Artificial intelligence is transforming global resource systems and reshaping the foundations of corporate governance. This paper develops the Architecture of Intelligent Governance (AIG), a hybrid governance framework that integrates AI-enabled analytical capabilities with human judgment, ethical reasoning, and strategic foresight. Drawing on evidence from energy systems, supply chains, critical mineral dependencies, agribusiness, and emerging quantum-computing infrastructures, the analysis demonstrates how AI enhances forecasting precision, strengthens transparency, and supports more adaptive decision-making in environments characterized by volatility and interdependence. At the same time, the paper introduces a criticality perspective to examine the systemic risks associated with AI, including energy intensity, technological concentration, and algorithmic opacity. These risks underscore the need for leadership models that extend beyond technical expertise to encompass interpretive judgment, ethical stewardship, cultural competence, and long-term strategic thinking. The unified leadership framework presented here positions leadership as the human anchor of intelligent governance, ensuring that AI-enabled decisions remain aligned with organizational values and societal expectations. The AIG model offers a comprehensive approach to governing AI-intensive systems, advancing a vision of corporate governance that is resilient, transparent, and oriented toward long-term sustainability.

ABSTRACT In medical education, reflective practice is recognised for its capacity to foster ethical awareness, empathy, and professional identity. However, it often focuses on cognitive aspects of learning, while the emotional and relational dimensions – as well as medical students’ experiences of reflective practice itself – remain underexplored. We conducted one-to-one reflective interviews to examine how medical students reflect on their personal and professional development, with an emphasis on their experience of vulnerability. One year later, we conducted a follow-up questionnaire, inviting students to reflect on their development and on their experience of the initial interview. Twenty-six students participated in the interviews, and sixteen completed the follow-up. Students described multiple forms of vulnerability – personal, moral, institutional, and relational. Over time, many shifted from experiencing vulnerability to actively managing it and taking responsibility for their professional identity formation. The majority viewed the reflective interviews as beneficial in supporting them during their studies. Our findings show that reflective practice can have both transformative and preventive potential. For some students, even a single interview encouraged long-term ethical thinking and contributed to the development of their professional identity. This study supports integrating faculty-supported reflective interviews into medical education to foster ethical and professional growth.

The issue of sustainability is regularly discussed by banks, as though it is a topic that should only be included in the annual report or policy statement, however in reality the transition to sustainable behaviour is initiated when it comes to the individuals who are running day to day operations. This essay will discuss how the thinking of sustainability can be directly integrated into the development of the human capital by the private banks without the need to develop new training modules; this is by reforming the competencies already anticipated to be applied by the employees. The work is grounded, based on the practical experience of communicating with the staff, conversing with the training managers informally, and observing the capability-building programmes in action. What has emerged is that there are few employees who are unlikely to be opposed to sustainability, rather, they cannot associate sustainability to daily operations of the company like evaluating customer requirements, dealing with risks, or even adhering to compliance requirements. Once sustainability is placed as a continuation of these current duties, the staff can easily embrace it without the perception that it may place undue strain on them. The analysis indicates that competency-based development, in particular, when it emphasizes such behaviours as the ethical decision making, resource awareness, and long-term value thinking can have a gradual impact on the culture in a private bank. Instead of forcefully promoting sustainability as an independent concept, coordinating it with performance demands and communication by leaders makes it easier to pick up. The paper claims that sustainable banking is after all people-driven change and only significant advancements can be made by appreciating training as a long-term investment and not a fast organisational activity. Its results provide viable guidelines to banks that seek to establish a sustainable workforce that does not see sustainability as a catchphrase but rather a lifestyle.

This study examined that how sustainable leadership is responsible to the sustainable performance in higher education through sustainable culture as mediating phenomenon. Based upon quantitative survey of academics, results show that sustainable leadership is positively related to sustainable performance, that includes environmental prudence, social responsibility, & institutional sustainability. The relationship amid sustainable leadership and sustainable performance is mediated by sustainable culture implies that sustainable leadership practices based on ethical values, stakeholder engagement, and long-term thinking create the cultural environment that supports sustainable behaviors as well as decision-making throughout the institution. The results provide significant information by extracting the desired information for reaching the conclusion of the study. The findings emphasize the leading fact that sustainable performance is not merely the outcomes of leaders’ actions but it is reinforced when leaders develop the common cultural orientation of sustainability. The practical implications highlight the need to ensure that higher education institutions syndicate the sustainable leadership development with the cultural transformation strategies in efforts to produce the sustainable & long-term sustainability outcomes for success.

