Implications For Sustainable Development Research Articles

Do renewable energy consumption and financial development contribute to environmental quality in MINT nations? Implications for sustainable development

Maintaining a balance between the well-being of the economy and the environment has become a top priority for governments globally. In the contemporary age, world economies, particularly the emerging ones like MINT nations, highlight the need for eco-friendly economic expansion. The MINT nations are thriving economically but are having difficulty reducing their Ecological footprint (EF). This paper aimed to determine if factors such as population density, renewable energy, foreign direct investment, economic growth, and financial development impact ecological footprint in the MINT countries between 1990 and 2018. The study applied ample advanced econometrics such as method of moments quantile regression (MMQR), augmented mean group (AMG) and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG). The overall results indicated that the variables are integrated at the first difference and are cointegrated. The AMG, CCEMG and MMQR results reveal that economic growth deteriorates ecological well-being by promoting the EF while foreign direct investment, population density and renewable energy assists in enhancing it by mitigating the EF in the MINT nations. In addition, financial development does not exert a significant effect on EF. The Dumitrescu Hurlin Panel Causality results show unidirectional causality from economic growth, financial development, population density, and renewable energy to EF. Based on these results policy recommendations are suggested.

Measuring the accessibility deprivation of concentrated resettlement communities in China: An integrated approach of space syntax and multi-criteria decision analysis

China's rapid urbanization involves the large-scale relocation of rural villagers and the production of concentrated resettlement communities in urban areas. This new urban population's post-resettlement adaptation and socio-economic situations raise concerns for urban scholars and policymakers alike. This paper invokes the concept of deprivation and aims to establish indices of multiple deprivations (IMDs) for such communities. In doing so, this research use accessibility as a proxy and integrates the space syntax approach with multi-criteria decision analysis to construct the IMDs of concentrated resettlement communities in Hangzhou, China. The findings suggest that material deprivation may not be the primary concern for residential segregation of resettlement communities in urban areas. Besides, the accessibility to different services reflects diverse deprivation patterns among resettlement communities. Moreover, various stakeholder groups' perceptions of deprivation may lead to different results of the IMDs. The diverse criteria or domains of deprivation contribute differently to the deprivation, which requires a tailored treatment strategy when constructing IMDs, such as the sensitivity analysis used in this research. The proposed measurement of deprivation has important policy implications for sustainable urban development in China.

Government Educational Spending and Human Capital Development in ECOWAS Sub-Region: Implication For Sustainable Development

Abstract The critical need to create economic prosperity and ensure inclusive and equitable education and lifelong learning for all, especially in developing countries has been the motivation behind the various advocacies by the policymakers and other stakeholders in these countries to achieve the SDGs comes 2030. Meanwhile, ECOWAS sub region is characterized with the lowest human capital development alongside the highest rates of illiteracy in the world despite the continuous rise in government educational spending over the years. Against this backdrop, the role of government educational spending on human capital development in ECOWAS sub-region has been investigated with a view to driving one of the strategic goals of Sustainable Development- inclusive and equitable education and lifelong learning for all. In order to achieve this, annual data from 1990 to 2019 was utilized using a panel ARDL as a technique of estimation. The findings that emerged in this work are summarized as follows; the relationship between government educational spending and human capital development in ECOWAS sub region is more of a long run phenomenon. Therefore, government educational spending and human capital development have a positive and significant relationship in the long run. In the light of the above findings, this study therefore makes the following recommendations for the policymakers in ECOWAS sub region and by extension developing countries, any time the goal of these policymakers is inclusive and equitable lifelong learning via human capital development, the government at levels should embark on sustainable educational spending. In the same vein, these policymakers should be committed to funding of educational sector as stipulated by both the United Nations and the Abuja declaration of 2001, advocating for 26% of annual budget for educational sector in developing countries.

