Search

Purpose: Literature suggest that physical education and health (PEH) may contribute to the sustainable development (SD) agenda, yet little is known how PEH teachers relate SD to their teaching practices. This paper explores Swedish upper secondary PEH teachers' experiences and perceived competence regarding teaching SD as part of PEH. Method: An online questionnaire was used to examine SD competence. Data from 702 PEH teachers were analyzed descriptively and inferentially. Results: PEH teachers perceive higher competence regarding the social dimension of SD compared to the economic and environmental dimensions. Female teachers and those with more than 15 years teaching experiences reported the highest perceived competence. Seventy percent of the respondents perceived that they lacked competence to teach SD. Discussion/Conclusion: PEH teachers struggle to relate SD to PEH practice and call for support to increase their competence in terms of how to conceptualize and transform SD into PEH teaching practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment relations in Europe today differ from how they were prior to the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, as key terms and conditions (e.g., wages) and sectors of economic activity (e.g., platform work and the green economy) are now subject to direct political intervention by the European institutions. Transnational (horizontal) competition within the Single European Market has long provided a context for national employment relations in Europe, and various national institutions impacted workers' rights and conditions of employment. Under the new economic governance (NEG) regime triggered by the financial crisis, political (vertical) intervention in employment relations created strong pressure toward the commodification of labor. The COVID pandemic involved policymaking in the opposite (decommodifying) direction. That said, and as the articles in this special issue clearly demonstrate, commodifying pressures are still strong, and the full realization of Social Europe is arguably as elusive as ever. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is seen as one of the key areas of sustainability for sport organizations. Although the rapid development of professional sport is evidenced, the evaluation and classification of CSR is still an under-researched area, especially in the eastern context. This study proposes a conceptual CSR model of the Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs, including five dimensions: economic, youth, community, environmental, and cultural responsibility. The establishment of the conceptual model is based on sound theoretical foundations, such as sustainable development, positive youth development, a sense of community, and globalization theories. Each dimension's validity is assessed while considering the uniqueness of Chinese Super League. This study provides theoretical evidence to support the multidimensional nature of CSR, which adds value to CSR research in the Chinese professional sport context. At a strategic level, it enlightens club managers and the Chinese Football Association to develop better CSR strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goal 4 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concerns inclusive, equitable quality education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all. Libraries excel at early-education offerings and lifelong or recreational learning. However, less prevalent is support for the "middle"—adults with higher education aspirations. An educated workforce supports an information-resilient society, yet individuals in rural communities experience informational barriers and underrepresent degree holders. This research examines the provision of college planning programs and information in central Appalachia through a content analysis of 89 public library websites. Though the region enjoys a close-knit connectedness that could place libraries at the forefront of degree attainment and information resilience, findings suggest there is much room for improvement if the libraries aim to support goal 4 as related to postsecondary education. This research is relevant to audiences worldwide as postsecondary education has been shown to impact economic development in international lower-income contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations (UN) developed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a "blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet." This initiative raises the question: how has the Journal of Consumer Research (JCR) shed light on the SDGs? This research analyzes 50 years of consumer research through the lens of the SDG and makes four contributions. First, the authors provide a content analysis of articles in JCR and how it relates to the SDGs over time; they also analyze the Journal of Consumer Psychology (JCP) and Journal of Public Policy & Marketing (JPP&M) with regard to the SDGs. Second, this research reveals where JCR has made progress and achieved impact (via Altmetric) but also identifies gaps in the literature. Thus, the analyses shed light on what research in JCR , JCP , and JPP&M understands (and does not understand) about consumer behavior and points the way to future SDG-oriented research. Finally, based on insights from interviews with thought leaders, sociology of science, UN data dashboards, and an exploratory survey in three countries (the U.S. France, and Singapore), the authors provide recommendations on how the field can (better) incorporate the SDGs in research, teaching, and service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of great changes in the food industry, the aim of this research is to investigate if and how the implementation of 4.0 enabling technologies can enhance the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the food sector. A systematic literature review, using a combination of 12 keywords, was carried out on Scopus database with defined inclusion and exclusion criteria in order to answer four selected research questions. Overall, 50 relevant papers were retrieved and analysed by Mendeley and Excel with descriptive statistics. VOSviewer was used for co-occurrence and co-authorship analysis. Results illustrate that the interest in the topic has grown, in particular in Italy, and resume the benefits achievable by the implementation of 4.0 technologies in food industries. Social impacts are new job positions, ergonomic design of workplaces, changes in educational institutions, improved nutrition and better animal welfare. Positive aspects are related even to economic growth, improving food chain performances and decreasing companies' costs. Finally, it allows energy, water, CO2 emissions and food savings. Overall, the work provides a helpful overview to food manufacturers and producers, recommending the introduction of I4.0 technologies to positively influence the sustainable development of the sector and remain competitive in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Nordic countries’ and companies’ sustainability practices. It explores how nations like Denmark, Finland, and Sweden and companies such as Novo Nordisk and Ørsted achieve top sustainability rankings through their distinctive approach to stakeholder cooperation. It discusses the historical and cultural context that has shaped the Nordic approach, emphasizing the importance of long-term vision, stakeholder engagement, and cooperative strategies. It provides insights into how these practices contribute to achieving sustainable development goals and offers valuable lessons for global businesses seeking to integrate sustainable practices into their operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid the escalating environmental crises and economic disparities, Circular Economy (CE) has garnered recognition as a pragmatic mechanism for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In response, several supply chain organisations are integrating CE strategies into their business operations and production processes. Despite these developments and since the introduction of Business Charter for Sustainable Development by the International Chamber of Commerce in 1991, the academic corpus comprehensively connecting CE research themes, catalysts, deterrents, practices with the SDGs has remained limited. To bridge this gap, we present a systematic literature review (SLR) of CE research in operations, supply chain and production management encompassing a time span of 31 years (January 1991 – June 2022), by sourcing, screening, and analysing articles obtained from multiple research databases. Our thematic coding analysis generated ten research themes, and subsequently linking them with relevant SDGs. Additionally, we interweaved CE catalysts and deterrents, establishing a connection with the SDGs. This is further enriched with CE strategies aimed at equipping business practitioners to enhance sustainable business performance and contributing to specific SDGs. Lastly, we delineate CE knowledge data management and priority actions frameworks to aid organisations to enhance employee capability and actively leverage digital technologies for implementing CE strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective operations of closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs) can help companies achieve sustainability goals and boost economic performance. In practice, CLSCs must collect used products, a complex process that is often constrained by collection station capacity. However, how collection station capacity influences the bullwhip effect and the dynamic performance of CLSCs remains unclear. Here, we develop a system dynamics model for CLSCs that integrates traditional manufacturing