Sustainability in Practice

The sustainability term is widely used to define the scope of the principles and practices that are translated into the operationalization of actions and projects aiming to contribute to the citizens' quality of life. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play a preponderant role in the implementation of sustainability, having among its objectives the promotion and improvement of the health and well-being of individuals and their environments, including work environments in the scope of actions encompassing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by 2030 Agenda. The Work Health Promotion (WHP) must be aligned with the concept of sustainability in HEIs and one way of approaching this concept is through the Technical Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between HEIs and other public institutions, for an integrated and efficient approach toward the sustainability in the worker's health issues. The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized and consolidated that, compliance with the health-related SDGs, would only be possible through health professionals. The TCA presented in this research has the goal to translate the desired approach to achieve sustainable development (SD) in HEIs. This chapter will present and discuss the setup of the TCA established between the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and other federal public institutions during the implementation of the Federal Public Worker Health Care Integrated Subsystem (SIASS). In this context, the connections between the implemented agreements and the SDG 3, i.e., health and well-being, and SDG 17, i.e., partnerships for the goals, through public and public–private partnerships, will be addressed to support SD in HEIs. To achieve the study’s objective, exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative research was made to identify how UFBA plays a leadership role in implementing sustainability practices in WHP policies and by establishing TCA in the field of occupational health with other public federal institutions in the state of Bahia.

Organizations worldwide are facing challenges in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) integrating the 2030 Agenda, defined by the United Nations (UN). Among these goals, it is the SDG 5 on gender equity (GE), which addresses the need to increase the necessary skills for workers to achieve empowerment and leadership in management positions. Full and effective participation with equal opportunities to women to occupy leadership positions in all sectors of society must be guaranteed, reducing gender inequality, thus allowing social sustainability to be accomplished. Slowly but gradually, the understanding about the SDG 5 is gaining strength in the context of the Brazilian society. With the slogan “The woman’s place is wherever she wants!”, the Brazil’s women seek to guarantee equal rights and opportunities. With women representing 51.8% of the Brazilian population, the GE in Brazil is a significant daily achievement. An exploratory study was conducted to collect the data, through a quantitative and qualitative descriptive approach. This chapter will connect the women empowerment (WE) with the effective occupation of the top career positions at Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). This subject is an important issue in the social sustainability context in a public university in the north-eastern region of Brazil. The chapter will discuss the GE as proposed by the UN in SDG 5, based on the fact that 45.8% of high hierarchical positions at UFBA are occupied by women, therefore illustrating the WE as part of the social responsibility’s trajectory towards the full achievement of societal sustainable development.

Women represent only 17% of total seats in organizations’ boardrooms. This scenario can be even worse when analyzing countries individually, such as Brazil, where Boards of Directors (BDs) have only 8.6% female members. The negative implications of this scenario are largely known and go from less innovation and creativity to worse decision-making processes, consequently impacting corporate financial performance and value generation. This paper investigates whether gender diversity in Boards of Directors and the labor force of Brazilian publicly traded companies impacts their financial performance. A quantitative analysis comprised five years of data of 86 publicly traded companies in the Brazilian Stock Exchange (B3), performed multiple linear regressions, and nonparametric Mann–Whitney hypothesis tests. Tobin's Q was used as a measure of company value, as well as diversity proxies and financial performance variables to determine the female influence on organizational performance. Finally, findings revealed a positive and significant relationship between financial performance and gender diversity variables, raising attention to the urgency of gender diversity in BDs as a significant variable impacting value generation to shareholders. This study also fosters the understanding of how companies could contribute to the 2030 sustainable agenda, revealing potential synergies between gender diversity and financial performance.

In general, an education program focused on social responsibility enables organizations to interact with society through educational relationships based on cooperation, citizenship and entrepreneurship, constructing lasting knowledge with significant impacts on the participating communities. In this context, cooperatives play a prominent role, especially those operating in the financial sector, which need to balance economic and social objectives while remaining competitive. The aim of this study was to identify the impact of a credit union’s social responsibility program on citizen education. To achieve this goal, data were collected from 234 agents participating in the Union Means Life (A União Faz a Vida) program, from seventeen municipal schools in four municipalities in Paraná State, involving school managers and teachers. After an analysis of the statistically treated data, the Union Means Life Program was found to be directly related to the improvement of basic education development, the main parameter for measuring the quality of education, not only in Brazil, but also in more developed countries. The results also help to improve the quality of citizen education and community involvement in the drive for a society with ethical principles of cooperation and citizenship.

