- Go to the Sessions
-
- a. Environmental Sustainability
- b. Corporate Sustainability Strategy
- c. Social Values for a Sustainable Economy
- d. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources
- e. Sustainable Urban Development
- f. Sustainable Development Policy and Practice
- g. Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
- h. Remote Sensing for Sustainable Management of Land and Biodiversity, Sustainable Agriculture
- i. Related Topics
- Event Details
Call for Papers
The World Sustainability Forum 2012 (WSF-2012) will cover timely research topics concerned with sustainability and sustainable development. The conference will include nine topical sessions focusing on:
1. Environmental Sustainability (Section A).
2. Corporate Sustainability Strategy (Section B).
3. Social Values for a Sustainable Economy (Section C).
4. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources (Section D).
5. Sustainable Urban Development (Section E).
6. Sustainable Development Policy and Practice (Section F).
7. Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation (Section G).
8. Remote Sensing for Sustainable Management of Land and Biodiversity (Section H)
9. General and Related topics (Section I)
This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference aims to examine, explore and critically engage with issues related to recent insights and advances in these topics. In particular, the conference will encourage both theoretical and practical debates surrounding environmental, economical and social contexts for those who want to go beyond the buzzword.
The conference will be completely free of charge―both to attend and for authors to publish―and is sponsored by MDPI and the scientific journal Sustainability. Selected papers will be published in the journal Sustainability.
The 2nd World Sustainability Forum Conference will be held at www.sciforum.net, a new platform developed by MDPI to organize electronic conferences for scholars.
Please submit your abstract with max 2500 character (in English) by September 10, 2012. Abstracts should be submitted online at https://sciforum.net/conference/wsf2/page/call. All submissions will be reviewed by our scientific committee. For accepted abstracts, a full draft paper should be submitted by October 15, 2012.
Paper Submission Guidelines
For information about the procedure for submission, peer-review, revision and acceptance of conference proceedings papers, please refer to the section "Instruction for authors":
https://sciforum.net/conference/wsf2/page/instructions
Conference Chairs
[email protected]
Sessions
A. Environmental SustainabilityB. Corporate Sustainability Strategy
C. Social Values for a Sustainable Economy
D. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources
E. Sustainable Urban Development
F. Sustainable Development Policy and Practice
G. Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
H. Remote Sensing for Sustainable Management of Land and Biodiversity, Sustainable Agriculture
I. Related Topics
Instructions for Authors
Submissions should be done by the authors online by registering with www.sciforum.net, and using the "New Submission" function once logged into system.
1. Scholars interested in participating with the conference can submit their abstract (about 200-300 words covering the areas of manuscripts for the proceedings issue) online on this website until 10 September 2012.
2. The Conference Committee will pre-evaluate, based on the submitted abstract, whether a contribution from the authors of the abstract will be welcome for 2nd World Sustainability Forum.
All authors will be notified by 25 September 2012 about the acceptance of their abstract.
3. If the abstract is accepted for this conference, the author is asked to submit his manuscript, optionally along with a PowerPoint and/or video presentation of his/her paper, until the submission deadline of 15 October 2012.
4. The manuscripts and presentations will be available on https://sciforum.net/conference/wsf2/page/call for discussion and rating during the time of the conference 1 – 30 November 2012.
5. The Open Access Journal Sustainability will publish the proceedings of the conference as a Special Issue. After the conference, the Conference Committee will select manuscripts that may be included for publication in this Special Issue. Five of the manuscripts with the highest scientific quality will be published free of charge following a successful peer-review.
Manuscripts for the proceedings issue must have the following organization:
First page:
Title
Full author names
Affiliations (including full postal address) and authors' e-mail addresses
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Methods
Results and Discussion
Conclusions
(Acknowledgements)
References
Manuscripts should be prepared in MS Word or any other word processor and should be converted to the PDF format before submission. The publication format will be PDF. The manuscript should count at least 3 pages (incl. figures, tables and references). There is no page limit on the length, although authors are asked to keep their papers as concise as possible.
Authors are encouraged to prepare a presentation in PowerPoint or similar software, to be displayed online along with the Manuscript. Slides, if available, will be displayed directly in the website using Sciforum.net's proprietary slides viewer. Slides can be prepared in exactly the same way as for any traditional conference where research results can be presented. Slides should be converted to the PDF format before submission so that our process can easily and automatically convert them for online displaying.
