Search Results (3,148)

During the last 15 years, the territorial strategy of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has supported initiatives focused on promoting the sustainable growth of European fishing communities, such as establishing Museums of the Sea. These museums emphasize the preservation, safeguarding, and enhancement of both tangible and intangible maritime cultural heritage, turning territorial and identity resources into valuable assets with significant potential for cultural and educational tourism. They are essential in enhancing local identity and sense of belonging, along with the social appreciation of the fishing profession. This research collects and examines data originating from five Museums of the Sea founded since 2000 in the province of A Coruña (Galicia, Spain) with CFP financing. Findings emphasize the connections between the Museums of the Sea, education and tourism, creating opportunities for local growth in fishing-reliant areas, promoting economic variety, safeguarding maritime heritage, and strengthening maritime identity. Full article

Background/Objectives: Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to long-term changes in mobility, bodily function, and everyday participation, extending beyond physical impairment to affect autonomy, identity, and social inclusion. In Greece, limited community-based rehabilitation services, environmental inaccessibility, and fragmented follow-up care further shape the lived experience of individuals with SCI. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences and perceived rehabilitation needs of people with paraplegia living in the community, adopting a phenomenological approach to understand rehabilitation as an ongoing process of reclaiming autonomy, dignity, and participation. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological design was employed. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen individuals with paraplegia following SCI. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis, supported by ATLAS.ti software. Results: Participants described living with SCI as a ‘Socially lived disability: a daily confrontation with an inadequate system and the ongoing struggle for accessibility, autonomy, and dignity’ (Overarching Theme). Participants’ experiences were organized into six themes: (A) facing the new reality, (B) barriers and facilitators of independent living, (C) role and importance of rehabilitation, (D) me and others around me, my difference, (E) the need for adequately trained and informed health professionals and caregivers, (F) ageing as an additional challenge. Conclusions: Living with SCI is experienced as an ongoing process of embodied and social reorientation, in which autonomy, participation, and dignity are continuously negotiated rather than restored once and for all. Rehabilitation emerges as a lifelong, person-centered process that extends beyond functional recovery to support bodily confidence, accessibility, social inclusion, and quality of life across the life course. These findings highlight the need for coordinated, community-based rehabilitation systems, accessible environments, and adequately trained health professionals capable of addressing the evolving functional, social, and existential realities of individuals living with SCI. Full article

Background/Objectives: The death of a parent due to illness during adolescence constitutes a highly disruptive experience that compounds the developmental losses inherent to this stage of life. Distinguishing between the emotional and behavioural changes characteristic of adolescent development and those specific to grief can be complex, which may hinder the support provided by health, social care, and educational professionals. The aim of this study was to understand the grieving process and associated suffering in young university students who had lost a parent during adolescence. Methods: An exploratory qualitative design with a phenomenological approach was employed. Nine semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine in depth the experiences of suffering and grief associated with the loss of a family member among university students. The study adhered to the COREQ guidelines (Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research). Results: Among the main findings, the quality of the bond with the deceased parent emerged as particularly significant, as it influences the adolescent’s identity formation process. The loss of this parent may hinder processes of differentiation and independence, affecting the decisions young people must make as they transition into adulthood. This proves especially important in key life choices that shape their life project, such as vocational decisions and intimate partner relationships. Conclusions: Parental death during adolescence has long-lasting repercussions on identity construction and the shaping of one’s life project. It is necessary to strengthen psychosocial support within both clinical and educational contexts in order to address the specific needs of adolescents and young people undergoing this experience. Full article