Cyberbullying research — Alignment to sustainable development and impact of COVID-19: Bibliometrics and science mapping analysis

The explosive growth and online media usage have transformed the communication landscape globally. Social media platforms have become a thriving ground for online exploitation and Cyberbullying, a high priority challenge in many countries (Gottschalk, 2022). Our study aims to provide a bibliometric overview of Cyberbullying research between 2010 and 2021, including a new analysis through the lens of sustainable development and the impact of COVID-19. We introduce altmetrics to assess the social media attention of publications. Analysis of 7045 publications, of which 1149 publications are directly aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and 123 publications related to COVID-19 are presented. Science mapping of countries and journals, prolific authors, and institutions, along with gender-related contributions, are captured in this study. Computers in Human Behavior is the most prolific journal in terms of publications and citations. The top three SDG are SDG16 peace, justice, and strong institutions, SDG4 Quality education, and SDG3 Good health and well-being. Within each SDG, we find focussed studies on the themes relating to psychological impact, prior exposure to violence, inequality and gender biases, lack of awareness and need for education, and social support and their implications for sustainable development. Further, studies on COVID-19 impact revealed a definitive increase in occurrences of Cyberbullying stemming from concurrent infodemics and confinement-induced digital addiction. Asian countries contributed to over 20% of the studies during the pandemic. We offer suggestions for future studies on shifting focus on populous developing economies, longitudinal studies of interventions, and a critical need to enhance technologies for auto-detection in multilingual contexts.

Assessment of the Governance Quality of the Departments of English in Saudi Universities: Implications for Sustainable Development

Recently, numerous regulations and policies have been initiated in Saudi universities that support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 of achieving smart, sustainable, and globally competitive universities. For the successful implementation of these regulations and policies, however, critical success factors including corporate governance have to be considered. Despite the extensive research on the importance of developing effective and reliable governance policies and practices for the overall growth of organizations including universities, no sufficient studies on the role of corporate governance in improving sustainable development plans and combating corruption, improving transparency, and enhancing sustainable development plans in the Saudi universities. This study, therefore, seeks to explore the impact of CG on improving accountability and sustainable development plans in Departments of English in Saudi universities. In-depth interviews were conducted with 48 participants, including the head of the English departments in four Saudi universities. Results indicate that the contributions of the universities to sustainable development plans and strategies are still under expectations. In this regard, the universities and higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia should replace the traditional academic model with the corporate model. The departments of English should address the changing needs of their candidates and students in this global world, and this has to be reflected in their sustainable development plans. Governance, however, should be enforced in all their operations as a critical success factor for sustainable development planning.

The Sino-African higher education exchange: toward building a literature

PurposeThis paper intends to provide a thematic literature review of the scholarly research articles orbiting the Sino–African education cooperation and exchange, published between 2005 and 2022.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used in this paper is qualitative in nature with a thematic approach. The author used content analysis techniques to spotlight the major themes of the topic studied. The author selected the papers and theses, based on their heuristic capacity, from two major databases for the English and Chinese literature: Web of Science and CNKI. The selection process resulted in 60 high-quality peer-reviewed articles and theses. Another 30 research articles and theses were used as supplementary resources.FindingsThe literature concentrates on six points: the historical development, the nature of the exchange, the frameworks of the cooperation, vocational training and knowledge transfer, African students in China and their experiences, and education cooperation and soft power. However, research tends to be somewhat polemical rather than an academic debate between Chinese researchers and their western peers. Therefore, empirical studies beyond the geopolitical preoccupations and the “YEA” or “NAY” to the Sino–African education exchange are critically needed.Practical implicationsThe implications of this study go beyond the east/west or developed/developing world rhetoric and focus more on sustainable educational development on a global scale. Understanding how the literature on the Sino–African education engagement is shaping, provides valuable insights into international education in the global south. It can also be implied to approach educational engagement with other destinations such as India, Türkiye and Brazil.Originality/valueThis thematic literature review concentrates on the educational aspect of Sino–African relations. It compares English and Chinese peer-reviewed scholarly articles and theses on China–Africa educational engagement and has heuristic implications for sustainable educational development globally.

