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Sustainability, Volume 17, Issue 16

2025 August-2 - 396 articles

Cover Story: The increase in the diversity and level of pollutant content in water environments drives the development of more effective green and sustainable methods of treatment, which use fewer reagents and release safer products. Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) offer several key advantages. They include a significant specific surface area, mechanical strength, thermal stability, strong binding to aromatic substances, and antibiotic activity. They can be modified to expand the range of applications and enhance recovery and reuse. However, challenges remain that limit the commercial application of CNMs on an industrial scale: high production and modification costs, environmental safety concerns, limited tests under real conditions, and a lack of standardized methodology for toxicity assessment and analytical methods for determining environmental CNMs. View this paper
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Articles (396)

  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
2,133 Views
20 Pages

21 August 2025

Agricultural new quality productive forces are an important driving force for the transformation of China’s agricultural economy and the realization of sustainable development. This study proposes a novel channel to verify the negative effects...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,724 Views
20 Pages

21 August 2025

Measuring the bioeconomy enables policymakers to monitor advancements in sustainable development goals, identify growth opportunities, comprehend the economic implications of bio-based products, assess environmental impacts, and shape policies that f...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
4,083 Views
35 Pages

21 August 2025

Sensory heritage encompasses culturally valued practices, rituals, and everyday activities experienced through the senses. While sight often dominates, hearing and smelling are generally more immersive and pervasive. Soundscape research is a well-est...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Noise Control, Public Health and Sustainable Cities)
  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
3,910 Views
20 Pages

Digital Social Influence and Its Impact on the Attitude of Organic Product Consumers

  • Geovanna García-Roldán,
  • Nelson Carrión-Bósquez,
  • Andrés García-Umaña,
  • Oscar Ortiz-Regalado and ,
  • Santiago Medina-Miranda,
  • Rubén Marchena-Chanduvi,
  • Mary Llamo-Burga,
  • Ignacio López-Pastén and
  • Iván Veas González
  • + 4 authors+ 0 author

21 August 2025

Social media has become a tool that exerts a significant influence on consumer behavior. In this sense, this study aims to identify whether digital social influence derived from the informational nature of social media content and online member group...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
1,252 Views
13 Pages

Legume Proportion and Litter Deposition Rate in Signal Grass–Forage Peanut Mixed Pastures at Varying Planting Spacings

  • Lucas Ladeira Cardoso,
  • Igor Alexandre de Souza,
  • Odilon Gomes Pereira,
  • Paulo Roberto Cecon and ,
  • Carlos Augusto de Miranda Gomide,
  • José Carlos Batista Dubeux and
  • Karina Guimarães Ribeiro
  • + 2 authors+ 0 author

21 August 2025

Mixed legume–grass pastures may enhance nitrogen recycling via litter and excreta compared to unfertilized grass monocultures. This study evaluated litter biomass, litter deposition rate, and the chemical and isotopic composition of Urochloa de...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of the Agricultural System and Agro-Ecological Environment)
  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,933 Views
23 Pages

21 August 2025

Based on the goal of achieving a classified promotion of rural revitalization in China’s Comprehensive Rural Revitalization Plan (2024–2027), this study presents a framework for a comprehensive sustainable development assessment system us...

  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
3,071 Views
21 Pages

21 August 2025

This paper presents a comprehensive economic and environmental analysis of the utilization of recycled ceramic demolition materials in the construction sector, considering three distinct applications: erecting vertical partitions, constructing road b...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
2,452 Views
19 Pages

Sustainable Management Approaches to Heavy Metal Pollution in Arid Soils Using Soil Amendments and Plant-Based Remediation

  • Nasser H. Almeaiweed,
  • Saud S. Aloud,
  • Khaled D. Alotaibi,
  • Mohannad A. Al Watban and ,
  • Waeel S. Alrobaish and
  • Majed S. Alorf
  • + 1 author+ 0 author

21 August 2025

This study examined the effect of sulfur, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), olive mill wastewater (OMW), and their mixtures in remediating metal-polluted soils by implementing both leaching trials and a greenhouse experiment with sunflower (Hel...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
3,104 Views
17 Pages

21 August 2025

This research focuses on developing neural network-based models for predicting time and cost overruns in construction projects during the construction phase, incorporating sustainability considerations. Previous studies have identified seven key perf...

