ABSTRACT Historic blocks play a crucial role in sustainable urban and rural development by preserving cultural heritage while adapting to contemporary needs. However, visitor perspectives – particularly regarding spatial perceptions and satisfaction – remain underexplored, and few studies integrate social media data with advanced natural language processing techniques. This study applies BERTopic for thematic clustering of social media posts to identify key aspects of visitor experience, followed by a fine-tuned BERT sentiment analysis model that classifies comments into three categories – positive, neutral, and negative. To enhance validity, on-site interviews were conducted for qualitative verification, enabling comparison between online sentiment patterns and in-person perceptions. The insights derived from the analysis are translated into Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) quadrants, furnishing actionable guidance for heritage managers in both urban and rural contexts to optimize conservation strategies and elevate visitor experiences. This research underscores the potential of deep learning-based text analytics for the stewardship of the built environment heritage, thereby proposing a replicable framework for evidence-based and contextually attuned decision-making.

In Italy, rural tourism has become an increasingly important form of sustainable development, capable of combining economic, environmental, social, and cultural objectives. This study examines the principles of agroecology applied to rural tourism, analysing the generated public value. Specifically, the case of Masseria Casacapanna, a multifunctional agritourism farm, is analysed through qualitative and quantitative data obtained through a structured questionnaire administered to the managers. The results show that the agro-ecological practices significantly contribute to the creation of Public Value by generating equitable and sustainable well-being in the region: they create local employment, support local economic networks, preserve traditions, and reduce environmental impactthrough innovative agro-economic practices. In conclusion, we emphasize the need to integrate the assessment of these impacts into territorial planning decision-making processes and rural development strategies, in line with the national objectives of Equitable and Sustainable Well-being.

The concept of a Basket of Territorial Goods and Services (BTGS) is a theoretical-methodological approach aimed at identifying and strengthening the unique material and symbolic elements that contribute to sustainable development in rural contexts. The BTGS considers three main axes: the construction of a territorial image, the valorization of local markets, and governance of territorial development initiatives by diverse social actors. Although the theoretical literature on BTGS has advanced in recent years, the lack of standardized empirical indicators has limited the ability of the BTGS framework to be used in longer-term and comparative monitoring and assessment programs related to sustainable rural and economic development. This study developed and tested an indicator panel for assessing the level of maturity of the BTGS in Southern Brazil. Since the 1990s, the Rural Credit Cooperative of Seara (Crediseara), has implemented a collective action project to enhance the recognition and value of the region's environmental, cultural, landscape, and productive attributes. We piloted the BTGS indicator panel using a participatory approach with 14 civil society organizations, cooperatives, and public institutions. The results indicate a BTGS at a moderate stage of maturity, with Crediseara and the Family Agriculture Forum standing out as important regional governance hubs for rural development. Significant challenges were also identified, such as Indigenous voices being underrepresented in shaping local strategies and the limited collaboration between public policies and local initiatives. The study reinforces the importance of social participation in building sustainable territorial development processes and proposes the BTGS Panel as a strategic tool for planning, monitoring, and political dialogue. The research contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17, particularly target 17.16, by strengthening collaborative models of evaluation and multisectoral governance.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also becoming an acknowledged game-changer in the world of agriculture, and it has the potential to increase productivity, efficiency, and food security. This paper discussed how AI can transform agriculture in Nigeria, its present use, opportunities, challenges and the possible effects. Qualitative research design was used, and semi-structured interviews with major stakeholders of active Nigerian agribusiness firms using AI were used. The companies offered their experience with AI-driven tools such as chatbots, predictive analytics, recommender systems, and pest detection models. The results showed that the early adoption of AI is transforming the agricultural practices by enhancing crop monitoring, improving farmer-market connections, optimising the use of inputs, and minimizing losses after harvesting. The companies cited positive effects of AI on productivity, farmer earnings, and rural development, and it was considered essential in enhancing food security and financial inclusion. But still, there were recurring issues that were found such as inadequate digital infrastructure, disjointed datasets, lack of digital literacy, and high implementation expenses. To solve these, companies implemented strategies like incremental implementation, open source technologies, offline solutions and collaborations with research institutions. The report concludes that AI can revolutionize the agricultural industry in Nigeria and lead to a tremendous economic growth, as long as systemic obstacles are overcome. Strategies to improve rural digital infrastructure, building centralised agricultural data systems, improving digital literacy, establishing inclusive financing systems, and collaboration between government, academia and the business sector are all recommended. These results can play a role in the continued discussion of digital agriculture and can serve as a means to implement AI usage in Sub-Saharan Africa on a larger scale.