The scientific community has a significant role in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the theoretical level, several studies have been conducted on the relationship between this community and its role in the SDGs. Considering this context and aiming to contribute to recent debates about this relationship, this work aims to map how the University of Campinas (UNICAMP/Brazil) has been acting towards the incorporation of SDGs at the institutional level. Methodologically, this is a literature and documentary review, in addition to consulting and analyzing the institutional website of UNICAMP. The main results obtained are: I. UNICAMP, one of Brazil’s leading public higher education institutions, has a series of actions and practices that directly involve the 2030 Agenda, highlighting the incorporation of this topic in its Master Plan; II. in addition to producing scientific knowledge, UNICAMP has university engagement projects that have implementing this agenda as their strategy, as is the case of the International Hub for Sustainable Development; III. the institution integrates networks with other civil society actors, to implement the SDGs at the institutional level.

Higher education institutions play an important role in the quest for a sustainable future. The link to sustainability offers new perspectives for the understanding of wicked problems and socioenvironmental issues; however, few universities in the world have a strong emphasis on education for sustainability (EfS). Consequently, many institutions in Latin America are missing the many opportunities offered by teaching and researching on issues related to sustainable development (SD), and from which it becomes urgent to address before they follow in the footsteps of first-world economies and consumption systems. This article focuses on the current treatment and inclusion creative disciplines have made of the concept of sustainability in higher education, since these disciplines are design-led, allow students to engage and interact with problems and stakeholders, prototype everyday life artefacts of to affect behavioral transformation, and structure creative solutions to foster interconnectedness with life. This study analyzes and exposes the different strategies and pedagogical tools addressed in the curricula of design education and architecture to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at three universities in Medellin city, Colombia, recognizing the need to strengthen them.

Sustainable development is a crucial challenge in the twenty-first century, and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can strengthen this concept. In Latin America, HEIs must integrate sustainable development into socio-economic growth projects making a case for environmental sustainability through the solution to current problems. The study aims to analyse sustainability strategies, implemented in Latin American HEIs through a bibliographic search in the Scopus database, and gain knowledge about their application to face environmental problems. The methodology focuses on (i) keywords definition and information downloading; (ii) bibliometric interaction graphs; (iii) analysis of results. The results indicate that HEIs in Latin America integrate limited sustainable development strategies in various academic areas. This recent intellectual growth links topics that promote sustainable development like Student, Engineering, Planning, and Innovation, mainly disseminated by Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. Furthermore, the literature shows the importance of starting with focus groups like students, teaching, research, community outreach projects, and international strategies. Therefore, HEIs are the intellectual basis for achieving the development of a sustainable future, and it is essential to work in conjunction with socio-economic and environmental strategies.

Universities are value-laden organisations composed of multiple cultural norms, values and identities, associated with a wide range of sub-cultures and missions. One of the key challenges for university leadership and management is to find a balance between internal values and demands from those of external stakeholders. Thus, one imperative, in the context of ‘societal impact’ or relevance, pertains to the role of universities in help tackling the grand challenges, such as to address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In view of this, the aim of the study is to assess the incorporation of the SDGs into the strategic planning of two large comprehensive universities from different contexts—the UK’s University of Manchester and Brazil’s University of Campinas. In doing so, we intend to answer the following question: to what extent does the sustainability agenda and the SDG's affect university values and strategic plans? Methodologically, based on document analysis, the study adopts a strand of institutional theory known as ‘institutional work’ and ‘social-symbolic work’ to analyze the data regarding the incorporation of the SDGs agenda.