(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Engineering and Science)
  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
6,164 Views
34 Pages

21 August 2025

The growing importance of local governments, alongside the swift development of their bond markets, provides a novel framework for examining the coordination of monetary and local government fiscal policies in China. This investigation contributes a...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Economics, Policies and Sustainable Development)
  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
3,150 Views
22 Pages

Climate Change Projects and Youth Engagement: Empowerment and Contested Knowledge

  • Kostas Stavrianakis,
  • Jacob A. E. Nielsen and
  • Zoe Morrison

21 August 2025

This study investigated youth’s empowerment through EU-funded climate change projects (CCPs) and the role that social research and public engagement play in that process. The importance of considering youth empowerment in a time of climate chan...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Motivating Pro-Environmental Behavior in Youth Populations)
  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,007 Views
15 Pages

Potential Use of Brewer’s Spent Grain By-Product as a Component for Sustainable Thermal Mortars

  • Maria Manso,
  • Joaquim Silva,
  • Vítor Antunes,
  • Isabel Ivo and ,
  • João Canto and
  • Cristina Guerra
  • + 1 author+ 0 author

21 August 2025

Buildings represent approximately 40% of the total energy consumption. Net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) have lower energy demands than conventional buildings due to improved thermal insulation combined with other passive design strategies. Thermal m...

(This article belongs to the Section Green Building)
  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
1,445 Views
28 Pages

Towards More Sustainable Photovoltaic Systems: Enhanced Open-Circuit Voltage Prediction with a New Extreme Meteorological Year Model

  • Carlos Sanchís-Gómez,
  • Jorge Aleix-Moreno,
  • Carlos Vargas-Salgado and
  • David Alfonso-Solar

21 August 2025

Accurate prediction of maximum voltage is essential for the safe, efficient, and sustainable design of photovoltaic systems, as it defines the maximum allowable number of modules in series. This study examines how the choice of meteorological year af...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Conversion and Sustainable Power Systems Engineering)
  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
2,546 Views
20 Pages

21 August 2025

The wastewater treatment (WWT) industry is currently facing challenges imposed by the revised urban WWT directive, particularly in terms of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removal. This implies the need for mandatory tertiary treatment, for which mic...

(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Water Management)
  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
4,002 Views
31 Pages

21 August 2025

The aim of this study was to examine teachers’ belief levels regarding education for sustainable development (ESD), to identify the factors behind these beliefs, and to reveal their suggestions for improving the quality of ESD. The study employ...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A New Paradigm in Teacher Education: Sustainability in Teacher Training)
  • Review
  • Open Access
16 Citations
4,041 Views
23 Pages

Phosphorus Cycling in Sediments of Deep and Large Reservoirs: Environmental Effects and Interface Processes

  • Jue Wang,
  • Jijun Gao,
  • Qiwen Wang,
  • Laisheng Liu and ,
  • Huaidong Zhou,
  • Shengjie Li,
  • Hongcheng Shi and
  • Siwei Wang
  • + 3 authors+ 0 author

21 August 2025

Although the sediment–water interface of deep and large reservoirs is recognized as a dominant source of internal phosphorus (P) loading, the quantitative hierarchy of environmental drivers and their interaction thresholds remains poorly resolv...

  • Review
  • Open Access
2 Citations
3,976 Views
33 Pages

21 August 2025

In the last 30 years, many scholars have proposed multilevel regulatory systems that go beyond the mere management of duties, tariffs, and non-tariff barriers, seeking instead to promote ethical, environmental, and social principles in international...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue International Trade Governance and Policy and Sustainable Agricultural Economics)
  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
4,010 Views
24 Pages

21 August 2025

Enhancing capacity utilization (CU, hereinafter referred to as CU) is crucial for effectively solving the overcapacity problem, optimizing industrial structure, and promoting premium economic development. While extensive academic research has been co...