with remanufacturing and explore the effects of the stochastic capacity constraint of the collection station on the bullwhip effect of CLSCs. We find that, generally speaking, a collection station with looser or more stable capacity constraints tends to reduce bullwhip of CLSCs. However, pertinent interactions emerge between the relevant parameters; in some situations, reducing the capacity level of a collection station may be reasonable and beneficial when the stochastic capacity constraint is very stable, or when customer demand is highly variable. We also consider the partial backlog in return collection, a phenomenon associated with the stochastic capacity constraint of a collection station, and identify a new trade-off between CLSC sustainability and economic performance. Ultimately, our findings provide evidence that will guide managers' plans for the capacity management of return collection in CLSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In practice, without clear evidence of the positive impacts of maintenance on sustainability, organisations/ companies are not encouraged to look at (or invest in) maintenance as an effective tool to enhance sustainability. Therefore, it is essential to show them that such evidence exists, which is the aim of this paper. The paper reviews and analyses evidence from the literature about maintenance's social, environmental, and economic impacts. It identifies the required sustainability-related indicators associated with these impacts and provides aggregate quantified percentages for them (positively or negatively), as shown in the reviewed papers. An evidence-based research is conducted in this paper to achieve this purpose. The search process results in a research sample of 58 publications that have been surveyed and analysed. Based on the conducted analysis, the results show that maintenance positively impacts economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Many reviewed cases appear in manufacturing and buildings (both residential and commercial) and primarily consider environmental and economic sustainability indicators. The cases with social sustainability indicators are limited. Regardless, these results bring adequate evidence to encourage researchers and practitioners to view maintenance as a practical approach to improve sustainability and to investigate more in this domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisations are having difficulty in determining and integrating Industry 4.0 technologies (I4.0T) to improve social dimensions of sustainable performance. We address this issue by showing how to identify the impact degree and path of I4.0T using the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs). First, we identify the SDGs associated with I4.0 and establish an evaluation framework. Second, we introduce an evaluation method that integrates hesitant fuzzy sets, rough sets, decision-making, trial evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and interpretative structural modelling methods to identify the impact degree and path of I4.0T on SDGs. Third, we confirm the effectiveness of our framework and method using secondary case data from World Economic Forum reports. The case results show that I4.0T have varying direct and indirect influences on SDGs. Policy makers should consider that 'Big Data and Analytics' and 'Cloud Computing' are central I4.0T that link other technologies and SDGs. The prioritisation of I4.0T can lead to contributions to addressing 'Responsible consumption and production' and indirectly improve SDGs. The findings set an initial stage to help sequence investment in various technologies depending on SDGs. We identify sequential paths that can aid in planning for and investing in adopting I4.0T to better achieve SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty alleviation resettlement (PAR) programme is the largest-scale poverty alleviation relocation in human history, but its impact on urbanization has received little academic attention. To fill this important gap, this study first proposed a theoretical framework of the "pressure-state-response-effect" (PSRE) of PAR promoting urbanization. Then, we regarded PAR as a quasi-natural experiment and used the PSM-DID model to assess the impact of PAR on urbanization based on the panel data of 2,081 counties in China from 2013 to 2020. Results showed that PAR had a significant positive impact on the urbanization rate of these counties, with a growth rate of 0.64%. Further mechanism analysis showed that industrial upgrading could expand the impact of PAR implementation on promoting urbanization. Additionally, PAR in the eastern and western, hilly and mountainous counties could improve the urbanization level more than that in the central and plain counties. The effectiveness of PAR varied across regions, requiring consideration of local socioeconomic complexity rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Our findings would have important reference value for other developing countries to formulate their anti-poverty strategies to achieve the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is indicated that the protection of the natural environment, the rational use of natural resources, ensuring the ecological safety of human activities are an integral condition for the sustainable economic and social development of Ukraine. Mining, including open-pit mining, is an important source of economic development and economic independence of the state. However, open-pit mining is accompanied by a significant negative impact on the environment. Therefore, in the context of European integration, environmental safety in open pit mining as a component of environmental safety is of great importance for Ukraine's national security. Due to the lack of scientific developments and clear legislative regulation of the issue of environmental safety in open pit mining, it is necessary to study the concept and legal features of legal support for environmental safety in open pit mining. To this end, the article highlights various scientific approaches to the definition of the concept of environmental safety and leg al support, and provides a legal analysis of these concepts, on the basis of which the author derives the concept of environmental safety in open pit mining, as well as the concept and legal features of legal support for environmental safety in open pit mining. To this end, the article highlights various scientific approaches to the definition of the concept of environmental safety and legal support, and conducts a legal analysis of these concepts, on the basis of which the author derives the concept of environmental safety in open pit mining, as well as the concept and legal features of legal support for environmental safety in open pit mining. As a result of the study, it is established that the study of the concept of environmental safety in open-pit mining is relevant and has practical significance for determining the ways and means of ensuring it, taking into account all the specifics of open-pit mining. And the study of the concept and legal features of legal support for environmental safety in open pit mining provides an opportunity to work out the shortcomings and develop effective legal mechanisms to ensure it. Therefore, this research is important both for the theory of environmental safety law and environment al law in general, and in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyze the main philosophical concepts used in understanding the legal category of legal personality and to conduct a descriptive study of the concepts related to this category that prevail in domestic science. The author of the article substantiates the position that the approaches to the theoretical and legal developments of the category of universal legal personality of legal entities should be based on the natural law type of legal understanding. At the same time, the article analyzes domestic authors’ approaches to understanding the legal category of legal personality and compares these approaches with those prevailing in Western countries. Furthermore, the author attempts to justify the expediency of distinguishing exclusive legal personality, given the positivist approach that underlies the construction of the model of the exclusive type of legal personality of professional participants in capital markets. In our opinion, establishing the exclusive legal personality of legal entities is a stateimposed limitation on their universal legal capacity, such as the ability to participate in certain civil-law relations, considering the social importance of the type of activity carried out by these entities. After all, the proper functioning of capital markets is crucial to the financial stability of the country. Capital markets, along with commodity markets, directly influence the formation of exchange rates by attracting foreign investment into the country’s economy. They can also act as a catalyst for economic growth by accumulating financial resources from the population to create capital-intensive productions with high value-added end products. However, achieving such results depends on the balanced state policy in the field of regulating the activities of professional participants in capital markets. To limit the speculative nature of such entities and ensure sustainable economic development, the scope of their legal capacity is narrowed by directly specifying in the law the types of activities they are permitted to engage in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ohmic heating (OH) is a volumetric heating technique which emerged as an alternative to conventional heating in numerous sectors. Ohmic assisted extraction provides a potential approach to