The microbial communities are closely related to the overall health and quality of soil, but studies on microbial ecology in apple-pear orchard soils are limited. In the current study, 28 soil samples were collected from three apple-pear orchards in northeastern China, and the composition and structure of fungal and bacterial communities were investigated by high-throughput sequencing. Molecular ecological network showed that the keystone taxa of bacterial communities were Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Acidobacteria, Nitrospirae, and Chloroflexi, and the keystone taxa of fungal communities was Ascomycota. Mantel tests showed that soil texture and pH were important factors shaping soil bacterial and fungal communities, and soil water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N) were also closely related to soil bacterial communities. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and variation partition analysis (VPA) analysis revealed that geographic distance, soil texture, pH, and other soil properties could explain 10.55%, 13.5%, and 19.03% of the overall variation of bacterial communities, and they explained 11.61%, 13.03%, and 20.26% of the overall variation of fungal communities, respectively. The key stone taxa of bacterial and fungal communities in apple-pear orchard soils and their strong correlation with soil properties could provide useful clues toward sustainable management of orchards.

In the last decades, the impacts of urbanization on the hydrological cycle have led to an increase in the frequency and magnitude of urban flooding events, also amplified by the effects of climate change. Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) provide a revolutionary change in this field, improving the sustainability and resilience of cities. This research explores the integration of different SuDS with the aim of significantly reducing both flow volume and celerity of floods in a residual urban catchment area of metropolitan city of Querétaro (Mèxico), where extreme rainfall frequently occurs. This catchment is a representative suburb of urban pressure and environmental degradation problems. Currently, managing storm water under climate uncertainty through a multi-disciplinary approach is a major concern in this urban area. A 1D-2D coupling model of shallow water equations, finite volume method, unstructured meshing method, and hybrid parallel computing application defined the optimal configuration of SuDS at catchment scale to reduce the flood vulnerability in Querétaro. Specifically, in this paper we explore the management issues of the proposed SuDS configuration that acts as a water resource system with multiple purposes. A generic simulation model called MODSIM was applied to simulate the designed urban drainage system under a balanced IPCC future climate scenario in terms of reliability, resilience and vulnerability against water scarcity.

The issue of water and energy crisis have been turned into global matters which need to be tackled jointly. Accordingly, floating solar power plants, in which photovoltaic modules are used on the surface of water infrastructures, has recently been attracting much interest. This system provides some additional advantages over the ground-based system such as conserving the land and the water and increasing the efficiency of the module. This study first reviews the relevant literature comprehensively and then evaluates the potential of using floating solar photovoltaic (FSPV) on some of Iran’s water infrastructures which have experienced a large amount of evaporation every year due to high solar radiation. To this end, the five important dam reservoirs are selected as the representatives of the five important watersheds in Iran, and the advantages of the FSPV plant is analyzed in terms of energy generation, evaporation reduction, economic and environmental aspects considering different coverage percentages of reservoir’s surfaces. Considering Iran's vast potential for solar radiation, and, on the other hand, huge energy demand and critical water situation, results indicated that Iran can effectively harness solar energy through FSPV systems which help conserve the water in addition to support sustainable energy production.

This study presents PlanteSaine, a novel mobile application powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) models explicitly designed for maize, tomato, and onion farmers in Burkina Faso. Agriculture in Burkina Faso, like many developing nations, faces substantial challenges from plant pests and diseases, posing threats to both food security and economic stability. PlanteSaine addresses these challenges by offering a comprehensive solution that provides farmers with real-time identification of pests and diseases. Farmers capture images of affected plants with their smartphones, and PlanteSaine's AI system analyzes these images to provide accurate diagnoses. The application's offline functionality ensures accessibility even in remote areas with limited internet connectivity, while its messaging feature facilitates communication with agricultural authorities for guidance and support. Additionally, PlanteSaine includes an emergency alert mechanism to notify farmers about pest and disease outbreaks, enhancing their preparedness to deal with these threats. An AI-driven framework, featuring an image feature extraction phase with EfficientNetB3 and an artificial neural network (ANN) classifier, was developed and integrated into PlanteSaine. The evaluation of PlanteSaine demonstrates its superior performance compared to baseline models, showcasing its effectiveness in accurately detecting diseases and pests across maize, tomato, and onion crops. Overall, this study highlights the potential of PlanteSaine to revolutionize agricultural technology in Burkina Faso and beyond. Leveraging AI and mobile computing, PlanteSaine provides farmers with accessible and reliable pest and disease management tools, ultimately contributing to sustainable farming practices and enhancing food security. The success of PlanteSaine underscores the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in addressing pressing challenges in global agriculture

There is a balanced plant-water relationship in the primary vegetation of desert area. With the increase of population and social development in desert areas, people’s need for forest vegetation ecosystem’s goods and service have been changed. To meet the growing demand for plant community goods and services, more original vegetation has been changed into non-native vegetation such as in China loess plateau. However, with the plant growth, sometime soil drying happens and then becomes gradually serious with times in most of desert regions. Serious drying of soil eventually result in soil degradation, vegetation decline and agriculture failure，which influence the produce and supply of forest vegetation goods and service in market in dry year or waste of soil water resources in wet year, which wastes precious nature resources. In order to solve these problems, the soil water resources have to be used in sustainable way and plant-water relationship have to be regulated on Carrying Capacity of Soil Water for Vegetation in the key period of plant water relationship regulation, to carry out sustainable use of nature resources, high-quality and sustainable development of forest and grass or high-quality produce of fruit and crop in desert re-gions.

Sustainable development and education in sustainable development (ESD) are crucial and interconnected topics under wide discussion today. Young adults need to be educated in how to help bring about change. Thus, the dynamic relationship between school and home is important. In education, use could be made of English language classes, especially since English is a global language that enables access to the sustainability literature and facilitates discussion in global conferences and meetings. Consequently, English as a foreign language (EFL) students could gain confidence from being able to understand and use the terminology of, for example, sustainability. In this paper, the use of competence-based language teaching (CBLT) is proposed as a means of introducing sustainability topics into EFL writing classes at a university in Saudi Arabia. Students’ competence in sustainable development is therefore considered based on their ability to write about suggested sustainable development topics, measured on a scale for five dimensions of ESD proposed by Michelsen and Fischer (2017). The results demonstrate that the students possessed competence in sustainable development and intended to participate in its implementation. Thus, recommendations are made for the stakeholders in the education sector to include sustainable development topics as an initial offering in the curricula of various specialties using the CBLT approach.

Quinacridone (QA) and 2,9-dimethylquinacridone (DQA) are synthetic substances suitable as a hard, abrasion-resistant, self-organizing gliding layer on ice, snow, and water. For sustainable use, a large number of parameters must be considered to demonstrate that these non-biogenic substances and their by-products and degradation products are harmless to humans and the environment in the quantities released. For this task, available experimental data are used and supplemented for all tautomers by numerous relevant physical, chemical, toxicological and ecotoxicological estimated values based on various Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) methods. On the one hand, the low solubility of QA and DQA leads to stable gliding layers and thus low abrasion and uptake by plants, animals, and humans. On the other hand, the four hydrogen bond forming functional groups per molecule allow nanoparticle decomposition and enzymatic degradation in natural environments. All available data justify a sustainable use of QA and DQA as a gliding layer. The assessment of the toxicological properties is complemented with an investigation of the size and morphology of DQA particles as well as field tests indicating an excellent performance as a gliding layer on snow.

The study on the sustainable utilization capacity of water resources is of great significance for the realization of sustainable water resources management and development in the water-scarce regions of Northwest China. It provides insights into the potential for sustainable utilization of these resources. To evaluate the sustainable utilization capacity of the Huangshui Basin, a comprehensive evaluation index system was constructed based on three aspects: climate factors, water resources systems, and socio-economic factors. The evaluation was conducted using two methods: the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model and the ELECTRE III evaluation method. The results indicate that the Huangshui Basin's water resources, as a whole, exhibit a medium sustainable utilization capacity. Climatic factors and socio-economic characteristics are the main factors affecting the sustainable utilization of water resources in the Huangshui Basin. Based on the results, measures such as strengthening the introduction of external water resources, enhancing water resources management, and implementing comprehensive remediation efforts in the basin can improve the level of sustainable use of water resources. The research results can provide a reference for decision-making regarding the evaluation of sustainable utilization capacity of water resources in water-scarce areas and the optimization of water resources management in the Huangshui Basin.

Low energy consumption is a significant contribution of new and retrofitted buildings that place an emphasis on energy efficiency. Although the mandatory requirements of the U-factor and R-value are described in the Vietnamese National Technical Regulation on the energy efficiency of buildings—QCVN09:2017/BXD, these values are not widely publicized, leading to designers facing difficulties when choosing suitable materials at the design stage. This study focuses on the method used to declare the heat transfer values of building materials based on the energy labeling process in order to create an energy labeling program for building materials. To accomplish this objective, criteria and labeling procedures for windows, doors, walls, and building roofs have been developed. In addition, a case study of insulation product labeling was used to evaluate the applicability of the developed labeling program in the implementation phase.

Tribal healers and local practitioners possess knowledge about plant uses passed down through generations. However, habitat loss, unsustainable harvesting, and declining traditional knowledge threaten this valuable resource. India, a global biodiversity hotspot, is rich in medicinal plants. Documenting the traditional knowledge prevents it from being lost and ensures the preservation of this cultural heritage. Recording traditional practices helps bridge the gap between traditional and modern medicine. This study quantifies the ethnomedicinal uses of plants within the Sohag Wildlife Sanctuary. The findings contribute to preserving traditional knowledge and promoting the sustainable use of medicinal plants. The study documented 95 medicinal plant species from 39 families, highlighting the importance of ethnomedicinal studies for preserving traditional knowledge and ensuring the sustainable use of medicinal plants. In the future, scientific studies can be organized to understand their efficacy, leading to developing new, potentially safer, and more effective medications. Identifying and documenting medicinal plants is crucial in safeguarding cultural heritage, fostering scientific discovery, and promoting sustainable healthcare practices.

Startups often face uncertainty and the potential Valley of Death. To address these challenges, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can serve as a starting point to identify business opportunities in markets driven by SDG-related issues, which is, in this case, using Virtual Reality (VR) technology as a “painkiller.” This study aims to explore VR use cases and their implications for startup business models and discover a problem-solution fit—defined as the degree to which VR applications effectively address actual problems as “killer applications.” The study employs a customized customer discovery technique, an essential process in the Customer Development methodology. By exploring VR's applicability in various domains such as entertainment, training, education, and tourism, this study unveils compelling use cases that align with SDG aspects, thus validating the hypothesis on startups' potential to harness VR for SDG contributions. Furthermore, the study produces VR business model designs based on solutions to SDG-related problems. Thus, startups can function effectively as “painkillers,” offering solutions that are not only desired but urgently needed (problem-solution fit). The implications of these findings extend globally, underlining VR's role in addressing SDG issues and offering practical insights for startup business model development that are applicable to broader technology adoptions.

This study presents a novel Fe-CNs-P/S carbon composite material, synthesized by doping elements P and S into NH2-MIL-101 (Fe) using carbonization method. The material's application in sustainable water treatment was evaluated, focusing on its effectiveness in activating persulfate for pollutant degradation. The research thoroughly investigates the synthesis process, structural characteristics, and performance in degrading pollutants. Results indicate that Fe-CNs-P/S-5 with 50% P and S co-doping is higher than that of other samples, where the degradation rate of TC in 30min is as high as 98.11% under the optimum conditions, that is temperature at 25 ℃, 0.05 g/L of catalyst concentration, and 0.2 g/L of PMS concentration. The composite material demonstrates robust versatility and stability, maintaining high degradation efficiency across multiple organic pollutants, with no significant reduction in catalytic performance after four cycles. Furthermore, the free radical quenching experiments displays that the singlet oxygen 1O2 is the main active species. It is demonstrated that the doping of P and S play a role in the enhancement of PMS activation over the Fe-CNs-P/S catalyst. This material demonstrates remarkable efficacy in treating a range of organic contaminants and exhibits excellent reusability, presenting a promising approach for enhancing sustainability in water treatment applications.

As the scarcity of potable water increases, recycling of treated wastewater is increasing. Small-scale, decentralized treatment can be implemented to serve local populations by keeping water within their boundaries and within reach for reuse, particularly in less dense, non-urban communities. Availability of cellular networks and high-speed internet connectivity, along with significant reduction in cost, allows ongoing monitoring of decentralized treatment systems at a central location. In this paper a decentralized treatment system using micro nanobubble aeration, moving media and membranes is able to produce reusable water with low energy consumption, thereby allowing the use of solar energy in places with unreliable electrical supply. The treatment system, which uses no external chemicals, is able to operate unattended and deliver clear, disinfected water with non-detect suspended solids, BOD5 less than 10 mg/L and nutrients below 5 mg/L.

