Economic indicator assessment and prioritization in Yazd City: a study of learning city development in Iran

Since 2012, Global Learning Cities has become a successful network-based movement of UNESCO which demonstrates not only linkages, but also dependencies amongst community development, adult learning and active citizenship (UNESCO 2017). Examples of Cork, Espoo, Belgrade and South Korea have highlighted (Németh 2020), that communities are unable to develop successful models of learning cities unless they combine smart, creative and sustainability dimensions through community-based adult and lifelong learning for social cohesion, economic stability, growth and environmental awareness. Equitable ways of community learning can better reach underrepresented groups of adults who want to develop and sustain their neighbourhoods through collecting and sharing knowledge (Ó Tuama 2020). Other examples from India, Palestine and the UK demonstrate that it is not the label itself, but the smart and creative urban adult learning which can be combined with needs of communities (Németh et al. 2020). In the evolution of learning cities, we have arrived to an Era of uncertainties, therefore, we have to demonstrate that the learning cities depend on better participation, performance and partnerships in learning, surrounded by collective actions for better futures of education.

Continuous education is focussed via the concerns of globalization, prompt transformation and the requirement aimed at public presence, national, regional and resident governments are altering their interpretation of education. That is why learning becomes the ambitions of governments to create cities of learning to reach the ultimate development in all sectors. In a continuously growing and complex world, the major cities are competing to become cities of learning, helping their citizens from all social levels and backgrounds. Construction a learning culture and brand lifelong learning an authenticity, it is significant to boost and attach entirely learning categories. Hence, learning is fundamental to attainment and prosperity, for individuals, families, communities, and nations worldwide. The key role of learning cities is to develop equality and economic stability, prosperity, personal fulfilment and mobilizes all their humans to reach full human potential. There are some key features and measurements of learning cities and challenges for each city to face for them to be considered as a learning city. Enabling citizens the opportunity to become literate is one of the most significant measures of the learning city. It should also encourage its citizens to be motivated to the building of their city. This paper focuses and assesses the examples of two cities from two different continents, namely Glasgow in the UK, Shanghai in China to evaluate the key features and different dimensions of these cities which are attempting to reach learning city status. Finally shaping some scopes for the policymakers and researchers around the world uncover the responses in continuing research to stretch the goals and critical features of learning cities. Personally the ideas of learning cities is a vital towardsthe supreme aim of education and more closely the lifelong learning as a whole package.

This study explores the relationship between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and different forms of education, focusing on the global movements of Educating Cities and Learning Cities. Recognizing the essential role of education in achieving the SDGs, the study highlights how the aforementioned movements can contribute to sustainability in a local level. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining a bibliometric analysis of 188 articles from the Web of Science and a qualitative review of key documents, including UNESCO and IAEC materials. The bibliometric analysis identified main research clusters connecting education and SDGs, emphasizing lifelong learning and urban educational strategies. Results show that Educating Cities and Learning Cities are vital frameworks for promoting inclusive, equitable, and lifelong education, addressing broader issues such as inequality, sustainability, and civic engagement. The study emphasizes that integrating education into urban life fosters resilient, sustainable communities aligned with the 2030 Agenda. Findings offer insights for policymakers and educators on leveraging education for local and global sustainable development.

Cities are getting interested in education and learning. Urban planners, geographers, international agencies, and city leaders are beginning to adopt a language of ‘learning’ and ‘education’ to try...