extract the valuable compounds from botanical origin and to get beyond the drawbacks of traditional extraction techniques. This novel technique proffers advantages such as increasing extraction efficiency, saving energy and time and remarkably enhances the quantity of heat labile and other bioactive compounds in the plant extracts. The present study provides a detailed overview of the applications of ohmic technology for extracting various compounds including essential oils, pectin, inulin, colors, juices and other bioactive substances from plant materials in comparison to conventional extractions. The principle of OH along with the factors affecting its functioning during extraction are outlined. The effects of this technique on the processing temperature, time, energy consumption, yield, and quantity of bioactive compounds in the extracts are discussed. Advantages of ohmic assisted extraction over conventional extraction techniques include high energy efficiency, short processing period, high extraction yield and better extract quality in terms of quantity of bioactive compounds and functional properties. Further research on safety and sustainability along with economic study are prerequisites for commercial application of this technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important strategy for China to achieve green development, the low-carbon city pilot (LCC) policy has been studied mainly focusing on its positive impact on pollution control, while ignoring the potential economic effects, especially not focusing on the impact of the policy on entrepreneurship. For this reason, based on the registration data of new manufacturing enterprises at the city level of China from 2005 to 2019, we take the LCC policy as a quasi-natural experiment and adopt the time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) approach to systematically explore the impact of the LCC policy on urban entrepreneurship. The empirical results show that: (1) The LCC policy significantly crowds out manufacturing enterprises' urban entrepreneurship, and this crowding-out effect gradually rises with the implementation time of the policy. (2) The crowding-out effect of the LCC policy on entrepreneurship is stronger for state-owned enterprises, heavily polluting enterprises, environmentally friendly cities, and low-market cities. (3) The mechanism analysis demonstrates that raising the economic growth target and lowering environmental constraints can alleviate the crowding-out effect of the LCC policy. Moreover, LCC policy has a spatial spillover effect that obviously crowds out manufacturing enterprises in neighbouring cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world currently experiences an ecological crisis, the younger generation is urged to act on preserving nature by refocusing their minds on environmental discussions and adapting more sustainable behaviors. This study investigated the relationship between Environmental Awareness and Sustainability Perception and Attitude of Generation Z using a descriptive-correlational research design. This study is conducted on 382 Generation Z students (ages 18-25 years old) in a higher education institution in Davao City. The findings revealed that Generation Z students have a high level of Environmental Awareness (... = 3.98) and very high Sustainability Perception and Attitude (... = 4.27). Furthermore, there is a significant positive strong correlation between their level of environmental awareness and sustainability perception and attitude (r =0.568). The results indicate that Generation Z students highly consider the importance of environmental awareness in their actions, and they have a high positive perception and attitude towards sustainable behavior. This revealed that with the Generation Z students' heightened knowledge and awareness in terms of the environment, there is also a heightened positive perception and attitude towards promoting sustainability with regards to the society, economy, and environment. To enhance the knowledge of students on environmental issues and orient their actions towards sustainability, the authors recommended for a stronger integration of environmental information in college curriculum. The authors also suggested the university to strengthen its pro-environment policies to empower more students to become conscious with their actions. It was also suggested for future researchers to further investigate the factors and mediating influences that could affect how students perceive the environment and the concept of sustainable development or use other generations as samples for comparison or another scope of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the utilization of information technology in leveraging fiscal policy and debt management within public administration in the Philippines. Through a comprehensive analysis of survey data collected from a diverse sample of respondents, the study examines the profile of respondents in terms of age, gender, and language used, as well as their perceptions of the impact of information technology and the factors influencing its utilization. The findings reveal a predominance of older respondents, with individuals aged 40 and above comprising the largest proportion of the sample. Additionally, the majority of respondents were male, and English emerged as the predominant language spoken among participants. Moreover, the study demonstrates a consensus among respondents regarding the high impact of information technology on both fiscal policy and debt management processes. Participants recognize the transformative role of technology in reshaping financial governance practices, with a weighted mean of 3.88 for fiscal policy and 3.67 for debt management. These findings underscore the significant benefits that technology offers in optimizing efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness in fiscal decision-making, ultimately contributing to better governance outcomes and economic development. Furthermore, the study identifies various factors affecting the utilization of information technology, with organizational culture, resource allocation, leadership support, and regulatory frameworks emerging as key determinants. Participants acknowledge the critical importance of addressing these factors to ensure the effective integration and utilization of technology within public sector financial management. Additionally, participants' experiences highlight the diverse yet generally positive impact of technology on efficiency, transparency, communication, and decision-making processes within their organizations. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the transformative potential of information technology in driving positive change within public administration, particularly in fiscal policy and debt management. By addressing key challenges and leveraging technological innovations, organizations can enhance their financial governance practices, promote transparency and accountability, and ultimately contribute to sustainable development and economic growth in the Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper aims to explore a network governance in sustainable apiculture management and identify its challenges to government and non-governmental policy makers. Qualitative data was collected through participant observation during field visits and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with regional apiculture management. The research results show that each country in the Mekong subregion has different network governances in supporting a sustainable apiculture management. Some countries have a collaborative network between the government, the civil society, entrepreneurs, and scholars. In contrary, some countries lack a policy framework from the government. This difference becomes challenges for the six governments of the Mekong subregion countries to commonly support the sustainable apiculture management in the subregion. The identified challenges in the paper are: (1) a capacity gap between the six countries of the region; (2) no common policies and regulations that would facilitate local beekeepers' access to wider regional bee products; (3) no support for inter-regional transport of bees and honey for academic purposes; (4) inadequate native bee species preservation and pesticides use; (5) local beekeepers' limited access to a regional bee diseases and pesticides use database; and, (6) a lack of regional standards for general honeybee product support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating spatial inequality perspectives in strategic decision-making can ensure positive impacts on resource distribution for public welfare and sustainable development. This study aims to apply evidence-based approaches in deploying permanent deacons. The empirical case study has been conducted at the St Helens denary of the Liverpool archdiocese, UK. Assisting with charitable works is one of three served areas by the Roman Catholic Church facilitated by deacons. The deployment of permanent deacons could benefit from being evidence-based so that a deacon can serve to ease the socio-economic (e.g., population density, long-term health conditions, housing system, employment status, education level, social status) inequality in the most deprived area. We used geographic information system (GIS) based algorithms, Getis-Ord Gi* for hot spot analysis to find the clustered area by considering the socio-economic factors. The open/freely available government census dataset was found to help extract socio-economic parameters. Furthermore, a GIS-based multi-criteria assessment technique was conducted by applying map algebra (raster calculator) to identify the deprived area with ranks considering