Urban soundscape management is a central challenge to the livability and sustainability of cities and requires approaches that complement level indicators with frameworks capable of integrating context, use and experience. In this framework, the present work applies a multilayer methodology to the Old Town of Bilbao, understood as a useful case study to explore the applicability of soundscape reading in historic centers with intense coexistence of commercial, hospitality and catering uses, pedestrian, logistical and cultural uses. The methodology is organized into two phases. The first focuses on the recording and documentation of control points and routes through sound fieldwork, perceptual descriptions and homogeneous systematization of information. From this corpus, a qualified sound map and a first visual characterization of the sound identity are elaborated. The second phase presented in this article, consists of the interpretative synthesis of the corpus through five analytical dimensions and the preparation of fragments and sound sequences conceived for future application through reactivated listening. The results are presented at three levels: (1) a traceable documentary corpus of records, files and synthetic representations; (2) a comparative reading by dimensions that identifies spatial contrasts between interior, exterior and perimeter, as well as relationships between urban form, uses, persistence, masking and salience; and (3) a set of operational audio materials prepared for subsequent comparison with inhabitants and users. In a transversal way, type–token reading distinguishes between the diversity of sounds and dominance by repetition. The article does not yet carry out participatory validation of these materials; its contribution consists of proposing and applying a traceable analytical protocol as a basis for future phases of social contrast and applied discussion. Full article

Employing a 4 (opponent type) × 2 (communication condition) between-subjects design, the study recruited 194 valid human participants to complete three rounds of game tasks. Results revealed: (1) The type of game counterpart exerted a significant main effect on participants’ remaining funds (F(3, 185) = 3.179, p = 0.025). Human participants retained significantly more funds when the counterpart was a real large model compared to other groups. (2) A significant interaction existed between the type of game counterpart and communication conditions (F(3, 185) = 3.318, p = 0.021). Specifically, when the opponent was a fake AI model (presented as human but actually an AI), human participants’ remaining funds were significantly higher under the communication condition than without communication (p = 0.012). This indicates that communication can promote rational decision-making in identity mismatch scenarios by providing additional behavioral cues. In the fake-human group (informed as human but actually AI), a numerical trend toward increased funds was also observed under communication conditions, though it did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.159); (3) The moderating effect of social value orientation did not reach significance. These findings extend the application of the theory of mind in human–machine games, revealing the complex influence mechanism of identity perception and communication dynamics on rational decision-making. Full article

As tourism businesses increasingly integrate anthropomorphic and AI-impowered technologies into service functions, a key managerial and theoretical challenge is adjusting high-tech performance with high-touch human involvement. Addressing this issue, this paper applied a PLS-SEM algorithmic modeling method to explore how anthropomorphic technological experiences shape guests’ experiential sharing intentions (ESIs) within hospitality service environments. Drawing on social response theory and service experience theory, this research developed and practically evaluated a moderated–mediated model describing how anthropomorphic technological experiences can impact experiential sharing intentions (ESIs). Specifically, the model tested the direct and indirect impacts of anthropomorphic experience on ESI through affective experience (AF_EX) and perceived service innovation (PSI), while evaluating the moderating roles of employee presence and technology identity. The results offered strong evidence to support the developed framework. Anthropomorphic experience can positively impact guests’ affective experience, PSI, and ESI with others. Both AF_EX and PSI can act as significant predictors of ESI and can operate as complementary mediating mechanisms, implying that emotional involvement and innovation-signaling technologies reinforce guests’ advocacy through dual experiential pathways. Notably, the findings revealed a critical boundary setting. Technology identity can amplify the influence of anthropomorphic experience on both AE and PSI, signaling that guests who view technology as part of their self-concept exhibited greater levels of experiential value from human-like operations. By applying PLS-SEM algorithmic modeling to integrate anthropomorphism, perceived innovation, and experiential value within a moderated mediation framework, this paper advanced the theoretical understanding of high-tech–high-touch hospitality experiences and provided practical insights for developing synergistic technology-enabled service contexts. Full article

