Search Results (16)

As vital material carriers of human civilization, earthen sites are experiencing continuous surface deterioration under the combined effects of weathering and anthropogenic damage. Traditional surface conservation techniques, due to their poor compatibility and limited reversibility, struggle to address the compound challenges of micro-scale degradation and macro-scale deformation. With the deep integration of digital twin technology, spatial information technologies, intelligent systems, and sustainable concepts, earthen site surface conservation technologies are transitioning from single-point applications to multidimensional integration. However, challenges remain in terms of the insufficient systematization of technology integration and the absence of a comprehensive interdisciplinary theoretical framework. Based on the dual-core databases of Web of Science and Scopus, this study systematically reviews the technological evolution of surface conservation for earthen sites between 2000 and 2025. CiteSpace 6.2 R4 and VOSviewer 1.6 were used for bibliometric visualization analysis, which was innovatively combined with manual close reading of the key literature and GPT-assisted semantic mining (error rate < 5%) to efficiently identify core research themes and infer deeper trends. The results reveal the following: (1) technological evolution follows a three-stage trajectory—from early point-based monitoring technologies, such as remote sensing (RS) and the Global Positioning System (GPS), to spatial modeling technologies, such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and geographic information systems (GIS), and, finally, to today’s integrated intelligent monitoring systems based on multi-source fusion; (2) the key surface technology system comprises GIS-based spatial data management, high-precision modeling via LiDAR, 3D reconstruction using oblique photogrammetry, and building information modeling (BIM) for structural protection, while cutting-edge areas focus on digital twin (DT) and the Internet of Things (IoT) for intelligent monitoring, augmented reality (AR) for immersive visualization, and blockchain technologies for digital authentication; (3) future research is expected to integrate big data and cloud computing to enable multidimensional prediction of surface deterioration, while virtual reality (VR) will overcome spatial–temporal limitations and push conservation paradigms toward automation, intelligence, and sustainability. This study, grounded in the technological evolution of surface protection for earthen sites, constructs a triadic framework of “intelligent monitoring–technological integration–collaborative application,” revealing the integration needs between DT and VR for surface technologies. It provides methodological support for addressing current technical bottlenecks and lays the foundation for dynamic surface protection, solution optimization, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Full article

In recent years, the research area around environmental decision-making has drawn more and more interest, driven by a really big global push to achieve net-zero emissions. Significant investments in areas such as electric vehicles and renewable energy, coupled with increasingly limited access to natural resources, have intensified research efforts in this field. New and emerging research is aimed at shifting consumer behavior to make more sustainable decisions. Building on this context, the purpose of this paper is to explore academic publications related to decision-making and behavioral shifts in the context of sustainability. Using an advanced bibliometric tool such as Biblioshiny, the authors analyze an Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science dataset to identify the main authors and affiliated journals and map the academic and thematic evolution of this interdisciplinary field, including the key topics and countries involved. The analysis reveals a 6.68% annual growth rate. Through thematic maps, three field plots, word clouds, and a review of the top 10 most cited papers, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving domain of environmental decision-making. Full article

Data localization, data explosion, data security, data protection, and data acceleration are important driving forces in India’s datacenter revolution, which has raised a demand for datacenter expansion in the country. In addition, the pandemic has pushed the need for technology adoption, digitization across industries, and migration to cloud-based services across the globe. The launch of 5G services, digital payments, big data analytics, smartphone usage, digital data access, IoT services, and other technologies like AI (artificial intelligence), AR (augmented reality), ML (machine learning), 5G, VR (virtual reality), and Blockchain have been a strong driving force for datacenter investments in India. However, the rapid expansion of these datacenters presents unique challenges, particularly in predicting and managing their power requirements. This abstract focuses on understanding the power prediction and demand aspects specific to hyperscale datacenters in India. The study aims to analyze historical power consumption data from existing hyperscale datacenters in India and develop predictive models to estimate future power requirements. Factors such as server density, workload patterns, cooling systems, and energy-efficient technologies will be considered in the analysis. Datacenter negatively impacts the environment because of the large consumption of power sources and 2% of the global contribution of greenhouse gas emissions. Given the increasing cost of power, datacenter players are naturally encouraged to save energy, as power is a high datacenter operational expenditure cost. Additionally, this research will explore the impact of renewable energy integration, backup power solutions, and demand–response mechanisms to optimize energy usage and reduce reliance on conventional power sources. Many datacenter providers globally have started using power from renewable energy like solar and wind energy through Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) to reduce these carbon footprints and work towards a sustainable environment. In addition, today’s datacenter industry constantly looks for ways to become more energy-efficient through real innovation to reduce its carbon footprint. Full article