The ease of paylater makes people interested in using paylater to achieve their goals, even though using paylater can also provide risks to the people who use it. This study involved respondents with millennial generation criteria and have used or are using paylater in Indonesia which aims to analyze the effect of digital financial literacy, mental accounting, motivation, and sales promotion on paylater precautionary behavior. Data obtained through online questionnaires using Google Form. The data analysis used descriptive analysis, correlation test, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. he results show that digital financial literacy and mental accounting have significant positive effects on paylater precautionary behavior, while motivation has a significant negative effect. No significant direct effects were found between digital financial literacy and mental accounting, or between sales promotion and paylater precautionary behavior; however, both digital financial literacy and sales promotion indirectly influence paylater precautionary behavior through motivation as a mediating variable. This study recommends financial planning and management training or educational programs to promote long-term financial thinking in paylater use and to reduce impulsive spending behavior

The ease of paylater makes people interested in using paylater to achieve their goals, even though using paylater can also provide risks to the people who use it. This study involved respondents with millennial generation criteria and have used or are using paylater in Indonesia which aims to analyze the effect of digital financial literacy, mental accounting, motivation, and sales promotion on paylater precautionary behavior. Data obtained through online questionnaires using Google Form. The data analysis used descriptive analysis, correlation test, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. he results show that digital financial literacy and mental accounting have significant positive effects on paylater precautionary behavior, while motivation has a significant negative effect. No significant direct effects were found between digital financial literacy and mental accounting, or between sales promotion and paylater precautionary behavior; however, both digital financial literacy and sales promotion indirectly influence paylater precautionary behavior through motivation as a mediating variable. This study recommends financial planning and management training or educational programs to promote long-term financial thinking in paylater use and to reduce impulsive spending behavior

This article aims to ascertain if prevailing temporal imaginaries of capitalism are susceptible to change throughout sustainability transitions. As traditional economic institutions and practices face challenges under the polycrisis, so too may imagined futures (IFs). This research examines IFs of the German heating and housing transition ( Wärmewende ) in the context of the 2023 amendment of the German Building Energy Act ( Gebäudeenergiegesetz , GEG). Twenty-three expert interviews with institutional stakeholders impacted by and integral to said transition were performed and assessed qualitatively. The approach concentrated on reconstructing the contingency of, topics of and agency upon IFs. The findings indicate that futures of heating and housing in Germany are seen as largely stable, namely as resistant to significant upheavals and subject to modification via political decisions. Amid a ‘heated’ amendment process, issues emerge not from the future but from a tumultuous present. Practitioners exhibit limited capabilities to use-the-future to attain sustainability objectives or disrupt the Status Quo. Moreover, they emphasise a pragmatic strategy of incremental measures grounded on established routines. Far-reaching transformations in heating and housing based on bold visions are largely absent. The research shows that the German heating transition is set to unfold along ‘incumbent futures’, perpetuating current patterns of technological innovation driven by market incentives and technocratic governance. • 23 expert interviews with key stakeholders of the German heating and housing transition. • The narrative remains predominantly with incumbent capitalist visions of the future. • Established institutional practices are not seen as subject to change, rather as the vehicle of change. • There is a call for a future stable political regularity framework. • ‘Excessive’ sustainability efforts are perceived as threatening.

The article identifies that the general issues that encompass modern definitions of «forensic strategy» are planning; the interconnection and coordination of many procedural actions and measures, as well as long-term and predictive thinking. It is emphasized that many countries are adopting strategic political and legal documents aimed at ensuring the fight against organized crime, terrorism, corruption, etc. They are mainly devoted to the characteristics of the criminal situation, which belongs to the whole, as well as to individual transnational crimes committed on the territory of a particular country. Thus, the United Kingdom in 2018 presented an updated strategy for combating terrorism. The authors hold the opinion that the forensic strategy should reflect a promising model of development, improvement (possibly transformation) of the relevant sections of forensic science (general theory of forensics, forensic techniques, forensic tactics and forensic methodology). Using the example of forensic methodology for certain groups of crimes, an attempt has been made to consider key issues of a strategic nature. The main task of forensics (in this context) is to develop functionally suitable mechanisms for combating crimes defined by the state, which should subsequently take the form of basic forensic methodology, methods of various levels of generalization. The main directions (strategy) of combating crimes committed by individuals within criminal groups (groups) that have signs of organized crime have been analyzed. The main provisions of the doctrine of strategic recommendations for combating extremism have been determined. It is argued that a strategic approach allows not only to correctly determine the direction of the investigation, to model a promising algorithm for proving the circumstances that are to be established in a criminal case, to overcome opposition to the investigation, but also to achieve an organic relationship between investigative actions and operational-search measures; balance the efforts of officials from various law enforcement agencies, other organizations and institutions; make the most optimal use of public assistance in conducting investigative (search) actions. The development of issues related to the strategic side of the activities of officials in detecting, solving, investigating, and preventing crimes requires further research. Forensic strategy itself is a fundamental category of forensic theory, which can be defined as a long-term, forward-looking concept for the development, use, improvement, and transformation of forensic knowledge. At the same time, the development of effective mechanisms for implementing strategic guidelines in investigative and judicial practice plays a crucial role.

