Sustainable Adoption Research Articles

Investigating the Factors That Sustain College Teachers’ Attitude and Behavioral Intention toward Online Teaching

Online teaching is considered an important approach for achieving sustainable learning and education, and college teachers’ attitude and behavioral intention are essential for the sustainable adoption of online teaching practice in higher education institutions. To examine the influencing factors that sustain teachers’ attitude toward online teaching and behavioral intention, we conducted a cross-sectional study based on a sample of 1102 college teachers in Central China using hierarchical linear regression analysis to explore the possible influencing factors at the following four levels: individual experience, environmental support, self-perception, and technology acceptance. The study results show that the subjective norms, readiness, beliefs, and perceived usefulness of online teaching had a significant impact on the teachers’ attitude toward online teaching and behavioral intention. Nevertheless, the effect varied with factors like the online teaching load and teachers’ technology self-efficacy, and their influence seemed to be singular, affecting the teachers’ attitude toward online teaching or behavioral intention exclusively. In contrast, previous online teaching experience did not notably affect either. The findings of this study reveal the complex interactions of the factors that influence college teachers’ disposition toward and decisions about online teaching practices and emphasize the need for targeted strategies to maintain and enhance online education in the post-pandemic era.

Driving Agricultural Transformation: Unraveling Key Factors Shaping IoT Adoption in Smart Farming with Empirical Insights

The Internet of Things (IoT) holds immense potential for the social and economic development of developing countries, as recognized by academia and professionals. However, there is a notable lack of theoretical research on IoT adoption within agricultural settings. To address this gap, this study introduces a model focusing on nine critical “Technology-Organization-Environment” (TOE) factors. Empirical validation was conducted using data from 179 managers in diverse agricultural organizations. The research model was evaluated by using “Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling” (PLS-SEM). The results underscored the significance of governmental support and technological compatibility in driving IoT adoption. Moreover, financial considerations within organizations and the evolving digital landscape were identified as key influencers of smart farm adoption. This study offers valuable insights with significant implications for sustainable IoT adoption in research and practical applications.

Retraction Note: An integrated fuzzy decision model for prioritization of barriers affecting sustainability adoption within supply chains under unknown weight context

Retraction Note: An integrated fuzzy decision model for prioritization of barriers affecting sustainability adoption within supply chains under unknown weight context

The newly-adopted Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: an overview of the lawmaking process and analysis of the final text

This article provides an overview of the process leading up to the adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and delivers a comprehensive analysis of the Directive’s final text. The article contextualises the design process of the CSDDD within the international normative framework on sustainability due diligence and elaborates on key events surrounding the inter-institutional negotiations between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on the Directive. The article then delves into the content of the newly adopted text, highlighting key differences between the final version and the Commission’s original proposal.

Agroecological dimension of sustainable intensification technologies adoption in northern Ghana

Agroecological dimension of sustainable intensification technologies adoption in northern Ghana

Bridging Development and Sustainability: An Analysis of the Nigerian Real Estate Sector

Like its international counterparts, the Nigerian real estate market found itself at a crossroads, torn between the imperative of rapid expansion and the urgent need for sustainable practices. This study constituted a comprehensive exploration of the adoption of sustainability within this fast-paced industry, driven by the pressing necessity to bridge the divide between developmental enthusiasm and environmental responsibility. The foundation of this study lies in a meticulous analysis of the existing body of literature, facilitating a profound understanding of the nuances surrounding sustainable practices and the persistent gaps therein. By employing a blend of convenience and purposeful sampling methods, a wide yet focused selection of industry experts was curated. The primary research approach hinged on the utilization of Likert scale analysis to unveil the perspectives and sentiments of professionals regarding the challenges and advantages associated with sustainable practices in the Nigerian real estate sector. The findings resonated strongly, illuminating prevailing beliefs and delineating a path toward a more sustainable real estate sector. While the results underscored a profound understanding of the need for sustainable practices, they also spotlighted several obstacles, ranging from informational deficits to financial constraints. The study's conclusion reverberated with a multitude of ideas. The report meticulously charted a comprehensive roadmap for fostering sustainability in the Nigerian real estate market by identifying barriers, evaluating potential benefits, and formulating pragmatic strategies. The recommendations, encompassing advocacy for policy changes and the encouragement of further research, resounded convincingly as catalysts for tangible transformation.

