Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Engineering: Products, Services, Technologies, and Social Inclusivity with a Gender Approach

Abstract

Today, sustainable engineering faces challenges, highlighting the need to develop sustainable technologies and systems to support these new engineering projects and services. These sustainable engineering challenges aim to achieve a balance between people and the planet. To this end, 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets have been formulated, constituting the internationally accepted global sustainability aspirations for 2030. To address this issue, it is necessary to characterize its product life cycle; if there are models for the integration of sustainable engineering in policies, strategies, and programs of public and private institutions, what would be its impact at economic and social levels and its sustainable social engineering, and how would the gender approach impact these areas since it is an inclusive part of the SDG 2030 and plays a relevant role? This research analyzes models of social inclusiveness, engineering products and services for sustainability, and integration into sustainable development goals of engineering products and technology, reviewing whether gender equality or equity is present in their application and development. This study highlights relevant initiatives and the most used technological tools. The PRISMA protocol directed this study, which identified 252 pertinent articles for analysis and suggested effective practices for employing products, services, and technologies to advance sustainable engineering in the near term.

1. Introduction

Sustainable engineering is an innovative approach to designing, constructing, and operating infrastructure and technologies that balance social, environmental, and economic aspects in all phases of their useful life. It is about creating solutions that meet today’s needs without compromising future generations’ ability. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offers a strategic action plan, placing engineers at the forefront of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (https://sdgs.un.org/goals (accessed on 14 December 2023)) through their scientific knowledge and expertise in transforming innovative concepts into sustainability projects for the collective good. A varied engineering workforce enhances the effectiveness in addressing the SDGs, delivering pertinent, inclusive, and inventive solutions while mitigating bias and discrimination to ensure that no one is left behind [1].

The SDGs consist of goals and guidelines to promote sustainable development worldwide. They cover many social, economic, and environmental issues to address the most pressing challenges of our time, such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice [2]. The organization integrates these principles into its programs and projects, contributing to the overall achievement of the SDGs. Its approach focuses on empowering people and ensuring inclusion and equality, recognizing that sustainable development cannot be achieved without peace, security, and respect for human rights and dignity.

Making permanent efforts in the planning of engineering education allows for an adaptation to changes, either economic and social, within an organizational culture, with a methodological framework for the development of actions aimed at the process of qualification, specialization, or acquiring expertise for the demand of the future with dynamics of global changes. Engineers must be prepared for the dynamics of change, responding to immediate needs that demand the availability of new converging technologies in an economic context [3].

Sustainability guarantees cohesion between contexts and cultures, achieving a better quality of life with equitable wealth by being environmentally friendly [4]. The sector is presently experiencing a shift toward smart manufacturing methods and full digitalization, with the rise of new information and communication technologies like cybernetic systems, cybersecurity, Internet of Things (IoT), big data, integration systems, cloud computing, and digital and smart manufacturing, among others. These concepts are key catalysts of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, called Industry 4.0 [5].

Several sustainable engineering challenges derived from the 2030 SDGs have been embraced by governments and policymakers, who are now compelled to act swiftly to motivate more young individuals, particularly girls, to pursue careers in engineering. This effort is crucial for mitigating the shortage of engineers and guaranteeing the diversity of thought and inclusive participation vital for achieving the SDGs [6].

This urgency is based on the need to overcome the under-representation of women in STEM and leverage their proven capabilities in sciences, similar to men. This disparity is attributed to cultural barriers and gender stereotypes that limit their participation in these areas [7]. On the other hand, diversity in engineering leads to more innovative solutions. Including women provides varied and essential perspectives for facing contemporary challenges in this discipline. A gender-diverse team has proven to be more innovative and creative [8]. Support initiatives and networks for women in engineering are crucial to their inclusion and visibility. These networks provide a space to share experiences, celebrate achievements, and build professional profiles, helping women to increase their visibility and recognition in the field [9]. Therefore, addressing this issue not only seeks gender equity in engineering but also aims to improve the capacity for innovation and problem solving in the field, underscoring the importance of governments and policymakers in fostering greater participation of young people, especially women, in engineering.

In sustainable engineering, it is imperative to recognize that the world faces numerous obstacles to achieving the SDGs by 2030. The most pressing issue is the development disparity across various regions. This underscores the importance of enhancing global partnerships in building engineering capacities, particularly in developing nations [10].

Engineering and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations are strictly linked; each of the SDGs, from 1 to 17, can be addressed through engineering to generate an improvement and then move toward the final purpose, which is that engineering contributes to making a better world. From the relevant point that convenes this study, it is necessary to specify how the linkage of each of these goals associated with the different areas of engineering and their application is achieved.

Table 1. Relation between engineering and SDGs [6].

SDG 1: No poverty	Engineering drives economic growth and alleviates poverty.
SDG 2: Zero hunger	Agricultural engineers, mechanical and chemical, have designed the mechanization of agriculture for food production.
SDG 3: Good health and well-being	Engineering has eliminated diseases like typhoid and cholera by providing clean water and sanitation solutions.
SDG 4: Quality education	Engineers enhance the delivery of education at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels by employing new technologies as instructional tools.
SDG 5: Gender equality	Guaranteeing women’s access to technology and engineering will bridge numerous gender disparities, thereby ensuring that women benefit from and contribute to the technological revolution.
SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation	Civil and environmental engineers have saved millions of lives through clean water and wastewater treatment systems.
SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy	Engineering has played a crucial role in generating and supplying electricity, essential for economic development and enhancing living standards.
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth	Engineering is now acknowledged as a pivotal force behind economic growth, as demonstrated by the positive correlation between a country’s economic development and its number of engineers.
SDG 9: Industry, innovation, infrastructure	A contemporary economy is unsustainable without engineering contributions. Engineers are responsible for designing, constructing, and maintaining infrastructure. Future economic expansion and job creation will be propelled by engineering advancements in AI, robotics, cloud computing, and big data.
SDG10: Reducing inequalities	Engineering fosters job creation and opportunities through sustainable infrastructure, new technologies, and innovations, facilitating access to housing, food, health, and a decent standard of living.
SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities	Civil, structural, electrical, mechanical, environmental, software, and telecommunications engineers contribute to creating safe, inclusive, and resilient cities and facilitating access to affordable housing, public transportation, clean air, water, and energy.
SDG 12: Responsible production and consumption	Mining, civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental engineers play pivotal roles in efficiently managing Earth’s resources by processing essential minerals.
SDG 13: Climate action	Renewable energy sources engineered to have zero carbon emissions encompass hydropower, solar, wind, and tidal energy, alongside bio-based hydrogen that enables low-cost energy storage.
SDG 14: Life below water	Engineers play a crucial role in conserving and safeguarding the oceans, seas, and the marine life they harbor.
SDG 15: Life of land	Environmental engineers contribute to biodiversity management by utilizing forest resources responsibly and preserving natural habitats.
SDG 16: Peace, justice, and strong institutions	Diversity, inclusive, sustainable, and ethical engineering practices are essential to advancing the SDGs.
SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals	Partnerships in engineering, both within engineering disciplines and between national and international engineering institutions, are essential to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

details the linkage between engineering and the SDGs.

This research examines social inclusion in engineering models, products, and services to promote sustainability and their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, it assesses whether gender equality is considered in the application and development of these engineering and technology products. This report includes several sections. Section 2 outlines the fundamental concepts pertinent to the overall research. Section 3 elaborates on the methodology used and the outcomes of the article selection procedure. Section 4 reveals the primary findings from the study. Section 5 explores the significant challenges encountered in the research, highlighting effective practices and applications in sustainable engineering. Section 6 details the research limitations. Lastly, Section 7 summarizes the conclusions, implications, and potential directions for future research.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

In 2015, UN member states, ONGs, and citizens worldwide generated a proposal to develop 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals seek to achieve a balanced approach to three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. As a result, an international agenda was established for the period up to 2030, consisting of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets [11].

