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The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become a universal call to action over the past few years and a basis for assessing the progress of sustainable development of countries and organizations. This paper aims to identify the relationship between the sustainable development activities of universities in different regions of the world, as reflected in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings (THE IR), and the progress towards achieving SDGs of the countries in which these universities operate. The research methods were correlation analysis and robust regression tools, and parametric and non-parametric methods of variance analysis. The information base was the results of annual reports based on the THE IR and Sustainable Development Reports for 2017–2021. The results confirm the existence of directly proportional close correlations between the variables, while the regression analysis confirmed that a one-unit increase in the overall THE IR ranking score leads to a corresponding increase in the overall progress of countries in achieving SDGs (on average by 0.2-0.3 units) and SDGs 3, 8, 11, 16 in particular. It was also found that universities play a key role in achieving different SDGs in various regions. In Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and North Africa, universities are critical for SDG 17 achieving. In OECD countries, universities contribute most to SDG 3. Examples of the best practices that can be used as a guide for university administrations that are at the beginning of developing sustainable development policies are also given. Funding Inna Makarenko gratefully acknowledges support from the Jean Monet module project “Transparency. Accountability. Responsibility. Governance. Europe. Trust. Sustainability” financed by the Erasmus+ program (101085395 – TARGETS – ERASMUS-JMO-2022-HEI-TCH-RSCH).

Sustainability reporting is a critical process through which companies disclose environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals and communicate progress toward achieving them. As a strategic tool for improving transparency and corporate accountability, SDRs serve to inform stakeholders about a company’s commitment to sustainable development. This study investigates the determinants of Sustainable Development Report (SDR) disclosure among companies listed on the Vietnamese stock market between 2020 and 2022. By integrating both internal factors (such as firm size, profitability, and financial leverage) and external factors (including industry sector and ownership structure), the research provides a comprehensive examination of the key drivers of SDR disclosure in an emerging market context. A major contribution of this study is its identification of industry-specific influences on SDR disclosure, highlighting that companies in environmentally sensitive sectors—such as energy, mining, and manufacturing—are more likely to disclose sustainability information due to higher societal and regulatory pressures. Additionally, the study introduces the role of fixed assets as a significant determinant of SDR disclosure, an aspect that has been largely overlooked in previous literature. The research also emphasizes the importance of ownership structure, particularly state and foreign ownership, in shaping the likelihood and quality of SDR disclosure. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, this study analyzes data from 90 companies and offers empirical insights into how these factors interact and influence SDR practices in Vietnam. The findings contribute to the literature by offering new perspectives on the factors driving SDR disclosure in emerging economies. Moreover, this study provides practical recommendations for policymakers and business managers to improve sustainability reporting practices, thereby fostering greater corporate transparency and aligning Vietnam's practices with international sustainability standards.

This study presents a hybrid modeling framework aimed at enhancing climate mitigation strategies by evaluating the predictive power of sustainability indicators using both statistical analysis—correlation metrics, regression modeling, distribution tests—and artificial neural networks (ANNs). The analysis centers on variables critical to climate outcomes, including renewable energy use in transport and electricity, greenhouse gas emissions from production, and aggregated target completion values. The findings identify renewable energy usage in transport as the primary predictor of improved performance in the Sustainable Development Report (SDR), followed by overall target completeness, electricity-based renewables, and production-related emissions. Multidimensional interaction analyses highlight a synergetic link between transport renewables and target achievement, underscoring their strategic relevance for climate mitigation efforts. The ANN models demonstrate high predictive accuracy and minimal error, affirming the model’s suitability for scenario-based climate forecasting. Results offer actionable intelligence for policymakers and climate stakeholders to optimize resource allocation and accelerate low-carbon transitions. The study acknowledges limitations, namely, the relatively small dataset and EU-centric analysis, and recommends future extensions to more geographically diverse datasets and the incorporation of advanced econometric techniques and AI frameworks to improve generalizability and predictive potency.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate sufficiency economy philosophy (SEP) performance through annual reports and voluntary sustainable development reports and examines the relationship between SEP performance and firm-specific risk of Thai listed companies from 2013 to 2018. Based on global reporting initiative (GRI) standards, the SEP performance was measured by aligning each GRI topic with each of the SEP elements to create an SEP scoring system. The scoring system was applied and tested by evaluating 34 firms for six years. The outcome scores were recorded in panel data structure and used to test two competing hypotheses of risk reduction and managerial opportunism. The regression results supported the risk reduction hypothesis and thus practicing SEP reduced firm-specific risk. Since our sample was limited to 34 firms, a two-stage least squares instrumental variable (2SLS-IV) analysis was performed to estimate the causal relationship between SEP performance and firm-specific risk. The result remained negatively and significantly correlated, indicating that SEP practice stimulated business sustainability. The finding suggested that the SEP scoring system was able to capture SEP performance and practicing SEP appeared to reduce firm-specific risk, which was consistent with the risk reduction hypothesis of the stakeholder theory.