The term ‘Learning Region’ is commonplace in the lifelong learning debate. This is logical as they have been a key plank of EC policy – they are the places where lifelong learning is implemented. The EC definition is ‘A city, town or region which recognises and understands the key role of learning in the development of prosperity, stability and personal fulfillment, and mobilises all its resources creatively to develop the full human potential of all its citizens’. These resources include both people and organisations – VET, HEIs, SMEs, local authorities, schools and adult education and non-formal/informal education providers, all key stakeholders in a learning region. Limerick Declaration identified economic, social and environmental indicators distinguishing learning cities and regions. Germany is covered by more than 64 learning regions, UK and Finnish national learning city networks boast 100+ members, and the EC has itself supported projects and programmes to create learning regions, notably the R3L programme, TELS, LILLIPUT, INDICATORS, PALLACE, LILARA, PENR3L and others. All this effort has produced data, tools, indicators, reports, videos, projects, recommendations, plans, strategies and learning materials – a wealth of potentially valuable knowledge for EU regions that urgently needs to be brought together in one place and made available to them. There is a clear qualitative difference in a learning region, and yet research shows that in many places there is little awareness or action. In EUROlocal, PENR3L, a network created by an EC project to spread the learning region message, is leading other networks in gathering together a panoply of European knowledge and practice in this area from sources across all sectors and countries, testing existing tools, finding good practice, dynamically organising it in an interactive website, producing learning materials and actively disseminating and exploit it to effect a transformation of Europe’s regions. This chapter provides an overview and analysis of the current state of play across Europe of learning city/region development and the success of this aspect of bringing learning closer to home.

پژوهش حاضر ازنظر هدف "کاربردی" و ازنظر نوع داده‏ها، "کیفی" و ازنظر شیوه اجرا "نظریه داده بنیاد" (نسخه سیستماتیک) می‌باشد. داده‏های این پژوهش حاصل مصاحبه‏ی نیمه ساختار یافته با 15 تن از مدیران و تسهیل گران مدارس طبیعت و مطالعه اسناد و آثار مکتوب و غیر مکتوب 2 تن از مطلعین و متخصصین موضوعی بوده که به شیوه نمونه گیری نظری و هدفمند انتخاب‌شده‌اند. داده‏های حاصل از مصاحبه در 3 مرحله‏ی کدگذاری باز، محوری و انتخابی تحلیل‌شده است. یافته‌های پژوهش ابتدا در 78 مقوله عمده و سپس در ۲3 مقوله اصلی تقسیم و سپس در شش مؤلفه مدل پارادایمی پیشنهادی Strauss & Corbin جای گرفته‌اند. پدیده اصلی "تعیین جایگاه حقوقی و قانونی"به‌عنوان محور توسعه مدارس طبیعت در ایران است. برخی از مؤلفه و مقوله‌ها عبارت‌اند از موجبات علی که شامل: "بستر فرهنگی و اجتماعی"، "تغییر نگاه جامعه و سیاست‌گذاران نسبت به کودکان "هستند و شرایط زمینه‏ای: "مبانی دینی و فرهنگی"، "نظام اداری مانع آفرین" همچنین عوامل مداخله‌ای شامل: "امکانات و منابع مالی"، " زیرساخت‌ها و فضای فیزیکی"؛ راهبردها: "تحقیق و توسعه"، "همراهی رسانه‌ها"، و پیامدها شامل : "پیامد فردی"، "پیامدهای اجتماعی و اقتصادی" می‌باشد.

The projects under CPEC specifically the Energy, Infrastructure and Economic zones development Promises significant implication for people of Pakistan. The aim of the study was top analyze the Impacts of CPEC on Socioeconomic, Public Policy, Environmental and Economic Indicators in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The study used T Test for the primary data collected from respondents of different Public Policy, Economic and Educational Departments in Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KPK). The results of the study support significant impacts of CPEC on Economic, Socioeconomic and Public Policy Indicators in KPK. The results also present some environmental challenges due to the CPEC project. It is concluded that health, education, business competitiveness, economic political stability will improve with the project. The Project is expected to improve the socioeconomic indicators of the underdeveloped Province of KPK. Further the Project will support the KPK Public Policy concerns such women empowerment, allocation of resources, economic stability and increasing productivity to reduce poverty and inequality of wealth.

