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Sustainability, sustainable supply chain management
322-328Views:868With the rapid development of the world economy, the growing scarcity of natural resources and the degradation caused by pollution, environmental protection has become a major concern for countries and regions of the world. Sustainability is a common subject in many parts of the world and the various research areas among policy makers, journalists, scientists, universities and social debate. It is generally accepted, that companies also play an important role in addressing the challenges of sustainable development. In this role, making a key challenge to balance often conflicting pressures caused by sustainable development, that is, the level of corporate economic performance against environmental deterioration and social disruption. Effective integration of sustainability principles into companies requires action beyond the borders of organizations. The issue of sustainability is becoming more and more prominent in corporate governance. One of the most important area of supply chain management is for companies to gain a competitive edge in the market. This has a significant impact on the natural environment, and there is a growing need to integrate environmental thinking in supply chain management and processes, which is why companies are increasingly focusing on sustainable development, taking on more CSR initiatives and achieving a greener supply chain. Sustainable and green supply chain management practices have been developed over the past decades, trying to integrate environmental considerations into organizations by reducing unwanted negative consequences for the environment of production and consumption processes. In this article, I have examined the issues of sustainability and sustainable supply chain management, mainly based on descriptive secondary literature.
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Proposition of Enhancing the Significance of Green Infrastructure in the Smart City Concept
1-22Views:240The aim of the paper is -in accordance with the goals of the research team called „ Sustainable Integrated Settlement And Regional Planning” within the project EFOP-3.6.1-16 – to compile a comprehensive expert material on smart city. In accordance with my personal assignments within the teamwork, I studied first of all how sustainable urban water management issues are managed in the corresponding smart city documents, how the smart city concept which is evidently one possible way of sustainable urban development involves the strategy of sustainable stormwater management along with the elements of green infrastructure which are the inevitable segment thereof. The basis of the study were Hungarian official methodological guides and one university textbook published so far in the topic. Contrarily to the expected results the two notions of smart city and sustainable urban water management are not harmonized despite their common overall goals. Therefore I make a few suggestions in order to harmonize to some extent the criteria and indicators developed for the two notions - smart city and sustainable urban water management including green infrastructure - promoting sustainable cities. The overall goal is to ensure that green infrastructure is not neglected while smart cities are realized.
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Urban Transportation Problems and Issues in Homs-Syria: Analytical Study of the Current Condition and Proposing Future Solutions
30-42Views:340Cities in the north middle east are known for their past and old valuable heritage, with a complex master plan of each one. Homs city is Syria is one of them, it has a history dates back to 2000B.C. with a unique formation of the city. However, the urban area of Homs has a very distinctive characteristics, but unfortunately it suffers from the transportation system operated. The congested and unorganized planning process have led the city to a complete mess and disorders, for all categories of its inhabitants. This study analysis the components of the transportation system, and identifies the greatest issues and problems the inhabitants suffer from, by locating the driving forces and the causes of these issues, and generally asses the quality of the system itself. Therefore, a holistic approach is proposed to improve the transportation system, and suggests some key plans to shift the city to a higher level of development. By locating the strength points, and detect the benefits of these strength points and exploit them. By evaluating the road network and create a new system that mitigates the negative environmental impacts (emissions, noise…) and reduce the crowded gathering of inhabitants, which caused a severe stress in their daily life. Overall, an attempt of implementing a new transportation system to contribute in the development process, and opens the possibility to develop other systems of the city in a sustainable framework.
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Environmental Index and Environmental City Resilience Index calculation for Four Settlements in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County and Four in Győr-Moson-Sopron County
17-29Views:121Globalization and urbanization pose a number of challenges for different settlements. Stakeholders seek to cure global problems through sustainable projects. Since the Brundtland Commission's definition of sustainable development in 1987, the approach to sustainability has permeated all dimensions of the economy, including the environmental dimension. In Hungary, IBM conducted a study (Lados - Horváthné Barsi, 2011), in which the search for green, sustainable solutions defined in the definition of a livable city plays a key role. The characteristics of sustainable cities, that they are resilient to disasters, return to equilibrium after a shock has occurred (Seeliger, Turok, 2013). Resilience can also be mentioned as one of the pillars of sustainability. In a UN-Habitat statement, resilience refers to the ability of any urban system to withstand and recover from multiple shocks and to maintain the continuity of its services (OECD, 2018). In my study, I would like to present the results of the environmental index and the Environmental Urban Resilience Index (EURI) of the four largest cities selected on the basis of the population in the easternmost and westernmost counties of the country.
