Volume 2, Issue 2 (2021)

Prof. Hany Ayad - Professor of urban planning, Alexandria university

Creative sustainable development combines knowledge and skills from different disciplines to co-create innovative solutions for real-life challenges. Despite its importance in promoting transformations towards ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable environments, this novel field of multidisciplinary research encounters a gap in literature addressing the intersection between creativity and sustainability.

In this respect, the year 2021 was declared the international year of the creative economy for sustainable development at the 74th General Assembly of the United Nations. This important declaration acknowledges that creativity is important to sustainable development in fostering entrepreneurship and resilience, building capabilities, improving well-being, and providing substantial economic growth and jobs.

The Beirut Arab University Journal: “Creative Sustainable Development” could not have come at a more convenient time: it acknowledges the need for more research across different disciplines and from multiple levels of analysis to generate empirical understanding of the intricate societal, environmental, and urban challenges. The journal plays an important role in bridging the knowledge gap, and in promoting multidisciplinary approaches that adopt creativity, systems thinking, and sustainability techniques.

It is my great privilege and pleasure to introduce this issue of the Journal. As the guest editor, I am delighted to see diverse range of research articles with special focus on the following topics: Energy efficiency, economic markets, corporate social responsibility, biomimicry, e-commerce, COVID-19 pandemic in urban public spaces, healthy sustainable environment, women’s rights, nanotechnology, outsourcing of accounting functions, physical social fragmentation, endodontics, and prehistoric archeological analyses. It is very clear now that the journal is more renowned in its second publication year, with scholars and case studies from at least five different countries. This is an important indicator that the journal is getting a wider recognition from the international scientific community.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the authors for their willingness to share their expertise and insights on this important and novel field of research. Special thanks are also extended to the reviewers who contributed to the reviewing process, the members of the editorial board, the publisher, and everyone whose contribution has made this publication possible.