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Funding for Canadian public health care has long relied on a "pay-as-you-go" funding model: for the most part, government pays for health costs each year from taxes collected in that fiscal year with effectively nothing put aside for projected rising health-care costs in the future. But the future of Canadian public health care is going to get more expensive as the relatively large cohort of baby boomers reaches retirement age. As they exit the work force, and enter the ages at which Canadians use the health-care system more, a smaller population of younger workers is going to be left paying the growing health-care costs of older Canadians. If Canadians intend to preserve a publicly funded medicare system that offers a similar level of service in the future as it does today, under the pay-as-you-go model, eventually peak taxes for Canadians born after 1988 will end up twice as high as the peak taxes that the oldest baby boomers paid. The "payas-you-go" model has become like a Ponzi scheme, where those who got in early enough make out nicely, while those who arrive late stand to suffer a serious financial blow. This should concern both Canadians who value a comprehensive public health system as well as Canadians who value competitive tax rates: There is no reason to be certain that future taxpayers will blithely accept having their taxes substantially increased to finance health care for another, older generation that did not pay for a significant portion of its own health care. If the burden proves too high for the taxpaying public to accept, that could well jeopardize Canada's health-care system as we know it. If Canadians intend to preserve their iconic public health system, and are unprepared to unjustly overburden future generations with the tax bill left by their parents and grandparents, provincial governments must make strong and rapid efforts to reform the health system. They must find more cost-efficient ways of managing medicine, including new approaches to eldercare, chronic disease prevention and better health promotion. If policymakers respond in time with a workable strategy and adequate effort, the substantial financial health-care liability currently faced by future generations may not be eliminated entirely, but it can still be reduced dramatically.

The sustainability of any organisation means its capacity to fulfil its mission in the most effective way. In other words, sustainability means that an organisation works continuously for as long as possible in the marketplace of the services provided. The basis to ensure the sustainability is to create and adopt strategies. Strategic management has become an essential part of non- governmental organisations (NGOs). Although it is difficult for an NGO to create a long-term strategy when its donors support this NGO either for a specific purpose (and thus not for creating a strategy) or for a short term period (usually for one year which makes it really difficult to plan a strategy and certain steps when their financing is insecure). This scientific paper presents research results of the current state of sustainability of non-governmental organisations in the Slovak Republic. Using secondary data analysis of the NGO Sustainability index compiled annually by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), two questionnaires were created. One was dedicated to Slovak NGOs whereas the second one was sent to an expert group in Slovakia. Primary data obtained by the sociological questionnaire and by the Delphi method were analysed with relevant statistical methods. The results of the analysis allow us to formulate proposals to strengthen the sustainability of NGOs in Slovakia. The presentation of these results enables us to fulfil the scientific goal of the paper which is to evaluate the current state of the sustainability of non- governmental organisations in Slovakia and propose internal factor-based solutions to enhance their sustainability. In this article, we did not analyse the external and legislative factors, e.g. changes in tax assignation system due to the limited scope of the paper.

The role that is played by Non-Governmental Organisations in aiding development initiatives can never be overemphasised. These organisations have partnered with numerous States, mostly in developing countries, in spearheading, facilitating, and evaluating various development programmes. Yet, they face daunting futures as their constant reliability on donor funds has affected their sustainability. To this end, their efforts in addressing social, economic, and even political challenges in a sustainable manner is greatly compromised. This research seeks to assess the financial sustainability of local NGOs with Thandusana as a case study. It further explores factors other than funding that influences an organisation's financial sustainability. These factors are income diversification, sound financial management practices, good donor relationships and own income generation. The research concurred with many other scholars that local non-governmental organisations in South Africa are financially unsustainable and are dependent on donor funds, and Thandusana is no exception. After having found out that Thandusana is not geared to create its own income-generating activities, the research concludes by recommending that the governing board establish structures that commit funds for profit-making ventures which are in turn used to sponsor their non-profit functions but caution should be exercised lest they abandon their missions for profit-making. This study employed a qualitative research approach and is based on an interpretive paradigm. The research used a descriptive case study design. Data was collected using document compilation while document analysis was the data analysis tool. Non-probability sampling was used in selecting the sample that was used. ; Thesis (MADS) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, 2021