Accurate assessment of crop vegetative state is crucial for agricultural management, particularly under varying environmental conditions. However, detailed field experiments face logistical and cost challenges. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and other vegetation indices offer non-invasive and large-scale solutions for assessing plant health. The integral of the NDVI curve over time aggregates NDVI values, providing a comprehensive view of vegetation dynamics, surpassing the insights from individual NDVI measurements. Developing robust methodologies to calculate the vegetation activity index (VAI) based on NDVI integral is essential for efficient vegetation evaluation, aiding sustainable agriculture. Biostimulants enhance plant growth and resilience against stressors. Sugarcane, vulnerable to various stresses, can benefit from biostimulants, especially under drought conditions. Studies on biostimulant effects on sugarcane's metabolism, yield, and quality have been limited. Analysis of NDVI data indicated significant variations between treated and untreated areas over time. Polynomial regression models (R² between 0.921 and 0.959) demonstrated a strong ability to explain vegetation variability. Normality tests confirmed that VAI and Tons of Sugar per Hectare (TSH) data follow a normal distribution. There was no significant difference in VAI between treated and untreated areas during the plant development cycle, but a significant increase in VAI was observed in treated areas post-treatment (p=0.021). No significant difference in TSH was found, indicating no impact on sugar productivity. L-alpha biostimulant increased vegetation activity during critical growth periods but did not affect sugar yield. Return on investment analysis suggested high profitability of the treatment.

Climate change has become the greatest threat to the survival of world and its ecosystem. With the irreversible impact on the ecosystem, problems like rise in sea level, food-insecurity, natural resources scarcity, seasonal disorders have increased over the past few years. Among these problems, the issue of water scarcity due to the lack of water resources and global warming has plagued several nations. Owing to the rising concerns over water scarcity United Nations (UN) has acknowledged water as a primary resource to the development of societies under the ‘Water Goal’ of the sustainable development goals. As the changing climate and intermittent availability of water resources pose major challenges to forecast demand, especially in countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which has one of the highest per capita residential water consumption rates in the world. Therefore, the aim of this study is to propose an accurate water demand forecasting technique that incorporates all significant factors to predict the future water demands of the UAE. The forecasting model used is the Long Short Term Memory (LSTM), with the factors considered are mean temperature, mean rainfall, relative humidity, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Consumer Price Index (CPI) and population growth. The LSTM model predicts the water demand forecasting in the UAE showing that the future demand will decrease from 1821 million m3 in 2018 to 1809.9 million m3 in 2027.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) play an important role in many fields, including medical education, practice, and research. Many medical educators started using ChatGPT at the end of 2022 for many purposes. The aim of this article was to explore the potential uses, benefits and risks of using ChatGPT in integrated pharmacotherapy of infectious disease module education. This study was an experimental study with content analysis of the potential applications of the ChatGPT model for integrated pharmacotherapy of infectious diseases module education was performed. The findings of this study shows that there are many potential uses, benefits and risks associated with the use ChatGPT. In conclusion, medical and health sciences educators can use ChatGPT as a guide in many aspects related to the integrated pharmacotherapy of infectious disease curriculum development, syllabus design, lecture notes preparation and exam preparation with caution.

Global wastes accumulate at an accelerating rate especially food and slaughterhouse waste constituting a major proportion owing to inefficient management. The high protein concentration of fish waste and keratinaceous byproducts is hazardous, harbouring pathogens, and emitting toxins. Transforming proteinaceous waste into amino acids (AAs) reduces waste bulk and offers a smarter nutrient approach for agriculture. However, this resource remains underutilized triggering eco-system pollution, diseases spreading, and climate change. Currently, small quantities of proteinaceous waste are valorized as animal feed, fertilizer, and in medical, and biotechnological sectors, which cannot solve bulk waste accumulation further, natural AA sources in agriculture are less recognized meanwhile researchers focus on synthetic AAs. Introducing various plant-nutrient formulas enriching fish AA with keratinaceous waste hydrolysate has not been broadly discussed. With this novel approach, using proteinaceous waste resources in agriculture would solve environmental pollution while minimizing land degradation by synthetic fertilizer. In this review, we illustrate the potential and benefits of valorizing proteinaceous waste in bulk through bioconversion. More importantly, we spotlight the biocompatibility of natural AAs and propose an enrichment, to use the ultimate product as catalysts for crops. Consequently, this approach reduces hazardous waste while paving a paradigm change in agriculture.

Aquatic ecosystems are often subject to degradation due to various environmental stressors. The accumulation of an organic sediment layer causes shallowing, algal blooms, and hypertrophy in water reservoirs. The processes of overgrowth and shallowing lead to a reduction in the ecosystem services provided by the reservoir as well as may potentially cause the disappearance of the water body. To address these challenges and restore the ecological balance of water reservoirs, effective and sustainable revitalisation methods are essential. In recent years, biotechnological approaches, particularly utilizing microbiological interventions, have emerged as promising strategies for water reservoir revitalization. Microorganisms, with their remarkable ability to degrade pollutants and enhance nutrient cycling, offer great potential in remediating environmental issues in a natural and eco-friendly manner. The article presents the results of a study of 34 Polish reservoirs subjected to reclamation with microbial biopreparations from 2014 to 2023. The results of changes in bottom sediment reduction, water transparency, dissolved oxygen concentration, and water turbidity are presented. Reduction of and morphological changes in the fraction of soft organic sediments, an improvement in the oxygen profile of the bottom and surface water layers, and an increase of water transparency were observed after the reclamation with the use of biopreparations.

Water scarcity presents one of the greatest challenges of our time. Especially in naturally water scarce regions, the need of additional water resources is rising, requiring innovative and site-adapted technologies. In this review, selected non-conventional water technologies for sustainable water management are strategically evaluated. Focused on a matrix-based assessment incorporating key indicators, the study discusses the availability, applicability, environmental impact, scalability, and economic viability of the selected technologies. Based on a comprehensive literature review, the methodology involves a systematic comparison of technologies for desalination, water reuse, groundwater utilization, agricultural reuse, and unconventional approaches like cloud seeding, dew water, and fog water harvesting. The indicators covering the respective categories are presented in the results. On this basis, the different technologies are analyzed by matrix-based evaluation, highlighting various strengths and weaknesses and providing insights into technology selection based on regional needs. The discussion interprets the findings, deriving implications for dry environments, acknowledging limitations and suggesting pathways for future research. Through a rigorous analytical framework, this study contributes to the discourse on sustainable water solutions, offering valuable insights for policymakers, researchers and industries during a decision-making progress.

Construction involves the use of significant quantities of raw materials and entails high-energy consumption. For the sake of choosing the most appropriate solution that considers environmental and sustainable concepts, tools such as the integrated value model for sustainable assessment (Modelo Integrado de Valor para una Evaluación Sostenible, MIVES) used in Spain, plays a key role in obtaining the best solution. MIVES is a multi-criteria decision-making method based on the value function concept and the seminars delivered by experts. Such tools, in order to show how they may work, require application to case studies. In this paper, two concrete slabs manufactured with differing reinforcement during the construction of the La Canda Tunnels are compared by means of MIVES. The two concrete slabs were reinforced with a conventional steel-mesh and with polyolefin fibres. The results showed that from the point of view of sustainability, the use of polyolefin fibres provided a significant advantage mainly due to the lower maintenance required.

Bisphenol A is a remarkable chemical compound for its many applications mainly in the plastics industry, but also for its toxic effects on the environment and human health. BPA (4,4-isopropylidenediphenol) is an anthropogenic compound, moderately soluble in water (120 – 300 mg/l) at room temperature, and highly soluble in alkaline solutions, ethanol and acetone. BPA can bioconcentrate, bioaccumulate and biomagnify through food webs until it reaches humans. To prevent this, effective strategies are sought to allow its removal from the environment, through physico-chemical or enzymatic methods, advanced oxidation, adsorption and biodegradation, ultrasonic degradation. This article shows a comparative study regarding adsorption of BPA on Active carbon and zeolitic tuff, ZTC. In this paper, the characterization of the zeolitic tuff Rupea adsorbent, was carried out from an elemental and mineralogical point of view, pore size and elemental distribution, using SEM, EDAX, and XRD analysis. The pore size varies from 30 nm to 10 µm, atomic ratio Si/Al≥4, and the 80 % of mineralogical composition represent Ca Clinoptilolite zeolites Ca Clinoptilolite zeolite ((Na1.32K1.28Ca1.72Mg0.52)(Al6.77Si29.23O72)(H2O)26.84). Also, a comparative study of the adsorbtion capacity of bisphenol A from synthetic solutions on activated carbon type - Norit GAC 830 W, GAC, as well as on Clinoptilolite-type zeolitic tuff, ZTC, Rupea, was carried out. The experiments were carried out at a temperature of 20 ºC, a pH of 4.11; 6.98 and 8.12, and ionic strength being assured using KCl of 0.01 M, and 0.1 M. The adsorption capacities of GAC and ZTC tend to 115 mg/g and 50 mg/g respectively, at 8.12 pH and ionic strength of 0 M. The Langmuir mathematical model most faithfully describes the adsorption equilibrium of BPA. The maximum adsorption capacity for both adsorbents increases with increasing pH, and decreases with increasing ionic strength.

Voice search technology has gained popularity in recent years, transforming the way individuals interact with digital devices. This study aims to explore the sustainable use intention of voice search, focusing on the psychological factors that influence new technology adoption. Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and anthropomorphism theory, it provides insights for developers, marketers, and policymakers interested in voice search technology. Through an online survey targeting experienced voice search users in the U.S., the study examines the impact of TAM factors (perceived usefulness, ease of use, quality satisfaction) and anthropomorphism traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism) on sustainable use intention of voice search. Results from hierarchical regression analysis show that perceived usefulness, ease of use, and quality satisfaction positively affect sustainable intention of voice search. Additionally, narcissism and Machiavellianism predict sustainable intention of voice search. By merging TAM and anthropomorphism theory, this study enhances our understanding of voice search behavior and technology adoption.

Sustainable Development Goal 12 requires countries to achieve responsible consumption and production patterns without exceeding safe environmental limits for natural resource use. However, little is known about how cropland impacts from the agri-food sector contribute to the exceedance of national environmental limits for consumption and production. Using a multi-regional input-output model, we linked the cropland impacts of agri-food production to countries of consumption while considering the exceedance of production-based and consumption-based environmental limits. We defined national consumption-based environmental limits via the fair-share approach and quantified national production-based environmental limits according to the biophysical limit of available arable land. We then classified countries into quadrants according to their exceedance of consumption and/or production environmental limits. We found that the USA, Australia and other high-income countries were exceeding both consumption-based and production-based environmental limits. High-population but low-income countries such as India and China were within safe consumption-based environmental limits but exceeded production-based environmental limits. Brazil and other countries of the Americas incurred substantial environmental costs due to the conversion of forests into cropland to produce food for export. We identified patterns in international trade relationships that could inform national-level responsible agri-food consumption and production patterns across the global supply chain, thereby contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 12. More stringent regulations and commitments in national and international policies are required to reduce the exceedance of consumption-based and production-based environmental limits and avoid exceeding the global land-system change planetary boundary.

As the necessity for safety and aesthetic of nightscape have arisen, the importance of nightscapes (i.e., nighttime landscape) planning has garnered the attention of mainstream consciousness. Therefore, this study is to suggest the guideline for nightscape planning using electroencephalography (EEG) technology and survey for recognizing the characteristics of a nightscape. Furthermore, we verified the EEG method as a tool for landscape evaluation. This study analyzed the change of relative alpha power and relative beta power and self-reporting of participants in order to investigate the correlation between EEG and fear according to twelve nightscape settings. Our findings indicated the corresponding measures of fear vary accordance with whether there was people or not, and the environmental settings (Built Nightscape Images; BNI vs Natural Nightscape Images; NNI). Based on our physiological EEG experiment, we provided a new analytic view of the nightscape. The approach we utilized enables a deeper understanding of emotional perception and fear among human subjects by identifying the physical environment which impacts how they experience nightscapes.

