Citizen participation is key for effective and successful local government.  Without participation, local government initiatives have a limited effect on improving trust in local politics and politicians, resulting in much more challenging policy implementation.  Without the effective involvement of citizens in local g ...

A typical vehicle traveling at 90 km/h burns 23% less fuel than at 110 km/h.  Driving at 100 km/h on the autobahn burns around 10% less fuel than at 130 km/h.  A significant reduction in oil imports to fuel traffic would immediately reduce the upward pressure on gasoline prices.  However, an analysis of current traffic ...

Sustainable urban development calls for effective cooperation and collaboration between all relevant stakeholders.  Governance is one of the fundamental drivers of change that promotes direct partnership between the municipalities and the private and third sectors.  Governance requires municipal authorities and their i ...

United Nations in Ukraine. “Voluntary National Review 2020: Ukraine,” 2021. https://ukraine.un.org/... By yearend 2020, Ukraine made progress on 15 of the 17 SDGs. In its Voluntary National Review 2020, the country reported success in reducing poverty, improving labor remuneration standards, housing subsidies, and long ...

Europe, Asia and the Middle East have seen the number Russian tourists increase over recent decades. Now, the Russian invasion and its war on Ukraine and the sanctions and air restrictions imposed on Russia will have a significant impact on tourism in various countries. Soon after the invasion of Ukraine, Canada, the E ...

The war in Ukraine is destroying the country and shaking Europe and the world. The conflict is causing a refugee crisis of historic proportions. Humanitarian needs are surging as the war continues and escalates. More people are being displaced by the violence, with as many as 12 million people needing assistance. Baden ...

Sustainability charlatans are so-called "sustainability professionals" and other self-anointed "SDG experts" who actively and knowingly greenwash their activities or those of their clients through opaque methods and questionable reporting practices.  Although not standardized, environmental social and governance (ESG) ...

Dependency of the European Union on energy imports is 60%.  In 2021, Russia made up 45% of the EU's imported gas, costing €1 billion daily despite sanctions.  While energy markets will remain very tight, Europe must effectively diversify supplies from its current main supplier (Russia) and look for new solutions to mee ...

Western refiners and petrochemical plants depend on Russian oil, requiring the US and its allies to exclude energy from the sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.  Still, refiners are struggling to get funding and ships to export Russian oil, causing them to cut back production and a backup in Russia’ ...

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program is an opportunity for Russian citizens to help the UN address the challenges of sustainable development and global peace.  Volunteers serve for one year in UN programs and projects in various countries and act as agents of sustainable transition in various professional fields ...

#HospitalityHelps is a platform that connects families that are fleeing the war in Ukraine with hotels around Europe.  Currently focused on key cities in Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, the hotels provide free stays for five nights to Ukrainians who show proof of residency in ...

As the conflict in Ukraine continues and the crisis escalates, we may be on the verge of a humanitarian and refugee crisis of historic proportions.  Humanitarian needs are surging as more people are displaced by the violence in Ukraine, where as many as 12 million people will need assistance.  The UN has committed to s ...

At the end of 2021, Ukraine joined the Open SDG platform for monitoring and reporting on the country's progress in implementing the sustainable development goals (SDGs). With the support of the UNEP Joint SDG Fund, the platform provides access to national SDG implementation indicators for the government and the world c ...

The Smart City Hospitality Framework can serve as the foundation for a destination-design-driven approach to urban tourism governance and dealing with overtourism.  It is intended to stimulate collaboration on solutions to overtourism and urban tourism development and facilitate discussing and analyzing the relationshi ...

We consume 70% more than what the earth can safely replenish and only 8.6% of what we use is returned to the economy.  Rather than rectifying this, global circularity decreased from 9.1% in 2018 to 8.6% in 2020.  Increasing levels of waste accompany the rapid acceleration of consumption, leaving a massive circularity g ...