Non-profit organisations (NPOs) operating in South Africa are financially weak and the sustainability of their organisations is often at risk. Post-2008, large numbers have ceased to operate, in part, because of the weak state of the South African economy. This study sought to determine the financial conditions NPOs operate under, to establish why they are so vulnerable and present recommendations as to how they can become more financially resilient. In-depth interviews with 10 senior managers in the sector, representing organisations working in education, health and social welfare, were conducted. The results indicate that the legislative environment-governing NPOs are restrictive and may be inhibiting their ability to raise funds. The results of the interviews showed that the NPOs under study rely heavily on a few large donors; placing them at great risk, should they lose this revenue stream. Donor dependence is such that some even tailor their mandates to suit donors, whilst others dedicate a significant proportion of their resources to fundraising. Consequently, donor relations management and finding new or additional donors preoccupy the minds of NPO leadership. This is notably different to NPOs in the Global North where many have embraced social enterprise and commercialisation.

The article aims at analyzing and discussing how "the social" is perceived in processes of social sustainability within the context of the nonprofit housing sector in Denmark. The investigation takes as point of departure a specific renovation project, which exemplifies an attempt to bring social sustainability to the core of the process. As such, the study analyses the process by distilling various understandings of "the social" appearing in the project and herein the different types of participation that these understandings relate to. The analysis demonstrates that working with social sustainability and the aims and ideals connected to it is not straight forward, since "social sustainability" is not a tangible target, but rather something which is reinterpreted and subject to changing perceptions along the process. The dynamic and changing character of "sociality" suggests that social sustainability requires a focus on the platforms and on-going processes and interactions which continuously constitute the social life in a neighborhood and the relations between the residents. In this manner the article adds to empirical knowledge about processes organized to strengthen social sustainability in urban environments and contributes theoretically with a nuanced understanding of what "social" denotes in the context of sustainable development. ; The article aims at analyzing and discussing how "the social" is perceived in processes of social sustainability within the context of the nonprofit housing sector in Denmark. The investigation takes as point of departure a specific renovation project, which exemplifies an attempt to bring social sustainability to the core of the process. As such, the study analyses the process by distilling various understandings of "the social" appearing in the project and herein the different types of participation that these understandings relate to. The analysis demonstrates that working with social sustainability and the aims and ideals connected to it is not straight forward, since "social sustainability" is not a tangible target, but rather something which is reinterpreted and subject to changing perceptions along the process. The dynamic and changing character of "sociality" suggests that social sustainability requires a focus on the platforms and on-going processes and interactions which continuously constitute the social life in a neighborhood and the relations between the residents. In this manner the article adds to empirical knowledge about processes organized to strengthen social sustainability in urban environments and contributes theoretically with a nuanced understanding of what "social" denotes in the context of sustainable development.

In the context of the Rio Earth Summit numerous international regimes, national policies and organizational guidelines have appeared that help translate the normative demands of sustainable development into political reality. The implementation of these instruments, however, often runs into difficulties or fails entirely. An example is the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), a progressive approach for the conservation of freshwater that is very unlikely to be implemented by 2015, the target year. We examine in this paper how a recent variation of Gandhian non-violent communication within social entrepreneurship suggests one way to deal with this challenge. Non-violent communication, rooted in Gandhian social action, has long been part of environmental politics. It has undergone a new variation as a mode of communication in the hands of social entrepreneurship initiatives that address urgent social and environmental issues with new, practical ideas. In the conceptual part of this paper, we outline our approach to sustainability, non-violent communication and social entrepreneurship. In a further part, we present data from a trans-disciplinary experiment to illustrate and critically discuss social entrepreneurship as a mode of sustainability communication. The experiment looked at, which is based on French social entrepreneur Roberto Epple's idea of a Big Jump, is a collaborative campaign that invites young people to take action for water conservation in the context of the WFD.

