Search results

Starting from the experience of the University of Bologna, this paper provides an innovative framework to analyse how universities are rethinking courses and curricula, teaching, research programmes, campus operation and partnership to address the Agenda 2030.

The paper proposes a methodological approach to represent direct and indirect impacts produced by all universities’ activities.

The commitment to sustainability of the University of Bologna was made clear through the last Strategic Plan approach explicitly aimed at the consideration of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Parallel to the process of integration of the SDGs in strategic planning, the University has an additional tool for reporting on the extended performance, which was presented during the G7 Environment held in Bologna in June 2017.

This study focussed on the University of Bologna experience, according with HEIs sustainability approach over the world. A bit too technical sometimes to explain each practical point of activity related with the commitment in SDGs.

The multi-year experience acquired by the University of Bologna through a process of reporting that combines the economic dimension with the social and environmental, has as a natural outlet questioning the priorities to be pursued in teaching, research and the third mission to contribute to the Agenda 2030.

It is shown as Alma Mater promotes actively the principles of sustainability also in terms of enhancement of collectivity welfare, the economic growth, the social equity and the capability of involved people to actually work together for the common good.

On the basis of the experience of the University of Bologna, an innovative framework can be provided to analyse how universities are rethinking all their activities to address the Agenda 2030.

The research has the following objectives: to contribute to a clear understanding of the present social commitment of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), analyzing the characteristics of CSR in them; making it easier to identify, develop and spread the instruments suitable to the SME specific demands in the creation of social value.

Surveys a set of SMEs, belonging to different industrial fields and operating on the Italian territory in the region Emilia Romagna.

On the basis of the analysis carried out in the paper, it has been possible to identify the principal managerial instruments used by the companies for the creation of social value and to identify those companies (approximately 63 percent of the reference sample) that adopt an integrated social responsibility approach. The majority of SMEs analysed have therefore perceived the social responsibility concept and welcome it, not only because they have moral or ethical reasons for doing so, but also because they maintain that this contributes to the growth of the company's own value.

As there is no integrated approach, there exists no model in the literature that summarises the expectations of the stakeholders and the associated categories of value for these expectations. The “grid of values” developed in the present study constitutes a first level of such a model and a useful reference for the development of future research.

In the opinion of the authors, two aspects characterize the contribution of the present research methodology: the integrated approach towards all the interlocutors; and the analysis and development of “value classes” to measure the creation of social value.

This study aims to investigate the evolutionary pathways adopted by a digital platform to favor the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem inspired by circular economy behaviors, becoming an enabler in the development of a coevolutionary relationship between entrepreneurial ecosystems and circular economy.

An in-depth single-case study method has been applied, investigating the case of circularity.com, the first and only circular economy industrial symbiosis platform in Italy.

The paper shows how digital platforms can transition towards circular business models, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, the findings show how sustainable platforms' need to revise their business models to effectively engage with stakeholders. The analysis also shows the central role covered by entrepreneurial ecosystems in the transition towards a more circular and sustainable business models.

This paper contributes to theoretical development by offering new and insightful explanations of firms' behavior and coevolution, moving beyond the classic interpretation of industry dynamics and analyzing a unique case study. This study has implications for both practice and research, as it offers a better and more holistic understanding of the enabling role of digital platforms for a circular economy.