(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Management)
  • Article
  • Open Access
1,568 Views
17 Pages

21 August 2025

This study investigates the energy consumption characteristics of individual and clustered thermal storage electric heating systems, focusing on their sustainability implications for regional load distribution and user energy consumption patterns. Si...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Built Environment and Sustainable Energy Efficiency)
  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
2,595 Views
22 Pages

21 August 2025

The accurate assessment of soil fertility is critical for guiding nutrient management and promoting sustainable agriculture in semi-arid agroecosystems. In this study, a machine learning-based Soil Fertility Index (SFI) model was developed using regu...

(This article belongs to the Section Soil Conservation and Sustainability)
  • Article
  • Open Access
14 Citations
3,101 Views
20 Pages

21 August 2025

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are critical infrastructure that lessen the environmental impacts of human activity by stabilizing wastewaters laden with organics, chemicals, and nutrients. WWTPs face an increasing global population, greater wast...

(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Water Management)
  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
5,067 Views
24 Pages

21 August 2025

The urgent need for sustainable food systems in Indonesia is hindered by urban planning policies that are disconnected from food security priorities. Smart city planning policies in Indonesia have been subject to numerous misconceptions compared to s...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Studies in Sustainable Urban Planning and Urban Development)
  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
2,757 Views
27 Pages

The Multiple Impacts of Climate Change and Human Activities on Vegetation Dynamics in Yunnan Province, China

  • Anlan Feng,
  • Zhenya Zhu,
  • Xiudi Zhu,
  • Qiang Zhang and ,
  • Meng Wang,
  • Hongqing Li,
  • Ying Wang,
  • Zhiming Wang,
  • Peng Sun and
  • Gang Wang
  • + 5 authors+ 0 author

21 August 2025

Vegetation plays an important role in the hydrological cycle, carbon storage and regional climate. It provides multiple ecosystem services, regulates ecosystem structure and promotes the sustainable and stable development of the earth’s ecosyst...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
2,119 Views
25 Pages

21 August 2025

Sustainable product development demands components that last longer, consume less energy, and can be refurbished within circular supply chains. This study introduces a digital replica-based predictive prototyping workflow for industrial crusher blade...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainability in New Product Development and Supply Chain)
  • Review
  • Open Access
3 Citations
5,151 Views
19 Pages

Inequalities in Drinking Water Access in Piura (Peru): Territorial Diagnosis and Governance Challenges

  • Eduardo Alonso Sánchez Ruiz,
  • Lázaro V. Cremades and
  • Stephanie Villanueva Benites

21 August 2025

Latin American countries continue to face critical challenges in ensuring safe and continuous access to drinking water, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas. This article presents a territorial and institutional diagnosis of drinking water acce...

(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Water Management)
  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
1,885 Views
27 Pages

21 August 2025

Through their open space layout, rich green configuration and low floor area ratio (FAR), low-density commercial blocks show significant advantages in creating high-quality outdoor thermal comfort (Universal Thermal Climate Index, UTCI) environment,...

(This article belongs to the Topic Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability, 4th Edition)
  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
1,822 Views
27 Pages

21 August 2025

To advance global climate governance, this study investigates the carbon emission efficiency (CEE) of 110 Chinese resource-based cities (RBCs) using a super-efficiency SBM-GML model combined with kernel density estimation and spatial analysis (2006&n...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
3,505 Views
17 Pages

The ESG Paradox: Risk, Sustainability, and the Smokescreen Effect

  • Manpreet Kaur Makkar,
  • Basit Ali Bhat,
  • Mohsin Showkat and
  • Fatma Mabrouk

21 August 2025

Despite numerous global initiatives, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the implementation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics aimed at mitigating climate change, promoting social welfare, and addressing a variety...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue ESG Management, Performance, and Corporate Sustainability: Insights and Innovations)
  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,781 Views
16 Pages

21 August 2025

Ecological compensation policies have become increasingly important for sustainable watershed management worldwide. Current research primarily examines environmental outcomes, resulting in a limited understanding of their economic impacts, especially...

