• Energy Research
• economics and business close
• 9. Industry and infrastructure close
• 13. Climate action close
• Sustainability close

In the context of the globalization and internationalization of economies, to efficiently attract financial and intellectual capital that is necessary for business sustainability, the mechanisms of corporate governance have to be based on gaining the trust of all the interested parties. These objectives require an organizational culture and a climate which is based on correctness, responsibility, transparency, and efficiency, in which ethical principles govern the spread of behaviors in the entire entity. This research identifies the relation between the corporate governance and the entities’ financial performance using the specific context of Romania. The findings of this study reveal new insights on the corporate governance and financial performance based on a sample of companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The results show a positive correlation between the net accounting results, earnings per share, and the duality of the CEO, and a negative correlation between price per share and the duality of the CEO.

To effectively address the sustainability crises our planet faces, decision-makers at different levels of government worldwide will have to get a handle on three key challenges: learning from Global North and South initiatives in tandem, taking stock of social innovations alongside technological fixes, and nurturing grassroots sustainable development initiatives next to, or in place of, top-down corporate and government interventions. Current scientific literature and grant-making institutions have often reinforced the compartmentalized fashion in which we learn and draw policy lessons from North/South, social/technical, and bottom-up/top-down sustainability initiatives, including local food system innovations. The strategic levers for global sustainable development lying in-between are thus left out. This paper uses exploratory, multiple case study analysis to address this omission. By concurrently drawing lessons from grassroots innovations in Brazil, New York, and Senegal—three profoundly different socioeconomic and geographic contexts—we identify common pressure points that have enabled local communities to drive system-wide transformations toward climate adaptation, resilience, and sustainability in the agri-food system. The findings of this paper would be of value to scholars, government officials, and community groups engaged in agri-food systems sustainability and interested in the processes of change that have allowed budding innovations to stabilize and scale up.

Although the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advocate, through SDG 4 and SDG 10, equitable quality education and the reduction of inequalities within and between countries, respectively, few studies have examined how inequalities in regional sustainability influence higher education. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between regional sustainability and higher education in China using fixed-effects panel modelling. A systematic force framework showing how regional sustainability drives higher education was constructed from economic, social, and environmental perspectives, and the endogeneity in the process of how regional sustainability affects higher education was explored by introducing one-year lagged values as instrumental variables. Our results show that regional sustainability has a significant impact on higher educational attainment in China, with differing effects in the eastern, central, and western regions, respectively. In central China, economic sustainability plays a significant positive role in higher educational attainment; in the western region, economic and social sustainability have stronger positive effects, while environmental sustainability has significantly negative effects. In terms of policy implications, our findings can be used to support regional development policies to promote regional higher education.

The aim of this study is to simulate the self-organized evolution mechanism of inner innovation of large-scale construction enterprises (LSCE) under different contexts. Based on NK stochastic combinatorial optimization model with two parameters (N, K), this study proposes three modules—ambidexterity, punctuated equilibrium, and automation—to simulate the change behaviors of the inner innovation system. Furthermore, this study analyses the influence of factor correlation on inner innovation performance under discusses nine different combination situations. The research results show that (a) regardless of how the relationship strength changes, fitness increases with an increasing K value; and (b) the comparison of optimization modes show that the punctuated equilibrium mode can guarantee the long- and short-term inner innovation performance LSCE. This study therefore reveals the mutual effects of the factors in the inner innovation system in LSCE and provides an effective model for internal systems analyses in the construction industry and in other sectors.

Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) is a new paradigm in science, technology, and innovation policy that seeks to produce a transition to sustainable development. In this paradigm, universities are crucial actors in the dynamics of science, technology, and innovation, but their role in the implementation of TIP should be defined. The objective of this article is to contribute to the understanding of the ideal role of Latin American universities in the implementation of TIP. Therefore—to describe and analyze the concepts of university and TIP in Latin America—this case study examines the co-creation of a public policy of science, technology, and innovation by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in that region. This article underscores the vital role of universities in promoting transformative innovation that fosters social inclusion and sustainability. To achieve this goal, structural policy changes should be implemented, and different stakeholders (including researchers, students, and civil society) should be actively engaged. This paper also highlights the importance of addressing socio-economic, cultural, political, cognitive, and environmental issues faced by marginalized communities. By embracing the principles of transitions theory and prioritizing transformative innovation, universities can make significant contributions towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Entrepreneurship may be regarded as the mechanism of change towards sustainability. Any entrepreneur that seeks to start a new venture in an emerging industry will face resource and time constraints. The question we raise here is how the entrepreneur should prioritize use of time and resources to increase likeliness of success. To address this question we depart from a theoretical perspective of entrepreneurship seen as judgment, and bridges it over to entrepreneurship seen as co-creation. In other words, we combine the subjective with the intersubjective, and explore the effects of the actions successful green technology entrepreneurs in the emerging offshore renewable energy industry make in building their new ventures in nascent markets. Inspired by earlier studies on market entry, combined with new ways to understand new venture emergence, we find that independent entrepreneurs benefit from leapfrogging typical stages in the technology development process and rather devote time and efforts on resource acquisition. We also find that the most important value-capturing, decision-making heuristics are those related to “hybrid governance”. We discuss implications for theory, practice, and policy.

On 25 September 2015, the member states of the United Nations approved an initiative in New York called “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” [...]

How can urban policies and planning approaches help in achieving a safer mobility and carbon reduction in the transport sector? The attention of planners and policy makers towards the promotion of sustainability and reduction of environmental impacts has grown in recent years. This paper investigates the role that Urban Planning plays in the long term towards a safer and climate friendlier mobility, highlighting the need for integrated approaches gathering spatial planning and mobility management. After a review of several urban policies and planning strategies, initiatives, and approaches, mainly based on the urban scale, the paper presents an urban regeneration case study leading to an increase of pedestrian accessibility at the neighborhood level. This can be seen as a support tool to foster sustainable, safe, and climate friendly mobility in cities. The results of the performed analysis show a dependency of accessibility from two different factors: the distribution of services and the capillarity of the soft mobility network, which can contribute to creating a more walkable space.