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Copyright of University of Sharjah Journal for Humanities & Social Sciences is the property of University of Sharjah - Scientific Publishing Unit and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Continuous monitoring and diagnostics of key security indicators and all its components are of particular importance to ensure a high level of security development of countries/integration associations. Modern international rankings form the analytical basis for assessing the components of the security sector, allow for comparative analysis and identify the respective leadership positions of countries. The results of the monitoring contribute to an objective assessment and management of economic security risks at the relevant levels: regional (regional security complex), national (security of individual countries), micro-level, etc. Diagnosing the asymmetry of the EU countries' development will help to identify joint coordinated actions in specific areas and security components to improve the common European position in the global environment. Economic growth and sustainable development of the EU, strengthening the competitiveness of both European countries and the EU will contribute to the security development of all member states of the integration association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Marketing & Management of Innovations / Marketing ì Menedžment Ìnnovacìj is the property of Sumy State University, Department of Marketing & Management of Innovative Activity and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A sustainable municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system is recognized by Agenda 21 as an opportunity for cities for creating decent jobs, raising incentives for responsible consumption, and protecting the natural environment. However, according to our experience for many stakeholders and decision-makers in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the principles for sustainability defined by the Bruntland Commission are far too abstract. They are not readily applicable to establish a sustainable MSWM system. Even though Brazilian cities are strongly being influenced by concepts developed in high-income countries to search for strategic policies and long-term action plans for MSWM, many decisions-makers have not paid much attention to an overall sustainability approach so far. Against this backdrop, the present paper introduces the municipal solid waste diagram (MSWD) as a comprehensive framework for assessing the current state of a MSWM system against a future sustainable one. The normative foundation of MSWD is the Integrative Concept of Sustainability (ICoS), which contrasts the conventional approach of sustainability which typically characterizes a sustainable future along the three dimensions of economy, environment and society. ICoS points out crucial documents for sustainable development (e.g., Brundtland report and Agenda 21), and moreover, it does not neglect the potential of the capability approach. By this, the dynamic interrelationship between the abovementioned dimensions is taken into account. Another characteristic of the MSWD is the strong involvement of stakeholders, experts, and decision-makers during the construction and application of that instrument. Their central task was to certify the relevance, compatibility, flexibility of the chosen nine assessment criteria and the related 18 indicators on the ground of the ICoS. Any other study is known which looks for the dynamics of MSWM. The proposed approach helps to identify the constitute elements of MSWM clearly and to match to goals of sustainability without distinguishing and prioritizing any dimensionality. This approach clarifies the scientific background for sustainable development in the process of decision making regarding MSWM which is not done by conventional sustainability assessment methodologies. By the participation of the most relevant stakeholders of Belo Horizonte, the municipal solid waste diagram is verified. Belo Horizonte has currently obtained a level of development of about one third towards the goals of sustainability. The city had the best performance on securing human existence, in which the individual protection takes currently a high priority. The presented MSWD and thus the findings are specific to Belo Horizonte, but not the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's uncertain climate, competitiveness and sustainable development have become milestones of both advanced and emerging countries. Since competitiveness and sustainable development are interconnected, an extensive vision of competitiveness should be available for both the economy and the society. The definition, measurement and analysis of both concepts taken into consideration, competitiveness and sustainable development, is thus an important issue for policy-makers. Thus, the goal of this paper is to research the interconnection between the competitiveness and sustainable development factors for two emerging countries, Romania and Bulgaria, based on the existing literature and the most recent studies in this area. Using extensive data over a period of 10 years, this study explores and tests the sign of the relationship between national competitiveness and sustainable development indicators for the cases of Romania and Bulgaria. The dataset includes the Global Competitiveness Index values and the sustainable development indicators for both countries and covers the period of 2004 - 2013. Our findings are the basis of developing new models describing the relationships between competitiveness, economic growth and sustainability, justified by the need of sustainable economy's development to increase the national competitiveness, in order to attract financial resources necessary for financing the growth of the economy and economic entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability Window (SuWi) analysis is a novel tool to analyze the minimum economic development to fulfill the requirements for social sustainability and the maximum economic development not to surpass the environmental limits. The method provides quantitative measures to define whether the real development of GDP is within the sustainability limits using different indicators for measuring social welfare and environmental stress. The SuWi results can be used to form a visualization of the sustainability doughnut to illustrate the critical areas of development where policy intervention may be needed to reach sustainability. The doughnut economy visualization is constructed for Cuban development for the analysis of both strong and weak sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides an analysis of Cambodian socio‐economic and environmental development. The analysis applies the Sustainable Society Index—database and