The concept of "Sustainable Development" has gained widespread attention over the past few decades, as described in the Brundtland Report [12], which defines it as the kind of development that satisfies the needs of the current generation without jeopardizing the future generations’ ability to fulfill their own needs. The notion of sustainable development is extensive and linked to numerous issues, among them natural capital, which represents a natural legacy that humans can alter but not originate. Typically, natural capital is categorized into three types: non-renewable resources, the ability of nature to regenerate renewable resources, and the capacity of nature to absorb pollutants. Consequently, there is a recognized demand for instruments that facilitate a thorough evaluation of how natural capital interacts with society [13].

2.2. Sustainable Engineering

Sustainable engineering involves designing and operating engineering systems to optimize their efficiency and effectiveness over the long term, aiming to reduce adverse effects on the environment and society [14]. It involves using resources efficiently, developing innovative solutions that reduce pollution and waste, and designing products and processes that are economically viable, socially acceptable, and environmentally responsible [15]. This approach also considers the entire life cycle of projects, from planning and design to decommissioning and recycling, ensuring that engineering projects contribute positively to sustainable development. Sustainable engineering balances economic growth, environmental protection, and social welfare [16].

2.3. Re-Engineering

Total re-engineering combines business and human engineering to redesign the typical processes to reinvent the company, eliminating activities that do not add value and creating new, optimized processes. In this way, redesigning the human factor becomes fundamental to configuring the new organization, being necessary for adapting leadership as an engine of change that relies on various techniques for selecting and planning personnel, both quantitatively and qualitatively, for achieving business success [17].

2.4. Innovation in Sustainable Engineering

Although there is no exact definition, sustainable innovation is the practice of consciously using technological resources to benefit society and the environment and to generate good financial results. In short, sustainable innovation is using technology to benefit society, the environment, and business success [18].

2.5. Life Cycle Sustainability

Life cycle analysis (LCA) assesses the environmental effects associated with all the stages of a product’s life, from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling. The LCA accounts for the entire product, process, or service lifecycle, encompassing raw material extraction and processing, production, transportation and distribution, usage, reuse and maintenance, recycling, and final disposal [19].

2.6. Social Sustainability

This refers to a form of sustainability that seeks to foster relationships between individuals and the collective use of the commons, combine economic growth and respect for the environment with social well-being, promote the maintenance and creation of jobs, protect people’s safety and health, ensure a reduction in poverty and inequalities, and avoid situations of social exclusion [20].

2.7. Inclusive Engineering

Inclusive engineering contributes to eliminating barriers, using as support the knowledge of the associated disciplines and the profession’s competencies, placing it at the service of all people [21].

2.8. Gender Equity

Gender equity refers to fairness in treating women and men according to their needs. This may involve equal treatment or differentiated but equivalent treatment regarding rights, benefits, obligations, and opportunities. In the field of development, achieving gender equity often entails implementing compensatory measures to counteract the historical and social disadvantages that women have faced [22].

2.9. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) encompass far more than merely the ability to access information or computer technology, as suggested by the traditional dialogue around information ’haves’ and ’have-nots.’ ICTs significantly influence the access of an individual, household, firm, or nation to information, people, services, and technologies. The idea of tile access underscores the role of ICTs in facilitating both electronically mediated and direct access to a broad spectrum of social and economic resources [23].

2.10. Social Inclusivity

Social inclusion, also called inclusiveness, is when people at risk of exclusion or suffering discrimination are socialized, offering them the same opportunities as everyone else to ensure their personal development. It goes beyond integration since, in addition to recognizing and offering special opportunities for vulnerable and disabled people in society, it seeks to offer opportunities at the same level as those without problems. In addition to the actions and projects that can be carried out with these people, social inclusion requires a permanent active attitude, both by citizens and institutions, recognizing social diversity. On this basis, the following policies can be distinguished to achieve social inclusion: policies to extend social services and basic income, policies against labor exclusion and in favor of employment, housing, and urban planning policies, social and health policies, educational policies, cultural policies, and gender policies [24].

3. Materials and Methods

Petersen’s approach to the systematic mapping study (SMS) [25] offers a methodical way to verify, analyze, and classify findings concerning a particular topic or field of interest. This methodology aids in delineating the research scope and organizing the acquired knowledge systematically.

PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) [26,27] is a set of guidelines that provides a framework for the clear and transparent writing and presentation of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. It includes a checklist of 27 items and a flow diagram detailing the stages of study selection, from identification and screening to inclusion in the review. These elements are crucial for ensuring that the review process is high-quality and reproducible.

PRISMA was originally developed to guide the writing of systematic reviews and meta-analyses rather than systematic mappings per se. Although PRISMA may not fully apply in its original format, some of its principles and methods remain relevant for systematic mappings. For example, transparency in methodology, exhaustive and systematic literature search, and clear evaluation of study quality are common practices in systematic mappings and systematic reviews.

Given this situation, it was decided to adapt the method for developing the systematic mapping, reducing the scope and depth of analysis of the found articles just enough to answer the posed research questions.

Executing an SMS involves sequentially following or adapting the steps depicted in Figure 1, derived from [28]. As each phase of the process is completed, tangible outcomes are generated, serving as the immediate input for the subsequent stage, with the ultimate goal of producing a systematic mapping.

The components of the systematic mapping process are outlined in the subsequent sections.

3.1. Goal and Research Questions

This SMS aims to analyze and categorize the models of social inclusiveness, products, engineering services, and technology associated with sustainability, evaluating in which ones the gender approach is considered from their design, development, or application, all framed in the last five years. These topics will be approached from the perspective of the problems and opportunities faced by sustainable engineering, what they mean, and how it is possible to approach them from the perspective of ICTs and social inclusiveness. In summary, the study focuses on the need to relate the challenges and opportunities faced by these aspects of sustainable engineering toward 2030, developing products, processes, services, and built environments that coexist with the SDGs in mind.

In this type of study, the methodology began by formulating research questions that establish the core framework of the mapping, offering a comprehensive view of the particular area [25].

Table 2. Research questions.

Question	Objective
RQ1: How many papers propose integration models, proposals, or initiatives related to social sustainability, inclusion models, and engineering for social sustainability, and in which fields or areas?	Recognize and identify scientific articles that propose integration models, proposals, or initiatives related to social sustainability, inclusion models, and engineering for social sustainability and in which fields or areas.
RQ2: For related papers, how many address novel techniques or strategies for product and product life cycle engineering?	Recognize current or new techniques or strategies for implementing product engineering and product life cycle.
RQ3: Of the selected papers, how many articles demonstrate positive sustainability outcomes linked to engineering and technology tools?	Analyze the selected papers to identify how many articles show positive results using various technological tools.
RQ4: Of the selected papers, how many articles demonstrate positive results from focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals by considering the gender perspective (equality or gap reduction)?	Analyze the selected papers to assess how many focus on the SDGs, which ones consider the gender perspective, and in what way.
RQ5: Of the selected papers, how many articles raise life cycle sustainability, sustainable engineering innovation, and sustainable re-engineering, where positive results are achieved by focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals?	Analyze the selected papers to evaluate the sustainability results for the life cycle, sustainable engineering innovation, and re-engineering with a focus on SDGs.

lists all the questions and their underlying rationale. These questions aided in selecting, analyzing, and categorizing information within the study area.

3.2. Data Sources and Keywords

The databases that were methodically searched to ensure optimal literature coverage on the research topic include Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital Library. The analysis encompassed studies published within approximately five years (from 2017 to the present). A combination of keywords related to the research questions was used: RQ1: “social inclusivity model”, “sustainability social”, “integration models”, “social sustainability engineering”. RQ2: “product engineering”, “product lifecycle”. RQ3: “engineering”, “technologies”. RQ4: “sustainable development goals”, “gender equality”. RQ5: “life cycle sustainability”, “innovation in sustainable engineering”, “sustainable reengineering”.

3.3. Search String

To create a search string, the process involves identifying keywords from the research questions and objectives and then connecting them using logical operators. This search string was then utilized in the database search engines and validated by the research team. The constructed search string incorporated AND/OR logical connectors to refine the search results. “social sustainability” AND engineering AND (“gender equality” OR technologies OR “social inclusivity model” OR "Sustainable Development Goals” OR “product engineering” OR “Integration models” OR “product lifecycle” OR “life cycle sustainability” OR “Innovation in sustainable engineering” OR “Sustainable reengineering” OR “Social sustainability engineering”).