Innovative digital technologies, together with new sustainable practices, push for new business models and skillsets, pressuring companies to adapt to external change in order to gain competitive advantage. Higher education institutions could offer support. More than 20% of university graduates in the European Union study “business, administration or law”, with some of them being future top-level managers and entrepreneurs. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the factors shaping business students’ perspectives and decisions in the modern business landscape. It reunites their career preferences, personality characteristics and knowledge regarding technology’s utility for business and compares them between two cohorts (i.e., first year bachelor students and second year master students). The results of an online survey with a sample of 154 respondents show that business students’ entrepreneurial intention is influenced by their entrepreneurial confidence, their boldness when considering risks, as well as by being further along their educational journey. While almost 80% of business students are daring, oriented toward results and confident in their entrepreneurial abilities, and around 50% would feel most comfortable having their own business, approximately half of first year bachelor students and 14% of second year master students tend to be “not sure” regarding how eight out of ten modern technologies mentioned in this paper (i.e., robotic process automation, big data, artificial intelligence, computer vision, industrial robots, internet of things, virtual reality, enterprise resource planning) could improve a company’s innovation and performance. Full article

Since the creation of a common term to indicate a set of incremental and disruptive digital technologies, Industry 4.0 has challenged European manufacturers to find a way to concretely exploit these innovations in their own business strategy. During this journey, Industry 4.0 has recently highlighted some evidence about its efficacy in enabling strategic goals on the three dimensions (economical, environmental, social) of sustainable development, which is a key element for the European Union’s goal to make manufacturers become carbon neutral until 2030. Industry 4.0 and sustainability are together affecting manufacturers’ business models, forcing managers to take chances and face challenges within their organization and in their supply-chain. As an energy-intensive sector, steel industries will be intensively affected by sustainability paradigms. With 19 qualitative interviews in the organization and supply chain of an internationalized steel producer, Feralpi Group, we provide evidence that, beyond the use of main strategic technologies (Internet of Things and Big Data analysis), the implementation of a sustainability strategy is also possible through the creation of new partnerships beyond the own supply chain. The combination of Industry 4.0 technologies and sustainability strategies, especially concerning the environment through Circular Economy practices, pushes steel industries to revise their business models, paving the way for unexpected collaborations, where suppliers, customers, and even more diverse stakeholders such as competitors could bring benefits to the company sustainable economic growth and durability. Full article

Sustaining a competitive position on the market has become crucial in order to survive in the dynamic environment under the influence of Industry 4.0. Industrial and service sectors have been affected by new technologies, such as automation, robotization, VR, AR or Big data, and their strategies towards future innovation and focus need to be reevaluated. This requires a revision of theoretical models that assess the external environment and following opportunities and threats. Our original study of 573 Slovak companies presents an analysis of Porter’s five competitive forces in the context of innovation activities and perceived impact of Industry 4.0 on companies. The research results provide a deep insight on the relevance of company size, maturity or sector to the different perspectives of the P5F model, as well as make clear the impact of each force on company measures and activities conducted in recent years. Our findings point to the strong technology push and main focus on product innovation, while reveal a paradigm shift in perceiving the power of suppliers. Results of our study lead to practical implications and enrich the theory on the relevance of strategic analysis in current era. Full article

The plastics business has grown rapidly in recent years, with annual growth rates ranging from 16% to 18% each year (second only to the telecommunications and textile industries). The plastic industry is regarded as a dynamic industry in the Vietnamese economy due to its rapid development rate. Its high growth stems from a big market with significant expansion potential, since Vietnam’s plastic sector is still in its early stages in comparison to the rest of the globe and plastic goods are pushed and utilized in many aspects of life. In order to ensure sustainable development and comply with the provisions of the Law on Environment Protection, plastic manufactures and importers must ensure to fulfill two responsibilities: (1) proper product and packaging recycling—applicable to products and packaging with recyclable value; and (2) the collection and treatment of waste—applicable to products and packaging containing hazardous substances, difficult to recycle, causing difficulties for waste collection and treatment. Therefore, raw materials supplier selection in the plastic industry is a complex decision, and decision makers must consider many qualitative factors, quantitative factors and environmental attributes during the decision making. As a result, the goal of this study is to present an integrated multicriteria decision making model (MCDM) strategy for sustainable supplier selection in the plastics sector under fuzzy environment circumstances. This paper makes a contribution by proposing a hybrid fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach model for raw material supplier selection in the plastics sector. This research also provided a useful guideline for supplier selection in other industries. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred global discussions around a sustainable recovery that could build back better economies by mitigating emissions while bringing to light the Green Deal frameworks led by the U.S. and the E.U. from 2019. This article presents the main points embedded in the existing Green Deals and offers proposals to serve as templates for Latin America and the Caribbean: the Big Push for Sustainability and the Social-Ecological Transformation. By contrasting the American and European Green Deals with more recent proposals, this article explores the main political, economic and social constraints in LAC to recommend a way forward. Full article

