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Recent policy discourse on the localisation of disaster management and humanitarian assistance lacks attention to the culture, history, and traditions of the Global South. This special issue of Disasters argues that it is imperative to recognise the dynamic, interactive, contested, and negotiated nature of local knowledge. Such local knowledge saves lives by enabling responders to situate ad hoc, one-off events such as disasters in the broader and deeper context of community relationships, thereby providing more appropriate and more effective aid. Through the cases of China, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, this special issue examines such dynamic local knowledge using an analytical framework consisting of three manifestations of local knowledge, namely: social capital; contextual historical memories; and adaptation to new ideas. These three manifestations show the ways in which local knowledge creates local capacity, via which local, national, and international disaster respondents can centre their response coordination, and in turn, demonstrate how local capacity reformulates local knowledge., (© 2024 The Author(s). Disasters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of ODI.)

The major analytical research question addressed in this paper is: What are Thailand's strengths and weaknesses as an international education hub for students from the Asian region? The key descriptive research question is: What is the nature of the educational experience of Asian students in Thailand? The two major research methodologies of the study are mixed research methods and comparative case studies, with the use of in-depth interviews of influential experts, surveys, and an autoethnography. In terms of major findings, there has been a dramatic growth of Asian students at Thai universities during the past two decades. Thailand's major advantages relate to low costs, location, quality campus facilities, and a welcoming attitude toward outsiders, while major disadvantages are the quality of many of Thailand's international programs often related to low English language capabilities. The paper concludes by presenting a creative new architecture for thinking about Asian study abroad in Thailand.

Across Asia, countries have signed the UNCRPD and to a greater or lesser extent are pursuing inclusive education (IE). In this article, we present case studies from Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, and China analyzing them for common themes around the education of students intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and noting commonalities, challenges, and emerging issues. While the definition of IE (being the philosophy, process and practice of welcoming, valuing and supporting all learners in general education environments) and the conceptual distinction between integration and segregation are clear in the UNCRPD and subsequent comments, the terminology used in some of the countries is inconsistent with these definitions. This makes interpretation of reports from government instrumentalities difficult. In some cases, misuse of terminology allows justification of practices that are contrary to the UNCRPD. Terminology differences coupled with challenges of finding data related to the education of children with IDD, if the data exist, make a regional analysis of progress towards IE complex. In our paper, we have drawn on previous reviews and reports to discuss common issues and make suggestions for ways forward. Our findings add to the few other reviews from Asia on IE and draw attention to the continuing need for improved access to any education at all for learners with IDD. Provision of IE is caught up in dilemmas in the region about teacher preparation and professional learning, and how to provide specialist support in inclusive settings. School structure decisions including staffing provision and class sizes affect the education outcomes of students with IDD. School leadership, with the fundamental role of translating policy into practice, is critical for the development of IE and must be aligned with system and country priorities. Collaboration across the region has the potential to share best practice and continue to improve the educational opportunities for learners with IDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governance and regulation of the use of live animals in research and teaching is examined in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan and India. A comparison of the systems in different countries will enable the determination of best practice and fit-forpurpose regulation. The most comprehensive government regulation of animal welfare in institutions covers a broad range of animals and institutions are required to have an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, whose membership is specified in guidelines or regulations. The work of the Committees is rigorously overseen by government and facilities that use live animals are audited externally. All countries examined have legislation governing the use of live animals in research, although only Australia and Malaysia have a fully equivalent mandated oversight of teaching. Teaching that uses live animals is partly covered in the Philippines, Japan, Singapore and Thailand This paper thus aims to review the regulation of animal use in different Asian jurisdictions in order to determine best practices that are appropriate to those settings. The most comprehensive oversight is provided in Australia and Malaysia that essentially use the same regulatory framework.