The phenomenon of rural depopulation poses a critical challenge to sustainable rural development and requires evaluation through the lens of smart shrinkage. Existing research has inadequately explored the formation of rural hollowing from the village environmental perspective, generally neglecting the spatial non-stationary effects. This study addresses this gap by constructing a theoretical model based on residential field and power theory using a full-sample survey of rural households. It innovatively applies the Geographically Weighted XGBoost (GWXGBoost) model combined with the SHAP method for analysis. The results demonstrate that GWXGBoost outperforms conventional methods in regression performance. Rural hollowing in the study area exhibits a ring-like pattern, with moderately and severely hollow villages accounting for 45% and 43% of all villages, respectively. Living and location fields significantly influence hollowing. In addition, the spatial non-stationarity of influencing factors also displays a ring-like differentiation. Customized management strategies are proposed for each area, including enhancing the economic momentum and promoting balanced urban-rural integration of suburban villages; improving accessibility for remote villages with high hollowing, building on existing development trajectories and supporting villagers' self-directed initiatives for remote villages with low hollowing villages; for villages in the middle zone, strategies include encouraging the upgrade and reutilization of dilapidated housing, conducting land consolidation, and promoting agricultural modernization.

Against the backdrop of the in-depth advancement of Digital China and the rural revitalization strategy, short video platform algorithms, as a novel cultural intermediary force, are intricately linked to the reconstruction of the political ecology of urban-rural cultural identity. Existing research on digital technology and rural development predominantly focuses on macro policy and micro individual behavior levels, lacking systematic empirical investigation into how platform algorithms, as a structural force, shape urban-rural cultural identity. This study employed a nationwide stratified sampling survey, with urban and rural residents as the research subjects, and utilized regression analysis and structural equation modeling to systematically examine the differential association mechanisms of algorithm recommendation systems on the cultural identity of urban and rural residents, as well as the moderating roles of social structural factors such as household registration and education level. The results revealed that algorithm exposure is significantly and positively correlated with users’ acceptance of rural modernity narratives, which is specifically reflected in the significant enhancement of fusion innovation identification. Urban-rural household registration, as a key social location variable, moderates the association path between algorithm exposure and reality identification: urban user groups exhibit a positive correlation between the two, whereas rural user groups show no such association. Active search behavior weakens the association with algorithm domestication, as users resist the infiltration of a single narrative through autonomous information acquisition. Notably, different short video platforms exhibit significant differences in their associations with cultural identity, and both the urbanization level of permanent residence and education level exert significant moderating effects on cultural identity and algorithm perception. Based on these findings, this study proposes the “Algorithm Domestication Gap” defining the digital cultural divide as a multi-dimensional cognitive gap within the framework of the third-generation digital divide. This concept extends the knowledge gap theory, providing a theoretical lens for understanding technology-mediated urban-rural cultural politics, and offers practical implications for digital rural construction and platform governance.

This study examined local government autonomy and grass-roots development: a study of Ikeduru LGA, Imo State, Nigeria. The researcher used decentralization theory as the framework of analysis. Descriptive survey was applied and data were collected through primary source (questionnaire). The population of the study covered the entire 208, 100 people in Ikeduru LGA of Imo State. From the number above, a sample size of 399 was selected. Though only 379 copies of questionnaire was returned and used. Data analysis was done using percentage, mean and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) at 0.05 level of significance with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 21.0). The study found out that there is significant impact of financial autonomy on rural road maintenance in Ikeduru LGA, Imo State, administrative autonomy influences primary health care development in Ikeduru LGA, Imo State and there is significant effect of political autonomy on rural security in Ikeduru LGA, Imo State. Based on the forgoing, this study concluded that the achievement of rural development as it concerns road maintenance, security, and health care services depends on the extent the local governments enjoy autonomy in finance, administration, and political aspects. It was recommended that the local governments should receive direct allocation from the federation account so as to achieve rural road maintenance.

ABSTRACT This study empirically investigated the impact and interaction mechanisms between rural tourism development and agricultural economic resilience based on a comprehensive evaluation of both factors. Using panel data from 2010 to 2022 across 284 cities in China, the results demonstrated that rural tourism development significantly enhances agricultural economic resilience. The study’s core findings remain robust across various tests. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promotional effect of rural tourism on agricultural economic resilience is more pronounced in Western China, small-scale farming areas, and non-grain-producing regions. Moreover, the mechanism analysis identifies the urban-rural income gap as a critical mediating channel. Spatially, rural tourism not only enhances local resilience but also generates positive spillover effects on neighbouring provinces. Additionally, threshold tests indicate that the impact exhibits diminishing marginal returns beyond specific development levels. This multi-faceted investigation elucidates the non-linear characteristics and complex inter-regional dynamics of how rural tourism fosters agricultural economic resilience.

