Governance theory emphasizes the importance of inclusive, participatory, and multi-actor decision-making processes in achieving equitable and sustainable policy outcomes, particularly in diverse and marginalized contexts (Radtke, 2025). This study aims to evaluate the participation of indigenous communities in large-scale agricultural policies (Food Estate) in Merauke Regency, analyze the impact of regulatory reforms on social justice and food sovereignty, and formulate inclusive and sustainable policy recommendations. Using a qualitative approach with a case study design, this study was conducted in three districts of Semangga, Kurik, and Tanah Miring, which have high involvement in the Food Estate program. Data collection techniques include in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), participant observation, and documentation studies. The study shows that indigenous participation remains largely symbolic due to the dominance of state and corporate actors in decision-making, and this mismatch between national regulations and local socio-cultural realities has resulted in social marginalization and the erosion of indigenous food sovereignty. This study highlights the need to integrate customary law into national governance while strengthening local community roles in food policy, providing empirical support for a hybrid governance model that accommodates multicultural and agrarian complexities to guide socially inclusive policies in customary and border regions.

The rapid diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education presents significant governance challenges, particularly in institutions operating within distinct ethical and cultural contexts. However, existing AI governance models remain largely technocratic and insufficiently responsive to local institutional realities. This study aims to develop a contextually grounded and policy-relevant Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem Framework tailored to Islamic higher education institutions. Employing a qualitative multisite comparative design, the research was conducted at STIT Bustanul Ulum (Indonesia), the Zawia University (Libya), and Badakhshan University (Afghanistan). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, institutional observations, and document analysis, and were analyzed using cross-case thematic comparison. The findings reveal that effective AI adoption is not determined solely by technological capacity but by coordinated institutional readiness across five interdependent dimensions: digital infrastructure, human resource competence, adaptive institutional policy, ethical orientation, and collaborative sustainability networks. The study further demonstrates that within Islamic higher education, ethical and religious values function as internal regulatory mechanisms that promote responsible AI governance rather than inhibit innovation. The proposed AI Ecosystem Framework offers a holistic governance model that integrates technological advancement with contextual, ethical, and institutional considerations, contributing both theoretically to AI governance discourse and practically to policy development in faith-based higher education settings.

This paper examines the need to decolonise entrepreneurship education in South Africa by addressing epistemic inequalities and aligning curricula with local socio-economic realities. Grounded in decolonial and human capital theories, the study critiques existing programmes that are dominated by Western pedagogies privileging individualism and profit maximization. A literature review shows that current curricula inadequately reflect indigenous knowledge, community-oriented practices, and the informal economy, which remains a crucial site for livelihoods and economic participation. Three key gaps are identified: an overreliance on Eurocentric content, weak contextual relevance to South Africa’s socio-economic challenges, and the exclusion of indigenous and community-driven approaches. These shortcomings limit the curriculum’s capacity to prepare students to address pressing issues such as unemployment, inequality, and informality. The study argues for a decolonised curriculum that integrates African epistemologies, emphasizes social and community entrepreneurship, and produces graduates capable of contributing to inclusive and sustainable development. This study adopts a conceptual and integrative literature-based approach to examine the decolonisation of entrepreneurship education in South Africa. Drawing on peer-reviewed journal articles, policy documents, doctoral studies, and prior empirical research conducted within South African higher education contexts, the paper synthesises existing scholarship to identify structural gaps, epistemic exclusions, and contextual misalignments within entrepreneurship curricula. Rather than presenting new primary empirical data, the study draws on illustrative insights from established South African studies to support conceptual arguments. This approach is appropriate given the paper’s aim to advance theoretical clarity, curricular reflection, and contextually grounded recommendations for entrepreneurship education reform.

Against a backdrop of increasingly extreme weather events, including heavy rainfall, prolonged droughts and wildfires, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the vulnerability of riverside communities in the northern part of the Mono Basin (Togo). Its originality lies in the joint use of quantitative and qualitative approaches, based on a field survey conducted from January to March 2024 among 149 randomly selected individuals. The semi-structured interviews conducted via KoboCollect involved a variety of stakeholders (farmers, community leaders, local elected officials, NGOs/CSOs, municipal services and ANPC), allowing for a comparison of local perceptions, socio-economic realities and environmental risks. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 2.0 and R version 4.4.3 softwares. The results confirm a high vulnerability to flooding, drought and vegetation fires, with marked variations between localities. 𝜒2 tests reveal highly significant (p 0.50) associations, highlighting territorial heterogeneity. The populations attribute these hazards to seasonal disruption and global warming. The impacts identified are multiple: animal losses, crop destruction, water and fodder shortages, disease and injury during periods of flooding, but also famine, poverty, inactivity and economic losses due to droughts and fires. Public infrastructure appears to be particularly vulnerable, especially during floods. Finally, the study showed a hierarchy of impacts, focusing on the most visible and immediate effects, whether socio-economic or environmental.

