Special Issue "The Human Factor in Designing Sustainable Systems"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lluis Oviedo
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Theology, Pontificia Università Antonianum, 00185 Roma RM, Italy
Interests: new scientific study of religion; theological and scientific anthropologies; sustainable systems
Prof. Dr. Sara Lumbreras
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Research in Technology (IIT), ICAI School of Engineering, Comillas Pontifical University, 28015 Madrid, Spain
Interests: power systems; transmission expansion planning; offshore wind farm design; stochastic programming
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Hans-Ferdinand Angel
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Karl-Franzens-University Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria
Interests: creditions; processes and functions of believing; dynamics of formation of beliefs; believing processes and decision making

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As highlighted in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (and recently, in Horizon Europe), it is imperative to rethink sustainability from an integral and practical perspective. Among the many elements that will underlie our transformation towards sustainability, there are key human factors such as beliefs and social preferences, as well as behavioral aspects. This Special Issue is dedicated to presenting and discussing these human components, which have gone through a deep transformation in the recent pandemic.

In the context of the energy transition, we find that the awareness of our connection to each other and the environment could, for instance, fuel support for renewable energies, which can provide a cleaner alternative to other technologies. In addition, the value of independence and resilience has been highlighted in recent years, and especially during the coronavirus crisis. From being able to produce masks to energy, distributed resources, multilevel planning, and balancing independence and coordination should be key in the post-covid era. This can have deep implications with respect to the specific technological options that will be deployed, for instance, in distributed electricity generation.

A crucially important matter is the reduction in consumption that has taken place during the lockdown months, which adds to the trend of mindful consumption. This adds to the possibility of a degrowth economy where social welfare is not compromised.

Future development will depend on one human component, namely, the human capacity to believe. In recent years, the processes and functions of the believing processes have become a topic of interdisciplinary research. This sheds light onto the issue of how people organize their beliefs about sustainability and how believing processes influence the interaction between perception and action.

All these elements will interact and reshape our understanding of sustainability and determine the targets and policies that we will witness in the next decades This Special Issue welcomes original articles dealing with these or other related issues, incorporating the new perspective on sustainability that the pandemic is shaping worldwide.

This Special Issue welcomes articles on the following points and others related to the human factor in sustainability:

  • Sustainability and beliefs;
  • Social support for renewables, distributed generation, and demand response in electricity markets;
  • Social support for reducing consumption, reusing, and recycling;
  • A degrowth economy and its social impact;
  • Mindful consumption;
  • Sustainability and justice.

Short information to those who sent abstracts:

The aim of this special issue is to highlight the human factor in the sustainability discussion (cf. website). Do you refer in your paper to the following topics?

  • mindset
  • change of mindset
  • motivation
  • learning
  • expectation
  • decision-making
  • (relevance of) emotion(s)
  • hopes and desire
  • beliefs and belief formation

We hope that the checklist can be helpful for preparing your paper.
As model can be used the article

Hannes Hick, Hans-Ferdinand Angel, Philipp Kranabitl, Jolana Wagner-Skacel: Decision-Making and the Influence of the Human Factor, in: Hannes Hick, Klaus Küpper, Helfried Sorger (Eds): Systems Engineering for Automotive Powertrain Development, Springer 2021

Prof. Lluis Oviedo
Prof. Dr. Sara Lumbreras
Prof. Dr. Hans-Ferdinand Angel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • human behaviour
  • social dimensions
  • beliefs
  • degrowth economy
  • consumption
  • education
  • social impact

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Decision Making for Sustainable Technical Applications with the SMH Approach
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8702; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168702 - 04 Aug 2021
Viewed by 283
Abstract
Decision making is becoming more and more challenging due to the rise in complexity of modern technical products. A lot of industries are currently at a crossroads, and a wrong strategic or technical decision may have disastrous consequences for the future of the [...] Read more.
Decision making is becoming more and more challenging due to the rise in complexity of modern technical products. A lot of industries are currently at a crossroads, and a wrong strategic or technical decision may have disastrous consequences for the future of the company. Within this paper, the SMH approach, that supports decision making processes to put emphasis on sustainable solutions regarding strategic and technical aspects, is introduced. SMH is an acronym that stands for a decision making approach that includes systems thinking (S), model-based systems engineering (M) and the human factor (H). This approach deals with the challenge to consider overall boundary conditions and interactions of the system, the decision which models need to be built in order to have the best data support possible, and the identification what influence the human factor plays in analyzing the data and the consequent decision making based on it. The importance of the human factor is often neglected in technical processes, which may lead to costly mistakes. This theoretical approach is applied to the use case of a chief executive officer (CEO) who has to decide on allocation of research and development (R&D) resources to future powertrain technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Human Factor in Designing Sustainable Systems)
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Article
Applying Talent Quality-Management System (TTQS) to Enhance Information Literacy, Learning Motivation, and Computational Thinking Competency of Nursing Undergraduates
Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6528; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126528 - 08 Jun 2021
Viewed by 515
Abstract
In Taiwan, the Ministry of Education started promoting computational thinking (CT) and design skills in the programming curriculum in 2018 at all universities. CT, which has been widely discussed in the field of education, is the ability to solve problems that use computer [...] Read more.
In Taiwan, the Ministry of Education started promoting computational thinking (CT) and design skills in the programming curriculum in 2018 at all universities. CT, which has been widely discussed in the field of education, is the ability to solve problems that use computer science concepts. For students in non-information technology fields, such as nursing students, a curriculum that integrates nursing education and information literacy can bolster evidence-based practice, enhance professional development, and encourage lifelong learning. However, the programming courses were difficult for non-information learners to apprehend, given their lack of knowledge in programming, and had a low attrition rate. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a sustainable management system in the learning process. It is also important to support the interest and confidence of the nursing learner in the programming curriculum. In this study, a programming course for nursing students was completed. A talent quality-management system (TTQS) for this programming course was built and implemented. A technology acceptance model and learning attitude questionnaires were administered to investigate learners’ learning motivation and information literacy. Two nursing classes with 74 freshmen participated in the curriculum in the second semester of the 2020 academic year. The results showed that TTQS, which supports teachers in adjusting pedagogy in a timely manner, can enhance learners’ motivation and performance. In this programming course, nursing students can learn CT and information concepts and improve their learning motivation through the design of learner-centred and collaborative learning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Human Factor in Designing Sustainable Systems)
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