According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the private sector plays a key role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). After all, sustainable and inclusive economic growth is essential to enable more people to participate in global prosperity. Encouraging entrepreneurship and job creation are key to SDG 8, as are effective measures to eradicate forced labor, slavery, and human trafficking. Since more than 90 percent of jobs are created by the private sector, more attention must be paid to entrepreneurs that help create dynamic and responsible enterprises that often generate positive externalities for society and the environment through investments in scalable innovations and a commitment to local embeddedness. As such, they help lift people out of poverty through new and relatively well-paid jobs and enable local economies to become more sustainable through global value chain integration. read less Transitioning to Decent Work and Economic Growth explores the prospects for SDG 8 in the Global South as well as the Global North. It especially considers the positive role the private sector may play as an enabler of human rights, creator of decent work and engine for inclusive development in different contexts. Further, it examines how the institutional environment can facilitate economic change, which may lead to social empowerment and enhanced economic opportunities. A key question the volume explores, is how—in an entrepreneurial context—innovation and scientific knowledge contribute to the creation of scalable innovation that help to de-couple economic growth from the use of natural resources. Transitioning to Decent Work and Economic Growth is part of MDPI's new Open Access book series Transitioning to Sustainability. With this series, MDPI pursues environmentally and socially relevant research which contributes to efforts toward a sustainable world. Transitioning to Sustainability aims to add to the conversation about regional and global sustainable development according to the 17 SDGs. Set to be published in 2020/2021, the book series is intended to reach beyond disciplinary, even academic boundaries.
Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird diskutiert, welche Trends auf das Bedürfnisfeld Ernährung einwirken, und wie sie die Ressourceneffizienz von Produktion, Verarbeitung und Zubereitung sowie das Ernährungsverhalten der Menschen beeinflussen. Dabei wird unterschieden zwischen sehr langfristigen (Metatrends), langfristigen (Megatrends), mittelfristigen (soziokulturelle und Technotrends) und kurzfristigen Trends (Branchen-, Konsum-, Produkttrends). Trends provozieren Gegentrends. So gibt es zum Megatrend Globalisierung Gegentrends, wofür das Bedürfnisfeld Ernährung zahlreiche Beispiele liefert: In der Politik gewinnen (agrar)protektionistische Ideen zunehmenden Rückhalt, im Recht werden Massnahmen beibehalten oder ausgebaut, die die inländische Land-und Ernährungswirtschaft vor Konkurrenz schützen, in der Wirtschaft wächst die Nachfrage nach «regionalen» Produkten, in der Zivilgesellschaft wachsen die Sympathien für alles, was «aus der Nähe» stammt. Ein genereller Gegentrend zur Globalisierung ist der sogenannte Konsumpatriotismus. Auf der Suche nach relevanten Trends wurden Studien von ausgewählten öffentlichen Organisationen und privaten Unternehmen konsultiert. Zu ersteren gehören die Organisation für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung OECD und das World Food System Center WSFC der ETH Zürich; zu letzteren die Forschungs- und Beratungsunternehmen Zukunftsinstitut und Frost & Sullivan sowie das global tätige Nahrungsmittelunternehmen Nestlé Deutschland. Mehrere globale Megatrends werden von allen berücksichtigen Organisationen und Unternehmen explizit oder implizit thematisiert. Dazu zählen der demographische Wandel, Gender, Urbanisierung, natürliche Ressourcen und Umwelt, Infrastrukturen, neue Technologien (v.a. Digitalisierung, Konnektivität), neue Player und Gesundheit. Gleichzeitig fallen auch Unterschiede auf: Während die öffentlich finanzierten und auf die Erkennung von Forschungsbedarf ausgerichteten Organisationen OECD und WSFC eher eine problemorientierte und oftmals auch abstrakte Sprache pflegen, orientieren sich die privaten Unternehmen Frost & Sullivan, das Zukunftsinstitut und Nestlé Deutschland stärker an wirtschaftlichen Entwicklungen, an KonsumentInnen und Unternehmen und deren Bedürfnissen und verwenden eher eine lösungsorientierte Sprache, die nicht zuletzt Marktchancen sichtbar macht. ; This paper discusses the trends influencing the field of nutrition and how they affect the resource efficiency of production, processing and preparation, as well as nutritional behaviour. A distinction is made between very long-term (metatrends), long-term (megatrends), medium-term (sociocultural and techno trends) and short-term trends (industry, consumer and product trends). Trends provoke countertrends. Thus, there are numerous countertrends related to the megatrend of globalization, for which the 'need field' nutrition provides numerous examples: in politics, (agricultural) protectionist ideas are gaining increasing support; in law, measures are being maintained or expanded to protect the domestic agricultural and food industries from competition; in the economy, demand for 'regional' products is growing; in civil society, there is greater sympathy for everything that originates from 'close by'. A general countertrend to globalization is so-called consumer triotism. In the search for relevant trends, studies from selected public organisations and private companies were consulted. The former includes the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD and the World Food System Center WSFC at the ETH Zurich; the latter includes the research and consulting companies Zukunftsinstitut and Frost & Sullivan, as well as the globally active food company Nestlé Germany. Several global megatrends are explicitly or implicitly addressed by all organizations and companies. These include demographic change, gender, urbanisation, natural resources and environment, infrastructures, new technologies (especially digitisation, connectivity), new players, and health. At the same time, differences are also noticeable: while the publicly financed OECD and WSFC organisations, which are geared towards identifying research needs, tend to use problem-oriented and often abstract language, the private companies Frost & Sullivan, the Zukunftsinstitut and Nestlé Germany focus more on economic developments, consumers and companies and their needs, and use solution-oriented language which, not least, makes market opportunities visible. Thirteen megatrends appear to be particularly relevant for the nutritional needs and research questions in the NOVANIMAL project: Connectivity & Digitization, Gender Shift, Globalization, Global Scarcity of Natural Resources, Health, Individualization, Knowledge Culture, Mobility, Neo-Ecology & Smart New Green, New Work, Security, Silver Society & Millennials and Urbanization. In addition to the megatrends, more specific medium and short-term trends are identified, which influence per capita consumption of animal-based food products or the consumption of natural resources for the production, processing and preparation of animal foodstuffs. A distinction was made between resource, socio-cultural, techno and consumer trends and counter-trends. The concluding synopsis discusses relevant drivers and obstacles related to increased resource efficiency and lower per capita consumption of animal-based food products. The considerations lead to the summarizing thesis that the trends that are going in the direction of a 'resource-light' diet have a stronger long-term effect. The thesis does not mean that eating cultures which are resource-light will develop on their own and will prevail without resistance. Existing conflicts will become accentuated and new areas of conflict will open up. All affected areas and parties in the field of nutritional needs - in technology, business, politics, education and civil society - are called upon.
