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The editors conclude by underlining the need for enhanced interdisciplinarity rather than arguing for the existence of a distinct subfield. The various submissions have considered positions and powers but also trajectories and have also emphasised indicators and gone beyond typical monolithic administrative concepts. They conclude with some pointers to future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate museums are facilities where companies showcase their history and interests in a museum-like setting. Similarly to traditional museums, they pursue cultural, social and economic performance goals. Differently from traditional museums, they also seek high organizational performance, because of their connection with their parent company. Given this business affiliation, the current systems to trace performance in traditional museums appear inadequate. Despite this peculiarity, today there are no studies on performance measurement systems for corporate museums. The present study aims to fill this knowledge gap by exploring how to design a performance measurement system to measure corporate museum performance. A collaborative action research project with Museimpresa, the Italian National Association of Corporate Museums, led to this discussion on a comprehensive and modular performance measurement system for this sector. The paper also offers suggestions on the process and the roles for development, which practitioners could find helpful in future implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The watersheds are fundamental in the management of social policies, allowing for the measurement of physical and socioeconomic characteristics through indicators such as the HDI and SII. This study aims to develop the Socioeconomic Analysis Indicator (SAI) for the sub-basins of the Sorocabuçu River (SRB), using a fuzzy system and geoprocessing tools for zoning information by sub-basins. The HDI of the SRB resulted in high values, with income showing the lowest indices, followed by education and longevity. The SII showed low values, with income and literacy significantly contributing to socioeconomic vulnerability. The SAI results indicated reasonable socioeconomic conditions, with lower values in the sub-basins farther from urban and urbanized areas. This study provides data for the establishment of public policies aimed at reducing social and economic inequalities, prioritizing the most vulnerable sub-basins. The data obtained serve as an effective tool to support public management, promoting decisions that improve the quality of life of the local population through the integration of socioeconomic variables for a more holistic and sustainable approach to watershed management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigating the reputation of fruit growing is the final part of a three-stage research approach. Based on a structural model, a consumer survey (N = 751) was conducted to determine the reputation and the importance of the indicators in reputation formation. Multiple regression analysis was applied to quantify the relationship between formative indicators and reputation, while factor analysis was employed to quantify reputation and reflective indicators. The results of the empirical study show a clear positive reputation for fruit growing and the entire sector. The respondents' prior knowledge of fruit growing further increases this effect. Indicators that significantly determine reputation are "product and service," "work," and "economic performance." The moderating variables influence individual indicators to vary degrees in their relationship with the reputation construct. Overall, however, the results show a low perception by the consumers of the segment at the producer level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractHuman trafficking training involving didactic sessions supplemented by problem-based learning methods took place with youth services specialists in a southern state. Data were collected confidentially and voluntarily using descriptive and bivariate statistics and qualitative responses. Outcomes from the training compared knowledge attainment and differences between regional perspectives. The authors anticipated the pre- and post-training survey data would show significant learning of human trafficking concepts after the first didactic session, with the second session reinforcing these lessons through problem-based learning exercises utilizing a case study. The authors also expected there to be resulting changes in participant (n = 19) attitudes and responses to youth who were at risk of or experiencing human trafficking. Although participants learned concepts of human trafficking, the lessons were not equally accepted or internalized. Comments gathered from participants through post-training interviews revealed a range of responses. The participant’s employer lacked an agency-wide response protocol and, thus, without external guidance, participants struggled with personal biases regarding youths’ consent and choice. This exploratory study highlights the need for agency-wide human trafficking response protocols that incorporate screening tools. Future research should focus on reviewing agency interactions with youth and developing comprehensive response protocols that include screening and universal education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cumulative impacts and regional assessments (RA) require the integration and analysis of large quantities of interdisciplinary scientific information. Yet, the information available is not often readily accessible nor standardized across impact assessments. We proposed here a categorization of valued components that have been derived from projects in the James Bay Lowlands and that is aligned with the IAAC's Tailored Impact Statement Guidelines (TISG) template, a key document to support project and regional impact assessment deliverables. We compiled valued components and indicators from previous and ongoing environmental impact assessments in the James Bay Lowlands. We identified trends associated with valued components and indicators and combined these trends with the TISG. We then derived a categorization of valued components nested under seven systems. From the reviewed work, we identified 197 valued components (23% valued components were common for two or more projects) and 313 indicators. Our categorization is composed of seven systems and 34 potential valued components allowing for easy connections between future project-level impact assessments and RAs. Our categorization is a valuable communication tool across all stakeholders and rightsholders involved in impact assessments, including communities, Indigenous leaders, IA practitioners, industry, and government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism competitiveness is important for destinations to attract tourists and outshine competing destinations by providing high-quality, innovative tourism services and attractions while ensuring available resources are used efficiently but sustainably. The purpose of this research is to develop tourism competitiveness indices, considering both internal and external factors, including quantitative and qualitative methods that are suitable for emerging tourist destinations. A range of tourism stakeholders was sampled including tourism business owners and managers in various sectors, public administrators, and academics. They were asked to nominate competitiveness indicators. These indicators were then ranked and prioritized to provide a weighted score of competitiveness for the destination as well as tourism services. We apply this method of assessing tourism destination competitiveness to Kazakhstan. An assessment of the destination competitiveness of Kazakhstan shows that the natural environment is an area of competitive advantage