Utilizing groundwater offers a promising solution to alleviate water stress in Ethiopia, providing a dependable and sustainable water source, particularly in regions with limited or unreliable surface water availability. However, effective decision-making regarding well drilling and placement is essential to maximize groundwater resource potential, enhancing agricultural productivity, reducing hunger, and bolstering food security in Ethiopia. This study concentrates on the development of two-stage stochastic mixed integer programming (SMIP) models to optimize well placement for sustainable agricultural irrigation, considering uncertain demand scenarios. Additionally, a deterministic mixed integer programming model is formulated for comparison with the two-stage SMIP. Experiments are conducted to explore various demand scenario distributions, revealing that the optimized total cost for the two-stage SMIP generally exceeds that of a deterministic setting, aligning with the two-stage SMIP's focus on long-term benefits. Moreover, slight differences are observed in well layouts under different assumption scenarios. The study also examines the impact of selected parameters, such as fixed construction costs, per-meter drilling costs, and demand scenarios. The out-of-sample performance shows that the stochastic model is more flexible and resilient, with 11% and 4% lower costs than deterministic cases 1 and 3, respectively. This flexibility provides a more robust long-term strategy for well placement and resource allocation in groundwater management.

The use of plastic in agriculture has become so omnipresent within the industry that it has acquired it own lexicon to become known as ‘plasticulture’. However, since, compared to other industries the quantities consumed are low, little attention is granted to this waste stream. This is the case both with local and international policies even though it bears a close connection to soil health and therefore is a prerequisite to improve the sustainability of food production processes including food security. Using Malta as a case study, the research utilises quantitative and qualitative tools to identify and quantify the most common types of agricultural plastic waste generated and determines the attitudes of farmers towards a collection and recycling scheme. While it identifies that incineration and ploughing of plastic waste as regular practices, it also ascertains the willingness of farmers to acquire more knowledge about more appropriate methods to dispose of this waste stream thus guiding policy makers towards the need to initiate educational measures for farmers to prevent these harmful practices. Through stakeholder interviews the research highlights that the present lack of data is a major hindrance for policy to take account of this waste stream.

Both academic literature and global organizations have emphasized the need for responsible water consumption, as stated in the Sustainable Development Goal 12. However, individuals’ water-saving behaviors in their current state are not enough. This situation entails a resistance to change (RC) in consumer habits and a lack of perceived risk of scarcity. The novelty of this study lies in examining the influence of RC (through its emotional, cognitive, and confidence components) and perceived risk on water-saving intention. Interviews (n = 384) were conducted in the southeast Mediterranean area of Spain by interviewers using a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. The results of the structural equation modeling show that the perceived risk and the components of cognitive rigidity and negative emotions exert a direct influence on water-saving habits and an indirect influence on water-saving intention. None of the components of RC directly influence intention, and a lack of confidence in the outcomes of water saving does not influence water-saving habits or water-saving intention. In addition to the results obtained, the novelty of the work lies in the idea that in order to influence the perception of the risk of water scarcity through awareness campaigns, it is better to use an emotional message rather than showing facts or information, because this does not drive water saving behavior.

This study investigates the landscape of public funding for Adult Education for Sustainable Development (AESD) in Slovenia, focusing on the distribution, types of funding, and their impact on accessibility and quality. Using a mixed methods approach to understand the distribution, types of funding, and their impacts on accessibility and quality. Data were collected through an online questionnaire completed by 59 organizations providing non-formal AESD, alongside semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 representatives. Key findings reveal a significant disparity between operational funding and that designated for AESD implementation, with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) emerging as the primary recipients of public funds. Notably, project-based funding predominates, raising concerns about the sustainability of AESD programs due to its typically time-limited nature. Public funding is essential for ensuring program accessibility and quality, as it enables organizations to hire experts and enhance curricula. However, the reliance on project-based grants creates instability, complicating long-term planning and program effectiveness. The study underscores the need for systematic and continuous funding strategies to support AESD, highlighting the importance of a cross-sectoral approach to policymaking. Overall, the research elucidates the intricate relationship between funding distribution, program effectiveness, and the advancement of sustainable development education.

Knowing the reasons for mobility choices, how users evaluate the characteristics of public transport and how satisfied they are with the travel experience is essential to promote the use of LTP (Local Public Transport), especially in rural or suburban areas where the use of private car is often prevalent. The present study aimed to investigate the mobility experience and the reasons for use and non-use of the LPT in a suburban area by the people travelling to a large Hospital Centre in a Province of the North-east of Italy. An anonymous questionnaire was completed by people from different categories travelling to the hospital (students, employees, clients), user and non-users of the LPT. The results showed that insufficient hourly coverage and accessibility of the service are the primary reasons for opting not to use LPT and together with reliability and comfort, these factors contribute to user satisfaction with their travel experience. Perceived sustainability of LPT contributes to overall travel satisfaction. However perceived sustainability alone does not appear to influence the choice of LPT if the service lacks adequate accessibility and does not meet the needs of travelers in terms of hourly coverage

Efforts to quantify and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the built environment often neglect embodied emissions, instead focusing on reducing emissions from building operations. Utilizing sustainably sourced mass timber offers low embodied carbon alternatives to traditional concrete and steel structural systems, however the variability in embodied carbon for different mass timber approaches remains understudied. In this study, we used life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the whole building embodied carbon of nine mass timber design options and two typical concrete and steel reference cases for an eight-story mixed-use building, ensuring structural, acoustic, thermal, programmatic, and fire-rating equivalence between the designs. The study found that the mass timber designs vary significantly, ranging between a 14-52% reduction in whole building embodied carbon from the most impactful reference case, and a 31-73% reduction when considering the structural systems alone. This study demonstrates the value that whole building LCA (WBLCA) provides as a primary driver for low-carbon structural system design and architectural development of mass timber buildings, beyond that of single material comparisons using environmental product declarations (EPDs).

Off-grid electrification planning increasingly recognizes the importance of productive use of electricity (PUE) to promote community value creation and (financial) project sustainability. To ensure a sustainable and efficient integration in the community and energy system, PUE assets must carefully be evaluated to match both the community needs and the residential electricity demand patterns. We propose a novel methodology interlinking qualitative interviews, statistical analysis, and energy system modelling to optimize decision-making for PUE integration in off-grid energy systems in rural Madagascar by aligning relevant PUE effectively with anticipated residential electricity demand patterns based on socio-economic determinants of the community. We find that a possible contribution of the PUE to reducing the electricity costs depends signifi-cantly on three factors: 1. the residential electricity consumption patterns that are influenced by the socio-economic composition of the community, 2. the degree of flexibility of i) PUE assets and ii) operational preferences of the PUE user, and 3. the capacity of community members to finance and operate PUE assets. Our study demonstrates that significant cost reductions for PUE-integrated off-grid energy systems can be achieved by applying our proposed methodology. When matching PUE and residential consumption patterns, the integration of PUE assets in residential community energy system can reduce the financial risk of operators, provided the PUE enterprise operates reliably and sustainably. We highlight that the consideration of local value chains and co-creation approaches are essential to ensure the energy system is addressing the community’s needs, creates value for the community, enhances the project´s financial sustainability, and is achieving the overall objectives of decentralized energy system planning.

Given the conceptual confusion between resilience and sustainability in organizations in the literature, the present study reviews the 27-year global literature on resilience and sustainability in organizations to clarify the relationship between the two, and derive a framework as cutting-edge knowledge on how to ensure resilience and sustainability in organizations. Findings uncover five schools of thought: Sustainable Business Strategy, Predictive Analytics, Sustainable Supply Chain, Ecological Resilience and Sustainable Leadership. A cutting-edge framework, comprising sustainability practices, sustainability outputs, sustainability and resilience outcomes, is derived to guide future research and inform practitioners on how to ensure resilience and sustainability in their organizations.

In current efforts to digitize manufacturing and move it into the fourth stage of the industrial revolution, a wide range of integration solutions is being considered to enable manufacturing to adapt to change. In transforming a factory into a self-organized, autonomous factory, companies are currently struggling with rapidly changing requirements and production factors, among other things. This is a particular problem for the human being as an actor within the factory, as the amount of new technologies and protocols increases the training effort. Proprietary interfaces of the control providers, a wide range of different communication protocols, complicate the understanding of the production processes, the evaluation and testability of new use cases and increase the danger of creating silos of knowledge as well as building collaboration barriers. As a solution to these problems, we propose an open software platform and define a way to model use case driven domain specific asset representation (DSA) that focuses on the human being and his needs for representing the factory in a way that it meets his requirements for the current production needs. We therefore conducted research on google scholar on human factors in industry 4.0 and used technologies as well as already existing platforms and their architecture.

Water is a fundamental resource for ecosystems, humans, and the development of all economic sectors; it is necessary to identify and evaluate its environmental pressures or impacts. The water footprint (WF) is an appropriate indicator for the consumption of water used to produce a product. The present study uses this tool to evaluate the green and blue water requirements and the sustainability of irrigation water use for agroindustrial avocado production in Ziracuaretiro, Michoacán (2012-2021). Our analysis was based on aggregating weather and soil data at the municipal level and official government databases of avocado cultivated surface, fruit production, and water rights concessions. The analysis considers the homogeneity of information throughout the study area. We estimated that rainfed plantations require 839.03 m³/ton and irrigated plantations require 2355.80 m³/ton, with an average of 1597.47 m³/ton. In addition, we determined that avocado cultivation can demand up to 124.3% of agricultural water concessions in this municipality. In addition to the WF estimates, the analysis indicates that such studies are fundamental for decision-makers to develop and implement water use-efficiency strategies and shows the need for further research related to water consumption of avocado as a crop at more detailed scales to reduce uncertainty.

We investigate if anyone is being left behind in accessing safely managed drinking water (SM) in achieving the 2030 agenda. We use 23 countries grouped globally as critically insecure water (CIWC). The results indicate none of the CIWC had over 50% of the population accessing SM, N. America and Europe had highest percentages while Sub Saharan Africa had the least. People left behind are found in rural areas, in countries vulnerable to climate change because of poor governance, low-income, and women’s low education. Institutional quality, equity and equality should be improved in using resources critical to leaving no one behind.

Current agriculture intensifies crop cultivation to meet food demand, leading to unsustainable use of chemical fertilizers. This study investigates a few physiological and agronomic responses of common wheat following the inoculation with plant growth-promoting bacteria to reduce nitrogen inputs. A field trial was conducted in 2022-23, in Legnago (Verona, Italy) on Triticum aestivum var. LG-Auriga comparing full (180 kg ha-1) and reduced (130 kg ha-1) N doses, both with and without foliar application at end tillering of the N-fixing bacterium Methylobacterium symbioticum. Biofertilization did not improve shoot growth, while it seldom increased root length density in the arable layer. It delayed leaf senescence, prolonged photosynthetic activity, amplified stomatal conductance and PSII efficiency under reduced N dose. Appreciable ACC-deaminase activity of such bacterium disclosed augmented nitrogen retrieval and reduced ethylene production, explaining ameliorated stay-green. Yield and testing weight were unaffected by biofertilization, while both glutenin-to-gliadin and HMW-to-LMW ratios increased together with dough tenacity. It is concluded that Methylobacterium symbioticum can amplify nitrogen metabolism at reduced nitrogen dose, offering a viable approach to reduce chemical fertilization under suboptimal growing conditions for achieving a more sustainable agriculture. Further research over multiple growing seasons and soil types is necessary to corroborate these preliminary observations.

“De-[Constructing] Growth” is offered as a deeper and more useful conceptualization that avoids the negative connotations of, and resistance to, “degrowth” by decoupling profit from unsustainable consumption, production, and inequality.

South Africa’s internationally celebrated water legislation placed the responsibility for investing in water services at the door of the government. In recent years South Africa has struggled to invest adequately to keep up with growing demand for these services. The result is a suite of social, economic and environmental risks that are destabilising to the fiscus and the financial sector. This paper explored both operating and capital costs, and applied the ‘Beyond the Gap’ analysis to show that an additional 55% investment (R91 billion annually) is necessary to ensure South Africa meets its water policy goals. The analysis explores the factors that influence the investment amount and shows that a combination of policy choices and exogenous factors such as climate change could render the investment gap anywhere between 30% and 90% of the estimated current allocation to the water sector. The most significant savings are attributed to reducing the extent of “non-revenue water”, an energy transition away from coal, sharing of some water taps between (up to) five houses, reduced water allocations to agriculture, investments in invasive alien plant (IAP) clearing in water catchments above dams, and water demand management, capacity building and more efficient integration of different bulk water schemes. The study revealed important dependencies between capital and operating costs; where operating costs are ignored, the decay of water infrastructure is accelerated. Showing the contingency of investment needs on policy choices, places responsibility for attaining water policy goals and SDG 6 in the hands of a diverse set of actors. Quantifying the investment need also raises the critical question of how to raise the required investment. Recognising the need to balance risks to financiers with the widespread risks to households, companies and government when investment in water services is inadequate, South Africa is exploring a Monetary Architecture approach of inter-balance sheet relationships in an attempt to mobilise investment from new sources.

