Furthermore, the project emphasizes risk management and regulatory compliance, ensuring that businesses effectively navigate evolving sustainability policies. It offers expertise in climate impact assessment, resource efficiency, and corporate social responsibility initiatives, while also fostering stakeholder engagement strategies. Through its comprehensive approach, AE4RIA and SPOROS Platform enable businesses to enhance their sustainability performance, mitigate risks, and leverage opportunities in the green economy.

Prof. Phoebe Koundouri is President of the Circular Board; SPOROS Platform 

Το άρθρο SPOROS Sustainability Edge εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

Το άρθρο ESG quantification and Acceleration: The DELTA case study εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

The analysis revealed Barba-Stathis’s strong backward linkages within the economy, highlighting its significant impact on various sectors through its supply chain. These effects were seen not only in production and employment but also in public revenue generation. The Direct effects focused on the company’s immediate economic activities, including its output and employment. Indirect effects captured the broader network of suppliers (upstream sectors) benefiting from Barba-Stathis’s operations, while Induced effects accounted for the additional consumption resulting from wages paid by the company and its suppliers.

The findings underscored the company’s role as a key driver in enhancing national production levels, supporting jobs across sectors, and contributing to public finances. This comprehensive assessment positioned Barba-Stathis as a crucial player in Greece’s socio-economic landscape, with far-reaching impacts beyond its direct business activities.

This study was conducted as part of Prof. Phoebe Koundouri’s collaboration with PwC Greece, where she serves as the sustainability advisor.

Το άρθρο Socio-economic Footprint Report of Barba-Stathis εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

The project “Evaluation of Entrance Fee Policy and Socioeconomic Impacts at the Alonissos-Northern Sporades National Marine Park” aims to ensure that the national water park’s pricing model is both economically sound and socially responsible, with direct benefits flowing back to the community that supports and sustains it. The main objectives of the project are to:

• Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the entrance fee policy implemented in the A Zone of the Alonissos-Northern Sporades National Marine Park over the past three years. The evaluation will focus on assessing the impact of the policy on local tourism, economic activity, and social dynamics while considering external factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and transportation connectivity. (Task 1)
• Develop a sustainable and equitable pricing model for a national water park by integrating ecosystem services valuation (ESV) and social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA). Additionally, the analysis will also determine the appropriate proportion of park-generated profits to be reinvested into the local community. (Task 2)
• Actively involve stakeholders in co-creation workshops, ensuring the pricing and revenue allocation strategies reflect the values and needs of all relevant parties. (Task 3)

Task 1: Evaluation of Entrance Fee Policy and Visitor Impact

This task will assess the effectiveness of the entrance fee policy in protecting the ecological integrity of Zone A of the park and its influence on visitor patterns, particularly on the number of recreational boats and tourists visiting the area. Moreover, we will evaluate the socioeconomic impacts of the entrance fee policy on the local community, focusing on its effects on local businesses, employment, and overall economic activity in the region.

Task 2: Ecosystem Services Valuation and Social Cost-Benefit Analysis

This task will conduct a comprehensive ecosystem services valuation (ESV) to quantify the economic value of the park’s ecosystem services, including provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services. Simultaneously, perform a social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) to evaluate the broader social, environmental, and economic impacts of various pricing strategies. The outcome will be used to set a fair and sustainable pricing model for the park.

Task 3: Stakeholder Involvement and Co-Creation Workshops

This Task aims to engage key stakeholders, including local communities, park management, environmental groups, tourists, and government officials, through a series of co-creation workshops. These workshops will be designed to gather input, build consensus, and co-develop the pricing and profit allocation strategies.

Deliverables:

• Comprehensive report on the ecosystem services valuation and social cost-benefit analysis.
• A proposed pricing model for the national water park, including a detailed breakdown of entry fees, activity charges, and other related costs.
• A recommendation for the percentage of park profits to be allocated to the local community.
• Workshop reports documenting stakeholder input and the co-created strategies.
• Finalized pricing and revenue allocation model, with stakeholder endorsement.

