Exploring the vulnerability of the coastal wetlands of India to the changing climate and their adaptation strategies.

Changing climate exerts significant pressure on coastal wetland fishery, ecosystems and livelihood at the eco-regional level. In the present study, an indicator and scoring-based vulnerability assessment framework was developed to assess climate change-induced potential impacts and vulnerability of the coastal wetlands through stakeholder perception and primary data collection on ecology and fisheries. The study was conducted in 12 coastal wetlands in the Gangetic estuarine regions of eastern India. Analysis of rainfall, temperature and extreme climatic events was also carried out. The climate variability in the region was analysed and discussed in the context of ecosystem health and sustainability indicators. The results indicated that anthropogenic stress has a greater influence on ecosystem services than climatic stress. However, the nature and degree of vulnerability of fishers to climate change vary with their capacity to adapt to such changes and alternate sources of livelihood. Altogether, 34 fish species were documented, belonging to 11 taxonomic orders, and categorized as per intensity of resilience using selected criteria. Perception-based climate-resilient adaptation strategies have also been discussed. Developing appropriate adaptation policies and implementing climate-resilient practices and management can minimize vulnerability and increase the adaptive capacity of fishers ensuring sustainable livelihood options.

Nutritional, environmental and economic impacts of ultra-processed food consumption in Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the full life cycle impacts of ultra-processed foods (UPF) for key environmental, economic and nutritional indicators to identify trade-offs between UPF contribution to broad-scope sustainability. DESIGN: Using 24-h dietary recalls along with an input-output database for the Australian economy, dietary environmental and economic impacts were quantified in this national representative cross-sectional analysis. Food items were classified into non-UPF and UPF using the NOVA system, and dietary energy contribution from non-UPF and UPF fractions in diets was estimated. Thereafter, associations between nutritional, environmental and economic impacts of non-UPF and UPF fractions of diets were examined using a multi-dimensional nutritional geometry representation. SETTING: National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2011-2012 of Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Respondents (n 5344) aged > 18 years with 1 d of 24-h dietary recall data excluding respondents with missing values and outlier data points and under reporters. RESULTS: Australian diets rich in UPF were associated with reduced nutritional quality, high greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and increased employment and income associated with the food supply chains. The environmental and economic impacts associated with the UPF portion of diets become more distinct when the diets are standardised to average protein recommendation. CONCLUSION: Increased consumption of UPF has socio-economic benefits, but this comes with adverse effects on the environment and public health. Consideration of such trade-offs is important in identifying policy and other mechanisms regarding UPF for establishing healthy and sustainable food systems.

Amalgamation of Farmers' Bio-priming Knowledge in Integrated Nutrient Management for Sustainable Management of Red Cabbage Soil Under Middle Gangetic Plains, India.

Biotic stress management through bio-priming is a common practice among the farmers of the Indo-Gangetic Plains. However, this indigenous technology is less explored for the sustainable management of soil resources. Therefore, field-based experiments (2016-17 and 2017-18) were conducted in Varanasi to evaluate the combined effect of seedling bio-priming and fertilization on biochemical properties, microbiological properties, and fertility of red cabbage soil at harvest. Based on the farmers' fertilization practice, the recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) of N:P2O5:K2O were applied @ 120:60:60 kg ha-1. Three compatible bio-agents, viz., Trichoderma harzianum, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Bacillus subtilis were applied alone and in combination with 75% RDF. The effect of treatment combinations was also analyzed for carbon (C) mineralization by conducting an incubation experiment for 90 days. Bio-priming treatments recorded a higher richness of soil microflora and soil fertility than control and sole application of chemical fertilizers. Application of 75% RDF + T. harzianum + P. fluorescens resulted in highest urease and cellulase activities and soil organic C. Inclusion of dual-species bacterial consortium (P. fluorescens and B. subtilis) in integrated system resulted in highest dehydrogenase activity and available P. These priming agents also exhibited significantly higher CO2 fluxes and C mineralization in our incubation study. A microbial consortium of T. harzianum and B. subtilis increased the microbial biomass C and available K. Although application of triple-species consortium improved C mineralization in laboratory conditions, the positive effects lowered down in field conditions. As a bottom-up approach, customization of bio-priming technology among farmers will help in attaining the UN-Sustainable Development Goals.

