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A Prerequisite for Sustainability: Financial Sustainability
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A Prerequisite for Sustainability: Financial Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 November 2021) | Viewed by 20731

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Josef Marousek

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice, Faculty of Technology, České Budějovice 370 01, Czech Republic
Interests: Biochar; Soil; Economy; Nutrients; Process management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Otakar Strunecký

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Jihoceská Univerzita v Ceských Budejovicíchdisabled, České Budějovice 370 05, Czech Republic
Interests: ecosystems; microbiology; algae; phytoplankton

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A huge number of environmentally friendly measures have been proposed and published in recent decades. However, the vast majority of them have not had even the slightest chance to succeed in commercial practice. We believe that we can easier proceed with a circular (bio)economy  provided that the processes are designed to generate competitive products.

The main target of this Special Issue is to promote sustainable concepts that do not ignore the economic, political or legal reality and have realistic ambitions of becoming profitable. We postulate that both sustainability and profitability are key features to be addressed together while designing successful and ethically responsible business. Inspiring proposals, results from lab-scale or pilot plants, and accomplished projects are welcomed to be presented in this Special Issue. They may include (but are not limited to) social research, new analytical techniques, innovation and digitalization, social behavior, economic sociology, digital business, inspiring business concepts, public and nonprofit management, techno-economic assessments, urban and regional research, innovation management, novel techniques econometrics, and process designs. Innovative and economically reasonable solutions in recycling, regeneration, (bio)rafination and reuse of organic matter, nutrients, biowaste, plastic, paper, glass, metals, building materials, foodwaste and other waste are particularly welcomed.

Please ensure your manuscript contains:

  1. A title that shortly describes your key discovery;
  2. An introduction so anybody who reads this chapter can fully understand (all the complexity, abbreviations, symbols and terminology must be explained) the urgency to investigate your research hypothesis;
  3. Materials and methods to allow replication of your procedures while obtaining the same results;
  4. A results and discussion section that critically discuss all the limitations and reveals new mechanisms;
  5. Conclusions that represent your original theoretical findings.

Prof. Josef Marousek
Dr. Otakar Strunecký
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 submissions that pass pre-check are 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 2400 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

  • bioeconomy
  • recycling
  • recovery
  • competitiveness
  • product
  • biowaste
  • sustainability
  • economy
  • profitability