3.4. Data Extraction

The search and data extraction process included utilizing databases and websites that provide access to digital libraries. These platforms featured search engines designed to perform searches with specific search strings, enabling the retrieval of a vast array of relevant papers. The selected data sources for this process were Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and the ACM Digital Library.

3.5. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

The studies retrieved from the aforementioned academic search engines were chosen according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria specified for this article:

Inclusion Criteria:

• Published papers in English from journals and conferences.
• Full papers related to the research.
• Papers from the last five years.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Technical reports, abstracts, editors’ comments, state of the art.
• Studies before 2017.
• Studies without an author.
• Documents that do not reflect higher education environments.
• Duplicate studies in different databases.
• Documents that do not come from traceable journals or procedures.

3.6. Search Execution

The search string was utilized on the chosen sources, resulting in 478 papers (refer to

Table 3. Sources for the automated search.

Electronic Data Sources	URL	Resources
Web of Sciences	www.webofknowledge.com (accessed on 14 December 2023)	273
SCOPUS	www.scopus.com (accessed on 14 December 2023)	58
IEEE	ieeexplore.ieee.org (accessed on 14 December 2023)	44
ACM	www.acm.org (accessed on 14 December 2023)	103

). The information was gathered using the export functionalities provided by each digital library. After a search to eliminate those papers that were doubly indexed, it was found that it was not possible to reduce the number because there was no duplication. The 478 papers were retained for the analysis.

After applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria by examining the titles, the number of papers was narrowed to 251. Subsequently, these papers were further filtered based on their abstracts, yielding 103 articles (refer to the summary in Figure 2). The identified articles are compiled in Appendix A,

Table A1. Articles used to Analysis and Results of systematic mapping.

Num.	Title	Cite	Year
1	Water shortage risk assessment in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region	[124]	2017
2	An autonomous taxi service for sustainable urban transportation	[86]	2017
3	Upstream supply chain visibility and complexity effect on focal company’s sustainable performance: Indian manufacturers’ perspective	[75]	2017
4	On the Presence of Green and Sustainable Software Engineering in Higher Education Curricula	[84]	2017
5	Green architecture for sustainable eLearning systems	[39]	2017
6	Damages to return with a possible occurrence of eco-technology innovation measured by DEA environmental assessment	[101]	2017
7	Sustainability of the Rural ICT Project: a Case Study of aAQUA e-Agriservice, Maharashtra, India	[44]	2017
8	21st century engineering for on-farm food–energy–water systems	[105]	2017
9	Sustainability policy-making as a dynamic, agent-based system of systems	[51]	2017
10	Green machines? Destabilizing discourse in technology education for sustainable development	[127]	2018
11	CalcuCafé: Designing for Collaboration Among Coffee Farmers to Calculate Costs of Production	[48]	2018
12	Growing Tiny Publics: Small Farmers’ Social Movement Strategies	[47]	2018
13	The Big Data Deluge for Transforming the Knowledge of Smart Sustainable Cities: A Data Mining Framework for Urban Analytics	[46]	2018
14	Design Guidelines for Assistance Systems Supporting Sustainable Purchase Decisions	[90]	2018
15	Analyzing Coastal Wetland Degradation and its Key Restoration Technologies in the Coastal Area of Jiangsu, China	[111]	2018
16	Evaluation of CSR Project from the Economic, Environmental and Social Performances Monitoring by Using the Case Study of Renewable Energy for a Community Project in Thailand	[42]	2018
17	Exploring Aesthetic Enhancement of Wearable Technologies for Deaf Women	[40]	2018
18	Everything is INTERRELATED: teaching software engineering for sustainability	[96]	2018
19	Sustainability impacts of increased forest biomass feedstock supply – a comparative assessment of technological solutions	[91]	2018
20	Iot to enable social sustainability in manufacturing systems	[58]	2018
21	Optimal Energy Scheduling for a Microgrid Encompassing DRRs and Energy Hub Paradigm Subject to Alleviate Emission and Operational Costs	[76]	2018
22	Innovation and technology for sustainable mining activity: A worldwide research assessment	[112]	2019
23	Human-robot collaboration in disassembly for sustainable manufacturing	[107]	2019
24	Green economic development in Lao PDR: A sustainability window analysis of Green Growth Productivity and the Efficiency Gap	[68]	2019
25	Sustainable modeling in reverse logistics strategies using fuzzy MCDM: Case of China Pakistan Economic Corridor	[100]	2019
26	Sustainability Metrics for Inverter-based Voltage Regulation Methods in PV-rich Low Voltage Grids	[98]	2019
27	Can big data and predictive analytics improve social and environmental sustainability?	[70]	2019
28	Design and management of sustainable and resilient supply chains	[88]	2019
29	Towards smart sustainable cities: A review of the role digital citizen participation could play in advancing social sustainability	[65]	2019
30	Has social sustainability been addressed in software architectures?	[33]	2019
31	Life Cycle Analysis of Urban Rail Transit Project Sustainable Development	[122]	2019
32	Addressing Sustainable Development: Promoting Active Informed Citizenry through Trans-Contextual Science Education	[126]	2020
33	Human behaviour centered design: developing a software system for cultural heritage	[93]	2020
34	A method to improve workers’ well-being toward human-centered connected factories	[123]	2020
35	Towards Sustainability of Manufacturing Processes by Multiobjective Optimization: A Case Study on a Submerged Arc Welding Process	[85]	2020
36	Green Cloud Software Engineering for Big Data Processing	[102]	2020
37	Enhancing City Sustainability through Smart Technologies: A Framework for Automatic Pre-Emptive Action to Promote Safety and Security Using Lighting and ICT-Based Surveillance	[116]	2020
38	Green Cloud Software Engineering for Big Data Processing	[102]	2020
39	Computational Sustainability: A Socio-technical Perspective	[94]	2020
40	Peer-to-Peer Energy Markets: Understanding the Values of Collective and Community Trading	[45]	2020
41	Towards a Modeling Method for Business Process Oriented Organizational Life Cycle Assessment	[29]	2020
42	Particles Matter: A Case Study on How Civic IoT Can Contribute to Sustainable Communities	[49]	2020
43	Implementing the guidelines for social life cycle assessment: past, present, and future	[74]	2020
44	A Pythagorean fuzzy AHP approach and its application to evaluate the enablers of sustainable supply chain innovation	[72]	2020
45	The Advantages of Industry 4.0 Applications for Sustainability: Results from a Sample of Manufacturing Companies	[71]	2020
46	Blinded by Simplicity: Locating the Social Dimension in Software Development Process Literature	[36]	2020
47	System architecture for blockchain based transparency of supply chain social sustainability	[64]	2020
48	An approach for a sustainable decision-making in product portfolio design of dairy supply chain in terms of environmental, economic and social criteria	[79]	2021
49	Evaluating Three-Pillar Sustainability Modelling Approaches for Dairy Cattle Production Systems	[32]	2021
50	Luces Nuevas Experience Lighting Rural Bolivia: A Way to Reach SDG 7	[30]	2021
51	An integrated techno-sustainability assessment (TSA) framework for emerging technologies	[115]	2021
52	Life cycle sustainability assessment: Lessons learned from case studies	[132]	2021
53	6G Vision, Value, Use Cases and Technologies From European 6G Flagship Project Hexa-X	[117]	2021
54	Three pillars of sustainability in the wake of COVID-19: A systematic review and future research agenda for sustainable development	[125]	2021
55	A Decade of Sustainable HCI: Connecting SHCI to the Sustainable Development Goals	[109]	2021
56	Exploring the Variables Interactions for Cement Industry Policies to Support Sustainable Development Aspect in Indonesia through Green Manufacturing	[134]	2021
57	Industry 4.0-based dynamic Social Organizational Life Cycle Assessment to target the social circular economy in manufacturing	[133]	2021
58	Opaque Obstacles: The Role of Stigma, Rumor, and Superstition in Limiting Women’s Access to Computing in Rural Bangladesh	[41]	2021
59	Quantitative Assessment of Life Cycle Sustainability (QUALICS): Application to Engineering Projects	[104]	2021
60	Assessing the social sustainability of circular economy practices: Industry perspectives from Italy and the Netherlands	[63]	2021
61	Comparative assessment of social sustainability performance: Integrated data-driven weighting system and CoCoSo model	[61]	2021
62	Circular economy for phosphorus supply chain and its impact on social sustainable development goals	[60]	2021
63	The Social Sustainability of Infrastructure: Constructing for Justice	[59]	2021
64	A Dozen Stickers on a Mailbox: Physical Encounters and Digital Interactions in a Local Sharing Community	[50]	2021
65	Technology for Social Good Foundations: A Perspective From the Smallholder Farmer in Sustainable Supply Chains	[89]	2021
66	Social Sustainability and Social Innovation Design: towards a memorable family space	[54]	2021
67	Engineering human-focused Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems in Industry 4.0 context	[95]	2021
68	Identification of critical factors for big data analytics implementation in sustainable supply chain in emerging economies	[80]	2022
69	Technological Revolution and Circular Economy Practices: A Mechanism of Green Economy	[108]	2022
70	Testing an adoption model for Industry 4.0 and sustainability: A Malaysian scenario	[135]	2022
71	Coordinating double-level sustainability effort in a sustainable supply chain under cap-and-trade regulation	[81]	2022
72	Barriers to institutional social sustainability	[62]	2022
73	Digital transformation of peatland eco-innovations (‘Paludiculture’): Enabling a paradigm shift towards the real-time sustainable production of ‘green-friendly’ products and services	[78]	2022
74	An overall review of research on prefabricated construction supply chain management	[92]	2022
75	Sustainability and Industry 4.0: Definition of a Set of Key Performance Indicators for Manufacturing Companies	[73]	2022
76	Using Simulation-Based Forecasting to Project Singapore’s Future Residential Construction Demand and Impacts on Sustainability	[37]	2022
77	Transforming Cities for Sustainability:Role of Standards on Smart City	[53]	2022
78	State of Gender Equality in and by Artificial Intelligence	[129]	2022
79	Application of Smart Concepts for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)	[97]	2022
80	Simulated Annealing-based Energy Efficient Route Planning for Urban Service Robots	[87]	2022
81	A Conceptual Model Proposal to Assess the Effectiveness of IoT in Sustainability Orientation in Manufacturing Industry: An Environmental and Social Focus	[31]	2022
82	Sustainability Assessment of Remanufacturing Waste Sheet Steel Into Angle Mesh Steel	[52]	2022
83	Exploring the global and local social sustainability of wind energy technologies: An application of a social impact assessment framework	[66]	2022
84	Hitting the Triple Bottom Line: Widening the HCI Approach to Sustainability	[43]	2022
85	Distilling Sustainable Design Concepts for Engineering Design Educators	[106]	2022
86	Identifying industry 5.0 contributions to sustainable development: A strategy roadmap for delivering sustainability values	[128]	2022
87	Blockchain Adoption for Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Economic, Environmental, and Social Perspectives	[69]	2022
88	Towards a Sustainable Digital Railway	[103]	2022
89	Exploring the future of GM technology in sustainable local food systems in Colombia	[113]	2023
90	Social Sustainability Approaches for a Sustainable Software Product	[34]	2023
91	Evaluation of Stakeholder Mapping and Personas for Sustainable Software Development	[35]	2023
92	Evaluating Social Impact of Smart City Technologies and Services: Methods, Challenges, Future Directions	[114]	2023
93	Identifying sustainability assessment parameters for genetically engineered agrifoods	[131]	2023
94	IT for Good. How Technology Adoption and Technological Artefacts can support a Local Community: two case studies	[38]	2023
95	Environmental, economic, and social sustainability of urban water systems: a critical review using a life-cycle-based approach	[57]	2023
96	Sustainability is Stratified: Toward a Better Theory of Sustainable Software Engineering	[83]	2023
97	Virtual earth cloud: a multi-cloud framework for enabling geosciences digital ecosystems	[99]	2023
98	Data Science for Industry 4.0 and Sustainability: A Survey and Analysis Based on Open Data	[67]	2023
99	Passive Exoskeletons to Enhance Workforce Sustainability: Literature Review and Future Research Agenda	[77]	2023
100	Achieving Technological Transformation and Social Sustainability: An Industry 4.0 Perspective	[55]	2023
101	Enhancing sustainable supply chain performance by adopting sustainable lean six sigma-Industry 4.0 practices	[82]	2023
102	Impact of blockchain technology on the urban environment and climate change	[110]	2023
103	Construction Industry 4.0 and Sustainability: An Enabling Framework	[56]	2024

