Search Results (26)

With rapid urbanization, maintaining a high quality of life (QoL) for city residents has become a critical challenge for policy-makers and urban planners. Smart cities, leveraging advanced technologies and data analytics, present a promising pathway to enhance urban services and promote sustainability. This paper introduces an innovative adaptation of the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method, integrating a Belief Structure (BTOPSIS) to improve the evaluation and interpretation of survey data. Our approach effectively addresses the distribution of responses across categories and the uncertainty often present in such data, including missing or ambiguous answers. Additionally, we perform a sensitivity analysis to assess the stability of the BTOPSIS rankings under varying utility function parameters, further validating the robustness of our method. We apply this framework to the 2023 ‘Quality of Life in European Cities’ survey, analyzing diverse urban factors such as public transport, healthcare, cultural facilities, green spaces, education, air quality, noise levels, and cleanliness. Additionally, our study offers a comparative analysis of BTOPSIS against other multi-criteria methods used for evaluation data from this report, showcasing its strengths and limitations in addressing the dataset’s complexity. Our findings reveal significant variations in residents’ perceived QoL across European cities, both between cities and within countries. Zurich and Groningen rank highest in satisfaction, while Tirana, Skopje, and Palermo are ranked lowest. Notably, residents of cities with populations under 500,000 report higher satisfaction levels than those in larger cities, and satisfaction levels are generally higher in EU and EFTA cities compared to those in the Western Balkans, with the highest satisfaction observed in northern and western Member States. To aid urban planners and policy-makers, we propose a ranking tool using the BTOPSIS method, capturing nuanced resident perceptions of living conditions across cities. These insights provide valuable guidance for strategic urban development and advancing the smart city agenda across Europe. Full article

This paper investigates the economic feasibility and benefits of introducing genetically modified (GM) crops into Lebanon’s agricultural sector. The methodology combines a rigorous cost–benefit analysis with qualitative insights from local farmers and agricultural scientists to ensure relevance to Lebanon’s unique agricultural context. Through this study, we identified tomatoes and potatoes as the most suitable crops for GM implementation. The findings indicate that GM tomatoes could increase net income by USD 10,000 per hectare in the short term and USD 50,000 over five years. These economic benefits are primarily driven by higher yields and reduced pesticide costs. This study emphasizes the necessity of a holistic approach, including financial support, infrastructure development, farmer education, and robust market access strategies, to maximize the potential of GM crops. This research provides a strategic framework for leveraging GM technology to address Lebanon’s agricultural challenges, promoting sustainable practices, enhancing food security, and ensuring long-term economic stability. By integrating local context and stakeholder perspectives, this paper offers a unique and actionable pathway for successful GM crop implementation in Lebanon. Full article

Navigating the complexities of establishing sustainable micro-credentialing programs in European higher education requires a tailored approach for providers. The goal of this research is to develop an assessment tool that enhances the implementation and recognition of micro-credentials in European higher education. This article introduces the INVEST Micro-credentialing Capability Maturity Model (MCMM), designed to assist educational institutions in assessing and enhancing their readiness for micro-credential establishment. Through a systematic six-stage process, we identify supportive conditions, specify levels of process maturity, develop domains and aspects, characterize levels of capability, consult with stakeholders, and finalize the model. The resulting Capability Maturity Model (CMM) outlines five levels of process maturity encompassing educational, administrative, regulatory, and collaborative aspects, aligning with the principles outlined by the European Union (EU) initiatives for micro-credential establishment. Through establishing clear objectives, the model aids in the strategic development and evaluation of micro-credential programs. Stakeholders are offered a comprehensive roadmap to evaluate their progress, identify required resources, and strategize for further advancement in micro-credentialing initiatives. Full article

