An ethics assessment list for geoinformation ecosystems: revisiting the integrated geospatial information framework of the United Nations

To achieve sustainable development goals, georeferenced data and geographic information systems play a crucial role. Yet, the way in which these data and systems are summoned upon rests on positivist assumptions which overlook both epistemological and ethical concerns. This is epitomized by the integrated geospatial information framework ...

Challenges of cultural heritage adaptive reuse: A stakeholders-based comparative study in three European cities

The adaptive reuse of cultural heritage can contribute to sustainable development and circular economy, preventing waste production and resource depletion by extending the heritage lifespan. This reuse is limited by challenges mostly identified at the case study level. However, further theorising these challenges could enrich the related body...

Sustainable development goals as accountability mechanism? A case study of Dutch infrastructure agencies

The UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations as a “universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.” These goals prove to have a strong appeal to managers in both public and private sectors. Despite the popularity of the goals, little is...

How do waste climate policies contribute to sustainable development? A case study of North Macedonia

The impact of waste policies and measures from National Determined Contributions (NDCs) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is unexamined and creates conditions for policy conflict and incoherence. This participatory case study of North Macedonia quantifies synergies and trade-offs. Our results show twelve times more synergies than trade...

A Framework to Evaluate the SDG Contribution of Fluvial Nature-Based Solutions

Nature-based solutions (NBSs) are measures reflecting the ‘cooperation with nature’ approach: mitigating fluvial flood risk while being cost-effective, resource-efficient, and providing numerous environmental, social, and economic benefits. Since 2015, the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda has provided UN member states with goals, targets, and...

Mapping value sensitive design onto AI for social good principles

Value sensitive design (VSD) is an established method for integrating values into technical design. It has been applied to different technologies and, more recently, to artificial intelligence (AI). We argue that AI poses a number of challenges specific to VSD that require a somewhat modified VSD approach. Machine learning (ML), in particular,...

Characterizing data ecosystems to support official statistics with open mapping data for reporting on sustainable development goals

Reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is complex given the wide variety of governmental and NGO actors involved in development projects as well as the increased number of targets and indicators. However, data on the wide variety of indicators must be collected regularly, in a robust manner, comparable across but also within...

Reconciling food security and bioenergy: Priorities for action

Understanding the complex interactions among food security, bioenergy sustainability, and resource management requires a focus on specific contextual problems and opportunities. The United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals place a high priority on food and energy security; bioenergy plays an important role in achieving both goals....

Ethics and the UN Sustainable Development Goals: The Case for Comprehensive Engineering: Commentary on “Using Student Engagement to Relocate Ethics to the Core of the Engineering Curriculum”

In the twenty-first century, the urgent problems the world is facing (the UN Sustainable Development Goals) are increasingly related to vast and intricate ‘systems of systems’, which comprise both socio-technical and eco-systems. In order for engineers to adequately and responsibly respond to these problems, they cannot focus on only one...