followed by tourism policy while Kazakhstan is least competitive in the ability to ensure quality tourism services, on indicators such as pricing, language knowledge of tourism employees, and professionalism of tourism employees. The method allows academics, industry, and policymakers to easily interpret the indicators and factors that contribute to the quality and competitiveness of tourism services at the macro and micro levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanity's main challenges are to solve social needs, such as: eradicating hunger and poverty; reduce racial and gender inequalities; promote environmentally sustainable behaviour, etc. Social needs motivate the raise of social innovations promoted by the most different actors, from government, companies, the third sector, to individual entrepreneurs and communities. To increase the scalability and impact of social innovation, it is generally necessary to use digital technologies. Thus, the concept of Digital Social Innovation (DSI) emerges, which is a type of social innovation mediated by digital technology, through which innovators, users and the community cooperate to co-create knowledge and solutions to meet social needs. This work reports the application of the scientific method for the development and evaluation of a practical and lean method to modelling viable and sustainable strategies of DSI enterprises. The result of this work consisted of a tool called DSI Strategy Canvas, which is based on determinants that lead to the achievement of the goals of the DSI and indicators that measure and evaluate the performance of the DSI. DSI Strategy Canvas is concerned with product strategy which involves product vision, target market, ecosystem integration, value delivery, revenue streams, risk and growth estimates, scalability, and product evaluation. For technological support to the DSI Strategy Canvas tool, a web-based software application was developed, which was used by social entrepreneurs in evaluating the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of forest to agricultural land has been a major worldwide concern and a cause of deterioration of soil quality. The study examined the influence of land uses on the soil quality index (SQI) using minimum datasets (MDS) constructed from soil profiles through two methods namely, additive (SQIa) and weighted (SQIw). In this study, 29 geo-referenced soil profiles (116 layers) up to a depth of 150 cm were collected in Northeastern India, representing forest, jhum, jhum fallow, and agricultural land uses. Principal component analysis (PCA) with multiple correlation analysis is found to be a suitable statistical method for selecting the key soil quality indicators. From PCA, organic carbon (OC), sand, clay, available P and available S were selected as soil quality indicators in MDS. Our results showed that these MDS significantly varied within the profiles depending on the land-uses. The estimated values of SQIs showed that SQIa was higher than SQIw across the soil depths and land-uses. For the surface soil, SQIa values were in the order of forest (2.97) > jhum fallow (2.82) > agriculture (2.68) > jhum land (1.97) and for profile soil jhum fallow (2.38) > forest (2.37) > agriculture (2.33) > jhum (1.88). Similarly, SQIw followed the trend of forest > jhum fallow > agriculture > jhum for all the three studied depths. The statistical analysis showed that the surface, subsurface, and profile soil had no significant impact on SQIw for agriculture, fallow jhum, and forest. The overall data indicated that jhum land had a significantly lower SQI than other land-uses for all soil depths. From this study, the information generated can be useful to assess the soil quality in different land-uses for managing soil health in similar areas of the Northeastern region of India. The findings are also useful in the ecosystems in which soils develop in an acid edaphic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the development of indicators measuring attacks on education through a case study of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA). As GCPEA and its partners have brought the problem of attacks on education to the attention of global civil society, they have engaged in contestation to define attacks on education and construct indicators to track the relevant violations. These debates are significant in that indicators are a tool of global governance that shape policymaking and resource allocation. The discussion draws on the author's decade of experience working among groups focused on the protection of education, including direct involvement developing indicators on attacks on education, and on three sets of qualitative interviews. It analyses how resource limitations, organisational agendas, challenges of measurement and verification, and global power dynamics exert pressure towards a more narrow understanding of attacks on education. This limits the transformative potential of the protecting education agenda. The discussion illustrates that EiE actors must consider the ways that they measure their work in ongoing conversations about creating a decolonial and more equitable field of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to map and analyze the patterns of environmentally vulnerable regions to land degradation in the Omo-Gibe River Basin. The study used GIS techniques to map land sensitivity to degradation. The multifactorial approach-MEDALUS method, which used three quality indicators-soil, climate, and vegetation and nine parameters were used. About 48% of the basin was highly vulnerable to land degradation, and 36% showed clear signs of degradation. 15.8% of the area had a low potential for land degradation. Implementing proper land management strategies should focus on severely degraded areas to achieve sustainable agriculture and hydroelectric energy production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation tracking is crucial for understanding progress in responding to climate change impacts across space and time. However, adaptation tracking is constrained by the lack of agreement on how to measure adaptation. While there has been significant focus on government plans and other documented adaptation as the basis for adaptation tracking, emerging literature also advocates for inclusive approaches that consider multiple experiences and priorities when designing and using adaptation tracking indicators. However, little literature empirically investigates the specifics of what this integrated approach is or what it could achieve. We address this gap using a thematic analysis of 48 focus group discussions and of government policies to compare the perspectives of livestock keepers and governments in Eastern Africa on climate risks and adaptation in livestock systems. The results show considerable similarities in how they perceive climatic hazards, impacts, adaptation strategies, goals, and adaptive capacities, highlighting elements that could be recognized as relevant by both sets of stakeholders. However, the differences underscore the value of an integrated approach as it supports the recognition of variations in climate risks and adaptation options across contexts as well as capturing diverse effects of adaptation across scales. Insights from this paper contribute to discussions on developing integrated adaptation tracking frameworks that take into account the contextual nature of climate hazards, impacts, adaptation strategies, adaptive capacities, and adaptation goals. Governments and livestock keepers perceive climate hazards, impacts, adaptation strategies, adaptive capacity, and adaptation goals in largely similar ways. Differences in governmental and livestock keeper perspectives provide the basis for integrating them in the development of adaptation tracking indicators. Drawing on multiple experiences, priorities, and knowledges could support