ABSTRACT Ecotourism is often promoted as a sustainable development strategy, yet few empirical studies explore how its perceived impacts shape local support, particularly in remote Himalayan regions. Guided by Social Exchange Theory (SET), this study examines the influence of perceived sociocultural, economic, and environmental impacts on community attitudes toward ecotourism along the Annapurna Sanctuary Trail (AST), Nepal. Drawing on quantitative data from 120 locals and qualitative insights from focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and field observations, the findings suggest that locals perceive more benefits than costs. Key benefits include environmental conservation, improved infrastructure, increased income, women’s economic participation, cultural preservation, and enhanced community cohesion and social ties. Perceived costs involve environmental damage, inflation, loss of agricultural land, cultural erosion, and rising inequality. Despite these costs, locals continue to support ecotourism and view it as a key strategy for sustainable rural community development. These underscore the need for policies that balance conservation goals with development needs.

Path dependency and differentiated driving mechanism: Revisiting the spatio-temporal evolution of rural settlement sustainable development for future policy insights

Ambient pH affects the virulence of Phytophthora nicotianae and activates NtFERL2 to enhance the resistance of tobacco to Phytophthora nicotianae. Tobacco is a globally important economic crop and plays a crucial role in agricultural production and rural development. Tobacco black shank, caused by Phytophthora nicotianae, results in severe biomass and yield losses across all major tobacco-growing regions. Variations in soil pH are known to reshape crop-pathogen interactions and pose a threat to productivity, yet how ambient pH affects the occurrence of diseases in plants remains poorly understood. Here, we observed that acidic ambient pH was more conducive to the growth and pathogenicity of P. nicotianae, which was correlated with promoted sporulation and mycelial bulges under laboratory conditions. In tobacco plants, acidic ambient pH increased susceptibility to the pathogen, whereas alkaline pH reduced disease severity. Transcriptome analysis with tobacco plants under different pH regimes for 4weeks showed that genes involved in the plant-pathogen interaction, oxidative phosphorylation and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway were differentially expressed. We identified a receptor-like kinase, FERONIA-like 2 (FERL2), as a resistance factor exhibiting pH-dependent expression variations. Overexpression of FERL2 attenuated resistance differences across pH conditions by activating downstream defense signaling pathways, suggesting its essential role in pH-modulated immunity. Our study demonstrates that acidic pH enhances P. nicotianae virulence and compromises resistance, potentially through impairing FERL2-mediated signaling, providing strategic insights for controlling tobacco black shank under varying soil pH conditions.

This research examines the interactions between artisans and the use of flora, focusing on aquatic macrophytes from the Solis Chico River Basin (Yasiry) in the Uruguayan pampa biome, within the context of current human and climatic influences. Recently, the Solís Chico River which runs for 47 km until it flows into the La Plata River, had a strong deviation to the west, causing coastal and wind erosion. The study was descriptive and qualitative, conducted in a humid zone at 34º 45' 27'' S, 55º 41' 40.8'' W, using semi-structured interviews with artisans. The results revealed five species of importance to handicrafts with vegetable fiber, Juncus effusus, Typha angustifolia var. domingensis, Cyperus rotundus, Cynara cardunculus and Butia sp. The severe droughts in the last years (2022-2023) have made Cyperus rotundus more vulnerable, while floods affect Typha angustifolia. Eighty percent of the species cited by the artisans are on the Red List of Threatened Species, which could impact the bioeconomy of handicrafts soon. The research suggests establishing forests for handcraft use and active germplasm banks to boost populations and support environmental sustainability, as these species also serve as bioindicators within the Solis Chico River Basin.

