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Purpose: The notion of students as change agents have widely been used in the campus sustainability literature, but very little has been done to unpack what it really means in practice. This paper aims to critically investigate university students' perspectives on their role as a change agent for campus sustainability in the context of Malaysian universities. Design/methodology/approach: In-depth interviews were carried out with 21 students that have been categorized as change agents through selection criteria at three leading universities in the area of campus sustainability in Malaysia. The data collected from the interviews were analysed through content-based and thematic analysis. Findings: Findings demonstrate that students are the backbone behind the implementation of campus sustainability activities. They play the multi-faceted role of leaders, supporters and ambassadors in initiating and driving campus sustainability. The results further suggest that support and freedom to act are the empowering factors that have driven these change agents in carrying out their initiatives. However, without a position, the students' voices are not significant. Originality/value: This study provides deeper evidence-based insights on the notion of students as change agents and how it can be operationalized in the context of campus sustainability.

Universities today have increasingly introduced and integrated sustainability elements into their curriculum to nurture students into potential future leaders for sustainability. Although various types of pedagogies have been introduced for the development of sustainability competencies in students, not many studies have investigated engagement in campus sustainability activities as a pedagogical tool. In that respect, this paper attempts to bridge the gap by investigating the potential of engagement as a pedagogical tool and how it can help in developing sustainability competencies in students. The investigation was conducted at three local universities in Malaysia, where purposive sampling was employed for the selection of data. This sampling technique is capable of carefully selecting respondents that are relevant to this investigation given the number of students involved in campus sustainability activities is small in comparison to the total student population. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 students who have been identified from the purposive sampling and considered as the most active and proactive volunteers in their respective campus sustainability activities. Respondents shared their experiences where 'interpersonal competency' was emphasised as the most developed and essential competency for them throughout their engagement. Another interesting finding is the importance of 'passion'. Having a strong sense of enthusiasm for sustainability not only serves as a push factor that drives these students to put their efforts into achieving the objectives of the campus sustainability activities they are involved in but also acts as an important catalyst to the development of sustainability competencies as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the transmission of Western science through the agricultural education sector during the British colonial administration of Malaya. This education system included three levels: elementary, intermediate and the school of agriculture. To understand the process by which Western science was transmitted in Malaya, Basalla's model was adopted to clarify the vectors of Western science and the types of knowledge disseminated by these vectors, and to identify the mechanisms sustaining scientific research activities outside Europe. This paper shows that the transmission and the diffusion of Western science through education were highly centralised under the British colonial umbrella and closely associated with the agricultural economy.

Criticising Mutazilite and Asharite interpretations of free will, Ibn Arabi accepted free will in the human being and considered it as a kind of human independency, although he was doubtful about the meaning of free will in two specific contexts - divinity and humanity. Therefore, he provided contradictory ideas about the issue. This paper deals with the origin of the contradictions in his ideas on the issue through the review of his two major theories, namely the unity of being and the divine form of human being. Based on the concept of unity of being, there is no existence but God. Therefore, there is no effective function of free will by creatures since they are manifestations of God. However, Ibn Arabi at least provided two interpretations of the divine form of human beings: man possesses all the divine names including the name Al-Murīd (The Desiring), and also man is vicegerent of God on earth, which means man is responsible, and hence he has free will to assume his responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slaughterhouse, whether it is seen as an institution, as an industry, or as a unique technological system, is arguably right at the heart of modernism. Human–animal relationships and more generally human–nature relationships bring about issues of rationalization, alienation, and commodity fetishism, while raising philosophical concerns of the human worldview. Current practices of animal slaughter in Iran challenge the core values of Islamic teachings. Slaughterhouses are hidden from the public, segregated into various sections, and follow the exact same models of industrial production as in other parts of the world. Since they must abide by Islamic ways of slaughter and therefore become Halal, these slaughterhouses are slightly modified accordingly. When meat, or what is recently referred to as protein, shows up in the market, it conceals any sign of its true origin—it is neatly packaged with layers of plastic and modern colorful labels showing animals happily grazing on open, green pasture. The findings of this research point to the subtle imbalance and alienation created between humans and animals in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the influences of Malaysia's Federation Land Development Authority (FELDA) scheme in fostering inclusive rural development. Based on the model of holistic inclusive development, the paper investigates the performance of FELDA from four perspectives: social development, industrialisation, modernisation and basic needs. The main findings of the study indicate that, to a large extent, the scheme has successfully stimulated both the social and economic development of the community. Nonetheless, establishing a strong trust, social cohesion and rapport between the public authorities and community remain the main challenges in determining the success of this state-led agenda. Moreover, keeping traditional values in the modern system will be the key principle for the sustainability of the programme if plans are made to adopt the scheme in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]