more effective tracking of adaptation progress by considering the various scales and contexts within which adaptation occurs. Integration requires an adaptation tracking framework that utilizes core indicators that have broader relevance and additional ones that address the context-specificity of climate hazards, impacts, adaptive capacities, adaptation strategies, and adaptation goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how the right to science can benefit from the obligations and mechanisms related to anticipation of other, social and cultural rights. It considers how these obligations can be extended to the right to science and how they can benefit the right to science by ricochet. Hence, this article shows, on the one hand, the potential that the obligations of prevention, precaution and due diligence, when applied to, social and cultural rights, have to be extended into the context of the right to science. This analysis of obligations is followed by identifying mechanisms capable of addressing the anticipatory dimension required for implementing this right. It is therefore explored, on the other hand, how mechanisms such as indicators and HRIAs, considered useful in the framework of, social and cultural rights, can play a role in the implementation of the anticipatory aspects linked to the right to science. This analysis is based mainly on the interpretative function of quasi-judicial and jurisdictional human rights bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water, energy and food are the three foremost vital resources that need to be protected for human existence and sustainable development. The study develops an indicator-based framework for integrated assessment of the water–energy–food nexus at the river basin scale. The framework is designed to have three successive levels for the assessment. The proposed three-tiered assessment framework can aid concerned resources management authorities to evaluate the water–energy–food nexus and also to identify the action required to enhance resource productivities. The suitability of the framework is demonstrated through its application to the Ping River basin in Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research analyses public administration accountability practices relating to the social pillar of sustainable public procurement. To that end, we carry out a content analysis of the social criteria (and the indicators applied to report on compliance therewith) incorporated into the procurement files produced by a Spanish regional government between 2017 and 2019, containing over 9,300 pages of contractual content. The results show a significant disconnect between current accountability practices and the promotion of sustainability. Worth noting in this sense is the confusion between criteria and indicators, the use of mere legal compliance unrelated to sustainable public procurement as 'indicators', and the fact that the few genuine sustainable public procurement indicators identified do not provide relevant information to determine compliance with the criteria. In this scenario, accounting misses an opportunity to play a mediating role in the implementation of sustainable practices such as those prescribed by the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores school principals' and teachers' views of the Italian teachers' appraisal system and related indicators. In particular, the research aimed at examining the opinions of school principals and teachers regarding the domains to be considered for teacher appraisal purposes. An investigation involving 37 school principals and 868 in service teachers, from three Italian regions, is presented. The data was collected through a questionnaire and statistically analysed. Findings suggest operationalising new data sources - specifically students and parent, - is beneficial to evaluate teacher quality as a construct in data-based professional learning communities. They show different positioning: teachers seem to be really inclined to be evaluated, especially by students and parents, while school principals still seem very cautious in entrusting the teachers' appraisal to an external point of view. This paper adds to the existing research showing the perspective of a new teachers' appraisal, inspired by multi-faceted models based on multiple points of view (students, parents, not only principals) and not reduced to simplistic solutions of an accounting type. Furthermore, the study answers the call for research into teachers' appraisal as part of the professional learning actions and in view of more integrated professional leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children consistently exposed to positive, stimulating environments, including their spatial neighbourhood, experience foundations for ongoing optimal development. Recognition of the neighbourhood as a mechanism to enhance wellbeing is reflected in the United Nation's New Urban Agenda. Through a series of innovations and advancements, this paper aims to describe a spatial indicators' framework, the Neighbourhood Early Childhood Development Framework. Once tested, it can be used to assess and monitor urban neighbourhoods for their ability to equitably support early childhood development. Eight domains were included in the framework: Early childcare and education services, family-friendly destinations, food outlets, housing, public open space, public transport, traffic, and walkability. Overall, 44 indicators were conceptualised for calculation at the smallest appropriate geographical scale available (i.e. a child's home address). Different scales of analysis were chosen to represent a child's local neighbourhood in an urban setting. The Framework supports commitment to action in the New Urban Agenda through improved measurement, monitoring, and research capabilities, alongside provision of tools to support evidence-based and interdisciplinary policy and practitioner decision-making. Once tested with child outcomes, it can inform more precise, evidence-based place-based interventions, while offering the potential to reduce childhood developmental inequities at scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing infrastructure that effectively coordinates social, economic, and environmental growth is crucial to sustainable development. This study aims to identify the current research trends for sustainable and resilient infrastructure in terms of years, classify the various types, research methods, and indicators of infrastructure projects, and compile an overview of indicators from the existing literature. The results are anticipated to contribute to the current knowledge body about sustainable and resilient infrastructure project development by highlighting recurrent themes and emerging trends in the field. This research applied the PRISMA strategy, which incorporates bibliometrics and visualisation tools, to analyse the 442 bibliographic papers published in databases on the topic between 2005 and 2022. According to the findings, the amount of research conducted increased between 2018 and 2021, with China and Europe being the most significant contributors. The total of 105 articles was selected, covering various infrastructural types and approaches. The examination led to the extraction of four sustainable infrastructure indicators: environmental, economic, social and resilient. This study provided valuable data on the latest research trends and indicators for designing sustainable and resilient infrastructure projects which will assist future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social service providers are critical in supporting domestically sex trafficked persons. However, little is known about how these providers identify sex trafficked persons. This study aimed to explore this vital but poorly understood first step to addressing sex trafficked clients' needs, asking: How do social service providers in Ontario, Canada identify domestically sex trafficked adolescents and adults? Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with diverse social service providers from across Ontario. Participants' responses to open-ended questions were then analyzed thematically. Findings revealed that providers recognize sex trafficked persons using both commonly reported as well as unique indicators suggestive of sex trafficking, drawing on existing tools and skills developed through or adapted from work with other service populations. However, few had access to formalized practices or resources within their workplace to aid in identifying sex trafficked persons specifically and, as such, many relied on ad hoc processes. While resourceful, this approach can unintentionally perpetuate myths and stereotypes about sex trafficked persons and contribute to missed opportunities for identification. To better support sex trafficked persons, it is recommended that social service providers are provided with tailored training and resources related to identification while adopting and using reflexivity in their everyday practice to combat unconscious biases, beliefs, and attitudes. The work undertaken by social service providers could also be enhanced by knowledge gained from future research designed to evaluate the utility of the sex trafficking indicators and processes for identification described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the sustainability characteristics of 12 tourist destinations from around the world to determine whether these destinations have made concrete efforts in balancing the four pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, social-cultural, and institutional. The paper identifies areas of improvement to abet these destinations facilitate their progress towards achieving sustainability. A three-step approach to destination sustainability assessment was employed: i) development of a sustainability assessment matrix; ii) selecting case studies to illustrate current on the ground sustainability practices; and iii) sustainability performance assessment of the selected destinations. Based on secondary information, the assessment developed and applied a six-scale sustainability performance rating, ranging between −1 to + 1 with − 0.75 to −1 indicating an unsatisfactory, and +0.75 to + 1 indicating a satisfactory performance. Results indicate to the presence of a broad range of sustainability characteristics across geographically diverse locations. Based on the results, six main implications are discussed: i) necessary trade-offs on sustainability considerations; ii) conditionality of sustainability; iii) importance of grassroots engagement and community-led tourism activities; iv) significance of participatory and effective policy preparation and implementation; v) insights on opportunities of active learning and sharing for meeting sustainability objectives; and vi) lessons for mass tourism experiences. We emphasize the need for strategic efforts in balancing sustainability approaches in tourism practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are widely differing experiences and practices in the development of indicators to monitor, report and communicate progress towards the implementation of the circular economy (CE). We present a framework for developing CE indicators which link to the core goals, principles and building blocks of a CE. To do this we utilise the Ellen MacArthur Foundation butterfly model as a coherent systems overview of key material stocks and flows, and representation of relationships between inputs, outputs, recovery processes, emissions, energy and value loops in physical and financial measures which constitute the CE supply chain. Based on nine multinational organisations and four cases of leading companies engaged with CE activity, we address the types of indicators being used and make recommendations for indicators to reflect key goals and principles of CE. Our research on the development and expansion of circular practices leads to the question of what new opportunities and challenges CE raises for such companies in terms of competitive business advantage and resultant requirements for supply chain redesign and indicator development, over and above pre-existing closed-loop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has increasingly become key in universities, as the objectives of sustainable development are essential to establish policies, guidelines and indicators that guide institutions to be more sustainable. This recognition has led many authors to develop methods to assess universities based on their performance in terms of sustainable development. This article presents a review of these methods. The review focuses on identifying existing methods and classifying the methods according to seven characteristics: (1) nature of the data, (2) data collection, (3) scope, (4) level of implementation, (5) pillars of sustainability, (6) university function, (7) country perspective taken, which will allow identifying the differences between methods when assessing sustainability. The seven criteria established for the characterization of the sustainability assessment methods contain a total of 27 sub-criteria distributed among the properties. The main contribution of the study is the analysis of the revised methods through a comprehensive characterization and systematic grouping. In the discussion, the results are examined by looking at the comprehensiveness, heterogeneity and objectivity of the methods reviewed. Together with previous research in the area, this study highlights the need to continue deepening the design of sustainability assessment methods with standardized criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse the roles sustainable tourism indicators (STIs) play in policy making processes at destination level through a three-dimensional framework: 1) instrumental (direct use of information for decision-making), 2) conceptual (awareness raising) and 3) symbolic (legitimate decisions). The European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS) is taken as a reference system as the only common framework developed by the European Commission to measure and monitor tourism sustainability. Our empirical research follows a three-step approach. Firstly, we analysed ETIS to investigate its potential to be linked to tourism policy. Secondly, we took Zuid Limburg, the Netherlands as a case study, to assess the role of ETIS pilot implementation at the destination. Finally, we performed a comparative analysis of 11 destinations that have tested ETIS, to better frame the weight of the indicator roles in local policy making processes. We conclude that so far the STIs developed within ETIS have had limited instrumental and symbolic use, while their conceptual role, related to the social learning process resulting from their implementation, can be considered a pre-condition for other roles to emerge. Moreover, the indicators' role within policy making is closely linked to the specific governance context, influencing and being influenced by it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a first attempt to propose a multidimensional study of overtourism and undertourism in Majorca, a Spanish island and one of the world's leading mass tourist destinations. The study was conducted before and after the pandemic started through a survey to local stakeholders. They were asked for their perceptions of overtourism and undertourism, what problems these phenomena generate, which sustainability indicator might be used to measure each problem, and, lastly, what solutions they suggest. Three main dimensions were taken (economy and demography, culture, and ecology) to classify the problems, sustainability indicators, and solutions. The main conclusion is the stakeholders' consensus that both situations are the