Highly efficient macroalgae based chemical factories and environmental protection have been comprehensively studied for the first time to displace fossil resources to mitigate climate change impact. Wild macroalgae by (bio)phytoremediation and residual macroalgae by biosorption can be used to treat wastewaters, marine environment, soil and sludge. Cultured macroalgae can be processed through drying, milling, grinding, suspension in deionised water and filtration extracting sap of heavy metals; centrifugation of solids recovering nutrients; ion exchange resins of supernatants separating protein and polysaccharides; dialysis purifying protein from salts and pretreatment of polysaccharides producing a sugar platform. Protein profiling shows the presence of the essential amino acids as well as others as food additive, flavour enhancer and pharmaceutical ingredient. Sugars can be converted into a chemical: levulinic acid by controlled acid hydrolysis; 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid by heterogeneous catalytic reaction; succinic acid by tricarboxylic acid cycle; lactic acid by fermentation, with 3–5 times market value than bioethanol. Protein, sugar based chemical and inorganics give the highest to the lowest climate change impact savings of 12, 3 and 1 kg CO2 equivalent per kg product. Their cost of production is estimated at $2010 t−1, significantly lower than their market prices, making the integrated marine biorefinery system economically more attractive than lignocellulosic terrestrial biorefinery systems. Social life cycle assessment indicates that the highest to the lowest avoided social impacts will be from the displacements of animal based protein, sugars and minerals, in Indonesia, China and Philippines (producing 27 million tonnes per annum, 93% of global production). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since developing countries experience economic and environmental sustainability challenges, it is desirable digging into the linkages between economic and environmental parameters. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory (i.e., the inverse U-shape connection between real GDP per capita and per capita carbon dioxide emissions) in the sample of 11 developing countries. By using balanced annual panel data in the period between 1992 and 2014 and two alternative estimation techniques, we explored the potential inverted U-shaped linkage between carbon dioxide emissions and real GDP per capita in the sample of interest. For analysis purposes, Pedroni and Westerlund co-integration techniques are employed. Then, fully modified ordinary least squares, pooled mean group methods are applied for long-run parameter estimations. And, the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality approach is employed for causal directions. Firstly, this work's findings provide the supportive evidence to the inverse U-shaped linkage in the long-run, indicating that an increase in real GDP per capita and electricity consumption tends to mitigate long-run carbon dioxide emissions in the developing countries, for the whole sample. Secondly, the country-specific findings suggested the presence of EKC theory for Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, the Russian Federation, Thailand, and Turkey. It implicated that these countries are on the path of attaining environmental sustainability in the long-run. However, Mexico, Philippines, Indonesia, and South Africa failed to lend credence to the EKC theory. It manifested that these countries need to design strategies directed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from economic activity and electricity generation through efficiency improvement or promotion of renewables. Finally, bidirectional causal links are observed among all the variables of interest. The findings suggest that country-specific targeted action plans should be implemented to ensure the environmental sustainability in the developing world.

This study explores the relationship between remittances received, education expenditure, energy use, income, poverty, and economic growth for a panel of the nine selected remittance-receiving countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Philippines). World Development Indicator database is used for retrieving data from the period of 1990 to 2014. Panel cointegration technique is used to test the long-run relationship among studied variables. Furthermore, the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) model is applied to confirm the presence of a long-run and short-run relationship. The findings of the ARDL model indicate that remittances received positively influence economic growth, and there is a significant relationship between remittances received and economic growth during the long-run. Education expenditure, energy use, and income also positively and significantly impact economic growth during the long-run. In contrast, final household consumption used in this study as a proxy of poverty showed a significant negative effect on economic growth during the long-run, which indicates that increasing poverty will reduce economic growth; on the other hand, reducing poverty will boost economic growth in the selected countries during the long-run.

The aim of this study was to determine the examination of the researches about the use of technology by fine arts teachers. The study was conducted according to the content and citation analysis model. In this context, Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection indexes were included. In the document scanning in the WOS environment, the keywords 'Fine arts', 'Teachers' and 'Technology' were searched. In total, 169 documents were examined and analysed one by one. They were analysed according to year, document type, WOS content category, country, source title, organisation and citation, authors, publication language and categories. As a result of this research, the first study was conducted in 2004, while the most studies were conducted in 2016. It was concluded that the published studies had the most Proceedings papers as the document type. The area where the studies of fine arts teachers on the use of technology are mostly carried out is Education Educational Research, according to the Web of Science content category. The most researched title in the distribution according to the Source Title field is 'International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences and Arts.' The university with the most studies is Kazan Federal University. The 19 authors who conducted the studies have a large number of studies in this field. It was concluded that other authors had only one study in the field. Again, when we look at the distribution of the countries and documents according to the language of writing, the country with the most studies is China and the language of the documents is English. The area continues to evolve.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the holistic picture of sustainability curricula in Asian higher education. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis was conducted based on Asian management education for sustainability in higher education. Online courses arrangement, teaching methods, instructors' educational background and cross-referencing data between triple bottom line and sustainability courses have been investigated. Findings: The paper provides empirical insights about the current state of sustainability education in Asia. The results show that there is an opportunity for interdisciplinary integration, as there are imbalanced sustainability courses offered by business, science and engineering schools. It also suggests that Asian universities should add an international connection and active promotion of sustainability education on their Web sites. Research limitations/implications: Findings are based on web-based sustainability-related courses. Future research could apply method of case study to do a deeper study. Practical implications: The paper provides an overview of Asian management education for sustainability and curricula analysis through our research, and that this will further assist in the development of interdisciplinary integration in Asian management education for sustainability. Originality/value: This paper is the first attempt to gain better understanding of sustainability-related courses offered in leading business/management colleges in Asia.