Long-term variations in water discharge and sediment load of the Pearl River Estuary: Implications for sustainable development of the Greater Bay Area

The water discharge and sediment load have been increasingly altered by climate change and human activities in recent decades. For the Pearl River, however, long-term variations in the sediment regime, especially in the last decade, remain poorly known. Here we updated knowledge of the temporal trends in the sediment regime of the Pearl River at annual, seasonal and monthly time scales from the 1950s to 2020. Results show that the annual sediment load and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) exhibited drastically decreased, regardless of water discharge. Compared with previous studies, we also found that sediment load and SSC reached a conspicuous peak in the 1980s, and showed a significant decline starting in the 2000s and 1990s, respectively. In the last decade, however, water discharge and sediment load showed slightly increasing trends. At the seasonal scale, the wet-season water discharge displays a decreasing trend, while the dry-season water discharge is increasing. At the monthly scale, the flood seasons in the North and East Rivers typically occur one month earlier than that in the West River due to the different precipitation regimes. Precipitation was responsible for the long-term change of discharge, while human activities (e.g. dam construction and land use change) exerted different effects on the variations in sediment load among different periods. Changes in the sediment regime have exerted substantial influences on downstream channel morphology and saltwater intrusion in the Greater Bay Area. Our study proposes a watershed-based solution, and provides scientific guidelines for the sustainable development of the Greater Bay Area.

EXAMINING THE ECOSYSTEM SERVICE VALUES DUE TO LULC CHANGES: A CASE STUDY ON COX'S BAZAR, BANGLADESH

Ecosystem services can reveal information on how an ecosystem works with all of its components. However, natural ecosystems are under enormous strain globally as a result of rising demand. This study attempts to analyze Ecosystem Service Valuation (ESV) for the Cox's Bazar district, one of the most important tourist destinations that has had considerable Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes over the last few decades. Due to considerable tourist demand, this ecologically critical natural resource base, particularly forests, wetlands, and sea beaches, suffers and changes on a regular basis, affecting the ecological balance. LULC-induced changes in ecosystem components and the function's value would eventually alter ecosystem service values. Urbanization is expected to accelerate, particularly in emerging countries, having an impact on both the regional and local levels.Assessing the effects of different land-use scenarios on subsequent changes in ecosystem service has significant implications for sustainable development. This study included six different LULC classes and their effects on ESVs. LANDSAT satellite-derived imagery from year 2000 to year 2021 were utilized and computed at ten-year intervals. The results reveal which LULC classes are more likely to change and how ESV changes throughout this time span. This research would help with sustainable land management and tourism strategy by minimizing encroachment on forests, coastal areas, and wetlands.

Tracing China's steel use from steel flows in the production system to steel footprints in the consumption system

Realizing the conservation and circulation of steel is of great significance to the global low-carbon and sustainable development, which requires the joint efforts from both the supply and demand sides. The first step for these efforts begins with the in-depth understanding of the steel use panorama, including steel flows in the production system and steel footprints in the consumption system. This study provides a unified methodological basis for tracing and analysing the steel use from production to consumption, taking China as a case study. By combing material flow analysis with the extended input-output approach, this study traced China's steel use from iron ore, intermediate products, end-use products to direct consumption, embodied consumption and final use in 2018. Based on this, policy implications for China's steel sustainable development were put forward from both supply and demand sides. The results indicate that investment drove 75.1% of China's steel production; construction accounted for 58.6% of China's direct steel consumption; the service industry's embodied steel consumption accounted for 6.8% of China's total steel consumption, although without direct steel consumption; and scrap accounted for 21.5% of China's steel sources, of which 56.7% entered basic oxygen furnaces rather than electric arc furnaces. Therefore, transforming economic growth model is crucial to reducing steel demand. Currently, construction should be the focus of efforts to improve material efficiency, while in the future, policies should guide the dematerialization of the service. From the perspective of production, the pathway lock-in should be broken for promoting China's steel recycling and low-carbon development.

Foreign Direct Investment and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: Implication for Sustainable Development

The study examined the impact of Foreign Direct Investment on poverty reduction with implication on Sustainable development in Nigeria using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model technique on times series data collected from 1985 to 2020. Unit root test using Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) found that Poverty Head Count Ratio (PHCR), Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) and Real Exchange rate (REXR) are integrated of order 1(1) while Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is integrated of order 1(0). The results show that FDI has a negative impact on poverty reduction in Nigeria and ARDL Bounds test result shows that there is a long run relationship among all the variables. Finally, lag value result indicates that gross fixed capital formation has a significant impact on poverty head count ratio in Nigeria. In view of these findings, the study concluded and recommended that FDI policies must be checked closely in order to make FDI growth enhancing in Nigeria so as to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) one. Government should also encourage gross fixed capital formation to reduce poverty in Nigeria.