outcome of an economy based on a tourism monoculture and they view the stoppage brought about by the pandemic as being an opportunity to restructure the current tourism model, mainly by tackling labor conditions, the wellbeing of local residents, and ecological resilience. The sustainability indicators proposed by the respondents could contribute to the establishment of a monitoring system of the problems generated by overtourism and undertourism. Most of these indicators are available in official statistics, but there are others that need to be developed ad hoc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this introduction to the special issue, we identify the key tensions underpinning the challenge of developing indicators of sustainable tourism, and use the papers submitted to the special issue to exemplify these tensions. The paper questions why it is that we need to measure sustainable tourism, the risk of becoming too focussed on measurement itself and losing sight of what is really important to sustainability. We consider who it is that should be undertaking the measurement of sustainable tourism and offer evidence of the way that societal power can be rebalanced by the kind of research inclusivity that controlling data collection brings. Determining the spatial boundaries has been a long-held tension between wanting data specificity and achieving wider comparability and engagement from policy makers and other stakeholders, while technological and methodological advances may allow for more progress to be made in addressing the weaknesses of measuring sustainable tourism. The paper questions whether indicators have led to any significant policy change, or whether the changes that have come are the result of indicators serving to create more sustainably literate stakeholders, more informed discussions and so a climate more receptive to taking decisions in support of a more sustainable tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines overtourism indicators at Kailua Beach Park in Hawaiʻi, and demonstrates a systematic approach to assessing carrying capacity by pairing descriptive indicators with more commonly used evaluative indicators. Data were obtained from an onsite survey of 452 visitors. Questionnaires with embedded photographs measured visitors' perceived encounters, norms, and crowding (evaluative indicators), while an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was used to collect actual use levels at the site (descriptive indicator). In total, 63% of respondents felt crowded at this site, suggesting that it is nearing over-capacity. Respondent norms showed that no more than approximately 950 people should be allowed. Use levels exceeding 700 people caused respondents to feel moderately or extremely crowded, yet use levels commonly exceeded this threshold. Standards representing these numeric thresholds should be set at this site, and management action is critical (e.g., quotas, reservations, fees, encourage alternative sites). This research contributes to the literature by demonstrating the importance of all four indicators (use levels, encounters, norms, crowding) when investigating overtourism issues, and the potential of UAVs to support the measurement of descriptive indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is based on territorial intelligence (TI) and its application to the sustainability of tourist destinations. The TI focus is viewed as being suited to dealing with the problems of tourist destinations, as well as the integrating nature of different aspects of their reality. The aim of this research is to design a System of Smart Coastal Destination Indicators (SD-Coast) that allows the level achieved by a destination to be measured and a comparison in time and space to be made. The selected study scope comprises 14 destinations on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The tool proposed for the evaluation of territorial intelligence in coastal destinations is based on the generation of standards that enable the measurement and explanation of variables to be clearly delineated. For this purpose, 30 indicators are considered, covered by six dimensions (Smart Governance, Smart Environment, Universal Access, Smart Business, Smart Technology and Smart Innovation). What most coastal destinations have in common is specialisation in technological advances and the respective application of these advances to long-term sustainability. Yet the municipalities in question are far from being considered a shining example in terms of accessibility or governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As drone technology advances, the potential for illicit criminal exploitation of these unmanned capabilities has been escalating. There has been an ever-growing concern about the peril posed by a drone attack delivering a biological payload into a vulnerable terrorist target. To achieve a more realistic understanding of this threat and to enhance existing national security arrangements to this scenario, this paper attempts to provide a novel approach for counter policies and procedures for the prevention, preparedness and response. With this in mind, criminal activities attempting to conduct a bioattack by means of an UAV are insightfully scrutinized. To do this, the phases of perpetration provide the basis for this discussion. In each phase of commission, the potential threat indicators of malevolent non-state actor activities are identified and accordingly, the most effective countermeasures designed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study focuses on evaluating the main tourist destinations in the erstwhile Baramulla district of the Kashmir Himalayas to promote tourism. Various variables such as topography, land use/forest cover, vegetation diversity, climate, food availability, accessibility, accommodation, tourism attraction characteristics, and other infrastructure amenities were used to create different indices. A field study/sample survey was conducted to gather data from tourists at each destination. The composite score method was employed to determine the level of development at each destination. The total score values (8.5 to 24) were categorized into three groups: High (8.5–13.6), Medium (13.6–18.8), and Low (18.8–24.0). The results reveal that Gulmarg and Baba Rishi Shrine have a high level of development with some degree of variation. Manasbal and Wular Lake exhibit medium levels of development, while Baba Shakur Ud Din shrine demonstrates a low level of development. The study emphasizes the need for bottom-up and top-down planning, aggressive tourism marketing, development of tourist service infrastructure, and technical assistance and training for tourism organizations to ensure proper planning and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security has remained on the common and alive agenda of scholars and actors globally. Particularly, in developing countries with a large number and rapid growth of populations, attaining food security is found to be a challenging duty. Overall, this work has aimed to provide information on the deployment of multiple food security indicators and food insecurity drivers in the investigations conducted on food in/security statuses at a micro-level in Ethiopia. A systematic literature review was conducted where a total of 132 pieces of literature were reviewed. An attempt was exerted to look into food in/security-related approaches and the commonly discoursed pillars. Apart from this, the empirical findings of academics on the issues targeted were perused wherein the inclusion of regularly conversed food security pillars was checked through respective indicators of food in/security at household or community levels regardless of the agroecological and settlement disparities. The review findings disclosed that the majority of the existing studies deployed either single or combined