Search Results (1,819)

The systemic shift in the energy consumption structure from high-carbon fossil fuels to low-carbon clean energy constitutes a critical pathway toward global climate governance and carbon neutrality. However, this sustainable transition is consistently impeded by deep-seated institutional frictions and structural barriers, such as governance fragmentation and carbon lock-in effects embedded in traditional industrial organization. Whether digital government development can overcome these barriers by nurturing resilient business ecosystems and thereby promote a systemic low-carbon energy transition remains an urgent question within sustainable development research. To address this issue, this study integrates digital government development, regional e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness, and the low-carbon transition of the energy consumption structure into a unified analytical and sustainable governance framework. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2022, we exploit the institutional reform of provincial big data administrations as a quasi-natural experiment to identify the impacts of digital government. Regional e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness is comprehensively evaluated across four sustainable dimensions: ecological innovation capacity, market connectivity, ecological global integration, and inclusive infrastructure. Methodologically, we employ a spatial difference-in-differences model to capture geographic interdependencies alongside a double machine learning framework to handle high-dimensional confounding and nonlinear disturbances. The empirical findings reveal that both digital government development and regional e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness significantly drive the low-carbon transition of the energy consumption structure. The institutional effect of digital government exhibits strong regional embeddedness with localized impacts, whereas e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness generates positive spatial spillovers that accelerate energy optimization in neighboring regions. Crucially, regional e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness serves as a significant partial mediator, constructing a reliable transmission channel from institutional design to market-based decarbonization. Further pathway analysis indicates that market connectivity and inclusive infrastructure function as the primary transmission channels, effectively mitigating transportation energy intensity and bridging the digital-green divide, while the mediating contribution of ecological innovation capacity is relatively constrained due to cross-organizational coordination thresholds. This study clarifies the interactive mechanism between public digital governance and market ecosystem competitiveness in advancing environmental sustainability, thereby offering fresh theoretical insights and actionable policy implications for emerging market economies striving for economic growth and decarbonization. Full article

Selecting appropriate plant material is essential for successful vegetable production, as it directly affects product quality, market value, and consumer satisfaction. While major vegetable species already have stable markets, there is growing demand for innovative, healthy, and sustainable products, driving continuous development in the sector. This study provides an overview of novel vegetable products, ranging from native resources to recent innovations in widely consumed crops. Special emphasis is placed on neglected species, particularly edible halophytes, which offer high nutritional value and strong potential under climate change conditions. The study also examines unconventional plants not traditionally used as vegetables, which can contribute to diversifying diets and supporting local economies. At the same time, the vegetable industry continues to innovate by developing new products from common species, taking advantage of their variability in size, shape, color, and taste, including the rising trend of miniaturized vegetables. In addition, the concepts of “superfoods” and functional foods are critically analyzed to clarify their respective significance and distinguishing characteristics. The role of branding is also highlighted due to its increasing influence on consumer preferences. Overall, the study integrates contributions from farmers, industry, and researchers to expand vegetable diversity, promote innovation, and enhance product quality and consumer satisfaction. Full article

Amid rising global economic uncertainty and frequent external shocks, strengthening marine economic resilience has become a core priority for coastal nations to stabilize industrial supply chains and achieve sustainable marine development. China’s traditional resource-driven marine economy faces persistent structural bottlenecks, including homogeneous industrial structure, low value addition and weak risk resistance. As a landmark national policy for sustainable marine economic growth, the Marine Economic Innovation and Development Policy (MEIDP) has been piloted in 15 coastal cities across two batches, yet its causal impact on marine economic resilience remains under systematic evaluation. Using panel data of 51 Chinese coastal cities from 2008 to 2023, this study employs a multi-period difference-in-differences approach with supporting analyses to systematically evaluate the MEIDP’s impact on marine economic resilience, as well as its moderating mechanisms and heterogeneous patterns. The key findings are threefold. First, the MEIDP significantly improves coastal cities’ marine economic resilience, and this positive effect remains stable after multiple robustness tests. Second, public health emergencies exert a significant positive moderating effect, where the industrial support capacity and risk-resilience foundations established through policy implementation function more effectively under shock conditions, thereby amplifying the enhancement of resilience. Third, the policy effect shows prominent heterogeneity, being more pronounced in high-tourism cities and the Northern Marine Economic Circle, while statistically insignificant in low-tourism cities and the Southern Marine Economic Circle. This study enriches the theoretical framework of marine economic policy evaluation and provides empirical evidence from a major developing country for global marine governance, confirming that marine policies that promote innovation are an effective path to strengthen economic risk resistance. In light of these findings, we propose targeted policy recommendations to steadily enhance overall marine economic resilience. Coastal regions should deepen marine policies that promote innovation to bolster industrial upgrading and technological empowerment, adopt differentiated schemes aligned with local industrial foundations and resource endowments, promote marine industrial diversification and chain extension to reduce structural vulnerability, and improve public risk response mechanisms to strengthen the counter-cyclical buffering capacity of the marine economy. Full article

