Esta pesquisa tem como pano de fundo o setor de moda, que passou por diversas transformações ao longo das últimas décadas, estabelecendo o fast fashion como seu principal modus operandi. Apesar do crescimento possibilitado por esse modelo, houve um consequente aumento de impactos ambientais e sociais no setor. Em função disso, há uma crescente demanda por produtos e serviços que gerem menores impactos, modificando os modelos de negócios do setor. Portanto, o problema de pesquisa abordado neste trabalho é “como desenvolver modelos de negócio inovadores e sustentáveis no setor da moda?”. Deste questionamento derivam os objetivos da pesquisa, que são: (i) avaliar como ocorrem as inovações em sustentabilidade no setor; (ii) analisar de que maneira essas inovações se manifestam para o mercado; (iii) identificar, em nível agregado, oportunidades e desafios que tipicamente influenciam o sucesso de modelos de negócio inovadores e sustentáveis na indústria da moda; e (iv) realizar uma análise quantitativa de inovação sustentável em empresas da indústria da moda. Para atingir esses objetivos, a pesquisa foi dividida em duas grandes etapas A primeira delas, apresentada no artigo 1, buscou na literatura e na prática conceitos relacionados a modelos de negócios que buscam a sustentabilidade na moda. Foram feitas uma revisão sistemática da literatura, entrevistas com especialistas e consultas a sites especializados, gerando-se um framework de tendências e direcionadores de inovação sustentável. Oito estudos de casos de empresas brasileiras e italianas ilustraram o funcionamento desses drivers. Ao final, foram levantados desafios e oportunidades para negócios que buscam a sustentabilidade na moda. Na segunda etapa, presente no artigo 2, buscou-se analisar casos de empresas que utilizam os direcionadores apontados no artigo 1 numa análise quantitativa baseada em uma escala de inovatividade em sustentabilidade. Os resultados apontam para uma maior facilidade dos negócios em incorporar conceitos de responsabilidade social e economia circular e uma dificuldade em escalar modelos de negócios que utilizam matérias-primas naturais. Ao final, um framework de caminho ilustrativo para a sustentabilidade foi gerado para negócios do setor. / This research has as a background the fashion industry, which has undergone several transformations over the last decades, establishing fast fashion as its main business model. Despite the growth that this model made possible, there was an increase in environmental and social impacts caused by this expansion. As a result, there is an increasing demand for products and services that generate smaller impacts, causing changes in the business models of the sector. Therefore, the research problem addressed in this paper is "how to develop innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry?". From this question, the objectives of the research are derived, which are: (i) to evaluate how innovations in sustainability occur in the sector; (ii) to analyze how these innovations are manifested to the market; (iii) to identify in an aggregate level opportunities and challenges that typically influence the success of innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry; and (iv) to generate a quantitative analysis of sustainable innovation in companies in the fashion industry. To achieve these goals, the research was divided into two major steps. The first one, presented in article 1, sought in the literature and in practice work some concepts related to sustainable business models in fashion A systematic review of the literature, interviews with specialists and consultations with specialized websites were carried out, generating a framework of trends and drivers of sustainable innovation for this sector. Eight case studies of Brazilian and Italian companies illustrated the operation of these drivers. In the end, challenges and opportunities for businesses that seek sustainability in fashion were raised. In the second stage, presented in article 2, we sought to analyze cases of companies that use the drivers pointed out in article 1 in a quantitative analysis based on a scale of innovation in sustainability. The results show a greater ease for business to incorporate concepts of social responsibility and circular economy and a difficulty in scaling business models that use natural raw materials. In the end, an illustrative framework of a pathway for sustainability was generated for business in this sector.