Critical barriers to sustainable construction technology adoption in developing countries – A case study in India

Sustainability of the construction is one of the important sector to improve the economy of developing countries. To improve sustainability, precast buildings are adopted in developing countries. Since the sustainability of the precast buildings is affected by various barriers it is essential to determine the barriers that affect their sustainability. Hence the novel Relative Factor Reliable Index framework is utilized to identify the most critical barrier while constructing precast buildings. Thus a survey is conducted with various participants by creating an online questionnaire using Likert scale with Polychromous Rasch Model. From survey data the existing methods does not find the appropriate barrier due lack representation of dependence between the barriers. So that the survey results are analyzed using Bayesian Belief structural equation modeling Network which utilizes Probabilistic Graphical Model (PGM) and directed polygonal graph to determine the interrelationship between the barriers by assigning weightage. To identify the barrier that affects the sustainability of construction, barriers are ranked with Relative Factor Reliable Index using Relative Importance Index and Z score normalization which statistically validate the barriers to Sustainable construction. From the ranked barriers, the barriers Professional fees for engineers and consultants, Lack of Public awareness about precast buildings, and Ineffective waste disposal are identified as the most critical barriers.

Sustainable human resource management: the perspectives of Italian human resource managers

Over the past two decades, sustainable human resource management (sustainable HRM) has emerged as a new approach to human resource management. Sustainable HRM takes a stakeholder-inclusive perspective to ensure the sustainable development of organizations along multiple objectives (financial, social, environmental, and organizational). Human resource (HR) managers are key actors in sustainable HRM implementation. However, how these important stakeholders perceive sustainable HRM remains understudied in the growing literature. This qualitative study explores how 32 HR managers in Italy construct the meaning of sustainable HRM and perceive their roles in and the barriers to implementing a sustainable HRM strategy. The findings reveal that Italian HR managers interpret sustainable HRM in line with the triple bottom line sustainability framework but give particular prominence to the social dimension. We develop a framework of HR managers’ roles in the sustainable HRM paradigm comprising sustainability strategy owners, social innovators, corporate social responsibility (CSR) partnership architects, genuine employee champions, and administrative experts. Additionally, we develop a model of the barriers to sustainable HRM adoption. This study advances the sustainable HRM literature by providing a contextualized, country-specific understanding of sustainable HRM and frameworks for the roles of HR managers under a sustainable HRM paradigm and the barriers to its adoption.

Exploring Solar Energy Integration in Ugandan Health Centers: Evaluating the Implementation of Heliophotovoltaic Solutions for Rural Healthcare

This study presents a comprehensive examination of the impact of integrating solar energy into healthcare delivery in rural Uganda. Utilizing an extensive equation encompassing factors such as cost savings, operational efficiency, healthcare outcomes, and environmental impact, the research uncovers a holistic benefit of sustainable energy adoption into Uganda Health Centers. Key findings suggest that beyond serving as a reliable and sustainable power source, solar energy integration has the potential to revolutionize rural healthcare. The equation reveals promising outcomes, including redirected resources for critical healthcare needs, improved operational efficiency, and positive healthcare outcomes. The environmental benefits, coupled with the scalability of solar models, emphasize a sustainable future for rural healthcare. The study concludes with a compelling call to action, urging stakeholders to collaborate in swift implementation, policy development, and research initiatives. Recommendations include targeted policies, funding for solar infrastructure, and ongoing research into region-specific considerations. This work serves as a reagent for a sustainable transformation in healthcare delivery, advocating for a brighter and healthier future for underserved communities in Uganda and other countries with similar challenges. Keywords: Solar Energy Integration, Rural Healthcare, Cost Savings, Operational Efficiency, Sustainable Transformation

Implementing A Digital Health Navigator: Strategies & Experience in The Hospital Setting to alleviate Digital Equity

Background: The implementation of telemedicine and digital health technologies in healthcare has increased, but patients still need help adopting and utilizing these technologies. To address this, a Digital Health Navigator (DHN) program was implemented to evaluate the benefits of improving patients’ adoption.
 Objectives: To alleviate digital equity within hospitals, we introduced a holistic digital health navigator program designed to promote the utilization of digital tools among hospitalized patients. To implement a DHN program to improve patient adoption of digital portals to engage in healthcare. To learn from the program to further develop patient-facing portal education for hospitalized patients to expand to other hospitals.
 Methods: Over a period of thirty days, the DHN program conducted patient visits in two hospitals, on portal usage, collecting data, and adapting protocols based on patient feedback.
 Results: Feedback from patients indicated 98% of patients found the education and the DHN to be helpful. 92% recommend the UPMC Central PA Portal for accessing their healthcare information. The DHN program proves beneficial in promoting portal usage and addressing technological barriers experienced by patients. We provide strategies and recommendations on how to implement such a program.
 Discussion: We successfully implemented a digital health navigator program for hospitalized patients across two hospitals. Patients reported a positive perception and satisfaction with digital health navigator visits . Notably, our model overcomes challenges related to limited internet access and mitigates technology-related anxiety during hospital stays. The DHN program proved beneficial in promoting hospital portal usage and addressing technological barriers experienced by patients. Implementation and sustained adoption of digital technologies across a large healthcare organization can be achieved through a well-coordinated, team-based, and systematic approach with a DHN. We provide strategies and recommendations on how to implement such a program

