Showing papers on "Social sustainability published in 2013"

W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting

Abstract: This paper offers a critique of sustainability reporting and, in particular, a critique of the modern disconnect between the practice of sustainability reporting and what we consider to be the urgent issue of our era: sustaining the life-supporting ecological systems on which humanity and other species depend. Tracing the history of such reporting developments, we identify and isolate the concept of the ‘triple bottom line’ (TBL) as a core and dominant idea that continues to pervade business reporting, and business engagement with sustainability. Incorporating an entity’s economic, environmental and social performance indicators into its management and reporting processes, we argue, has become synonymous with corporate sustainability; in the process, concern for ecology has become sidelined. Moreover, this process has become reinforced and institutionalised through SustainAbility’s biennial benchmarking reports, KPMG’s triennial surveys of practice, initiatives by the accountancy profession and, particularly, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)’s sustainability reporting guidelines. We argue that the TBL and the GRI are insufficient conditions for organizations contributing to the sustaining of the Earth’s ecology. Paradoxically, they may reinforce business-as-usual and greater levels of un-sustainability.

The Triple Bottom Line: How Today's Best-Run Companies Are Achieving Economic, Social and Environmental Success - and How You Can Too

Abstract: Introduction 1 Part One The Sustainability Imperative 11 1 A Bitter Aftertaste: Hershey Struggles to Master the Sustainability Challenge 13 2 The Sustainability Sweet Spot: How to Achieve Long-Term Business Success 33 3 The Age of Sustainability 53 4 Business Responds 76 5 The Backlash Against Sustainability 92 6 Renewing the Penobscot: A More Productive Use of Capital 107 Part Two How Sustainability Can Work for You 129 7 Where Do You Stand Today? Your Sustainability Self-Assessment 131 8 Sustainability Jiu-Jitsu: Turning Short-Term Challenges into Opportunities 145 9 Shaping Your Sustainability Strategy 156 10 Implementing Your Sustainability Program 175 11 Managing Stakeholder Engagement 190 12 Dealing with Special Stakeholder Challenges 211 13 Measuring and Reporting Your Progress 237 14 Aligning Your Culture to Support Sustainability 256 15 The Emerging Multipurpose Company 270 Appendix: Creating a Sustainability Management System 289 Notes 300 Acknowledgments 314 About the Authors 320 Index 323

Planetary Boundaries: Ecological Foundations for Corporate Sustainability

Abstract: Management studies on corporate sustainability practices have grown considerably. The field now has significant knowledge of sustainability issues that are firm and industry focused. However, complex ecological problems are increasing, not decreasing. In this paper, we argue that it is time for corporate sustainability scholars to reconsider the ecological and systemic foundations for sustainability, and to integrate our work more closely with the natural sciences. To address this, our paper introduces a new development in the natural sciences � the delineation of nine �Planetary Boundaries� which govern life as we know it. We call for more systemic research that measures the impact of companies on boundary processes that are at, or possibly beyond, three threshold points � climate change, the global nitrogen cycle, and rate of biodiversity loss � and closing in on others. We also discuss practical implications of the Planetary Boundaries framework for corporate sustainability, including governance and institutional challenges.

Toward a Theory of Sustainability Management: Uncovering and Integrating the Nearly Obvious

Abstract: The continuing evolution and increasing salience of the concept and practice of sustainability among individuals, organizations, and societies worldwide appears to warrant the development of conceptual approaches to theories of sustainability management for application to management research, education, and practice While other management theories have been employed by many management scholars to help explain the need for and advancement of sustainability management, none of those theories appear to have the unique features, benefits, opportunities, challenges, or orientations to assist individuals, organizations, and societies to move toward sustainability as much and as soon as appears necessary However, since the consideration of theories of sustainability management is relatively new for most management scholars, the authors hope this article begins a dialogue among those stakeholders to better describe, develop, and apply this and related theories of sustainability management as significantly, effe

Instrumental and Integrative Logics in Business Sustainability

Abstract: Prior research on sustainability in business often assumes that decisions on social and environmental investments are made for instrumental reasons, which points to causal relationships between corporate financial performance and corporate social and environmental commitment. In other words, social or environmental commitment should predict higher financial performance. The theoretical premise of sustainability, however, is based on a systems perspective, which implies a tighter integration between corporate financial performance and corporate commitment to social and environmental issues. In this paper, we describe the important theoretical differences between an instrumental and integrative logic in managing business sustainability. We test the presence of each logic using data from 738 firms over 13 years and find evidence of integrative logic applied in business.