indicators of food in/security using households/communities as a unit of analysis where the major food security pillars were not fully addressed. This condition does not show all pillars of food security to be attained despite the objective-driven investigations of various contributors. Hence, the review findings call for the deployment of multiple food security indicators which potentially would reveal the major food security dimensions at a household and/or community level since a single non-holistic indicator is deemed not to capture the basic food security dimensions and insights regularly acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: As climate change presents organizations with unpredictable challenges, including damages, losses, and cancelations resulting from climate hazards, research into climate vulnerability and resilience in the sport sector is urgently needed. Approach: This study used a consensus-seeking method with 25 experts from 3 disciplines to identify indicators for organizational resilience. Findings: The three-round iterative process resulted in a list of 77 indicators organized into 6 dimensions: infrastructural resources, natural resources, planning and development resources, human resources, financial resources, and network and relationship resources. The highest importance and representativeness scores were associated with the planning and development dimension, indicating the salience of proactive approaches, planning frameworks, goal setting, measurement and monitoring of progress toward goals, and worst-case-scenario planning for overall resilience. Practical implications: The list of indicators can serve as a prompt for managers to assess climate resilience and begin the process of developing and strengthening response capacities. Research contribution: This study contributes to the growing body of sport ecology research and offers a preliminary list of indicators from which researchers might further develop measures of climate resilience. Additionally, the findings of this study confirm the salience of adaptive capacity and organizational capacity as central theoretical constructs underscoring climate resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reputation is an important strategic resource. The aim of this work is to develop a structural model to measure reputation specific to horticulture. Based on a literature analysis, the terms image, identity and reputation are first defined before compiling a basis of knowledge relating to reputation measurement approaches from different fields (e.g., companies, industries). The measurement of "reputation" requires indicators whose epistemic relations (formative vs. reflective) need to be analyzed in order to avoid misspecification. Indicators were established from different research approaches, combined in a "multiple indicators and multiple causes" (MIMIC) model and supplemented through the influence of moderating variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretically, much skepticism has emerged insofar as the translation of SDG framework at local level is concerned. Comparatively, much less has been done to investigate the empirical reality of this discourse. Using case study exploration technique situated in two urban areas of India – Mumbai and Sitamarhi, this paper explicates how key contentions of the debate manifest at the ground level. Reflections from Mumbai show that SDG's reliance on targets and indicators masks extreme inequality underlying so-called 'extraordinary' achievements in reducing child stunting. Despite its transformatory claims the operationalization of SDG framework adopts a narrow view on inequality and bypasses related structural processes. At the same time, preoccupation with numbers and targets while implementing nutrition programmes for SDG two in the town of Sitamarhi, distorts the reality and diverts priorities away from systemic issues like infrastructural and institutional gaps. SDG framework's continued engagement with indicators, targets and numbers, indeed hides multiple axes of inequality in nutrition outcomes, creates fallacious claims of successes and therefore, closes the window for potential improvement. Eventually, both Mumbai and Sitamarhi, despite their development contrast, are faced with similar question – what structural and institutional transformation, must precede the operationalization of SDG two? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When classroom observations are increasingly used for accountability and evaluation purposes, a deeper understanding of the psychometric properties of such measurement tools is needed. The present study took a unique approach to examine the psychometric properties of a commonly used classroom observation measure by testing the reliability of indicators for higher-order constructs (i.e. dimensions). We investigated the reliability of indicator ratings of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Pre-K instrument in Finnish kindergarten and first grade classrooms. Twenty-one observer pairs rated 838 segments identified from the 413 lessons of 48 teachers. Variance components models were specified to investigate variance proportions of each indicator and dimension. The results showed that most observer disagreement was found for the instructional support domain. Observers disagreed relatively more depending on the teacher they observed. There is a clear need for additional understanding on how observers process information on the complex elements of classroom interaction in order to improve training programmes and the reliability and accuracy of the assessment procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the rural revitalisation strategy was first introduced in the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, government agencies and scholars have put forward a series of indicators to measure its implementation. However, such a large number of indicators complicate the process. The rural revitalisation strategy aims to boost agricultural labour productivity, reduce the urban–rural income disparity, and promote the equalisation of basic public services, thereby accelerating the modernisation of agriculture and rural areas. This paper puts forward five indicators to evaluate the progress of implementing the rural revitalisation strategy. The indicators, though simple, underscore the key issues in promoting rural revitalisation in China. This paper also suggests that the rural revitalisation policy should aim to improve the quality of life of the rural population and promote the equalisation of basic public services rather than to reverse the population flow brought by industrialisation and urbanisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, the world faces significant and complex challenges (economic, social, political, and environmental); the pandemic has further exacerbated these challenges and widened already-existing inequalities. Kate Raworth's doughnut economy framework provides an alternate lens for considering economic development processes and local, national, and international policies. In this article, I discuss the doughnut economy framework from an institutionalist perspective. Given the global nature of the model, several challenges stand in the way of operationalizing it. After highlighting various pathways for putting the framework into action, I discuss risks and opportunities facing such approaches, along with broader institutional changes needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In affordability analyses by researchers and governments, various methods and indicators are applied. The conceptual advantages and weaknesses of the different affordability indicators have been extensively discussed in literature. The purpose of this article is to contribute to this debate by a case study of Flanders on the link between objective and subjective