This Systematic Literature Review (SLR) analyzes the use of business simulators in university economics and management education, with the aim of identifying their types, functional characteristics, and impact on student learning. Based on the analysis of 18 scientific articles, a variety of simulators were identified, ranging from comprehensive business management models to tools specializing in sustainability, logistics, or finance, highlighting cases such as SIMBA, CEO-VIRTUAL, TEMPOMATIC, FishBanks, C-ROADS, and Contract Design Dilemma. These simulators share characteristics such as the promotion of active learning, collaborative work, decision-making in realistic environments, and the use of advanced technological resources such as gamification and scenario simulation. The studies reviewed report a positive impact on the development of key competencies, as well as on student motivation, engagement, and understanding of complex economic systems. However, challenges related to teacher training, technological infrastructure, and the need for regional contextualization are also identified. In this regard, the relevance of developing simulators adapted to local realities is highlighted as a strategy to improve educational quality and innovation in university economics and administration programs

This article offers a historically grounded analysis of the evolution of feminism in India, tracing its trajectory from nineteenth-century social reform movements to the complex feminist politics of the present. Using historical analysis and thematic synthesis, we map how feminist concerns shifted across distinct periods, from early reform efforts and Brahminical feminism to nationalist mobilizations, post-independence state-led organizations, ecofeminist and autonomous movements and the rise of fundamentalist feminism. The study challenges longstanding misconceptions that portray feminism as Western, homogeneous or detached from local socio-political realities. Instead, it shows how feminist politics in India has been shaped by caste, class, religion, region and colonial as well as postcolonial state structures. We advance three archetypes of Indian womanhood: Traditional Emancipated De-sexualized Women, Autonomous yet Marginal Women and Global Consumerist Detached Women, which illuminate the varied modes of agency and constraint experienced by Indian women across time. Finally, we employ a strengths, opportunities, aspirations and results (SOAR) framework to interpret how these historical trajectories inform contemporary strengths, opportunities, aspirations and outcomes for feminist mobilization. Together, these contributions provide a comprehensive, context-sensitive account of Indian feminism’s past, present and future.

Authentic practice environments are critical yet scarce in pre-service teacher education. Virtual classrooms offer a promising avenue for providing low-risk, cost-effective teaching practice; however, aligning these environments with local educational realities remains a challenge. Adopting a Design-Based Research approach, this study presents the development and evaluation of SimTeaching, an AI-supported system designed to enhance pre-service teacher training. Through semi-structured interviews with experienced and pre-service teachers, we identified key design requirements to foster teacher agency. The system utilizes generative AI (GPT-4) to drive realistic student interactions, optimizing instructional strategies in a controlled environment. An evaluational study with normal university students (n = 40) reveals that SimTeaching exhibits high system usability and technology acceptance, and yields significantly higher self-efficacy compared to traditional demonstration classrooms without students. These results validate the potential of AI-driven simulation as a transformative tool for pedagogical development, with implications for adapting such systems to varying cultural and educational settings.

This study examines the internationalization of higher education in Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand by situating global internationalization trends within distinct political, institutional, and capacity constraints. Drawing on Knight’s 4Ps framework and a systematic review of literature (2017–2026), the study analyzes policy documents, institutional reports, and comparative cases to explore how higher education institutions in Global South negotiate internationalization pressures. The findings reveal that internationalization across the three countries is uneven, selective, and shaped by local conditions, including limited institutional capacity in Laos, political instability and crisis-driven mobility in Myanmar, and stratified system expansion in Thailand. Regional integration and cross-border mobility emerge as critical dynamics, particularly between Myanmar and Thailand, challenging policy-centric models of internationalization. Based on these insights, the study proposes a Sustainable Internationalization Framework that explains how global agendas interact with local realities, offering a context-sensitive analytical lens for internationalization in Southeast Asia and comparable Global South settings.