The non-profit sector plays a significant role in development in Lesotho. The sustainability of the NPOs is important; however, there is limited research on Lesotho's non-profit sector, in particular, on its financial sustainability. This study has explored the financial sustainability of the non-profit sector in Lesotho in particular, the factors that affect the sustainability of non-profit organisations. A qualitative methodology was adopted which used a semi-structured interview guide. The data was collected primarily through in-depth interviews with 20 Non-Profit organizations based in Maseru, Lesotho. The sample was selected from organizations, which were registered with the Lesotho Council of Non-governmental Organizations. Purposive sampling, which used a non-probability sampling method, was chosen to select the 20 NPOs that participated in this study. The data was analysed and presented thematically according to the main research objectives. The findings revealed that the financial sustainability of Non-Profit Organizations in Lesotho is severely challenged. NPOs depend on donor funding as a major source of funding. The NPOs founded locally had a greater struggle to get funding than the international NPOs which were guaranteed the support of their international organizations. The sustainability of these NPOs was threatened by several factors, however, Lesotho's political instability was a threat to all Non-profit organizations' sustainability because it resulted in the withdrawal of external donor funding. The findings revealed that donor funding has dwindled over the past couple of years. Nevertheless, international donors were still the most consistent sources of funding for the NPOs in Lesotho. All the NPOs in this study received international donor funding. Only a few that received government grants, which was also very unsatisfactory. The data also revealed that the NPOs struggled to raise sufficient funds and the majority did not have staff who were devoted to fundraising. Key recommendations are that: the NPOs in Lesotho need to explore other income generating activities to improve their financial sustainability; they also need to strengthen their fundraising capacity by training their staff in fundraising; and, lastly, they need to improve their online presence, as the internet has become an important fundraising tool.

Background: Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have been traded for millennia by indigenous communities. Current increased demands driven by globalisation, however, put more pressure on local harvesters and their surrounding ecosystems. The safeguarding of indigenous access rights to harvesting grounds is needed, either through communal land titles or collaborative management agreements, both to secure prior indigenous rights and to minimise further negative ecological impacts. Methods: This study was carried out in two indigenous communities in West Suriname located along the Corentyne River. We assessed the three economically most important NTFPs for each community. We determined the land tenure status of harvesting grounds and negative impacts on target species and/or ecosystem. Ethnobotanical data were collected (n = 53), and semi-structured interviews were held with hunters and gatherers (n = 13). Local and national maps were acquired, and their data merged. Results: Results showed that the communities have no tenure security over their most important harvesting sites. These collection sites are State owned and some under (active) logging concession. All of the traded wild animal populations had decreased because of increased local and non-local commercial interest, especially the stingray Potamotrygon boesemani (first described in 2008), which was traded for US$250 per live specimen. The stingray population had become imperilled within months as local and (inter-) national regulations for this species are non-existent. Conclusions: We stress the urgent need for collaborative management agreements over the harvesting sites between the government of Suriname and the indigenous communities to prevent further non-local developments and harvesting to disturb the local economy. An immediate moratorium on the export of P. boesemani is necessary to prevent the extinction of this endemic stingray. ; Business, Sauder School of ; Forestry, Faculty of ; Non UBC ; Forest Resources Management, Department of ; Reviewed ; Faculty

This paper is presented within the broader theme of considering what non-engineering-discipline specific sustainability / sustainability development (SD) knowledge and competences should be included in engineering education, in particular for four year undergraduate or four to five year integrated master's programmes. Over the last 20 years, sustainability / SD has grown in importance, and consequently many engineering programmes have endeavoured to integrate it within their programmes. The UCC chemical engineering is one of these programmes. The inclusion of sustainability / SD content inherently contains engineering discipline specific content, but also includes content that is non-discipline specific and could potentially be undertaken by any engineering student. This paper looks at the University College Cork (UCC) Process and Chemical Engineering programme, and outlines the content that is considered as non- discipline specific. This includes the following which are briefly outlined in more detail within the paper: Basic concepts in sustainability and SD: What is it all about? The importance of framing; The environmental dimension, ecological systems thinking and importance of ecological limits; The role of environmental legislation; Humanity's grand challenges; the food-energy-water nexus and climate change; The game-changer: The socio-economic dimension (including ecological economics); its essential role in transitioning to and maintaining a sustainable society; its impact on engineering and to what extent engineering can have influence on the socio-economic dimension; Holistic thinking; inherent interconnectedness, life cycle thinking and assessment; Energy, its importance and its commonality to all engineering disciplines, and beyond; Acquiring soft skills of critical thinking, communication, working with others, embracing uncertainty and complexity; Transdisciplinarity, emergent knowledge, and the need to be able to work with others outside our disciplinary "silo"; Values, ethics and the normative nature of sustainability choices and narratives; Worldviews, paradigms, and links with consumptive growth (material, energy, information); Transformational change; going beyond the quantitative and reductionist and the role of narrative, imagination, myth and metaphor in precipitating authentic societal and cultural change.