Can gardening become a practice of cultural and ecological resistance, as well as a road map for sustainable ways of dwelling in and co-inhabiting the Earth with other species? The Caribbean islands represent a fertile soil to ponder such questions, and literature and the arts are an essential tool to understand and engage with nature and notions of sustainability. This paper presents a critical reading of Maryse Condé’s 2010 novel En Attendant la Montée des Eaux, with a particular focus on the character of Movar, a young Haitian man who makes people’s lives more bearable by recreating beauty around them, and by giving order to their unruly surroundings. His peculiar relationship with gardens is a storyline which is secondary to the novel’s main plot, but which could offer precious insights if examined in detail. A particular emphasis is given to the Caribbean context, which allows for the words of Maryse Condé to be read as a paradigm for finding rootedness and balance in a politically, socially, and ecologically suffering world. Finally, Movar’s personal story is extracted from the specificity of its local reality to be translated on a global scale, as an effective model of social sustainability and responsibility.

Technological evolution has made it possible for software companies to adopt the work model of distributed teams, which allows them to hire people from multiple countries, eliminating the need for physical displacement in the office and also optimizing working hours. Thus, the goal of this study is to identify the sustainable factors that interfere with the performance of distributed software development teams. For that, a Bibliographic Portfolio analysis related to the theme in question was elaborated, and a questionnaire was applied to distributed teams’ specialists in order to validate the points identified in the literature. As a result, sustainable aspects were mapped in the literature, categorizing them into environmental, social, and economic factors, and, based on the impacts found, their correlation was made with the Sustainable Development Goals, verifying that they are linked to the context of distributed teams. In the questionnaires applied to the specialists, it was concluded that the sustainable factors directly influence the performance of the teams. The research contributions consist of highlighting each aspect in the current scenario and expressing that organizations should invest in sustainable development to achieve more assertiveness in the distributed teams’ performance.

Circular Economy, as the counterargument to the ‘make-take-dispose’ linear model, is an approach that includes a variety of schools of thoughts looking at environmental, economic, and social sustainability. This, in turn, leads to a variety of strategies and often confusion when it comes to choosing the right strategy to make a circular transition as effective as possible. Due to the close interplay of circular product design, business model and social responsibility, companies often struggle to develop strategies that comply with all three triple-bottom-line criteria. Hence, to transition to circularity effectively, product design approaches must become more inclusive. Starting with a case study conducted with the University of Bayreuth and ISPO focusing on the sports industry, the authors correlated aspects of material choice in product design, labelling and technological innovation with customer preferences and education about specific material and technology features that could be used for multiple sectors. The study revealed those attributes of the consumers’ environmental awareness that directly translate into an increase of purchase power—primarily connected with individual preferences regarding the sport activity and technical knowledge. Based on this outcome, the authors constituted a product development approach that incorporates the consumers’ individual preferences towards sustainable product features as well as their awareness about materials and technology. It allows deploying targeted customer education campaigns to enhance the acceptance and raise the willingness to pay circular products. Therefore, the authors in view of the latter are looking in this paper to build a questionnaire that takes into consideration a corporates’ awareness of circular design and of external stakeholder relationship, such as consumer awareness of the product. The outcome is a scoring system, which provides guidance for material and technology choices for circular product design, while considering business model and communication strategy to the attentive customers. By including this knowledge about the customer and complying with corresponding labels, companies can develop more effective circular design strategies, while simultaneously increasing customers’ trust and loyalty.

The present study seeks to identify high impact articles and citations involving the Product Life Cycle and Triple Bottom Line areas: social, environmental and economic dimensions; in order to propose a product life cycle management construct capable of integrating social, environmental and economic dimensions. To achieve the objective, a systematic literature review (RSL) was first performed using the Biblioshiny and Bibliometrix tool. The sample consisted of 57 scientific articles. An analysis of descriptive statistics of the main bibliographic metrics was presented. A Sankey Diagram was generated relating different bibliographic factors (countries, journal and keywords). In addition, clustering methods were proposed, through analysis of bibliographic coupling, co-citation and scientific collaboration using Louvain's algorithm. Then, the factor analysis methods were used to propose a conceptual structure map. Finally, an analysis was carried out on the sample of 57 scientific articles to identify the relationship between the themes of the product life cycle, and the dimensions: social, environmental and economic. As a result, in addition to RSL, it was possible to propose a construct for product life cycle management capable of integrating the Triple Bottom Line.