With a predominantly humid tropical climate and a large area for expanding agricultural activities, Angola has in principle favorable conditions for bioenergy production. The focus of this study was to evaluate the availability of suitable land for producing sugarcane. This crop is highly efficient in converting solar energy into biomass for energy purposes in Angola. To this end, the Global Agro-Ecological Zones database, GAEZ v4, developed by IIASA and FAO, with the aid of the QGIS version 3.22.5, has been used to identify areas suitable for sugarcane cultivation, considering four levels of suitability. Aiming at the sustainability of bioenergy production, areas dedicated to food production, protected areas, and areas with slopes above 16% were excluded. Under these criteria, this study identified the existence of 6.3 Mha in lands of good agricultural suitability, with water resources, corresponding to 5% of the Angolan territory, distributed in seven provinces of the country, especially in the provinces of Cuando Cubango and Cunene, where 85% of the very suitable land under irrigation is located. Adopting a model of agricultural productivity, assuming irrigation and adequate agricultural practices, such area could produce approximately 956 million ton of sugarcane annually, which is significantly higher than the current production in this country, This amount of feedstock, processed using current technology could potentially produce 81.3 GL of ethanol and 176,9 TWh of electricity with low GHG emission per year, able to mitigate, as a whole, circa 60.3 MtCO2-eq/year by displacing gasoline in light vehicles and diesel and natural gas consumed in power generation.

Following on from work already carried out in our laboratory on a new biomass-derived green solvent, eucalyptol, we are now turning our attention to sabinene as a new green solvent. Sabinene is also derived from biomass. We have shown that it can be used as such or distilled to synthesize thiazolo[5,4-b]pyridine heterocycles by thermal or microwave activation. This new solvent was compared with various conventional and green solvents. The conditions were optimized to enable us to carry out the syntheses in good yields, and we were able to show that sabinene, a natural bicyclic monoterpene, could be used effectively as a solvent.

Concrete, the most-used construction material by weight, presents a significant environmental challenge due to its high production environmental footprint and huge quantities of demolition waste.Iran, with a thriving construction sector, faces escalating waste management issues.This paper provides a comprehensive review of strategies to increase concrete recycling in Iran. It explores the current state of concrete recycling practices, the environmental and economic benefits, and the existing barriers hindering wider adoption.The paper then analyzes various strategies across the concrete life cycle, including: demolition practices, collection and transportation systems, processing technologies, and market development for recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs).Several case studies are examined in order to identify best practices and strategies used by countries with successful concrete recycling programs that provide valuable insights about the factors contributing to their success which will be useful for implementation in Iran.Furthermore, the review concludes with recommendations tailored to the Iranian context, emphasizing the crucial role of collaboration between different stakeholders in Iran.

Rice blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae, poses significant threat to rice production. Rice blast susceptibility has been observed in Japanese rice varieties with excellent eating quality. Enhancing blast resistance is essential to ensure minimal use of agricultural chemicals. Two types of blast resistance are observed: true resistance, which is a type of qualitative resistance expressed by a major gene, and field resistance, which is a type of quantitative resistance expressed by multiple micro-acting genes. ‘Resistance collapse’, in which a variety with a true resistance gene becomes diseased by blast fungus races compatible with the resistance gene, has been observed. Varieties carrying blast-resistance genes, such as Pb1 (panicle blast resistance 1), have been developed through DNA marker-assisted selection. In this review, we focus on the Pb1, which expresses strong quantitative resistance to panicle blast and has been widely used in Japan without showing ‘resistance collapse’ for 40 years. Pb1 is an ‘adult plant resistance gene’ that does not exert strong selection pressure on the blast population during the leaf blast stage, thus preventing the selective multiplication of Pb1-compatible blast strains. This epidemiological mechanism prevents ‘resistance collapse’. Interdisciplinary research and breeding are required to sustainably use genes that induce high field resistance.

Grapevine Trunk Diseases (GTDs) are caused by a wide variety of phytopathogenic fungal species that compromise grapevine productivity and wine quality. Each year they lead to major economic losses. Most GTD treatments currently available on the market are chemical-based and environ-mentally harmful. Given that one of the goals proposed by the European Green Deal is to develop sustainable agriculture which does not harm the environment, reduces pesticide use, and pro-motes rural area economies, an alternative to those treatments may be the use of elicitors such as oligosaccharides from fungal organisms. Indeed, many studies have confirmed that oligosaccha-rides play important roles in activating plants' innate immunity. Mannans are one possible type of such oligosaccharides. The present work analysed Vitis vinifera L. (cv. Tempranillo and cv. Airén) leaves and grapes to evaluate their physiological and molecular response to GTDs and how this response might be conditioned using different concentrations of mannans as elicitors. It was found that mannan addition to diseased vines was more positive for the leaves than for the grapes. In general, mannans increased the expression levels of chalcone synthase (CHS1, CHS3), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in healthy leaves of both varieties. In diseased leaves, CHS3 and PAL decreased in both varieties, while CHS1 and PPO increased in Tempranillo but not in Airén. In the grapes, the expression pat-terns of the genes studied varied greatly due to the development of the disease. The mannan treatment seemed to reduce the oxidative stress caused by GTDs, although this response depend-ed on the variety and on the plant's phytosanitary status.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4, 5 and 9 are related to the quality of education, gender equality and the use of new technologies. It is important to bear in mind that a major part of the success of education has to do with students' motivation, which is closely connected to the use of technologies in the classroom. For this reason, a study was carried out with 131 students aged 12 and 13, 58 girls and 73 boys, who use a tablet in their Science classes. The purpose of the study was to determine, based on the Self Determination Theory, the level of intrinsic motivation of those adolescents towards the use of tablets in the classroom. The study measured the interest they have in the tasks and the value they assign to said tasks, as well as their perception of their competence in using tablets. The results reveal that students' motivation is high without significant differences between girls and boys when technological resources are included in teaching-learning processes. This is reflected by the improvement of their academic performance. It is thus possible to state that SDGs 4, 5 and 9 can be achieved.

Ecological Society is based on socioeconomic systems directed to the equilibrium of inter-relationships between environment, climate, production systems, technologies and human communities to promote the overall well-being of people and the Earth planet. It has a main goal for supporting sustainable development and equitable societies and achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, technologies, animals, plants, and their shared environment for the one health. Using data of scientific publications and patents until the year 2024, this study shows new technologies that can support the energy transition with the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources in an effort to reduce CO₂ emissions for an ecological society having, whenever possible, zero-carbon economies to reduce environmental pollution and climate change and foster health and wellbeing of people. Results reveal that sustainable technologies supporting the transformation of the energy sector, economies and societies, and having a rapid growth, are blue hydrogen, floating photovoltaic systems, carbon capture and utilization, green hydrogen and liquid metal batteries. These findings can guide decisions of policymakers and stakeholders towards fruitful investments driving the transition from fossil-based to zero-carbon socioeconomic systems to have a long-run sustainable development of overall world system that has to direct towards an ecological society associated with one health.

This study examined carbon footprint as an indicator of soil health at spatiotemporal scales with different land use types and varying soil depths in Morogoro, representing the eastern agroecological zone of Tanzania. Soils are highly weathered and acidic. The specific objectives were twofold: (1) To quantify soil organic carbon (SOC) at varying soil depths (0–15 cm, 15–30 cm) in contrasting land use types, including tractor cultivated, hand-hoe cultivated, ranch land, and reserved/bare land type; (2) To predict carbon management indices (CMI) of the studied land use types through regresses SOC, carbon pool index (CPI), and lability index (LI) at varying soil depths. Composite soil samples were based on transects of three main plots each (replicates) of 20 m by 50 m. Results showed that land use types and soil depths significantly (P <0.001) affected SOC (3.4%) and CMI (126.3). Hand hoe cultivated land at 0–15 cm recorded CMI of 259.8. Regression analysis showed an increase in CMI ranging from 97% to 99%, with standard error ranging from 2.177 to 46.096. Similar trends, but with disparity magnitudes in regressed parameters provide useful insight into transformations of organic carbon in contrasting land use types.

This paper explores the role of agroforestry in mitigating climate change by sequestering atmospheric carbon in the tropics and subtropics, specifically in the Madhupur Sal forest of Bangladesh. Agroforestry, combining trees with crops on agricultural lands, is recognized for its potential to act as carbon sinks and enhance productivity. The study assesses various agroforestry practices, including Acacia-Pineapple-Turmeric-Papaya, Acacia-Pineapple-Zinger-Banana, and Sal-Pineapple-Aroid combinations. The research reveals improved farm productivity in these agroforestry systems, with different tree species sequestering varying amounts of carbon. Acacia species, ranging from 12 to 25ft in height, sequestered an average of 23.35 lbs/year, while Sal species (Shorea robusta), with trees 45 to 61ft tall, sequestered 49.80 lbs/year on average. Factors such as tree height, diameter at breast height (DBH), number of leaves, and branches influence carbon sequestration. The paper suggests integrating the carbon trading system of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) with Carbon Sequestration (CS) potential to leverage agroforestry for greenhouse gas emission reduction in Bangladesh. By emphasizing the profitability of these practices alongside carbon sequestration, the study encourages the adoption of agroforestry as a sustainable and economically viable strategy for climate change mitigation.

Nowadays, there is an increasing concern about environmental challenges ranging from emissions to overconsumption. Most of the environmental problems today are direct consequences of human consumption. Understanding the factors that affect consumer purchasing decisions is critical to developing demand for and commitment to sustainable consumption. In this regard, this study aims to explore the environmentally sustainable consumption behavior of Ethiopian consumers by using an extended model of the theory of planned behavior. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire having open and closed-ended questions. A total of 523 Ethiopian consumers were selected using convenience sampling technique. Structural equation modeling with AMOS V.26.0. was applied for data analysis. The findings show that Ethiopian consumers have very low awareness about the impact of their clothing consumption and disposal. Their consideration of sustainability attributes during purchasing decisions is also low. The structural equation model analysis showed that all variables had a positive and significant effect on the dependent variables at p<0.05, except the effect of personal norms on an environmentally responsible purchasing intention. These results provide additional evidence on the role of environmental labels in purchasing sustainable apparel products. The results of the study allow a better understanding of the factors determining sustainable consumption behavior and suggest practical solutions to their producers. As theory-building activities, with implications for the conceptualization of sustainable consumption behavior are sparse in the literature, this work has also been able to detect sustainable consumption behavior trends and practices by using the availability of a sustainable apparel product and consumers price perceptions of environmentally responsible apparel as a mediating effect of intention and behavior in developing countries, particularly Ethiopia.

Meloidogyne nematodes, commonly known as root-knot nematodes, pose a considerable threat to crop yields, resulting in significant economic losses due to their intricate biology and limited control methods. In line with the European Union's focus on promoting organic farming and soil health to encourage sustainable agricultural practices, this study explores the efficacy of two characterized bacterial communities obtained from compost, namely SynCom1 and SynCom2, against Meloidogyne javanica in tomato plants. Through pot experiments, it is demonstrated that both bacterial communities effectively suppress nematode reproduction and root infections while simultaneously enhancing various growth parameters in tomatoes. These findings underscore the potential of synthetic bacterial communities as promising tools for organic or integrated pest management, thereby supporting sustainable agricultural practices and contributing to improved crop yields.

Marine lipids are recognized for their health promoting features, mainly for being the primary sources of omega-3 fatty acids, and therefore critical for human nutrition in an age when the global supply for these nutrients is experiencing an unprecedent pressure due to an ever-increasing demand. The seafood industry originates a considerable yield of co-products worldwide that, while already explored for other purposes, remain mostly undervalued as sustainable sources of healthy lipids, often being explored for low value oil production. These co-products are especially appealing as lipid sources since, besides the well-known nutritional upside of marine animal fat, particularly rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), they have also interesting bioactive properties, which may garner them further interest, not only as food, but also for other high-end applications. Besides the added value that these co-products may represent as valuable lipid sources, there is also the obvious ecological upside of reducing seafood industry waste. In this sense, repurposing these bioresources will contribute to a more sustainable use of marine animal food, reducing the strain on already heavily depleted seafood stocks. Therefore, untapping the potential of marine animal co-products as valuable lipid sources aligns with both health and environmental goals by guaranteeing additional sources of healthy lipids and promoting more eco-conscious practices.

This study was aim to assess the spatial-temporal trends of urban expansion with land use/land cover change dynamics over a period of 30 years in Addis Ababa. The source of data were Land sat satellite imagery freely available by the United States Geological Survey, Addis Ababa City plan map obtained from Addis Ababa city governance planning and development commission, and Ethiopia Space Science and Geospatial Agency. The data obtained were analysed by using QGIS, and ERDAS software. The finding showed that over the last thirty years Addis Ababa city was highly spreads with (Urban Expansion Intensity Index(UEII)=1.524%); building-up land increased faster (dynamic degree (K) = -6.22 and Annual Urban Expansion Rate(AUER) is 3.56. From the finding, Addis Ababa is spreading speedily.

