Digital identity for development should keep pace with national cybersecurity capacity: Nigeria in focus

The ‘Sustainable Public Health Index’: What if public health and sustainable development are compatible?

PurposeThis paper introduces a special section devoted to accounting scholarship that addresses the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has three purposes. First, to explore the puzzle of a relative absence of accounting-related scholarship that addresses the SDGs. Second, the papers within the special section are introduced and located within streams of existing research and practice. Third, the paper then suggests framings, approaches and/or conditions under which the authors might see more accounting scholarship in support of advancing the SDGs.Design/methodology/approachA structured review of publication patterns in accounting journals over the last five years is undertaken to explore the nature and extent of SDGs-related accounting research. These patterns and foundational accounting literature are used to shape a series of observations and propositions underlying the line of argument developed in the paper.FindingsDespite the SDGs' prominence in the policy world, and the widespread embrace of their utility for shaping understandings of organizational responsibilities, accounting scholars have been slow to engage in SDGs-motivated research. This gap creates two issues. First, accounting scholarship is less available to the web of knowledge that is being developed about how to enact the ambitions of the SDGs. Second, accounting scholarship is not developing in a way that incorporates SDGs-related challenges facing organizations. This paper suggests ways in which accounting scholarship can overcome these limitations.Originality/valueAccounting research on the SDGs is in an early stage of development, despite almost five years having elapsed since their formal adoption. This paper highlights avenues for accounting scholars' engagement with the SDGs’ agenda.

Nowadays, environmental issues deserve everyone's attention. People can actually improve their surrounding environment to be healthier and more comfortable, started with their own houses. This idea realizes an ecology village named 'Batu Into Green', located in Pattimura V, Temas, in the City of Batu, Indonesia. Originally, this village was a slum, but with the initiation of the local village head and with the increase of local public awareness for a healthier environment, the locals improved the ecology of their village. 'Batu Into Green' applies to the concept of environmental friendly village. Thus, an analysis was carried out to examine the level of sustainability of this ecology village. This research applied a qualitative approach to descriptively evaluate the current condition of the village based on the principles of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The focus of the SDGs in this discussion is Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDGs No.11). From the analyses, the 'Batu Into Green' initiative has a great potential for economic, social, and cultural sustainability

The European Union (EU) is committed to tackling the issue of climate change, which poses serious risks to the global environment and human well-being. Supporting renewable energy is a key policy direction for the EU to lower its contributions to climate change. However, renewable energy technologies have diverse effects on the environment and on society. These effects can be considered a complex system of interacting elements and are challenging to assess. Conceptual models are a way of synthesizing this information to obtain an overview of the system and essential insights. We present the results of an activity to assess the impacts of EU renewable energy policies on overseas biodiversity and the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This was carried out as part of the EKLIPSE (EKLIPSE (Establishing a European Knowledge and Learning Mechanism to Improve the Policy-Science-Society Interface on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) mechanism to synthesise environmental knowledge in response to specific requests by decision-makers at the European level. We carried out a participatory process to collate expert knowledge into a conceptual model using a Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping Approach (Özesmi and Özesmi 2004), with the Mental Modeler software for mapping (Gray et al. 2013). The participants were guided to connect significant EU policies associated with renewable energy, the technologies they support, and known impacts of these technologies on biodiversity and the SDGs, drawing on a preliminary review of the literature. The individual models obtained were integrated into a single model (see Suppl. material 1 for images). This was then subject to network analysis, which reveals the collective effects of different renewable energy technologies (RETs) on the wider socioecological system. Our findings highlight that RETs have complex and at times disparate effects on biodiversity and the SDGs, acting through a variety of mediating processes. They benefit the SDGs on balance, particularly climate-related SDGs. Mitigation of biodiversity impacts remains a concern, and processes such as habitat change were found to be influential here. Our results suggest that policymakers must focus on implementing appropriate environmental impact assessments, guided by these mediating processes. This would minimize any negative environmental impacts of RETs, while maximizing the benefits.

Background: The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are parts of an ambitious framework for global development, the 2030 Agenda. Voluntary national reviews (VNRs) are described as "cornerstones" in the followup system, which is premised on international sharing of knowledge and experience. Norway and Sweden are among the world’s most sustainable countries, aiming to be leaders in the implementation of the SDGs. The objective of this article is to investigate and compare how health is framed in the VNRs of these two high-income countries, and to discuss the implications of these framings for potential actions. Methods: Discourse analysis inspired by the concept of ‘framing,’ which refers to the discursive presentation of an issue where certain problem definitions and solutions are privileged over others. Frames are structures that organise and direct attention to particular aspects of reality, and define what is seen.Results: Our analysis demonstrates that in the Norwegian VNR (NVNR), the issue of health is simplistically framed, focusing on the favourable situation of the majority, thus providing weak grounds for transformative action. In the Swedish VNR (SVNR), health is framed to highlight health as inextricably tied to societal inequalities. This underscores the need for integrated political action and leadership to counteract structural differences with negative consequences for health.Conclusion: Analysis of the two VNRs studied found a difference in how health is framed in these documents and these frames point to differences in approach and capacity to address health inequities and realise the holistic and integrative concept of health promoted in the 2030 Agenda. To realize the Agenda’s vision of "leaving no one behind" discourses of implementation that support the Agenda’s inclusive and holistic ambition must be developed. Further development of the follow-up and review system should acknowledge and address how frames can limit or enable integrative actions and are therefore important drivers of change.

