Sustainability Research in the Mediterranean

Editorial

Alexandros Garefalakis — 2026-08-25

The Mediterranean has rarely suffered from a shortage of ambition where sustainability is concerned. Regional strategies, national plans and institutional declarations now converge on a common vocabulary of resilience, decarbonisation and inclusion, and the basin has become one of the most intensively studied settings in which the social, environmental and economic dimensions of development are known to collide. What the region more often lacks is the connective apparatus through which stated ambition becomes measurable outcome. Environmental exposure, dependence on seasonal tourism, uneven economic geography, an incomplete digital transition, ageing infrastructure and educational systems under strain do not operate as separate problems to be solved in sequence. They interact, and their interaction decides whether the capacities already present in the region can be turned to durable public and economic use.

Startups and their Latent Tourism Potential in Post-Volume Mediterranean Economies

Konstantinos Giannopoulos — 2026-08-25

Tourism-dependent Mediterranean economies face a structural dilemma. The volume-based growth that built their prosperity now reproduces seasonality, spatial concentration and stagnant value per visitor, while environmental and housing pressures accumulate in the most exposed destinations. This study asks whether startup ecosystems can operate as mechanisms of sustainable tourism value creation, combining a conceptual framework, an analytical reading of the Greek policy architecture anchored in the Elevate Greece registry and the Startup Visa, and exploratory evidence from a structured survey of 76 Greek startups. Categorical associations were assessed with $χ^{2}$ and Fisher exact tests accompanied by Cramér’s V, ordinal relations with Spearman correlations and rank based comparisons, and an exploratory logistic model estimated the correlates of high perceived tourism applicability. Perceived applicability to tourism proved remarkably widespread, reaching 77.6% of ventures and extending well beyond firms declared in tourism related sectors, while access to finance, bureaucracy and marketing emerged as the dominant barriers and own capital dominated funding structures. The findings characterize the ecosystem as a broad reservoir of latent tourism relevance constrained by capital and coordination, and they position ecosystem policy as a complement to (destination) governance in Mediterranean sustainability transitions.

From Sustainability Reporting to Natural Capital Valuation: Aligning ESG with Green Accounting

Erasmia Angelaki — 2026-08-25

This study examines how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks can be aligned with green accounting principles in order to incorporate natural capital valuation into sustainability reporting. Although ESG has become a dominant mechanism for non-financial disclosure, its environmental dimension remains largely centered on standardized indicators, risk exposure, and firm-level performance. This limits its ability to capture the broader value, depletion, and long-term dynamics of natural capital. In contrast, green accounting provides a stronger basis for recognizing environmental stocks, ecosystem services, and ecological degradation, yet it remains insufficiently integrated into mainstream reporting systems. Using a qualitative and conceptual research approach based on structured literature analysis, this study identifies the main points of disconnect between the two approaches and explores their potential convergence. The findings suggest that a more coherent integration of ESG and green accounting is necessary to strengthen the analytical depth, ecological relevance, and strategic value of sustainability reporting.

Registered Fleet Composition and Port Goods Throughput in Greece: Preliminary Aggregate Evidence and an Illustrative Scenario

Ioannis Sitzimis — 2026-08-25

The makeup of a national merchant fleet can be interpreted as the distribution of its vessels among various classes of ships. However, there is very little research that has addressed this topic concerning overall cargo operations. The current study aims to find out whether the composition of the Greek merchant fleet is associated with the total amount of cargo handled in Greek ports. The methodology used is based on aggregated statistics extracted from the Hellenic Statistical Authority for the period from 2015 to 2025 in order to analyze the correlation between the proportion of cargo ships and tankers in the overall fleet and the volume of cargo passing through Greek ports. According to the basic model, there is a positive relationship between the variables under consideration; however, the estimate is statistically imprecise and depends on the alternative specifications used. Based on the assumption of a constant short-term correlation, maintaining the share of cargo ships and tankers at the level observed in 2023 would correspond to a difference of about 0.26 million tonnes in 2025, equivalent to about 0.7% of total goods throughput. The results suggest that fleet composition can be used as a preliminary monitoring indicator, although more detailed data at the port, ship and cargo levels are needed before stronger operational or policy conclusions can be drawn.

Sustainable Competitiveness in Mediterranean Education and the Case for a Mediterranean Education Hub

Andreas Theodorakopoulos — 2026-08-25

The Mediterranean is among the regions most exposed to climate change, environmental degradation and socio-economic inequality, and the interaction of these pressures raises demanding questions for education policy. This conceptual and policy-oriented paper examines how education systems in the region could contribute to resilient, equitable and climate-neutral development while strengthening their international standing. It develops the concept of sustainable competitiveness in education, understood as the capacity of an education system to generate durable social, economic and environmental value while maintaining international attractiveness and institutional resilience, and articulates the concept through five interrelated dimensions concerning learning quality and sustainability-related competencies, equity of access and inclusion, internationalization and mobility, innovation and labor-market relevance, and environmentally responsible and climate-neutral institutional operations. Building on this framework, the paper proposes a Mediterranean Education Hub, a regional knowledge ecosystem that would connect universities, research centers, vocational providers and policy institutions under shared governance arrangements oriented towards sustainability. The governance conditions, policy instruments and evaluation indicators through which such a hub could be pursued are then discussed. The paper contributes a framework in which sustainability and competitiveness in education are treated as mutually reinforcing objectives, together with a policy architecture through which regional cooperation in Mediterranean education could be organized.

An 871 Response Survey Dataset on Public Perceptions of Education for Sustainable Development, Digital Competencies, and Industry 4.0

Ioannis Ch. Lampropoulos — 2026-08-25

The progressive integration of digital technologies into education, together with the rising policy salience of sustainable development, has intensified the demand for datasets capable of sustaining interdisciplinary educational research. This paper presents a structured survey dataset documenting public perceptions of the relationships among Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), digital competencies, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0). Data were collected through an online questionnaire administered over seven consecutive days, yielding 871 valid responses and a curated dataset of 34 variables. These variables cover demographic characteristics, educational background, digital competencies, sustainability awareness, and perceptions of technology supported learning and sustainable development. The dataset combines categorical, binary, ordinal, and Likert scale measures, accommodating descriptive, correlational, multivariate, and predictive analyses. Its interdisciplinary scope and standardized coding make it a reusable resource for researchers, educators, and policymakers concerned with digital transformation, sustainability education, and educational innovation. The dataset further supports secondary analysis, cross national comparison, and the empirical validation of theoretical models linking ESD to Industry 4.0.