The practices that produce economic befits and at the same time contribute to sustainability are an increasing market need, especially for the Service sector that is close to consumers more and more aware of their social and environmental responsibility. Companies in the Service sector have been encouraged to implement Lean and Sustainable Development approaches to meet consumer demand through process optimisation, cost reduction, and in particular, waste reduction and the balance of sustainability pillars. However, there are still few studies related to Lean Philosophy focused on Service that contributes to Sustainable Development. The article’s objective is to present a preliminary investigation on Lean and Sustainable Development in Service, exploring and discussing issues related to their applications. Literature Review and Qualitative Analysis were used as the technical research procedures. The research showed that Lean tools associated with Sustainable Development could bring important results to the Service industry since they have points of convergence related to organisational aspects and similarities in their strategic management. In addition, the implementation of the two approaches individually or conjointly and their interaction in the Service area still need to be better studied and understood.

For the development of environmentally sustainable products, the activities of raw material selection, product design, production, packaging, and distribution must be considered, so that environmental limits are respected and the consumption of natural resources reduced. To meet these needs, companies have sought to create environmentally sustainable alternatives for products and processes, due to government, market, and regulatory pressures. Thus, the problem question of this study is: What is the relationship of the Integrated Product Development Process (IPDP) and Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM), to contribute to the reduction of the environmental impact? The general objective of this study is to present a preliminary model that relates the concepts of IPDP and GSCM from a theoretical discussion on the influence of the approach to the themes. As specific objectives, this study intends to present models previously published that have some relation to the IPDP related to green design, green purchase, green manufacturing, green distribution and reverse logistics, themes related to GSCM; and present guidelines to relate the stages of product development and GSCM to reduce the environmental impact.

This study aims to analyze the implementation initiatives of the SDG-11—Sustainable cities and communities—of the UN’s 2030 Agenda through public policies, considering the context of sociotechnical transitions. The analysis focuses on the city of Curitiba-PR, known for developing sustainable practices in urban solutions that serve as models for several countries. The theoretical model discusses the Socio-technical Transitions to Sustainability, the SDG-11, and Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP). Methodologically, the study is descriptive and exploratory, featuring a document survey and semi-structured interviews applied to managers of Curitiba’s City Hall. The results present ongoing public policies and projects in the city that relate to sociotechnical transformations in energy sources, urban mobility, infrastructure, governance, and other change variables, and are linked to targets 11.2, 11.3 and 11.a of SDG-11. The case presented may serve as a model to other urban centers that seek sustainable development and contributes to the Sustainable Transition South Brazil Global Research Networks, which approach the transition process from several angles in the contemporary context.

Environmental conflict is growingly being integrated into the method of contingent assessment, especially in presence of non-use values. This work aims to investigate how environmental conflict influences environmental projects’ assessment. Using the theoretical backgrounds of the Prospect theory, that shows the formal inequality between Willingness to pay and Willingness to accept, we will set up a pilot study to investigate the biogas acceptance in Emilia Romagna region. The pilot survey is deployed with a referendum format, integrating negative WTP. The results show a widespread support for biogas in the region, nevertheless the spot ‘losers’ counterpart asks for an economic compensation. Finally, the conclusions of our study are reported, followed by some useful insights for further research. In the light of the information collected in the literature, it will be explained how to correctly scale a contingent assessment, based on the results of the pilot study.

The growing offer of sustainable transport modes, among them, bike sharing systems as a collaborative economy, has increased on the planet. Therefore, this paper aims to review three of the bike sharing systems located in places with high demand for this service, such as the systems of Shanghai (China), Vélib’-Paris (France), and EnCicla-Medellín (Colombia), through the methodology of systematic literature review and the analysis of how the use of bicycles reduces the carbon footprint. Eighty percent of the publications were made in the last seven years between 2015 and 2022, which shows the growing interest in the topic and little publication before 2015. Among the findings, it was determined that the publications respond to studies on the history of bike sharing systems; methods to improve the distribution of bicycles; negative effects of systems without stations (dockless); positive contribution to the environment and to the health of users. Also, it is found that the bicycle is the vehicle that most reduces the carbon footprint in daily mobility. It is concluded that it is pertinent to expand knowledge about these systems and some aspects are recommended for the operation of the EnCicla-Medellín system in the face of the challenges of sustainable mobility.