.

3.7. Classification Scheme

Publications are categorized across three dimensions: temporal, database type, and content (keywords). The temporal dimension organizes the papers by their year of publication, focusing on the most recent five-year period, from 2017 to 2023.

The database type dimension refers to the publication’s origin/source. The magazine’s content is classified into social sustainability engineering, gender equality, technologies, ICT, sustainable development goals, product engineering, integration models, life cycle sustainability, innovation in sustainable engineering, and sustainable re-engineering.

The type of proposal: Proposing solutions oriented to analysis but with a practical component or only theoretical and mixed. This dimension classifies the papers into:

• Analytical: These studies conduct analyses, comparisons, or literature reviews related to the research topic.
• Practical: This category includes studies or works that apply technological tools to the problem addressed.
• Both: These works offer analysis-oriented solutions yet incorporate a technological aspect.

3.8. Results

This section can be segmented under various subheadings to ensure clarity and structure. It should offer a succinct and accurate portrayal of the experimental outcomes, their interpretation, and the conclusions that can be inferred from the experiments.

3.9. General Graphs

The outcome of the systematic mapping phase was a map designed to aid in representation and analysis. Figure 3 illustrates the classification of papers based on the type of database and keywords. Additionally, on the right side of the figure is a classification of publications according to their year of publication. It is important to highlight that this map exclusively encompasses articles that, within their analysis or proposals, consider any of the dimensions individually.

As can be seen in Figure 4, most of the papers (103) are of the analytical type (75–73%), with fewer papers contributing a practical component to their studies (16–15%), and mixed studies considering both types are the fewest (12–12%).

The analysis of publications by year can be seen in the following graph, Figure 5.

Regarding the classifications for the 103 publications, the distribution by publication category is depicted as percentages, as illustrated in Figure 6.

Beyond just these numbers, it is important to delve further into the examination of papers that consider multiple categories. Figure 7 shows the number of items by the number of dimensions that they consider.

Figure 7 shows that the most significant number of articles (30) consider two dimensions in their proposals. The largest number of dimensions considered is eight, in only two articles.

Only a small number of papers look at multiple categories within their research, suggesting that there are limited studies that thoroughly investigate the impacts of merging categories and their interconnections. The analysis’s search results are mainly concentrated in four categories: social sustainability, engineering, technologies/ICT, and sustainable development goals. Innovation in sustainable engineering is slightly less but still considerable.

The charts indicate that the study’s subject matter is highly pertinent and has steadily grown in significance, although there was a slight decline in 2023. The graphs show that it strongly impacts technology, betting on new models and strategies for sustainable engineering. Ultimately, the research will emphasize significant initiatives and the most frequently utilized specialized tools. It will also pinpoint models that aim to connect innovation with sustainable engineering, assessing if these implemented or proposed initiatives take gender equity into account.

4. Results in Line with the Research Questions

Upon concluding this research, it becomes clear that a considerable portion of the results show that most of the studies are classified as theoretical or analytical, with a minimal number incorporating a practical aspect. This underscores an ongoing requirement for empirical proof to support the propositions, underlining the rationale for additional investigation into ways of implementing or applying practical measures and assessing their success.

Results for RQ1: How many selected papers address integration models, proposals, or initiatives related to social sustainability, inclusion models, and engineering for social sustainability, and in which fields or areas?

In response to this research question, 61 papers on the topic were reviewed.