The current investigation addresses the inadequacy of traditional approaches to engineering ethics education which lacks engagement. The paper describes an immersive learning approach, combining game-based and AI initiatives as well as addressing ethics around sustainability, in enhancing the student learning experience. This is achieved by designing an approach with activities such as (1) a board game simulating ethical dilemmas using professional codes of conduct, (2) AI-powered stakeholder debates with ChatGPT, and (3) a “Cradle to Grave” sustainability analysis of product life cycles. The approach, through its activities, are anchored in behavioral, social, and constructivist learning theories and aim to enhance ethical reasoning, long-term thinking, and professional values aligned with targets 4.4 and 4.7 of the UNSDGs. Data from 68 undergraduates showed strong outcomes. The ethics game improved students’ ability to identify and address dilemmas while AI debates challenged reasoning in an engaging manner. In both cases, more than 80% of students surveyed agreed to this. The sustainability analysis showed an appreciation for long-term ethical solutions with more than 90% of students surveyed valuing its importance. A Net Promoter Score of +52.9 indicated high satisfaction with the approach and qualitative feedback praised the real-world relevance and engagement of the activities. The study also offers a scalable, impactful model for ethics education.

Sustainability is about the future; it is embedded in the concept itself: we want things to sustain into the future. However, it less clear why we are motivated for that future and whether we can be motivated for the future in practice. If we look around us, there seems a wide-spread short-termism and there are many structural impediments to abandon such short-termism. A logical reply would be to promote long-term thinking, for instance by long-term projects such as the 10.000 Years clock. However, it is unclear whether this affects us personally. There is no personal connection and it is vague how this relates to our motivations. Thinking about motivations for the future is often limited to a purely moral frame, for the obvious reason that purely instrumental arguments about the future are not available. Scheffler's afterlife thesis, in line with earlier work of O’Neill and de-Shalit, shows there is a future-oriented dimension in the values we currently hold, namely that if we want our values to flourish, we should also care about their future beyond own life span. This provides another way of thinking about the future, somewhat in between a moral and instrumental way, one that has been pushed aside by modernity's individualization process. I argue that, in order to waken our future-oriented motivations, the personal dimension – the values we are attached to – need to be connected more explicitly with the future, both with regard to these values themselves as with the broader future that can sustain them.

In modern mechanical engineering, the understanding of success has changed fundamentally. It is no longer enough to simply deliver technically sophisticated products today, the ability to strategically support and shape the entire life cycle of a machine is crucial. System of Systems Lifecycle management (LCM) is thus becoming a key success factor that combines technology, economic efficiency and sustainability. At its core, LCM describes the holistic control of all phases of a product from the idea to development, use and maintenance to dismantling and recycling. Especially in mechanical engineering, where systems are often in use for decades, this approach opens up enormous potential for increasing efficiency, reducing costs and boosting innovation. Current research, for example by Salehi [32] and Salehi and Witte [33], shows that the integration of digital concepts such as modelbased systems engineering (MBSE), agile methods and blockchain technologies is crucial to taking LCM to a new level. By using the Munich Agile MBSE Concept (MAGIC), complex systems can be modelled virtually in early development phases and continuously monitored via digital twins. This creates a continuous data chain that seamlessly connects the flow of information between development, production and operation. Blockchain-based architectures ensure data integrity and traceability throughout the entire life cycle an essential factor for trust and efficiency in global value creation networks. For mechanical engineering, this means a profound change: processes become more transparent, feedback loops between operations and development accelerate innovation, and ecological key figures can be precisely recorded and optimised. LCM thus becomes not only a tool for sustainability, but also a driver for new business models such as ‘machine-as-a-service’ or data-based service contracts. Ultimately, System of Systems Lifecycle management is not purely an IT system, but a management philosophy. Those who succeed in combining technological tools with organisational learning and long-term thinking will position themselves as pioneers of a digital and sustainable industry. This makes LCM the key to competitiveness, innovative strength and entrepreneurial resilience in 21st-century mechanical engineering.