Performance Analysis Based on Sustainability Exergy Indicators of High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell.

Based on finite-time thermodynamics, an irreversible high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) model is developed, and the mathematical expressions of exergy efficiency, exergy destruction index (EDI), and exergy sustainability indicators (ESI) of HT-PEMFC are derived. According to HT-PEMFC model, the influences of thermodynamic irreversibility on exergy sustainability of HT-PEMFC are researched under different operating parameters that include operating temperatures, inlet pressure, and current density. The results show that the higher operating temperature and inlet pressure of HT-PEMFCs is beneficial to performance improvement. In addition, the single cell performance gradually decreases with increasing current density due to the presence of the irreversibility of HT-PEMFC.

Ergonomics indicators: A proposal for sustainable process performance measurement in ergonomics.

Process performance measurement (PPM) has become a challenging task for organisations, which have many various processes, in today's globalised world. This challenging task is also remarkable in ergonomics, and combining sustainability with ergonomics can provide beneficial solutions for assessing risks and providing ergonomically favourable conditions for human well-being. In this paper, new ergonomics indicators (EIs) are proposed, classified, and described in detail to overcome this challenge through a systematic literature review that integrates ergonomics and sustainability. By considering sustainability indicators (SIs) selected from the review, the proposed EIs are presented within a three-dimensional structure. This structure enables measuring the performance on various issues in an organisation such as occupational health and safety, decent work, technology, working conditions, employee empowerment and development, charities, innovations, and recycling. Through systematic measurements using these indicators, more traceable and manageable processes can be achieved. Hence, ergonomists or managers can identify and prevent risky conditions practically. Practitioner Summary: This paper proposes ergonomics indicators and detailed descriptions for ensuring sustainable process performance measurement in ergonomics. The sustainability indicators presented as references for these proposals are utilised through selection and consolidation from literature. The ergonomics indicators are structured within a sustainability framework that considers six sustainability sub-dimensions proposed for ergonomics.

Applying social life cycle assessment to evaluate the use phase of mobility services: a case study in Berlin.

Purpose: The main purpose of this S-LCA case study is to analyse social impacts of the use phase of mobility services is a holistic way, taking into account positive as well as negative impacts. The use phase plays an important role for the assessment of services, which is why this study exclusively focuses on the use phase assessment. That way, this study aims to contribute to answer the question whether mobility services can improve quality of life in cities. Methods: For the analysis, seven different mobility options were chosen in the city of Berlin, Germany, including free-floating car sharing, e-scooter sharing, S-Bahn, subway, tram, bus and the car in private ownership. For the analysis, five stakeholder groups that are outlined in the S-LCA Guidelines (UNEP 2020) were taken into account: Local Community, Consumer, Worker, Value Chain Actors and Society. For a detailed analysis of all relevant aspects, 37 indicators were analysed, out of which 23 are quantitative and 14 are qualitative. For data collection, several different data sources were used, including publicly available data e.g. from statistics as well as own data from interviews. Results and discussion: For comparability, all results are displayed on a 5-point scale from - 2 to + 2, in line with the Handbook (Goedkoop et al. 2018) and the S-LCA Guidelines (UNEP 2020). For some indicators, the results of the case study are as expected, for example regarding impacts on air quality. For other indicators, however, the results are specific for the analysed mobility services in Berlin and therefore give new insights and reveal new aspects, as for example in the case of job creation for the local community. The main challenge of this S-LCA case study was data availability and data quality, which is why assumptions and simplifications had to be made, especially regarding space occupancy and the allocation of common infrastructure. Conclusions: This S-LCA case study provides a holistic assessment of the use phase of mobility services, taking into account five stakeholder categories and their respective social impacts. The study illustrates specific results for the city of Berlin, showing positive as well as negative social impacts of mobility services and outlines a procedure for further studies. That way, this case study contributes to answer the overlying question whether mobility services can improve quality of life in cities. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11367-022-02051-y.

