Building a model for securing regional development from ecological threats

Abstract

This paper aims to build a Sustainable Development (SD) model that considers ecological threats. We need to identify and measure those threats to prevent them from hindering sustainable regional development. The authors mine the ecological threats' indicators related to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the World Bank database. They found that the ecological threats affect eight SDGs out of the seventeen SDGs, as well as 43 security indicators that measure ecological threats. The obtained results are used to build a Sustainable Development Ecological Security Model made out of selected ecological indicators. The model is instrumental for further constructing an index, which allowed for estimating a level of security of sustainable development from ecological hazards. The study's novelty lies in considering ecological security issues while measuring SD. The obtained results may be instrumental for measuring countries' secure sustainable development and managing the processes through relevant economic policies. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Chehabeddine, M.R., Grabowska, S., Adekola, A.F. 2022. Building a model for securing regional development from ecological threats. Insights into Regional Development, 4(2), 22-40.