ABSTRACT Housing preferences in later life vary, and housing decisions are complex. While much attention has been paid to health and accessibility, less is known about how financial factors influence housing decisions among older homeowners. This qualitative study aimed to deepen understanding of how single-family homeowners aged 55 and older reason about their housing situation. We conducted focus groups with 30 participants from four Swedish municipalities, selected for their distinct demographic and housing market characteristics. Content analysis revealed a central theme: The many benefits of living in the current house outweigh economic and local housing market challenges. This theme emerged from four categories: (1) Desire to stay in place; (2) Discrimination toward older homeowners; (3) Local and national housing market conditions; (4) Reflecting on the future housing situation. The study demonstrates that preferences for aging in place are shaped by health status, emotional attachment, and financial concerns. Participants often viewed relocation as financially disadvantageous, and a limited supply of suitable housing and perceived lack of political prioritization further constrained their possibility of moving. These findings suggest a potential mismatch between housing policy goals and homeowners’ preferences, underlining the need for planning strategies that reflect local realities and support aging in place.

IntroductionGlobally, trauma patients suffer from high rates of preventable deaths, in part driven by low rates of access to and application of resource-relevant evidence-informed clinical guidance. This mixed-methods study assessed the accessibility (barriers to attempting to use guidance), clarity (ease of comprehension), utility (based on resources and time), and implementation of trauma guidance for Peruvian injury providers.MethodsSemistructured qualitative interviews were conducted in Spanish at three hospitals in Lima, Peru. Interviews were analyzed in Dedoose V.9.1.12 using an iteratively developed codebook; quantitative self-administered surveys were then developed and distributed at the Pan American Trauma Society Conference. Surveys were analyzed using descriptive statistics and frequencies.Results38 interviews and 83 surveys were conducted with surgical attendings, emergency physicians, and surgical and emergency residents across all years of training. Access barriers included paywalls, language barriers, low user-friendliness, and technology limits (poor internet, few computers). A mobile app and portable physical guidance are preferred potential solutions. Utility barriers included low equipment maintenance and high patient volumes. Resource-based guidance, conciseness (eg, flowcharts), and standardization are perceived to potentially increase utility. Implementation barriers included limited training time, reliance on more experienced colleagues rather than guidance, low enforcement, and low funding. Potential facilitators are increased administrative support and staff willingness to use guidance improving patient mortality, clinical errors, and length of stay. No barriers to clarity were reported.ConclusionBarriers to using clinical guidance included low user-friendliness, low local applicability, and an unsupportive culture. Mobile apps, resource stratification, and administrative involvement are priorities to address these needs. Trauma guidance adapted to local realities may reduce preventable deaths in acute care. Further work is needed to identify how to create and distribute updated clinical guidance to better serve trauma providers worldwide.Level of evidenceEconomic and Value-based Evaluations Level 2.

Purpose While climate change has caused catastrophic consequences for both human and non-human habitats in the Anthropocene era, its impacts are unevenly distributed across the globe. Existing global climate change policies, discourses and practices – promulgated and adopted worldwide – fail to account for the systemic structural, political, historical, cultural, social and economic inequalities between the Majority and Minority World. Inspired by the decolonization agenda, this paper aims to deconstruct the Western technocratic theorization of public sector climate accounting and accountability from a Majority World perspective. Design/methodology/approach Theoretically, the paper draws from a critical “climate justice” lens and Latour's (2017) concept of “Down to Earth” to critique the limitations of dominant scientific and technocratic approaches of public sector climate accounting and accountability, which have perpetuated socio-environmental injustice. It also advocates for a new climatic regime – “Terrestrial” – that offers an alternative politics which leads towards the earth. Empirically, the paper draws from three empirical narratives to illustrate how climate injustices materialize in practice in the Majority World. Findings The paper argues that meaningful climate accountability requires reimagining political orientations beyond Minority–Majority national frontiers and adopting a planetary ethic that restores humanity's relationship with the earth. It urges international agencies and Global South states to address climate injustice by implementing a practical climate accounting and accountability framework comprising: (1) prioritizing local resilience and adaptive capacity over mitigation-focused agendas; (2) resisting neo-colonial extractive practices and exploring commonwealth governance alternatives; (3) fostering communitarian, Indigenous-informed participation; (4) rejecting hierarchical, technocratic approaches; and (5) developing alternative contextually grounded practices sensitive to local socio-political, cultural and environmental realities. Research limitations/implications Future research on public sector accounting and accountability for climate change must move beyond descriptive assessments towards transformative frameworks addressing climate injustice in the Majority World. This includes examining the empirical application of novel climate accounting models above, theorizing the potential and limitations of accounting tools for adaptation, advancing participatory accountability practices, exploring alternative accounting possibilities and extending inquiry into commonwealth governance. Latour's ideas – especially the “new climatic regime”, the terrestrial approach and the empirical science of nature-as-process – also provide valuable avenues for reimagining how climate accounting can be theorized and enacted in practice. Practical implications The paper develops a practical climate accounting and accountability framework in and for the Majority World, encapsulating five key features: (1) prioritizing local resilience and adaptive capacity over mitigation-focused agendas; (2) resisting neo-colonial extractive practices and exploring alternative models of commonwealth governance; (3) fostering communitarian, Indigenous-informed participatory initiatives; (4) rejecting hierarchical, technocratic approaches to accounting and accountability; and (5) advancing contextually grounded practices attuned to local socio-political, cultural and environmental realities, thereby addressing climate injustice in the Majority World. Originality/value Little research theorizes public sector climate accounting and accountability from the Majority World perspectives.