A systematic approach for assessing water, energy and food security during the COVID-19 pandemic: case study of Mexico.

Assessing the security of the water-energy-food nexus is a topic of great importance, which allows determining the situation of each resource to implement actions for sustainable management of these resources in today's society. For this reason, a systematic procedure is proposed to evaluate the synergies of the water-energy-food nexus in a large region that is divided into subregions that allow considering their interactions. The new procedure considers the availability, accessibility and regional interdependence of resources while annexing economic and social aspects. A composite index called the WEF Global Index is developed, which involves the WEF nexus index and has nine indicators that evaluate the availability, accessibility and regional interdependence of each resource in the water-energy-food nexus. This new index considers the Gross Domestic Product per capita and the involved population. As a case study, the 32 states of Mexico were considered to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and the security of the water-energy-food nexus at the state level. For this, the composite index was evaluated in the years 2019 and 2020. The results show that from 2019 to 2020, the value of the global index increased in 13 states, in 21 states the security index of the WEF nexus increased, and in 9 states the GDP per capita index increased. On the other hand, the results indicate that in 11 states there was no improvement in the nexus security index due to the increase in water demand, which considerably affected the water availability indicator. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-022-02671-2.

A methodology to empower citizens towards a low-carbon economy. The potential of schools and sustainability indicators.

Environmental empowering to control resource consumption and environmental impacts is critical to engage citizens to adopt more sustainable habits. This study demonstrates the potential benefits of innovative approaches based on sustainability indicators towards a low-carbon economy. A methodology to measure and promote sustainability in schools has been proposed and evaluated, aiming at showing the environmental performance and informing of potential environmental savings. The methodology, titled ClimACT, has two main purposes: measuring the environmental performance of schools through a school sustainability index based on measurable indicators in the areas of transport, procurement, green spaces, indoor air quality, energy, water and waste; and encouraging students, teachers and families towards an energy-efficient and low-carbon pathway through a structural procedure based on roles, activities and progress evaluation. The approach, applied to 39 pilot schools from Portugal, Spain, France and Gibraltar, achieved promising and encouraging results. All schools deployed the methodology successfully, achieving measurable environmental benefits in 95% of cases, with an average improvement of 10% in the global performance of schools after one year. Moreover, the 5112 surveys applied to school communities, before and after the methodology implementation, highlighted how the sustainable indicators had a significant influence on the daily lives of families, leading to improvements of their behaviour, with an average increase of 20% in indicators regarding good practices in transport, energy, water, waste and citizenship. The environmental empowering through measurable indicators is a step forward a low-carbon economy. This methodology is open and adaptable to all sectors and requirements.

Assessment of sustainable development through a multi-criteria approach: Application in brazilian municipalities.

In the last decades, there has been an increase in impacts on the environment, driven by the industrialization process. As a result, society's social and environmental awareness increased, and business organizations began to promote corporate social responsibility initiatives to positively contribute to better working and environmental conditions, and other sustainability issues. This article aims to verify the performance of 217 Brazilian municipalities from 31 indicators segmented in the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social), selected from the literature review, to contribute to the sustainable investment strategy of organizations. To this end, we used the multi-criteria decision making method, Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and proposed an analytical sustainability dashboard. The main results of this paper were the sustainable performance rankings of the municipalities and the dashboard with three analytical panels that contributed to identifying the points of improvement of each municipality, consequently contributing to the investment strategy in these locations. This research consists, therefore, of an important methodology, combining the multi-criteria method and the sustainability dashboard, to assess the sustainable development of the municipalities in the triple bottom line dimensions.