The Urban Eco-Sustainable Index for Upscaling Water Security at Catchment Level in Langat River, Malaysia has developed by using the Modified Watershed Sustainability Index or MicroWSI (MWSI), which was based on the Participation, Design and Management Components. The study has successfully applied spatial and social dimensions on ecohydrology of the selected Langat River reach for stormwater management, natural ecosystems health and quality of life. The planning and public participation aspects of the study have evaluated the surrounding neighborhood area of Langat. The conceptual design of rehabilitation works implementation related to Urban Stormwater Management Manual for Malaysia (MSMA) Stormwater Management Ecohydrology (SME) within the study area has been developed with four components of MSMA-SME to be implemented in the study area i.e Bioretention System, Porous Pavement System, Constructed Wetland and Slope Protection Works. These components were proposed to be applied in the development of Langat Riverfront Community Park (LRCP) which has taken into account the components of Design, Management and Participation of Community and Stakeholders in Langat River Basin, Malaysia. This study analyzed the MWSI for the Upscaling of MSMA Ecohydrology at Catchment Level of Langat River and has found the medium level of sustainability for the level of participation, proposed design, and management. Thus, there is a need to increase the level of readiness in the community and stakeholder participation in the Langat River towards sustainability of river conservation and rehabilitation programmes in this basin.

The development of knowledge graphs for water resources as a tool for studying sustainable regional development is a relevant task, as the increasing deterioration of water bodies affects the ecology, economy of the country, as well as the health of the population living near water bodies. Solving this problem requires the development of water resource monitoring methods based on semantic data analysis is required to detect and track sources of pollution and provide recommendations to support decision-making. This research proposes a method of semantic analysis for modeling knowledge graphs and constructing rules that enable the integration of data from heterogeneous sources, semantic compatibility, support for reasoning and inference, facilitate queries and search, and represent knowledge in the field of water resource monitoring. As a result, an ontology based on the SWRL language is created, which enables the expression of complex relationships and derivation of new knowledge, SSN for interaction between the ontology and sensor data, and Time Ontology, which models and analyzes information related to temporal aspects.After populating the ontology and establishing logical connections, SPARQL queries are implemented to retrieve new knowledge about water resources.

The increasing demand for large-scale, high-frequency environmental monitoring has driven the adoption of satellite-based technologies for effective forest management, especially in the context of climate change. This study explores the potential of SAR for estimating the mass of harvesting residues, a significant component of forest ecosystems that impacts nutrient cycling, fire risk, and bioenergy production. The research hypothesizes that while the spatial distribution of residues remains stable, changes in moisture content—reflected in variations in the dielectric properties of the woody material—can be detected through SAR techniques. Two models, generalized linear model (GLM) and random forest (RF), were used to predict the mass of residues using interfer-ometric variables (phase, amplitude and coherence) as well as the backscatter signal from several acquisition pairs. The models provided encouraging results (R2 of 0.48 for GLM and 0.13 for RF), with acceptable bias and RMSE. We concluded that SAR data are feasible to predict the mass of harvesting residues and the findings could lead to improved monitoring and management of forest residues, contributing to sustainable forestry practices and enhanced bioenergy resource utilization.

Since the second half of the second millennium AD, water management among the Chagga people of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania has involved community collaboration in the construction, ownership and management of water infrastructure. Chagga settlement on the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro transformed the landscape significantly to reflect an agrarian society characterised by decentralised forms of socio-political and economic organisation. Such organization involved conception, construction, and post-construction management of water distribution systems, constituting high-level socio-political complexity. The study employs ethnography, archaeological surveys and GIS to document water infrastructures on the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro. We conclude that community collaboration was key in management of the water infrastructure and by extension, agriculture, which sustained Chagga and chiefdoms for centuries.

This paper discusses how Marsascala, a coastal town in Malta, has been urbanized over the years, with particular attention to the development of the tourist industry. In this regard, Bruce Young’s (1983) “general model of the process of ‘touristization’ and landscape change” is engaged with in conjunction with other conceptualisations of tourism and urban development. This paper contributes to the following sustainable development goals respectively, 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing); 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth); 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); 14 (Life Below Water); and 15 (Life on Land), in particular with respect to quality of life, urbanization and respective social, environmental, and economic impacts, and through respective recommendations for a sustainable tourism in Marsascala and similar localities.

Since engineering discipline is at the forefront of latest innovations and developments, there is an increasing emphasis on the critical responsibilities of engineers towards sustainability. There are several studies investigating the incorporation of sustainability principles into engineering curriculum but studies analyzing the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of engineering students are lacking. A deeper understanding of the current state of students’ knowledge, attitude, and behavior towards sustainability is crucial to determine the type of pro-sustainability trainings, strategies and pedagogical activities needed. Hence, the current study is aimed at assessing the level of sustainability cognizance of Mechanical Engineering students via an online Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire. The final sample size was 134 students from a Higher Education Institute in India with 90% male responders and 52% from urban areas. Results indicate that 70% of the respondents have heard of the Sustainable Development Goals, only around 32% of the students demonstrate a positive behavior and attitude towards sustainability whereas 30% of the students do not hold any opinion towards sustainability principles. The current exploratory study contributes to the knowledge base about sustainability awareness and consciousness and advocates for measures to insert its principles in engineering courses.

Dairy farming dates to the early Neolithic era in Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Over time, the industry has evolved from small ranches and farmhouses milk processing units to large, intensive dairy farms and big, high-tech processing units. Despite the industry’s contribution to the economy and food production, multiple studies have tainted cattle farming as a main contributor to climate change. This study explores literature in dairy farming and sustainable development goals (SDGs) to identify current scholarly developments since the formulation and adoption of SDGs in 2015 and themes for future research. This paper argues that dairy animals are not the source of sustainability shortfalls as depicted by multiple scholarly articles, but human processes associated with dairy farming. Data was analyzed using R package, Excel, NVIVO, and VoS Viewer. A review of literature shows that dairy farming and its contribution to sustainability has gained more intensive scientific interest since 2015. Moreover, livestock management, feed production and management, stakeholder’s management, logistics and supply chain management, and waste management are the sources of environmental adversities associated with dairy farming. Notably, these are human processes developed from commercialization of dairy farming and involve multiple stakeholders across the supply chain. While solutions are embedded within these processes, innovation emerges as a key driver of sustainability and source of opportunities to strengthen sustainability in dairy farming sector and achieve the sustainable development goals.

Soil erosion is one of the most important environmental problems which can have various negative consequences, such as land degradation affecting the sustainable development and the agricultural production, especially for developing countries like Tunisia. Moreover, soil erosion is a major problem around the world because of its effects on soil fertility by nutriment loss and siltation in water bodies. Apart from this, soil erosion by water is the most serious type of land loss in several regions both locally and globally. This study evaluated regional soil erosion risk through the derivation of appropriate factors, using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), which was applied to establish a soil erosion risk map of the whole Tunisian territory and to identify the vulnerable areas of the country. RUSLE model take into account all the factors playing a major role in erosion processes, namely the erodibility of soils, topography, land use, rainfall erosivity and anti-erosion farming practices. The equation is thus implemented under Geographic Information System (GIS) “Arc GIS Desktop”. The results indicated that Tunisia has a serious risk of soil water erosion, showing that 6.43% of the total area of the country is affected by a very high soil loss rate estimated at more than 30 t/ha/year and 4.20% are affected by high mean annual soil loss ranging from 20 to 30 t/ha/year. The most eroded areas were identified in west southern, central and western parts of the country. The spatial erosion map can be used as a decision support document to guide decision-makers towards better land management and provide the opportunity to develop management strategies for soil erosion prevention and control in the global scale of Tunisia.

When examining the crucial role of civic competence in fostering sustainable societies, economies, and ecosystems, its significance for cultivating responsible and engaged citizens in our ever more interconnected global landscape must be recognized. Notably, education influences the development of civic competence throughout the learning experience at all levels of education. This research aims to explore the evolution of students’ self-assessment in terms of civic competence and its three sub-competences. The objective is to comprehend the present status of students’ self-assessments and explore their potential impact on the formation of a sustainable society. Data were collected for this study using an assessment tool elaborated in the ESF project “Development and Implementation of the Education Quality Monitoring System” for students’ generic competences. The tool, presented in a digital form using the QuestionPro platform, measures six generic competences, including civic competence. A total of 1,166 bachelor students and 354 Master’s students participated in the study, representing 22 Latvian higher education institutions. The study’s findings indicate that civic competence in the sample is considerably lower than the other generic competences measured, with a greater dispersion of results. The results also highlight specific areas within universities that require improvement during the learning process to cultivate individuals who are sustainable and socially responsible members of society.

This research aims to explore factors that influence sustainable music education from a psychological perspective, and innovatively constructs a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. For first time, combines stochastic nonlinear system of control theory and identifies relevant factors affecting sustainable music learning by establishing a data system for questionnaire answering and a quantitative model for actual academic performance. Existing research mainly looks at several factors that affect fragmented music education from perspective of teachers' teaching rules, emphasizing phased teaching state and learning goals of teachers as main body, thus ignoring sustainable music education and students, who are a large group of music learning objects. The research fills gap in this type of research object, focusing on sustainable music education from an emotional perspective and students who occupy a dominant position in music learning, so as to more accurately explore impact of their emotional influencing factors on sustainable music learning. The most prominent innovation of this study lies in construction of stochastic nonlinear system for psychological influencing factors of sustainable student music learning and a quantitative model for actual learning effect. Through analysis of nonlinear system, weight values of several negative emotions on sustainable music learning are obtained.

Aluminum is a strategic mineral resource, and China’s aluminum production and consumption is fairly large. However, its supply guarantee is uncertain because of a high dependency on external raw materials. This uncertainty may expand, so finding a way to reduce the uncertainty of aluminum resource supply is especially important. This paper applies the SFA method to analyze the aluminum flows in mainland China from 1996 to 2014, and establishes a supply structure model to measure its supply guarantee degree. The results claim that: (1) China’s aluminum production can satisfy demand and even create a surplus; (2) Domestic self-productive primary and secondary aluminum increased at an annual rate of 12% and 24%; (3) The proportion of self-productive secondary aluminum in the supply structure increased from 7.7% in 1996 to 12.8% in 2014, while that of primary aluminum decreased from 79.6% to 42.8%; (4) The total supply guarantee degree decreased from 87.3% to 55.6% in this period. These results provide a feasible way to solve this plight: the proportion of secondary aluminum in the supply structure should be enhanced, and an efficient aluminum resource recycling system needs to be established as soon as possible to ensure its sustainable supply.

This study presents an innovative approach for the utilization of industrial by-products and municipal waste in the production of sustainable and environmentally friendly cement mortar. We explored stabilized stainless-steel reduced slag (SSRS) and polyethylene (PE) plastic waste as partial replacements for aggregates. Various engineering properties of the resulting cement mortar specimens, including slump, slump flow, compressive strength, flexural strength, tensile strength, water absorption, and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), were investigated through comprehensive experimental tests. The influence of different water-cement (w/c) ratios and substitution amounts on the engineering properties of the cement mortar samples was thoroughly examined. The findings revealed that an increase in PE substitution adversely affected the overall workability of the cement mortar mixtures, whereas an increase in SSRS amount contributed to enhanced workability. As for the hardened properties, a consistent trend was observed for both cases, with higher w/c ratios and substitution amounts leading to reduced mechanical properties. Water absorption and UPV test results validated the increased formation of porosity with higher w/c ratios and substitution amounts. This study proposes a promising method to effectively repurpose industrial by-products and municipal wastes, transforming them into sustainable construction and building materials. Additionally, a comparative analysis of transportation costs and carbon footprint emissions between SSRS-cement mortar and PE-cement mortar was conducted to assess their environmental impact and sustainability. Generally, higher w/c ratios and replacement levels corresponded to reduced carbon footprint. The geographical location of the source of SSRS and PE remains a challenge and studies to overcome this challenge must be further explored.

This article aims to assess Pakistan's National Spatial Data Infrastructure implementation efforts through well-established approaches including the SDI readiness model, organizational aspects, and state of play. The findings underscored challenges related to human resources, SDI education/culture, long-term vision, GI awareness, sustainable funding, metadata availability, online geospatial services, and geospatial standards hindering the NSDI development in Pakistan. However, certain factors, such as the legal framework for NSDI establishment, web connectivity, geospatial software availability, core spatial dataset availability, and institutional leadership, exhibit favorable standings. Thus, to enhance the development of NSDI for Pakistan, recommendations include bolstering financial and human resources, improving online geospatial presence, and fostering a long-term vision for NSDI.