*Background/Question/Methods*
Ecologists usually study interactions among living and non-living things at a particular spatial scale. Ecological curricula often have a biological focus except in ecosystem or applied ecology courses. At the undergraduate level, the impact of human activity on ecology class discussions is often relegated to urban ecology classes. The discussion of sustainability is a side line in introductory or upper level ecology courses, except in applied research courses, and more intensely addressed in non-science general education courses. To develop a global sustainable society will require that different disciplines understand the many factors that affect "sustainability" and work with a common definition of that term. To start the discussion among disciplines that is necessary to solve global environmental problems ecologists need to outline a clear connection between efficient natural resource management practices and global biodiversity goals. Faculty need to network across disciplines in curriculum development, and consider answers from the point of view of coursework in biology, earth science and physical science majors vs. in the general education or liberal arts core curriculum. The sustainability curriculum outcomes of such interdisciplinary discussions are considered for various undergraduate programs throughout the United States focusing on the process of integration of ecological knowledge.

*Results/Conclusions*
Nationally, science major programs develop courses that consider the human impact on the variability and management of natural resources, relative to biodiversity and landscape physical components. Courses are grouped into minors and/or configured as a major's track. Many of these courses incorporate service-learning and utilize the campus and surrounding university community as a field lab for exploring sustainability, conservation and resource management issues. For non-majors, sustainability may be the theme of first-year seminars taught by faculty from different disciplines, to engage students in critical thinking exercises in solving global environmental problems. Often sociologists, political scientists, historians and geographers are more involved in teaching these general education courses than ecologists. A sustainable studies interdisciplinary major may result after establishing appropriate content courses for minors, the liberal arts curriculum and tracks within majors. The interdisciplinary major can also have several concentrations, as in International Studies major programs, or it can be a self-designed interdisciplinary major, differing in the relative amount of study of each discipline's impact on sustainability and resource management trends. Ecologists' participation in general education program development can lead to a better infusion of ecological knowledge into campus sustainability plans, with more opportunities for sustainability service-learning projects and internships.

Non-financial reporting is a growing topic, and the adoption of the EU Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial information (NFI) is increasing the use of this reporting. One of the most distinctive elements of guidelines and standards that are widely used to draw-up reports on NFI is sustainability performance indicators (SPIs). SPIs can provide a significant value-added to non-financial corporate communication, and they are useful tools to support internal decision-making processes. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects produced on SPIs disclosure by the entry into force of the Italian Decree implementing the Directive on NFI. Content analysis method is used to analyze indicators disclosed by Italian companies before and after the adoption of the Decree. Findings show that each category of SPIs was largely used by the companies of our 2012 sample, but a reduction of the quantity of indicators disclosed was documented in 2017. Therefore, after the introduction of mandatory disclosure of NFI, companies seem to focus only on indicators considered more &ldquo ; relevant&rdquo ; according to the Directive. This research represents one of the preliminary analysis on the adoption of the Directive in Italy and on its first effects on NFI reporting practices.