The studies focused on Transformative Innovation Policies—TIPs demonstrate the orientation for the effective implementation of innovation tied to “4P”—Product, Process, Position, and Paradigm (Bernardo, 2020), to present the effective transition to sustainability. Issues related to development or experimentation in the technology field and innovation sciences, which are theoretically the concern regarding the effective applicability of TIPs, would permeate the innovation spiral proposed by Murray et al. (2010). It is concerned with demonstrating a non-linear and in-depth analysis of the innovation process, identifying the problems, the solutions that will be created and its tests, scales and finally, the impact created. Thus, a timely question arises related to the studies of the TIPs analyzed, are there any of the stages described in the innovation spiral? By conducting a systematic review of articles at Scopus, Scielo, and Spell databases, it was sought to identify the different stages of the innovation spiral that each researcher experienced. These studies showed the effectiveness of TIPs. However, its usefulness seems closely linked with the transitions to sustainability.

Increasing urbanization has put pressure on urban and public health systems since the second half of the twentieth century. Viral infections challenge these systems worldwide. Since February 2020, Brazil has faced a recurrent dengue outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic. This study's main objective was to develop a methodology based on GIS spatial analysis and data mining to elucidate the spatiotemporal patterns of both diseases. The locality of study was the municipality of Campo Mourão, Brazil. With the aid of spatial analyses, the study examined the overlap of the incidence of infections with demographic, urban, and socio-environmental infrastructure factors. It identified County's actions using a bibliographic survey. The results reflect the spatiotemporal pattern of the diseases, the hotspots, and the most vulnerable contingents, and point out the need to implement education for socio-environmental sustainability.

Mobility and public space have become a problem for cities around the world and Medellín, the second most important city in Colombia, has not escaped this phenomenon. This paper aims to establish how efficient has been sustainable mobility policies regarding sustainable development for the last 16 years. The aforementioned is linked to the 11th Sustainable Development Goal “Sustainable cities and communities”, the “Quality of life Report of Medellín, 2016–2021”, and the current governance practices in the city. The research has a descriptive-comparative and retrospective-longitudinal scope, with a deliberate pursuit of secondary sources. Results suggest that there are some effective specific actions to intervene in sustainable mobility. Also, there are some similarities in the intervention to this problem in the government’s administrations analyzed, but they are independent. The conclusion is that the government administration required is one that allows articulation between public, private, and civil society actors, in order for Medellin to overcome the difficulties in terms of sustainable mobility.

The last century brought a series of new issues for cities in Latin America. It also has challenged several ideas apparently well established. Sustainability research is in constant need of a more robust and updated set of concepts to work with, specially in urban environments. The aim of this article is to discuss two different conceptualizations which are key for this theoretical articulation in urban spaces: the first with a permanent nature and the second with a transitory characteristic. In order to understand this possible conflict, a case study is proposed comparing nine urban solutions in Brazilian cities. Three categories of uses are set: housing, retail and transportation. Initially this debate is analytically contextualized in the period called modernity but it discusses post-modernity scenarios as well to help to comprehend distinct time perceptions. The need to answer rapidly to new planetary questions influencing cities in Brazil has led to a rush in many urban, metropolitan and global dynamics. This is at the core of a huge set of environmental issues. The conclusion shows that impermanences happen so frequently that they may become a new kind of permanence. Truly sustainable cities can be reached only if this dilemma is better understood by policymakers.

Renewable energies, specifically powertrain technologies for biofuels have systematically promoted low carbon innovations. The paper focuses on a new technology, improving the performance with ethanol. The multilevel perspective framework analyzes the relevance of low carbon technology for the transition to sustainability in the automotive industry and its implications for the environment and innovation. The aims are to analyze technological niche as windows of opportunity of flex fuel engines to reduce local and global emissions and discuss technological changes in infrastructure, markets, regulation, and user practices. The study adopts a qualitative perspective operationalized by a case study at Bosch Latin America and the strategy is appropriate to understand research phenomena in detail. The company was a protagonist in the evolution of flex-fuel vehicles, and currently, the guidelines for the future of mobility imply technologies to improve CO2 emissions and air quality. The evidence suggests that bioenergy is effective for life cycle decarbonization and compatible with the fleet in circulation, compared to vehicle electrification which affects a small portion of consumers. This study furthers the understanding of the infrastructure that co-involves more sustainable incremental technologies to fuel-efficient vehicles development with sociotechnical systems and the implications of biofuel for sustainable development in developing countries.