This study examines the relationship between entrepreneurship and sustainable devel-opment in Saudi Arabia from 2006 to 2022, focusing on the economic, social, and en-vironmental dimensions. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, the research investigates both short-run and long-run dynamics to understand how entre-preneurial activities influence sustainable development within the framework of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative. The findings indicate that entrepreneurship significantly contributes to economic growth through job creation and innovation, thereby aiding in the diversification of the economy away from oil dependency. Socially, entrepreneurial ini-tiatives have a positive impact on gender equality and social inclusion by empowering women and integrating youth into the labour market. Environmentally, entrepreneurship helps reduce carbon emissions and promotes sustainable business practices. Despite these positive outcomes, challenges such as regulatory barriers, limited access to finance, and the need for a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem remain. Recommendations include enhancing entrepreneurial education, providing financial incentives, and streamlining regulatory processes to better support start-ups and SMEs. The study highlights the ne-cessity of addressing these challenges to fully realize the potential of entrepreneurship for sustainable development in Saudi Arabia. By providing empirical evidence on the sig-nificant role of entrepreneurship in driving sustainable development, this research offers actionable insights for policymakers aiming to foster a more resilient and diversified economy in line with Vision 2030. .

This study provides an in-depth review of the available literature on metal composite material machining, focusing on traditional machining operations such as turning, milling, shaping, drilling, and grinding. The motivation for the study is that this composite type has emerged as a vital material in applications requiring functionality, resilience, cost-effective operation, low consumption of energy and lightweight. Despite its superior characteristics, the manufacturing complexity and poor machinability of metal matrix composites have been the primary barriers to its adoption. Nevertheless, there is a reduction of exceptional efficiency, increase in surface roughness, tool wear and so on in metal matrix composites throughout machining. As a result, this review gives a comprehensive investigation of metal matrix composite machining and effect on process parameters and procedures. Furthermore, this study distinguishes metal matrix composites towards sustainable manufacturing and the metals employed by the researchers, as well as the gaps discovered for future recommendations in metal-based composites.

The limited understanding of how digital platforms, especially the Metaverse, influence public perception and attitude towards sustainable fashion in large scaled markets such as China highlights a critical gap. This study aims to examine the perspectives and perception of the Chinese public regarding sustainable fashion in the Metaverse. Through content analysis, this study evaluated 3,889 Weibo posts from Shanghai Fashion Week 2024 to identify key sentiments and discussions on sustainable and digital fashion. Results indicate that 76.08% of the conversations centered on sustainable fashion, reflecting strong public commitment to environmental issues. The findings highlight characteristics of public perception towards the utilization of immersive technologies and underscore the Metaverse's potential as a platform for fostering environmental consciousness in the fashion industry. This research provides crucial insights for fashion brands looking to integrate sustainability into their digital strategies, addressing a significant gap in current literature and offering practical guidance for leveraging digital platforms to promote sustainable consumption.

Red plum apricot is the best apricot over the world. Since having been introduced into Guyuan county in 1987 from Shaanxi province, red plum apricot grows well and then has been selected as good varieties to popularize in semirid loess hilly regions because the color of red plum apricot is beautiful, aroma fragrant , and taste is the mix of sour and sweet and nutrition is rich. Since 1995, the yield, benefits and planting area of red plum apricot increase doubly, and the distribution range of red plum apricot increased from Guyuan to the whole Ningxia, and then to Gansu province and so on in the water-limited regions, China. However, there are still some problems in the sustainable produce of red plum apricot. In order to promote the development of red plum apricot and meet people's increasing demand, we should do intensive study of the relationship between red plum apricot and environment and the comparison of possible methods to reduce the bad influence of drought, low temperature and frost on quality and production of red plum apricot, and determine the soil water resources use limit by red plum apricot and the suitable leaf amount of red plum apricot when the planting density equal soil water carrying capacity for red plum apricot and select the best method to reduce or evade the bad influence of soil drought, low temperature, frost and soil drought on red plum apricot to ensure the sustainable produce of red plum apricot in Sustainable Produce of red plum apricot in water-limited regions.

This study explores cutting-edge and sustainable green methodologies and technologies for the synthesis of functional nanomaterials, with a specific focus on the removal of water contami-nants and the application of kinetic adsorption models. Our research adopts a conscientious ap-proach to environmental stewardship by synergistically employing eco-friendly silver nanopar-ticles, synthesized using Justicia Spicigera extract as a biogenic reducing agent, in conjunction with Mexican zeolite to enhance contaminant remediation, particularly targeting Cu²⁺ ions. Structural analysis, utilizing X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution scanning and transmis-sion electron microscopy (TEM and SEM), yields crucial insights into nanocomposite structure and morphology. Rigorous linear and non-linear kinetic models, encompassing pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, Freundlich, and Langmuir, are employed to elucidate the kinetics and equilibrium behaviors of adsorption. Results underscore the remarkable efficiency of the Zeolite-Ag composite in Cu²⁺ ion removal, surpassing traditional materials, achieving an im-pressive adsorption rate of 98% for Cu. Furthermore, the Zeolite-Ag composite exhibits maxi-mum adsorption times of 480 minutes. In the computational analysis, an initial mechanism for Cu²⁺ adsorption on zeolites is identified. The process involves rapid adsorption onto the surface of the Zeolite-Ag NP composite, followed by a gradual diffusion of ions into the cavities within the zeolite structure. Upon reaching equilibrium, a substantial reduction in copper ion concen-tration in the solution signifies successful removal. This research represents a noteworthy stride in sustainable contaminant removal, aligning with eco-friendly practices and supporting the potential integration of this technology into environmental applications. Consequently, it pre-sents a promising solution for eco-conscious contaminant remediation, emphasizing the utiliza-tion of green methodologies and sustainable technologies in the development of functional na-nomaterials

Every year since the last fifty years, the world is waking up to higher and higher average temperature of the earth. Initially it was thought that this trend is a part of cyclical warming and cooling of the earth and nothing to be much worried about. However, with weather conditions become erratic and unusual over a large swath of the planet more and more frequently and regularly, scientists started to speak of Climate Change and people started to listen. In this paper we briefly discuss the link between global warming, climate change and current policies in the developing world to drive home the urgent need for alternative thinking. We briefly discuss the theoretical link between economic development and greenhouse gas emission and lay the micro foundation of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) before providing some evidence of global climate change and why this is a matter of concern for social scientists. Then we explore two avenues through which human activities are aggravating the situation especially in developing countries – the role of business architecture and the role of built architecture. We argue that these twin architecture are aggravating global warming by moving away from sustainable development policies.

Peanut hulls (PH) are an edible food waste that is an underutilized food source for human consumption. While edible and palatable, they are mainly diverted to livestock feed or building materials. Here, we describe existing literature on human food valorization of PHs and propose methods to optimize recapturing nutrients (e.g. protein, fiber, polyphenols) lost by treating PHs as waste. Incorporated into common foods, PHs can be processed into functional ingredients to improve nutrient-density and the corresponding positive health outcomes associated with increases in plant foods. PH valorization can also address additional priorities of the UN Sustainable Development Goals using a Food Systems Approach (FSA) including food waste, increasing economic opportunities for farmers, and increasing the availability of healthy shelf-stable foodstuffs to address food security. Recent advances in sustainable food processing technologies can be utilized to safely incorporate peanut hulls into human food streams. We propose future applications that could make meaningful impacts to food availability and the nutritional composition of common foods. While the limited literature on this topic spans several decades, no global operations exist to incorporate peanut hulls and most publications precede the technological ‘green revolution’. The approaches outlined in this review may help bolster commercialization of this underutilized and nutritious food potentially improving opportunities for multiple global stakeholders.

Videogames are recognized as significant tools and mediums to be used in civic participation in spatial planning and fostering local communities. As the phenomenon is widely recognized in papers presenting singular case studies and broader analyses in the field, selecting such serious games with certain characteristics remains unclear. The informed process of choosing games with particular properties regarding genesis, graphic style, genre, and complexity as the response for specified needs and process assumptions appears to be supportive in preventing unnecessary costs and data overproduction. Such avoidance is an important part of sustainable digital transformation. Therefore there is a need for the more conscious process of selecting videogames to be used in a participatory process. The following paper aims to propose a decisional instrument that could be useful for specifying the characteristics of games to be utilized in participation. They performed a multicriteria analysis of documented cases of implementing video games in civic engagement, allowing the creation of a set of numeric indicators that help determine the properties of games that will be most appropriate for given process assumptions. Such a tool can prevent overproducing data on the one hand and may cause dissemination presented way of handling the participation process on the other.

This article documents the rammed earth construction practices undertaken by Wang Shu’s team during the “Tiles Hill — New Reception Center for the Xiangshan Campus” project. This building not only embodies the principle of “learning from nature” inherent in traditional vernacular construction but also profoundly interprets the concept of “the craftsmanship way”. Traditional rammed earth techniques represent a sustainable construction method, with a core focus on material composition and building techniques. Through more than a decade of continuous research, the team, combining modern technology, explored how to revive this nearly forgotten vernacular construction method in contemporary architecture. The article further highlights that the recyclability of rammed earth techniques is not only reflected in the reuse of materials but also in the material‘s inherent friendliness and non-destructive nature to the natural environment. This process showcases the fusion of traditional craftsmanship with modern construction technology, as well as the inheritance and innovation of the artisan spirit.

This study presents an in-depth analysis of land use and land cover change on the Kerch Peninsula over a period spanning three decades. Utilizing convolutional neural networks alongside satellite imagery analysis, we have mapped and quantified the changes in land use and cover, revealing significant trends and transformations within the peninsula's landscape. The research aims to elucidate the interplay between anthropogenic activities, climatic variations, and policy interventions in shaping land cover dynamics, thereby providing insights into the environmental and socio-economic impacts of these changes. Our findings indicate a marked increase in urban expansion at the expense of natural ecosystems, including forests and wetlands, underscoring the urgent need for sustainable land management strategies. The study highlights the role of agricultural intensification and expansion in altering the peninsula's ecological balance and emphasizes the critical importance of integrating change analysis and prediction. By leveraging advanced remote sensing and GIS technologies, our analysis not only enhances the understanding of the complex dynamics driving land use and land cover change but also showcases the potential of predictive modeling in forecasting future land cover scenarios. The implications of this study extend beyond the Kerch Peninsula, offering valuable lessons for managing land use changes and conserving natural landscapes in similar regions globally.

Good governance in natural resource management (NRM) is one of the most challenging issues in developing countries that often inappropriately embedded in national policies and political agendas. It is, in fact, even more important for countries like Bangladesh with exceptionally high pressure and dependence on its natural resources for sustaining rural livelihoods. Globally, nowadays, good governance is considered as one of the key factor for achieving the goal of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. Bangladesh, of late has responded to that global zeal by involving local communities in the management of country’s declining forest and other natural resources. The colonial legacy of the forestry sector of Bangladesh was planned and, managed as interim projects through donors’ prescriptions. Thus, institutions, management processes and conservation outcomes were problematic. The conventional approach adopted by colonial and post-colonial regimes for forest management also proved to be inefficient due to its top-down management system. The absolute dependency on donor support, and their prescription sometimes worsened the situation both ecologically and socially. Global, regional and local trends supported the need for a different dimension in the governance paradigms. The introduction of a pluralistic approach, known as co-management in protected areas (PAs) is an example of an attempt whereby shared governance mechanism are implemented to attain the desired goals of conservation that will also address the livelihoods and aspirations of communities living in and around PAs of the country. However, in designing future forest and PA regimes the concern of the external aid support and attached conditions remain a reality that needs to be addressed. Adequate attention should be given to our vanishing biodiversity, culture and community livelihoods through devising an appropriate governance mechanism recognizing and supporting local rights, access and participation in the environmental management. It is now time to mainstream the adhoc nature of governance according to our national conservation strategy and policy frameworks in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the Bangladesh NRM sector addressing the human and community right of people in the specific context of forest protected areas management.

Vibrio vulnificus (Vv) is a bacterial pathogen native to warm and brackish water ecosystems that can cause fatal septicemia (Vv-vibriosis) in humans and various farmed fish species. From a One Health perspective, controlling Vv-vibriosis outbreaks on farms is essential not only for animal but also for human health, as it reduces the risk of Vv transmission to humans. Electrolyzed water (EW) is a sustainable control method, exhibiting transient disinfectant properties due to the formation of hypochlorous acid (HOCl). We hypothesized that EW could effectively reduce Vv populations in aquaculture facilities, preventing outbreak emergence. To test this hypothesis, survival assays in EW were conducted under varying conditions of salinity, pH, and free available chlorine (FAC). The results indicated that an intermediate concentration of FAC had a significant bactericidal effect on Vv populations regardless of the condition and tested strain. Consequently, the strategic use of EW could serve as an eco-friendly preventive and control measure against Vv-vibriosis by significantly decreasing the bacterial load in farm water.