Environmental challenges, such as climate change, resource circulation, and biodiversity loss, are closely interrelated with regional issues, including population decline, aging, youth outmigration, and the maintenance of local industries. Addressing these challenges requires not only scientific and technological innovation but also educational and participatory approaches that empower citizens to engage with complex regional issues. This paper conceptualizes co-learning as a framework for environmental education and citizen engagement in transitions toward sustainable and resilient communities. Co-learning is defined as a multi-actor learning process in which participants with diverse forms of knowledge and social positions revise their understandings, relationships, and orientations toward action through dialogic and reflective interaction. The paper organizes co-learning into a conceptual and methodological framework that connects environmental education, citizen engagement, science communication, technology assessment, community-based projects, and policy-oriented learning. It proposes four types of co-learning—interdisciplinary, bridging, project-based, and policy co-learning—and identifies design principles and analytical dimensions for examining learning outcomes and empowerment processes. Illustrative practices in Tanegashima, Japan, help clarify how the proposed framework can connect science, education, and citizen engagement. Full article

Livestock production, encompassing both meat and dairy industries, constitutes a sector of significant global economic value, providing livelihoods for numerous families and communities worldwide. This paper presents a mixed-methods systematic review of scientific literature published between 2015 and 2026 to map emerging regenerative technology archetypes. While regenerative livestock farming is gaining ground as a sustainable alternative, a significant research gap persists regarding the systematic identification of emerging technologies and the lack of specific frameworks for their technical implementation in tropical regions. This article addresses this gap by mapping the strategic frontiers of regenerative technologies using high-resolution text mining software (Vantage Point V15.1) combined with advanced bibliometric analysis and advanced searches in specialized databases. Fifty-six high-impact publications in Scopus and ScienceDirect were analyzed, and the results identified 14 key regenerative activities, highlighting silvopastoral systems, integrated pasture management, and crop–livestock integration as the most prominent solutions. An additional analysis was applied, identifying 10 variables in regenerative livestock farming as well as their alignment with seminal authors on regenerativity issues. A crucial finding is the existing disconnect between the theoretical benefits of regeneration and its practical application in diverse geographical contexts. To mitigate this gap, the study proposes technical implementation models and a step-by-step procedural sequence specifically designed for the Colombian context, although these can be replicated in other regions, particularly in tropical zones. By synthesizing technical limitations and local adaptability, this research provides a strategic roadmap for the transition to sustainable livestock systems, offering valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers committed to regenerative innovation. Full article

