. However, research on existing higher education programs signals a need for educational resources to develop these skills and knowledge in real-world settings. This paper outlines a new eight-step methodology to introduce students to the principles of CE through the exploratory redesign of a real-world product and value chain in a project-centered learning environment. This methodology was developed in four iterations and was used to teach 251 students from the BSc. Business Engineering at Maastricht University during the academic years 2020–2022. The findings indicate that this method supports students' understanding of complexity, linearity, and the importance of systemic change across the entire value chain, as well as their critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. The methodology provided in this paper supports and encourages educational bodies to implement Education for CE in their curricula and further strengthens the complementary fields of Education for Environmental Sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, educators, professionals and businesses can make use of this tested methodology for exploratory product redesign toward sustainable circularity transitions.","PeriodicalId":253319,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainability","volume":"241 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134053417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-14DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.1197688
A. Asgari, R. Asgari
Adopting the circular economy principles as a solution to overcome the challenges of the linear economy is increasing globally. In this regard, the related studies showed that circularity is a property of systems, not individual entities. Therefore, any ecosystem design process, including the implementation of circular innovation ecosystems (CIEs), needs in-depth and comprehensive insights into the design process, transformation of ecosystem components, and transition requirements toward circular ecosystems. This study utilized a two-step research methodology consisting of a systematic literature review on sustainable innovation ecosystems and CIEs alongside using grounded theory coding procedures to analyze 10 interviews based on an analytical ecosystem modeling tool to investigate the transformation of ecosystem components in circular ecosystems. Our findings illustrated that circular ecosystem design needs ecosystem actors' synchronic and incremental evolvement. The results also showed that implementing the CIEs requires broader networks of stakeholders, a new interactive economic model, an open platform for co-innovation and co-creation, transforming ecosystem value propositions, and defining new investment models and policies. The findings also inform policymakers and ecosystem researchers about the requirements of any transition toward CE ecosystems. Accordingly, proper policy-making structures and models for tackling transformation obstacles are provided.
{"title":"Designing circular innovation ecosystems: insights from stakeholders, values, and investment policies","authors":"A. Asgari, R. Asgari","doi":"10.3389/frsus.2023.1197688","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1197688","url":null,"abstract":"Adopting the circular economy principles as a solution to overcome the challenges of the linear economy is increasing globally. In this regard, the related studies showed that circularity is a property of systems, not individual entities. Therefore, any ecosystem design process, including the implementation of circular innovation ecosystems (CIEs), needs in-depth and comprehensive insights into the design process, transformation of ecosystem components, and transition requirements toward circular ecosystems. This study utilized a two-step research methodology consisting of a systematic literature review on sustainable innovation ecosystems and CIEs alongside using grounded theory coding procedures to analyze 10 interviews based on an analytical ecosystem modeling tool to investigate the transformation of ecosystem components in circular ecosystems. Our findings illustrated that circular ecosystem design needs ecosystem actors' synchronic and incremental evolvement. The results also showed that implementing the CIEs requires broader networks of stakeholders, a new interactive economic model, an open platform for co-innovation and co-creation, transforming ecosystem value propositions, and defining new investment models and policies. The findings also inform policymakers and ecosystem researchers about the requirements of any transition toward CE ecosystems. Accordingly, proper policy-making structures and models for tackling transformation obstacles are provided.","PeriodicalId":253319,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainability","volume":"121 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122460157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-10DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.1196373
K. Axelsson, Karin André, E. Dawkins, Åsa Gerger Swartling, Maria Xylia
Municipalities have a prominent role to play in the transition to the sustainable society by governing changes at the local level. Based on a quantitative survey of Swedish municipalities, this study has given us a broad perspective on barriers and enablers in Swedish municipalities' efforts to plan, develop, and implement measures for governing the transition to sustainable consumption. By using a classification of municipalities belonging to certain groups, we find that municipalities characterized by having a city at their cores seem to have progressed further in their work to address sustainable consumption than municipalities characterized as more rural or as commuting municipalities near cities or towns. We also find that, though a large share of municipalities in Sweden report working systematically on sustainable consumption, their potential appears to not be fully realized, limited primarily by a lack of political support and key resources. We identify opportunities to establish more responsive governance structures as important for addressing these issues, where interactions at multiple levels are required to achieve successful governance of Sweden's work on sustainable consumption and address the barriers identified by this study. Higher levels of governance should offer greater support and guidance to municipalities in their work. We also advocate for more robust collaborations between municipalities to prevent them from working in isolation, build capacity, and foster greater knowledge exchange between municipality groups. This would strengthen municipalities' ability to catalyze transformational change, which is crucial if they are to meet their own high ambitions related to sustainable consumption and help institute the changes needed to enable the fulfillment of the long-term sustainability challenges we face, such as those articulated in the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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Pub Date : 2023-08-09DOI: 10.3389/frsus.2023.1234760
