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Is it true that a nuclear technology approach to generate electric energy offers a clean, safe, reliable and affordable, i.e., sustainable option? In principle yes, however a technology impact on the environment strongly depends on the actual implementation bearing residual risks due to technical failures, human factors, or natural catastrophes. A full response is thus difficult and can be given first when the wicked multi-disciplinary issues get well formulated and “resolved”. These problems are lying at the interface between: the necessary R&D effort, the industrial deployment and the technology impact in view of the environmental sustainability including the management of produced hazardous waste. As such, this problem is clearly of multi-dimensional nature. This enormous complexity indicates that just a description of the problem might cause a dilemma. The paper proposes a novel holistic approach applying Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to assess the potential of nuclear energy systems with respect to a sustainable performance. It shows how to establish a multi-level criteria structure tree and examines the trading-off techniques for scoring and ranking of options. The presented framework allows multi-criteria and multi-group treatment. The methodology can be applied to support any pre-decisional process launched in a country to find the best nuclear and/or non-nuclear option according to national preferences and priorities. The approach addresses major aspects of the environmental footprint of nuclear energy systems. As a case study, advanced nuclear fuel cycles are analyzed, which were previously investigated by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA/OECD) expert group WASTEMAN. Sustainability facets of waste management, resource utilization and economics are in focus.

Nowadays, most countries of the world are implementing the transition to the low-carbon economy which implies the need to carry out a full-scale eco-modernization of the energy sector. Green energy may be identified as one of the core concerns of energy sector modernization as it allows a considerable decrease in emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Therefore, nuclear and renewable energy may become key areas of global energy development in the near future, which is also in agreement with circular economy concepts. However, public opinion (and other controversial visions/aspects) is one of the barriers to their development. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between attitudes towards nuclear and renewable energy in two countries: a EU country (Italy) and a non-EU country (Russia), considering the level of their development. The authors conducted a survey among residents regarding their attitude towards nuclear and renewable energy, as well as their attitude to the present energy policy. The cluster analysis technique was used to analyze the results. The obtained results confirmed the dependence between the level of development of nuclear and renewable energy and the public attitude towards it. The national energy policy also might influence public opinion on the development of nuclear or renewable energy. The authors identified public attitude as one of the key factors in the development of energy and the achievement of environmental and social sustainability.

Questions have arisen about the sustainability of the industrialised food system. Alternatives like urban agriculture have emerged to reduce the negative social, environmental and health impacts of industrial agriculture. Such new food supply chains can change the way that people acquire and process food. This study looks at high-tech indoor gardening practices in nursing homes for elderly people, studying four nursing homes in the Dutch city of Velp. We used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect data, using site visits, a survey amongst employees, and semi-structured interviewees with residents and decision makers. Inspired by social practice theory, we aimed to understand the transformation of existing practices, investigating how the gardens affect cooking and eating practices, and how their constitutive elements of meaning, material and competences enable these transformations. Our work shows that the indoor gardens resulted in an integration of gardening and the resulting harvest into cooking practices, which in turn transformed residents’ eating practices. Appreciation of the taste of fresh vegetables and appearance of the meal decorated by fresh vegetables, as well as observing the growth of plants and their use, holds value for the elderly residents. Employees welcome the possibility to serve healthier meals. The integration of indoor gardens in existing cooking practices is more successful when employees have gardening and/or cooking competences, when they enjoy cooking and when they do not already cook with fresh ingredients. The gardens are more easily integrated when they are easily accessible. The materiality of the gardens does not require fully equipped kitchens.