indicators of housing affordability. More specifically, the study tries to identify objective norms that maximize this relationship. The data is taken from the EU-SILC 2016 and the Flemish Housing Survey 2013. The analysis suggests that in Flanders a ratio with variable norms (by income groups) more closely reflects the subjective perception of affordability problems than the ratio indicators with fixed norms. As regards the residual income (RI) method, the RI with increased budget norms scores slightly better than the RI with basic budget norms on the association measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, girls' education has been an increasingly high-profile concern in international development policy. At the same time, there has been a trend towards the greater production and reliance on quantitative data, indicators and targets in national and international education policy. Scholars have raised concerns about the rise of 'performance-based' approaches to accountability in education, and potential counterproductive effects of this for social justice and equality. However, few studies have explored how this trend plays out in practice within international organisations, particularly in relation to the heightened focus on girls' education. This paper explores the implications of the increasing reliance on quantitative measures for policy actors and draws on a set of interviews with key stakeholders working in organisations concerned with gender and education to explore their divergent understandings of accountability processes. The paper concludes by reflecting on the prospects for a transformative approach to measuring gender equality and girls' education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the politics of creating and calibrating monetary poverty indicators in Jordan using interviews with policy-shapers and documentary analysis. It highlights the significance of these dynamics for conceptualizing governance and statehood in the Middle East. I argue that poverty indicators have served a dual purpose: they have functioned as a tool of state legibility, seeking to enable governments to act on poverty and increase accountability. At the same time, opacity in their production has made it possible to shirk responsibility for worsening socio-economic situations. The combination has helped to reproduce the state as a distinct entity that should, at least in principle, be able to tackle socio-economic inequalities. By empirically and conceptually highlighting the intertwinement between transparency and opacity, the article not only contributes a new perspective to debates around governance through indicators, but also to de-exceptionalizing the Middle East in discussions on the globalized politics of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fit-for-purpose rural cadastre has been implemented for several years in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. There are no internationally accepted methodologies to evaluate the efficacy of rural cadastral systems in developing countries. In this study, an evaluation framework was designed from the literature review and used to assess the quality of the rural cadastral system. A mixed research method was applied. Data were secured from the pertinent participants, and descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that the framework developed for the quality assessment was found to be an essential tool to evaluate the efficacy of rural cadastral systems. The study identified the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the cadastral systems of the Amhara region, which underpinned the understanding of the spatial, legal, and institutional arrangements and statuses. Further, this study identified sets of indicators and good practices of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the economic costs and benefits of mega-events to host cities and countries are well documented, the evaluation and nature of the social impacts of such events are less clear. Although these social impacts typically include education and skills, destination branding, social cohesion, environmental sustainability and sport development, there is currently a lack of consensus on their measurement and focus upon both benefits and costs. In an evolved mega-event landscape which must align with political, social and cultural priorities, sports governing bodies, industry partners, residents and governments are increasingly concerned with qualitative impacts. Accordingly, through a systematic review of the existing literature, this paper assesses the current state of knowledge of the social costs and benefits of mega-events, including how they are identified, defined and measured, highlighting a need for further research to fully understand the social impacts of mega-events. To our knowledge, this is the first review to examine mega-event social impact evaluation, and we therefore provide a useful evidence-based guide to mega-event stakeholders in determining cases for host bids, event planning and related legacy evaluation. Our review culminates in a research agenda, providing practical guidance for future mega-event assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Middle childhood, between six and twelve years, is a critical bridge between earlier childhood and adolescence with rapid physical and psychological transitions. Most of the world's 2.6 billion young people, of which the middle childhood age group is a significant portion, live in low- and middle-income countries. Many live in environments that place them at high and growing risk for mental ill-health, injuries, and adoption of risky behaviours that often lead to non-communicable diseases in later years. Still, middle childhood, the 'missing middle,' is omitted from global health information systems, targeted policies, and strategies. The dearth of internationally comparable and standardised indicators on middle childhood in major international development agency databases hampers age-appropriate policy and programme development. Better understanding of the needs of this increasingly vulnerable population is critical. Middle childhood needs to be an explicit focus within child-focused research and implementation. Standardised, comprehensive, and relevant indicators are required to quantify the contribution of middle childhood to the global burden of disease and to facilitate interventions, monitoring, and evaluation, to ensure that all children flourish and thrive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transition to a circular economy (CE) is a sociotechnical phenomenon that relies on adopting innovative methods and technologies, as well as changes in behaviour across the construction supply chain. Although a lot of ground has been covered on developing methods and technologies, there is little research on stakeholders' change of behaviour. Informed by an underlying framework, the theory of planned behaviour, a comprehensive literature review discusses several conceptual models to establish the interrelationships between barriers and drivers to managing a transition to CE – and their underlying causes. The findings offer a comprehensive point of reference for identifying factors that affect CE adoption, and lay a solid foundation for future research into CE adoption and managing a CE transition where the intermediate theories presented can be validated through empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social-ecological interactions have been shown to generate interrelated and reoccurring sets of ecosystem services, also known as ecosystem service bundles. Given the potential utility of the bundles concept, along with the recent surge in interest it is timely to reflect on the concept, its current use and potential for the future. Based on our ecosystem service bundle experience, expertise, and ecosystem service bundle analyses, we