This paper addresses a pragmatic and well-articulated qualitative methodology for the identification, prioritization, and consultation of stakeholder groups for a higher education institution as a key element for the organization in the context of digital transformation and Industry 5.0. First, the identification phase required technological surveillance and competitive intelligence, which allowed for defining the organization’s stakeholders and their characteristics. Then, the prioritization phase was performed to determine the stakeholders that potentially will have the greatest impact on achieving the institution’s strategic objectives to the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals prioritized by the institution, and those who will be most affected (positively or negatively) by the HEI activities. Finally, different methods and technological tools were used for consulting internal and external stakeholders, according to the type of relationship with each group, which allowed the understanding of the perceptions of different stakeholder groups on issues such as gender equity, mental health, regenerative economy, and diversity training. The results are then presented in terms of organizational context, where the concept of stakeholder group was defined by the dynamics of the selected HEI; the prioritized stakeholders include students, employees, academic and research sector, public sector, business sector, social sector, community, archdiocese and diocese, alumni, donors, and benefactors. This approach enabled the identification of issues that became a priority in the university’s actions towards the future. Although the presented methodology is mainly qualitative, which can represent a high degree of subjectivity, the stakeholder prioritization exercise provides organizations with inputs for decision making aligned with their needs and expectations. Using such a methodology can help the organization to experience structural changes reflected in improved strategic alignment, understanding, and satisfaction of stakeholders’ expectations and needs, enhancement of reputation, risk and conflict mitigation, and the consolidation of long-term healthy and trustworthy relationships, in the context of Society 5.0, where human-centered solutions are expected. Full article

Open education, Open Educational Practices (OEPs), and Open Educational Resources (OERs) have emerged as significant opportunities for enhancing global sustainability information sharing. However, the creation and sharing of OERs, as well as the usage of OEPs in Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD), remain limited. This study explores the implementation of OEPs in HESD, aiming to empower students to co-produce OERs on sustainable development (SD). This study, drawing on the theoretical approach of the principle of constructive alignment, proposes the development of students’ digital competence in OER production. A two-group pretest–posttest analysis of 409 students (Psychology, Economics, Education, Geography) reveals a significant increase in digital competence over time among students who produced OERs on SD, compared to their peers enrolled in courses unrelated to OER content development. We delve into the practical implications of designing OEPs in HESD and strategize to support students in their OER production processes. Full article

We offer practical, case-based experiences on sustainability reporting in higher education institutions (HEIs), with a focus on the integration of sustainability activities into strategic planning and quality management. A proposed approach is based on the experience of the University of Split, Croatia, and the lessons learned from the SEA-EU University Alliance. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our model emphasizes the active engagement of stakeholders and the continuous collection and review of sustainability data. In addition, we propose to automate the collection and dissemination of sustainability research findings through the implementation of a Current Research Information System (CRIS). Our case study provides a roadmap for improving sustainability performance and reporting. The experience of the University of Split (Croatia) could be helpful and generalizable to a number of universities with an intermediate level of maturity in sustainability management and reporting, trying to improve their university rankings. Full article

Ensuring financial sustainability is paramount for higher education institutions (HEIs) to maintain financial viability and accomplish their strategic objectives by efficiently managing and utilizing resources. Studying strategic enablers’ interconnections and influences on each other is essential to forming a profound understanding and guiding the execution of initiatives linked to achieving financial sustainability plans. The main objective of this research study is to construct a model and analyze the strategic enablers of financial sustainability in HEIs and their associated dimensions. An integrated modeling approach was followed based on the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) methods. Input data collected from experts with specialist experience in financial sustainability in HEIs were used in the modeling. The overarching finding is that starting with the development of regulations and legislation-related systems leads to good governance practices, enabling the achievement of financial sustainability in HEIs. The developed model unpacks the complex relationships among the enablers and their dimensions. It reveals their cause-and-effect relationship classifications, ranks based on relative importance weights, dependence and driving powers classifications, relationship directions, and interpretive structure. It provides an overarching view of the interconnected network that acts as a roadmap to achieving financial sustainability in HEIs. Full article