The article presents a model for optimizing biomass supply chains using the linear programming framework integrated with a Geographic Information System. Based on the distance from a given type of biomass resource, its calorific value, price, and transportation costs, the model identifies the optimal source of biomass, allowing it to cover the demand for the required total energy value with the lowest possible costs. The case study includes the Połaniec power plant in southeastern Poland and potential sources of forest biomass and agricultural straw within 100 km of the plant. Unit costs of biomass varied depending on biomass availability and energy demands. For energy demand on the level of 1 PJ yearly, the lowest unit costs of biomass (4.08 €/MJ) were when all kinds of biomass were available, and the highest (5.47 €/MJ) was when only stacked wood was available. As energy demand increased, unit costs increased, and the ability to meet this demand with just one type of biomass decreased. The energy biomass sector can utilize the model to benefit both biomass producers and their final buyers.

Carbonate reservoirs, influenced by depositional and diagenetic processes and characterized by features like faults and vugs that impact storage capacity, require more than traditional Borehole Imaging logs (BHI) for accurate porosity data. This data is essential for geological assessments, production forecasting, and reservoir simulations. This work aims to address this limitation by developing methods to measure and monitor the sustainability of carbonate reservoirs and exploring the application of sustainability principles to their management. The study integrates BHI and conventional logs from two wells to classify porosity-based facies within the Barra Velha Formation (BVF) in the Santos Basin. The methodology involves four steps: (i) analyzing conventional logs; (ii) segmenting BHI logs; (iii) integrating conventional and segmented BHI logs using Self-Organizing Maps (SOM); and (iv) interpreting the resulting classes. Matrix porosity values and non-matrix pore sizes categorize the porosity into four facies (A to D). Facies A has high non-matrix porosity with 14,560 small megapores, 5,419 large megapores, and 271 gigapores (71.9%, 26.76%, and 1.34% of the 20,250 pores, respectively). Facies B shows moderate non-matrix porosity with 8,669 small megapores, 2,642 large megapores, and 33 gigapores (76.42%, 23.29%, and 0.29% of the 11,344 pores, respectively) and medium matrix porosity. Facies C exhibits low non-matrix porosity with 7,749 small megapores, 2,132 large megapores, and 20 gigapores (78.27%, 21.53%, and 0.20% of the 9,901 pores, respectively) and medium matrix porosity. Facies D has low non-matrix porosity with 9,355 small megapores, 2,346 large megapores, and 19 gigapores (79.82%, 20.02%, and 0.16% of the 11,720 pores, respectively) and low matrix porosity. The novelty of this work lies in integrating data from two sources to classify porosity across the Pre-Salt reservoir interval, serving as a proxy for preliminary litho-facies identification without core data. This study advances our understanding of carbonate reservoir sustainability and heterogeneity, offering valuable insights for robust, sustainable reservoir characterization and management in the context of global environmental and geological changes.

Small scale carp polyculture plays a key role for food supply in Bangladesh, however, factors including water pollution, limited infrastructure and inadequate disease management hinder its sustainability. This paper reports on a survey of 231 farmers across the 6 major carp producing regions in Bangladesh, analyzing factors including, farmers’ social aspects, farm characteristics, information on disease and approaches adopted to combat them, and biosecurity practices. Almost half (46.8%) of the farms surveyed experienced disease in carp species, with clear regional variations. Eighty four percent of farms reported carp mortalities during disease outbreak, with an average mortality level 10.23±11.81%. Clinical signs during outbreaks lasted between a week and a month, and there was a peak in disease outbreaks in two seasonal periods between June to July and October to December. Disease incidence was related to a range of factors including the farmer experience, ponds/farm type, stocked species, and biosecurity practice. A combination of disinfecting measures during pond preparation and measures during stocking, including discarding fingerling transport water off-farm, fingerling disinfection and check the health of fingerlings before stocking significantly reduced disease occurrence. Treatments involving the antibiotics, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, and azithromycin were reported as ineffective, raising concerns about non-prudent use, inadequate dosing (perhaps without appropriate veterinary guidance) and the potential for further driving antimicrobial resistance in the environment. The research unveils a concerning pattern of disease high disease incidence across small-scale carp farms in Bangladesh and the significant potential for disease spread highlights the need for responsible disposal practices. The study emphasizes the need for improving training and awareness programs are vital for addressing biosecurity and disease management challenges, ensuring sustainable aquaculture and community well-being.

Mining wastes generate a high environmental impact, and population exposure to metals and metalloids. Phytoremediation is a technology that uses plants to remediate polluted sites, one of its limitations is seed germination in soil with high content of metals and metalloids. B. dactyloides is a native specie from semiarid regions, while C. dactylon is an introduced specie, both are tolerant to drought and low temperatures. Owing, the objective of this research was to evaluate the germination of both species, exposed to a multi-polluted soil with As, Cd, Pb and Zn of a mining site, pondering different pH conditions (from 5.0 to 9.0). The study considered 4 repetitions by type of seed and soil pH. B. dactyloides showed higher germination percentage (83%) with pH 7.8; while the greater germination of C. dactylon was 34 % at pH 6.0. In the soil at pH 5, the germination in both species was not reached, owing that metals are more bioavailable in an acid environment. C. dactylon is less tolerant to As, Cd, Pb and Zn, so it is considered not effective for phytoremediation process. B. dactyloides has a high phytoremediation potential for multi-polluted sites, but further experiments are needed.

Achieving Urban Flood Resilience (UFR) is essential for modern societies, requiring the implementation of effective practices in different countries to mitigate hydrological events. Green Water Systems (GWS) emerge as a promising alternative to achieve UFR, but they are still poorly explored and present varied definitions. This article aims to define GWS within the framework of sustainable practices and propose a regulation that promotes UFR. Through a systematic review of existing definitions and an analy-sis of international regulations on Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS), the study reveals diverse perceptions and applications of GWS and their role in Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI). The research proposes a standardized definition of GWS and their role in Blue – Green Infrastructure (BGI). The research proposes a standardized definition of GWS and the implementation of SuDS in Peru, addressing the current knowledge gap and contributing to the development of sustainable urban infrastructure.

This scientific article outlines the Artificial Intelligence Integrated Energy Education Framework (AI-IEEF), a transformative model designed to revolutionize energy education and management practices. The framework is organized into five distinct layers: Organizational (AI-enhanced administration systems), Financial (dynamic AI financial models), Technology (advanced simulation and modeling), Methodology (AI in curriculum development and personalized learning), and Social (AI for community engagement and impact). An expert panel used the fuzzy Delphi method to achieve consensus on twenty key factors within these layers, establishing a solid foundation for analysis. Following this, the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed to calculate precise weights for each layer and their respective factors, providing a quantitative assessment of their relative importance. These weight calculations are crucial, as they guide resource allocation and strategic decision-making to ensure the framework is optimized for the evolving needs of energy management. Furthermore, the article introduces five tailored variants of the AI-IEEF, each addressing specific aspects of energy education and offering a comprehensive approach to navigating the challenges in the field. The five variants include the Smart Campus Energy Education, Global Energy Policy Analysis, Renewable Energy Research and Development, Energy Workforce Development, and Community Engagement and Outreach variants. Each provides a distinct approach to energy education, from transforming campuses into living labs for hands-on learning to fostering international collaborations that explore the global implications of energy policy. These variants emphasize practical skills, policy analysis, and community-focused solutions, ensuring that students are well-prepared to contribute effectively to the energy sector.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are beneficial bacteria that play a crucial role in sustainable agriculture by enhancing plant growth through various mechanisms. This review examines the contributions of PGPR in improving nutrient availability, producing phytohormones, providing biocontrol against pathogens, and enhancing abiotic stress tolerance. By reducing the necessity for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, PGPR mitigate environmental impacts, enhance soil health, and support long-term agricultural productivity. However, challenges such as inconsistent performance across various soils, regulatory barriers, and limited farmer awareness hinder their widespread adoption. Recent advancements in nano-encapsulation technology, genetic engineering, and bioinformatics present promising solutions for overcoming these obstacles and enhancing PGPR efficacy. The incorporation of PGPR into biofertilizers, biopesticides, and integrated pest management (IPM) strategies offers a sustainable resolution to global agricultural challenges. This review addresses the current state of PGPR research, applications, and future directions for optimizing their use in promoting sustainable agriculture.

Specific climate adaptation and resilience measures can be efficiently designed and implemented at the regional and local level. Climate and environmental databases are of critical importance to achieving sustainability goals (SDGs) and for the efficient planning and implementation of suitable mitigation measures: Available databases can serve municipalities as a vital starting points to determine requirements, prioritize resources and allocate investments under consideration of commonly tight budget restrictions. High-quality geo, climate and environmental data are now available – data from remote sensing, i.e. Copernicus services will be of crucial importance. Forward-looking approaches exist to using such data to derive forecasts for urban planning process optimization for municipal administrations. On municipal level, however, the existing data have so far only been used to a limited extent, since there are no practical tools for urban planning that can be used to merge and meaningfully combine remote sensing data with local data and to further process and apply in municipal planning processes. Therefore, our project CoKLIMAx aims at the development of new digital products, advanced urban services and procedures, such as the development of practice-oriented technical tools that acquire various remote sensing and in-situ data sets for validation and further processing.

Across decades of contemporary discussion on sustainable development, a core debate has concerned the relationship between the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. In recent years, a debate on economic growth versus degrowth has been going on discussing whether economic growth can be sustainable in environmental terms and whether economic degrowth can be sustainable in social terms. This conceptual and theoretical article has used the Sustainability Window, or ‘SuWi’ method, to theoretically determine the sustainable window of economies, as upper and lower bounds of future change in GDP, that could be deemed in line with environmental and social sustainability. All theoretically possible scenario paths of development are considered by combining the economic, environmental, and social dimensions, with the environmental and social productivities of GDP. In moving to sustainability analysis through SuWi it is noted that only four of the logically possible scenario paths could be considered theoretically 'sustainable’, and only if adhering to strict conditions. Two of the hypothesised scenarios involve economic growth and two of economic degrowth. The approach, including calculation formulas, has many potential uses in providing analysis and support to 21st century sustainability policymaking, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In water scarcity regions, using data-driven approaches to predict groundwater level is challenging due to limited data availability. However, these regions have substantial water needs and require cost-effective groundwater utilization strategies. In this study, we use artificial intelligence to predict groundwater levels to provide guidance for drilling shallow boreholes for subsistence irrigation. The Bilate watershed, which is located in southern Ethiopia, was selected as the study area. This is typical of areas in Africa with high demand for water and limited availability of well data. Using a non-time-series database of 75 boreholes, machine learning models including multiple linear regression, multivariate adaptive regression spline, artificial neural networks, random forest regression, and gradient boosting regression (GBR) were constructed to predict the depth to the water table. 20 independent variables were considered in the models. GBR performed the best of the approaches with an average 0.77 R-squared value on testing data. Finally, a map of predicted water levels in the Bilate watershed was created based on the best model with water levels ranging from 1.6 to 245.9 meters. With the limited set of borehole data, the results show a clear signal that can provide guidance for borehole drilling decisions for sustainable irrigation with additional implications for drinking water.

Growing concerns about the greenhouse effect, global warming, and adverse climate changes primarily stemming from carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in traditional Portland cement (OPC) used in civil engineering construction, have prompted a shift toward eco-friendly alternatives like geopolymer cement (GPC). Over the last few decades, significant advancements have been made in developing environmentally sustainable pavement construction materials such as GPC to mitigate global CO2 emissions. The success of geopolymer cement (GPC) as an eco-friendly alternative to OPC has garnered attention for its potential to lower carbon emissions and enhance durability. This is attributed to the sustainable production method of GPC, where industrial cementitious waste materials (such as fly ash (FA), metakaolin (MK), mine tailings (MT), slag, etc.) are combined with an eco-friendly alkaline activator and water through the geopolymerization process. Numerous studies on geopolymer concrete indicate that, like OPC, GPC exhibits comparable mechanical properties, including strength, fire resistance, chemical resistance, and durability. This review explores the properties and applications of GPC as a sustainable material in pavement construction, exploring key studies and advancements in geopolymer technology, particularly its suitability for pavement applications. The assessment covers the mechanical properties, long-term performance, and environmental impact of geopolymer-based pavements, providing a comprehensive overview to inform policymakers, engineers, and researchers about the viability of geopolymer-based materials as a sustainable solution for modern pavement construction.