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Sustainability Goals - Can we Reduce Malnutrition?
268-276Views:293Nowadays, some parts of the world hunger still exists. One of the milestones of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is eradicating hunger. These goals include a road map for progress and documenting specific steps to combat hunger. Another type of hunger that has been very common in these days is hidden hunger. Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is still an illusion. The number of people living in extreme poverty and malnutrition has fallen slightly in recent years. Measuring hunger is a very complex issue. The Global Hunger Index is a tool to comprehensively measure and monitor hunger at global, regional and national levels. Despite noticeable improvements, the question remains: will the world achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the eradication of hunger, by 2030? Despite these efforts, even in economically developed countries, hunger or food insecurity still exist.
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Food Security and Economic Growth: An Income Level Comparison
16-29Views:192Food security is a fundamental but often neglected aspect of economic growth and sustainable development. This paper examines the effect of food security on productivity (GDP/capita) over time, while taking the income level of various countries into account. Dynamic panel regression analyses suggest that food security is positively related to productivity, but this effect is stronger in more developed countries. The study highlights the complexity of the economic problems faced by the least developed countries, where increasing the consumption and supply of food is insufficient for significantly increasing economic performance.
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Inbound and Outbound Tourism in China: A Perspective Article
91-107Views:478The tourism industry in China has undergone significant changes due to globalization, technology, and changing consumer preferences. This perspective article, based on a systematic literature review, examines examines trends, challenges, and opportunities in inbound and outbound tourism in China, focusing on the industry's dynamism. Both inbound and outbound tourism have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prompted new strategies and environmental adaptations. China has changed its priorities within the country to encourage domestic travel and support local firms. The rise in internationalisation and the growing middle class in China have led to an unprecedented rise in outbound travel. Chinese travellers are affecting travel habits and spending all around the world in the tourism sector. Language barriers, cultural differences, and safety concerns are some of the challenges that come with travelling abroad. To reach its full potential, China needs to adapt to the shifting global environment and take into account the specifications and preferences of both inbound and outgoing tourists.
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Examination of the Relationship between Renewable Energy and Economic Performance
234-243Views:206Many countries are making considerable efforts to achieve solutions to environmental problems that we face today and developing renewable energy resources is one of the potential long-term solutions that constitute an absolute priority from a sustainable development perspective. The usage of renewable energy is one of the critical future challenges to reduce greenhouse gas emission and decrease energy dependency at the same time. Thus, replacing traditional energy sources with renewable ones, like Hydropower and wind power to produce electricity instead of fossil fuel. The objective of this study is to find a relationship between renewable energy consumption, macroeconomic factors, and the environment. There is a reliable and significant (at 1% significant level) association between REC with GHG and GDP and a relatively strong association with EC.
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Analysis of the Policy Background of Transport Related Use of Renewable Energy
124-129Views:111The EU energy policy prioritizes the following principles: sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply and addresses the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as a priority. The related EU policy (including the White Paper on Transport) outlines these principles, identifies goals and opportunities for action. At company level methodological guidelines and standard procedures can be used to assess the carbon footprint of the organization, to generate efficiency goals and to prepare action plans. In the Hungarian policy framework, a comprehensive National Sustainable Development Framework Strategy defines the basic principles for the analysis of the sectorspecific or regional strategies. Sustainable Energy Action and Climate Plans (SECAPs) integrate energy and climate issues and include interventions and improvements for the better use of renewable energy sources in transport at municipal level. As a summary it can be stated that exploration of the policy background would needed to influence the use of renewable energy sources for transport and definition of the development goals can help economic organizations to transform their mobility patterns and reduce related carbon footprint.
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Can the local government in Hungary be the appropriate local level framework for environmental sustainability?