Farmer’s understanding and adoption of agricultural practices in southern part of India

India is fulfilling the consumption requirement of its pulses and oilseeds largely through importing. Andhra Pradesh is a leading state in the country, significantly contributes to the production of these crops. Low yield of pulses and groundnuts in India should be addressed through adoption of proven technological interventions along with enhancing farmers knowledge. The present study aimed to determine the differences in knowledge of Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPs) and adoption of improved agricultural practices (IAPs) among farmers at the baseline and endline phase of the study. The association of possible factors such as age, gender, education, farm experience, mass media, social participation, risk orientation, innovativeness with knowledge and adoption of Sustainable agricultural practices was evaluated. The study also examined the result of the technological intervention on crop yield at pre and post intervention. The study included 240 farmers with poor pulse and groundnut yield from villages of Andhra Pradesh with inadequate technological developments. At biotech intervention phase, farmers received training, field demonstration etc. The results revealed that at endline, 80% of farmers had knowledge of SAPs (compared to 48% at baseline) and the adoption rate of IAPs was 50% (compared to 3% at baseline). Factors such as mass media, social participation, risk orientation showed significant reduced risk on farmers with high knowledge of SAPs and with complete adoption of IAPs. The average yield per hectare of pulses during baseline was found to be 403.5 kg/ha ± 128.4 while during endline it was 601.25 kg/ha ± 206.8 (p-value = 0.001). The average yield per hectare of groundnut during baseline was found to be 983.75 kg/ha ± 444.9 and during endline it was 1216.78 kg/ha ± 473.9 (p-value = 0.000). Innovative technological interventions and capacity building of farmers increased yield of crops in Andhra Pradesh.

From intentions to actions: unveiling the socio-psychological drivers of solar home system adoption in developing nations

ABSTRACT In the face of an expanding global population and the diminishing reservoirs of natural resources, humanity stands at a critical juncture necessitating timely decisions for a secure and sustainable future, ensuring an uninterrupted supply of green energy. The imperative calls for comprehensive implementations across societal echelons, garnering support from all stakeholders. This study explores the adoption dynamics of solar housing systems (SHS) by investigating the direct impact of associated effort and performance expectancy, incorporating an econometric perspective. Additionally, it scrutinizes the moderating effect of buyer awareness regarding these systems. Utilizing 205 survey responses, the research employs econometric analysis to underscore the pivotal roles of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and buyer knowledge in shaping SHS adoption in Pakistan. The findings not only offer valuable insights into the dynamics of fostering environmentally conscious practices at an individual level but also contribute to the broader understanding of sustainable energy adoption from an econometric standpoint. This research holds practical implications for policymakers and stakeholders engaged in promoting greener initiatives, providing a foundation for informed decision-making in the pursuit of a sustainable energy future.

AIIRA: AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture

AbstractAIIRA seeks to transform agriculture by creating a new AI‐driven framework for modeling plants at various agronomically relevant scales. We accomplish this by designing and deploying AI‐driven predictive models that fuse diverse data with siloed domain knowledge. AIIRA's vision, illustrated in Figure 1, consists of four technical thrusts with cross‐cutting education, training, and outreach activities. Our activities are focused on theory, algorithms, and tools for the principled creation of goal‐oriented AI tools deployed at plant and field scales. Our use‐inspired AI developments are tightly integrated with USDA‐relevant challenges in crop improvement and sustainable crop production. Our strong social science focus ensures sustained AI adoption across the ag value chain. Our cyberinfrastructure (CI) efforts ensure cohesive, sustainable, and extensible CI to reproducibly share and manage data assets and analysis workflows to a diverse spectrum of the Ag community. Taken together, this will ensure long‐term payoffs in AI and agriculture. AIIRA has established a new field of Cyber Agricultural Systems at the intersection of plant science, agronomics, and AI. Our signature activities build the workforce for this new field through formal and informal educational activities. Through these activities, AIIRA creates accessible pathways for underrepresented groups, especially Native Americans and women.

