In recent years, sustainable development has represented one of the most important policy goals at the global level. How to design specific policy actions and how to measure performance and results continue to present a challenge. The aim of this paper is to identify a numerical measure of ‘sustainable human development’ by enlarging human development with more specific environmental aspects. The sustainability condition has been directly analysed on the well‐being side. Building a complex Sustainable Human Development Index may be a hard task because of data availability. European countries represent a useful pilot area for testing the methodology. The key factors of effective sustainable human development are emphasized, comparing a Sustainable Human Development Index with existing traditional indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product and the Human Development Index.

This paper aims to assess the proximity of urban services through the lens of the 15 min city concept, using the Municipality of Rome as a case study. The question of whether Rome qualifies as a 15 min city is explored by examining proximity in terms of the “intensity” of urban services accessible within a 15 min walking or cycling distance. A simple model, based on GIS techniques, is implemented to measure proximity to urban services at the neighbourhood level. Furthermore, the proximity levels in urban areas characterised by similar socioeconomic conditions, referred to as the “seven cities” of Rome, are analysed to identify potential inequalities. Our analysis shows that the dense and walkable Rome known by tourists is not the place most Romans live in.

By examining social marketing this articles has featured a step-by step approach for residential behavioural change towards sustainable energy transition. Specifically, this article considers the value-based approach instead of rational information campaigns for behavioural change of energy users. The proposed framework is based on environmental values and designed to transform the selected destructive behaviour into a sustainable one. The framework consist of five steps: (1) selecting the behaviour, (2) user orientation, (3) exchange, (4) marketing mix: elements of intervention, (5) measuring behaviour change. As behavioural change is the final goal of any energy efficiency campaign, it becomes also a starting point and an objective of the rest of the activities in the framework. Second, we suggest using the user orientation concept that divides the society into three groups based on their attitude towards environmental issues, i.e. environmentalist, the environmentally concerned and the disinterested. In the third step we apply the exchange theory; whereas in the step of ‘marketing mix’ a conceptual combination of six elements for energy transition is reasoned: proposition, cost, communication, communities and partnership. Finally, the fifth step stresses on the measurement of the behavioural change that enables energy transition. The proposed step-by step framework is based on theory and builded on current practice in a field that is analysed in the article.