32-45Views:129During the search for the framework for environmental (respectively social and economic) sustainability, the importance of local action / decision-making has been formulated several times. At the same time, the capability of local government structures is questioned from several aspects. Local governments today are not necessarily a proper legal-administrative framework for sustainable development, for example because the population of a sustainable local community (conceptually) and of a larger settlement (by size) does not coincide. However, the (partly networked) environmental policy system of the municipalities transcends the administrative area of the settlement, where appropriate, a larger area (agglomeration, city areas, etc.), connecting several actors and activities. The paper seeks to clarify this issue in two rather different but interrelating ways. The first approach is geographically rooted and examines the local government system and the spatial structure of the Hungarian state through environmental economics and environmental policy. The second question is about structural links, namely the problems of local governments potential for infrastructure development and the structure of the local economy. The paper concludes that municipal functions - administration, ownership, public service organization - are all concerned with environmental protection. Considering that many of the processes that are relevant to sustainability are taking place in settlements, so serious changes are needed at this level as well. In this context, cooperation between local and central government levels and the active involvement of (local) society can not be dispensed with, but the current mechanisms are hindering progress.
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Operational Feasibility Assessment of Geothermal Heat Harnessing Systems
46-53Views:170Renewable energy sources are now essential to establish sustainable development. This paper examines one kind of source the geothermal energy. For geothermal energy when combined with a heat pump COP can be used for evaluation. For solely geothermal sources different approach is needed thus in the paper, a new geothermal heat production coefficient is used to examine the operational feasibility. For the assessment, many hypothetical buildings were created to model their heat demands. Two types of calculation methods are used for heat demand calculation. Based on the results, the maximum depth of a geothermal borehole and economically critical qualitative coefficient was concluded.
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Indicators of environmental performance evaluation – theory and corporate case study
224-231Views:703In the last decades there was a change in the field of corporate performance evaluation. Performance management systems, indicator-based systems and new, intellectual capital-based evaluation systems have appeared. Finally new, wide range of corporate evaluating methods was born in theory and in practice too. It is also important to mention, that in a life of organizations there is an improvement in the activity in connection with sustainable development, and also in the usage of methods connecting to sustainable development. Therefore the evaluation in the dimensions of sustainability – in a case of environmental performance evaluation, or evaluation of corporate social responsibility – became more and more emphasised. We concentrate on the theory and practice of environmental performance evaluation. Summarize – based on definitions – the concept of environmental performance evaluation. We concentrate on peculiarities of environmental performance indicators – based on international standards and literature review; and also mention the characteristics of indicator systems. Based on theory, the practice is also important. Therefore we present a case study of a multinational company.
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Opportunities in circular agriculture
17-23Views:249Water is the source of life. For the long-term preservation of water resources it is very important to develop sewerage and sewage treatment. Sewage sludge is not primarily a waste that needs to be disposed of but also a secondary raw material or a renewable energy source. Municipal sewage sludge, and sewage sludge composts, contain relatively large quantities of organic matter, so agricultural utilization can be a major potential of its use. The transition to sustainable agriculture is becoming more urgent and increasingly important as it can provide a solution that looks to the future. Sustainable agriculture should work according to natural law, so it should be self-sustaining, that means, cycles, where in to one process the waste created can be used as raw material in the other process. The beneficial effects of sludge on soil include increasing soil organic matter content, increasing soil fertility, nutritional capacity, microbiological activity, and complex fertilizing effects. However, when is applicated, there is always a problem with the occurrence and accumulation of toxic elements and drug residues. The traditional model of economic activity is the linear model. This model ignores the high economic social, and environmental costs of exploiting, transforming and removing of the resources therefore it is not sustainable in the long term. The circular economy offers an alternative model in which the products materials and resources are maintaned as long as possible and the amount of waste is significantly reduced or lost. It is also possible adapt the overtuned ecological, biological balance of agricultural production systems, with a closed loop circular model. According to this model, the development of tillage technologies and the restoration of organic materials and nutrient supply are possible.
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The Relationship Between Renewable Energy Consumption, Net Energy Import, Greenhouse Gas Emission and Human Cap
58-71Views:169The measures to improve energy efficiency and increase of renewable energy production and consumption should be encouraged in the interest of sustainable development. Many factors can influence the use of renewable energy such as the level of economic development of an economy, nationals’ and the main economic actors’ environmental awareness, energy import dependency, ratio of the urban population, and government subsidization intensity among the others. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the share of renewable energy in the total energy consumption and net energy import as a percentage of energy use less production, greenhouse gas emission per capita and human capital using by OECD countries data from 1990 to 2014. The results indicate that there is a negative relationship between net energy import and renewable energy consumption, and also negative relationship can be shown between the amount of greenhouse gas emission per capita and renewable energy consumption. However, we identified a positive relationship between human capital and renewable energy consumption for energy importer countries above a certain level of human capital.
