No abstract

A sustainable refurbishment is an important approach toward reaching the EU’s climate goals. Some challenges of transforming housing areas are few high-quality standards, lack of funding, and low residential interest. This paper aims to present the process of establishing the Sustainable Accounting Standard (SAS) project, led by the Housing Federation of Norway (NBBL), representing 41 cooperative housing associations with 1,186,000 members. Therefore, a need to develop a standardized process for evaluating the possibilities of sustainable refurbishment is in focus. A triangulating combination of literature review, survey, and interview is chosen. The literature review forms a theoretical basis within the field. The design and experiences of SAS are reflected through interviews with project participants from cooperative housing associations and a survey of residential board members from selected pilot projects. The project presents the findings from developing the SAS tool and various stakeholders. The SAS tool forms an improved process for sustainable development in housing co-operatives, addressing all aspects of sustainability, the early involvement of stakeholders, and the importance of residents’ participation. The SAS contributes to a smoother refurbishment process by properly prioritizing improved measures.

To achieve sustainability, more economic and environmental initiatives, projects, and policies must have a positive impact on society, advance social justice, and enhance the general well-being of people and communities. This study proposes a quantitative and qualitative framework to assess social sustainability in different urban regions. A multi-category approach is used to determine what categories and indicators of social sustainability city governments and academia should consider to ensure that their policies and projects align with community values. The next step involves assessing residents’ satisfaction through citizen participation. This framework, entitled the “Integrated Social Sustainability Assessment (ISSA)”, was applied in three zones of the Furuset area in Oslo. The results of the three diagrams show how community strengths and weaknesses can be identified, allowing projects to be prioritized in a way that benefits citizens in the long term and provides a comparative score. This framework provides policymakers with useful tools and guidelines for creating policies and projects that are sustainable, equitable, and capable of meeting the needs of their communities in a measurable manner.

Aspirations to improve health equity and well-being, as well as the sustainability of the environment, are interconnected. Therefore, it is imperative that the public health system, environmental science, and other sectors work together to achieve these goals. For a city to be sustainable and to take into account the well-being of its citizens, an assessment tool is essential for evaluating and achieving sustainable objectives. One way to measure sustainability and well-being is to assess the performance of social, environmental, and economic principles. The authors proposed and developed a framework titled Integrated Social Sustainability Assessment (ISSA). The paper presents one of the results of an application of this tool in one of the Oslo neighbourhoods. This study describes how this result can support policymakers and urban authorities about pressing problems of each area/neighbourhood through the lens of citizens and allow them to make necessary environmental changes in order to improve citizens’ health and well-being. By achieving the outcomes, we will be able to develop sustainable strategies toward sustainable transformation at the neighbourhood level.