Timely and reliable information about crop management, production, and yield is considered of great utility by stakeholders (e.g., national and international authorities, farmers, commercial units, etc.) to ensure food safety and security. By 2050, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates, around 70% more production of agricultural products will be needed to fulfil the demands of the world population. Likewise, to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the second goal of “zero hunger”, potential technologies like remote sensing (RS) need to be efficiently integrated into agriculture. The application of RS is indispensable today for a highly productive and sustainable agriculture. Therefore, the present study draws a general overview of RS technology with a special focus on the principal platforms of this technology, i.e., satellites and remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs), and the sensors used, in relation to the 5th industrial revolution. Nevertheless, since 1957, RS technology has found applications, through the use of satellite imagery, in agriculture, which was later enriched by the incorporation of remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs), which is further pushing the boundaries of proficiency through the upgrading of sensors capable of higher spectral, spatial, and temporal resolutions. More prominently, wireless sensor technologies (WST) have streamlined real time information acquisition and programming for respective measures. Improved algorithms and sensors can, not only add significant value to crop data acquisition, but can also devise simulations on yield, harvesting and irrigation periods, metrological data, etc., by making use of cloud computing. The RS technology generates huge sets of data that necessitate the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to extract useful products, thereby augmenting the adeptness and efficiency of agriculture to ensure its sustainability. These technologies have made the orientation of current research towards the estimation of plant physiological traits rather than the structural parameters possible. Futuristic approaches for benefiting from these cutting-edge technologies are discussed in this study. This study can be helpful for researchers, academics, and young students aspiring to play a role in the achievement of sustainable agriculture. Full article

The growth of the renewable energy industry is happening at a swift pace pushed, by the emergence of Industry 4.0. Smart technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT), Digital Twin (DT), etc. enable companies within the sector of renewable energies to drastically improve their operations. In this sectoral context, where upgraded sustainability standards also play a vital role, it is necessary to fulfil the human capital requirements of the imminent technological advances. This article aims to determine the current skills of the renewable energy industry workforce and to predict the upcoming skill requirements linked to a digital transition by creating a unified database that contains both types of skills. This will serve as a tool for renewable energy businesses, education centers, and policymakers to plan the training itinerary necessary to close the skills gap, as part of the sectoral strategy to achieve a competent future workforce. Full article

A large body of literature has shown that the burden of healthcare can push individuals and households into the burden of medical care and income loss. This makes it difficult for rural or low-income households to obtain and use safe and affordable formal credit services. In 2003, China’s government implemented a new rural public health insurance, which was called the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS). This study provides evidence of the impact of NRCMS on household credit availability using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) for 2010. The tobit regression approach and mediator model are used. The results show that, as a public health insurance system sustained by the participation of government investment, the NRCMS provides good “collateral” and significantly enhances rural households’ formal credit availability level. Furthermore, this positive effect is mainly reflected in the economic effect of NRCMS. Our results are robust to alternative statistical methods. Our findings suggest that expanding access, fulfilling the NRCMS mortgage function, and providing more financial services for rural households would have big benefits with regard to easing credit constraints for rural residents. Full article