Besides their active participation within the forum, authors are also encouraged to submit video presentations. If you are interested in submitting, please contact the conference organizer – [email protected] to get to know more about the procedure. This is an unique way of presenting your paper and discuss it with peers from all over the world. Make a difference and join us for this project!
Submission: Manuscripts should be submitted online at https://sciforum.net/conference/wsf2/page/call by registering and logging in to this website.
Accepted File Formats:
MS Word: Manuscript prepared in MS Word must be converted into a single file before submission. When preparing manuscripts in MS Word, the World Sustainability Forum Microsoft Word template file must be used. Please do not insert any graphics (schemes, figures, etc.) into a movable frame which can superimpose the text and make the layout very difficult.
LaTeX: ensure to send a copy of your manuscript as a PDF file also, if you decided to use LaTeX. When preparing manuscripts in LaTeX, please use the MDPI LaTeX template files.
Manuscript Preparation
Paper Format: A4 paper format, the printing area is 17.5 cm x 26.2 cm. The margins should be 1.75 cm on each side of the paper (top, bottom, left, and right sides).
Formatting / Style: The paper style of the Journal Sustainability should be followed. You may download a template file to prepare your paper. The full titles and the cited papers must be given. Reference numbers should be placed in square brackets [ ], and placed before the punctuation; for example [4] or [1-3], and all the references should be listed separately and as the last section at the end of the manuscript.
Authors List and Affiliation Format: Authors' full first and last names must be given. Abbreviated middle name can be added. For papers written by various contributors a corresponding author must be designated. The PubMed/MEDLINE format is used for affiliations: complete street address information including city, zip code, state/province, country, and email address should be added. All authors who contributed significantly to the manuscript (including writing a section) should be listed on the first page of the manuscript, below the title of the article. Other parties, who provided only minor contributions, should be listed under Acknowledgments only. A minor contribution might be a discussion with the author, reading through the draft of the manuscript, or performing English corrections.
Figures, Schemes and Tables: Authors are encouraged to prepare figures and schemes in color. Full color graphics will be published free of charge. Figure and schemes must be numbered (Figure 1, Scheme I, Figure 2, Scheme II, etc.) and a explanatory title must be added. Tables should be inserted into the main text, and numbers and titles for all tables supplied. All table columns should have an explanatory heading. Please supply legends for all figures, schemes and tables. The legends should be prepared as a separate paragraph of the main text and placed in the main text before a table, a figure or a scheme.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
It is the authors' responsibility to identify and declare any personal circumstances or interests that may be perceived as inappropriately influencing the representation or interpretation of clinical research. If there is no conflict, please state here "The authors declare no conflict of interest." This should be conveyed in a separate "Conflict of Interest" statement preceding the "Acknowledgments" and "References" sections at the end of the manuscript. Financial support for the study must be fully disclosed under "Acknowledgments" section. It is the authors' responsibility to identify and declare any personal circumstances or interests that may be perceived as inappropriately influencing the representation or interpretation of clinical research. If there is no conflict, please state here "The authors declare no conflict of interest." This should be conveyed in a separate "Conflict of Interest" statement preceding the "Acknowledgments" and "References" sections at the end of the manuscript. Financial support for the study must be fully disclosed under "Acknowledgments" section.
MDPI AG, the publisher of the Sciforum.net platform, is an open access publisher. We believe that authors should retain the copyright to their scholarly works. Hence, by submitting a Communication paper to this conference, you retain the copyright of your paper, but you grant MDPI AG the non-exclusive right to publish this paper online on the Sciforum.net platform. This means you can easily submit your paper to any scientific journal at a later stage and transfer the copyright to its publisher (if required by that publisher).