The fundamental dilemma of energy transition lies in whether an economy can guide its energy system to break free from deep dependence on fossil fuels in a sustained and orderly manner. This requires not only institutional incentives for innovation but also, more critically, a social-level shift in focus from “physical expansion” to “human development.” This paper incorporates these two conditions into a unified causal framework. Taking the pilot program for the construction of IP-strong provinces in China launched in 2016 as a quasi-natural experiment, and using panel data from 30 provincial-level administrative regions in China over the period 2010–2022, this study employs the Spatial Durbin Difference-in-Differences (SDM-DID) model and the Double Machine Learning (DML) method to examine the joint impacts and transmission mechanisms of the regional IP strong chain and the deep synergy between investment in physical capital and investment in human capital on energy green controllability. The findings are as follows. First, both the IP strong chain and deep synergy significantly improve energy green controllability. The local effect of deep synergy is far greater than the direct effect of the IP system itself, making it the core structural force driving the green transition. Second, the institutional dividend of the IP strong chain generates positive spatial spillovers to neighboring regions through the patent information disclosure channel. In contrast, the spatial spillovers of deep synergy are obstructed by administrative barriers and fiscal boundaries. Third, deep synergy plays a significant partial mediating role in the process through which the IP strong chain affects energy green controllability, with more than one-third of the total policy effect being released through this channel. Fourth, a path-wise test reveals a notable structural difference: the human capital investment path significantly outperforms the physical capital investment path in terms of transmission efficiency and robustness. This indicates that, at the current stage, the institutional effectiveness of the IP system in driving the green transition is largely achieved by improving the quality, capacity, and security level of human capital, rather than by restructuring the physical capital stock. The above conclusions remain robust after replacing the machine learning algorithm, adjusting the sample split ratio, and excluding the interference of concurrent competitive policies. This paper reveals the complete causal chain through which institutional public goods are transmitted to system governance capacity via the factor allocation structure, providing new empirical evidence for understanding the deep-seated relationship between intellectual property governance and the energy transition. Full article

Innovation districts have emerged as a prominent urban strategy to catalyse knowledge-based development and economic growth. Yet their contribution to sustainability and an understanding of what they entail beyond economic growth remains underexplored. This paper proposes a conceptual framework rooted in urban monitoring to identify and synthesise the contributions of innovation districts (or similar development strategies) into the city’s sustainable development. Specifically, it targets the initial processes of intention and objective setting, where different and conflicting policies overlap to define definite city-level objectives. Using Oslo as a single embedded case study, the paper further proposes a methodology for identifying and localising urban sustainability indicators (USIs) based on the city’s three innovation districts: Oslo Science City, Hovinbyen Circular Oslo, and Punkt Oslo. This methodology integrates global frameworks, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Urban Monitoring Framework, with local priorities and stakeholder perspectives through a combined top-down and bottom-up approach. The process resulted in a set of 40 indicators across five sustainability domains—social, environmental, economic, cultural, and governance—revealing governance as a critical enabler for sustainable implementation. While most indicators stem from theoretical conceptions of innovation districts, governance indicators rather reflect local experiences and institutional dynamics. Full article

The 15 min city offers a framework for sustainable urban environments. However, its application in historic centres faces challenges such as tourist pressure and heritage fragility. This paper explores cultural heritage as a strategic resource for urban resilience within the European ENACT-15 mC project. The methodology applies four lines of research—socio-economic diagnosis, educational innovation, participatory action research, and digital tool implementation—to the historic centre of Valencia. The study involved 42 students from architecture, commerce and tourism programmes in documenting a selected sample of historic commercial establishments protected by the Special Protection Plan of Ciutat Vella (PEP 2020), while community workshops recruited 30 stakeholders representing local associations, businesses and heritage-related actors to analyse urban conflicts and functional transformation. Results show that integrating educational and participatory approaches facilitates the generation of situated knowledge and social co-responsibility. The technical documentation and diagnostic reports produced serve as empirical evidence of how heritage can be monitored and protected in urban settings under tension. The study concludes that cultural heritage provides a vital social infrastructure for building resilient communities. By bridging the gap between academic research and local agency through digital and participatory mapping, this integrated model provides adaptive intervention strategies that balance tourism demands with the preservation of everyday local life and the proximity economy in heritage-rich environments. Full article