have found critical elements for advancing the utility of ecosystem service bundle concept and deepening its impact in the future. In this paper we 1) examine the different conceptualizations of the ecosystem service bundle concept; 2) show the range of benefits of using a bundles approach; 3) explore key issues for improving research on ecosystem service bundles, including indicators, scale, and drivers and relationships between ecosystem services; and 4) outline priorities for the future by facilitating comparisons of ecosystem service bundle research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how useful measurement and indicators are in developing insight into a problem as complex as gender injustice and education. It poses the question about what we ought to evaluate with regard to individuals, institutions, discourses and countries when we make assertions about gender inequality in education and how to address this. The paper provides a way of thinking about gender and education that highlights how inadequate existing measures are. It sets an agenda for future work outlining the AGEE (Accountability for Gender Equality and Education) Framework. This draws on the capability approach and identifies domains where indicators can be deployed. The discussion highlights how multiple sources of information can be used in a well-organised yet adaptable combination, taking account of the complexity of the processes in play, to develop guidance on practice for transformational and sustainable change that can support work on women's rights and gender equality in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater ecosystems play a fundamental role in supporting the environment, the economy and people's well-being. However, human development and mismanagement have degraded these ecosystems. Using network analysis, we examined the interlinkages (synergies and trade-offs) between indicator 6.6.1 (water-related ecosystems) and other Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators related to freshwater ecosystems to support coherent policies and strategies for freshwater management. Research into scientific literature and reports on freshwater ecosystems and SDG indicator interlinkages was carried out in 2019 and 2020. Sustainable Development Goal custodians were also interviewed about indicator interlinkages and challenges, and the data analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that water-related ecosystems had the highest positive interlinkages (synergies) with environmental goals, while more trade-offs were found between water-related ecosystems and social goals. Thematic analysis showed that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should focus on partnerships, governance, and challenges regarding water-related ecosystems and SDG implementation. Our findings suggest that an integrated and sustainable freshwater management approach is necessary, one that is embedded within the nexus approach embodied by the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As resilience and adaptation considerations become mainstreamed into public policy, there is an overarching desire to measure and quantify metrics and indicators that seek to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, and justness associated with outcomes of such processes. While much research has sought to develop specific indicators that may serve as proxies for these considerations, less research has focused on those normative aspects of indicator design that support a variety of goals associated with the accuracy, reproducibility, proxy value and multi-stakeholder translation of indicators, among various other goals and values. This perspective article sets forth a range of potential considerations that may be useful for those who seek to design and develop novel resilience and adaptation indicators ("RAIs"). These considerations are explored through a range of hypothetical examples that may be applicable to coastal communities that seek to address the practical challenges facing the design, execution, management and modification of RAIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India being a dynamic emerging economy, with religious and cultural diversity, is home to 0.172 billion Muslims, that is 14.2 percent of the population at all India level living as the financially excluded minority community in the country. The Indian Muslims according to Sachar Committee Report (2005) are the financially 'excluded' community and are not the major beneficiary of Govt. schemes." The Reports/Commissions such as Ranganathan Misra Committee (2007); Mahmoodur Rahman Committee (2008); Sudhir Commission Report (2016) and Commission of Inquiry (Telangana 2016), reveal that Muslims in India, are living in pathetic conditions with underdeveloped socio-economic and educational setup. In this context, the current paper aims to-explore through qualitative analysis the possible dimensions of social finance and to evaluate the current socio-economic conditions of Muslims in India. This study will be an attempt to assess the potential of Islamic social finance institutions, namely the zakat and the waqf, for community upliftment in a much broader national context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization and social media are transforming company–consumer interactions, opening new communication avenues. Companies are thus adopting an omnichannel strategy to offer multiple media and channels for use before, during, and after purchase – that is, during the customer journey. The success of this journey requires both effective integration of the company's offline and online channels and strong consistency in communication terms. In this context, offering a smooth transition between touchpoints along the consumer journey to optimize consumers' experience requires appropriate omnichannel integration. However, little is known about how to assess customer journey, despite the implications therein for companies' performance and consumer reactions. To fill this gap, the present paper proposes and validates indicators to measure the extent to which controlled touchpoints are really integrated and oriented toward the consumer and provide a satisfactory customer journey. Focusing on corporate website, brand pages on social network sites, apps, and physical stores as fully controlled touchpoints, we offer an instrument to assess integration and customer orientation, as well as avenues for further extension. Application of the indicators comprising the instrument reveals that integration is improving and customer-centric approach is gaining attention, but still has room for improvement. Theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The community of inquiry contends that meaningful learning occurs in the interaction among the teaching, social, and cognitive presences. Although studies have validated the close relationships among the three presences, the roles of teaching presence indicators in students' social and cognitive presences need to be further explored. Therefore, 592 Chinese college students were investigated through an online questionnaire. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the collected data. Results demonstrate that the three indicators of teaching presence accounted for 56.9% of social presence and 53.4% of cognitive presence. Specifically, design and organization, and discourse facilitation had significantly positive correlations with social presence, while there was no significant correlation between direct instruction and social presence. Additionally, design and organization, discourse facilitation, and direct instruction had significantly positive correlations with cognitive presence. Results indicate that different indicators of teaching presence play different roles in students' social and cognitive presences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]