This review highlights recent innovations in food packaging, emphasizing the shift from conventional petroleum-based materials to bio-based alternatives and smart packaging systems. Bio-based materials, such as starch, cellulose, and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), offer sustainable solutions due to their biodegradability and reduced environmental impact. These materials are positioned as eco-friendly alternatives to traditional plastics, but face challenges related to production costs and scalability. Additionally, advancements in smart packaging technologies, including sensor and indicator systems, provide real-time food quality monitoring, enhancing food safety and reducing waste. Active packaging technologies, incorporating natural antioxidants and moisture control, extend product shelf life and improve food preservation. Also, these biopolymers usually present lower CO2 footprint, energetic cost, and water consumption during their production, in comparison to traditionally used synthetic plastics. The review identifies critical challenges, such as regulatory barriers and technological limitations, but also outlines significant opportunities for future research and innovation in the food packaging sector, aiming for more efficient, safer, and environmentally sustainable packaging solutions.

The technological revolution has contributed significantly to environmental and social issues worldwide. In higher education institutions, there is a theoretical gap in systematic reviews on the integration of digital transformation into sustainability. This systematic review of the literature aims to address this gap by exploring how digital transformation improves sustainability in higher education institutions, identifying emerging trends and best practices for effective strategies. Using the PRISMA guidelines, the study conducted a comprehensive search in the Scopus database, producing 1,686 publications from 2019 to 2024. The findings reveal a widespread awareness of digital technology integration but highlight a lack of consensus on sustainable integration strategies. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that educational achievements can be enhanced through tools and methodologies that align with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The analysis identifies three primary domains: sustainability capabilities enabled by digital transformation, innovative sustainable approaches, and the conceptualisation of sustainability in higher education. The incorporation of digital tools, such as AI chatbots, institutions foster innovation and achieves sustainability objectives, thus transforming teaching and learning approaches. This review contributes significantly to understanding the role of digital transformation in promoting a sustainable and digitally enabled future in higher education.

Is it possible that educating women could be the key to reducing birth rates and protecting the environment? Women's education in 3rd countries is far more than just access to basic education. It is a pathway to economic growth, social stability and self-awareness. This essay reflects on the ethical challenges and benefits of educating women in areas such as interpersonal relationships, changing the traditional role of women and sustainability. In exploring this key issue, it is possible to discover that education can transform society and bring about real change, provided humanity accepts its responsibility for the state and sustainability of a quality environment for future generations.

Construction using earth materials demonstrates ecological sustainability using locally sourced natural materials and environmentally friendly demolition methods. In this study, the environmental impact of adding cement to soil materials for rammed-earth farmhouse construction in rural China was investigated and comparatively simulated using the One Click LCA database, focusing on the conflict between sustainability objectives and the practical aspects of cement addition. By analyzing how the addition of cement aligns with local construction practices and by addressing the debate surrounding the inclusion of cement in rammed earth construction, our objective is to provide insights into achieving a balance between the environmental impact and the pragmatic considerations of using cement in earthen building practices. Three local structure scenarios are evaluated via simulations: a cement-stabilized rammed earth wall, a fired brick wall, and a localized reinforced concrete frame structure. The quantitative environmental impacts are assessed, and the qualitative differences in adaptation, economic sustainability, and other factors are examined in the context of present-day development in rural China. The results show that the use of cement-stabilized rammed earth wall-supported structures is associated with higher embodied carbon emissions compared to structures supported by reinforced concrete frames and enclosed by brick walls; however, these emissions are lower than those for brick wall-supported structures, while effectively meeting the structural requirements. In addition, the use of cement-stabilized earth for perimeter walls simplifies material management and disposal throughout the building's life cycle, and the cost-effectiveness of cement has been found to be substantially greater than that of reinforced concrete frames and brick structures, improving economic viability and social acceptability, especially among low-income communities in rural areas.

To date, deep-tech entrepreneurship and sustainable entrepreneurship are both attracting the interest of researchers. Indeed, deep-tech is being employed to address future sustainable challenges in the present. Nevertheless, the process of deep-tech startups is filled with distinct obstacles. These types of startups may necessitate more targeted sustainable entrepreneurial process and specialised knowledge compared to conventional technological startups or general sustainable entrepreneurial process. Currently, there are only publications discussing either a sustainable en-trepreneurial process or conventional technical startups. Therefore, the aim of this article is to in-vestigate the process of sustainable entrepreneurs as they transition from startup ventures to scaleup enterprises within the context of deep-tech industry. Based on previous sustainable entre-preneurial processes, a multiple case study was conducted within six deep-tech startups in order to find out the sustainable process pattern. A conceptual model of sustainable entrepreneurial process in deep-tech industry is established including five phases with six activities: (i) Sustainable idea definition; (ii) Sustainable opportunity recognition and evaluation; (iii) Venture launch; (iv.i) Sustainable products/ services development; (iv.ii) New sustainable enterprise financing; and (v) Sustainable enterprise scaleup. This process enables sustainable deep-tech entrepreneurs to necessarily have an overview of key entrepreneurial stages to navigate from the startup to scaleup process.

The goods and services produced by forest vegetation ecosystem are the driving force for the rapid, high-quality and sustainable development of human society. In history, with the increase of population and economic development, there is an increasing demand for the quantity and variety of forest vegetation ecosystem products and services in a country or a region. To meet the demands, most of the original forest has become farmland, plantation and grass and crops land. As a result, the plant water relationship changed from equilibrium to non-equilibrium, which easily led to soil drought, soil degradation and vegetation decline in dry years or waste of soil water in rainy years in most of water-limited regions. In order to solve the question and realize the sustainable utilization of soil water resources and the high-quality sustainable development of forest, it is necessary to apply the limit theory of plant utilization of soil water resources and the vegetation carrying capacity theory in the critical period of plant-water relationship regulation to adjust the relationship between plant growth and soil moisture to obtain the maximum yield and benefit and realize high-quality and sustainable development.

This scientific paper explores the increasingly widespread use of collaborative robots in the industrial environment, highlighting them as a solution to challenges related to the high costs of human labour and the associated management difficulties. The authors focus on the process of defining requirements for the implementation of collaborative robots, providing strategies based on mathematical management models. This approach translates into significant benefits for companies, such as cost reduction, quality improvement, and increased operational efficiency. Additionally, the paper proposes an innovative mathematical model for assessing total costs, budgeting, profitability, and electric power consumption associated with the operation of collaborative robots. This model allows for a comparison between the costs involved in using human labour and those associated with collaborative robots, providing critical information for technological investment decisions. The efficiency of this mathematical model is demonstrated through a practical application, where collaborative robots were integrated into a production environment, and costs and efficiency were evaluated compared to the use of human labour. This scientific paper provides a systematic and efficient approach to implementing collaborative robots in industrial processes, benefiting from strategies based on mathematical management models and an original mathematical model for evaluating performance and associated costs.

The sustainable development of resource-based cities has long been a focal point for both governmental policies and academic research. A wealth of academic literature identifies the 'resource curse' as a critical barrier to sustainable development in these urban areas. Despite extensive studies, a consensus on effective strategies to circumvent or resolve this challenge remains elusive. Recent empirical data reveals a noticeable pattern of economic growth differentiation in China's resource-based cities. Why do some resource-based cities experience economic decline while others achieve sustainable economic growth? Therefore, this paper analyzes the reasons for the divergence of economic growth in resource cities from the perspective of heterogeneity. The results of the study show that the phenomenon of the resource curse is conditional, and the heterogeneity of demo-graphic changes, geographic location and institutional environment has a significant impact on the economic growth of resource cities. These factors are investigated to elucidate the observed diversification and heterogeneity in the economic growth of resource-based cities. Building upon this analysis, the paper proposes a framework for differentiated sustainable development pathways tailored to the unique contexts of these cities. This approach not only contributes to the current understanding of the 'resource curse' but also offers novel insights for future research aiming to adopt a more nuanced and context-specific perspective in examining sustainable urban development.

Tourism, and particularly residential tourism, has led to a change in the urban and demographic model of towns along the European Mediterranean coastline. Water as a limited and limiting resource for the growth of tourism is a popular topic in the scientific literature. However, the incorporation of non-conventional resources (desalination) has meant, in theory, that this limitation has been overcome. The aims of this paper are: a) to identify the different tourism models implanted in this territory and describe them from the point of view of their consumption of water in the demand cycle from 2002 to 2017; b) analyse the hydrosocial cycle, highlighting the measures aimed at satisfying water demand; and c) identify the limitations associated with these hydrosocial systems. To this end, different types of information will be processed, and various complex indicators produced. The results show the importance that demand management and the use of desalinated water in increasing the resilience of this territory to aridity. However, this has generated other problems associated with a tsunami of construction and the continuity of a non-sustainable territorial model.

Agriculture and rural regions in Europe face a number of economic, social and environmental challenges. Rural areas are active players in the EU’s green transitions. Weeding is one of the most important factors of agricultural production. New weeding techniques are being developed to enhance sustainability. Among them laser based weeding seems a promising alternative for use of chemicals. WeLASER technique is a novel technique of weed control. Its successful implementation depends on many factors related to the innovation itself, policy context, farming conditions and users’ attitudes. Survey was carried out to provide the insight on the attitudes toward the innova-tive (laser) weed control tool (device - autonomous robot). The CATI method was selected for the survey of farmers opinion and carried out in three countries: Denmark, Spain and Poland. Statistical methods were applied to analyze the results. The study provided knowledge on how farmers see the barriers and opportunities of implementing the device in practice. Positive attitudes of farmers were observed but with high expectations related to quality of the technique and systemic conditions of its implementation.

The built environment sector’s growing impact on climate change is becoming increasingly important due to its share in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Global efforts have been undertaken to design and develop residential dwellings that aim towards zero energy and carbon emission, but there remains a multitude of obstructions to efficient construction processes. This study is focused on the gaps and barriers that have emerged during the pre-construction phase of a low-environmental-impact Passive House in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The technical, management, regulatory, and supply chain obstacles to the construction of a new three-story residential Passive House are documented to engage knowledge transformation in the design and construction of sustainable buildings of interest to developers and property owners. Primary data are collected by direct observation as well as open-ended interviews and secondary data collected through a literature review to understand the barriers and gaps faced by different key actors during the pre-construction phase in different regions. This local study highlighted the lack of interest, knowledge, and experience in sustainable building design among professionals having a significant influence on the project goals and timeline and was mentioned by participants as a common barrier as well as the inconsistency and inadequacy of regulatory framework of existing building codes to implement sustainable building design. These barriers along with other identified barriers are discussed and recommendations to overcome these barriers are provided.

Under the new pattern of “double carbon” development, good ESG performance is the best way to promote the sustainable development of enterprises, and the ESG investment strategies are directly affected by the strategic vision of managers. Based on the upper echelons theory and stakeholder theory, this paper takes Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2022 as samples to empirically analyze the impact of managerial myopia on corporate ESG performance. The results show that managerial myopia significantly inhibits corporate ESG performance, mainly by inhibiting corporate green investment and green innovation sustainability. Furthermore, for state-owned enterprises (SOE), heavy polluting enterprises (HPE) and non-high-tech enterprises, the inhibitory effect of manager myopia on ESG performance is stronger. When the enterprise is in the growth stage, the above inhibition effect is more severe. For external governance, the greater the analyst attention and public environmental attention are, the more conducive they are to alleviating the restraining effect of managerial myopia on enterprise ESG performance. Therefore, effectively improving the time cognition level of managers and strengthening external supervision have become important measures for comprehensively optimizing the ESG performance.

The German government's ambitious goal of achieving CO2-neutrality by 2045 has prompted a focus on improving building insulation as a vital step toward energy efficiency. However, in this process, existing radiators and boilers are often left unchanged, leading to inefficiencies due to oversized heating systems. This paper presents various approaches to reduce the required radiator inlet temperature, drawing on data from 100 multifamily buildings. The approaches include heat reserve reduction, heat power shifting, uniform radiator usage, and heat requirement analysis. These approaches collectively aim to lower flow temperatures and decrease peak heat loads, reducing energy consumption, and minimizing waste in compliance with the user comfort temperature. The findings reveal that the application of these methods can lead to substantial temperature reductions, with an average decrease of 20.82 K and 7.28 K for the highest necessary flow temperature in the provided example. Furthermore, peak load reductions of 21.07% and 13.65% were achieved, demonstrating the potential to enhance energy efficiency. While each approach can be applied individually, their synergistic implementation can highly increase the efficiency of water to x heat pumps, due to the lower required flow temperatures.