List of accepted submissions (82)
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sciforum-002520 | Survey the Influences of Relay Cropping on Yield and Yield Components, Growth Length, Light Interception and Solar Radiation Depreciation of Different Species of Brassica | , | N/A |
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In order to evaluate the effects of relay cropping on yield and yield components, growth length, light interception and solar radiation depreciation of 12 varieties of winter canola, an experiment was conducted in 2006-2007 at Isfahan Agricultural Research Station as a split plot layout within a randomized complete block design with three replications. Main plots were two planting dates (27 September was normal cropping and 27 October was relay cropping), subplots were inclusive of species B. napus (Option 500, Hyola 330, Hyola 401, Sargol, Modena, SLM 046, Opera, Zarfam and RGS003), two varieties of B. rapa (Echo and Park land) and one variety of B. juncea (Land race). The highest seed yield, biological yield, harvest index and oil yield was obtained by Zarfam and Opera at normal planting date and the maximum seed yield and oil yield was related to Slm046 at relay cropping. Oil yield in Zarfam, Opera and Slm046 was 1662, 1587 and 1578 kg/ha. Planting date also had significant effect on all experimental parameters, expect of the number of days from stem elongation to ripening. The effects of cultivars were significant on the number of days from planting date to stem elongation, the number of days from stem elongation to ripening, light interception, light depreciation and LAI. The interaction between planting date and cultivar had significant effects on the number of days from planting to stem elongation, light interception, light depreciation and LAI. The best cultivar in normal planting date were Zarfam and Opera and in relay cropping was SLM046 that these cultivars with suitable growth length, could provide appropriate conditions to intercept light. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
sciforum-002692 | Evaluation of Environmental Sustainability of Material Compositions of Building Structures | , | N/A |
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The paper focuses on evaluation of material compositions of residential building structures in terms of environmental sustainability and influence on energy performance. We calculate the most preferred environmental indicators such as embodied energy from non-renewable resources, Global Warming Potential and Acidification Potential of materials by methodology Life Cycle Assessment within boundary Cradle to Gate. Study of the environmental and energetic effectiveness of designed structures points to importance of suitable choice of materials. By improving the energy performance of building through used higher amount of materials and components is reflected in higher embodied energy and associated emissions. Plant materials compared with other materials prove huge advantage in terms of stored carbon and used clean solar energy. The results of multi-criteria analysis of structure alternatives shows that passive house from traditional nature plant materials with minimal modification require much lower energy used in manufacturing and result in lower emissions from fossil fuel than passive house of other materials. The case study would provide a new optimization method for building envelope design in Slovak climatic conditions tends to the lowest environmental impacts of building during construction phase and occupation phase. Sustainable building is one of the most significant challenges we face. Our responses to environmental issue will influence the quality of life for future generations. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
sciforum-002584 | A Sustainable Cost Benefit Assessment of Wall Assemblies from the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 | , | N/A |
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Residential homes consume 24% of total primary energy while commercial buildings use an additional 19%, totaling 43% of all energy consumption in the U.S. (United States Energy Information Administration [USEIA], 2011). Wall assemblies are a fundamental component of a building's construction and can make significant impacts on building performance. Wall assemblies impact the environment, the builder, and the homeowner in various ways. Depending on the assembly method used to construct walls, a builder may find it easier or more difficult to install, and will identify a labor cost accordingly. Homeowners desire a wall with an affordable cost and appropriate thermal performance. Environmental concerns include using rare or readily available materials or avoiding use of materials which require more energy to produce than they offset. Exploring these factors to discover the ideal wall assembly is critical to enhancing building construction and performance. The purpose of this study was to identify optimal wall assemblies from the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 using a newly developed Sustainable Cost Benefit Assessment (SCBA). The wall assemblies were analyzed using cost per square foot, clear wall R-value, and embodied energy metrics as a means for comparison. Reviewing the entries to the Solar Decathlon 2011 it is clear that the structures incorporate unique wall assemblies, which have not yet been studied. The results of this study provide data showing which of these wall types may prove to offer the most energy efficient, affordable, and environmentally conscious options. In addition, it contributes data to suggest which methods should not be adopted for widespread use. The conclusions of this study help supply valuable information describing which wall types are the best options for reducing building energy consumption. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
sciforum-000256 | Urban Architecture as Connective-collective Intelligence. Nodes and Resources of 'Sustainable Developments' in Times of Crisis |
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Margot Pellegrino ,
Marco Simonetti ,
Luigi Oliva
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N/A |
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During the 20th century, with the advent of the industrial society and globalization, the language of planning changed according to the shifts in perception and use of physical space. By borrowing terms and spatial forms from biology and cybernetics, it increased their original semantic connotations. This paper outlines when the definition of architecture as connective-collective intelligence moved from cognitive sciences to urban design, where spontaneous and collective initiatives that redefined communication forms of urban life multiplied and intensified, both in developments and public space until it even affected the procedure of transmission of traditional knowledge. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