Sustainable agronomic practices for enhancing the soil quality and yield of Cicer arietinum L. under diverse agroecosystems.

Sustainable agronomic practices are being implemented worldwide to promote the cleaner and planet friendly crop production. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the effect of agro-waste derived biochar and vermicompost on soil quality and yield in Cicer arietinum L. Field experiment was carried out at three different agro-climatic regions (Varanasi, Sultanpur and Gorakhpur) of Uttar Pradesh, India and periodic soil and crop sampling were done accordingly. Experimental results proven that a significant increase (p < 0.01) in total organic carbon, available N, P and K content was observed under vermicompost followed by biochar amendment at each site. Similarly, irrespective of the experimental site, a significant increase (p < 0.01) in microbial biomass carbon was recorded under vermicompost amendment. Furthermore, the addition of vermicompost increased the grain yield (28-39%) than biochar (23-36%) addition whereas the higher microbial and soil respiration (2-6%) found in former field than the biochar added field (1-3%). Significant correlation (R2= 0.61-0.99) was found between the sustainable yield index and soil fertility factors at each site. Assessment of agricultural soil sustainability indicators (ASSI) suggests that the biochar was more effective in enhancing the soil carbon stock (21 ± 1.31 Mg C ha-1) and higher glomalin activity (62%). The study also confirmed the increased alkaline phosphatase (two fold) and ß-glucosidase activity (one fold) along with enhanced urease (45%), soil dehydrogenase activity (36%) under vermicompost amendment followed by biochar. Present study highlights the significance of sustainable agronomic practices for improving the soil quality and agricultural yield while reducing adverse impact.

A structural framework for sustainable processes in ergonomics.

Considering today's globalised world, new concepts that assist ergonomics are needed to provide human well-being. Accordingly, the sustainability concept is used in this study to satisfy the needs of stakeholders, put environmentally-friendly and cost-effective interventions into practice and provide ergonomically well-designed and easily managed processes that are more flexible, adaptable and human-sensitive. To achieve this, a practical and easily adaptable framework, which integrates ergonomics and sustainability by presenting the relations between fundamental elements of ergonomics and sustainability dimensions (SDs), is proposed. Within this base framework, ergonomic indicators (EIs) and sub-dimensions proposed for the classification of EIs are structured for ergonomics under a sustainability point-of-view. The sub-dimensions proposed in this study, which have direct or indirect relations to humans, are 'Loss', 'Investment', 'Conditions', 'Contribution', 'Self-Development', and 'Satisfaction'. This structural framework, which can be easily used by ergonomists or managers, ensures a good starting point for providing sustainable processes in ergonomics. Practitioner summary: This study proposes a structural framework to present the relations between ergonomics and sustainability. In the context of ergonomics, fundamental elements of ergonomics are chosen, while three dimensions of sustainability and proposed sub-dimensions are used in the context of sustainability. The adapted ergonomic indicators are also classified within these sub-dimensions.Abbreviations: SDs: sustainability dimensions; SIs: sustainability indicators; EIs: ergonomic indicators.

Can technology help achieve sustainable intensification? Evidence from milk recording on Irish dairy farms.

This article explores the potential of a farm technology to simultaneously improve farm efficiency and provide wider environmental and social benefits. Identifying these 'win-win-win' strategies and encouraging their widespread adoption is critical to achieve sustainable intensification. Using a nationally representative sample of 296 Irish dairy farms from 2015, propensity score matching is applied to measure the impact of milk recording on a broad set of farm sustainability indicators. The findings reveal that the technology enhances economic sustainability by increasing dairy gross margin and milk yield per cow. Furthermore, social sustainability is improved through a reduction in milk bulk tank somatic cell count (an indicator of animal health and welfare status). Conversely, milk recording (as it is currently implemented) does not impact farm environmental sustainability, represented by greenhouse gas emission efficiency. While the study shows that milk recording is a 'win-win' strategy, ways of improving current levels of utilisation are discussed so that milk recording achieves its 'win-win-win' potential in the future.