It is common to increase road capacity by constructing ring roads to reduce traffic congestion in city areas, although this is often found to be ineffective in the long run. Accordingly, this study investigates various traffic congestion management approaches and their effectiveness in major cities, and explores an identical transport problem in Almaty, Kazakhstan: The Big Almaty Ring Road (BAKAD). Several case examples from the existing literature are examined in which various approaches were taken for managing traffic congestion problems, and these approaches are classified into three concepts. The first concept comprises heavy engineering measures such as ring road development, new road construction, expansion of existing roads, etc. Such measures can initially reduce traffic congestion, but often become ineffective with time due to the generation of induced traffic. Many cities have taken Push and Pull measures that ensure more efficient use of existing capacity and have initiated environmentally friendly alternative transportation modes such as decreased car usage; promotion of public transport, biking and walking; minimization of the necessity of people’s movement by changing urban land use patterns; and so on. These approaches have been found to be effective in providing sustainable transportation solutions and are classified as concept 2. Nevertheless, Push and Pull measures might not be enough for managing traffic congestion, and it might be necessary to increase the road capacity through heavy engineering measures, especially if the city experiences heavy transit traffic. This combined approach is categorized as concept 3. Consequently, the BAKAD project is examined under the umbrella of three concepts, and recommendations are provided based on the findings from the experience of different cities and interviews with experts from Almaty city. Both the results and recommendations developed are relevant for this specific case only, and are not necessarily transferable. Full article

This paper develops a theoretical model to analyze whether a rentier state can diversify its economy away from the rent revenue and hence sustain the economic development and preserve the status-quo. Considering the decarbonization process of the global economy and rapidly fall in economic value of hydrocarbons in the face of the supply glut, rentier states depending on oil and gas revenues urgently need to diversify their economies to avoid social backlash and political upheaval. There are three intertwining factors that determine an effective economic diversification away from the rent revenue: The profitability of non-rentier sectors, the size of the domestic economy to induce a “Big Push” for industrialization to non-rentier sectors, and the level of economic inclusivity. For an optimal level of economic diversification in a rentier state: (1) Non-rentier sectors should be attractive to private agents without the entry barriers; (2) domestic economy should be large enough to induce investment into non-rentier sectors; (3) the ruler(s) should have sufficient tolerance (inclusivity) for private agents investing into non-rentier sectors. Our findings indicate that a rentier state can achieve an optimal level of economic diversification provided that the conditions above are met even without any political change. Full article

Inequality, in any form and dimension, is a major damaging factor for sustainable development. One of the essential drivers of inequality is the over-agglomeration and congestion in a certain region. The reasons for the agglomeration are well documented, such as knowledge-spillovers, access to supply and demand markets, availability of skilled labor, and good infrastructure. However, over-agglomeration in a region, mainly triggered by poor planning and mismanagement of resource allocation, may also become a barrier for sustainable development. The over-agglomeration generally results in undesired negative effects impeding the economic, social, and environmental development any further, even causing irreversible social and environmental issues. Following the big-push model, a theoretical model is proposed to consider the negative effects of increasing rent prices due to over-agglomeration first on the industrial development of a country. This is then followed by a case study of Istanbul as a megacity and its effects on Turkey’s sustainable development through industrial, social, and ecological aspects. Istanbul has been the main industrial and economic center of Turkey as the city further expanded rapidly in the last 50 years in terms of population and urbanization. This over-agglomeration has resulted in very high rent prices in the city compared to the rest of Turkey, which affected the country’s industrialization. The over-agglomeration in Istanbul has also created significant economic imbalances and income-inequalities within the city and across Turkey. The environmental degradation, the loss of forest area, and very high air and noise pollution were other results of the city’s rapid expansion and over-agglomeration. These industrial, social, and environmental dynamics pose serious challenges to Turkey’s sustainable development as long as over-agglomeration in Istanbul persists or even aggravates further. Full article

The global energy system subsumes both extreme wealth (and waste) and extreme poverty. A minority of the global population is consuming the majority of the fossil fuel-based energy and causing global warming. While the mature industrialized economies maintain their high levels of energy consumption, the emerging economies are rapidly expanding their fossil energy systems, emulating traditional patterns of industrialization. We take a global, socio-metabolic perspective on the energy transition phases—take-off, maturation, and completion—of 142 countries between 1971 and 2015. Even within our global fossil energy system, the transition to fossil energy is still ongoing; many countries are in the process of replacing renewable energy with fossil energy. However, due to globally limited supplies and sinks, continuing the fossil energy transition is not an indefinite option. Rather than a “Big Push” for renewable energy within pockets of the fossil energy system, a sustainability transformation is required that would change far more than patterns of energy supply and use. Where this far-reaching change requires pushing back against the fossil energy system, the energy underdogs—the latecomers to the fossil energy transition—just might come out on top. Full article