Purpose: It is still unclear how Asian universities incorporate the theory or practice of sustainable development (SD) in their research and education programmes. To address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to report on a study that has examined how universities in Asian countries handle and address matters related to SD. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a bibliometric analysis and an online survey-method. The online survey data were analysed through descriptive analysis and one-sample student's "t"-test. Findings: The study indicates that there is considerable variation among the Asian countries regarding sustainability practices in higher education institutions (HEIs). The HEIs in far eastern countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are perceived to demonstrate more sustainability practices. Research limitations/implications: Even though a substantial number of participants participated in the survey, it did not cover all Asian countries. The online survey was carried out over a limited period of time, and not all HEIs in the field may have received information about the study. Practical implications: Asia is the largest continent facing a number of sustainability challenges. In this context, the contribution of HEIs is very important. The findings of the current study may serve as a baseline for Asian HEIs to take more initiatives towards SD goals, as HEIs are responsible for the education and training of hundreds of thousands of students who will be occupying key positions in industry, government or education in the coming years. Originality/value: The study contributes to the existing literature in two distinct ways. First, it was possible to develop a comprehensive instrument to measure sustainability practices in HEIs. Second, this study has filled the gap of the scarcity of studies regarding sustainability practices in HEIs in Asia.

The Asia-Pacific region has the highest number of active smokers in the world. Efforts to reduce tobacco use should implement evidence-based measures. The Association of Pacific Rim Universities is a non-profit network of more than 50 universities representing 18 economies. In 2017, it held a virtual global health case competition relating to the use of universities as platforms for tobacco control. This study is a content analysis of tobacco control proposals submitted by 24 teams from 10 economies. Content analysis of the 10-min videos examined (1) general tone and scope of videos; (2) contextual analysis; (3) intervention approaches; (4) theoretical framework; (5) primary versus secondary prevention; (6) individual versus structural approaches. Proposals were not comprehensive; most included some but not all elements recommended by the WHO FCTC. Smoking was often referred to as a 'habit' (instead of an addiction), which likely explains the predominance of individual-level behavior change interventions (smoking cessation) over structural interventions (tobacco ad or sales bans). The most common intervention was the enforcement of current bans on smoking (proposed in 78% of videos), perceived as a major barrier to tobacco control. While most proposals emphasized individual components (e.g. health education and peer support), some also proposed to create more supportive smoke-free environments through billboards, posters and cues to action, such as 'no smoking' reminders and signs with cessation hotline numbers. University faculty, students and campus-wide organizations are well positioned to lead tobacco control efforts. More work is needed to support the establishment of smoke-free campus environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like all organisations, good governance is a fundamental requirement for the responsible and accountable management of universities in general and open universities in particular. This is to ensure that these (open) universities remain relevant to their mission of facilitating unfettered access to higher education for citizens and at the same time continue being reliable contributors to personal and institutional developments, the vital ingredients to maintaining sustained national development. While several studies have, in the past, been conducted on governance of universities, almost all of them have centred around conventional, face-to-face institutions. Not much published literature is in evidence on the governance of Open Universities. This paper, drawing from a study on the governance of a few open universities in Asia, tries to discuss the nature of their challenges, and the lessons that can be drawn from their practices and experience. The study focused on aspects relating to institutional autonomies such as curriculum, budgeting and financial management, admission standards, conferment of qualifications, academic staff appointments, development and promotions and research policies. Our findings indicate that, similar to conventional systems, the state plays a crucial role in many aspects of governance both in publicly funded and privately supported institutions. Recent attempts at governance transformation towards greater institutional autonomies is beginning to show limited changes in some but not all jurisdictions studied.

Contamination status, potential emission sources, environmental fate, and human exposure risk of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are reviewed for indoor and outdoor dust from Southeast Asian countries, under an international comparison point of view. PBDEs have been widely detected in house, workplace, car, and road dust samples collected from Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The highest PBDE levels up to hundreds of μg/g were found in settled dust from some e-waste processing areas in Thailand and Vietnam. Concentrations of PBDEs in house, car, and road dust from this region were generally lower than those reported in China and Western developed countries. BDE-209 was the most predominant congener in almost all analyzed samples, reflecting the widespread application of materials and products treated with commercial deca-BDE mixtures in this region. The market demand and application rate of commercial PBDE mixtures in Southeast Asia were lower than those documented for other regions in the world. As a result, PBDE contamination levels in the environments (e.g., indoor and outdoor dust) and associated risks in these countries were not significantly high. However, more attention should be paid to informal processing activities and management strategies for modern wastes such as e-waste, plastics, and end-of-life vehicles. There exist several knowledge gaps about spatiotemporal trends, potential sources, risk assessment, inventory, management, and legislation regarding PBDEs in dust from this region, which should be filled by additional comprehensive, detailed studies with relevant inter-country/regional monitoring schemes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)