uses Sustainability Window analyses linked to the green growth strategy in Cambodia. The novel analyses provide criteria for weak and strong sustainability and are further developed to evaluate the green growth productivity gap. We have carried out empirical analyses using indicators of the different dimensions of sustainability—economic, social, and environmental. The Sustainability Window defines the minimum economic development for social sustainability and the maximum economic development for environmental criterion for sustainability. This study demonstrates methodological usefulness of the Sustainability Window analysis in the fields of development studies and green growth. The methodological novelty of this study is to use Sustainability Window approach and to provide a novel empirical testbed for strong and weak sustainability analyses as well as for the analysis of the green growth resource use productivity gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study presents a multidimensional analysis of land-use efficiency in terms of per-capita built-up area over 417 metropolitan regions from 27 European countries. The study period encompasses two urban phases including economic expansion (2000-2007) and crisis (2008-2015). Multiple geographical gradients were identified as relevant predictors of land-use efficiency across Europe. The socioeconomic variables most associated with high land-use efficiency were per-capita disposable income (in Western, Atlantic and Central Europe) and income growth during 2000-2007 (in Eastern Europe), indicating that wealthier cities are characterized by higher land-use efficiency. Land-use efficiency increased in contexts with diversified urban landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The post-2015 developmental agenda and the SDGs have been formulated to advance holistic global progress and enable the adoption of quantitative targets for all countries by recognizing their respective national realities and capacities. This research examines how global ambitions can guide national policy formulation by selecting the Italian Republic and the People's Republic of Bangladesh as models for analysis and comparison. On the basis of two issues that dominate the current political agenda in both countries, sustaining economic growth (Goal 8) and addressing cross-border migration (Goal 10), quantitative targets were determined via an indicator based framework on the backdrop of historical data and relative performance of their global economic association membership (i.e. OECD for Italy, BRICS for Bangladesh). The results indicated that, interconnectedness of both goals allows the creation of synergistic effects which in turn allows simultaneous fulfilment of both goals through spill over effects. Lastly, by considering the current political agenda, high-priority reforms being debated, new legislations that are underway, we depict a temporal transition pathway for both countries to realize our identified targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous and mass tourism development resulted in the need of putting this activity under sustainable development, in order to provide adequate usage of tourist potentials for meeting the current and future travel needs. Sustainable tourism is a form of tourism that contributes economic development of local communities with taking care of permanent environment protection. The subject of this research is tourism on the territory of the City of Užice, analyzed through the application of EU five group comparative indicators, in order to determine the current position of sustainability. The research also covered the following tourist places: Mokra Gora and Užice in Southwestern Serbia. Method of analysis and synthesis, mathematical-statistical method and comparative method were used. The collected data were analyzed by using the method of descriptive statistics. The research results show unequal tourism development in the City of Užice, precisely to the fact that tourism sustainability in tourist places (Mokra Gora and Užice) is different compared to the destination itself. Beside the contribution to the theory of sustainable tourism development, the results can also have a practical application within Užice tourist organizations, which may have a significant impact on destination sustainability in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The goal of the energy transition in Germany is to achieve a sustainable supply of energy. Providing advice for decision-makers to either continue the current transition pathway or implement strategic adjustments requires a comprehensive assessment tool. The authors have developed a Sustainability Indicator System (SIS) consisting of 45 indicators to assess if policy measures implemented so far by the Federal Government are appropriate and sufficient to achieve the energy policy targets and, furthermore, the sustainability targets defined for the German energy system.Methods: The assessment is carried out applying the SIS. For each indicator, a linear projection was calculated, based on the past 5 years for which data were available, assuming that this trend will continue in a linear way until 2020. Then, the projected value for 2020 resulting from the trend was compared to the political or defined target for 2020. The assessment was based on distance-to-target considerations, i.e. to which degree the set, proposed or desirable target will be met within the framework of the existing energy policy. The results are illustrated using a traffic light colour code. Indicators with less than 5 years of data available were given a white traffic light since no assessment was possible.Results: A profound view on eight selected sustainability indicators that are not already part of the German monitoring process ‘Energy of the Future’ and a comprehensive overview on the sustainability assessment of the German energy system are presented. The results show that 24% of the assessed indicators are rated with a green, 7% with a yellow, 45% with a red and 24% with a white traffic light. This means that it cannot be expected that the sustainability targets defined for the German energy system will be achieved by 2020 without substantial modifications of political strategies and measures implemented so far.Conclusions: The developed SIS is a comprehensive decision support and navigation tool with respect to long-term governance of the German energy transition. It aims to assess and monitor the overall sustainability performance of the energy system, to identify unsustainable energy strategies and measures as well as trade-offs and to evaluate the achievements or failures of policies regarding the energy transition. It can also be adapted to assess the sustainability of the energy systems in other European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]