Geoheritage refers to objects and sites of geological interest and their relationship to cultural, aesthetic, educational, and scientific values. Various factors such as urbanisation and uncontrolled tourism affect geosites. This research aimed to develop a matrix of anthropogenic and natural factors that affect geosites, using information from the Scopus database to conduct an analysis of sustainable factors. The methodology consisted of four phases: (i) preparation of the idea, (ii) systematic literature review, (iii) elaboration of the matrix, and (iv) analysis and interpretation of findings. The results indicate that the main factors causing the vulnerability of geosites are anthropogenic stress, climate change, unsustainable exploitation, geohazards, and inadequate management. Therefore, the geoconservation approach should be part of an educational and participatory strategy with scientific components to promote the sustainability of geosites.

Freshwater availability is a challenge for many communities, becoming a scarce resource limiting social and economic development. Libertador Bolívar commune has presented scarcity problems during the dry season (not rain). Although the drinking water for commune consumption comes from the Manglaralto community, the channel low level presents complications for the surrounding land, especially crop irrigation. The aim is to propose a dam design for the river embalming based on geotechnical and stability analysis that will allow a significant increase in surface water, contributing positively to the Libertador Bolivar commune sustainability. The methodology consisted of fieldwork (selecting the suitable site for the dam and geological-geotechnical study of the area) and office work (stability analysis and dam design, complementary works design and reservoir volume calculation). The construction of an artisanal dike with little slopes guarantees its stability over time. This dam will allow a reservoir of 67,954.00 m3 of surface water, which will allow artificial recharge in the shallow aquifer. Furthermore, the commune's ancestral knowledge of water Sowing and Harvesting is recovered.

Las Cabras hill stands out in the Duran city geomorphology as it is a large rock mass (Cordillera Chongon-Colonche foothills). Unfortunately, the last two decades have presented stability problems (landslides and detachments) that have affected the population and its surroundings. The academy (ESPOL) has proposed stability works for these problems, but the Municipality needs to complement and promote these hill stabilisation works for tourism. The aim is to develop remodelling proposals on Las Cabras hill through socio-economic analysis and linking its stability works to turn it into a natural tourist potential. The methodology consisted of (i) review of previous studies and projects carried out in the study area, (ii) analysis of the socio-economic situation, (iii) development of proposals for remodelling the hill and its conservation/sustainability, and (iv) assessment of the tourism capacity of the works and their impacts. As a result, the construction of four civil works is proposed: ascending route line, recreational/sports area, parking area and city viewpoint. These works will complement the stability works on Las Cabras hill. With this, it will be possible to fully promote this sector with a development vision for the Duran canton, both from a modern point of view and from a natural or rustic perspective.

Brazil stands out for its abundance of organic waste, resulting from its agro-industrial vocation and population density. Although the country presents favorable conditions for the production of biogas, only a small portion of its matrix is ​​destined for this renewable energy, which reveals the need to establish political strategies for its promotion. Based on a documental research of strategic plans and reports from key actors in the biogas sector in Brazil, this study addresses the trajectory, the current scenario, and the political perspectives for renewable energy. The results show that important initiatives have been developed by institutions to optimize the interactions of the socio-technical system, which involves the government, the private sector, as well as research and development institutions. Despite promoting solutions for solid waste management and the energy transition in the country, biogas faces barriers to its diffusion. The strategies developed by these key actors are coherent for the management of social, economic, and environmental problems, although incipient in dealing with the obstacles that prevent Brazil from exploiting the full potential of this renewable energy.