In the context of increasing beef import dependence, global feed-market volatility, climate risks, and sustainability-oriented livestock transformation, strengthening the resilience of China’s beef cattle industry is essential for food security, rural livelihoods, and green livestock development. Using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2022, this study constructs a four-dimensional resilience evaluation system covering foundational, resistance, recovery, and sustainability capacities, and applies the entropy weight method, kernel density estimation, the Dagum Gini coefficient, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and an obstacle degree model. The results show that the national resilience index of China’s beef cattle industry increased from 0.105 in 2012 to 0.167 in 2022, although the overall level remained relatively low. Sustainability capacity exhibited a shallow U-shaped trajectory, while foundational, resistance, and recovery capacities improved more steadily. The average Dagum Gini coefficient was 0.277, indicating persistent regional imbalance in beef cattle industry resilience. Provincial disparities widened, positive spatial agglomeration weakened, and local spatial heterogeneity became more pronounced. The key constraints included insufficient forage supply, a low level of production scale, weak breeding infrastructure, and lagging innovation capacity, with clear spatial heterogeneity. This study develops a resilience evaluation framework for long-cycle livestock industries and provides empirical evidence and policy implications for the sustainable development of the beef cattle industry in China and other developing livestock systems. Full article

The transition of South Africa’s mining sector from a linear take–make–waste model to a circular economy is critical for environmental sustainability and resource security. While the existing literature heavily favors generic, theoretical solutions, this review paper bridges the gap by mapping validated circular technologies directly onto named local operations and specific regional waste profiles. By pairing engineering innovations such as automated sorting and geopolymer synthesis with site-level mineralogical realities and techno-economic limits, this work provides a realistic blueprint for sustainable resource management and holistic landscape restoration. However, widespread implementation is currently constrained by a lack of commercial-scale data, low data transparency regarding corporate waste inventories, static economic modeling, and ambiguous regulatory definitions that separate waste from by-products. To overcome these limitations, a phased, internationally benchmarked policy roadmap aligned with South Africa’s critical minerals strategies is proposed. Future research should focus on industrial field trials, blockchain-secured geospatial waste databases, dynamic life-cycle assessments, and cross-sector synergy mapping. Ultimately, aligning technological innovations with updated waste classification standards, specialized tax incentives, and carbon-credit structures will allow South Africa to mitigate its legacy environmental liabilities while safeguarding its position in the shifting global critical minerals market. Full article

The intensification of agriculture and large-scale rural development policies present major challenges to the sustainability of agroecosystems worldwide. In China, the ‘Rural Revitalization Strategy’ has reshaped rural landscapes, yet its net impact on the interplay between agricultural production, ecosystem health, and human well-being remains poorly quantified at a national scale. This study investigates the spatiotemporal dynamics of Rural Ecological Livability (REL)—an integrated measure of agroecosystem health and quality of life—and identifies its key agro-ecological and socioeconomic drivers across 31 Chinese provinces from 2005 to 2020. We employed an innovative evaluation framework and a nested-weight spatial Durbin model to analyze these complex interactions. Our findings reveal a significant, yet spatially uneven, improvement in REL, with a persistent gradient between developed coastal regions and inland agricultural provinces. Forest coverage and moderate climatic conditions were key positive local drivers of REL. Crucially, our model uncovers significant negative spatial spillovers, demonstrating that intensified agricultural mechanization in one province can degrade the ecological livability of neighboring agroecosystems, likely through increased market competition and resource pressure. These results reveal a critical tension between local agricultural modernization and regional environmental sustainability. They underscore the necessity for agri-environmental policies that transcend administrative boundaries and manage landscape-level spillovers to achieve truly sustainable agroecosystem management. Full article

Mountain tourism plays an important role in sustainable rural development; it is closely linked to agrotourism practices, the use of methodological indicators for sustainability assessment, and the adoption of innovative and strategic management approaches. This study compares the key determinants that shape domestic mountain tourism destination choice among residents of Romania and Georgia. Based on 411 questionnaires in Romania and 440 in Georgia, principal component analysis (PCA) was employed, followed by ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests. Four factors emerged in Romania, namely basic services, cultural activities, adventure tourism, and natural beauty, while in Georgia, these dimensions consolidated into two broader factors: basic services and natural beauty, and cultural and adventure activities. The results highlight differences in how tourists from the two countries structure and prioritize mountain tourism attributes, reflecting specific local contexts. The study contributes to filling the research gap concerning the influence of local particularities on destination choice in mountain areas and provides comparative evidence that destination choice determinants may be structured differently across mountain destinations. Full article