multiple socio-economic conditions, where served areas by the existing deacons were considered to constrain. The served areas were estimated by applying network analysis where OpenStreetMap and location existing deacons were used as input. Our empirical case study identified the central and northern parts of the deanery as the most and least deprived areas, respectively. Finally, Liverpool archdiocese could consider deploying new permanent deacons in St Helens denary based on suggested deprivation ranks. Therefore, the appropriate number of deacons in the deprived areas can quickly and effectively respond to the needy and enhance communities' resilience and sustainable development by ensuring proportionate resource distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of agricultural lands is crucial for sustainable development in rural areas. In this paper, an augmented model that utilizes multimodal satellite-based data samples for identifying agricultural lands via incremental learning. The Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) is used for augmenting collected images and data samples to enhance the accuracy of the model under real-time conditions. To identify agricultural lands, Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are trained on the augmented data samples. Additionally, the incorporation of Q-Learning for continuous optimization of the model to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness in identifying agricultural lands. The proposed model offers many edges over existing methods. Firstly, the use of multimodal satellite-based data samples allows for a comprehensive and accurate analysis of agricultural lands. Secondly, the incorporation of the Whale Optimization Algorithm enables the augmentation of collected data samples, leading to improved accuracy and reliability of the model. Thirdly, Deep CNNs allows the extraction of complex features from the data, leading to more accurate identification of agricultural lands. Finally, the use of Q-Learning ensures that the model is continuously optimized to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. The need for this work arises from the limitations of existing methods in accurately identifying agricultural lands. Traditional methods based on manual surveys and visual interpretation are time-consuming, expensive, and prone to errors. Moreover, existing automated methods often lack the ability to analyse multimodal satellite-based data samples and fail to provide accurate results. Based on these observations, the proposed augmented model offers a promising solution for identifying agricultural lands for sustainable development. The use of multimodal satellite-based data samples, WOA, Deep CNNs, and Q-Learning allows for an accurate and efficient analysis of agricultural lands, which can aid in sustainable development planning and decision-making operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of rainfall trends in the middle Euphrates region of Iraq, extending from 1980 to 2018, including wide region between the stations of Samawa, Al-Najaf, Karbala, Hilla, and Diwaniya. The research aims to fill a critical gap in the understanding of regional hydrological patterns and provide essential insights for sustainable water resource management. Using advanced statistical methods, such as the MannKendall test and Sen’s slope estimator, along with autocorrelation and cross-correlation analyses, we detected slight trends that were not previously reported. Principally, the Mann-Kendall test indicated no significant overall trends, while Sen’s slope estimator identified slight positive and negative trends at specific stations, highlighting local climatic variations. the findings reveal that all stations, except Samawa, indicated stationarity and homogeneity, with a particularly strong positive mutual correlation between Karbala and Hilla stations (0.7693 at lag 0). This research contributes new insights into rainfall variability in the Middle Euphrates, in Iraq, which presents significant data to improve water resource management strategies and inform future hydrological studies in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development assessments in hydrographic sub-basins are powerful tools used to guide stakeholders. However, there remains a gap in incorporating new indicators (e.g., biodiversity indicators) into sustainability indexes, which have generally underestimated the environmental dimension. We propose an update to these indexes by incorporating biodiversity data on hydrographic sub-basins. Our goal was to introduce a new ecological sustainability index for hydrographic sub-basins (ESI-sb) that utilizes aquatic ecological indicators. We selected 16 indicators and aggregated them into four sustainability dimensions: economic, social, eco-environmental and negative environmental. We used a multi-criteria analysis based on the analysis hierarchy process (AHP) method to catch stakeholders' importance level of each indicator. The ESI-sb was calculated using the weighted average between the sub-indexes that represent the dimensions. Finally, we applied Gi* statistics to identify the ecological sustainability hotspots and coldspots regions, and the results showed in the Serra do Mar region, the southern region, and the Federal District had high ecological sustainability values; meanwhile, the hydrographic sub-basins that formed the coldspot clusters were located in the western region of the Upper Paraná River basin. The incorporation of aquatic biodiversity data into the index represents an innovation in sustainability indexes recently proposed to hydrographic sub-basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When terminal devices attempt to access the industrial internet of things (IIoT), preventing illegal access from untrusted terminals becomes challenging. This difficulty arises because most devices adopt the commonly used traditional methods of accessing the internet of things. To address this challenge, we propose a perception‐layer‐based IIoT trusted connection architecture, derived from the trusted connection architecture (TCA), and names it TCA‐IIoT. This architecture enables bidirectional identity and platform integrity authentication between access points and terminals, while also ensuring trusted authentication of IIoT terminal behavior. To validate the effectiveness of TCA‐IIoT, the paper details a simulation experiment. This experiment centers on evaluating the success rate of data transmission and measuring the average delay under various conditions, including scenarios with malicious nodes. The results of the study indicate that TCA‐IIoT markedly improves the security and reliability of IIoT networks, advancements that are vital for the sustainable development and broader application of these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current agricultural production systems face challenges of poor economic returns, soil fatigue and negative environmental outcomes from excess use of nitrogenous fertilizers, especially in wheat production under middle gangetic plains. To overcome these challenges, the current study was conducted to optimize nitrogen management in different wheat genotypes with precision nitrogen management tools and approaches. The field experiment was laid out in split-plot design, with three genotypes assigned to the main plot and six nitrogen management practices to the sub-plot. The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam in texture, with low levels of organic carbon and available nitrogen, and medium levels of available phosphorus and potassium. Results revealed that the HD-2967 genotype outperformed others in terms of growth, grain yield (4.7 and 4.81 t ha−1), gross return (1417.41 and 1505.48 US$ ha−1), net return (953.43 and 1019.76 US$ ha−1), and B-C ratio (2.04 and 2.08) in 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively. Among the nitrogen management practices, application of 150 kg N ha−1 in three equal splits demonstrated improved crop growth, grain yield (4.7 and 4.81 t ha−1), and economic returns (gross return, 1500.40 and 1607.65 US$ ha−1, net return, 1025.40 and 1110.38 US$ ha−1 and B: C ratio, 2.17 and 2.23) in 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively. However, it resulted in higher nitrogen losses. Green seeker guided N application significantly reduced apparent nitrogen losses compared to all other nitrogen applied treatments. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing wheat production by selecting appropriate genotypes and implementing precision nitrogen management techniques to enhance yield, profitability, and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of nanotechnology, laser matter interaction has become intriguing for many applications, including the manufacturing of flexible electronics to improve interface behaviors. Employing high laser repetition rate nanojoining transfer patterning, this study ensures the robust and consistent stability of electrical properties of MWCNTs. This procedure meticulously eliminates contaminants from the interface between flexible PET substrates and carbon nanotube‐containing epoxy, significantly influencing the degree of alteration in composite material and interface behaviors. By increasing the laser repetition rate from the original sample to the sample irradiated by a laser with a repetition rate of 80 kHz, the defect concentration in carbon nanotubes decreases from 0.448 × 106/nm2 to 0.39376 × 106/nm2, respectively. The relationship between defect concentration and electrical conductivity in semiconductor carbon nanotubes under laser irradiation is multifaceted and context‐dependent. Optimizing the laser repetition rate is crucial in defining the kind and density of semiconductor carbon nanotubes. This study found an electrical conductivity of 3.6799 × 10−4 S/m at a laser repetition rate of 80 kHz. Laser ablation nanojoining with a high laser repetition rate is poised to become a key recycling method for plastic materials in future industries. When MWCNTs are used in processing new materials, this method not only enhances the electrical and mechanical properties of recycled plastics but also creates high‐performance composites with added value. Additionally, the quick nature of this process helps minimize toxicity in material processing by reducing exposure time and the need for harmful chemicals. These composites exhibit superior properties suitable for advanced applications such as flexible electronics, sensors, and nanocomposite materials, contributing to both sustainability and economic value in various industrial sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1960s, influential thinkers defined design as a rational problem-solving approach to deal with the challenges of sustainable human development. In 2009, a design consultant and a business academic selected some of these ideas and successfully branded them with the term "design thinking." As a result, design thinking has developed into a stream of innovation management research discussing how to innovate faster and better in competitive markets. This article aims to foster a reconsideration of the purposes of design thinking moving forward, in view of the sustainable development challenges intertwined with accelerating innovation in a perpetual economic growth paradigm. To this end, we use a problematization method to challenge innovation management research on design thinking. As part of this method, we first systematically collect and critically analyze the articles in this research stream. We uncover a prominent focus on economic impact, while social and environmental impacts remain largely neglected. To overcome this critical limitation, we integrate design thinking with responsible innovation theorizing. We develop a framework for responsible design thinking, explaining how to apply this approach beyond a private interest and competitive advantage logic, to address sustainable development challenges, such as climate change, resource depletion, poverty, and injustice. The framework contributes to strengthening the practical relevance of design thinking and its theoretical foundations. To catalyze this effort, we propose an agenda for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green technology innovation (GTI) has been increasingly adopted by firms worldwide to promote sustainable development, whereas its potential downsides have been largely overlooked. Drawing on moral licensing theory, we devise a framework to reveal the potential dark side of firms' GTI on corporate social responsibility (CSR). We argue that with the global eco-awakening, GTI has been an efficient means for firms to meet their stakeholders' expectations and environmental legitimacy. This may cause a moral licensing effect for senior executives' ethical strategic decision-making, due to their belief that existing GTI could balance the firm's subsequent moral neglect, thereby minimizing firms' CSR. Using the Chinese listed manufacturing firms as a sample, we find empirical support for our prediction. In addition, we investigate how firms' environmental awards and honors may exacerbate the negative impact of GTI on CSR, whereas the presence of women executives may mitigate the relation. Our findings can trigger firms' reflections on GTI's downsides, and contribute to research and practice in comprehensively understanding firms' GTI consequences, CSR decisions, and moral balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dialogues between ecological wisdom across the East and the West contribute to generating unorthodox education, improving cross-cultural ecopedagogical praxis, and reinforcing education for sustainable development (ESD). In this article, Chinese Daoism and Norwegian Naessian ecosophy are compared and integrated to form an intercultural ecopedagogy. Indigenous Daoist wisdom entails profound ecopedagogical implications in learning from nature, human-nature reciprocity, and spontaneous, altruistic, and harmonious modes of action. Moreover, the cosmo-metaphysical notion of qi (氣) implies an alternative ecopedagogy that may empower learners to consolidate psychosomatic learning and embody human-nature oneness. Correspondingly, Arne Naess' life philosophy promotes ecocentric living and education that underline experiential relations, non-violent symbiosis, and activeness in sensing and feeling. Naess' postulation on subjective aesthetical identification with nature can be seen as one sensible complement to objective scientific knowledge of the ecosystem, facilitating individuals' holistic and personally meaningful formation of be(com)ing ecocitizens. The reciprocity of Lao Zhuang's and Naess' ecological wisdom is argued to shed new light on theories and practices of ecopedagogy and combat dualism and anthropocentrism cross-culturally and innovatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil palm cultivation has experienced explosive expansion in recent decades. Although the oil palm boom has serious environmental and socioeconomic consequences, only environmental issues have garnered attention in public discussion and synthesis studies. In this study, we synthesize the literature on the socioeconomic impacts of oil palm expansion across various observation units and spatial and temporal scales, which is of significant relevance to policymakers, researchers, and the wider public. Our review demonstrates that oil palm expansion is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has significantly helped both producing and non-producing countries' economies by facilitating the (re)export of crude palm oil and its byproducts and by creating employment opportunities. This has stimulated rural economies, led to rural poverty reduction, and improved food security and diets for rural households in producer countries. On the other hand, it has increased conflicts and tension between local communities and agro-industrial companies, worsened workers' conditions, and widened domestic economic inequality between producing and non-producing areas within a given producer country. Monetary quantification of the costs of oil palm's negative environmental and social impacts indicates that the loss of ecosystem services and social services far outweighs the benefits derived from the increased production of oil palm. The direct income benefits through harvest sales and employment are more evident in the Southeast Asia production frontier, where oil palm cultivation and marketing are relatively advanced and well-integrated into global value chains. The negative outcomes are observed in all oil palm production regions, with more negative effects on food security in the African production frontiers. We propose multiple actionable research and policy recommendations that may jointly lead to inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic (and environmental) outcomes in oil palm cultivation. The socioeconomic consequences of oil palm expansion at the global level, in the African and American production frontiers, and the role of gender in oil palm production systems remain understudied. Hence, studies should be conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study, which mainly emphasizes Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, examines the sustainability of the tourism industry in Carmen, Cebu, Philippines, from 2020 to 2023. The analysis uses quantitative and qualitative methods to address sustainability's ecological, social, cultural, safety, and economic aspects. Fifteen local owners of tourism-related businesses participated in the study, which gave a thorough understanding of the industry's sustainability initiatives. The findings reveal significant ecological and economic sustainability advancements driven by initiatives such as environmental preservation strategies and economic development programs. However, social aspects, particularly community involvement, employee training, and the protection of cultural heritage were identified as needing improvement. Recommendations include enhancing cultural heritage protection, prioritizing employee training and development, establishing robust environmental preservation strategies, encouraging greater stakeholder cooperation, and actively involving local communities in tourism activities. By implementing these recommendations, Carmen's tourism industry can enhance its sustainability credentials, creating a more resilient, inclusive tourism ecosystem that benefits current and future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial agglomeration contributes to energy efficiency improvement and carbon emission reduction, but more micro-level evidence is needed to further support it. Based on the data of high-growth enterprises and bank branches in China using panel regression analysis, this study examines the impact of bank agglomeration on carbon intensity of high-growth enterprises. The results suggest that bank agglomeration facilitates the reduction of carbon intensity in high-growth enterprises. Specifically, bank agglomeration significantly reduces carbon intensity in non-state-owned enterprises, while it has no significant effect on state-owned enterprises. Compared with state-owned commercial banks and small banks, the agglomeration of joint-stock commercial banks has the strongest promoting effect on enterprise carbon reduction. Bank agglomeration has a particularly significant effect on the carbon reduction of enterprises in