School feeding programs enhance the efficiency of the education system by improving enrollment, reducing dropouts and increasing perseverance. They also have the potential to reach the poor, directly making them an effective social safety net. In many low-resource countries, school feeding programs are designed to protect children from the effects of hunger. Unfortunately, the continuity of such programs is threatened by over-reliance on external funding. Given the patterns of withdrawal of external support, countries that rely on donor funds to implement such programs need to develop plans that will move them from external to localized support. It is well documented that programs that involve community members are self-sustaining. Regrettably, even though community members are involved in school feeding programs in Malawi, their participation is restricted to food storage and preparation and doesn't include decision making. Thus the transition plan for Malawi has to deliberately involve community members and influence them to take ownership of the school feeding programs. This dissertation explored the use of Social Marketing, a strategy for influencing behavior change that applies traditional marketing techniques to persuade a target audience to adopt, adapt, maintain or reject a behavior for the benefit of individuals, groups, or society as a whole to plan school food programs in Malawian primary schools. Using focus groups and individual interview techniques, I carried out a qualitative study at a primary school in Malawi where the community has initiated a school feeding program with the aim of understanding the barriers and benefits of supporting such an initiative from the community members' perspective. The results show that the cost of producing food, particularly the use of chemical fertilizer, is the main barrier whilst ensuring that all children regardless of social-economic status have access to a meal at school is the drive behind this initiative. The Social Marketing campaign therefore focuses on promoting the use of eco-san toilets whose output is humanure in this school community so as to minimize the cost of producing food to ensure sustainability of this initiative.

This thesis examines whether the concept of good (environmental) governance provides a useful tool and legal base for the achievement of water sustainability in South Africa's mining sector. The thesis introduces water pollution as one sustainability challenge that South Africa is facing in its mining sector. The main question is how the legal framework should promote and guide water sustainability through good environmental governance. The question results from the fact that mining is a constant threat to water resources. Mining is one of the leading causes of water pollution which adversely affects human life among others when water contaminated with heavy metals is consumed. Farming, as an essential component of food security, is under constant threat in places like Mpumalanga as soils are rendered less productive by mine-contaminated water infiltrating from topsoil or rising from underground mines. Similarly, polluted water adversely affects biodiversity, thus, destroying ecosystems and vegetation which serve as livestock feed. The analysis of sustainability, governance and good governance theories and specific concepts underpinning them shows that they can inform water protection in the South African mining sector. Sustainability, found to be a broad and interdisciplinary concept, is a necessary guideline for the pursuit of water governance in the mining sector. Despite conflicting perceptions or facts regarding sustainability, it is evident that for water to be preserved, sustainable practices are essential. This requires mining activities to be conducted while always minimising the occurrence of water pollution to ensure water sustainability in the South African mining sector. The thesis also expounds that water sustainability pursued through governance practices is likely to be effective in alleviating or preventing water concerns. Thus, the concept of governance is presented as a tool with which individuals or organisations can achieve effective water sustainability, through decision-making, planning and law enforcement. Governance as a concept is complex, multifaceted and interdisciplinary, but can ensure water sustainability and the wellbeing of members of society who depend on the natural environment. The thesis further highlights that water sustainability is more likely when pursued through governance in its best possible form. The concept of good environmental governance is therefore explained as a theory that can guide effective decisionmaking and serve as a tool at the disposal of interested and affected parties to judge the performance of administrative officials. Effective decision-making processes and its elements are to be promoted through cooperative governance, accountability, transparency and public participation, for effective administrative action. The thesis then analyses the South African legal framework and establishes that water governance in the mining sector is extensively catered for therein. The Constitution sets the water sustainability mandate based on which legislation is enacted, both followed by legal interpretation in the courts. The analysis, however, show that there are various shortcomings relating to the implementation and enforcement of the law through administrative action. Nevertheless, the analysis remains hopeful that water sustainability can still be achieved in the mining sector. Despite the existence of environmental provisions and various attempts to achieve water sustainability, the current South African legal framework still fails to control water pollution effectively. The failure may be attributed to the shortcomings of the said framework, but it is, to a larger extent, a result of poor implementation and enforcement. One main reason is less effective administrative action due to inefficient decision-making processes, which implies that the quality of governance regarding water protection in the mining sector is inadequate. Such findings show that water sustainability could have been achieved or improved if decisionmakers had relied fully on good governance principles to implement and enforce provisions aimed at water protection in the mining sector. Hence, this thesis finds that no new regulation is required; rather it suggests a reform of various provisions within the existing legal framework to improve water sustainability. This is subject to improved implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