Urban centers today face unprecedented challenges in energy management, emissions, waste disposal, and public services, as nearly 70% of the global population is projected to live in cities by 2050. The complexity and rapid evolution of urban systems underscore the pressing need for stability, innovation, and adaptability, particularly regarding sustainability and digital transformation. AI-powered simulation models have emerged as transformative tools, capable of simplifying, predicting, and managing highly intricate urban systems while offering policymakers valuable insights for strategic planning. However, the integration of AI in smart and sustainable urban development presents critical legal, ethical, and regulatory concerns. This study examines these questions by evaluating existing and emerging frameworks addressing algorithmic transparency, data protection, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable development in prominent urban models including Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Singapore, Tokyo, Bangalore, and Nairobi. Comparative analysis is conducted through a doctrinal desk review, focusing on statutory provisions, international policies (EU, UN-Habitat), ISO Smart City standards, and local governance charters. Key issues addressed include the risk that AI models, if unregulated, become opaque “black boxes” that obscure both decision-making logic and accountability. Without robust standards, there is no guarantee of interoperability, revision, or representation of public interest. Equitable management, access, and inclusive participation are vital to responsible AI frameworks in urban planning. This article advances a comprehensive legal and policy framework for ensuring accountability, transparency, and stability in AI-driven city governance, bridging gaps between technological innovation, urban studies, and regulatory oversight. The proposed governance structure empowers cities to adopt multi-level, authority-driven mechanisms that safeguard the common good while leveraging AI’s potential in sustainable urban transformation. Full article

This study presents a systematic review of the literature on business localness, a concept which, despite increasing interest, remains theoretically fragmented. This fragmentation limits a comprehensive understanding of how firms are embedded in local economies and how localness can be systematically measured. Using the PRISMA methodology, 54 articles were analyzed from an initial set of 500 publications in the Scopus database. Combining bibliometric clustering and qualitative synthesis, the study identifies seven major research clusters and organizes them into broader research streams. The findings suggest that localness is primarily examined in terms of its relational, spatial and economic dimensions. Mechanisms such as knowledge diffusion, trust and access to resources are emphasized, as are outcomes relating to innovation, business performance, sustainability and regional development. However, the economic dimension remains fragmented and is rarely conceptualized as a distinct and measurable component of business localness. Combining findings from previously fragmented research streams, this study develops an integrative framework for business localness that incorporates spatial, relational, and economic dimensions of embeddedness and links them to the mechanisms and outcomes through which firms contribute to local economies. The study is limited by its reliance on English-language journal articles indexed in Scopus and by the conceptual nature of the proposed framework, which requires further empirical validation across different contexts and industries. By explicitly introducing economic embeddedness as a distinct analytical dimension, the framework extends existing embeddedness theory and provides a foundation for future empirical research on how firms contribute to local economic development and sustainability. Full article

Peritoneal metastasis (PM) is the most frequent and lethal pattern of dissemination in gastrointestinal malignancies. Despite advances in systemic chemotherapy, outcomes remain poor because the unique biology of PM, characterized by poor vascularization and the peritoneal–plasma barrier (PPB), limits drug penetration and contributes to treatment resistance. To address these challenges, several locoregional treatment strategies have been developed, including cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS + HIPEC) and pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC). However, their widespread adoption is constrained by invasiveness, strict patient selection, and inconsistent survival benefits. Normothermic intraperitoneal and systemic treatment (NIPS) has emerged as a practical and less invasive alternative, particularly in East Asia. Through an implanted intraperitoneal port, NIPS enables repeated drug administration, providing sustained regional exposure while imposing minimal procedural burden. Importantly, it can be readily integrated with systemic chemotherapy, making it suitable for long-term multimodal treatment. Among available agents, paclitaxel (PTX) is particularly well suited for intraperitoneal administration because of its prolonged retention within the peritoneal cavity and limited systemic absorption. These pharmacokinetic properties allow high local drug concentrations with relatively low systemic toxicity. Consequently, PTX-based NIPS represents a biologically rational and clinically feasible treatment strategy for PM. This review summarizes the pharmacological rationale, clinical evidence, and emerging innovations in drug formulation and delivery that may further enhance the efficacy of PTX-based intraperitoneal chemotherapy for this challenging disease. Full article