Financial Speculation Impact on Agricultural and Other Commodity Return Volatility: Implications for Sustainable Development and Food Security

Global commodity markets, due to major health crises, political tension, sanctions, growing demand, and other global supply and demand factors, are currently particularly unstable. In addition to the macro-environmental factors that drive the prices, agricultural and other commodity markets are becoming more susceptible to the continuously-growing speculation on major commodity exchanges. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of financial speculation on agricultural and other commodity prices and return volatility. In our study, we use daily returns on wheat, soybean, corn, and oats futures from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as well as two additional commodities (crude oil and gold) to compare the extent of this effect. To measure this impact, we, besides traditional tools for time-series analysis, apply the threshold autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (TGARCH) technique. We also provide a model using dummy variables for the season to determine whether or not financial speculation’s impact on return volatility differs among seasons, as seasonality plays an important role in return dynamics for agriculture. Our study’s findings show that financial speculation, except for the oats market, either has no impact or makes the underlying futures returns less volatile. Therefore, we draw the conclusion that either there is no relationship between the rise in short-run speculation and the volatility of agricultural commodity prices, or the link is at best questionable. Research results provide important implications for the sustainable development of commodity markets, as passive legislation measurers can be seen as more effective ones compared to more strict active ones in order to maintain these markets liquid and capable of distributing price risks for agricultural producers and manufacturers in a challenging economic and geopolitical environment.

Examining Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Ecological Quality in the Pan-Third Pole Region in the Past 20 Years

Examining the ecology quality of the Pan-Third Pole region has implications for global environmental change and sustainable development. However, spatio-temporal evolution of ecological quality in this region is still lacking. In this study, 65 countries of the Pan-Third Pole region were selected. A comprehensive evaluation index system of ecological quality was constructed using a dataset containing remote sensing, ecological environment and socio-economic data to spatially quantify the ecological quality, as well as its change from 2000 to 2020. The results displayed that the average ecological quality of the Pan-Third Pole region was at a moderate level of 0.53. Spatially, the excellent ecological quality regions were mainly concentrated in East Asian countries, while the severe quality regions were located in the Middle East. From 2000–2020, areas with improved ecological changes accounted for 38.48% of the total area, and 10.66% of the total area experienced a decline; specifically, European countries had a large proportion of improved ecological quality areas, while East Asian countries had a significantly larger proportion of declining ecological quality areas. We also found that ecosystem changes and human activities had an influence on ecological quality in the Pan-Third Pole region. This study provides an important empirical study on ecosystem services in the region.

Insecurity and its implication for sustainable development in Nigeria: The role of religion

Nigeria’s high rate of insecurity has reached a stage where people’s safety is no longer guaranteed. This article examines the extent to which the current high rate of insecurity in Nigeria has affected sustainable development in the country. The increasing insecurity situation is now in a state where kidnapping has become the norm, and destruction of lives and property has become a daily reoccurrence, affecting all efforts to achieve sustainable development in Nigeria. This article aims to reflect on some of the recent cases of insecurity in Nigeria to ascertain the major implication of these insecurities on education, religion and the economy, and seeks ways to curb the insecurity menace in Nigeria. It is also indicated that religion has been used to incite the perpetrator’s action as various terrorist groups misinterpret the religious texts to justify their actions. The article concludes by arguing that religion can provide the needed coherence and social control needed to fight insecurity in Nigeria jointly, and once the difference in diversity is handled through cohesion and the social control function of religion, all stakeholders will be able to unite and fight insecurity off from the society. It therefore recommends that religious leaders should form the minds of Nigerians with the true contextual meaning of the religious text used to instigate insecurity.Contribution: This article highlighted the major implications of insecurity on education, poverty and the economy, which have greatly affected development in Nigeria. The article brings to light a theological reflection of the role religion can play in providing the coherence and social control needed to jointly fight insecurity in Nigeria. This work would greatly benefit religious bodies, government, civil society and students.