sciforum-002766 | Energy Return on Energy Invested for the Production of Methane from Hydrates by Electrical Heating and by Hot Water Injection | N/A |
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In this paper we expand our previous publications on the production of methane from methane hydrate (MH) submarine reservoirs via electrical heating and by hot water injection. Initially we calculated the primary energy balance (energy out / applied energy) for the possible production of methane from submarine deposits. In the case of low frequency electrical heaters located in the MH reservoir we determined that for optimal heaters lengths and location the EROI was 5/3 (1-2). We then considered the methane production via hot water injection – the scheme suggested in Japan for production in the Nankay trough (3). The reservoir considered was 500 meters long with a radius of 100 meters and an initial temperature of 2 C. A pipe located at the center of the reservoir carries hot water entering at different initial temperatures. In order to solve this problem we first modeled the heating via a standard second order finite difference heat transfer scheme in cylindrical coordinates. Since this scheme proved to be numerically unstable, we assumed as a first approximation that the temperature distribution along the length of the pipe was linear and the temperature at any point in the reservoir was determined using an enthalpy finite difference scheme. This scheme considered the change of phase of the solid methane hydrate into water and methane gas when the temperature of each volume element is greater than a melting temperature of 20 C. The energy produced is taken to be of the order of 6.1x109 joules for each cubic meter of methane hydrate, which dissociates into 160 cubic meters of gas at STP conditions (published data indicates a methane heat of combustion of 3.868 x 107 joules/m3 , in close agreement with reported methane energy content of 1000 BTU per cubic foot). The results obtained for an initial water temperature of 200 C, indicate an EROI [(Energy out) / (Primary energy in)] which varied from 25 as the production is started, to 2.5 after 50 years of production (4). The primary input energy 1) Callarotti R.C., Energy efficiency in the electrical heating of methane hydrate reservoirs. SPE paper 137585. In Proceedings of the Canadian Unconventional Resources and International Petroleum Conference, CURIPC 10, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 19–21 October 2010. Ed., Society of Petroleum Engineers: Houston, TX, USA 2) Callarotti R.C., Energy return on energy invested (EROI) for the electrical heating of methane hydrate reservoirs, Sustainability, 2011, 3, 2105-2114; doi:10.3390/su3112105 3) Yamakawa, T. , Ono S., Iwamoto A., Sugai Y., and Sasaki K.; A Gas Production System From Methane Hydrate Layers By Hot Water Injection And BHP Control With Radial Horizontal Wells. SPE paper 137801. In Proceedings of the Canadian Unconventional Resources and International Petroleum Conference, CURIPC 10, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 19–21 October 2010; Society of Petroleum Engineers: Houston, TX, USA. 4) Callarotti R.C., Energy efficiency in the heating of methane hydrate reservoirs by hot water injection", Heat Transfer 2012, 12th international conference on simulation and experiments on Heat Transfer and their applications, Split (Croatia), June 27-29, 2012 was determined as the sum of the kinetic energy of the water flow into a pipe of 1 m diameter with a 1 m/sec velocity and the thermal energy input to the reservoir. We now present results for the complete heat exchange problem for applied hot water, where the heat transfer is determined by solving the correct discretized equations both inside and outside the pipe, by application of Gauss theorem. This approach stabilized the numerical results in both regions (inside and outside the pipe) and we were able to obtain stable numerical solutions. The correct EROI is determined to be of the order of 30 at the beginning of the operation, and of the order 7 after 30 years of operation. We will also give a brief description of the problem of MH plug removal in ocean oil producing pipes, via the application of microwave energy from the surface. The calculation of the primary energy balance for MH proposed production schemes has been the motivation of our work. If these partial EROI had turned out to be less than 1, the discussion concerning the use of methane hydrates as a new source of non-renewable energy would have been irrelevant. |
List of Authors (137)
Proceedings & Editors
Chair of the 2nd World Sustainability Forum
Scientific Advisory Committee
Organizing Committee
Dr. Brietta Pike (Basel, Switzerland)
Mr. Thomas Schurter (Basel, Switzerland)
List of Keynotes & Videos
Sustainable city
Energy Sustainability
Industry location assessment for multinational enterprises
A. Environmental Sustainability
Prof. Dr. Miklas Scholz, University of Salford, UK
Dr. Judith Tisdall, La Trobe University, Australia
Session Chairs
Professor Miklas Scholz, The University of Salford
Professor Judy Tisdall
B. Corporate Sustainability Strategy
Prof. Dr. John P. Ulhøi, Aarhus University, Denmark
Session Chair
Professor John Ulhoi
C. Social Values for a Sustainable Economy
Dr. Michael J. Heckenberger, University of Florida, USA
Prof. Dr. Terence J. Centner, University of Georgia, USA
Due to evidence that current economies are unsustainable, various efforts are being made to develop sustainable economies. Yet, proponents struggle to define what is meant by sustainability, particularly, in relation to contested social and cultural values. The session welcomes ideas for social values that might be incorporated into parameters for sustainable economies on topics that could include equity, empathy, education, human rights, poverty, health, environmental qualities, energy, and nutrition. We welcome ideas for a dialogue on socio-cultural values, including diverse gender, race and class-based differences, which should be considered in devising parameters for sustainability studies, such as climate change, ecological diversity and integrity, socio-economic development, urbanism, and environmental justice.
