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Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) and AI-Generated Content (AIGC) for Sustainable Futures: Innovations in Education, Culture, and Society

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 612

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Information and Learning Technology, National University of Tainan, Tainan, Taiwan
Interests: affective computing; artificial intelligence; digital learning; educational technology; metaverse; digital arts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to explore the transformative potential of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) and AI-Generated Content (AIGC) in driving sustainability across education, culture, and social innovation. As GAI and AIGC technologies rapidly evolve, they offer new pathways for promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), enabling personalized learning, fostering creative industries, and enhancing public awareness of environmental and social challenges. With this, we invite interdisciplinary contributions that address theoretical frameworks, empirical studies, case applications, ethical implications, and future trends at the intersection of generative technologies and sustainability. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following: AI-assisted environmental storytelling, digital cultural heritage preservation, personalized sustainability education, creative content for climate action, and AI-driven social impact initiatives.

This Special Issue will provide a timely and essential collection of research that moves beyond the technical aspects of GAI and AIGC to explore their profound societal impact and their capacity to accelerate progress towards a sustainable future. It will serve as a vital resource for academics, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to understand and harness these technologies responsibly for the greater good, while also critically examining the limitations and ethical implications of AI in creative and social contexts.

Prof. Dr. Hao-Chiang Koong Lin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • generative artificial intelligence (GAI)
  • AI-generated content (AIGC)
  • sustainability
  • sustainable development goals (SDGs)
  • personalized learning
  • creative industries
  • environmental storytelling

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

26 pages, 758 KiB  
Article
Writing Is Coding for Sustainable Futures: Reimagining Poetic Expression Through Human–AI Dialogues in Environmental Storytelling and Digital Cultural Heritage
by Hao-Chiang Koong Lin, Ruei-Shan Lu and Tao-Hua Wang
Sustainability 2025, 17(15), 7020; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17157020 - 1 Aug 2025
Viewed by 355
Abstract
In the era of generative artificial intelligence, writing has evolved into a programmable practice capable of generating sustainable narratives and preserving cultural heritage through poetic prompts. This study proposes “Writing Is Coding ” as a paradigm for sustainability education, exploring how students engage [...] Read more.
In the era of generative artificial intelligence, writing has evolved into a programmable practice capable of generating sustainable narratives and preserving cultural heritage through poetic prompts. This study proposes “Writing Is Coding ” as a paradigm for sustainability education, exploring how students engage with AI-mediated multimodal creation to address environmental challenges. Using grounded theory methodology with 57 twelfth-grade students from technology-integrated high schools, we analyzed their experiences creating environmental stories and digital cultural artifacts using MidJourney, Kling, and Sora. Data collection involved classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and reflective journals, analyzed through systematic coding procedures (κ = 0.82). Five central themes emerged: writing as algorithmic design for sustainability (89.5%), emotional scaffolding for environmental awareness (78.9%), aesthetics of imperfection in cultural preservation (71.9%), collaborative dynamics in sustainable creativity (84.2%), and pedagogical value of prompt literacy (91.2%). Findings indicate that AI deepens environmental consciousness and reframes writing as a computational process for addressing global issues. This research contributes a theoretical framework integrating expressive writing with algorithmic thinking in AI-assisted sustainability education, aligned with SDGs 4, 11, and 13. Full article
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