In recent decades, organizations such as the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) have pointed out in their guidelines to corporate reporting or sustainability reporting to a convergence between the practice of reporting information and corporate strategy. Among the principles that govern these guidelines is the relationship with the stakeholders, on which the present work focuses to answer: To what extent are reporting practices actually converging with corporate strategy? For this task and under a critical eye from the perspective of stakeholder theory—as proposed by R. Edward Freeman—this work seeks through the analysis of reports of Brazilian companies listed on B3 Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE B3), to identify how much this convergence has advanced. The findings show that gaps still remain between what is practiced by companies in relation to the strategy approach presented here.

Incorporating the issue of governance into disaster risk management, strengthening stakeholder participation, and adopting integrated measures aimed at disaster risk reduction are key steps in building resilient cities and societies. Therefore, this work aims to identify how governance and participation are addressed in disaster risk management in the municipalities of Campo Largo, Curitiba, Primeiro de Maio and União da Vitória. The application of the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for cities was used as a methodological procedure. The results indicate differences in the four municipalities. Curitiba and União da Vitória, for example, demonstrate greater capacity for governance and involvement of stakeholders than the other two municipalities. The case of Campo Largo is critical, because these processes are merely incipient in the face of a high number of adverse events and their detrimental impacts to the territory. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the involvement of several actors, emphasizing shared management of responsibilities, in an integrated and non-isolated way.

Considering the externalities created by economic activities, the acronym ESG represents the stimulus given to companies to implement measures that lead to positive impacts on environmental, social and governance aspects. State regulation does not impose compliance with ESG factors, preventing excessive interference in economic activity, but it has ensured that sustainability concerns are present in the businesses routine through nudges and incentives. In this regard, this paper presents the pioneering decree that regulates contracting with public administration in the state of Paraná, Brazil. Decree 10.086/2022 defines that the proposals that take into account the sustainability aspects, foreseeing sustainable practices and standards that can be implemented by companies, will be analyzed and serve as a selection criterion in contracting with the state government. Furthermore, considering that many of these companies are publicly traded, the financial market also drives compliance with these requirements, due to the demands of investors who will be attentive to this competitive differential. For companies, therefore, concerns about ESG factors also convert into greater economic value, especially in the long term, concluding that, in fact, purpose and profit are increasingly linked to each other.

Rivers play an essential role in basin management. Manglaralto River is a natural agent in the water supply of the Manglaralto parish. The undermining, transport, and sedimentation processes are fundamental in the hydraulic dynamics of Manglaralto River, and it impacts the underground hydrology of the basin. This study aims to evaluate the sediments transport in the suspension of the Manglaralto riverbed, using hydrological and hydraulic information of the basin, with the HEC-RAS 5.0.3 software for determining accumulation, undermining, and balance zones and identifying flood risk areas. The methodology consisted of (i) Revising information base, (ii) Obtaining hydraulic data and defining scenarios for simulation, and (iii) performing sediment transport Simulation with HEC-RAS version 5.0.3. The results indicate the presence of balance, sedimentation, and undermining zones. The study reveals that sedimentation along the channel is mainly related to the Manglaralto River speed and water flow rate that produce accumulation, erosion, and balance areas. This analysis is the first guidelines for determining and developing protection perimeters, which must be supported by complementary studies to create an early warning for the population.

Vulnerability is an indicator of foreseeable risks in aquifer’s quality, considering the environment and anthropogenic implications. This measure is determined by different conditions and realities of a system, such as air and water quality, economic studies, health and hygiene and landslides. Aquifers are prone to contamination by extrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting water quality. This work focuses on determining the vulnerability to contamination of the Olón aquifer, using the Groundwater Overlaying Depth (GOD) method for zoning the areas susceptible to contamination. The methodology consisted of three phases: (i) gathering of basic hydrogeological information; (ii) Application of geographic information systems according to the GOD method in the Olón aquifer; (iii) Analysis of the findings and elaboration of the vulnerability map. The results indicate that the aquifer, in its entire domain, has a high vulnerability index, mainly due to its intrinsic conditions and their relationship with anthropic activities in the sector. This methodology has made it possible to detect predominant factors that influence contamination and provides details for strategic planning of measures to be considered to preserve the resource and its nature. The extreme vulnerability near the coastline is caused by human settlement and tourist activities. This methodology made it possible to detect the predominant factors polluting the aquifer.; therefore, measures for protecting the community and its resources must be taken.