The Ends and Means of Sustainability

Abstract: The idea of ‘sustainability’ received serious attention in the so-called Brundtland Commission Report that has many attractive features. In particular, it highlighted the importance of intergenerational justice while maintaining a concern for the poor of each generation and shifted the focus away from resources to human beings. I argue that this way of understanding sustainability, while a great improvement, is still incomplete. There are important grounds for favouring a freedom-oriented view, focusing on crucial freedoms that people have reason to value. Human freedoms include the fulfilment of needs, but also the liberty to define and pursue our own goals, objectives and commitments, no matter how they link with our own particular needs. Human beings are reflective creatures and are able to reason about and decide what they would like to happen, rather than being compellingly led by their own needs—biological or social. A fuller concept of sustainability has to aim at sustaining human freedoms, rather ...

Re-thinking sustainability indicators: local perspectives of urban sustainability

Abstract: Measuring sustainability is not only a contentious issue, but one which has captured the attention of both academics and politicians since the late 1980s. A plethora of methods and approaches have been developed over the last decades or so, from rapid measurements as inputs to specific projects, to longer-term processes of research, monitoring and wider learning. Indicators have been, however, the most influential measuring tool of all and despite the fact that the tensions between expert-led and citizen-led models in their development have fuelled much debate in the literature. It has been suggested that integrating the two approaches would tap into various levels of ‘knowledge’ of sustainability and thus, be a better way of assessing sustainability. However, little is known of whether these ‘integrated’ sets of sustainability indicators work in practice, or indeed reflect the local perspectives, values and understandings of sustainability which they aim to represent. This paper aims to fill this gap. Fi...

An assessment of sustainable housing affordability using a multiple criteria decision making method

Abstract: Housing affordability is a complex issue that must not only be assessed in terms economic viability. In order to increase quality of life and community sustainability the environmental and social sustainability of housing must also be taken into consideration. The paper considers the application of a methodology that can be applied to assess the affordability of different housing locations in a sustainable manner, taking into account a range of economic, environmental and social criteria. The COPRAS method of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) is selected and applied to three residential areas as an example of how sustainable housing affordability can be assessed using a MCDM method. The outcome of the study reveals that considering a range of social and environmental criteria can greatly affect the calculation of an areas affordability, in comparison to focusing solely on financial attributes. COPRAS was found to be an effective method for the assessment and could be applied in other regions or internationally.

Progress in sustainability science: lessons learnt from current methodologies for sustainability assessment: Part 1

Abstract: Purpose Sustainability Science (SS) is considered an emerging discipline, applicative and solution-oriented whose aim is to handle environmental, social and economic issues in light of cultural, historic and institutional perspectives. The challenges of the discipline are not only related to better identifying the problems affecting sustainability but to the actual transition towards solutions adopting an integrated, comprehensive and participatory approach. This requires the definitionofa common scientificparadigminwhich integrationand interaction amongst sectorial disciplines is of paramount relevance. In this context, life cycle thinking (LCT) and, in particular, life cycle-based methodologies and life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) may play a crucial role. The paper illustrates the main challenges posed to sustainability assessment methodologies and related methods in terms of ontology, epistemology and methodology of SS. The aims of the analysis are twofold: (1) to identify the main features of methodologies for sustainability assessment and (2) to present key aspects for the development of robust and comprehensive sustainability assessment. Methods The current debate on SS addressing ontological, epistemological and methodological aspects has been reviewed, leading to the proposal of a conceptual framework for SS. In addition, a meta-review of recent studies on sustainability assessment methodologies and methods, focusing those

Constructing sustainability science: emerging perspectives and research trajectories

Abstract: Over the last decade, sustainability science has emerged as an interdisciplinary and innovative field attempting to conduct problem-driven research that links knowledge to action. As the institutional dimensions of sustainability science continue to gain momentum, this article provides an analysis of emerging research agendas in sustainability science and an opportunity for reflection on future pathways for the field. Based on in-depth interviews with leading researchers in the field and a content analysis of the relevant literature, this article examines how sustainability scientists bound the social, political and normative dimensions of sustainability as they construct research agendas and look to link knowledge to social action. Many scientists position sustainability science as serving universal values related to sustainability and providing knowledge that is crucial to societal decision-making. The implications of these findings are discussed with an eye towards creating a space for a more democratic and reflexive research agenda for sustainability.