ABSTRACT This article examines the Community Ethics Advisory Board (CEAB) on the Thailand–Burma border as a locally led ethics advisory mechanism that complements formal and institutionalised ethics systems within and beyond the region. CEAB was created to enable community members to provide guidance on research proposals and activities in their areas, and in response to longstanding concerns about extractive and externally driven research practices that often marginalised local knowledge and leadership. Drawing on internal documentation and reflections of its members, the article analyses CEAB's successes and challenges in ensuring ethical research within a context shaped by conflict, authoritarianism and structural violence. It demonstrates that CEAB grounds research ethics in local knowledge and realities; reframes ‘do no harm’ in ways that consider structural drivers of harm and that emphasise community benefits; and enhances community rights and leadership in research ethics and practices. Yet CEAB members face significant challenges in translating their vision into practice, including lack of resources, lack of enforcement capacity and lack of recognition. These challenges, alongside CEAB's achievements, reveal ongoing struggles over whose knowledge and leadership ‘count’ in research processes. Greater recognition of community knowledge and leadership is in turn essential for more ethical and equitable research.

Prehabilitation is gaining increasing importance as an integral component of modern, patient-centered perioperative care. The objective of this position paper is to outline the current national and international state of prehabilitation, to highlight existing barriers to its implementation and to provide practical recommendations for clinical application. Particularly in older, multimorbid and oncology patients, targeted preoperative interventions,such as exercise therapy, nutritional support, psychological counselling, and additional measures, can contribute to reducing postoperative complications, accelerating recovery and improving the quality of life. Despite the growing body of international evidence, implementation in Germany has so far been slow, often hindered by alack of reimbursement structures and limited resources. This paper therefore advocates astepwise introduction of prehabilitation measures, tailored to high-risk groups and aligned with local healthcare reality. It is emphasized that prehabilitation should not be regarded as an isolated intervention but as an integrative element within established concepts such as enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) and rehabilitation. Furthermore, the paper addresses the need for national networking, harmonized standards, digital solutions and structural as well as political support to ensure sustainable integration.

In the 1970s, Tehran and other major Iranian cities underwent rapid urban expansion, marked by the initiation of numerous large-scale urban development projects and residential and commercial complexes. Many of these projects involved foreign architects, particularly Americans, who were drawn to Shah’s ambitious modernization efforts. Described as a “gold mine” by an American architecture magazine in 1970s, Iran became a hub for foreign architectural expertise. This article examines the presence and activities of American architects in Iran during this decade, primarily through a review of American architectural magazines. Most projects led by American architects were mega-projects, such as new towns in Tehran and large residential complexes for affluent groups. The scale and financial magnitude of these contracts highlight significant opportunities available to American architects in the mid-1970s. However, they also faced challenges including planning and negotiation difficulties with clients—primarily the Shah and his aids and Foundations— and the often conflicting demands versus local realities. The American architects’ involvement was influenced by economic and political factors, including the 1973 oil boom, the Shah’s Westernization policies, and the U.S. economic downturn in 1974–75. Finally, the article explains, using magazine reports, why these projects stopped and why most were never built.