Substance use disorder (SUD) undermines social connection, identity, and well-being. While art therapy is formally incorporated into clinical treatment, far less is known about how informal, group-based creative activities contribute to recovery. This qualitative study examines whether and how participation in a creative arts group fosters social support and human flourishing among individuals with SUD. We conducted semi-structured, individual interviews of eight adults enrolled in SUD outpatient treatment at the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction who voluntarily participated in a creative arts class. Recordings were transcribed and analyzed using an iterative, thematic approach. Analysis revealed four themes: (1) Social connectedness and support—artmaking fostered camaraderie, accountability, and peer encouragement; (2) Holistic and supportive environment—the group offered a safe, nonjudgmental space that affirmed participants beyond their addiction; (3) Emotional renewal through art—creative engagement reduced anxiety, promoted joy, and provided a constructive outlet for emotions; and (4) Reclaiming agency through artistic expression—participants experienced autonomy, skill development, and identity building, which fostered hope and personal growth. Overall, participants viewed artmaking as a catalyst for relational and personal transformation. These exploratory findings generate hypotheses for future research on the role of informal creative arts groups within recovery-oriented care settings. Full article

Digital transformation has profoundly reshaped caregiving practices, yet its influence on family cohesion within disability contexts remains underexplored, particularly in Arab societies. This qualitative phenomenological study examines how digital technologies shape family cohesion among Jordanian caregivers of children with disabilities. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 primary caregivers, and data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings reveal a central tension of being “between connectivity and care,” articulated through four interrelated themes: (1) a digital double-bind in which online support networks function as a vital “virtual village” while simultaneously contributing to intra-familial fragmentation; (2) the reconfiguration of care labor, whereby digital management emerges as an invisible and gendered form of caregiving work, often positioning mothers as primary digital coordinators; (3) the translation of traditional social capital (wasta) into digital spaces to navigate systemic resource constraints, producing new moral and emotional burdens; and (4) the strategic use of digital platforms to preserve cultural, religious, and familial identity in the face of stigma, thereby reinforcing internal cohesion. These findings suggest that digital technologies do not merely facilitate connection but actively reconfigure family dynamics through ongoing negotiation between support and strain. The study underscores the need for family-centered digital inclusion policies and support interventions that mitigate digital burdens while harnessing technology’s potential to strengthen culturally grounded resilience among families of children with disabilities. Full article

Generative artificial intelligence in higher education is typically framed as either a student productivity tool or an institutional disruption. This agenda-setting essay advances a third position: mobile generative AI functions as relational infrastructure—a persistent communicative presence that mediates identity, meaning-making, and belonging during institutional transition. Focusing on international graduate student onboarding, we abductively “think through” two complementary theoretical lenses. Constitutive Artificial Intelligence Identity Theory (CAIIT) conceptualizes AI as a co-constitutive participant in identity formation through recursive communicative feedback loops. Language Convergence/Meaning Divergence (LC/MD) theory explains how shared institutional language masks interpretive gaps across intercultural and bureaucratic contexts. Reading narrative vignettes through these frameworks, we argue that generative AI is neither simple curricular tool nor personal aid, but both relational and organizational infrastructure, redistributing translational, emotional, and interpretive labor in higher education. We outline four design principles for AI-integrated onboarding: distinguish communicative scaffolding from cognitive replacement; design systems that assume meaning divergence; center equity in AI-mediated transitions; and anticipate ethical risk. Reframing AI as relational infrastructure shifts AI-in-education research toward relational accountability and institutional care. Full article