The Association between Sustainability Governance Characteristics and the Assurance of Corporate Sustainability Reports

Abstract: The following study seeks to provide evidence on whether sustainability-oriented corporate governance mechanisms impact the voluntary assurance of corporate sustainability reports. Specifically, we consider the presence and characteristics of environmental committees on the board of directors and a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) among the management team. When examining the assurance services, we make a distinction between those services performed by external assurance providers and the company’s internal auditors. We find that the presence of an environmental committee and a CSO are positively associated with corporate sustainability report assurance services. However, presently, environmental committees appear to prefer the services of consultants and internal auditors. Additional analysis suggests the associations are conditional upon the committee’s expertise and overlap with the audit committee. Similarly, sustainability assurance appears to increase in relation to CSO expertise. Our results are particularly important to those with interests in understanding the evolution and demand for sustainability assurance, as well as the impact of environmental governance mechanisms that are increasingly part of the corporate mosaic. Overall our results suggest that there remain large opportunities for both external and internal audit standard setters to establish stronger guidelines increasing the value and demand for sustainability assurance services.

Learning for change: an educational contribution to sustainability science

Abstract: Transition to sustainability is a search for ways to improve the social capacity to guide interactions between nature and society toward a more sustainable future and, thus, a process of social learning in its broadest sense. Accordingly, it is not only learning that is at issue but education and educational science, of which the latter is about exploring the preconditions of and opportunities for learning and education—whether individual or social, in formal or informal settings. Analyzing how educational science deals with the challenge of sustainability leads to two complementary approaches: the ‘outside-in’ approach sees the idea of sustainability influencing educational practice and the way the relationship of learning and teaching is reviewed, theoretically as well as within the social context. In an ‘inside-out’ approach, an overview is given of how educational science can contribute to the field of sustainability science. An examination of the literature on education and sustainability shows that, while sustainability features prominently in one form or another across all sectors, only little work can be found dealing with the contributions of educational science within sustainability science. However, as sustainability is a concept that not only influences educational practices but also invites disciplinary contributions to foster inter- and transdisciplinary research within the sustainability discourse, the question remains as to how and to what extent educational science in particular can contribute to sustainability science in terms of an ‘inside-out’ approach. In this paper, we reconstruct the emergence of education for sustainable development as a distinctive field of educational science and introduce and discuss three areas of sustainability research and throw into relief the unique contribution that educational science can make to individual action and behavior change, to organizational change and social learning, and, finally, to inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration.

Social Sustainability Considerations during Planning and Design: Framework of Processes for Construction Projects

Abstract: This research identifies 50 processes and categorizes them into a framework for integrating and evaluating social considerations in construction projects. These processes focus on the planning and design phases because they offer the greatest potential for influencing project performance. The concept mapping research method was applied to develop this framework on the basis of input from 25 experts in academia, industry, and government. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analyses were used to organize the experts' input into six categories defining social sustainability in construction projects: stakeholder engagement, user considerations, team formation, man- agement considerations, impact assessment, and place context. Although previous research has recognized social sustainability as a series of processes, this study is the first to integrate them into a comprehensive framework. Practitioners can benefit from this framework, which will enhance existing sustainability assessment methods and help address the challenge of developing truly sustainable projects. This framework also provides academics with a tool for introducing students to social sustainability in construction projects. Future research could use this framework as a baseline, developing metrics using the processes included in the framework. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000566. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Sustainable development; Social factors; Design; Planning; Construction; Safety. Author keywords: Sustainable development; Social factors; Design; Planning; Construction; Safety.

Stakeholder Engagement: Achieving Sustainability in the Construction Sector

Abstract: Achieving sustainability-related targets in construction projects is increasingly becoming a key performance driver. Yet sustainability is a complex concept in projects and there are many diverse stakeholders. Some stakeholders are generally recognized as important, i.e., the client and main contractor, yet there are others not always perceived as such and whose absence from the decision-making processes may result in a failure to address sustainability issues. Hence there is a need for a systematic approach to engage with stakeholders with high salience in relation to sustainability. This paper reports the results of an exploratory study involving interviews with construction project practitioners that are involved in sustainability in some way. Data were collected from the practitioners in terms of the processes for engaging with stakeholders to deliver sustainability. The data suggests six steps to a stakeholder engagement process: (i) identification; (ii) relating stakeholders to different sustainability-related targets; (iii) prioritization; (iv) managing; (v) measuring performance; and (vi) putting targets into action. The results suggest that understanding the different sustainability agendas of stakeholders and measuring their performance using key performance indicators are important stages to be emphasized in any stakeholder engagement process to achieve sustainability-related goals.