Fostering high-quality development of returning entrepreneurs is a powerful measure to further promote the work of “mass innovation and innovation”, an internal way to efficiently use urban and rural resources, and an objective requirement for the comprehensive implementation of the rural revitalization strategy. In July 2020, the Henan Provincial Development and Reform Commission and 24 other departments jointly issued the Implementation Plan on Promoting the High-quality Development of Returning Home and Starting Businesses, which strives to create a fair, efficient, transparent and open business environment, providing a strong guarantee for migrant workers, college students and industrial and commercial enterprises to promote the high-quality development of returning home and starting businesses. How to find an effective way for new quality productivity to help Henan Province’s economic transformation and upgrading, stimulate the vitality of innovation and entrepreneurship, promote the overall revitalization of rural areas, optimize the development of industrial ecology and innovation ecology, and improve the quality of returning to the countryside to start businesses are important issues faced by academics and policy makers. This paper intends to focus on the research on the high-quality development path of returning to hometown entrepreneurship in Henan Province, analyze the current situation of the development of returning to hometown entrepreneurship in Henan, determine the evaluation index system of the high-quality development ecosystem of returning to hometown entrepreneurship driven by new quality productivity, and explore the high-quality development path of promoting Henan Province’s returning to hometown entrepreneurship through empirical analysis. It is expected to help the implementation of the strategy of rural revitalization and development in Henan Province, inject new vitality and impetus into the economic and social development of Henan Province, and achieve high-quality economic development of Henan Province.

Duck farming plays a critical role in supporting food security, economic resilience, and rural livelihood development, especially in regions where agricultural diversification is a necessity. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a targeted educational program in improving technical knowledge of duck management among rural communities with diverse occupational and educational backgrounds. A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test design was implemented in Palembon Village, Bojonegoro, Indonesia, involving 40 participants from both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. Structured training modules covering disease control, feeding, and husbandry were delivered interactively. Knowledge gains were assessed using validated questionnaires and analyzed through non-parametric statistical tests. Results demonstrated a highly significant improvement in participants' technical understanding post-intervention (p < 0.001). Moreover, participants with non-agricultural occupations and low formal education achieved post-test scores comparable to their agricultural or higher-educated counterparts. These findings highlight the inclusivity and adaptability of the training approach, which emphasized practical relevance and community-based learning strategies. The convergence in learning outcomes suggests that effective instructional design can bridge knowledge gaps regardless of participants' prior experience or education. This study underscores the potential of targeted agricultural education as a scalable tool for rural capacity building and livestock productivity enhancement. The intervention aligns with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on Quality Education and SDG 2 on Zero Hunger by promoting inclusive, lifelong learning and sustainable livestock practices for food security.

Rural revitalization fundamentally depends on human capital development and deployment. Although China’s efforts in recruiting and developing rural talent have achieved certain progress in recent years, significant challenges persist that require urgent attention. These challenges include inefficient talent attraction channels, incomplete training mechanisms, unfavorable retention environments, and inadequate utilization platforms. Based on a systematic and comprehensive review of the current state of rural talent recruitment and development in China, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of the primary problems and their underlying causes from multiple perspectives. Furthermore, it proposes targeted policy recommendations from four interconnected dimensions: improving talent attraction mechanisms, strengthening training systems, optimizing retention environments, and building utilization platforms. This research aims to provide theoretical references and practical guidance for comprehensively promoting rural talent revitalization and supporting the broader rural revitalization strategy.

Introduction Digital Village Construction (DVC) represents a national strategy to integrate digital technologies with agriculture and rural development in China. Whether such a comprehensive, government-led digital transformation can raise agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) remains empirically underexplored, particularly at the county level. This study investigates the causal effect of DVC on agricultural TFP and clarifies the underlying mechanisms and heterogeneous impacts. Methods We treat China’s National Digital Village Pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment and construct a time-varying DID design using county-level panel data from 2009–2023. Agricultural TFP is primarily measured via DEA–Malmquist indices based on a land–labor–capital input system and real agricultural output. We include county and year fixed effects and standard controls, and conduct extensive robustness checks. Mechanisms are examined through mediation analyses focusing on non-farm employment opportunities and production technical intensification. Results Baseline DID estimates indicate that DVC significantly increases agricultural TFP, and the result remains robust across multiple identification and measurement checks. Mechanism analyses suggest that DVC promotes TFP mainly through expanding non-farm employment opportunities and stimulating production technical intensification. Heterogeneity analyses show stronger effects in counties with higher levels of digital financial inclusion, in administratively classified counties, and in areas closer to provincial capitals. Discussion The findings provide causal evidence that comprehensive digital rural policies can enhance agricultural productivity by improving factor allocation, facilitating labor structural transformation and accelerating technology- and energy-intensive modernization of production. These research conclusions provide empirical evidence for further advancing digital village construction.