This paper aims to describe nurses' worldwide contributions to the health dimensions of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. Valuable lesson learned from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Liberia are detailed to enhance the current COVID-19 mitigation strategy. An overview of EVD and the economic and political environment in Liberia are derived, followed by illustration of the eventually effective approach to EVD mitigation.

Meeting the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals efficiently requires designers and engineers to solve multi-objective optimization problems involving trade-offs between social, environmental, and economical impacts. This paper presents an approach for designers and engineers to quantify the social and environmental impacts of a product at a population level and then perform a trade-off analysis between those impacts. In this approach, designers and engineers define the attributes of the product as well as the materials and processes used in the product’s life cycle. Agent-based modeling (ABM) tools that have been developed to model the social impacts of products are combined with life cycle assessment (LCA) tools that have been developed to evaluate the pressures that different processes create on the environment. Designers and engineers then evaluate the trade-offs between impacts by finding non-dominated solutions that minimize environmental impacts while maximizing positive and/or minimizing negative social impacts. Product adoption models generated by ABM allow designers and engineers to approximate population level environmental impacts and avoid Simpson’s paradox, where a reversal in choices is preferred when looking at the population level impacts versus the individual product-level impacts. This analysis of impacts has the potential to help designers and engineers create more impactful products that aid in reaching the UN sustainable development goals.

Despite extensive research on business contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental sustainability, the conceptualization, operationalization and empirical evaluation of these constructs remain challenging. This study aims to develop a cross-SDG measurement instrument for corporate environmental sustainability evaluation which is conceptually based on the United Nations (UN) SDGs implementation at the organizational level with a focus on the environmental dimension. By adopting a stakeholder-oriented approach, the instrument is designed to assess employee perceptions of the environmental sustainability in the organization. The measurement instrument is validated on five independent samples consisting of 348 responses in total, with 199 responses from manufacturing and 149 from service organizations. By employing data reduction techniques and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) as a two-step measurement evaluation process, the paper performs robust measurement validity testing. Combining exploratory and confirmatory procedures the study validates a perceived corporate environmental sustainability measurement as a rigorous, multidimensional instrument adapted for manufacturing and service organizations. Thus, it contributes to the scholarship by providing an instrument for management and sustainability scholars to assess UN SDG implementation in organizations from the environmental sustainability perspective. This study has important practical implications by providing organizations the measurement instrument to benchmark and strategically improve their environmental positioning based on the perceptions of their employees as internal stakeholders.

PurposeWe investigate the integration of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)– based reporting thus exploring the factors that influence the adoption of the SDGs by organizations.Design/methodology/approachWe analyzed the GRI dataset provided by the GRI data secretariat. We analyzed 14,308 reports provided by 9,397 organizations between 2016 and 2017.FindingsLarger organizations are more likely to integrate the SDGs into their reporting than smaller organizations. Secondly, publicly listed firms are more likely to address the SDGs. Thirdly, industries with higher sustainability impacts are more likely to address the SDGs in their reporting. Fourthly, our data confirm a regional effect with regard to SDG reporting. Moreover, organizations that follow international sustainability guidelines and standards such as becoming a member of the GRI Gold Community or using the GRI Content Index services and having external assurance are more likely to report on the SDGs.Research limitations/implicationsCorporations play an essential role in the achievement of the SDGs, which shape the future of the world's sustainable development. Nevertheless, SDGs reporting needs more research to analyze the factors that can influence it. The study contributed to the academic literature on CSR and legitimacy theory by analyzing institutional and regional factors that impact SDGs reporting.Practical implicationsThe study provides insights about the integration of the SDGs into organizational reporting and accounting, including the adoption of the SDGs by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the benefits of the SDGs as a framework for strategic corporate sustainability.Social implicationsA global sustainability framework, such as the SDGs can be integrated into organizations sustainability reporting and accounting in a meaningful way.Originality/valueThis is the first study that analyzes the integration of the SDGs into GRI-based reporting. The study contributes to legitimacy theory by highlighting the factors, which contribute to the legitimacy-based adoption of the SDGs, including organizational size, being publicly listed, being from high-impact industries and certain global regions, etc. SDG reporting can help firms increase their organizational legitimacy across their stakeholders.