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The Role of Industry 4.0 and Digitalization in agriculture, Especially in Romanian Agriculture
Views:419The use of robotics, automation, big data, artificial intelligence are growing in the world and in the agricultural sector, which contribute to the development of a more efficient agricultural sector. In the agriculture sector for sustainable development it is necessary the use of opportunities and technologies provided by industry 4.0. For the agriculture sector digitalization means the future, because it helps increasing output meanwhile environmental pressure is remitting, and is not increasing. The aim of these paper is to present the concept of Industry 4.0 in agriculture and to analyse the romanian agricultural sector attitude and conditions towards digitalization.
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Testing Methods of Green Supply Chain, in Particular Supplier’s Selection an Evaluation Tools
240-254Views:407Today, more and more articles have emerged in the field of sustainability and sustainable development. Sustainability plays an important role in supply chain management too. Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) has emerged as a key approach for enterprises seeking to make their businesses environmentally sustainable. The notion of GSCM implies the insertion of environmental criteria within the decision-making context of the traditional supply chain management. Enterprises are increasingly expected to extend their sustainability efforts beyond their own operations to their suppliers and customers to their sustainability expectations. Literature of green supplier evaluation and selection methods number is large, though the number of environmental factors are relatively limited. Recently in supply chain management decision making, approaches for evaluating green supplier performance have used both qualitative and quantitative environmental data. Given this evolving research area, the purpose of this article is to analyse research conducted in international scientific journals focusing on the selection and evaluation of a green supplier. The purpose of this article will answered two questions: Which selection methods are commonly used? What environmental and other selection criteria for green supplier management are popular?
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The Logistics Conception of the Value Chain of Wood
139-154Views:227The importance of the forest management and timber producing is highly determined by the value chain of timber. The forest management and timber producing can basically contribute to achieve the goals of the sustainable development as producing and processing the wood as a raw material. The relationship of the multifunctional forestry management as producing different scale of products and services results that changing a member of the chain might cause the total net alternation of the forestry system’s added value. The added value of the special areas of the appropriate and sustainable forest management is the infrastructural, recreational and touristic services.
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The Factors of Digitality and Sustainable Competitiveness in the Domestic Context
217-226Views:184The recovery of international relations and the development of technology are in correlation with the increasing globalization tendencies. These processes increase the interdependence of countries, but also the competition between them. The factors of competition are constantly changing and being revalued. As a result new elements appear in addition to the traditional elements, and there are assimetries between existing components. The economic performance of a country increasingly depends on the knowledge and technology, its economic success on the use of knowledge. The purpose of the study is to present and analyze the proxies that define and shape the role of Hungary by IMD Competitiveness Research Center and by the complex indicators developed by Korea-based SolAbility. It also draws attention to all the factors that will significantly effect our country's economy in the future.
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Issues of Regional Social Innovation
602-616Views:276Social innovation is not determined as a uniform definition, after a literature review can be defined as follows: social innovation is an innovative and new way of improving community well-being [2]. Social innovation can be defined and measured at micro-, mezo- and macro level similar to technical and economic innovation and plays a key role in the competitiveness. Because of imbalances arising from different levels of economic development, catching-up demand of peripheral settlements have appeared. In addition to the so-called technical innovations, the solution of social problems can be achieved by social tools, methods and new organizations. In catching-up process the local, community level construed innovative ideas and the activities of social innovation play a significant role. The expansion of the innovative areas results in different innovation processes and they can be considered as complementary processes. The social and technical innovation are closely interacting. If there is achange in the economic sphere, social change can occur. This study examines the role of local communities in social innovation at regional level and summarizes the clarifying questions of implementation. Social innovation as a new tool is able to answer daily challenges. The innovative solutions of municipalities, which means new collaborations, result sustainable, flexible and open leadership at regional level. This study will examine the role of governments (or their institutions) in the implementation and generating of social innovation, the tasks of regional innovators and social solutions and models of certain municipalities in Hungary and the European Union.