Non-financial reporting is a growing topic, and the adoption of the EU Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial information (NFI) is increasing the use of this reporting. One of the most distinctive elements of guidelines and standards that are widely used to draw-up reports on NFI is sustainability performance indicators (SPIs). SPIs can provide a significant value-added to non-financial corporate communication, and they are useful tools to support internal decision-making processes. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects produced on SPIs disclosure by the entry into force of the Italian Decree implementing the Directive on NFI. Content analysis method is used to analyze indicators disclosed by Italian companies before and after the adoption of the Decree. Findings show that each category of SPIs was largely used by the companies of our 2012 sample, but a reduction of the quantity of indicators disclosed was documented in 2017. Therefore, after the introduction of mandatory disclosure of NFI, companies seem to focus only on indicators considered more "relevant" according to the Directive. This research represents one of the preliminary analysis on the adoption of the Directive in Italy and on its first effects on NFI reporting practices.

This study explored the financial sustainability of NPOs within the South African context, post the 2008 economic crisis. The overall aim was to understand the factors which affect NPOs ability to financially sustain themselves. Trends of NPO income and expenditure were analysed and measures taken to address changes in the financial situation examined. The study explored different funding agencies and their role in supporting NPOs. Lastly, perceptions of governance, funding practice, and current situations in organisations were explored and recommendations made for the future. A quantitative methodology was adopted using the online survey tool Survey Gizmo. Secondary data in the form of financial statements were requested from NPOs. The Inyathelo data base of organisations made up the population of 469 organisations and responses were received from 101 organisations. This was a satisfactory 21,5% response rate. Data was analysed by calculating descriptive statistics. These were represented in a narrative and visually in the form of graphs and tables. Financial data was captured and analysed in order to corroborate the data. The research found that income to NPOs is not increasing to keep up with inflation. Demand for NPO services has increased due to the global economic crisis and as a result NPOs experience increasing pressure on their financial resources. NPOs are perceived to be critical to the well being of society but the sector is under pressure, with many showing a financial deficit. The sector is looking to government and corporates to help strengthen it, but are also wanting to become less dependent on external sources for their financial sustainability. NPOs are of the opinion that they need to find new strategies to ensure their sustainability. The following are key recommendations: NPOs must be creative about managing increased demand for their services;; NPOs should collaborate to advocate for changes in relationships with major financial contributors and work together to promote philanthropy in the country;; funders should adjust their funding models in order to strengthen the NPO sector while still focussing on the needs of beneficiaries.

Non-profit organizations face many challenges such as unstable funding, high staff turnover rates and inadequate training. These challenges are further exasperated as the need for social services increases and governments continue to download more responsibility to non-profit organizations. Non-profit organizations need to collaborate with one another in order to overcome these challenges and address society's complex problems. Benefits of collaboration include the ability to share knowledge, skills and training and reduce redundancy in efforts, which would in effect increase the overall capacity of an organization and its attractiveness to funders. Challenges to collaboration involve building trust, communication and identifying common objectives and goals. However, this paper proposes that collaboration is possible in the Nova Scotia non-profit sector, through careful design in the preliminary stages of initiation and a focus on building trust and relationships. As such, a unified non-profit sector can be the solution to issues of sustainability currently being faced by these organizations.

Socio-economic and political changes after November 1989 have strongly influenced Slovak society, with impacts being observed on almost all areas of economic, political, social and public life. Highly intensive development of the so-called 'third sector' has been among these factors. A new legislation framework has been created. Non-profit organizations have become the state's partners in the area of providing social services not secured by the state, and these organizations have strong economic and social power, influencing the development of the whole society. Today, financial sustainability is one of the fundamental problems in the non-profit sector. This problem has become more important due to foreign capital withdrawal by donors to non-profit organizations, primarily during the 1990s. National support from public sources is limited and is not sufficient for the functioning of non-profit organizations. In non-profit organizations, we emphasize the necessity of the diversity of financial resource structures, ensuring their independence, financial stability and sustainability from both short-term and long-term perspectives. The aim of this article is to establish key criteria for non-profit organizations' financial sustainability, subsequently investigating these criteria's dependence and the level of financial source acquisition in a selected sample of Slovak non-profit organizations. We assume that owing to these criteria, non-profit organisations (NPOs) could better formulate their financial strategies, diversify and stabilize their financial sources and transform this strategy into a long-term strategic plan to maintain and develop their entrepreneurial missions.