ABSTRACT CITES has demonstrated a persistent trend of regulatory tightening over five decades, raising critical questions about both equity and effectiveness in global conservation governance. This study examines how structural power imbalances and dominant Northern narratives within the Convention have systematically marginalized pluralistic conservation discourses, disproportionately disadvantaging Global South states. Through mixed‐methods analysis—combining voting pattern data from CITES Appendix amendment proposals (CoP3–CoP19) with case studies of giraffes, European eels, and totoaba—this study reveals systemic inequities in decision‐making processes. Findings indicate that Northern countries disproportionately promote “strict conservation” narratives, targeting Southern species, with upgrade proposals adopted at significantly higher rates than downgrades despite equivalent voting thresholds. Concurrently, sustainable utilization strategies face institutional barriers in Southern states, further reflecting structural inequities. Our study shows that centralization within CITES correlates with the underrepresentation of Southern voices and the disproportionate influence of Northern‐dominated NGOs. Ultimately, we argue that CITES’ regulatory tightening reflects neocolonial dynamics, prioritizing Northern ethical narratives over resource sovereignty and local realities. Thus, to ensure more equitable and effective governance, reforms must democratize decision‐making processes and better respect pluralistic conservation discourses.

Responsive design, local realities: A process evaluation of Family Planning Elevated.

Advancing regional cooperation to combat marine debris and enhance livelihoods in Indonesia: Translating global agendas into local action.

Background: The instability of digital transformation in rural communities of Indonesia stresses several critical aspects that reveal how national policy goals do not align with local realities. In this case, it raises the question of whether digital transformation fosters trust or raises hesitation about the SDGs concept. However, significant state-led initiatives have been ratified within the scope of the SDGs. Interestingly, the digitalization of rural communities in Indonesia has been hampered by complex issues (e.g., legal ambiguity, institutional fragility, and low digital literacy) that need to be adequately addressed through the SDGs schemes. Methods: This study employed a qualitative descriptive approach with content analysis to explore digital transformation in rural communities in Indonesia, providing comprehensive insight into the tension between trust and hesitation. Findings: The essay identified three primary barriers in the rural community of Indonesia regarding digital transformation practices and the effects that influence the community in reality, including legal ambiguity, institutional instability, and the disconnect between connectivity and digital literacy, and so on this correlation also scale down the purpose of SDG’s in Indonesian context specifically in rural communities that must be accepted the benefits of digital transformations. Conclusion: The digital transformation must be people-centered, context-sensitive, and supported by strong institutions to ensure sustainable, inclusive outcomes for Indonesia’s rural communities. Novelty/Originality of this article: This study contributes to a theoretical and practical framework of rural digitalization as a socio-technical process, rather than a purely technological shift. Ultimately, the inspection offers actionable recommendations to eliminate key barriers and provides a new perspective on aligning digital policy with community participation and local capacities to ensure prospects’ and compliance with the SDGs scheme.

Rural higher education in Latin America plays a crucial role in advancing both human and sustainable development. However, it continues to face persistent barriers related to access, equity, and systemic inequality. This scoping review investigates how rural higher education contributes to integral human development in the region, focusing on its theoretical underpinnings, contextual specificities, and methodological approaches. Following the PRISMA-ScR protocol, we analyzed qualitative and quantitative studies published between 2015 and 2024, drawing from Scopus, EBSCOhost, ERIC, Redalyc, and SciELO. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251075119). After applying rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria, seven peer-reviewed articles were selected. These studies address key issues such as educational access, territorial rurality, and human development, and highlight innovative strategies including community-based pedagogy, values-oriented curricula, and student support during crises. Our findings underscore the transformative capacity of rural universities in fostering students’ analytical, emotional, and civic competencies. To ensure inclusive and meaningful impacts, rural higher education must perform context-sensitive, integrative strategies aligned with local realities and broader sustainable development goals.

Given South Africa’s colonial legacy, which has displaced communities and restricted agricultural development, decolonising agricultural education is critical to promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Higher education institutions have a key role to play in reorienting agricultural education to equip graduates with contextualised knowledge and skills. While broader debates on the decolonisation of higher education are well established, agricultural education remains under-researched in this regard. Recognising the disciplinary diversity within universities, this study undertook a systematic review to identify practical strategies for decolonising agricultural education in South African higher education institutions. It explored how teaching, learning and research can be reconceptualised to reflect and respond to local realities, particularly the lived experiences of historically marginalised communities. The review was primarily based on literature from the Scopus database, supplemented by targeted, accredited articles selected according to a predefined screening strategy. The findings provide actionable insights for educators and policymakers that support the development of curricula and pedagogies that are both socially relevant and transformative. In doing so, the study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on decolonisation and provides a basis for rethinking agricultural education in a way that restores indigenous knowledge and promotes inclusive development.