Table 4. Sources for RQ1 answer.

Integration Models	Social Sustainability	Social Inclusivity Models	Social Sustainability Engineering
[29,30,31,32]	[32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75]		[31,51,54,56,70,71,76,77,78,79,80,81,82]

displays a compilation of the publications pertinent to RQ1.

Of the total number of articles, 4 dealt with integration models, 44 with social sustainability, 0 with social inclusion models, and 13 with social sustainability engineering.

Regarding integration, it is discussed that organizations need to understand in profundity the social, environmental, and economic impact of their operations [29]. Unfortunately, existing approaches lack a rigorous and comprehensive understanding of sustainability. The scholarly research highlights a void in the empirical exploration of the connection between the Internet of Things (IoT) and sustainability within manufacturing sectors [31]. A particular study demonstrates the various contributions of IoT initiatives toward the development of more sustainable cities or communities across three dimensions: (1) individuals gain awareness and interact with their immediate surroundings, leading to behavioral changes; (2) the initiative is conducted in an environmentally sustainable manner; (3) the availability of public data impacts the local community’s public discourse [49].

Regarding social sustainability, two studies show how it is possible to carry out successful projects such as helping livestock farmers through modernization, the first for milk production in Europe [32] and the second to bring electricity to rural sectors; these projects can be carried out considering non-governmental approaches [30]. Based on another article from small-scale agri-food farms, this one shows that communicating sustainability is challenging when local food production is not well supported [47]. Non-profit peer-to-peer exchange agreements and for-profit multilateral online marketplaces leverage underutilized resources as tools to optimize their use to capacity, facilitate social encounters, and encourage sustainable use and reuse of shared resources [50].

Social sustainability and social innovation in the design of residential spaces are also recurring themes presented in the articles; residential spaces, particularly dwellings, hold a valuable memory of users associated with space and place. Housing plays an essential role in maintaining social sustainability [54]. Regarding Building 4.0 technologies, a study shows that their application is not uniform, with more excellent applications in information modeling and building automation versus others, such as cyber–physical systems and smart materials, and significant growth is expected in the future for technologies related to blockchain and 3D printing [57]. Significantly, transdisciplinary engineering methods favor sustainable manufacturing [58].

Socially sustainable infrastructures eliminate freedoms that reduce human choice and agency. These include the lack of clean energy, clean water, clean air, sanitation, mobility, information, or safe housing, which collectively affect billions of people today, and the lack of a stable climate, which affects everyone on Earth and all those who will be born in the coming decades [59].

The engineering approach for sustainability associated with the development of socially sustainable software is also a relevant point and is gaining momentum with the development of new technologies. However, it is not tangible and an important challenge in the software engineering industry [35]. Sustainable development (SD), in its dimensions, environment, economy, and society, is an area of growing concern within the HCI community, human–computer interaction [43]. The topic of peer-to-peer (P2P) energy-sharing platforms has the potential to transform the current energy system centered on renewable energies [45]. Research assessing the overall sustainability in manufacturing operations analyzed AMS ratios reflecting the value added to benchmark the sustainability between AMS and WSS [52].

Smart cities are also part of the discussion. These cities highlight new principles of development, implementation, and continuous monitoring, and they are proposed to be driven by social, natural, and digital capital [53].

Regarding models, it can be indicated that the decentralized approach of the agent-based model building combined with identifying feedback loops from system dynamics can offer a meaningful way of viewing and modeling sustainability-focused policy making [51]; policies would change according to the market. One of the proposed models, during the year 2021, would leave France with the best results concerning social sustainability indicators; this model is based on the application of a novel integrated system of data sets based on the CRITIC and Shannon entropy methods and the CoCoSo method [61].

Figure 8 presents a word cloud associated with RQ1. This cloud represents the most recurrent concepts in the articles contributing to answering RQ1.

Results for RQ2: For related papers, how many address novel techniques or strategies for product and product life cycle engineering?

Of the papers, sixteen addressed product engineering, and four addressed product life cycles. In addressing this research question, an analysis was conducted on 61 papers related to the topic.

Table 5. Sources for RQ2 answer.

Product Engineering	Product Life Cycle
[33,34,35,52,53,67,76,77,79,83,84,85,86,87,88,89]	[79,90,91,92]

showcases a catalog of the publications associated with RQ2.

In terms of techniques or strategies, certain approaches are identified for sustainable software engineering, an evolving research area aimed at reducing the adverse effects of software development on society. This primarily involves choosing features for inclusion in software application development [34]. It is crucial to note that green and sustainable software engineering is not fully integrated into higher education curriculums, indicating that sustainability topics are not adequately covered [84].

One study presents an integrated framework for socio-technical systems for sustainability and urban safety [93]. It focuses on designing and developing a hardware and software system based on actual and expected human behavior. It explains the steps taken to develop the crowd control and queue management system of the Uffizi Museum [93].

The articles highlight the application of novel computational strategies in diverse areas associated with sustainability. These range from biosurveillance and poverty mapping to predicting renewable energy generation, crop disease surveillance, and using agent-based modeling and stochastic network configuration [94], presenting a broad spectrum of potential uses.

Conversely, optimization focused on sustainability yields significant advantages for manufacturing processes, given that sustainable production is a vital component of contemporary manufacturing. An article introduces a novel formalized framework designed to enhance the sustainability of manufacturing processes. This approach is distinguished from earlier methods by integrating a system for choosing sustainability indicators with a multi-objective optimization strategy, aiming to enhance the three pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental, and societal aspects [85].

A research paper addressing energy concerns introduces a novel day-ahead energy scheduling strategy for electrical and thermal reserve needs within a multicarrier microgrid system. In this framework, the energy concentrator plays a proactive role, delivering necessary energy via a boiler and cogeneration system. It can provide a thermal reserve by utilizing a thermal energy storage unit [76].

In the supply chain context, most initiatives have mainly aimed at minimizing environmental impacts, often quantified by greenhouse gas emissions and resource usage. On the social sustainability front, the emphasis has been on mitigating potential risks to human health, the community, and societal well-being [88].

In an intriguing academic exploration, the potential of blockchain technology to address inefficiencies, complexities, and social challenges faced by smallholder farmers within the supply chain is examined. The article outlines the difficulties encountered by these farmers. It illustrates how technology could serve a beneficial role in their supply chains, helping to mitigate a range of social and environmental issues [89].

Numerous debates emphasize the impact of digital transformation in industrial settings on human capabilities and interactions. There is a critical observation that looking beyond just technological advancements and considering other factors is essential. It is highlighted that efforts centered around humans should be viewed within the larger sustainability framework and the circular economy to understand the dynamics of the socio-technical aspects involved fully [95].

The concept of smart cities has been around for some time and is still going strong. Cohesion is a significant factor for this “smart” system, and it needs a common platform to connect the global community.

Figure 9 presents a word cloud associated with RQ2. This cloud represents the most recurrent concepts in the articles contributing to answering RQ2.

Results for RQ3: How many selected papers demonstrate positive sustainability results linked to engineering and technological tools?

Of the articles, 46 dealt with engineering-related sustainability and 58 with technologies or technological tools.

Table 6. Sources for RQ3 answer.

Engineering-Related Sustainability	Technological Tools
[33,34,35,45,51,52,53,55,56,58,67,71,73,75,76,77,78,79,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108]	[30,31,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,49,53,55,56,58,67,70,71,72,73,75,76,80,81,82,83,84,86,87,89,91,92,93,94,95,96,99,100,101,102,103,105,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117]

presents a list of the publications related to RQ3.