Assessing alternative crop establishment methods with a sustainability lens in rice production systems of Eastern India.

Sustainability of rice production systems is a prime concern for Asia to maintain food security and to support economic growth. This gain in productivity not only depends on agricultural inputs but also depends on social and environmental factors. To address these emerging issues, new resource- and capital-efficient and profitable technologies have been introduced. The conventional method of rice production (puddling and manual transplanting, PTR) is considered as highly input intensive. As an alternative, dry direct seeded rice (DSR) using seed drill has been promoted to save labor and production costs compared with PTR. Similarly, machine transplanted rice (MTR) has been also considered and promoted in many rice growing countries of South and East Asia. Economic, environmental, and social performances of DSR and MTR (alternative rice establishment technologies) were compared to the PTR using Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) defined 12 Performance Indicators (PIs) (version 1.0) as a gauge to measure their sustainability. For that, a household survey was conducted on 652 households in Odisha India during 2016. The gaps, i.e., the target to achieve better sustainability, were computed for most of the indicators from the difference between top 10th percentile and the population mean value of the indicator. The results indicated a yield gap of 1.35 t ha-1, a profit gap of $273 ha-1, labor productivity gap of 21 kg day-1, nitrogen (N) use efficiency gap of 22 kg grain kg-1 N, phosphorus (P) use efficiency gap of 105 kg grain kg-1 P, and water productivity gap of 0.00010 kg grain L-1 water in rice production systems in Odisha. Among the compared technologies, MTR results in the highest yield, profit, labor productivity, nitrogen-, phosphorus-use efficiency, and water productivity (at par), and is positive for children's welfare and the overall energy productivity, indicating better sustainability and has the potential to replace PTR. Direct seeded rice has the highest yield gap (1.57 t ha-1; 38%) but has the lowest production cost (can reduce the cost of production by $130 ha-1), and the highest greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential. SRP PIs are capable for assessing the sustainability of rice establishment technologies except for a few indicators, for example food safety and workers health and safety, which are more applicable to watershed and household level indicators, respectively. The SRP PIs provide scientific evidence and practical impetus for the selection and promotion of sustainable rice production technologies.

Sustainability indicators for municipal solid waste management: A case study of the Recife Metropolitan Region, Brazil.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Brazil faces major challenges in order to meet the requirements proposed by the National Solid Waste Policy, which has been in force since 2010 and complicates decision-making, especially in small municipalities. In this context, sustainability indicators are important support tools that help in setting out performance actions for municipal sustainable development. The main objective of this article is to evaluate the four sustainability dimensions (social, environmental, economic, and legal/institutional) using sustainability indicators for MSW management in the Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR) in Northeast Brazil. To do this, the progress of the region was evaluated against the principal goals and guidelines proposed by solid waste plans and by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It was found that some progress has been achieved in recent years, such as the closure of dumps, a reduction of the per capita MSW mass collected, and an increase in the coverage rate for solid household waste collection. However, selective collection and financial autonomy still fall well short of the region's goals. According to the results of this study, municipalities in the RMR require more environmental education and joint actions involving government, the private sector, and the general population.

[Transformations in the health system in Cuba and current strategies for its consolidation and sustainabilityTransformações no sistema de saúde em Cuba e estratégias atuais para sua consolidação e sustentabilidade]. / Transformaciones en el sistema de salud en Cuba y estrategias actuales para su consolidación y sostenibilidad.