Stochastic Panel Analysis of Globalization and Poverty Reduction in BRICS Countries: Implications for Sustainable Development

Stochastic Panel Analysis of Globalization and Poverty Reduction in BRICS Countries: Implications for Sustainable Development

Spatial distribution of lead concentration in peri-urban soil: Threshold and interaction effects of environmental variables

Understanding the spatial distribution of soil lead concentration in peri-urban soil and its underlying mechanism is critical to controlling lead contamination, ensuring food safety, and maintaining sustainable urban development. Although the linear and nonlinear relationships between Pb and environmental variables have been extensively studied, the threshold and interaction effects of environmental factors on Pb content are often ignored. This study aims to investigate the threshold and interaction effects and obtain the spatial distribution of Pb content via gradient boosting decision tree. The peri-urban area of Wuhan City, China, was selected as the study area, where soil health was threatened by agricultural production and urbanization and industrialization process. Results showed that the 14 covariates can explain 61.9 % variation of Pb content, in which anthropogenic factors played a major role. Specifically, the Pb content was mainly affected by distance from the industrial enterprises and gasoline stations, population density, elevation, and total nitrogen, which denoted that Pb contamination was mainly originated from industrial production, gasoline stations, urbanized population, and fertilization. All environmental variables had threshold effects on Pb, and the relationship between Pb and these variables mutated when the threshold was exceeded. The results of threshold effects exhibited that Pb was elevated in locations near industrial enterprises (<4 km) or gasoline stations (<1.5 km), with a dense population (>5 person/hectare), and with low elevation (<25 and 45–65 m). The two-way and three-way interaction effects of covariates on Pb content was determined, indicating that the influence of environmental variables on Pb concentration is a complex interaction rather than a simple superposition. These findings highlight the consideration of threshold and interaction effects to understand the underlying processes that lead to Pb contamination, and have important implications for sustainable urban development.

Interaction Rituals and Social Relationships in a Rural Tourism Destination

The reproduction of social relationships in a rural tourism destination is examined through a micro-sociological lens that explores residents’ everyday interactions. Interaction ritual theory is adopted as the theoretical foundation. Zhinan, a mountainous village in Hangzhou, China, which initiated tourism in 2014, is the study site. Two rounds of focus groups and interviews were conducted with village residents. Qualitative inquiry shows that, under the influence of tourism, residents’ daily interactions consist of three interaction rituals, that is, rural living rituals, tourism operation rituals, and event and festival rituals. Due to the distinct ingredients, these rituals unfold differentially and engage different social actors. They complement each other in the co-construction of rural social relationships that have symbolic, emotional, collective, and normative connotations. This study provides in-depth, contextualized understandings of rural residents’ interactions and relationships, and draws practical implications for sustainable development of rural tourism destinations.

Sustainability related impacts of digitalisation on cooperation in global value chains: An exploratory study comparing companies in China, Brazil and Germany

While digitalisation is reconfiguring global value chains (GVCs), the implications for sustainable development, especially in emerging economies, have not yet been thoroughly explored. In order to design more sustainable GVCs this gap must be addressed. This study examines two implications of digitalisation in value chains: first, how polarisation may lead to inequal development; and secondly, whether digital enhanced transparency can be an enabler of companies’ environmental management systems (EMS). A survey-based approach is used to compare the developments of companies in China, Brazil and Germany and gain insights into countries that approach digital transformations from different starting points. The results indicate that polarisation tendencies on a country level are not as pronounced as experts predicted. Across all countries, less than 10% of companies reported that collaboration processes are being fully digitalised, while partial digitalisation is more common, ranging from 46% in Brazil (n = 116), to 61% in China (n = 441) and 63% in Germany (n = 104). Polarisation tendencies are stronger among small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) across all countries. As SMEs form the backbone of countries' economies, this should be addressed by global governance. Digital enhanced transparency for EMS is not yet widespread, with only 9% of the German, 3% of the Brazilian and 6% of the Chinese companies integrating production data into their EMS in a fully digital way. The results of this study suggest that the automotive sector would provide a suitable object for future research, as it displays clear differences to other industries.