Nowadays, sustainability is a crucial principle that needs to be cultivated and implemented across all industrial and engineering fields. In this vein, the current digital shift and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) innovations aim to revolutionize the interactions between individuals and machines, markedly influencing both social and organizational facets. Concurrently, digitalization allows businesses to articulate and execute sustainability strategies by linking production processes with suitable evaluative metrics [73]. According to UNESCO’s ’Engineering for Sustainable Development’ report, “Engineering itself must be transformed to become more innovative, inclusive, collaborative and responsible”. For this research, it is vital to note that the concept of sustainability was initially presented in 1972 during the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm [118]. Later, in 1987, the majority of sustainability definitions put forth by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, also known as the Brundtland Commission) articulated sustainable development as “development that satisfies the needs of the present without jeopardizing the capacity of future generations to fulfill their own needs” [119]. According to Francisco García Calvo-Flores, there are 12 principles associated with sustainable engineering: 1. “Essential” rather than “circumstantial”, 2. “Durability” is better than “immortality”, 8. Coping with need, minimizing excess, 9. Minimizing diversification of raw materials, 10. Integrating matter and energy flows, 11. Designing for commercial use of products beyond their useful life, and 12. “Renewable” better than “exhaustible”: matter and energy supplies should be renewable rather than exhaustible [120].

Examples include engineering and technological tools such as 5G and 6th generation (6G) wireless communications. One of the critical aspects in the justification of the six challenges of 6G research is precisely sustainability (environmental, economic, and social) to address the main challenges of today’s societies [117]. However, harnessing the full potential of the technologies will require significant changes beyond the technology. Physical assets must be linked with digital assets, taking full advantage of data, simulation, and modeling [103].

The mining sector is undoubtedly one of the largest spaces for the application of engineering and technological tools, which is why there have been analyses of innovations and technologies aimed at improving the sustainability of mining activity, which has gained importance in recent decades; these have focused mainly on the analysis of issues related to environmental sustainability in the phases from exploration to exploitation and closure [112].

Urban residents are turning to technology to help combat climate change and achieve sustainability. Various technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and blockchain, are being tailored to support efforts against climate change and enhance social sustainability. Specifically, green blockchain technology stands out as an eco-friendly solution that addresses social and environmental challenges in urban areas, fostering sustainable practices [110]. Additionally, cloud-based data centers provide the necessary high-performance computing capabilities to process and analyze large data sets.

Furthermore, the world is witnessing an ever-growing level of interconnectedness, a trend also evident in the industrial sector. Here, an ecosystem comprising digitized assets and humans, equipped with suitable digital interfaces, engages in continuous interaction [95].

Globalization plays a critical role; supply chain networks are compelling manufacturing firms to produce sustainable products using re-engineering technologies that provide a competitive edge in the current market [46]. The findings indicate that waste management, the effect on biodiversity, and economic development are the primary considerations in developing sustainable reverse logistics recovery strategies.

Humanity is confronted with unparalleled global environmental and societal issues, encompassing concerns about food, water, energy security, and resilience to natural disasters. The knowledge platforms addressing these challenges should leverage contemporary and forthcoming digital technologies reshaping society, including science and engineering. Big Earth data (BED) science is dedicated to offering methodologies and tools designed to derive insights from vast, intricate, and varied data sources [99].

It is important to emphasize that digital technologies, including sensors, drones, satellites, and blockchain, are key to promoting social sustainability throughout the supply chain. This advancement aligns with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to steer global economies toward a vision of a more sustainable future by minimizing poverty and inequality [89].

Certain research highlights the increasing focus on environmental issues, the role of Industry 4.0 technologies, and the adoption of circular economy practices, which are becoming dominant factors in contemporary business thought. These elements are reshaping business models [108]. The research indicates that Industry 4.0 technologies play a crucial role in advancing circular economy practices, and there is a positive correlation between these practices and improvements in environmental and operational performance [108].

Figure 10 presents a word cloud associated with RQ2. This cloud represents the most recurrent concepts in the articles contributing to answering RQ3.

Results for RQ4: Of the selected papers, how many articles demonstrate positive results when focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals from a gender perspective (equality or reduction in gaps)?

Of the articles, 41 addressed the Sustainable Development Goals, and only 2 addressed the gender perspective. This shows that little is addressed in the engineering industry for sustainable productivity or development of the productive sector with a gender approach. That is why the analysis of these results is presented mainly from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals. Table 7 presents a list of the publications related to RQ4.

However, since women comprise approximately half of the world’s population, they must have access to the same resources and participate in managing the same global changes. However, few women are currently involved in designing and developing sustainable technology-based solutions that could improve the quality of life for all. Encouraging participation and supporting more women in engineering benefits society as a whole by expanding the potential to create inclusive and innovative solutions that address the complex challenges facing our planet [121].

Table 7. Sources for RQ4 answer.

Sustainable Development Goals	Gender Equality
[30,32,33,42,43,46,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,60,67,68,72,73,74,75,76,78,87,88,89,94,97,98,103,105,109,110,111,122,123,124,125,126,127,128]	[41,129]

Table 7. Sources for RQ4 answer.

Sustainable Development Goals	Gender Equality
[30,32,33,42,43,46,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,60,67,68,72,73,74,75,76,78,87,88,89,94,97,98,103,105,109,110,111,122,123,124,125,126,127,128]	[41,129]

Computational sustainability leverages computational models and methods to support the achievement of sustainability objectives. This field encompasses a wide range of applications, from biosurveillance and poverty mapping to predicting renewable energy output, the monitoring of crop diseases, and the development of agent-based models for stochastic network planning. These efforts are aligned with the pursuit of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [94].

Following the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), most initiatives aimed at enhancing sustainability within supply chains have concentrated on minimizing the environmental impact, typically assessed through metrics like greenhouse gas emissions and the consumption of resources. Attention toward social sustainability has predominantly been on mitigating potential adverse effects on human health, communities, and broader society [88].

Urbanization has transformed into a worldwide occurrence affecting both developed and developing countries. The relentless growth of urban areas is rendering cities more unsustainable [110]. For cities to be sustainable, they must provide readily available amenities, including healthcare and educational services, effective governance, open access to green areas like parks and playgrounds, affordable housing options, and comprehensive transportation services catering to all economic backgrounds. Such cities are essential for achieving multiple targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030.

Conversely, numerous articles discuss “smart” as a critical element for actualizing smart cities, communities, grids, etc. The author utilized the notion of meta-engineering to describe "smart" as a product that integrates hardware and software. To maximize the efficiency of this smart integration, the proportion of software should be triple that of the hardware, according to recent interpretations related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [97].

Concerning agriculture, there is a notable intervention in the Earth’s reserves of one of the three critical elements, phosphorus (P). This situation is challenging due to its extensive utilization compared to the available resources. It necessitates exploring strategies for closing the phosphorus loop from the perspective of a circular economy. Nevertheless, further research is essential to assess regional and global social sustainability in this domain, aligning with the objectives outlined in the United Nations Agenda 2030’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [60].

One of the articles discusses how university education should be approached with a focus on the SDGs. This study underscores a central argument: that the most significant research in this field often reinforces the optimistic view of technology’s role in sustainable development but does not critically examine the conventional perceptions of technology; the scope of their criticism and, therefore, the impact remain limited [127].

As we shift our focus to the industrial sector, the most recent version, Industry 5.0, is perceived by scholars as having the potential to surpass the productivity-centric advantages of Industry 4.0. It strives to promote sustainable development goals, emphasizing human-centricity, socio-environmental sustainability, and resilience. Nevertheless, despite the expected benefits, there remains a requirement for deeper research to understand how this loosely defined concept can effectively realize its sustainability objectives [128]. Amidst these advancements, it is important to acknowledge that, in recent years, the industrial, scientific, and technological sectors have experienced a transformative wave of digitization and automation, referred to as Industry 4.0. This revolution has significantly influenced and contributed to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 [67].

According to the United Nations SDG 7, the goal is to achieve universal access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy by 2030. Based on a particular case study, experience shows that achieving the SDG requires considering the problem’s technological, economic, and social aspects [30].

To conclude the analysis of this RQ, the principal results identified are oriented to the sustainability window, combined with the analysis of the environmental efficiency gap. The articles show us various application areas but discuss addressing the SDGs with a gender approach. Unfortunately, although they sometimes talk about STEM or transdisciplinary, they do not specify how, from engineering, re-engineering, or even product design, this could be achieved by incorporating applied measures with a gender approach.