Addressing the prevalent issue of “physical preservation but spiritual silence” in the revitalisation of China’s national industrial heritage, this study proposes and empirically validates a “dual-track narrative” design framework that systematically translates cultural values into spatial experiences. The framework integrates a “figure–history” narrative, which crystallises historical lineage and symbolic spirit through spatial sequences, commemorative landmarks, and authentic remains, with a “scene–activity” narrative, which transforms former production spaces into dynamic, culturally vibrant stages through ecological restoration displays, industrial landscape transformation, and flexible activity implantation. Using Nantong Guangsheng Oil Mill as a single-case study, the research employs qualitative methods including archival analysis, field observation, and semi-structured interviews to examine how the dual-track framework operates in practice. The findings reveal that the “figure–history” narrative manifests in a walkable “time corridor” along the north–south axis, where architectural remnants from different eras are organised to materialise Zhang Jian’s industrial salvation ethos and the collective memory of generations of workers. Meanwhile, the “scene–activity” narrative activates underutilised spaces—such as the repurposing of acid treatment ponds into constructed wetlands and paved grounds into public stages—enabling ongoing cultural production, community interaction, and ecological healing. The study demonstrates that the dual-track framework bridges the historical and contemporary dimensions often treated separately in heritage practice, establishing a systematic “translation mechanism” from cultural decoding to design intervention. Theoretically, it contributes to industrial heritage research by integrating narratology, memory studies, heritage interpretation, and situationism into a coherent design methodology. Practically, it offers decision-makers evaluation criteria beyond the preservation-versus-development binary, provides designers with a mode of creative transformation grounded in material authenticity, and suggests to operators a content-driven, event-based model for sustaining heritage spaces. By spatialising and eventising narratives, the dual-track approach enables industrial heritage to function as a catalyst for cultural identity, social vitality, and economic sustainability, offering a transferable paradigm for the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage in contemporary urban contexts. Full article

In the context of advancing communication technologies and digital spaces, Moroccan youth are increasingly engaging with concepts of mobility, presenting both opportunities and challenges in a liquid modern digital landscape. While digital identities and mobility have been extensively studied among Western youth, non-Western youth, including those in Morocco, are often viewed through a lens of being “at risk,” which biases objective analysis. This study addresses this gap by examining how digital mobility fosters culturally hybrid identities among Moroccan youth in a globalised world. Methods: An interdisciplinary ethnographic content analysis was conducted on youth digital productions and interactions on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The study draws on Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity and Stuart Hall’s theory of representation to explore identity formation. Results: Digital mobility enables Moroccan youth to navigate between local cultural influences (Amazigh, Islamic, African, and Arab) and global Western narratives, leading to hybrid identities. Challenges include cultural erosion through practices like Western-style dating shows and sexual freedoms that challenge social norms, potentially widening generational gaps. Opportunities arise from platforms like SAWT, where youth discuss taboo topics, create hybrid cultural artefacts, and engage in glocalisation, enhancing agency and global integration. Conclusions: Digital mobility acts as a catalyst for cultural hybridity, supporting global integration while highlighting the need for addressing accessibility disparities and unsupervised interactions. This framework contributes to digital youth studies by emphasising mobility’s role in identity evolution, advocating for balanced glocality over cultural protectionism or homogenisation. Full article

Against the backdrop of globalization and rapid urbanization, the weakening of regional cultural identity has emerged as a significant challenge in contemporary architectural practice, particularly within the context of large-scale campus development. University architecture must navigate the complex task of balancing functional demands with long-term cultural and social sustainability. However, the prevalence of homogenized architectural forms in many newly constructed campuses often undermines local distinctiveness, leading to diminished place identity and reduced social sustainability. In response, this study takes the Yan’an University new campus in China as a representative case to explore how regional culture can be sustainably integrated into campus architecture through spatial organization, typological strategies, and symbolic translation. The study employs qualitative analysis and a life-cycle perspective, integrating architectural semiotics and typological methods to construct a multidimensional analytical framework of “space–material–culture”. This framework is systematically applied to examine how the loess culture, revolutionary heritage, and folk art of Yan’an are translated and expressed in a contemporary context. The findings reveal that achieving cultural sustainability does not rely on direct imitation of historical forms but rather on an adaptive spatial framework, modular architectural typologies, and a performance-integrated material system, which together shape a resilient and organically evolving campus entity. Specifically, the design employs strategies such as “symbolic translation from archetype to type”, “dialogue between traditional materials and contemporary craftsmanship”, and “spatial translation from enclosed courtyards to open landscapes”. These approaches facilitate the organic embedding of regional cultural genes, promote the continuity of collective memory, strengthen local identity, and enable phased development throughout the campus’s life cycle. By extending the concept of sustainability from environmental performance to cultural continuity, social cohesion, and spatial adaptability, this study provides actionable design pathways and theoretical references for campus development in regions with profound historical backgrounds. Full article