I. Adeyemi, Haider Khan, C. Ghenai, I. Janajreh
In this study, the co-gasification of sewage sludge and petroleum coke is assessed with equilibrium and numerical modeling. The gasification process of these binary wastes provides a potential pathway for waste management and environmental sustainability. First, the thermodynamic equilibrium approach is used to calculate the maximum cold gasification efficiency (CGE) at different mixture ratios in an attempt to narrow down and focus on the appropriate composition of the two kinds of feedstock within the entrained flow gasifier. Furthermore, a parametric study is conducted to show the gasification metrics, i.e., CGE and feedstock conversion, and the syngas composition at different gasification conditions. The equilibrium model is based on eight unknowns in the gasification product, namely, H2, CO, CO2, H2O, CH4, O2, Csolid, and the temperature, under variable O2 and H2O molar ratios. Using three elemental mass balances, four equilibrium (Csolid) constant relations, and energy balance, the mathematical model is developed. The model incorporates the solid unburnt carbon in the product species. The temperature of gasification is determined through an iterative process. Using the result of the equilibrium model, a high-fidelity reactive flow model that accounts for the reactor geometry and the devolatilization kinetics is developed. This model accounts for an extended set of reactions covering the char combustion, water and gas shifts, Boudouard and devolatilization. Finally, economic analysis is carried out to assess the conditions when such a process can be deemed to be profitable. The result of the model shows that the maximum CGE is achieved when all the solid carbon is converted into carbon monoxide with nearly all hydrogen present in the feedstock converted into hydrogen gas. The maximum conversion was attained with sewage sludge and petroleum coke ratio of 1 at 1,200°C. The mole fraction of the syngas species obtained is XH2 = 0.4227 and XCO = 0.5774 and a small fraction of XCH4 = 0.0123. Moreover, the cold gasification efficiency (CGE) measures 87.02% for the H2 and CO syngas species and reached 91.11% for the three species, including CH4. The gasification of the sewage sludge and petroleum coke at 50:50 is economically viable at temperatures higher than 950°C. A peak net gain of 0.16 $/kg of fuel blend was achieved at 1,250°C. At temperatures lower than 950°C, net losses were realized. This could be associated with less product gas yield, which is not significant enough to counteract the input costs. For instance, the net losses were −0.03 and −0.17 $/kg of feedstock at 950 and 800°C, respectively.
{"title":"Techno-economic analysis of the co-gasification of sewage sludge and petroleum coke","authors":"I. Adeyemi, Haider Khan, C. Ghenai, I. Janajreh","doi":"10.3389/frsus.2023.1234760","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1234760","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, the co-gasification of sewage sludge and petroleum coke is assessed with equilibrium and numerical modeling. The gasification process of these binary wastes provides a potential pathway for waste management and environmental sustainability. First, the thermodynamic equilibrium approach is used to calculate the maximum cold gasification efficiency (CGE) at different mixture ratios in an attempt to narrow down and focus on the appropriate composition of the two kinds of feedstock within the entrained flow gasifier. Furthermore, a parametric study is conducted to show the gasification metrics, i.e., CGE and feedstock conversion, and the syngas composition at different gasification conditions. The equilibrium model is based on eight unknowns in the gasification product, namely, H2, CO, CO2, H2O, CH4, O2, Csolid, and the temperature, under variable O2 and H2O molar ratios. Using three elemental mass balances, four equilibrium (Csolid) constant relations, and energy balance, the mathematical model is developed. The model incorporates the solid unburnt carbon in the product species. The temperature of gasification is determined through an iterative process. Using the result of the equilibrium model, a high-fidelity reactive flow model that accounts for the reactor geometry and the devolatilization kinetics is developed. This model accounts for an extended set of reactions covering the char combustion, water and gas shifts, Boudouard and devolatilization. Finally, economic analysis is carried out to assess the conditions when such a process can be deemed to be profitable. The result of the model shows that the maximum CGE is achieved when all the solid carbon is converted into carbon monoxide with nearly all hydrogen present in the feedstock converted into hydrogen gas. The maximum conversion was attained with sewage sludge and petroleum coke ratio of 1 at 1,200°C. The mole fraction of the syngas species obtained is XH2 = 0.4227 and XCO = 0.5774 and a small fraction of XCH4 = 0.0123. Moreover, the cold gasification efficiency (CGE) measures 87.02% for the H2 and CO syngas species and reached 91.11% for the three species, including CH4. The gasification of the sewage sludge and petroleum coke at 50:50 is economically viable at temperatures higher than 950°C. A peak net gain of 0.16 $/kg of fuel blend was achieved at 1,250°C. At temperatures lower than 950°C, net losses were realized. This could be associated with less product gas yield, which is not significant enough to counteract the input costs. For instance, the net losses were −0.03 and −0.17 $/kg of feedstock at 950 and 800°C, respectively.","PeriodicalId":253319,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainability","volume":"77 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127166775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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