Quality of life (QOL) is based on one’s perception of one’s position in life with respect to one’s goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. It is also influenced by one’s culture and value system, workflow, and workplace situation; in turn, QOL influences the quality of service one is able to provide. In this study, we aim to report on dental and nursing academics’ QOL and wellbeing at the end of the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health professionals (nurses and dentists), but it is important to investigate their quality of life three years later; furthermore, knowledge about academic staff is very limited. The World Health Organization Quality of Life–BREF Scale (WHOQOL-BREF) tool, recording the physical, psychological, social, and environmental dimensions of QOL, was used. The WHOQOL-BREF was modified using a spiritual coaching/mentoring approach in a two-step design and validation procedure. The modified SHQOL-BREF (Spiritual Healthcare version) designed for this study was uploaded and filled in online during April–June 2023. The staff (N = 120, 75% female) of the Departments of Dentistry (44.2%) and Nursing (55.8%) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens participated anonymously. QOL in terms of physical health was reported at a higher level (M = 72.2 points) compared to social relationships (M = 69 points), psychological health (M = 65 points), and environment (M = 59 points) (scores reported on a 0–100 scale). Overall, QOL was rated at 66 points, while satisfaction with one’s health was at 72 points. Job satisfaction (M₁ = 3.2) and spirituality (M₂ = 3.0) were reported at a medium level on a five-point scale, while personal beliefs and values were reported at a high level (M₃ = 4.0). The four areas of QOL are associated with job satisfaction, personal beliefs, and spirituality. Participant age presented a significant moderate–strong effect on physical health (F (3.97) = 2.89, p < 0.05, η²_p = 0.08) and on the environment (F (3.97) = 2.80, p < 0.05, η²_p = 0.08), and marital status had a significant effect on social relationships (F (1.97) = 9.66, p < 0.05, η²_p = 0.09). Married participants reported consistently higher levels of QOL compared to single participants, for all age groups. The department had a significant moderate effect on social relationships (F (1.97) = 5.10, p < 0.05, η²_p = 0.05), and education had a significant moderate–strong effect on psychological health (F (2.97) = 3.74, p < 0.05, η²_p = 0.07). PhD-level participants in both departments presented higher levels of psychological health compared to those with lower educational levels. Also, participants from the Department of Dentistry reported higher levels of social relationship QOL in all educational groups compared to the Department of Nursing. Overall, according to our findings, PhD participants generally had better psychological health. Those under 40 years of age had higher levels of physical health and environmental quality of life, while married participants and those from the Department of Dentistry had higher levels of social interactions than those from the Department of Nursing. Strategic planning on sustainability and QOL initiatives should be introduced after the COVID-19 pandemic for dental and nursing academic personnel to promote resilience and QOL scores. Enhancing the QOL of academic staff is essential for developing health promotion activities at universities and can help boost performance among staff and students. Full article

Financial sustainability is a crucial challenge for higher education institutions due to various challenges and constraints. This necessitates determining their investment priorities accurately based on multiple criteria to ensure a sustainable income. This study puts forward a novel, hybrid approach for prioritizing the financial sustainability plan investment initiatives in higher education institutions using an updated method for the removal effects of criteria with a geometric mean (MEREC-G) and ranking the alternatives based on the trace-to-median index (RATMI) techniques. The developed approach is applied to the strategic financial sustainability plan investment initiatives at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). The study’s results prioritized the investment initiatives based on quantitative and qualitative criteria with different weights. Results also revealed the potential initiatives that can be considered quick-winning initiatives. Furthermore, results determined one high-potential initiative for each of KAU’s financial sustainability plan pillars. Based on the results, the study recommended four steps that assist KAU in ranking the initiatives effectively. Implications of the novel approach include assisting decision makers in higher education institutions to evaluate investment initiative priorities based on objective and subjective criteria to ensure the financial sustainability of their institutions. Full article