high-energy-consuming industries and high-polluting industries. Mechanism analysis shows that bank agglomeration reduces enterprise carbon intensity by promoting innovation, changing energy structure, and mitigating financial constraint. These findings carry important policy implications, suggesting that policymakers should leverage financial agglomeration as a tool for carbon reduction and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate scientists are warning policymakers across the globe that climate change, biodiversity loss and declining ocean health are leading to the collapse of critical ecosystems. Together with the United Nations (UN), they are calling on nations to immediately transition their economies in a sustainable direction. Moreover, in the eyes of scientists as well as the UN, shifting to sustainable development will invariably lead to improvements in social development and human health. Focusing on the Caribbean, which comprises one of 36 global hotspots, this study hypothesizes that higher levels of intentional economic/regulatory policy development, will showcase stronger sustainability results across the SDGs that deal with climate change, ocean health and biodiversity loss (SDGs 13–15). Utilizing Cuba, the Dominican Republic (DR) and Jamaica as test cases, this study employs the process-tracing method to analyze major national planning documents to assess each nation's approach towards sustainability, in response to major UN initiatives during the MDG and SDG-eras. Afterwards, various quantitative assessment instruments are utilized to measure the sustainability progress of each nation. Overall, there is modest evidence that Cuba deployed the highest levels of regulation and enjoyed the greatest sustainability gains and scores, relatively to DR and Jamaica. As far as the DR, with low levels of regulation, and Jamaica, with moderate levels, the picture was mixed with recent data suggesting that Jamaica may be beginning to outgain the DR. As such, the results of this study give modest support to those who believe strong levels of state intervention are necessary to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving farmer cooperatives' operating performance is essential for their economic sustainability and for promoting sustainable agricultural development. Despite the prominent role of benefit distribution and asset specificity in cooperation organizations, their impact on performance remains controversial, and the relationship between the three is unclear. This study focuses on cooperative benefit distribution in terms of their rebates (first and second rebates) and investigates the relationship between asset specificity, cooperative rebate and operating performance. The results show that both the first and second rebates have a positive impact on operating performance and play substitutive roles in increasing operating performance. Physical asset specificity (PAS) impacts first rebates positively, whereas human asset specificity (HAS) impacts first rebates negatively. PAS has a positive effect on operating performance whereas HAS has no significant influence on operating performance. Furthermore, the first rebate mediates the relationship between PAS and operating performance and suppresses the relationship between HAS and operating performance. These findings provide support for developing relevant policies to improve cooperative performance and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recognized need and reasonable demand, health systems and rehabilitation communities keep working in silos, independently with minimal recognition to the issues of those who require rehabilitation services. Consolidated effort by health systems and rehabilitation parties, recognizing the value, power and promise of each other, is a need of the hour to address this growing issue of public health importance. In this paper, the importance and the need for integration of rehabilitation into health system is emphasized. The efforts being made to integrate rehabilitation into health systems and the potential challenges in integration of these efforts were discussed. Finally, the strategies and benefits of integrating rehabilitation in health systems worldwide is proposed. Health policy and systems research (HPSR) brings a number of assets that may assist in addressing the obstacles discussed above to universal coverage of rehabilitation. It seeks to understand and improve how societies organize themselves to achieve collective health goals; considers links between health systems and social determinants of health; and how different actors interact in policy and implementation processes. This multidisciplinary lens is essential for evidence and learning that might overcome the obstacles to the provision of rehabilitation services, including integration into health systems. Health systems around the world can no longer afford to ignore rehabilitation needs of their populations and the World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution marked a global call to this effect. Therefore, national governments and global health community must invest in setting a priority research agenda and promote the integration of rehabilitation into health systems. The context-specific, need-based and policy-relevant knowledge about this must be made available globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This could help integrate and implement rehabilitation in health systems of countries worldwide and also help achieve the targets of Rehabilitation 2030, universal health coverage and Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating how human disturbance affects the ecosystem service scarcity value (ESSV) is crucial for maintaining ecosystem stability and achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). This study separately assessed ESSV and human disturbance in Guangxi from 1990 to 2020, revealing their spatiotemporal distribution differences over time. The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is used to analyze the interrelationship between the two, with the purpose of filling the gap in current research. The main results are as follows: (1) From 1990 to 2020, ESSV in Guangxi increased significantly and reached its highest value in 2020. Under the four scenarios, ESSV increased significantly in Scenarios 2 and 4. Spatially, high ESSV was mainly distributed in some cities in central, southern, western and northeastern Guangxi. (2) The index of human disturbance in Guangxi continued to increase during the study period, with a high level of human disturbance in the central urban area and a low level of human disturbance in the peripheral areas, which were distributed in a radial pattern. (3) According to the EKC, the relationship between ESSV and human disturbance in Guangxi followed an inverted N-shaped curve. In addition, after 2010, the coupling and coordination level was dominated by "slightly balanced development", and the area of "ESSV significantly lagged" gradually increased. This study provides a new perspective for understanding ESSV and its relationship with human disturbances, and provides an important reference for the sustainable management of ecosystems and the formulation of ecological conservation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic growth has brought about escalating environmental challenges. The purist of socioeconomic and environmental coordination necessitates a deep understanding of their interplay. Therefore, a game theory stepwise-cluster factorial coupling coordination model (GSFCM) has been developed to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns and driving forces of socioeconomic and environmental coordination in the Yangtze River Delta Region. Results reveal an upward in socioeconomic and environmental status from 2015 to 2020. All 41 cities in the region show progress towards coordination, coupled with spatial inequalities. Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Zhoushan demonstrate the highest coupling coordination degree (CCD), while Bozhou, Suzhou, and Fuyang located in Anhui exhibit the lowest levels. Socioeconomic factors contribute 82.98% to the enhancement of CCD, environmental factors contribute 11.05%, and their interaction accounts for 5.92%. Main drivers influencing CCD include Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, the proportion of the added value of tertiary industry, PM2.5 concentration, and their interactions. Policy related to regional collaboration, industrial upgrades, and investment in environmental infrastructure are recomended to achieve a harmonious balance between economic growth and environmental protection. These insights are expected to support policy decisions in sustainable development of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines theoretical and legal issues related to the need to introduce the institution of the Commissioner for Environmental Rights in Ukraine. In order to clarify this issue, the legislation of Ukraine and international legal acts, the provisions of which relate to environmental human rights, are analyzed. In addition, the authors researched the foreign experience of various models of the implementation of the position of the environmental ombudsman – the USA, Great Britain, Austria and the Republic of the Philippines. Taking into account the increase in factors influencing the state of the environment, the issue of protecting violated human environmental rights is becoming increasingly important. It is especially important to ensure the protection of environmental rights in the period of martial law in connection with the mass of their violation by the aggressor state. The issue of the relationship between the environment and