Public policies are important drivers for the socio-economic and technological transformation of society. Changes to more sustainable living standards demand public policies with this objective. The search for the structuring and implementation of public policies that have effective transforming capacities is essential. This article presents the trajectory of socio-technical transformation of a network of ‘coopetition’ between small producers of grapes and derivatives such as juices, vinegars and wines from five cities in Santa Catarina State, in southern Brazil. Emphasis is given to public policies and the processes of planning, implementation and restructuring of these policies during the trajectory of the researched object. Theoretical support is given through the theory of sociotechnical transition and the TIP—Transformative Innovation Policy. Based on a qualitative case study, this research uses a longitudinal perspective between 2015 and 2021 with in-depth interviews and participant and non-participant observation. The main findings show that (i) generalist public policies did not show a great capacity to transform the situated one; (ii) the policy restructuring processes showed positive results; and (iii) the possibilities of transformation to sustainability were neglected by the governments of the cities involved and are shown the opportunities for the future agenda.

With the continued deterioration of the climate due to anthropogenic activities and with growing awareness of environmental issues, in addition to international requirements, the People’s Republic of China has begun to address environmental challenges and climate change more broadly. This has included initiating public policies that seek to mitigate impacts, including investing in renewable energy. Chinese companies are leveraging climate diplomacy as a crucial component of their “going global” strategy, enabling them to penetrate diverse regions and markets. This includes Brazil, which is presently the world’s 12th largest economy and offers significant opportunities in the realm of renewable energy. This chapter aims to analyze the climate and geopolitical implications of Chinese investment in renewable sources of energy in Brazil. To gain contextual insight into China’s interest in Brazil, a comprehensive analysis was conducted, encompassing a literature review and documental analysis spanning from 2000 to 2022. This approach takes into account the fact that China initiated its investments in Brazil in 2010, offering a deeper understanding of the context. From a climate perspective, the flow of foreign direct investment in Brazil’s renewable energy sector will be welcome, but not have a major impact on the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Climate Agreement considering that the majority of its greenhouse gas emissions stem from the land use, land use change and forestry sector. Geopolitically, it is found that the climate diplomacy will deepen Latin America’s dependence on Chinese capital and technology in the renewable energy sector. Furthermore, such investments will improve Chinese energy security as it transitions away from fossil fuels.

Efforts are being made globally to switch from the take-make-dispose linear economy to Circular Economy (CE), which leads us to rethink how to consume, produce and discard products. The benefits of this switch are optimization of resources, cost reduction, and brand image. Nevertheless, despite the benefits, some challenges and barriers keep businesses away from this transition. One challenge is identifying the effects of New Product Development (NPD) in the supply chain. This research aimed to unfold the knowledge structure of literature related to NPD and CE by using an exploratory network analysis using CiteSpace. It also contributes to the domain by discovering two groups of cited references: publications in the nascent period (2012–2016) and the emergent period (after 2017). Finally, the results identified three clusters representing the field and highlighted recommended readings to promote future qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies.

Sustainability in operations is a well-discussed concept with interest for both academics and practitioners. It has been actively promoted in the last decades incorporating new requirements and trends in the way we consume, produce, distribute, and dispose of our products. Considering the above, this article aims to uncover the main practices developed by the sugar-based industry in the context of sustainability. A literature review (LR) was conducted using the Scopus® database and a full reading and analysis of 14 resulting documents, was performed. From this review, it is highlighted that there is an important presence of activities focused on the agriculture management stage, and significant by-products-oriented recirculation endeavors are noted. Furthermore, important findings were identified related to environmental practices, greenhouse emissions accountability and regarding the transition from a manual harvesting method to a dominant mechanized one. Also, opportunities are discussed related to this process. The assignment of 20 different categories was carried out, considering 66 elements searched and reviewed for the study. This document intends to aid as a reference guide for practitioners and academics to assess operational structures in the sugarcane businesses regarding economic, social, and environmental dimensions, and highlight the potential for performance improvements in sustainable operations.