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Sustainability is a major concern for our society today. Software acts as a catalyst to support different business activities which have an impact on sustainability. Research from software engineering and other academic disciplines have proposed various software sustainability guidelines, tools, and methods to support software sustainability design in industry. However, there are still challenges on how to design and engineer sustainability into software products by software development practitioners in industry using those proposed sustainability guidelines and tools. The goal of this research is to seek understanding on what software sustainability means for software development practitioners and identify how to properly support engineering of sustainability into software design and development through academic research. Data were gathered and analyzed using grounded theory from workshop with different software development practitioners to seek their understanding on what sustainability means in their software systems. The results show economic and technical sustainability dimensions are the most important to software development practitioners for software sustainability. While the social sustainability dimension was not considered for software sustainability. The findings from this study indicates contrast in academia where all sustainability dimensions are treated as an important element to achieve software sustainability. Therefore, there is need for better collaboration between industry and academia to improve understanding of software sustainability and support effective sustainability engineering in software systems.
Context: It is impossible to imagine our everyday and professional lives without software. Consequently, software products, especially socio-technical systems, have more or less obvious impacts on almost all areas of our society. For this purpose, a group of scientists worldwide has developed the Sustainability Awareness Framework (SusAF) which examines the impacts on five interrelated dimensions: social, individual, environmental, economic, and technical. According to this framework, we should design software to maintain or improve the Sustainability Impacts. Designing for sustainability is a major challenge that can profoundly change the field of activity – particular for Software Engineers. Objectives: The aim of the thesis work is to analyze the current role of Software Engineers and relate it to Sustainability Impacts of Software Products in order to contribute to this paradigm shift. This should provide a basis for follow-up works. The question in which direction exactly the Software Engineer should develop and how exactly this path can be followed is still owed by the scientific community. Perhaps universities will have to adapt the curriculum in the training of Software Engineers, politics could possibly initiate support programs in the field of sustainability for software companies, or maybe software sustainability certifications could emerge. In any case, Software Engineers must adapt to the times and acquire the necessary knowledge, the skills and the competencies. Results: The results of the dissertation are a better understanding of the needed paradigm shift of Software Engineers and comeplement the SusAF that to better support sustainability design. The extended SusAF is intended for both training and corporate use.
A Descriptive Study on Customer Attitudes towards Green Branding in the Fashion Industry in Germany
(2021)
This paper attempts to provide an up-to-date representation and analysis of customers' attitudes towards green branding in the fashion industry and their willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable and ethical clothing in Germany. Related literature strands are reviewed to understand how the fashion industry works, what green branding means, and how customer attitudes are shaped. After creating an attitude measurement model, an online questionnaire was designed and sent to Furtwangen University students, with 153 valid responses returned. The descriptive analysis sheds light on the three attitudinal components related to sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry. It is noted that customers do not hold a definite attitude. However, a tendency towards the positive end is ascertained. Significant gaps still exist in terms of knowledge and awareness of some commitment by fashion brands. Another huge factor influencing attitudes appears to be a lack of trust. The behavioral component showed that customers are trying to contribute through proper disposal and are willing to buy sustainable and ethical clothing more often. However, there is still some room for improvement in terms of customer education. Nevertheless, it is found that they are willing to accept an additional contribution for sustainable and ethical clothing. In general, it can be concluded that there is a foundation to improve the fashion industry towards more sustainability. However, all stakeholders, i.e., customers and fashion brands, as well as the government, need to work together to change the industry in the long run.
The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of potential change in consumer behaviour on the carbon footprint in the beverage industry.
This research comprises two fundamental components. The first component establishes a scientific basis through an in-depth literature review by referring to the main concepts. The second component comprises a research study based on the hypothesis of whether consumers who engage in climate-neutral behaviours also demonstrate conscious beverage consumption. The findings of the literature review illustrate that the beverage industry contributes to high levels of emissions and global plastic pollution. Not only does this endanger marine and terrestrial ecosystems, but also humans. For example, through microplastics that enter organisms and contribute to illnesses. The results imply that the impact of human activities will influence environmental development. The nature of consumer behaviour is considered to be the key to society's impact on the environment. Findings obtained through the research study emphasise that environmental awareness exists among the respondents. Furthermore, it is indicated that a statistical relationship exists between climate neutral consumption patterns and conscious beverage consumption. By fundamentally changing the way beverages are consumed, emissions can be mitigated and consequently the goal of achieving climate neutrality in the beverage industry can be achieved. This furthermore contributes to the achievement of global climate neutrality and supports sustainable development.
Over many decades, greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity have been increasing and negatively impacting the environment and promoting climate change. One sector that contributes heavily to these emissions is the food industry.
With the aim of reducing these environmental impacts, climate labeling has been introduced as one possible approach to target emissions related to consumer purchasing behavior. This thesis investigates consumer responses to the possible introduction of climate labeling of food products. Moreover, necessary criteria for such an implementation and the potential consequences in terms of increasing sustainability in the food industry are evaluated.
Findings indicate that a label can be effective and change consumer behavior if food labels meet specific label criteria such as an attractive design and little but comprehensible information. Moreover, other factors such as pricing of products can influence the success of food labels.
Regarding the overall food industry, a label could have positive effects but is dependent on changes on both consumer and producer sides following the label introduction. However, it is difficult to exactly evaluate the impact of a label on an entire industry, as green-house gas reductions caused by a label would be hard to measure specifically. Due to the lack of data, it is impossible to predict the actual impact of a climate label on the food industry, but it is possible to assume a positive tendency towards more sustainability.