Sustainable Development Virtual Platform

What is Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is an organizing principle that aims to meet human development goals while also enabling natural systems to provide necessary natural resources and ecosystem services to humans. The desired result is a society where living conditions and resources meet human needs without undermining the planetary integrity and stability of the natural system.

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (2015 to 2030) and explained how the goals are integrated and indivisible to achieve sustainable development at the global level. The UNGA's 17 goals address global challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice.

Sustainable development is interlinked with the normative concept of sustainability. UNESCO formulated a distinction between the two concepts as follows: "Sustainability is often thought of as a long-term goal (i.e. a more sustainable world), while sustainable development refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it".

QU Library and Sustainable Development

Qatar University Library has been always interested in providing its community with the latest books on the current hottest topics. Therefore, in light of Qatar vision 2030, the library sought to enrich its collection with different resources on the 17 sustainable development goals.

For more information, refer to the desired resource from the cards below:

Journals

Databases

Journal of cleaner production (link)

International journal of sustainability in higher education (link)

Journal of Environmental Management (link)

Nature Sustainability (link)

Ecological economics (link)

Business strategy and the environment (link)

Ecosystem Services (link)

Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management(link)

Sustainable Power and Energy Conference (link)

Sustainable production and consumption (link)

Sustainable water resources management (link)

Sustainability, agri, food and environmental research (link)

Sustainability and Resilience Conference: Technology and Innovation in Building Designs (link)

Sustainability Matters (link)

Sustainability science(link)

Sustainable Buildings (link)

Sustainable cities and society (link)

Sustainable development(link)

For more journals, please visit our journal finder webpage

Ebscohost

Energy & Power Source | Environment Complete | GreenFILE | Agricola

ProQuest

Environmental Science Database (ProQuest)

Open Access

UNdata - users can link to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators

Food and Agriculture Organizations of the UN

Book Highlights

Sustainable Qatar: Social, Political, and Environmental Perspective

Tackles the future of sustainability in Qatar
Provides broad coverage of sustainability including political, environmental, and human dimensions
Presents calls to action through recommended policy options

Environmental Challenges in the MENA Region : The Long Road from Conflict to Cooperation

The Middle East and North Africa region is well-known for its abundant natural resources and important geostrategic position. This position is often overshadowed by continued sectarian violence and trans-boundary conflicts that threaten the stability of the entire region with serious global implications

Sustainable Nation : Urban Design Patterns for the Future

This new book from author Douglas Farr embraces the idea that the humanitarian, population, and climate crises are three facets of one interrelated human existential challenge, one with impossibly short deadlines. The vision of Sustainable Nation is to accelerate the pace of progress of human civilization to create an equitable and sustainable world.

Sustainability in the Gulf: Challenges and Opportunities

Sustainability is a topic of great interest today, particularly for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which have witnessed very rapid economic and demographic growth over the past decade. The observed growth has led to unsustainable consumption patterns of vital resources such as water, energy, and food, highlighting the need for an urgent shift towards green growth and sustainable development strategies.

QU Research on Sustainable Development

The research in QU has been flourishing through the years to achieve the vision of Qatar 2030. According to the data collected from Web of Science the top 5 sustainable development goals QU published in are:

Good Health and well being ( SDG#03)
Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG#11)
Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG#07)
Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG#06)
Climate Action (SDG#13)

Qatar University has an outstanding performance in the research of sustainable development. For example, taking an in-depth look at SDG#03. Good Health and Well-being research has continued to grow in the past 10 years.

Close to 5,000 publications published by researchers affiliated with Qatar University have accrued 93,313 citations
A SDG#03 paper receives on average about 19 citations.
Collectively good health and well-being research has received 155 citations from patents.
Over 83% of research on this topic is cited.
59 publications were the result of cross-industry collaboration.

Volume benchmarking with research institutions in the GCC

In terms of the number of publications, Qatar University is ranked #12 out of 185 research institutions located in GCC countries contributing to at least one publication mapped to SDG#03
Qatar University produced 4,984 publications between 2013 and 2022 mapped to SDG#03.

Over all, Qatar University has about 11,792 SDG related document. Where the 2 largest categories are “ Good Health and Well-being” and “Sustainable Cities and Communities”.

Visit the following report “Qatar University’s research towards the UN Sustainable Development” to read more about QU contribution to the SDG research field. Visit the Useful links at the end of the report for additional resources on sustainability and sustainable development, such as, Events and webinars by Clarivate.