Increasing chemical inputs to improve food security has resulted in worrying environmental consequences. Recently, significant efforts have been made to reduce the environmental impacts of the food supply chain. The current study examined the effects of different levels of urea fertilizer on the technical, economic, and environmental aspects of wheat production in arid and humid climates. A questionnaire was used to collect data on wheat cultivation in the 2019 and 2020 crop seasons. The calibrated and validated AquaCrop model was applied to simulate crop yield under different urea fertilizer levels of 80, 160, and 220 kg ha-1 in arid climate and 100, 180, and 250 kg ha-1 in humid climate. Economic productivity, water productivity, and nitrogen use efficiency indicators was used to assess the economic and technical sustainability of different cropping systems. The environmental impacts was investigated by using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach involving the ReCiPe 2016 method, covering 18 midpoints and three endpoint indicators, respectively. The most important midpoint categories from foreground–background analysis were global warming, fine particulate matter formation, and terrestrial acidification. Additionally, 75% of the total environmental damage was related to the background system. On average, considering different fertilizer treatments, wheat cultivation in the arid climate had a 9% higher environmental damage potential than the humid climate. Nitrogen played the most significant role in midpoint categories, followed by diesel. The most appropriate urea fertilizer level in the arid climate, compared to the corresponding level in the humid climate, increased human health, ecosystem, and resources by 14.3%, 12.5%, and 3.2%, respectively, and decreased water and economic productivity by 375% and 8%, respectively. Based on the results, combining LCA with technical and economic indicators provides an appropriate method for prioritizing the cultivation of different crops in each county.

Objective: Menopause is a physiological occurrence characterized by a series of bothersome symptoms. Given that lifestyle affects people’s health in general and many menopausal symptoms are influenced by changes in lifestyle, this study aimed to determine the relationship between lifestyle and severity of menopausal symptoms in women referred to health centers in Yazd city. Method: This cross-sectional study was performed using stratified random sampling where 343 postmenopausal women who had experienced natural menopause for 1-5 years, and did not have any chronic or debilitating disease were selected. The study was conducted in 2017 in Yazd city, Iran. The data collection tools were Walker’s Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP2) and Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) questionnaires. A multiple hierarchical linear regression was used to investigate the association between lifestyle and severity of menopausal symptoms. Results: The total mean ± (SD) score of menopausal symptoms severity and women’s lifestyle were 10.21 ± 6.55 and 126.44 ± 79.27, respectively. The results of multiple hierarchical linear regression showed a significantly negative association between lifestyle score and the mean score of menopausal symptoms severity in all three models (P-value <0.001). Conclusion: Our study concluded that healthier lifestyle reduces the severity of menopausal symptoms. These findings warrant that policy makers in the design of postmenopausal care plans and programs ought to pay special attention to the role of healthy lifestyles, including physical activity and healthy diet in enhancing menopausal symptoms. By preventing aggravation of menopausal symptoms; it is possible to economize on referrals to physicians and medicinal and therapeutic costs. Longitudinal and intervention studies with larger sample size may be required to confirm these findings.

Investigating the Effect of Land Consolidation Projects on Agricultural Sustainability (Case Study: Haraz Plain in Mazandaran Province)

This study examines the competitiveness of residential investment projects in Iraq's housing sector, identifying challenges and proposing sustainable solutions through competitive strategies. Iraq's housing sector, a critical component of economic and social stability, faces significant structural, regulatory, and economic challenges, including rising costs, inadequate legislation, and insufficient funding. Additionally, demographic pressures and environmental issues exacerbate the housing deficit. Drawing on economic and managerial theories, the study categorizes housing competitiveness indicators into economic, quality, value-added, and diversity metrics, while identifying internal and external competitive drivers such as administrative efficiency, innovation, and government policies. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study integrates theoretical and applied analyses. Data were collected through expert interviews, surveys, and secondary sources, with findings analyzed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and SPSS. The study evaluates the competitiveness of four major housing projects: Bismayah Residential City, Badur Baghdad, Bayti, and Jasmine Garden. Results highlight disparities in economic competitiveness, quality, market value, and diversity indicators, with Bismayah outperforming in economic metrics but facing challenges in design innovation and inclusivity. Conversely, Jasmine Garden struggles with low market value and project delays, negatively impacting its competitiveness. The study concludes that enhancing competitiveness in Iraq's housing sector requires innovative cost-reduction strategies, robust regulatory frameworks, improved infrastructure, and targeted support for social housing. By aligning local housing policies with global best practices, the study offers actionable insights to address Iraq's housing challenges and foster sustainable development. Keywords: Housing competitiveness, residential projects, Iraq, economic indicators, housing quality, value-added indicators, diversity and allocation, Relative Importance Index (RII), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP).