In Cuba, universal access and health coverage rest on three key principles: health as a human right, equity and solidarity. Although many of the Cuban health indicators are among the best in the Region of the Americas, in 2011 it was decided to reorganize health services, in line with the process of updating the Cuban economic and social model that occurred in all sectors. For this purpose, an action-research project was designed, including a situation diagnosis, implementation of changes and evaluation of the results, in several stages. As a result, human resources were rationalized with a reduction of more than 150 000 posts not directly linked to patient care, management structures were reduced in 57 municipalities, 46 polyclinics were compacted, the Family Physician and Nurse Program was optimized with 20 specialties for the community care, teaching was reorganized, and the international medical cooperation programs were revisited. These changes have contributed to improving the sustaina-bility of the National Health System and its performance: increase in the number of consultations at the primary level (19.3%) and oral care visits (56.6%), reduction in the number of visits to emergency rooms (16.1%), increase in the number of patients surgically treated (12.1%), increase in the number of research projects (300%) and increase in the number of medical students (55.7%), among others. In Cuba, transformations in health is an ongoing project.

Em Cuba, o acesso universal e a cobertura de saúde dependem de três princípios fundamentais: a saúde como direito humano, equidade e solidariedade. Embora muitos dos indicadores de saúde cubanos estejam entre os melhores da Região das Americas, em 2011 foi decidido reorganizar os serviços de saúde, de acordo com o processo de atualização do modelo econômico e social cubano ocorrido em todos os setores do país. Para o efeito, foi elaborado um projeto de pesquisa-ação, que incluiu o diagnóstico da situação, a implementação das mudanças e a avaliação dos resultados, em várias etapas. Como resultado, os recursos humanos foram racionalizados com uma redução de mais de 150 000 postos não diretamente ligados ao atendimento ao paciente, as estruturas de manejo foram reduzidas em 57 municípios, 46 policlínicas foram compactadas, o Programa Médico e Enfermeiro da Familia foi otimizado com a projeção para a comunidade de 20 especialidades, o ensino foi reorganizado, e os programas internacionais de cooperação médica foram reordenados. Essas mudanças contribuíram para melhorar a sustentabilidade do Sistema Nacional de Saúde e seu desempenho: aumento do número de consultas no nível primário (19,3%) e odontologia (56,6%), redução do número de consultas na emergência (16,1%), aumento do número de pacientes tratados cirurgicamente (12,1%), aumento do número de projetos de pesquisa (300%) e crescimento do número de estudantes de medicina (55,7%), entre outros. O projeto de transformação em saúde realizado em Cuba continua.

Sustainability assessment for the transportation environment of Darjeeling, India.

Darjeeling is an important tourist hill town of West Bengal, India. It suffers from an acute problem of transportation, particularly during its peak tourist seasons due to limited road space, inadequate public transport facilities and indiscriminate use of automobiles. This hill town was originally designed for a population of 10,000, but over the years, it has come face-to-face with rapid urbanization, a rising population of both tourists and residents and intensifying motor vehicle usage. These factors together are posing a threat to its transport environment. This study identifies the Sustainable Transport Indicators (STIs) available in the existing literature to identify the critical stretches using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) based on experts' consensus. It was found that the experts placed emphasis on the mobility of the town, talking about vehicular impact on air pollution and encroachment of roads as the main issues affecting the sustainability of the transport environment. Thereafter, policy-level interventions have been suggested in accordance with the identified sustainability issues. We trust that other tourist hill towns with issues similar to Darjeeling could easily emulate the study methodology to assess their transport environment sustainability, or replicate on the lines of the recommended policy interventions.

Values or hypocrisy: the global reporting initiative mapping in agricultural cooperatives in Paraná, Brazil.

This article presents an analysis of the environmental reporting that was published by agricultural cooperatives in the Brazilian state of Paraná in 2013. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the level of conformity in data, reported by cooperatives, with the guidelines of Global Reporting Initiative issued in 2016. Our descriptive analysis, performed with qualitative research methods, revealed a selective character of disclosure as well as general discrepancy between size of the reporting organisations and quality of the information provided. This made us question the degree of cooperatives' commitment to the principles of sustainable development and well-being of the communities they represent.

The Sustainability Cycle and Loop: models for a more unified understanding of sustainability.