Poverty has continued to be a huge challenge in the post-apartheid South Africa, despite some interventions from the government, civil societies and religious organizations. The persistent increase in poverty raises critical questions about how interventions to address this challenge have been effective. Among other things, the country’s poverty situation reveals that something is missing in its approaches to addressing it. This article investigates the theological and ecclesial implications of the poverty crisis, arguing the need for the church to critically reexamine its role and witness in combating the problem. Drawing on the Confession of Belhar, mainly from Article 4, which asserts God’s solidarity with the poor and the oppressed, the article argues for the need for the church’s engagement with poverty to be rooted in renewed theological conviction. Article 4 of the Belhar Confession calls the church not only to solidarity with the poor but also to prophetically acting against systemic injustice and social–economic marginalization. The article discusses the causes of poverty in post-apartheid South Africa and argues that the church must look back to the Belhar Confession not just as a historical document but also as a guide for addressing all forms of injustice in a changing context. The article encourages the church in post-apartheid Africa to reclaim its prophetic identity and renew its commitment to economic justice. Full article

Industrial sustainability is commonly evaluated through environmental impact, resource consumption, and operational resilience indicators. These metrics describe system performance but do not define whether production remains within human physiological limits. This study develops a dynamic capacity-constrained sustainability model that treats human work capacity as a bounded system state rather than a descriptive social variable. The model formulates capacity as a continuous-time variable governed by aggregated exceedance of thermal and physical tolerance limits and by a recovery parameter representing biological restoration. A stability threshold is derived analytically, defining a critical exceedance level above which steady-state capacity declines below the minimum functional requirement for stable operation. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that equilibrium capacity decreases nonlinearly with increasing exceedance and depends on the recovery rate. A numerical illustration under summer thermal exposure conditions shows that two production configurations with identical environmental and resource indicators may fall on opposite sides of the stability boundary due to differences in aggregated exceedance. The results indicate that sustainability assessment requires integration of measurable physiological constraints. Human work capacity functions as a dynamic boundary condition that conditions system stability beyond conventional environmental performance metrics. Full article

Background: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is among the most prevalent and disabling mental health conditions affecting military veterans in Western countries. In recent decades, PTSD has increasingly been conceptualized as a systemic neuropsychological injury shaped not only by individual psychopathology, but also by institutional, cultural, and political contexts, particularly in settings of prolonged conflict and political violence. This shift has given rise to diverse national rehabilitation models that extend beyond symptom-focused care. This narrative comparative review aims to examine national models of PTSD rehabilitation among military veterans and to derive policy-relevant insights for Israel. Methods: We conducted a narrative comparative review of peer-reviewed literature and national policy documents published between 2014 and 2023, examining military and veteran PTSD rehabilitation frameworks in six Western countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands. Sources were identified through PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and governmental repositories. The review focused on system-level rehabilitation structures, including clinical services, peer-based programs, occupational integration, community and cultural components, and national monitoring practices. Results: Across countries, recurring challenges included persistent stigma limiting help-seeking, fragmented service delivery, inconsistent access to evidence-based care and a lack of standardized outcome indicators capturing functional and social recovery. Innovative approaches included biopsychosocial-spiritual rehabilitation models, peer-led interventions, intra-systemic employment pathways, and symbolic forms of social recognition. In this context, the biopsychosocial-spiritual approach refers to integrative rehabilitation models that extend beyond traditional frameworks by incorporating meaning-making, identity reconstruction, and value-based recovery processes. Conclusions: The findings highlight the need to reconceptualize PTSD rehabilitation as a multidimensional, system-level process. In light of the 2023 “Iron Swords” war and the scale of trauma exposure in Israel, the review informs actionable recommendations for developing a coordinated national rehabilitation strategy that integrates clinical care with occupational, community and cultural recovery. Full article