Features, Components and Processes of Developing Policy for Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED): Toward a Sustainable AIED Development and Adoption

ABSTRACT Governments and private sectors are now putting in place the needed resources and infrastructure to harness the power of emerging technologies in education. One of these technologies is Artificial Intelligence (AI) which gained increasing attention due to its potential to enhance learning and teaching experiences, hence achieving better learning outcomes. However, AIED also comes with several concerns that raise continuous questions about its safe and effective adoption. The application of AIED needs to be planned and executed properly. One of the basic requirements for this to happen is that a comprehensive national policy on the use of AIED is put in place to guide its implementation and evaluate its effectiveness. Limited information exists in the literature on how to write an AIED policy. To address this research gap, this study therefore discusses the features, major components and processes that countries are advised to adopt for a comprehensive AIED policy development. Specifically, this study highlights four features for a good AIED policy, namely contextual, consultative, dynamic, and, implementable and measurable. It further proposes seven steps for an AIED policy development, namely (1) pre-drafting consultation, (2) stakeholder survey, (3) writing draft policy, (4) discussion on draft policy, (5) adoption and communication of policy document, (6) policy implementation plan, and (7) policy evaluation.

Development of a Standardized Soybean Cyst Nematode Screening Assay in Pennycress and Identification of Resistant Germplasm.

The prospect of incorporating pennycress as an oilseed cover crop in the Midwest's corn-soybean rotation system has drawn researcher and farmer attention. The inclusion of pennycress will be beneficial as it provides an excellent soil cover to reduce soil erosion and nutrient leaching while serving as an additional source for oilseed production and income. However, pennycress is an alternative host for soybean cyst nematode (SCN), which is a major biological threat to soybean that needs to be addressed for sustainable pennycress adoption into our current production systems. To develop a standardized SCN resistance screening strategy in pennycress, we tested and optimized five parameters: (i) germination stimulants, (ii) inoculation timing, (iii) inoculation rate, (iv) experimental incubation time, and (v) susceptible checks. The standardized SCN resistance screening protocol includes the following: (i) treating pennycress seeds with gibberellic acid for 24 h, (ii) transplanting seedlings 12 to 15 days after initiating germination and inoculating 10 to 12 days after transplantation, (iii) inoculating at a rate of 1,500 eggs/100 cc soil (1,500 eggs per plant), (iv) processing roots at 30 days after inoculation, and (v) using susceptible pennycress accession Ames 32869 to calculate the female index. The standardized protocol was used to quantify the response of a diverse set of pennycress accessions for response against SCN HG type 1.2.5.7 and HG type 7. While there were no highly resistant pennycress lines identified, 15 were rated as moderately resistant to HG type 1.2.5.7, and eight were rated moderately resistant to HG type 7. The resistant lines identified in this study could be utilized to develop SCN-resistant pennycress cultivars. The study also opens a new avenue for research to understand SCN-pennycress interactions through molecular and genomic studies. This knowledge could aid in the successful inclusion of pennycress as a beneficial cover/oilseed crop in the United States Midwest.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Toward Sustainable Adoption of Integrated Care for Prevention of Unplanned Hospitalizations: A Qualitative Analysis.

Complex chronic patients are prone to unplanned hospitalizations leading to a high burden on healthcare systems. To date, interventions to prevent unplanned admissions show inconclusive results. We report a qualitative analysis performed into the EU initiative JADECARE (2020-2023) to design a digitally enabled integrated care program aiming at preventing unplanned hospitalizations. A two-phase process with four design thinking (DT) sessions was conducted to analyse the management of complex chronic patients in the region of Catalonia (ES). In Phase I, Discovery, two DT sessions, October 2021 and February 2022, were done using as background information: i) the results of twenty structured interviews (five patients and fifteen professionals), ii) two governmental documents on regional deployment of integrated care and on the Catalan digital health strategy, respectively, and iii) the results of a cluster analysis of 761 hospitalizations. In Phase II, Confirmation, we examined the 30- and 90-day post-discharge periods of 49,604 hospitalizations as input for two additional DT sessions conducted in November and December 2022. The qualitative analysis identified poor personalization of the interventions, the need for organizational changes, immature digitalization, and suboptimal services evaluation as main explanatory factors of the observed efficacy-effectiveness gap. Additionally, a program for prevention of unplanned hospitalizations, to be evaluated during the period 2024-2025, was generated. A digitally enabled adaptive case management approach to foster collaborative work and personalization of care, as well as organizational re-engineering, are endorsed for value-based prevention of unplanned hospitalizations.