This research explores the role of design in fostering sustainable transitions through systemic thinking in the building sector, addressing the dynamic, multi-scalar, multi-species, and transdisciplinary challenges inherent in socio-ecological and socio-technical transformations. The study is grounded in Transition Design principles, recognizing the agency of ecological, human, and computational intelligence. By embracing systemic approaches, this paper underscores the importance of long-term thinking, collective action, pluralistic perspectives, and value co-creation among diverse actors. The results highlight the IMIP (Innovative Eco-Construction System Based on Interlocking Modular Insulation Wood & Cork-Based Panels) project’s contribution to circular economy principles, demonstrating its environmental and social impact through a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), as an innovative holistic approach to low-energy construction and near-zero-emissions strategies in construction, leveraging local timber and cork as materials for construction systems in building. These results demonstrate the potential of locally based bio-based materials and modular construction systems to promote circularity, reduce ecological footprints, and enhance community resilience. The findings reinforce the significance of design as a driver of systemic change in the building sector, emphasizing the interdependencies and feedback loops between human actions, natural ecosystems, and technological infrastructures.

Abstract This study examines the role of normative values and stakeholder commitment in the evalua-tion and implementation process of social and organizational innovations in highly regulated systems, using the example of the four-day work week in German healthcare. Based on 26 expert interviews across micro, meso, and macro levels, the study reveals how actor-specific values and institutional contexts shape judgment about ecological, economic, social, and or-ganizational performance sustainability. The findings show that commitment to innovation is not determined solely by functional considerations but emerges in a field of tension between normative aspirations. Stakeholders align themselves differently along axes such as employee vs. patient orientation or short- vs. long-term thinking, resulting in competing innovation scenarios. The study proposes a transferable framework enabling organizations to map stakeholder values, locate areas of tension, and assess the depth and direction of commitment.

In critical time studies, an important critique of “long-term thinking”—a politics prioritizing societal, environmental, and planetary challenges outlasting the short-term cycles of democracies, industries, and even human generations—has emerged. According to Bastian, decontextualized visions of the long term may obscure important, albeit less remote times of change and conflict; and may hide ethnocentric time markers beneath the veneer of moral self-evidence associated with serious long-term challenges. However, futures are not a level playing field. The possibility of “chronowashing”—elite capture of dominant temporalities through discourses about the long-term future—raises dual challenges for time studies and the history of science. How d1id futures come to be subject to power imbalances in the production of knowledge? In this article, I will argue that the answer depends on how to regard futures as a form of knowledge. Drawing on a history of how futures studies affected climate science, I argue that long-term futures were not so much an object of knowledge as a dynamic objective of knowledge, pursued within a networked information system connecting industrial, governmental, academic, and military institutions. Because this knowledge infrastructure required transnational, cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary, and technological coordination, a “jet set” of well-connected and frequent-flying science-policy entrepreneurs gained outsize influence on knowledge production for long-term futures. While this history speaks to power imbalances that have shaped “long-term thinking,” the knowledge infrastructure for long-term futures has also been a platform for novel social and environmental problematizations. However, historical inquiry can provide more precision about when elites veered into elitism, embedding sociological blind spots into epistemic outputs.