About the gender dimension and focusing on the economic structure of Latin America, it stands out for having a segregated labor market. In this scenario, men occupy a disproportionately high position in agriculture, where the adoption of technologies, innovation, and the creation of greater value added are crucial conditions for competitiveness. On the other hand, women play significant roles in low-productivity sectors, such as commerce and services, and have a more marked presence in informal jobs. This situation has a negative impact on women’s labor productivity and income [130].

Results for RQ5: Of the selected papers, how many articles address life cycle sustainability, sustainable engineering innovation, and sustainable re-engineering, where there are positive results by focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals?

Of the total number of articles, 15 were related to life cycle sustainability, 28 to sustainable engineering innovation, and 7 to sustainable re-engineering.

Table 8. Sources for RQ5 answer.

Life Cycle Sustainability	Sustainable Engineering Innovation	Sustainable Re-Engineering
[52,70,74,76,81,90,91,104,108,111,122,124,131,132,133]	[29,31,42,45,53,67,70,71,72,73,75,76,77,78,80,82,86,87,88,92,99,101,103,105,107,108,109,134]	[31,52,58,67,85,100,135]

presents a list of the publications related to RQ5.

Regarding product life cycle sustainability, the digital transformation of factories and the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies have not been fully leveraged to establish connections between production processes and social metrics. Consequently, there is a need for enhanced tools to monitor social performance effectively. Within this context, the social aspect of the circular economy remains a relatively unexplored and underutilized area of research and application [133]. It is identified that:

1.

Industry 4.0 technologies significantly improve circular economy practices.

2.

Circular economy practices positively affect environmental and operational performance.

3.

Higher economic and operational performance drives organizational performance [108].

However, from the consumers’ point of view, although they increasingly value sustainable products, considering sustainability can be difficult and time-consuming when shopping. A user study in a real supermarket reinforces the inferred guidelines and indicates that such a system can help customers to choose more sustainable products [90].

On the other hand, to achieve international sustainable development goals, food and agricultural production must be based on sustainable, resilient, and innovative practices. One of these is the sustainability of genetically engineered food and agricultural products, where mechanisms used to improve their governance and oversight are discussed [131] Both traditional breeding and the use of new agricultural technologies, including genetic engineering and gene editing, have the potential to help achieve sustainable agri-food production [131].

Similarly, civil engineering has witnessed significant advancements over the years. However, the unsustainable utilization of resources in numerous engineering projects results in the release of unwanted emissions and waste into the environment, leading to adverse environmental consequences, including global warming, resource depletion, eutrophication, acidification, and various others [104]. In this regard, the Quantitative Assessment of Life Cycle Sustainability (QUALICS) framework has been devised to measure a project’s or activity’s comprehensive sustainability and aid in the decision-making process [104].

From the point of view of water resources and maintaining social sustainability and ecosystem balance, it is necessary to control the population and economic scale of the region strictly and to reduce the risks of water scarcity; it is necessary to strengthen water resources management, implement risk management strategies, establish emergency water diversion plans, and implement strategic water reserve plans [124].

The research and studies that we have mentioned cover a wide spectrum of aspects of sustainable innovation, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) objectives for 2030. These aspects encompass:

1.

Energy management strategies with considerations for economic, environmental, and social sustainability [76].

2.

The emergence of smart cities as a means to enhance urban sustainability [53].

3.

Proposed technologies to mitigate the adverse effects of urban transportation [86].

4.

Intelligent waste management solutions [87].

5.

Sustainable supply chain design and management, focusing on greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption [88].

6.

Predictive and data-driven approaches to address global environmental and societal challenges, including food, water, and energy security, as well as resilience to natural hazards [99].

7.

Innovations in the railway sector, employing system engineering throughout the entire lifecycle of railroads [103].

8.

Agricultural mechanization integrating information technology and automation to enhance food and bioenergy production while considering environmental sustainability [105].

9.

Sustainable manufacturing practices, with a specific focus on human–robot collaborative disassembly (HRCD) and its contributions to economic, environmental, and social sustainability [107].

10.

A positive trend in G7 countries toward migrating technological and social competencies toward sustainability, particularly in the social pillar, driven by Industry 4.0, and a global correlation between data openness and happiness [67].

These aspects collectively address various facets of sustainable development and underline the importance of technology and innovation in achieving the SDG 2030 objectives.

In conclusion, the studies and articles that we have mentioned underscore the significance of sustainable re-engineering in various industrial contexts:

• These contributions aim to enhance the sustainability of the automotive industry by offering cost-effective applications that enable the recovery of value, reducing the need for recycling or landfilling [52].
• Sustainability-based optimization is emphasized as a critical component of modern manufacturing, bringing substantial benefits to the production process [85].
• The globalization of supply chain networks is compelling manufacturing companies to adopt re-engineering technologies to produce sustainable products, thus gaining a competitive edge in the contemporary market [100].
• Innovative approaches, such as a transdisciplinary engineering method, are introduced to promote sustainable manufacturing. This includes the design of connected environments (IoT framework) to measure and enhance social sustainability within production facilities. These efforts also highlight the connection between social sustainability and productivity [58].

These findings collectively demonstrate the growing importance of sustainable re-engineering practices across various industries, reflecting the evolving landscape of modern manufacturing and its alignment with sustainability objectives.

5. Discussion

The SDGs of the United Nations for 2030 consider that there must be many advances for which engineering, re-engineering, the supply chain, and other related factors must be linked to social sustainability considering models that aim to achieve them; however, as a discussion, it can be indicated that, in order to achieve the SDGs, technological and social issues must be considered strictly in joint design and implementation.

It is necessary to indicate that it is not so easy to generalize because indicators cannot be homogenized in all sectors and disciplines, and the relevance of each indicator must be localized and justified in the respective studies and areas of application [74].

In contrast, the retailer’s investment in ecological initiatives is crucial when determining its order replenishment policy through periodic revision levels. It is essential to recognize that the decisions made by the product manufacturer and the retailer do not just influence their profitability but also have broader implications for the overall performance of the supply chain and directly impact sustainability levels [56]. Furthermore, many of these sustainability initiatives leverage information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance the well-being of urban and rural communities. These ICT-based efforts significantly promote sustainability and improve the quality of life in various contexts.

It is essential to emphasize that all engineering projects and organizations should strive to create a built environment that empowers everyone to lead a life that they cherish. This perspective acknowledges that the diversity of people’s life choices is both the catalyst and the result of the endeavors that we pursue in engineering and related fields [59]. This approach underscores the importance of inclusivity and the promotion of well-being for all individuals, regardless of their chosen paths in life.

The contribution of this study allows for visualizing links and current and future challenges that exist when characterizing the life cycle of products, the technologies used, sustainable social engineering, and how the gender approach could impact these areas as it is an inclusive part of what the 2030 agenda pursues as international guidelines. Likewise, the results and inputs of this study will be a fundamental part of future research related to engineering, agenda 2030, and the gender approach by the authors of this article.

In conclusion, developing and utilizing knowledge platforms play a pivotal role in making informed decisions, leveraging the best available knowledge, and mitigating potential negative impacts on society and the environment. These platforms should be founded on contemporary and future digital technologies that are reshaping our society, encompassing fields such as science and engineering [99]. Identified functions within these platforms include circular and smart products, employee support, smart automation, open collaboration, sustainable innovation, renewable integration, and supply chain adaptability. These functions are intricately interconnected and should be developed in a specific sequence to maximize their synergies and complementarities, ultimately optimizing the value gains from sustainable development [128]. However, it is important to highlight that many aspects of this research lack consideration for the gender perspective in their designs or implementations, indicating the need for greater attention to gender inclusivity in sustainability initiatives.

6. Study Limitations

It is important to acknowledge that while our objective was to provide a comprehensive literature review to contribute to future proposals on the specified topics, certain limitations to our study should be considered:

Manual Database Manipulation: The process of manually manipulating databases through search engines to retrieve scientific articles and filtering them using specific keywords may introduce some risks in the extraction process. It is essential to carefully analyze the selected literature to ensure the conclusions’ validity.

Language Limitation: Our study focused on scholarly articles in English from 2018 onwards. This language restriction may have excluded valuable contributions from research conducted in other languages, potentially limiting the diversity of perspectives and insights available for analysis.