Duration: 9 months – November 2024 – August 2025

The study involves the Athens University of Economics and Business, with Professor Phoebe Koundouri as the Scientific Supervisor. Team members: Dr. Conrad Landis, Lydia Papadaki, Eirini Afentouli

Το άρθρο Evaluation of Entrance Fee Policy and Socioeconomic Impacts at the Alonissos-Northern Sporades National Marine Park εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

The report urgently calls for decisive EU interventions to forestall irreversible environmental harm and address critical social tipping points, both essential for meeting the objectives of the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement. Utilizing the SDG Index and Dashboards, the ESDR2023/24 monitors progress on the SDGs for the EU, its Member States, and partner countries. It warns that, at the current pace, the EU is at risk of missing a significant portion of its SDG targets by 2030, with notable disparities among European nations. Stagnation and regression in social targets, encompassing challenges related to access to quality services, poverty, and material deprivation, are highlighted in several European countries. The report also identifies substantial negative “international spillovers” from the EU, driven by unsustainable consumption and global supply chains. To address these issues, the report provides crucial recommendations for the EU to enhance its leadership on SDGs, both domestically and internationally.

In tandem with the ESDR 2023/24, the coalition of 200+ scientists, experts, and practitioners from 25 European countries issued a joint Call for Action, targeting political parties and urging the future EU leadership to lay the groundwork for a new European Deal for the Future with ten priority actions.

Access the report

Authors
Guillaume Lafortune, Grayson Fuller, Adolf Kloke-Lesch, Phoebe Koundouri and Angelo Riccaboni (2024). European Elections, Europe’s Future and the SDGs: Europe Sustainable Development Report 2023/24. Paris: SDSN and SDSN Europe and Dublin: Dublin University Press, https://doi.org/10.25546/104407

Το άρθρο Europe’s Future and the SDGs: Featuring the launch of the Europe Sustainable Development Report (5th edition) εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

Visit the HS4A website

What is human security?

Human security¹ starts with people and what it means for us to be safe and secure. It means security from harmful disruptions and calamities – in our homes, our jobs, our communities, and our environment.
It’s also about our needs and hopes, our chance to develop our potential, especially those of us who are the most vulnerable.
Human security is about empowering people to participate in making choices on how they can be most secure and resilient in face of current and future risks.
Often policies and solutions assist people with one aspect of human security. But when a crisis comes along, it affects us in many ways.
Consider COVID-19, which threatened our lives and health but also our economies – many lost their jobs and their ability to put food on the table. Others, confined to their homes, experienced threats to their personal security.
Or consider people who have been forced to leave their homes due to natural disasters. People who are displaced need places to live and be safe, jobs and income to survive, but also community networks, a sense of belonging and ways to sustain their culture and their dignity.
In response to these and other threats, our needs and hopes must be heard and heeded – our insecurities must be tackled together, comprehensively.
Without human security, there is no national or global security. Read more on HS4A campaign background

A proven approach to human security:

In ensuring human security for all, we draw on lessons learned from applying the human security approach in more than 295 programmes in 135 countries.²
The human security approach is a framework for assessing, developing and implementing comprehensive responses to complex challenges in communities, countries or regions. The approach puts a priority on prevention and creating early warning mechanisms to detect threats, minimize their impact and, when possible, prevent their occurrence. It is a valuable tool for tackling today’s interconnected threats and addressing their root causes before they become much bigger humanitarian, economic and environmental crises.

Seven dimensions of human security:

• Economic security
• Food security
• Health security
• Environmental security
• Personal security
• Community security
• Political security

Featured Events:

Το άρθρο Human Security for All | UN Trust Fund & World Academy of Art and Science εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

The Port of Lavrio would like to transition to a “green” paradigm through working together with its stakeholder community to develop breakthrough innovation with positive economic, social and environmental impact and thus advancing the contribution of the Lavreotiki region to the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund has employed in 2021-2022 its HRADF ESG rating tool to evaluate the performance of all ports in their asset portfolio, including Lavrio. ATHENA Research centre together with HRADF and EIT CLIMATE KIC participate in the “GREEN PORT LAVRIO” project, to map the port’s stakeholders and develop a shared vision for the port, as well as developing further the contents of the current HRADF ESG rating tool.