human rights is considered. The article proposes the introduction of the position of the Commissioner for Environmental Rights in Ukraine with the definition of his main tasks, in particular: the implementation of the state environmental policy and strategies for the sustainable development of regions in the field of environmental protection, the implementation of monitoring in order to detect violations of environmental human rights, the initiation of the investigation of committed violations in the absence of a statement from other individuals or legal entities about offenses, taking measures to prevent violations of environmental human rights, conducting educational and educational events for individuals and legal entities. Additionally, the grounds for the presence of regional representatives of the Environmental Ombudsman have been established. Attention is drawn to achieving the goal of sustainable and green economic development, taking into account climate goals, as well as protection of legal foundations, including environmental and social components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sustainability science has become a crucial aspect of interdisciplinary research aimed at finding practical solutions and driving lasting change. This article examines the challenges facing sustainability science to move beyond the analysis of problems within interconnected systems and critically evaluate the interplay of social, political, and technological factors in the application of knowledge to action. Results: The study highlights the influence of innovation implemented by companies on their sustainability performance, the establishment of innovations that positively affect sustainability performance, and analyzes the youth and local community perspectives on scientific innovations for a sustainable future. Conclusions: The main conclusion is that sustainable development needs to focus on four areas of research: the impact of values ​​on research and decisions; community perspectives on sustainability; fostering socio-technical progress; and promoting learning for sustainable development. By decoding science, positive change can be achieved through the implementation of strategies such as transparency, understandability, and openness to scientific knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. [Walp.]) cultivation encounters a plethora of challenges such as suboptimal productivity levels, declined income levels, and poor soil health under conventional fertilization systems. Therefore, the present field investigation was undertaken at the Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, CSKHPKV, Palampur in the rainy season of 2019 to evaluate eight combinations of organic farming and Zero Budget Natural Farming (NF) based inputs, i.e., Beejamrita (100 ml kg−1 of seed) + Jeewamrita (187.5 L ha−1); Beejamrita (100 ml kg−1 of seed) + GhanaJeewamrita (250 kg ha−1); Beejamrita (100 ml kg−1 of seed) + Jeewamrita (187.5 L ha−1) + GhanaJeewamrita (250 kg ha−1); farm yard manure (FYM) 10 Mg ha−1; FYM (10 Mg ha−1) + GhanaJeewamrita (250 kg ha−1); biofertilizers (PSBs and Rhizobium at 10 g kg−1 of seed) + FYM (10 Mg ha−1) + vermiwash (1:10); biofertilizers (PSBs and Rhizobium at 10 g kg−1 of seed) + vermicompost (7.5 Mg ha−1) + vermiwash (1:10); absolute (untreated) control; in a randomized complete block design with three replications for their influence over cowpea productivity, profitability, and energetics. The results of the investigation revealed that applying FYM (10 Mg ha−1) and GhanaJeewamrita (250 kg ha−1) in combination resulted in significantly higher grain yield(1,070.5 kg ha−1), economic net returns (766.61 USD ha−1), net energy gains (78,230 MJ ha−1), and considerably improved soil microbial biomass carbon (133.92 mg g−1 of soil), nitrogen (27.40 mg g−1 of soil), urease (52.20 (mg g−1 urea of soil h−1), and dehydrogenase activity (5.21mg g−1 TPF of soil h−1). Improved soil biological properties in the present study might have been responsible for considerable increment in cowpea yield and profitability. Therefore, in-combination application-based module of FYM (10 Mg ha−1) and GhanaJeewamrita (250 kg ha−1) can be recommended for enhancing productivity and profitability of cowpea cultivation under North-Western Himalayan agro-ecological conditions. This study contributes valuable insights for organic input strategies in regions facing similar challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several efforts have been made to explore the income inequality influence on environmental degradation, but the query regarding the nexus of income inequality and renewable energy consumption (REC) is still unanswered. This vacuum in existing literature has raised the need to inspect the relationship between income inequality and REC. Thus, this study purposes to investigate the asymmetric effect of income inequality on REC for emerging Asian economies over the period 1990–2019 by adopting the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) approach. The panel-wise long-run results infer that positive shock in income inequality exerts a significant negative effect on REC, while negative shock in income inequality has an insignificant effect on REC. Likewise, economy-wise long-run findings reveal that a positive shock in income inequality brings a negative and statistically significant influence on REC in the case of China, India, and Iran, while a negative shock in income inequality brings a positive influence on REC only in case of Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is closely related to commercial banks' promotion of "dual-carbon" goals and the concept of sustainable development. The impact of ESG performance on commercial banks' support for green innovation remains an issue for in-depth study. This paper studies 36 Chinese commercial banks in China from 2010 to 2021 and finds that the ESG performance of commercial banks can promote green innovation, and this promotion is more obvious when bank remuneration incentives are effective. Meanwhile, this paper verifies the mediating role of the non-performing loan ratio and the Lerner index in it, which provides channel support for ESG to effectively promote green innovation development. This study enriches the existing literature on environmental, social, and governance performance and green innovation in commercial banks and provides new perspectives and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing emphasis on fostering agri-entrepreneurship in emerging economies is based on the understanding that it holds the potential to drive economic growth and sustainable development. Its impact transcends mere financial indicators, influencing facets such as innovation, job creation, and societal empowerment. This perspective is also relevant in the Indian context, where organizations promoting agri-entrepreneurship often encounter challenges. This study was carried out to identify the constraints faced by various stakeholders involved in providing and accessing entrepreneurial support, also strategizing solutions for the identified bottlenecks. Data was gathered through structured interviews involving about 200 agri-entrepreneurs and 43 extension professionals in selected states. Constraints as well as strategies in the promotion of agri-entrepreneurship were systematically categorized into four dimensions viz. administrative, financial, technical, and socio-cultural which were further ranked through Garett's ranking method and Analytical Hierarchy Process. Financial and administrative constraints, including lack of priority lending, favoritism, and delays in fund release, emerged as significant hurdles for sustainable entrepreneurship development, other constraints among technical and socio-cultural domains include lack of prototype testing facility and orientation toward conventional ventures, respectively. Experts suggested strategies like post program funding support, timely disbursement of seed funding and transparency in pitch evaluation for mitigating the challenges. The overall consistency ratio of AHP matrix indicates a high level of agreement in suggestions among experts. Incorporating the suggestions through policy changes is expected to promote a sustainable food value chain thereby promoting sustainable agri-entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is undergoing rapid urbanization, which brings about drastic land cover changes and thus has an important impact on land carbon stocks. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the driving factors of land cover changes in typical cities and simulate their carbon stocks in multiple scenarios, in order to promote the development of sustainable use of land resources and to achieve the goal of "dual-carbon." In this study, based on the synergistic relationship between land cover and carbon stock (CS), a coupled modeling framework based on MOP-FLUS-InVEST (MFI) is proposed, which integrates the advantages of three models: targeted optimization of the land cover (LC) structure, patch-level simulation of the layout, and rapid probing of spatial and temporal evolutions of CS. In addition, based on the 30 m resolution surface cover data, we analyzed the land cover change characteristics of Shijiazhuang, a city undergoing rapid urbanization in China, from 2000 to 2020 using a dynamic attitude model. The results show that the rate of surface cover change in Shijiazhuang City is relatively fast, but the rate of surface cover change gradually slows down during the 20-year period. The LC change is mainly manifested in the mutual transfer of cropland, woodland and grassland. In the future, the area of cropland, water bodies and bare land decreases, the business-as-usual development (BAU) scenario has the most drastic increase in construction land, and the changes in woodland and grassland are weak, with an increase in economic benefits. In the Ecological Priority Development (EDP) scenario, woodland and grassland expand significantly while construction land growth stagnates, and ecological functions are restored. In the Ecologically and Economically Balanced Development (EEB) scenario, ecological land increases and the growth of built-up land slows down, realizing both economic and ecological benefits. The continuous shrinkage of water bodies is a pressing issue. The coupled model can provide scientific references for the simulation of spatial and temporal changes of LC and CS, the early warning of ecological risks, and the development of land cover planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study investigates the complex relationship between economic growth, remittances (REM), export earnings (EEs), infrastructural development (IFD), and environmental sustainability (ES) in Bangladesh over the period from 1990 to 2020. Framed within the context of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, the research explores how these factors influence environmental outcomes and contributes to ongoing discussions on sustainable development. Methods: Utilizing advanced time-series modeling techniques, including autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and nonlinear ARDL (NARDL), this study applies unit root tests and co-integration analysis to examine the data. These methods allow for a detailed assessment of both short- and long-term relationships between the variables in question. Results: The findings confirm the EKC hypothesis, showing that economic growth initially leads to increased carbon emissions and environmental degradation, but further development contributes to environmental improvements. Remittances, however, significantly exacerbate carbon emissions and ecological degradation. On the other hand, technological innovation (TI) demonstrates a negative association with carbon emissions and ecological footprint (EF), highlighting its potential in supporting sustainable development. The impacts of export earnings and infrastructural development on environmental sustainability are mixed, with infrastructural growth in particular linked to environmental degradation. Discussion: The study's results underscore the importance of targeted policy interventions to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability. Policymakers should focus on mitigating the environmental impacts of remittance inflows and fostering technological innovation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While export earnings and infrastructural development play critical roles in economic progress, their environmental implications require careful management to ensure long-term sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-income urban and rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa are habitats for more than 556 million profoundly poor people, and the United Nations and the African Union are pessimistic that sustainable development goals will be met. The number of people falling into poverty is increasing, and policy initiatives to reduce poverty have been confounded by various economic, political, social, structural, and environmental issues. Despite a wealth of natural and human assets, there is no systematic approach to sustainable development for poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa. This case study of an urban community in Ghana, West Africa, investigates the potential role of digital twins in a systematic approach to sustainable development for poverty alleviation. Aerial and community surveys of the built environment and social and economic surveys of businesses and households were compiled to inform a virtual representation of the study area. A small e-commerce business intervention was introduced, and data was recorded for studies on the impact of the intervention. A 3D interactive view, extensive video, and fixed images provided a comprehensive view of the built environment. A limited view of the social and economic environment was obtained from a small population sample. It was observed that online transactions increased in the businesses receiving the e-commerce intervention, demonstrating a willingness of businesses and their customers to engage in e-commerce when incentives are provided. A single successful community-centric initiative has little value unless it can be generalized across the broader society. This limited case study focused on developing and testing virtual and physical constructs to enhance a deeper understanding of the community, community engagement, and pathways to sustainability. The scale of the intervention was too small to conclude generalizability. Future research will focus on improving the data collection processes, fidelity of virtual representations, visualization methods, and methodologies for constructing viable virtual interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses certain forms of business support, including grant support at the expense of public funds. In the context of constant instability and uncertainty, businesses are actively seeking alternative financial resources to carry out their activities. One of these external sources is the attraction of funds from the state and local budgets. Such support is especially important for small and medium-sized businesses. In its turn, the State (through public authorities or specialised institutions), by providing financial (grant) support, has the right to require these companies to comply with the rules and fulfil additional obligations in the context of social behaviour. It is noted that the State does not currently make full use of these tools. Given the rather difficult situation of business, the author proposes to introduce a mixed model of corporate social responsibility in Ukraine, where the principle of voluntariness will be ensured (business will independently decide whether and to what extent to adhere to high standards of socially responsible behaviour), the State will create conditions for encouraging business to behave in this way, and on the other hand, the State will carry out stricter regulation of certain types of activities. Based on the results of the study, proposals have been developed to encourage business entities to implement the principles of socially responsible behaviour. It is noted that in grant competitions, the compliance of a potential grantee with high standards of good conduct is important. The author substantiates a change in approaches to the evaluation of project applications of business entities in grant competitions. It is proved that the state, through the grant support system, should give priority and further fund only projects of businesses that implement socially responsible behaviour. It is proposed to tighten the requirements for potential grantees who are to be supported at the expense of state and local budgets. The author emphasises the expediency of introducing a special mechanism for the selection of suppliers and service providers for grant recipients, which will take into account the established integrity policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regrettably, the triple global catastrophe of pollution, natural loss, and climate change coexists with the global socioeconomic problems of poverty and inequality. Temperatures are increasing at an unprecedented rate; biodiversity is disappearing swiftly, with potentially dire consequences for all of us; and pollution is becoming a global issue, killing millions of people annually and continuing to worsen. There is no normative vacuum in which the 169 targets and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were born or placed. They are based on international law and designed to be compliant with the commitments made in a number of soft law instruments and international agreements. There is, of course, a connection between international law and the SDGs. What kind of relationship do they have? How much and how may the SDGs and international law complement one another to improve systems integration .In an effort to leverage the relationship for global sustainability, this paper investigates these issues from two angles. First, do the SDGs play a key role in bringing together different international organizations to work toward the ultimate goal of sustainable development? Most international institutions function in relative isolation and may pursue conflicting interests since they are engrossed in their respective mandates and goals. Goal-setting, as a governance technique to prioritize, motivate, and provide direction, has been proposed by some observers as a way to improve the overall performance of current institutions in fostering sustainable development. Insofar as providing consistency to an otherwise divergent and even inconsistent set of institutional arrangements, how effective are the SDGs likely to be? Second, is it conceivable that international law will aid in the integrated implementation of the SDGs? The SDGs themselves have come under fire for lacking consistency, even though they pride themselves on being “integrated and indivisible. This is a problem since the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) experience has demonstrated that achieving these governance goals on their own could have unforeseen consequences. While certain MDG targets were achieved, the MDGs’ spirit was not. Then, despite its fragmented structure, how and to what degree may international law integrate the SDGs and aims and aid in the achievement of long-term sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]