Spurring impactful research on information systems for environmental sustainability

Abstract: As the future of our ecosystem and society hangs in delicate balance, sustainability issues have come to the societal and governmental forefront. Organizations, governments, and cross-national bodies are turning their attention to the question of how we can make the world a better place. Sustainability is a complex term that can encompass environmental, economic, and societal issues. In essence, sustainability is conservation, deployment, and reuse of resources in responsible ways. From an organizational perspective, sustainability has been widely operationalized as endeavoring to achieve societal goals within commercial goals in such a way as to optimize social, environmental, and economic dimensions simultaneously—rather than these goals being treated as trade-offs (Porter and Kramer 2006).

Life cycle sustainability assessment in the context of sustainability science progress (part 2)

Abstract: Purpose In the context of progress of sustainability science, life cycle thinking and, in particular, life cycle sustainability assessment may play a crucial role. Environmental, economic and social implications of the whole supply chain of products, both goods and services, their use and waste management, i.e. their entire life cycle from “cradle to grave” have to be considered to achieve more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Progress toward sustainability requires enhancing the methodologies for integrated assessment and mainstreaming of life cycle thinking from product development to strategic policy support. Life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC) and social LCA (sLCA) already attempt to cover sustainability pillars, notwithstanding different levels of methodological development. An increasing concern on how to deal with the complexity of sustainability has promoted the development of life cycle sustainability frameworks. As a contribution to the ongoing scientific debate after the Rio+20 conference, this paper aims to present and discuss the state of the art of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), giving recommendations for its further development in line with ontological, epistemological and methodological aspects of sustainability science.

Interventions in practice: re-framing policy approaches to consumer behaviour

Abstract: This report introduces a novel approach to sustainability policy— a practice perspective. We argue that social practices are a better target of intervention for sustainability policy than ‘behaviour’, ‘choice’ or technical innovation alone. Understanding the dynamics of practices offers us a window into transitions towards sustainability. We consume resources as part of the practices that make up everyday life—showering, doing the laundry, cooking or driving—what we might call inconspicuous or ordinary consumption. While we may have degrees of choice in how we perform these practices, access to resources (economic, social, cultural), norms of social interaction, as well as infrastructures and institutional organisation constrain our autonomy. Practices are social phenomena—their performance entails the reproduction of cultural meanings, socially learnt skills and common tools, technologies and products. This shift of perspective places practices, not individuals or infrastructures, at the centre stage of analysis. Taking practices as the unit of analysis moves policy beyond false alternatives—beyond individual or social, behaviour or infrastructure. A practice perspective re-frames the question from “How do we change individuals’ behaviours to be more sustainable?” to “How do we shift everyday practices to be more sustainable?” After all, ‘behaviours’ are largely individuals’ performances of social practices.

Harnessing Innovation for Change: Sustainability and Poverty in Developing Countries

Abstract: To date, a well-developed business perspective on how to promote sustainability for those in poverty is sorely lacking. For sustainability enhancing innovations in developing countries, poverty presents unique challenges. In this paper, we argue that if sustainability enhancing innovations introduced in developing countries are to stick, they need to be designed with local customers, networks, and business ecosystems in mind. We illustrate this view using case examples from mobile telephony, fuel efficient stoves, clean drinking water, and household electrification. Our paper underscores the need for today's managers to understand poverty as an integral part of the sustainability nexus and the new international business equation.

Beyond the Bounded Instrumentality in Current Corporate Sustainability Research: Toward an Inclusive Notion of Profitability

Abstract: We argue that the majority of the current approaches in research on corporate sustainability are inconsistent with the notion of sustainable development. By defining the notion of instrumentality in the context of corporate sustainability through three conceptual principles we show that current approaches are rooted in a bounded notion of instrumentality which establishes a systematic a priori predominance of economic organizational outcomes over environmental and social aspects. We propose an inclusive notion of profitability that reflects the return on all forms of environmental, social, and economic capital used by a firm. This inclusive notion of corporate profitability helps to redefine corporate profitability as if sustainability matters in that it overcomes the bounded instrumentality that impairs current research on corporate sustainability. We apply this notion to different car manufacturers and develop conceptual implications for future research on corporate sustainability.

The Sustainability Curriculum: The Challenge for Higher Education

Abstract: Introduction * Sustainability and Higher Education * Sustainability and Lifelong Learning * An Analysis of the Development of Sustainability Education Internationally: Evolution, Interpretation and Transformative Potential * Citizenship and Community from Local to Global Citizenship Approach * Learning by Doing: Environmental Performance Improvement in UK Higher Education * Eco-design * Sustainability Development and Sustainable Development Education: An Eco-feminist Philosophical Perspective on the Importance of Gender * Sustainability and Education in the Built Environment * Sustainable Transport and Logistics: Vision or Reality? * Accounting Education for Sustainability * Towards a New Economics? Social Policy and Sustainable Development * Sustainable Development, Sociology and UK Higher Education * Politics and Sustainable Development * Geography * Sustainable and Philosophy * Conclusion: The Future - Is Sustainability Sustainable? * Index