Session Chairs
Professor Michael Heckenberger
Professor Terence Centner
D. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources
Prof. Dr. Jesus Martinez-Frias, CSIC-INTA, Spain
This session aims to merge two topics of maximum scientific, technological and social-cultural interest (the so called twin pillars of sustainable energy policy): the objective of efforts to diminish the amount of energy required to provide products and services and the energy which comes from natural resources, which are naturally replenished . Energy is one of the hot themes of Rio+20 where one of the key questions is: How can we provide access to clean energy for everyone, and make sure that the energy we produce doesn’t contribute to climate change? It is well known that the more we use renewable energy, the more we benefit the environment, which has positive returns for everybody’s way of life. The session will describe the state-of-the-art, highlighting recent developments in both “pillars”. We also welcome contributions on advances in analytical techniques as well as other multidisciplinary issues from an earth and planetary perspective.
Session Chairs
Professor Jesus Martinez-Frias, Instituto de Geociencias, IGEO (CSIC-UCM)
Professor Jesus Martinez-Frias, Instituto de Geociencias, IGEO (CSIC-UCM)
E. Sustainable Urban Development
Dr. Michael J. Heckenberger, University of Florida, USA
The idea of sustainable urban development dates to the early 20th century, but radical 20th century changes in global population (<10% in 1900; >50 % in 2012) and associated size and distribution of cities and land-use, even in most remote areas of the globe, underscores the critical importance of urban sustainability, including global ecology and climate change. This session addresses major themes in urban studies in terms of sustainability, such as history and form, urban development and planning, environmental and social justice, socio-cultural diversity, public space and land-use, and the aesthetics and representations of urban life, and the tension between scientific models and applications and the diversity and socio-cultural rights of local groups and contexts, including minorities, marginalized groups and other vulnerable groups that comprise the majority of people affected by contemporary urbanism.
Session Chair
Professor Michael Heckenberger
F. Sustainable Development Policy and Practice
Prof. Dr. Christopher Koroneos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Prof. Dr. Sharon Megdal, University of Arizona, USA
The term \'sustainable development\' was defined by the report entitled Our Common Future released in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), the United Nations Brundtland Commission, as the development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The concept of sustainable development takes into consideration the three constituent parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and sociopolitical sustainability. All these three dimensions must be given equal weight. Thus, some key issues that must be taken into consideration to ensure that development was sustainable, could be:
• Water Issues
• Energy
• Food Security
• Environmental Degradation
• Climate Change
• Population and Human Resources
• Industry
• Issues of Urban Living
• North-South Dialogue
• Economic Development and Environment
• Trade and Environment
Session Chairs
Professor Christopher Koroneos
Dr. Sharon Megdal, University of Arizona
G. Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation
Prof. Dr. Marc A. Rosen, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada
Show all published submissions (4) Hide published submissions (4)
Submissions
List of Papers (4) Toggle list
H. Remote Sensing for Sustainable Management of Land and Biodiversity, Sustainable Agriculture
Prof. Dr. Daniele Riccio, University of Napoli Federico II, Italy
Session Chair
Professor Daniele Riccio