The World Health Organization recognizes that physical activity (PA) during childhood is crucial for healthy development, aligning well with the achievement of several United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study aimed to explore the associations between 10 key indicators of PA for children and adolescents assessed in the Global Matrix 4.0 project, and the UN SDGs. Data from 57 countries/jurisdictions of the Global Matrix 4.0 project were used. The UN SDG indicators were sourced from the SDG Transformation Center, which publishes each country's performance on each of the 17 SDGs. Given the robust evidence supporting plausible links between PA and SDGs 3 (good health and well-being), 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 13 (climate action), and 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), these SDGs were investigated. Countries/jurisdictions with good and moderate performance in achieving SDG 3, SDG 9, SDG 11, and SDG 16 had higher grades than countries/jurisdictions with fair performance in achieving these SDGs for the following indicators: Organized Sports and PA, Community and Environment, and Government Investments and Strategies. However, countries/jurisdictions with good performance in achieving SDG 13 had lower grades than countries/jurisdictions with fair performance in achieving SDG 13 for the following indicators: Organized Sports and PA, Community and Environment, and Government Investments and Strategies. Organized Sports and PA, Community and Environment, and Government Investments and Strategies were the indicators that demonstrated differences between countries/jurisdictions with good and poor performance in achieving the SDGs.

Advancing Sustainable Development Goals with localised nature-based solutions: Opportunity spaces in the Lahn river landscape, Germany

In 2015, at the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Summit held in New York, "Agenda 2030: UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" were adopted as 17 goals and 169 targets. The development plans in our country emphasize the importance of agricultural communication for achieving the agricultural-related targets of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and set out policies and measures related to agriculture in this context. One of the items outlined under the policies and measures related to agricultural communication is the goal of increasing educational and extension activities in the field of agriculture, including the effective use of information and communication technologies, including social media. The main purpose of this research is to outline a general framework concerning the concept of agricultural communication aimed at internal and external target audiences in the field of agriculture, which is one of the important subheadings of sustainable development, and to emphasize the importance of this concept. Another purpose of the research is to determine which of the sustainable development goals are utilized and to what extent in the videos directly related to agriculture, published on the official YouTube accounts of the “Republic of Turkey Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry” and the “Republic of Turkey Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change”, which are the sample of the study. In this study, which employs a qualitative research design, the official YouTube accounts of the ministries within the sample were examined using the descriptive analysis method.

Human habitat, human society and science today stands in the midst of a deep crevice of scientific ingenuity and deep scientific regeneration. Medical science and the science of psychiatry in the similar vein stands tall and affirmative as man and mankind traverses the weary path of United Nations and World Sustainable Development Goals. The science of psychology and psychiatry needs to be truly re- envisioned and revamped with the passage of global engineering history and time. The author is suffering from schizophrenia since November,1993. From October, 2012 he was diagnosed with glaucoma in his right eye. The author in this article deeply elucidates with scientific profundity and insight the course of his years of illness and slow recovery. Today he is beset with one health issue over another. Provision of advanced healthcare is one of the pillars of World Sustainable Development Goals. A deep introspection and a comprehensive review on the science of schizophrenia are the utmost needs of the hour. The author deeply reviews the veritable needs and necessities of advanced healthcare in the diagnosis of the treatment of schizophrenia. Surely and remarkably a newer epoch in the field of neuropsychiatry will emerge if scientists, researchers and policy makers across the globe takes concerted efforts in dealing with the proper application of United Nations and World Sustainable Development Goals. Advanced healthcare is the need of the hour. The author deeply stresses the needs of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the futuristic pathway of science and technology.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of a regional capacity-building project between Thailand and Laos that supports the United Nation's sustainable development goal 3 through midwifery education. Discussion paper based on an exemplar. The International Confederation of Midwifery's standards of midwifery education and World Health Organization midwifery educator core competencies provided the framework for capacity-building of Lao midwifery educators. Knowledge gained from this 2-year project (October 2015-November 2017) increased the teaching confidence of midwifery educators while linking international standards and competencies to curriculum revision. In addition, capacity-building projects based on a needs assessment and implementation from regional partners may result in policy changes at the local and national level. Partnerships are essential to meeting the sustainable development goals. These regional partnerships may be highly effective in creating sustainable capacity-building projects. Maternal mortality and preventing deaths of children under 5years old continues to be a challenge across the globe despite progress made in recent years. Progress toward sustainable development goal 3, requires efforts addressed in sustainable development goal17, partnership. Laos has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Southeast Asia. A project to increase capacity of midwifery educators demonstrated the benefit of regional partnerships in Laos to have an impact on sustainable development goal 3 ultimately improving maternal outcomes throughout the country. Partnerships especially those between countries in the same region, are crucial to the success of meeting the sustainable development goals.

Abstract. The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8.5 aims to “achieve equal pay for work of equal value” globally by 2030. This goal conflicts with a widespread and continuing practice of paying skilled workers from higher-income economies working in lower-income settings more than their host worker counterparts. This brief summarizes research that has found that dual salaries undermine host colleagues' sense of wage justice, work motivation, and team relations. At organizational levels, they fuel turnover, increase brain drain, and reduce mental well-being of workers. Higher ratios fuel a “double demotivation” – extending to international staff who overrate their own abilities and reduce their effort at work. International, multisector evidence shows conventional dual salaries to be neither compatible nor to align with the SDGs. Organizational options for meeting SDG 8.5 identified in civil society groups include reducing dual salary ratios and implementing single salary systems at a national level. We offer three macro policy frameworks (Project Fair's Principles and Standards of INGO Fair Reward, the UN Global Compact, and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises) that can serve to render salary systems more facilitative of the SDGs and the Decent Work Agenda.