Universities play a significant role in the economic development of society as they provide knowledge and skills that are essential for social sustainability. In recent years, universities shifted their focus towards student-centered education and need to reconsider their sustainable strategies to become more competitive by encouraging student co-creation behaviors. To create a unique experience, universities aim to involve students in creating and delivering their educational experiences. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the perceived quality of educational service and the institutional image of a university influence students’ value co-creation behavior, and the role of loyalty in this process. The study is based on two complementary studies conducted in an Italian public university. The first study involved 720 undergraduate students with one business management bachelor’s degree who completed a questionnaire to collect primary data. The second study used six focus groups to identify which specific students’ experiences and university activities stimulated co-creation behaviors. The results show that student loyalty plays an important mediating role between university image, students’ quality perception, and co-creation behavior. Additionally, only three dimensions of quality, namely quality non-academy aspects, quality reputation, and quality access have an impact on students’ loyalty. Therefore, only two dimensions of brand image, university brand knowledge (UK), and university brand prestige (UPR) have a direct effect on value co-creation behavior. These findings have important implications for higher education institutions (HEIs) to develop managerial strategies that increase students’ co-creation behavior. The co-creation process should be considered as part of HEIs’ image-building and quality policy-enhancing strategy. Despite the value co-creation approach being overlooked in studies on HEIs governance, this study highlights its potential as a strategic approach for improving service quality and university image. Full article

In the past decades, the demand for providing soft skills among higher learners has been met through cooperative teamwork commitment. The need to continue empowering such initiatives should entail finding a balance between accountabilities and capabilities to play a significant role in academic achievement and social community engagement. This paper aims to examine the strategies to empower cooperative teamwork to provide insights into community service sustainability, where this would entail designing its key roles to engage with higher learners’ practices. The literature from recent reviews was developed to construct a critical examination of the role of service learning in strengthening cooperative teamwork to contribute to community service sustainability. This approach used the keywords cooperative teamwork, community service, and service learning. The findings reveal that there are three main points representing the core attempts to help empower cooperative teamwork to support community service sustainability: expanding strategic management of cooperative-based experiential learning, community service with commitment to civic responsibility, and incorporating service learning into higher education (HE) contexts. The value of this paper aims to contribute to the knowledge development of service learning, specifically addressed with the experiential skills obtained through planning, implementing, and evaluating the service learning process. The ultimate aim was also to enhance cooperative teamwork with critical, creative, and innovative thinking as key performance skills. Full article

Mintzberg’s version of emergent strategy is based on the idea that strategies are contingent on circumstances that change from time to time often very rapidly and therefore papers focused on strategy and detailed planning are limited in their practical application. The word strategy as far as Mintzberg is concerned is anathema, therefore, introducing a concept that has a misconception embedded in it. This paper claims that education for sustainable development and higher education institutions’ survival depends on adopting postmodern thinking, in other words, digital transformation. This conceptual paper proposes a blueprint of a process for developing a series of agile potentially short-term conceptual solutions thereby embracing the expectation that the rate of change in societies is accelerating. This paper scrutinizes (a) the applicability of emergent strategy/strategic approach to higher education institutions, (b) how postmodernism influences higher education institutions to become digital hubs of commoditization of knowledge and (c) how the integrated capabilities of digital transformation build sustainability in education delivery. Structural Equation Methodology is proposed to examine the impact of postmodernism on the sustainable delivery of education in higher education institutions, and the need to foster relevant emergent strategies is also justified. The paper also develops new research propositions and managerial implications for driving optimistic digital education. Ultimately, it offers a framework for spear-leading effective and leading post-modernistic digital transformation. Emerging education technology, sustainable digital transformation and advanced use of robotic-human cognitive collaboration are experiencing a significant transformation. Universities play a vital role in enhancing engagement within higher education. One of the managerial implications of the results and discussion is the need for higher education institutions to provide taught leadership and planning in emergent strategy formulation and implementation. The findings confirm the significant importance of linking the Structural Equation Method and the postmodern strategic context in which we argue that higher education institutions require emerging rethinking. Full article