The Bulgarian written cultural heritage includes unique manuscripts, medieval literary monuments and archival funds, testifying to the spiritual and intellectual development of the Bulgarian people. This heritage not only reflects the cultural identity of the nation, but also provides a platform for the development of cultural tourism with a long-term sustainable effect. This article explores the Bulgarian written heritage not only as a national cultural treasure, but also as a strategic resource for the development of sustainable cultural tourism. Manuscript books and documents can be integrated into the tourism product through museums, libraries, archives, thematic routes and digital platforms. Good practices, the potential for cultural diplomacy and the contribution to local development are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the interrelationship between written cultural heritage and sustainable development, implemented through its preservation, educational initiatives and active community participation. The article focuses on the historical and cultural value of manuscripts and archives as factors determining the unique role of Bulgaria in European civilization. The importance of the preservation and restoration of manuscript and archival heritage is emphasized, while at the same time seeking a sustainable balance between preserving its authenticity and ensuring public access. The deficit of well-trained specialists and funding is noted, as well as the need for a transdisciplinary approach, including cultural studies, archival studies, information technologies and tourism planning. Bulgarian written heritage has enormous potential to be a bridge between the past and the future, while simultaneously contributing to cultural self-awareness and economic development through sustainable tourism. The authors call for the strategic integration of written heritage into public and private cultural policies based on long-term thinking and preservation. A long-term and coordinated vision based on inter-institutional cooperation, innovation and educational practices is needed. This publication is related to a research project: "Ecologically Sustainable Conservation Strategy for Written Heritage", contract No. KP-06-N90/6 of 10.12.2024, funded by the Scientific Research Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria, headed by Senior Assistant Professor PhD Eng. Iskra Tsvetanska.

Jainism offers a set of practices that help businesses grow with integrity, rooted in long-term thinking, restraint, and care for the community. While these principles are most visible in small, privately owned companies, they are not limited to them. The real opportunity lies in scaling these values up, showing that a business does not have to go public or sacrifice its soul to succeed. When Jain ethics guide growth, companies can remain profitable, deepen trust with their communities, and avoid the short-termism that often hollows out once-visionary giants.

ABSTRACT Urban leaders are increasingly seeking to navigate to net zero emissions whilst balancing wider economic and social priorities. Facing the leaders tasked with delivering these ambitions are a set of boundary challenges, including in relation to time, geography, governance and policy. We explore the practical steps leaders are taking to manage these challenges in Scotland’s four largest cities – Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Our contribution identifies that visible city leaders are: driving actions through a fragmented institutional landscape in the absence of formal arrangements; balancing practical with strategic challenges in embedding long-term thinking; and, leveraging external sources, including the use of data, to inform change.

This qualitative study explores the influence of Green Intellectual Capital (GIC) on earnings management practices in Indonesian manufacturing firms. With increasing environmental concerns and corporate sustainability commitments, this research investigates how components of GIC, including green human capital, green structural capital, and green relational capital, contribute to ethical financial reporting. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers, financial officers, and sustainability officers in five listed manufacturing companies, involving a total of 15 participants. Each interview lasted between 60–90 minutes and was audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic coding to identify recurring patterns and divergent perspectives. The results reveal that strong GIC can act as an internal control mechanism, reducing the tendency toward earnings management by fostering environmental accountability and long-term strategic thinking. However, the study is limited by its relatively small sample size and reliance on self-reported data, which may not fully capture broader industry practices. These findings highlight the significance of embedding green values into intellectual resources to promote financial transparency while offering a foundation for future research with larger and more diverse samples.

The 2025 Long-Term Insights Briefing (LTIB) by the New Zealand Treasury is a valuable contribution to fiscal foresight, emphasizing resilience, transparency, and long-term thinking. It highlights core fiscal principles and outlines key challenges but stops short of deeper analysis. This policy note critiques the LTIB’s limitations, including insufficient attention to monetary-fiscal interactions, debt sustainability, expectations management, and climate risks. It also notes gaps in distributional analysis, structural challenges, and strategic foresight. To strengthen future briefings, Treasury must adopt a bolder, more analytically rigorous agenda that incorporates complex risks, embraces new tools, and better aligns fiscal strategy with evolving macroeconomic realities.

This study examines the correlation between gender diversity and the decision-making efficacy of corporate boards. In recent years, gender equality has risen to prominence as a key issue in global governance, particularly under the influence of ESG (Environmental, Social , and Governance) standards. The lack of female representation in boardrooms has prompted scholars and policymakers to investigate how diversity can enhance leadership effectiveness. With the growing importance of ESG standards, gender diversity has become a focal point of global corporate governance discussions. This study analyzes data from recent reports on listed companies in China and global benchmarks to examine the representation of women on boards and their impact. It draws on existing literature and statistical findings to demonstrate how female directors contribute to better risk management, corporate resilience, and long-term strategic thinking. The study concludes that despite notable progress, sustained efforts are requisite to transcend symbolic inclusivity and authentically integrate gender diversity into decision-making architectures. Furthermore, this research presents a theoretical framework for elucidating the mechanisms through which gender diversity impacts board effectiveness.