In spite of the considerable research on sustainability, reports suggest that we are barely any closer to a more sustainable society. As such, there is an urgent need to improve the effectiveness of human efforts towards sustainability. A clearer and more unified understanding of sustainability among different people and sectors could help to facilitate this. This paper presents the results of an inductive literature investigation, aiming to develop models to explain the nature of sustainability in the Earth system, and how humans can effectively strive for it. The major contributions are two general and complementary models, that may be applied in any context to provide a common basis for understanding sustainability: the Sustainability Cycle (S-Cycle), and the Sustainability Loop (S-Loop). Literature spanning multiple sectors is examined from the perspective of three concepts, emerging as significant in relation to our aim. Systems are shown to provide the context for human action towards sustainability, and the nature of the Earth system and its sub-systems is explored. Activities are outlined as a fundamental target that humans need to sustain, since they produce the entities both needed and desired by society. The basic behaviour of activities operating in the Earth system is outlined. Finally, knowledge is positioned as the driver of human action towards sustainability, and the key components of knowledge involved are examined. The S-Cycle and S-Loop models are developed via a process of induction from the reviewed literature. The S-Cycle describes the operation of activities in a system from the perspective of sustainability. The sustainability of activities in a system depends upon the availability of resources, and the availability of resources depends upon the rate that activities consume and produce them. Humans may intervene in these dynamics via an iterative process of interpretation and action, described in the S-Loop model. The models are briefly applied to a system described in the literature. It is shown that the S-Loop may be used to guide efforts towards sustainability in a particular system of interest, by prescribing the basic activities involved. The S-Cycle may be applied complementary to the S-Loop, to support the interpretation of activity behaviour described in the latter. Given their general nature, the models provide the basis for a more unified understanding of sustainability. It is hoped that their use may go some way towards improving the effectiveness of human action towards sustainability.

Measuring Social Sustainability in the Italian Agri-Food Sector: Proposed Key Performance Indicators.

The social dimension of sustainability in the agri-food sector is gaining more and more attention from both scholars and policymakers. In Europe, among different countries, Italy stood out for the active role played in including social conditionality in the Common Agricultural Policy. Despite such interest, there is still confusion concerning the concept of social sustainability, and tools aimed at measuring the social performance of farms are still lacking. The current study aims to identify indicators to measure the social sustainability of farm practices in the Italian agri-food system. The methodology included an analysis of the most relevant literature, legislation, and guidelines to identify five macro-areas of interest, which served as the foundation for developing theoretical social sustainability key performance indicators. The results of this study provide useful insights for both practitioners and policymakers to develop strategies and policies focused on social sustainability.

Assessing the exergy sustainability of a paddy drying system driven by a biomass gasifier.

Paddy parboiling in rice industries is an energy-intensive process that requires huge attention for energy conservation, fuel economy, and sustainability. Thus, several research initiatives have been undertaken to adopt a suitable energy conversion system in such industries to improve thermal efficiency and reduce environmental impact. In this study, exergy performance and exergy-based sustainability indicators have been investigated on a reversible bed paddy dryer coupled with a rice husk-fuelled downdraft gasifier. The experiment was conducted at the optimum operating conditions such as an equivalence ratio of 0.2 in the gasifier and a drying air temperature of 80℃ in the dryer. The exergy efficiency of the reversible bed dryer and the gasifier were 65.53% and 70.92% respectively. The lowest exergy efficiency of 35.29% was seen in the combustion chamber since a huge exergy destruction of 2.75 kW occurred. Therefore, the combustion chamber has a high potential improvement of about 1.66 kW. Due to less exergy destruction, the gas cooler and air duct showed high exergy efficiency of 62.36% and 76.2% respectively and the lowest values in exergy-based sustainability indicators. The assessment of environmental and sustainability factors on each component showed that the combustion chamber has a high waste exergy ratio of 0.688, environment effect factor of 1.95, exergy destruction coefficient of 0.69, and exergy sustainability index of 0.51.