The continuous operation of civil and marine structures is essential for maintaining the flow of people and goods. However, structures are exposed to extreme or progressive events during their service time. The uncertainties associated with the occurrence and the magnitude of extreme events (e.g. flooding and scour) may change, leading to unprecedented loading conditions, while the progressive events (e.g. corrosion and fatigue) may jeopardize the structural capacity to resist loads. In order to maintain or improve the structural capacity, repair and maintenance actions need to be applied to structures. However, the determination of these actions may be challenging for decision makers due to (a) limited financial resources to be allocated for a group of structures, (b) uncertainties associated with current structure conditions and future loading conditions, and (c) various decision-making factors (e.g. reliability threshold, decision time, and risk attitude). In order to address these issues, the focus of the research in this dissertation is to enhance the development of management strategies with the application in (a) management of bridge networks under hydraulic events and climate changes, (b) service life extension of ships considering financial feasibility and decision-making factors, and (c) determination of reliability threshold in the decision-making process. The management of bridge networks involves the quantification of regional hazards imposed on the network, performance assessment of structures, and consequence evaluation of potential bridge failure. Regional hazards such as floods may be affected by the changes in the intensity of precipitation due to anticipated climate changes. These hazards may cause extensive damage to bridges, and failure may cause significant costs to bridge managers and result in inconvenience on the daily traffic commute. This research focuses on enhancing the assessment and management of bridges networks vulnerable to regional hydraulic events and climate changes. The integration of transportation network analysis, which reflects the redistribution of traffic flow in the event of bridge failure, is shown to be essential when determining the risk level of bridges. Furthermore, this work includes proposed methodologies for determining optimal management strategies that account for the connection between global climate predictions and regional hydrologic conditions. The crux of determining management strategies, especially for extending ship service lives, is to ensure an adequate safety margin within and beyond the design life. In addition to the loading effect and structural capacity, the safety margin of ships is related to the deterioration acting on the structure. During ship operation, in-service condition surveys are conducted on ship details to assess structural conditions and to inform maintenance actions. This research focuses on the integration of condition surveys of ship details, as well as the timing of conducting surveys, to improve the service life extension for ship structures. While decision makers strive to maintain the safe operation of ships, they should also identify the management strategy that can deliver the best return given the limited budget. This research, from the perspective of cost-effectiveness and profitability, proposes optimization frameworks to clarify the financially feasible life expectancy of different management strategies as well as identify the optimal duration of extended service life for different categories of commercial ships. The last focus of this research emanates from the reliability threshold when determining management strategies. In addition to facilitating decision-making on the management of civil and marine structures, the reliability threshold in terms of target reliability index has been extensively used in design guidelines to ensure adequate safety margin for structures. The level of safety is typically related to the failure mode and severity of failure consequences (e.g. number of potential fatalities). Driven by the emerging application of unmanned ships where there are fewer or no crew members on board, this research specifically focuses on the integration of different acceptance criteria for human safety into the determination of the target reliability index.

The purpose of this study was to describe the campus sustainability performance at four exemplary higher education institutions, i.e., Doctoral, Master’s, Baccalaureate, and Associate’s, as measured by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). The case-by-case analysis and the cross-case analysis demonstrated the similarities and differences that emerged across the four cases in the area of the institutional dynamics, sustainability performance, the journey of campus sustainability, and challenges, as well as drivers. In addition, the research aims to provide some implication to other institutions that intend to advance sustainability on their campuses. A multi-site case study was used to investigate the sustainability performance of four exemplary institutions that participated in the STARS program. Two forms of data collection techniques used for this research study were document analysis and in-depth interviews. Nurturing the student, serving the community, taking social responsibility, and making changes was the internal motivations which drove the four institutions to what they have achieved today. They shared the same purpose of helping students become more aware and informed on how they could apply sustainability into their work, business, and many other places to make the change. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Conversion of tropical forests into oil palm plantations reduces the habitats of many species, including primates, and frequently leads to human–wildlife conflicts. Contrary to the widespread belief that macaques foraging in the forest–oil palm matrix are detrimental crop pests, we show that the impact of macaques on oil palm yield is minor. More importantly, our data suggest that wild macaques have the potential to act as biological pest control by feeding on plantation rats, the major pest for oil palm crops, with each macaque group estimated to reduce rat populations by about 3,000 individuals per year (mitigating annual losses of 112 USD per hectare). If used for rodent control in place of the conventional method of poison, macaques could provide an important ecosystem service and enhance palm oil sustainability.