Source Origin: The articles collected primarily originated from academic journals and conferences. While this approach ensures a certain level of academic rigor, it may not capture insights or innovations from industry or non-academic sources that could be equally relevant.

Temporal Focus: The study concentrated on the last five years to ensure the timeliness of the information. While this approach captures recent developments, it may overlook earlier contributions that remain relevant.

Also, it is important to acknowledge the limitations associated with filtering studies based on publication timeframe and language. Such filtering criteria can introduce certain biases and limitations to the scope of the literature review. Specifically, as mentioned, there are potential issues related to:

Chronological Discrimination: Focusing on a specific publication timeframe, such as the last five years, may overlook valuable contributions made before this period. Sustainability and technology-related research has a historical context, and earlier works may provide valuable insights and foundations for current developments.

Geographical Discrimination: Limiting the review to articles in English may exclude research conducted in other languages and regions. Sustainability and technology are global issues, and insights from diverse geographic contexts can enrich our understanding of these topics.

The study’s limitations should be considered when interpreting its findings, and future research efforts may benefit from addressing these limitations by adopting a more inclusive approach that considers a broader range of publication dates, languages, and geographic sources. This approach can lead to a more comprehensive and diverse understanding of the subject matter. Researchers and practitioners should be mindful of these limitations when interpreting the findings and consider conducting more comprehensive and multilingual reviews in the future.

Despite these limitations, the literature review provides valuable insights. It is a foundation for further research and proposals in social inclusiveness, sustainability in engineering products and services, integration with sustainable development goals, and considerations of gender equality and equity in application and development.

7. Conclusions

The authors offer an analysis of recent publications (last five years) that evaluate models of social inclusiveness, engineering products and services for sustainability, and the integration of sustainable development objectives of engineering products and technology, reviewing whether gender equality or equity is present in their application and development. This study highlighted the relevant initiatives and the most used technological tools to relate challenges and opportunities faced by sustainable engineering in 2030 to develop products, processes, services, and built environments that coexist under the SDGs.

This study is based on the need to visualize the needs and challenges that contemporary engineering and engineers must face to contribute to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals. The industry of products and services is analyzed by reviewing experiences that contribute to convert innovative ideas into sustainability projects (social and evaluating the gender perspective). The following conclusions can be drawn.

One of the industry’s most current and constant drivers is sustainability [58]. Sustainable engineering from the point of view of products, services, and the use and incorporation of technologies, including the social point of view and with a gender approach, shows and puts on the table that this issue raises different problems according to the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, and social. Regarding the latter, there is a lack of methodologies and tools. In addition, industries are going through a crucial transition in terms of technology. In Latin America, they are joining cooperatives to gain greater access to global markets. This forces them to understand the costs of a complex and sustainable coffee production process [48]. The Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, social sustainability, and renewable energy resources are determining factors in achieving sustainable smart cities with maximum quality of life for humans [53]. In recent years, technological transformation, such as the fourth industry revolution or Industry 4.0 (I4.0), has been a critical enabler of digital transformation (DT) and the potential pathway for companies to sustainable development [55]. The sustainability of software development products and processes should be conceptualized as multi-systemic and layered and evaluated accordingly [83].

Sustainability, particularly from a social perspective, is of paramount importance. Issues like fraud can have significant negative consequences, especially in emerging economies. Addressing these challenges is crucial for achieving social sustainability and deserves immediate attention. Fortunately, digital technologies, including sensors, drones, satellites, and blockchain, offer promising solutions to enhance social sustainability within the supply chain [89]. These technologies can help to mitigate fraud, improve transparency, and contribute to the well-being of communities and societies involved in supply chain activities. Results shown in several articles show that economic and environmental sustainability are positively correlated, and both are negatively correlated with social sustainability, indicating a necessary trade-off for stress management strategies [98]. Engineering and scientific efforts can only achieve policy goals on climate change with the support of social science perspectives, including business and economics [101]. Sustainability is a fundamental concept that should be integrated into all industrial contexts. To effectively assess and enhance sustainability, measuring sustainability performance using appropriate indicators throughout the entire life cycle and value chain is crucial. This measurement should consider environmental, economic, and social impacts, providing a holistic view of sustainability [73]. By considering these three dimensions, organizations can make informed decisions that contribute to a more sustainable future for both their operations and society as a whole.

From efforts focused on implementing new technologies for digital transformation in the industry, they are highlighted in cyber–physical industrial systems driven by service-based cooperation between humans and digitized industrial assets [95]. With the increasing demands of the urban population, the human race is witnessing a drastic change in climate and environment. The urban population seeks the support of technology to mitigate climate change and be sustainable [110]. A study offers a novel transdisciplinary engineering approach to measure and promote social sustainability in production centers. It exploits Internet of Things technology to support manufacturing processes and plants’ (re)design toward human-centered connected factories [123]. Information technology provides the tools to guide, quantify, and document this economic, environmental, and social sustainability re-coupling in food–energy–water systems [105]. Digital solutions can reduce costs, increase productivity, improve product development, and achieve a faster time to market [78].

In the manufacturing industry, sustainability has emerged as a critical concern. However, historical events such as economic crises and the climate change debate have predominantly directed attention toward environmental sustainability, sometimes relegating social sustainability to the background [133].

The digital transformation of production processes not only allows for the assessment of environmental impact but also provides a means to understand the social performance of manufacturing organizations. It can help to uncover the latent social dimension within the circular economy [133].

Furthermore, there is a noticeable gap in the scientific literature when it comes to empirically studying the relationship between the Internet of Things (IoT) and sustainability in manufacturing industries. To address this gap, some researchers have proposed a new conceptual model (CM) to evaluate the effectiveness of IoT technologies in terms of their alignment with socio-environmental sustainability and the principles of the circular economy [31]. This represents a promising avenue for further research in understanding the intersection of IoT, sustainability, and manufacturing.

The development and utilization of knowledge platforms are critical for facilitating informed decision making, ensuring access to the best available knowledge, and preventing potential negative impacts on society and the environment. These knowledge platforms should be built upon the foundation of cutting-edge digital technologies that are reshaping society, including advancements in science and engineering [99].

These platforms serve various functions, including promoting circular economy practices, facilitating the development of smart products, providing support to employees, enabling smart automation, fostering open and sustainable innovation, integrating renewable energy sources, and enhancing adaptability within supply chains [128].

It is important to note that these functions are highly interconnected, and their development should follow a specific order to maximize the synergies and complementarities between them, ultimately leading to greater value gains from sustainable development [128].

It is important to note that many of the articles related to this research unfortunately do not consider the gender approach either in their designs or in their implementations.

It is well known that Latin America faces the challenge of raising its productivity levels, an essential requirement for achieving sustainable growth and development in the region. However, this development will be inclusive and generate distributive benefits for the population only if policies that improve productivity incorporate a gender perspective. It is crucial and key to consider that reducing gender disparities by improving gender equity not only promotes the efficiency of human capital but also boosts economic growth [130].

An important derivative of this study is that, in this field of engineering action, the gender approach is unfortunately not being implemented in the industrial sector with the desired speed; on the contrary, by leaving this approach aside, opportunities for profitable and innovative product solutions in markets not yet explored are being lost. However, companies must create gender-sensitive products for various reasons, mainly to avoid reproducing gender stereotypes, meet previously unmet needs, and foster satisfaction, empowerment, and inclusion.

Finally, in conclusion, the challenges faced by engineers and the productive sector linked to these disciplines must be addressed in a way that carefully takes into account the social impacts. At the same time, it is crucial to be alert to environmental effects to restore the health of nature and the planet. This approach transforms engineering into an essential, leveling, and catalyzing agent for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [136].

These topics are essential for determining how to address sustainability-relevant aspects of engineering, including technologies and visualizing how to integrate the gender approach progressively. Hiring more women engineers has the potential to improve the design of new products and solutions, benefiting both men and women. Incorporating additional perspectives encourages and facilitates the creation of more holistic and complete solutions. This underscores the importance of gender diversity in the engineering field to enrich and optimize the development of innovations that address the varied needs of society [121].