The lithium-ion battery (LIB) represents a useful lever for reducing material handling equipment’s (MHE) environmental impact. The exploitation of opportunity charging might improve LIB adoption, which is still prevented by the high investment cost. Since opportunity charging is affected by the system organization, the relationship between LIB and organizational variables is a meaningful work direction to reduce warehouses’ environmental impact, which is underrepresented by the current literature. The present paper aims at filling this gap by investigating the implications of organisational variables on LIB adoption in warehouses where handling activities are performed with forklift trucks. Based on an in-depth review of the literature and semi-structured interviews, the research presents an input-process-output model linking organisational variables and LIB forklift related costs with an application to a real case. This paper is original as it extends findings from the research fields of production and mobility to the warehouse arena, and it opens room for further research on warehouse sustainability. The paper also offers insights to warehouse managers making decisions about LIB adoption for their electric forklift fleets. This is particularly meaningful to reduce warehouse environmental impact, since MHE power source significantly contributes to greenhouse gases emissions.

As an effective regulatory tool, environmental information disclosure is significant in promoting the green upgrading of industrial structures and achieving green transformation of enterprises. In order to explore the impact mechanism of environmental information disclosure on corporate sustainability performance, this paper constructs a two-way fixed-effect model using balanced panel data of Chinese A-share listed manufacturing companies from 2015 to 2020. We find that environmental information disclosure significantly impacts green innovation, thereby improving corporate sustainability performance. Furthermore, financing constraints inhibit the impact of environmental disclosure on sustainability performance, while female directors have only symbolic effect. The reliability of the paper’s findings is verified by replacing the dependent variable and introducing instrumental variables. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of environmental information disclosure on corporate sustainability performance is more substantial among non-state and eastern and heavily polluting enterprises. Comprehensive analysis from the financing perspective shows the differences in the moderating effects of debt and equity financing regarding the impact mechanism. This study enriches the theory of green innovation and provides financing strategies for enterprises to achieve green transformation, as well as suggestions for improving the government environmental information disclosure system.

Local marketplaces and street vendors represent an important segment of trade in a community and one of the initiators of the rural and peri-urban development. Agricultural and other products available at marketplaces and street vendors very often originate from a wider urban surrounding or nearby villages, so both are also an important factor of the daily migrations, exchange of goods, services, and money on the relation suburb-downtown and village-town/city. This study aims to analyze the social segments of the organization and operation of marketplaces, to provide an insight into the contemporary market processes and decision-making, and also to illustrate the future tendencies of the market outcomes of this aspect of the business. Using qualitative data processing, the results of one of the first empirical research on this topic in Serbia and this part of Europe will be analyzed. The results will show the economic, social, and cultural impact that marketplaces have on people’s everyday life and the economy of Serbia, along with defining future development guidelines. Besides, the findings of this research may be used by local authorities, the economy, and communities for future strategic development planning of this market segment. The outcomes may have an impact on future research of other aspects of marketplaces depending on the difference of regions, on one side, and also alternative opportunities for local development in less-advantaged communities, on the other side. Moreover, this contributes to the identification of the differences in the marketplace business management and sheds light on future initiatives for the encouragement of this local/global process.

Given the global drive for more sustainable industrial practices, the goal of this paper is to develop and test an algorithm to diagnose the readiness of industrial enterprises to implement team management in innovation projects. Our model was tested at a large industrial enterprise in the food industry. To study the peculiar features of the perception of a company image by different functional groups of participants (within the framework of the proposed structural model of the image), we used the in-depth interview method. The study involved a total of 60 people making up three groups of company employees (managers, brand sellers, workers). The data were complemented by a documentary analysis. Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability, thus researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further. The results reveal significant discrepancies in the company image formed among different groups of current and potential employees. An analysis showed that the enterprise under study is not ready for the implementation of team management, and additional training is required. The proposed approach will allow us to identify the factors that somewhat (inwardly) impede the implementation of investments at the enterprise and restrain its sustainable innovation and development. The scientific and business significance of the developed correctional and diagnostic model lies in its ability to assess the level of consistency in the perception of the goals and development prospects of the company. As such, the potential participants in project teams are identified, and, through the implementation of corrective measures, we create a basis for the formation of effective teams.