The way in which we approach building design is constantly being influenced by evolving economic, environmental and social parameters. These factors have implications on both pragmatic and aesthetic facets of design. The built environment is not autonomous from its immediate site or the ecologies of the region in which it is located, rather, the former must be designed to symbiotically exist within and enhance the latter. The term ecology is defined as “a branch of science that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.” Although this typically relates to biology, the term can be expanded to include economic or social ecology. It has been proposed that architectural design can be informed through and should evolve in relation to; environmental, economic and social ecologies. This thesis will examine the relationships between these “ecologies” and how they can inform the adaptive reuse of a vacant industrial site. It will include an examination of the paradigm shift from large-scale industrial manufacturing to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) at the economic and social level. It will further discuss the evolution of environmental awareness within this shift and how these values can drive architectural design while allowing for long term flexibility in adaptive reuse.

No longer are suburban towns filled with households made up of large middle-class white families. In recent years, America’s diverse, elderly, and singles have joined this demographic in increasing numbers. The large square footages of homes and properties do not serve smaller households and are not environmentally sustainable. They demand significant heating and cooling and reliance on automobiles for everyday transportation due to the lack of walkability and transit connectivity. These two issues result in a high carbon footprint compared to living in a dense urban environment. Urban design interventions can help these suburbs facing population growth, demographic change, and unsustainable lifestyles. Solutions include a shift towards mixed-use development, densification, greening, and walkability. Implementing these design strategies in a strategic balanced way can help improve sustainability efforts, the health and wellness of the residents, and community engagement.

Saudi Arabia is the greatest exporter of oil in the world and also the country with greatest desalination capacity. It is considered a rich country but not a developed one. Because water is scarce while energy is abundant, it becomes important to evaluate the environmental performance of populations in Saudi Arabia with regards to these two aspects. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is a gated community in Saudi Arabia with high living standards where water and energy are free of cost (no constraint over use). Four environmental sustainability indicators were used to determine the environmental performance of KAUST in comparison to other countries. It was found that per capita, KAUST is between the five greatest water and energy consumers in the world. Important factors to this result are the fact that KAUST is still under construction, that the peak capacity for permanent residents has not yet been reached and that there is little control over the water and energy systems at KAUST. It was concluded that KAUST should reduce its water and energy consumption per capita. To this means, some proposed solutions were to have wide-spread awareness-raising campaigns to all people working and living in KAUST, and to improve control over air conditioning control systems.

Membranes are a robust, reliable and economical technology. However, polymeric membranes are manufactured from polymeric and organic solvent sources derived from petrochemical sources. The high volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions of the organic solvents and the non-recyclability of the polymers often question the membrane manufacture sustainability. The main goal of this dissertation is the preparation of polymeric membranes for liquid separation through more sustainable processes. We report here the green preparations of hollow fibers, thin-film composite and integrally skinned asymmetric membranes. An important part of the work is represented by the development of cellulose hollow fibers from ionic liquid solutions, avoiding strong alkali or harsh solvents. By tuning the manufacturing process, we prove that the membranes can be used for different applications such as oil-water separation, protein separation via ion-exchange chromatography and solvent purification via organic solvent nanofiltration. The main advantages of using cellulose to prepare hollow fiber membranes are the biodegradability of the polymer and the intrinsic chemical stability. Another significant milestone of this work is replacing volatile solvents such as hexane during the thin-film composite membrane manufacture. As green alternative solvents, we decided to use naturally extracted oleic acid and decanoic acid. Due to their low costs and volatility, they represent a valid alternative for industrial membrane preparation through the interfacial polymerization process. The membranes prepared with this process were used for solvent resistant nanofiltration. Finally, by using ionic liquids as solvents, we improved the manufacturing sustainability polytriazole asymmetric membranes synthesized in the lab.