Sustainability assessment of urban communities through rating systems

Abstract: This paper focuses on the sustainability assessment of urban communities through multi-criterion rating systems. Recent interpretations of the concepts of sustainability, assessment and community are discussed before reviewing existing assessment systems. In particular, the systems BREEAM for Communities, LEED for Neighbourhood Development and CASBEE for Urban Development are presented and compared. Each one of these systems bases the assessment on the summation of rates for different criteria often similar to those considered in sustainability assessments of buildings. The comparison shows that existing systems often accept a weak sustainability where natural resources may be subsidized by other priorities. Missing assessment criteria are proposed mainly within the social and economic dimensions of sustainability. This paper also shows that the dynamicity of a community suggests considering the sustainability assessment systems as tools to monitor the evolution of communities. Finally, it shows that an increase in citizen engagement in the selection of assessment criteria is necessary to share priorities and customize sustainability goals for each community.

Up, Down, round and round: Connecting Regimes and Practices in Innovation for Sustainability:

Abstract: The multilevel perspective and social practice theory have emerged as competing approaches for understanding the complexity of sociotechnical change. The relationship between these two diff erent camps has, on occasions, been antagonistic, but we argue that they are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, through empirical analysis of two diff erent case studies of sustainability innovation, we show that analyses that adopt only one of these theoretical lenses risk blindness to critical innovation dynamics. In particular, we identify various points of intersection between regimes and practices that can serve to prevent (or potentially facilitate) sustainability transitions. We conclude by suggesting some possible directions for further research that place these crossovers and intersections at the centre of analyses.

Critical Sustainability: Setting the Limits to Growth and Responsibility in Tourism

Abstract: The idea of sustainable development has been discussed in tourism research for almost a quarter of a century. During that time, sustainability has become an important policy framework for tourism and regional developers guiding their planning and development thinking. Sustainability has also emerged academically as an important field of research with an emphasis on defining the limits to growth and responsibilities in tourism. However, while there are urgent needs to incorporate sustainability into tourism, there is also a growing amount of frustration among scholars on the conceptual nature of sustainability and how tourism as a private-driven economic activity relates to the ideals of sustainable development. This has created an increasing need to understand and potentially reframe the concept. The purpose of this paper is to overview the conceptual dimensions of sustainable tourism and discuss some of the main sources of frustration. Based on this, it is concluded that while a conceptual plurality seems to be unavoidable, there is a need to re-frame i.e., rescale and decentralize tourism in policy frameworks and practices aiming towards sustainability.

Social sustainability of non-mega sport events in a global world

Abstract: This contribution offers a theoretical perspective on the social impacts of sport events. Most research in this area has focused on global mega sport events (MSEs). However, given the fact that the...

Voluntary standards, expert knowledge and the governance of sustainability networks

Abstract: Products certified according to their environmental and social sustainability are becoming an important feature of production, trade and consumption in the agro-food sector. 'Sustainability networks' are behind the emergence and growth of these new product forms, often evolving into multi-stakeholder initiatives that establish and manage base codes, standards, certifications and labels. As sustainability moves into the mainstream, understanding the governance of these networks is essential because they partly reshape the structure and characteristics of commodity flows. In this article, we examine the role of expert knowledge and process management in governing two multi-stakeholder initiatives (the Marine Stewardship Council and the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) and in shaping their distributional effects. We find that the ability of developing countries, especially small-scale actors within them, to shape standard setting and management to their advantage depends not only on overcoming important structural differences in endowments and access to resources, but also on more subtle games. These include promoting the enrolment of one expert group or kind of expert knowledge over another, using specific formats of negotiation, and legitimating particular modes of engagement over others. (Resume d'auteur)

Towards the ‘ubiquitous eco-city’: An analysis of the internationalisation of eco-city policy and practice

Abstract: The global mainstreaming of urban sustainability policy, since the early 2000s, points to a new phenomenon: the ‘ubiquitous eco-city’. Its key features – based on the analysis of a census of 178 initiatives – include: the significant, global proliferation of eco-city initiatives; increased international knowledge transfer activities involving both public and private actors; the centrality of ‘carbon discourse’ guiding concepts, policy and practice; the marrying of ‘green’ with ‘smart’ technological systems; and a focus on achieving environmental innovation through economic growth. Among the implications is the need to moderate the ‘ubiquitous eco-city’ paradigm with strong local contextualisation and social sustainability measures.