A Comprehensive Review on Cardiovascular Disease Detection, Risk Assessment, And Treatment Using A Network Pharmacology Model

Introducing a new healthcare service based on study findings can be challenging. This review presents the outcomes of a pilot project implemented in Belgian neighborhood pharmacies, assessing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The service deployment followed an integrated approach using the RE-AIM (Reach Efficiency Acceptance Implantation Management) framework. The study highlights the development of a network of medications influencing cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), potentially causative for various cardiac diseases. It discusses the limited efficacy and crucial factors affecting optimal execution. It suggests exploring additional approaches like interprofessional seminars, a data-sharing system, and outreach efforts to enhance awareness of pharmacists' expanded roles. While the service is simple and practical, ensuring its effectiveness, sustainability, and broader adoption requires financial and external support.

Overcoming strategies for supply chain digitization barriers: Implications for sustainable development goals

AbstractThis paper examines barriers to supply chain digitization (SCD) and offers mitigation strategies, focusing on sustainable development goals (SDGs), technological adoption, and financial constraints. A hybrid research approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, has been used to analyze significant SCD barriers and strategies under budget constraints. According to the findings, “lack of proper research and development facility” is the most influential barrier to SCD. The overcoming strategies are then ranked by how likely they are to be implemented in response to barriers. From a sustainability perspective, “improving privacy and security” is identified as the most important strategy. Further, a mathematical model is developed to facilitate investment‐related decision‐making by determining the most suitable overcoming strategies under budget constraints. The proposed mathematical model is evaluated across a range of investments and for a set of overcoming strategies within a given scenario. The findings demonstrate that optimal investments of $1.78 million can cover the top two overcoming strategies for implementation. Furthermore, the results indicate that a minimum investment of $1.9 million is required to adopt all 10 overcoming strategies.

Polysemy and the sociolinguistics of policy ideas: resilience, sustainability and wellbeing 2000–2020

In policy studies, there is a concern with understanding how new ideas affect policymaking. Central to this is the issue of how ideas become collectively adopted by policy actors. The policy paradigm perspective—the classical way of understanding collective adoption—has faced criticism for overestimating the coherence of adopted ideas and not paying sufficient attention to the micro-scale cognitive processes at play during collective adoption and how these are conditioned by macro-scale organisational processes and structures. This paper provides a sociolinguistic account of the collective adoption of policy ideas that explicitly relates micro-scale cognitive processes (interpretation, attention allocation) to macro-scale organisational structure (division of labour). Drawing on relevance theory, it argues that implicit in the diffusion of an idea within policy circles is an organisationally coordinated interpretive process which results in multiple versions of the idea adapted to the division of labour of government. Supporting this is an empirical analysis of the collective adoption of resilience, sustainability and wellbeing by the British government during 2000–2020. Using a dataset of policy documents (~ 163 million tokens) published by 12 British central departments, I use BERT to automatically extract the different senses expressed by occurrences of ‘resilience’, ‘resilient’, ‘sustainable’, ‘sustainability’ and ‘wellbeing’. I examine how these senses contribute to changes in the use of this vocabulary, the contents of these senses, and the distribution of these senses across the 12 departments. Through this, I examine senses that express versions of resilience, sustainability and wellbeing adapted to particular departmental functions.

Sustainability drivers and national culture in buyer-supplier environmental practices: an institutional perspective

PurposeThis study aims to explore how sustainability drivers interact with national culture to explain the adoption of buyer–supplier environmental sustainability practices.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on Institutional Theory, this study proposes three sets of hypotheses focused on the role of key cultural dimensions: uncertainty avoidance, power distance and institutional collectivism. It uses a sample of 284 manufacturing plants across three industries and 14 countries to test these hypotheses, using regression analysis.FindingsFindings suggest that national culture matters in the adoption of buyer–supplier environmental practices; however, its effect is contingent upon the particular combination of cultural dimensions and drivers analyzed.Originality/valueThis study enhances the understanding of the drivers behind buyer–supplier environmental practices by offering a novel examination of their interaction with national culture. This helps explain the heterogeneity in environmental sustainability adoption across countries.