(This article belongs to the Section Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability)
  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
1,548 Views
20 Pages

20 August 2025

Environmental policy helps policymakers and researchers understand the process and expected effects of policy before the policies are fully implemented. This study aims to estimate the effects of resource-conserving and environmentally friendly polic...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
3,396 Views
36 Pages

20 August 2025

This study seeks to develop and evaluate a methodological framework for assessing the tourism potential of hillforts, by using a selected sample of 25 of these heritage resources located in the Lower Silesia Voivodeship. This region, as one of Poland...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Regional Tourism)
  • Review
  • Open Access
6 Citations
2,098 Views
19 Pages

20 August 2025

Effective human resource allocation is crucial for research and development project success. While multi-attribute decision-making methods are valuable, their application to human resource allocation in research and development remains underexplored;...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,036 Views
24 Pages

20 August 2025

Digital transformation is gradually emerging as a core driver of high-quality economic development and the achievement of sustainable development goals. As the core engine of the digitalization process, digital innovation is becoming a key supporting...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
3,233 Views
28 Pages

20 August 2025

Red industrial heritage is a crucial component of global socialist industrial civilization, embodying both industrial memory and revolutionary spirit. However, its preservation faces significant challenges, including insufficient policy attention, ho...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage Conservation and Sustainable Development)
  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
2,224 Views
20 Pages

20 August 2025

Hydrological drought in Central Europe is becoming an increasingly serious threat to agriculture, industry, and people due to climate change and the rising frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The main aim of the paper was to assess the...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainfall Patterns and Flood and Drought Risk: Assessing Vulnerabilities, Building Resilience and Enhancing Sustainability)
  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
2,380 Views
20 Pages

20 August 2025

Integrating sustainability into school curricula is increasingly important, with teachers seen as key “change agents”. However, many lack specific preparation for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and there is considerable vari...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Sustainable Futures: Innovations in Education)
  • Article
  • Open Access
1,487 Views
21 Pages

20 August 2025

This study investigates the spatio-temporal characteristics and driving mechanisms of ecological quality in the mountain–river–sea regional system using the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) model, moderate-resolution imaging spectro...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
3,681 Views
32 Pages

Research on Design of Underground Space for Refuge Based on Environmental Psychology and Virtual Reality

  • Yufei Liu,
  • Yukuan Ou-Yang,
  • Jian Wang,
  • Lei Wang and ,
  • Bing Li and
  • Zimo Chen
  • + 1 author+ 0 author

20 August 2025

Underground spaces hold significant potential for enhancing urban resilience against disasters, a key dimension of sustainable urban development. However, due to persistent associations of underground environments with negative psychological percepti...

(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Urban and Rural Development)
  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
2,465 Views
24 Pages

20 August 2025

This work draws on the principles of Environmental Education as a framework for designing meaningful teaching interventions that foster a critical understanding of socio-environmental issues. The proposal focuses on the specific case of plastic pollu...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fostering the One Health Approach in Environmental Education: Innovations, Challenges, and Opportunities)
  • Article
  • Open Access
10 Citations
2,985 Views
30 Pages

20 August 2025

Given the growing adverse effects of drought on water resources, agriculture, and various sectors, assessing and evaluating drought and producing high-quality drought maps despite the data scarcity to better understand its impacts and develop effecti...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Climate Change on Water Sustainability: Rivers, Floods, Droughts, and Extreme Precipitation)
  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
1,370 Views
20 Pages

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Factors of Tourism Eco-Efficiency: A Three-Stage Super-Efficiency SBM Approach

  • Bing Xie,
  • Yanhua Yu,
  • Lin Zhang,
  • Fazi Zhang and ,
  • Layan Wei and
  • Yuying Lin
  • + 1 author+ 0 author

20 August 2025

Tourism ecological efficiency (TEE) is a significant indicator of the development level of green and intensive tourism. However, conventional directional and radial TEE measurement approaches overlook critical factors such as intermediate process inf...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
5,385 Views
26 Pages

Barriers to Innovation in Manufacturing SMEs: Evidence from the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (Poland)

  • Henryk Wojtaszek,
  • Ireneusz Miciuła,
  • Anna Kowalczyk,
  • Mikołaj Handschke and ,
  • Irena Malinowska,
  • Dariusz Budrowski,
  • Aneta Pawlińska and
  • Agnieszka Wójcik-Czerniawska
  • + 3 authors+ 0 author

20 August 2025

This study explores the innovation barriers and implementation strategies within small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship of Poland. Despite their crucial role in the regional economy, these enterprises f...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Leadership and Strategic Management in SMEs)
  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
2,233 Views
20 Pages

20 August 2025

There is a growing global emphasis on reducing environmental pollution through innovative clean energy technologies, with photovoltaic systems gaining prominence as a sustainable solution. This study presents an integrated approach, combining advance...