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1282 KiB  
Article
Factors Influencing the Sustainability of Wood-Based Constructions’ Use from the Perspective of Users
by Jozef Švajlenka and Mária Kozlovská
Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 12950; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132312950 - 23 Nov 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4363
Abstract
Traditional construction solutions face increasing competition from more ecological materials such as construction systems based on wood. Thanks to the numerous favourable properties of wood, wood construction enjoys great popularity and allows building economical and modern constructions that are durable and contribute to [...] Read more.
Traditional construction solutions face increasing competition from more ecological materials such as construction systems based on wood. Thanks to the numerous favourable properties of wood, wood construction enjoys great popularity and allows building economical and modern constructions that are durable and contribute to an ecological future. This study is motivated by the need for innovative solutions in construction and offers numerous findings based on examining actual constructions based on wood. By examining the interactions among selected factors of constructions and their users, the study reacts to the global challenges that call for increased efficiency and sustainability in construction. The examination of the interactions among the selected factors offers more extensive knowledge in the field of constructions based on wood and points towards possible innovative approaches for more sustainable housing and for a more efficient construction industry. The analyses showed that the key aspects that determine the sustainability of housing from the perspective of users are the standard of construction workmanship and construction time, which depend on the choice of construction system, cost-efficiency of use, and material composition and floor plan design. These aspects also interacted with other technical and design aspects, which also played an important role in the perception of housing sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Prerequisite for Sustainability: Financial Sustainability)
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14 pages, 361 KiB  
Article
MgO-Based Board Materials for Dry Construction Are a Tool for More Sustainable Constructions—Literature Study and Thermal Analysis of Different Wall Compositions
by Jozef Švajlenka, Mária Kozlovská and Daria Mokrenko
Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 12193; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132112193 - 4 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3897
Abstract
Growing global environmental problems force us to think about their impact and search for ways to protect the environment. While the construction industry and the production of construction materials contribute to environmental pollution, they also offer great potential for addressing many environmental problems. [...] Read more.
Growing global environmental problems force us to think about their impact and search for ways to protect the environment. While the construction industry and the production of construction materials contribute to environmental pollution, they also offer great potential for addressing many environmental problems. Important opportunities exist in the use and processing of a whole host of industrial and construction waste and in the use of mineral resources. Among such mineral resources is magnesite, whose deposits in Slovakia are abundant. The current sustainability trends impose strict requirements on construction materials and products, favoring solutions with sufficient ecological and efficiency performance characteristics. With this focus on efficient and sustainable solutions in mind, the objective of this research was to analyze magnesium oxide construction boards, as they are the most commonly used construction product based on MgO. The specific MgO-based boards that were studied were applied in selected constructions built using the so-called dry method of construction and were compared with traditional material solutions. The research methodology is based on an analysis of computational models of the proposed variants to determine selected thermal-technical parameters. The analyses of external and interior structures presented in this work suggest that when boards based on MgO and traditional materials are used for coating constructions built using the dry method of construction, the former provide certain benefits in terms of energy accumulation, improving living comfort, and in terms of the fire resistance of constructions, improving overall safety. The conclusion of the presented article is devoted to discussions with works that addressed various perspectives on the application of MgO in the field of materials research. The findings from this analysis are beneficial especially in terms of expanding the knowledge in the area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Prerequisite for Sustainability: Financial Sustainability)
19 pages, 333 KiB  
Article
Unlocking the Potential of Fintechs for Financial Inclusion: A Delphi-Based Approach
by Luiz Antonio Joia and Joaquim Pedro Vasconcelos Cordeiro
Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 11675; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111675 - 22 Oct 2021
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 5305
Abstract
The financial sector is experiencing an accelerated process of transformation shaped by fintechs, which opens an important window of opportunity to increase financial inclusion in emerging markets, such as Brazil, with high financial exclusion. Thus, this article investigates, through a Delphi approach involving [...] Read more.
The financial sector is experiencing an accelerated process of transformation shaped by fintechs, which opens an important window of opportunity to increase financial inclusion in emerging markets, such as Brazil, with high financial exclusion. Thus, this article investigates, through a Delphi approach involving fintech professionals, the potential of fintechs to enable financial inclusion in emerging markets, using Brazil as a proxy. The analysis carried out identified three domains related to fintechs that have the potential to impact financial inclusion: (i) fintechs can serve niches of people without a bank account in the traditional financial market, (ii) fintechs can reduce costs for clients through increased competition, and (iii) fintechs can offer financial services in remote locations, far from traditional financial institutions. Thus, with the objective of developing a public agenda of financial inclusion through fintechs, the article proposes four lines of public policies: (i) expansion and modernization of mobile and internet infrastructure, (ii) improvement of the population’s financial and digital education, (iii) implementation of a trustworthy environment for the fintech clients, and (iv) development and enforcement of an effective legal and regulatory framework for fintechs. These policies, if implemented, can benefit people excluded from the financial system around the world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Prerequisite for Sustainability: Financial Sustainability)
13 pages, 1459 KiB  
Article
Examining the Asymmetric Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Global Financial Crisis on Dow Jones and Oil Price Shock
by Khurram Shehzad, Umer Zaman, Xiaoxing Liu, Jarosław Górecki and Carlo Pugnetti
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4688; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094688 - 22 Apr 2021
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4291
Abstract
COVID-19 has significantly affected the financial and commodity markets. The purpose of this investigation is to understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Dow Jones and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil returns in relation to other crises using the Exponential Generalized Autoregressive [...] Read more.
COVID-19 has significantly affected the financial and commodity markets. The purpose of this investigation is to understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Dow Jones and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil returns in relation to other crises using the Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model. The results indicate that COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdown have adversely impacted both yields and that the impact on oil prices is more significant than on the Dow Jones index. The variance and squared residuals of oil prices and the Dow Jones reached their highest historical levels during the COVID-19 outbreak, even higher than during the global financial crisis, and especially the VaR of both markets reached their historical peak points during the COVID-19 era. The variance of WTI during COVID-19 is higher than that of DJI, as was also the case during the financial crisis. These findings confirm that COVID-19 has negatively impacted investors’ ability to determine optimal portfolios and thus the sustainability of financial and energy markets more than the global financial crisis of 2007–2009. We, therefore, suggest that policy changes are needed to maintain financial sustainability and help investors deal with future financial and other crises. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Prerequisite for Sustainability: Financial Sustainability)
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11 pages, 1051 KiB  
Article
Residues from Water Precipitation via Ferric Hydroxide Threaten Soil Fertility
by Tomáš Brabenec, Anna Maroušková, Tomáš Zoubek and Martin Filip
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4327; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084327 - 13 Apr 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1998
Abstract
From the moment it was first indicated that use of aluminum chloride during purification of drinking water might be one of the triggers of Alzheimer’s disease, it took only a few years to almost abandon this practice worldwide. Now, two years after the [...] Read more.
From the moment it was first indicated that use of aluminum chloride during purification of drinking water might be one of the triggers of Alzheimer’s disease, it took only a few years to almost abandon this practice worldwide. Now, two years after the initial evidence was presented that the cheapest possible replacement for aluminum chloride (ferric hydroxide, better known as ferrous sludge) significantly threatens soil fertility, there is almost no action. A robust case study was conducted among European drinking water treatment plants. First, it is reported that some samples of ferrous sludge can reduce phosphorus availability by more than 70%. This creates a precondition for a significant reduction in fertility over a decade. Because the legislation usually responds to similar findings with great delay, the extent to which managers of drinking water treatment plants are willing to change process settings by themselves has also been assessed. The findings obtained allow us to expect that a long continuation of this hazardous practice can be expected, since managers of drinking water treatment plants show little willingness to switch from the ongoing questionable technology (harmful to nutrient cycles in soil) to environmentally favorable (though slightly more costly) solutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Prerequisite for Sustainability: Financial Sustainability)
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