Sustainable Development Goals: genuine global change requires genuine measures of efficacy

Abstract

We live in tumultuous timesit is a common refrain for each new generation as the challenges of contemporary society impinge upon their worldview. There is always change and there is no change quite like how we experience it in the here and now and the way in which it disrupts our status quo.Malthus was disturbed by population change and how it would implode the society he inhabited. His thesisthe Principle of Population ( 1798)espoused what became known as the Malthusian trap whereby growth in the supply of resources led to an increase in population so negating any boost to living standards. The so-called 'limits to growth' remain topical both for proponents and opponents.So is the world we inhabit today any different? Potentially, in the sense that many of the social and physical systems we interact with operate at a global level and any perturbations to those systems reverberate and are felt locally. The global financial crash of 2008 sent shockwaves through markets that left an imprint worldwide. More pressingly, the anthropogenic acceleration of global climate change (IPCC, 2014) is considered to already be impacting communities and may already be past the point of reversing the severest effects.What these two examples show is the potential for dramatic change globally from variations within our internal social systems, as well as edge effects of the physical systems we interact with. For example, rising smartphone sales can lead to an increase in the mining of precious metals and a surge in the demand for electricity during their production. However, the reverse can also be truethe COVID-19 virus has impacted worker availability within Chinese factories causing a reduction in output.Against his backdrop, the United Nations (UN) launched its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG; United Nations, 2020a) in 2015 targeted at meeting the greatest challenges that face the world's populations. These follow on from the largely successful Millennium Development Goals (MDG; United

Method of Choice: A Fluorescent Penetrant Taking into Account Sustainability Criteria

“…Additional criteria adopted-which are included in the proposed method (except for standard ones, i.e., the level of penetrant and penetration time)-are its influence on the natural environment, reactivity, and combustibility. Based on the adopted goal, the choice of criteria was made in the context of the ideas and goals of sustainable development, i.e., [27]:…”

“…Despite this, reactive penetrants are still on the market [15], and the method which includes this criterion in choosing the penetrants to FPI research was not indicated. Additionally, criterion reactivity and the next criterion, i.e., combustibility, are one of the basic criteria included in analyses of achieving sustainable chemicals, and therein, the criteria of NFPA and HMIS systems [18,46,47], were considered for importance in proposed method as part of sustainability (for example, goal 12) [27].…”

“…The before-mentioned third criterion is the combustibility of fluorescent penetrants, the ability of penetrants to sustain fire, wherein the fluorescent penetrant, being a flammable liquid, has a flash point not exceeding 93 • C [18]. Efforts were made to limit the flammability of penetrants by using non-flammability penetrants [47]; despite this, it is a fact that most chemicals used in NDT research are still flammable [19], which generates the needs to include this criterion in the choice of penetrants as part of sustainability (for example goal 12) [27].…”

“…However, it has been observed that previous works also consider the idea of sustainability and the concepts of Society 5.0 and Industry 4.0, where sustainable development means improving the living conditions of society, while maintaining the ecological integrity of the planet for future generations. Sustainable development plans are intended to ensure public wellbeing while respecting ecological integrity [27]. The above-mentioned concept Industry 4.0 promotes the integration of the smart machines, systems, and making changes in production processes, having the aim to increase production efficiency and the possibility of flexible changes of assortment.…”

Digital Socially-Oriented Projects Within the Framework of the Sustainable Development Concept

“…Оно может состояться, если общество найдет в себе силы поставить на повестку дня вопросы социального устройства и экологии и рассматривать их не как ограничивающие, а как комплексные целевые факторы развития [1][2][3]. Концепция устойчивого развития является концепцией планетарного значения, и эффект от ее выполнения, по мнению многих зарубежных исследователей, будет ощутимым только в том случае, если ее положения будут реализовываться во всех странах и на всех территориях, всеми субъектами предпринимательской деятельности и каждым гражданином [4,5]. Российские авторы солидарны с мнением о том, что концепция устойчивого развития требует рассмотрения разномасштабных и многокомпонентных социально-эколого-экономических задач, объектами реализации которых яв-ляются мир в целом, страна, регион, город, предприятие и домохозяйство [6,7].…”