(This article belongs to the Section Energy Sustainability)
  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
2,795 Views
29 Pages

20 August 2025

The effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policy in sustaining growth and facilitating recovery from economic crises is increasingly considered to be significantly influenced by the quality of a country’s institutions. Strong institutions may de...

(This article belongs to the Topic The Multidimensional Synergy Measures to Achieve Sustainable Regional Socio-Economic Development)
  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,448 Views
26 Pages

20 August 2025

The innovation capability of seed enterprises reflects their core competitiveness and serves as a vital foundation for sustainable agricultural development and modernization. Therefore, evaluating this capability is of great importance. However, exis...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue ESG Management, Performance, and Corporate Sustainability: Insights and Innovations)
  • Article
  • Open Access
2,731 Views
20 Pages

Effect of Silk Fibroin as a Sustainable Solvent on the Extraction of Bixin from Annatto Seeds (Bixa orellana L.)

  • Swanny Ferreira Borges,
  • Fabricio H. e Holanda,
  • Kaio C. De Maria,
  • Sônia do Socorro do C. Oliveira and ,
  • David E. Q. Jimenez,
  • Celisnolia Morais Leite,
  • Valtencir Zucolotto and
  • Irlon M. Ferreira
  • + 3 authors+ 0 author

20 August 2025

Bixin, an apocarotenoid from Bixa orellana seeds, is a valuable natural pigment with industrial and pharmacological applications. Traditional extraction methods rely on organic solvents, but eco-friendly alternatives like silk fibroin solution (SFS)...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achievements in the Agri-Food Supply Chain Leading to Sustainable Foods IV)
  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
1,601 Views
30 Pages

Co-Optimization and Interpretability of Intelligent–Traditional Signal Control Based on Spatiotemporal Pressure Perception in Hybrid Control Scenarios

  • Yingchang Xiong,
  • Guoyang Qin,
  • Jinglei Zeng,
  • Keshuang Tang and ,
  • Hong Zhu and
  • Edward Chung
  • + 1 author+ 0 author

20 August 2025

As cities transition toward intelligent traffic systems, hybrid networks combining AI and traditional intersections raise challenges for efficiency and sustainability. Existing studies primarily focus on global intelligence assumptions, overlooking t...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Traffic and Mobility—2nd Edition)
  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
2,534 Views
22 Pages

20 August 2025

Recently, the popularity of large language models (LLMs) used as artificial intelligence tools supporting humans has been growing. LLMs are applied in many fields, including increasingly for various sustainability-related issues. One of the most popu...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable, Intelligent, Resilient, and Connected Mobility and Transport Services)
  • Review
  • Open Access
9 Citations
7,391 Views
20 Pages

20 August 2025

Sustainable housing is increasingly recognized as a crucial social determinant of health, intersecting environmental sustainability with affordability, safety, and inclusivity to shape population health and equity. This paper reviews the existing lit...

(This article belongs to the Section Health, Well-Being and Sustainability)
  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
1,775 Views
17 Pages

Exploring Synergies Among European Universities, Government, Industry, and Civil Society on Promotion of Green Policies and Just Transition Facets: Empirical Evidence from Six European Countries

  • Georgios A. Deirmentzoglou,
  • Nikolaos Apostolopoulos,
  • Sotiris Apostolopoulos,
  • Eleni E. Anastasopoulou and ,
  • Lefteris Topaloglou,
  • Konstantinia Nikolaidou,
  • Tsvetomira Penkova,
  • Miguel Corbí Santamaría,
  • Sandra Nieto-González and
  • George Sklias
  • + 7 authors+ 2 authors

20 August 2025

This cross-country study examines how higher education institutions collaborate with government, industry, and civil society to promote the European Green Deal and Just Transition initiatives. Framed within the quadruple helix (QH) model, the researc...

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Responsibility, Education and Managerial Strategies for Sustainable Development)

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Sustainability - ISSN 2071-1050