Assessing the Impacts of Implementing a Guidance Plan in Rural Sustainable Development (Case Study: Kandovan Village, East Azerbaijan Province)

The present qualitative research study was designed to identify barriers to entrepreneurship development in Iran’s higher education system. The present study is applied and developmental in terms of its objective and it is descriptive case study in terms of its nature and data collection. The study population includes 45 elites, scholars, policy-makers, planners, managers, specialists, and experts endowed with expertise and experience in the subject matter of this study in Yazd province, Iran, who are selected through purposive sampling method. To collect the required data, in-depth and semi-structured interviews are performed that are continued until the achievement of theoretical saturation. Following the implementation of open and refined coding processes, findings are illustrated in a four-dimensional model. The research model is represents the upcoming context of entrepreneurship development in Iran’s higher education system. Finally, causal conditions leading to such impacts, consequences, and action strategies are proposed to reduce and alleviate the given impacts.

City development strategy (CDS) is an urban strategic planning approach that has already been implemented in over 200 cities worldwide. Nevertheless, its preparation process is different from country to country and each socio-economic context has its own conditions in running a CDS project. This article aims at showing how planners could benefit from empowering women and their participation in order to mobilize an urban plan and use their social capacities to raise the community’s awareness about the outcomes of a CDS plan with regard to creating more participatory urban spaces. A qualitative methodology including a questionnaire and focus group tools were used to identify the needs, to prepare vision statements, and to train the women. The results attested to the crucial but concealed role of women, as cores of families, in the progression of the project as well as the importance of their cooperation in incepting and implementing an urban development plan. This paper highlights: (1) Iranian women’s capacities to mobilize urban projects, and (2) the purpose that a CDS process, as is presented in this article, might serve as a proper urban strategic planning framework for Iran’s urban development while engaging women and local groups in such a process and reducing the masculine dominance in physical urban planning.

The improvement of quality of life and welfare of humans and achievement of economic growth and development are some of the major concerns for the countries in the world we are living. The evidences signify that the countries can acquire further achievement, which they have relied on public partnership in formulation of such important strategies and decision-making in this regard and they have prepared the ground for playing role by members of the community as the responsible and aware members. Inter alia, the subject that the public mind has been mainly preoccupied by it is the way of administration of community as well as public welfare since on the one hand, economic development is accompanied further with utilization from welfare, educational, and healthcare facilities and utilities etc by members of the community and it leads to expansion of awareness among the people; and on the other hand, the good government causes benefitting equally from the facilities and opportunities for the people and it makes the leaders and authorities to become responsive versus people and finally to prevent from expansion of economic corruption in the society. The good governance was introduced by means of World Bank model that included 6 parameters of voice and accountability, political stability and lack of violence, government effectiveness, regularity quality, rule of law, and control of corruption in this investigation that consists of independent variable in the present research and economic development comprised of 4 parameters of economic growth rate, inflation rate, GINI Index, and Human Development Index (HDI) out of which 8 leading groups of economic development introduced by Central Bank of Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) were selected with reference to experts (PhD in economics and specialist), which are assumed as the dependent variable in the current study. The interview and using documents and evidences were employed as 2 tools for collection of statistical data and information regarding governance and development and by the aid of structural equation techniques and using LISREL software and multivariate regression method and SPSS software the results of the research findings also suggest that there is significant relationship among six elements of good governance and four parameters of economic development in Iran during years (1995–2008) in relation to first major hypothesis while regarding the second major hypothesis namely comparison among two governments, it was characterized that the effects of parameter of good governance on economic development index differ from each other in seventh and ninth governments.