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is one of the innovative approaches for sustainably increasing the agricultural productivity, improving livelihoods and incomes of farmers, while at the same time improving resilience and contributing to climate change mitigation. In spite of the fact that there is neither explicit policy nor practices branded as CSA in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), farmers are utilizing an array of farming practices whose attributes meet the CSA criteria. However, the intensity, distribution, efficiency, and dynamics of use as well as the sources of these technologies are not sufficiently documented. Therefore, this review paper provides a comprehensive evidence of CSA-associated farming practices in DRC, public and private efforts to promote CSA practices, and the associated benefits accruing from the practices as deployed by farmers in the DRC. We find evidence of progress among farming communities in the use of practices that can be classified as CSA. Communities using these practices are building on the traditional knowledge systems and adaptation of introduced technologies to suit the local conditions. Reported returns on use of these practices are promising, pointing to their potential continued use into the future. While progressive returns on investment are reported, they are relatively lower than those reported from other areas in sub-Saharan Africa deploying similar approaches. We recommend for strategic support for capacity building at various levels, including public institutions for policy development and guidance, extension and community level to support uptake of technologies and higher education institutions for mainstreaming CSA into curricula and training a generation of CSA sensitive human resources. Full article

Due to the increasing appearance of global contagious diseases such as COVID-19, the goal of this research is to directly and explicitly advance the learning motivation, interests, and performance of online course participants into developing sustainable development and strategic approaches to discover the effective solution of the research question: how to provide the most effective online courses of sustainable development strategy for contemporary higher education in order to advance the student’s learning motivation, confidence, and desires? This is accomplished by integrating the three briefest analytical aspects of the Social Learning Theory, the main theoretical philosophies of Learning Community, and 10 core technological features to determine the most critical core determinants. Beyond the complex measured results, the most valuable conclusions were: (1) the highest Standardized Comparative Weight Scales (SCWS) was located in the Publicity Philosophy for contemporary online higher education sustainable development strategy, which meant the first hypothesis was accepted and the second and third hypotheses were denied. Hence, the Publicity Philosophy (PP) of the learning community directly and effectively advanced the contemporary online higher education sustainable development strategy for educational institutions as the best solution to the research question in order to achieve the main research objective. (2) Continuously, in detail, the PP of the learning community was directly and effectively enforced by the Professionalization Technology Feature of Course Function. This directly indicated that most online course participants focus on the professionalized technological features in the system operation, such as friendly operational platforms for easy uploads, convenient downloads of online course information, and real-time news during online courses at higher education institutions. Significantly, the aggregated technology in group discussions or teamwork assignments and the complete and fair evaluation of online course technological system can facilitate collaborative lesson preparation and lesson observation of the PP of the learning community in order to advance online course interests and learning performance to be the sustainable development strategic approach in contemporary higher education era. Full article

Digitalisation provides access to an integrated network of information that can benefit society and businesses. However, the evidence of sustainability in business is less researched. In our paper, by building up the research approach, we address the relevant gap by investigating how sustainable development goals represent the interrelationship between digitalisation and sustainability. Such research is particularly important because understandings of digitalisation and sustainability determine how different actors, including business managers and policymakers, act in response to those imperatives to develop future employees skills starting from school age. Following a multi-method approach, we have combined our analysis into two steps examining the relationship between digitalisation and sustainability. Building digital networks, business managers and policy makers using digital means can create some unique opportunities to strategically address sustainable development challenges for the United Nations Targets (SDG) to ensure higher productivity, education, and an equality-oriented society. This point of view describes the potential of digitalisation for society and businesses of the future. The authors revise the links between digitalisation and sustainability in the European Union countries by using data available in Eurostat and UNECE public databases. The two-stage methodology for the identification of the relationship between ICT and sustainability is used in the paper and a linear regression model is applied. The results showed tiers with five SDGs, focusing on business, and all these tiers are fixed in the constructed equations for each SDG. The recommended solution is statistically valid and proves the novelty of this research. Among digitalisation indicators, only mobile-cellular subscriptions and fixed-broadband sub-basket prices in part do not affect researched sustainable development indicators. Full article