Abstract While numerous studies have examined the initial adoption of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) practices, little is known about the factors that sustain their continued use over time. This study addresses this knowledge gap by analyzing the determinants of sustained ISFM adoption among smallholder farmers in northern Ghana. The analysis draws on primary data from a 2023 structured survey of 412 randomly selected maize-farming households across 15 communities—formerly part of the Northern Region, now administratively designated as the Savannah and Northeast regions—and highlights the roles of insurance awareness, extension services, market accessibility, and credit availability. The results show that insurance awareness is positively associated with intercropping or relay cropping, yet negatively correlated with continued use of improved seeds, suggesting the need for insurance products that better align with specific input strategies. Market inaccessibility emerges as a major constraint, underscoring the importance of rural infrastructure development to support ISFM uptake. Credit availability exhibits a positive but statistically insignificant association with chemical fertilizer use, while it is significantly negatively associated with organic fertilizer use, indicating a potential trade-off whereby improved financial access may favor chemical inputs over organic ones. Extension services and household labor availability are both positively associated with input intensity, emphasizing the roles of information and labor resources in sustaining ISFM practices. Overall, the findings suggest the need for integrated policy measures combining tailored insurance schemes, infrastructure investment, and balanced financial support to promote long-term ISFM adoption and sustainable agricultural intensification.

This study aims to analyze the impact of renewable energy development, supporting infrastructure, and policy support on the sustainability of rural areas in Papua. A quantitative approach was applied using survey data collected from 140 respondents through structured questionnaires measured on a five-point Likert scale. Data analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS 3) to evaluate the measurement model and structural relationships among variables. The results indicate that renewable energy development and supporting infrastructure have a positive and significant influence on rural sustainability, highlighting the importance of energy access and infrastructure readiness in improving socio-economic and environmental conditions in rural communities. Supporting infrastructure emerges as the strongest predictor, suggesting that connectivity and operational support systems play a crucial role in ensuring long-term development outcomes. Meanwhile, policy support shows a positive but statistically insignificant effect, indicating that existing policies may require stronger implementation and alignment with local needs. The model demonstrates adequate validity, reliability, and predictive relevance, confirming its robustness in explaining sustainability outcomes. This study contributes to sustainable rural development literature by integrating technological, structural, and institutional perspectives, and provides practical implications for policymakers and stakeholders in designing more effective strategies to strengthen rural resilience and sustainability in Papua.

This study investigates how digital rural development influences agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) in China, with particular attention to stage characteristics and regional heterogeneity. Using panel data from 30 provinces from 2012 to 2022, we construct a multidimensional evaluation framework incorporating digital infrastructure, digital service capacity, and the digital development environment. A fixed-effects model is employed to estimate the overall impact, mediation models are used to examine the roles of factor allocation, organizational upgrading, and technology diffusion, and a panel threshold model is applied to identify nonlinear effects. The results show that digital rural development significantly enhances AGTFP, and this finding is robust to alternative measures, sample adjustments, and endogeneity tests. Mechanism analyses reveal that digitalization improves green efficiency by promoting labor mobility, expanding large-scale operations, strengthening cooperative development, and accelerating mechanization and agricultural R&D. However, the positive effect of land transfer remains constrained by institutional frictions, limiting its contribution to green transformation. Threshold analyses indicate that the impact of digital infrastructure becomes stronger once a critical level is surpassed, whereas the marginal effect of digital services weakens at higher stages of development. Regional heterogeneity further shows that the positive effects are most pronounced in eastern provinces and in non-grain-producing regions. Overall, digital rural development functions as a multidimensional driver of agricultural green transformation, offering empirical evidence and policy insights for designing differentiated digitalization strategies that support sustainable agricultural development.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a key lever to support the transition towards sustainable agricultural production in Europe. However, successive reforms have been incremental and modest with regard to environmental objectives. This contribution presents an assessment of the choices made by Member States in their CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs), directing the EUR 307 billion in funding to support agriculture and rural areas for the period 2023–2027. The focus is on the different funding instruments supporting the restoration of freshwater ecosystems, in particular addressing the impact of drainage, restoring wetland and floodplain connectivity, and increasing landscape-scale water retention. A detailed mapping of farm practices supported by CAP funding – i.e. conditionality, eco-schemes, rural development (Environment and Climate measures), and investments – is presented. Results show that interventions to reduce the impact of drainage, restore wetland and floodplain connectivity, and increase landscape-scale water retention remain limited in scope. Illustrative examples of good practice are highlighted, along with recommendations for improved implementation of the CAP in the current programming period and the next round of reform. CAP 2023–2027 offers opportunities for wetland and freshwater ecosystem restoration. Member State choices show limited ambition and do not fully exploit the potential of the CAP to support restoration efforts. Good practices where the CAP supports wetland and freshwater ecosystem restoration are identified. Better metrics and performance-based incentives are needed to improve outcomes.