More specifically, ATHENA RC is leading WP3 of the project, which includes:

• Integrate SDG’s in the current tool to measure the level of implementation of SDGs at the port level.
• Integrate benchmarking against EU/global Industrial Transportation Sectors. ATHENA RC will study and use the set of KPls of the HRADF ESG rating tool, and whenever appropriate, suggest other KPIs to be included in the tool, and will conduct a desk-research for the availability of National/ European and Global data to support benchmarking analysis. ESG/SDG scores will be benchmarked at various levels: against the other National Sectors of Economic activity, as well as European and Global Seaport Sectors.
• Expand HRADF ESG rating tool to include Hybrid Metrics, integrating valuation of Natural capital to financial accounts and performance measures. ATHENA RC will perform a monetary valuation of the underlying ecosystem services and propose a set of port-specific Hybrid metrics, integrating environmental and financial account measures.

Principal Investigator on behalf of the Sustainable Development Unit at ATHENA RC: Prof. Phoebe Koundouri 

Research Team: Dr. Conrad Landis, Dr. Artemis Stratopoulou

Funding Body: HELLENIC REPUBLIC ASSET DEVELOPMENT FUND SOCIETE ANONYME (HRADF)

Το άρθρο Green Port Lavrio εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

Circular economy and sustainability are two of the topics covered in the new course “International School in Circular Economy Project Management” which sees the University of Ferrara as the leader of the project, partnered with the Wuppertal Institut, Centoform, Athens University of Economics and Business and co-financed by the Region Emilia Romagna.

The course aims to train future professionals in the system design sector that apply circular economy innovations, which today represents a key concept in the development of production methods capable of combining sustainability, innovation and value creation. It is a new production model, which is opposed to the linear model, and is focused on the connection between the various production processes that is opposed to the linear model. This therefore requires new technologies, designs and production processes, as well as radical changes in corporate culture and in relations with stakeholders.

Funding Body: Region Emilia Romagna

 4 partners (University of Ferrara, Wuppertal Institut, Centoform, ATHENA RC)

ATHENA Research and Innovation Centre, Sustainable Development Unit is participating in the International School in Circular Economy Project Management.  The principal Investigator (PI) is Prof. Koundouri and member of the team is: Lydia Papadaki

Το άρθρο CEIS | International School in Circular Economy project management εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

In June 2022, the first results of the study regarding the performance of the 13 Greek Regions on the Agenda 2030 and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were announced, during the Regional Growth Conference at the University of Patras.

The duration of the study was 6 months, starting from the December 2021, and was financed by the Regional Growth Conference and the Regional Growth Observatory with a budget of €20.000,00. The study team included researchers from the SDSN Greece, the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), the ATHENA RC and the Regional Policy Monitor.

The methodology followed consisted of various stages, including the Identification of SDGs indicators at a regional level, the Data Collection, the Determination of targets for Goal Achievement and the aggregation of results for the creation of SDG Dashboards by Indicator and by region.

The report compiles the results from data collection and analyses produced by various European and non-European institutions. These include the European Commission via Eurostat, the European Environmental Agency, the Hellenic Statistical Agency (ELSTAT) and data collected by Athens University of Economics and Business, and Data Consultants.

The aim of this study is to take place on an annual basis, and the results will be communicated to the competent authorities both at the regional level and at the level of the Central Government, in order to be considered for the design of appropriate Regional Development policies, by identifying the main challenges of each Region and ensuring the appropriate investment portfolio for their financing.

The study was coordinated by the SDSN Greece and the authoring team was led by Professor Phoebe Koundouri (AUEB, ATHENA RC) as a Principal Investigator, and included Dr Conrad Landis (AUEB), Professor Chrysi Laspidou (ATHENA RC), Mr Angelos Plataniotis (ATHENA RC), Mr. Agiopoulos Kaptsikas (ATHENA RC), Mrs Thalia Kanellopoulou (Data Consultants), Mr Vasileios Kasiolas (Regional Policy Monitor, Data Consultants), Mr Theofanis Zacharatos (Regional Policy Monitor).

Το άρθρο SDGs measurement in Greek regions εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

Specifically, the study aims to determine the environmental impacts of tree cutting in Rizari Park, including damage from the loss of the ecosystem services provided by the trees, such as carbon sequestration and oxygen release. The methodology to be followed is called “benefit transfer valuation” and is based on the analysis of existing studies on tree ecosystem services.

The study involves the Athens University of Economics and Business, with Professor Phoebe Kountouri as the scientific supervisor.

Duration: July 28, 2022 – September 30, 2022
Contractor: Athens University of Economics and Business

Το άρθρο Environmental Study on the Rizari Park εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.