Building up more sustainable food supply chains: Implications for sustainable development

The global supply chain experienced unprecedented disruption due to the Covid-19 crisis in a dynamic world. Consequently, this situation has resulted in many businesses' discontinuity or closure due to disruptions that seriously affect the possibility of maintaining operations, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in emerging markets. In this scenario, the food value chain is deeply concerned because of its vulnerability and importance to food security. Therefore, this study aims to examine the mechanism that enables businesses in the food value chain to overcome the challenging post-pandemic while rebuilding the foundation for long-term viability and sustainable development. Accordingly, this study examines the relationships between the responsible driving factors (towards the environment, society, and the economy) and the food value chain sustainability (FSCS) of MSMEs by exploiting the mediating role of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in an emerging market. This study applies a quantitative research approach using primary data from a questionnaire-based survey. 568 valid responses were received from managers at senior and middle levels. In analysis, this study uses a smart PLS 3.3.2 version, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique, to analyze the structural relationships. The novelty of this study contributes beyond the extant body of knowledge of supply chain management (SCM) by providing a comprehensive approach to promoting FSCS by incorporating socially, environmentally, and economically responsible practices into SCM practices. In addition, this study contributes to broadening the concept of corporate social responsibility by broadening the perspective of sustainability by shifting the enterprise-based perspective to the food value chain-based perspective. Above all, this research provides a new approach to the food value chain in an emerging market that is inherently too challenging to afford the sustainability concept of the food value chain. In sum, the value of this study's contribution is significant to bridging the knowledge-practice gap by providing profound knowledge and an empirically proven framework for the mechanism boosting sustainability for MSMEs in the food value chain in emerging economies. Drawn upon the above highlights, the findings of this study may be of high interest to academics, business practitioners, and policy-makers.

Generation Z and pro-sustainable tourism behaviors: internal and external drivers

Using Norm Activation Theory (NAT) and Social Norm Theory (SNT), this study evaluates the internal (awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility and personal norms) and external drivers (subjective norms, social media engagement, and membership of online community) of pro-sustainable behaviors among Generation Z (Gen Z) travelers in the UK. We theorize pro-sustainable tourism behaviors as consisting of four dimensions (economic, environmental, social and cultural). Empirical analysis from a sample of 413 tourists confirmed that three internal antecedents and two of the three external factors (social media and online community) have significant relationships with pro-sustainable tourism behaviors. While the direct influence of subjective norms on pro-sustainable tourism behaviors was not supported, the mediating effect of personal norms on this relationship was supported. Practical implications for sustainable tourism development and destination management are provided.

Analysis of the Expansion Characteristics and Carrying Capacity of Oasis Farmland in Northwestern China in Recent 40 Years

An oasis is a unique landscape that fuels human subsistence and socioeconomic development in the desert ecosystem. However, the overexpansion of oases, especially farmlands, poses severe threats to available land and water resources. This study aims to assess the expansion levels, carrying capacity dynamics, and planting structure optimization to maximize economic returns in northwest China’s five Typical Oasis Groups (5TOGs) using uniform data sources, time scales, and methods. Satellite products and a water-heat balance model were used to evaluate the changes in the area and carrying capacity dynamics of the 5TOGs. A linear programming approach was used to optimize each oasis’s cropping structure for the carrying level scenario. The results showed that the area of 5TOGs has expanded from 1980–2020, and the increment of oasis farmland is the main driver of oasis expansion. The most dramatic expansion of oases and their farmlands occurred during 2010–2020. As a consequence, the carrying capacity of each oasis is deteriorating with this expansion. The additional water resources to support this expansion of the oases and their farmlands come from groundwater, which is declining rapidly. Based on the optimized planting structure, cotton remains the main crop in Xinjiang oases with more than 60% area, the cotton area should be reduced in the Hotan River Oases, and the planting structure of the Heihe River Oasis will remain unchanged. The findings of this study have provided a quantitative analysis of oasis expansion and planting structure optimization, which have practical implications for water resource management and sustainable development of agriculture to maintain the stability of the oasis ecosystem.