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors affecting the publication of sustainability reports from the perspective of managers at 4-5 star hotels in Vietnam. Issues of corporate size, profitability, legal regulation, corporate governance and technology of the company were mentioned as factors that may affect the publication of the report on sustainable development. The author has synthesized the relevant background theory as well as previous outstanding studies on the issue of publishing sustainable development reports. SPSS 20 software was used to test the relationship between the factors affecting the publication of the Sustainable Development Report based on the manager's point of view. The results of the study show that the factors of business size, profitability, and legal regulations all affect the publication of sustainable development reports at 4-5 star hotels in Vietnam. A new finding of this study is that the two factors of corporate governance and the company's technology combine into a public governance factor based on technology and it is the technology that has the strongest influence on the publication of the Sustainable Development Report. The study once again confirms the relationship between the factors affecting the publication of the Sustainable Development Report and is a document to help researchers understand better in the research context in Vietnam, one of the leading countries in the world developing countries and have limited access to and use of secondary data.

The state of the ‘social’ that individuals, social groups and societies experience are a focus of international conventions, declarations and goal setting documents. Many indicators of the ‘social’ and measures of well-being that contain sets of indicators of the ‘social’ exist to ascertain the state of the ‘social’ of individuals, social groups, and societies. Marginalized groups are well known to have problems with the ‘social’ they experience. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and similar phrases are used in policy discussions to deal with ‘social problems’ within research, education, and general workplace environments encountered by women, Indigenous peoples, visible/racialized minorities, disabled people, and LGBTQ2S+. The prevention of the worthening of the ‘social’ is one focus of science and technology governance and ethics discussions. Many health professions are also concerned about the ‘social’ such as the well-being of their clients and their roles as stated by many of their associations include being advocates and change agents. The objective of the study was to ascertain how the ‘social’ is engaged with in conjunction with the following international documents (“Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”, “Convention on the Rights of the Child”, “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”, “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, “International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination”, “UN Framework Convention on Climate Change”, “transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development” and “UN flagship report on disability and development Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals by, for and with persons with disabilities”; from now on called “the documents”). A scoping review using the academic databases SCOPUS, Web of Science, databases accessible under Compendex, and the databases accessible under EBSCO-HOST, coupled with a manifest hit-count coding approach was uses to answer five research questions: (1) Which terms, phrases, and measures of the ‘social’ are present in the literature searched (2) Which of the social issues flagged in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) are present in the academic abstracts mentioning the other eight documents? (3) Which EDI frameworks, phrases and social groups covered under EDI are present in the literature covered. (4) Which technologies, science and technology governance terms and ethics fields are present in the literature covered? (5) Which health professions are mentioned in the literature covered? The results reveal vast gaps and opportunities to engage with the ‘social’ in relation to “the documents” covered for all five questions.

This study examines whether references to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the editorials of sustainable development reports have any predictive influence with respect to firms’ inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSWI). Signalling theory proposes hypotheses that can be tested by textual analysis of sustainable development report editorials published by French firms. The results suggest that these editorials may serve as leading indicators of CSR. The predictive power of editorials is strengthened when they are signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), published in a sustainability report and written in a clear and readable style.

NOABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to analyse the progress of the Baltic Sea Region countries in implementing the LNOB in a short-term trend. The study seeks to identify the stability of progress in a five-year period and examine which LNOB index dimensions and the sustainable development goals pose the greatest challenges in ensuring the inclusion of all members of society.The qualitative research method, document analysis was applied in the research. The analysis of Europe Sustainable Development Reports (further – SDRs) (2019-2023 period) was completed to identify the Baltic Sea Region countries’ progress in achieving the LNOB Index in the short-term trend. This analytical approach allowed a comprehensive examination of the progress recorded in the LNOB index. Through meticulous evaluation, dynamic changes unfolding over the specified five-year timeframe were unveiled, providing valuable insights into inclusive sustainable development in the Baltic Sea Region countries.Five-year period data on the Baltic Sea Region’s LNBO and SDG indicators show positive progress as the number of above-EU average countries is rising and the gap between the best and worst performers is narrowing. However, the LNOB progress is very uneven as the countries experienced some development and some regression (Finland decreased by 0.8 points, while Lithuania improved by 8 points). The analysis of LNOB dimensions revealed some challenges. In the dimension of poverty and material deprivation, countries have shown a declining trend due to lower trends for SDG2 Zero Hunger and SDG12 Responsible Consumption and Production. In the dimension of income inequality Denmark and Sweden have even worsened their trends due to the stagnating situation SDG8 Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG10 Reduced inequalities. The dimension of Access To and Quality of Services have decreased due to declining trends in SDG4 Quality education. These findings indicate that even developed countries are vulnerable to global and national challenges.The originality of this topic lies in our approach to a detailed assessment of the progress of the countries of the Baltic Sea region using the LNOB index and the forecasted trends in achieving sustainable development goals. Rather than focusing solely on specific targets or indicators, we take a holistic approach by analysing the LNOB Index, providing insights into the region’s commitment to sustainable development. We performed a detailed analysis of the LNOB index of the Baltic Sea region countries, based on the four dimensions of the index, and highlighted progress and challenges in the field of sustainable development.

This research analysed with data from 265 managers from head level upwards working in 60 oil trading companies in the Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) spread across the country to examine factors affecting the disclosure of sustainable development reports. The following methods of descriptive statistics, Cronbach?s Alpha, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) are employed in this study. The empirical results show that enterprise size, growth opportunities, legal basis, business sector and profitability are factors that have a varying positive impact on disclosing sustainable development reports. The managerial viewpoint, though influencing the impact, is not statistically significant for disclosing sustainability development reports. The results provide a scientific basis for managers to make appropriate decisions in improving the disclosure of sustainable development reporting information.

Purpose: The paper aims to provide a conceptual map of how to mediate between sustainability theory and practice in higher education and how disciplinary divides can be bridged. It further looks at issues linked to knowledge views and drivers for institutional change that affect opportunities for whole institution development promoting action preparedness. Design/methodology/approach: Taking its point of departure in the University Educators for Sustainable Development report UE4SD (2014, 2015), the paper discusses ways that ideas and interaction can be mediated in higher education settings, to connect sustainability research with vocational programmes. Different options are considered and compared. Findings: Although the literature stresses both action orientation and the need for holistic transdisciplinary approaches, many institutional drivers limit opportunities for more integrating approaches. Research limitations/implications: However, while conclusions may hold for universities at an overarching level, it is likely that certain research and teaching environments have been able to transcend such barriers. Practical implications: Conceptually mapping the different forms that dialogue, interaction and flows of ideas take within higher education institutions has relevance for whole institution development for sustainability. Social implications: Importantly, producing sustainability science with relevance to practice in various professions is a fundamental condition to support accelerated transitions to sustainability at societal levels. Originality/value: The paper makes a significant contribution by focusing on concrete institutional pathways for knowledge exchange and negotiation that can support education for sustainability in higher education.