Search Results (603)

This study aims to critically assesses the application and limitations of Universal Design (UD) and Inclusive Design (ID) in Bangkok’s public parks and proposes a context-sensitive framework to enhance urban inclusivity. While UD has contributed significantly to improving physical accessibility—through standardized features such as ramps, tactile paving, and clear circulation paths—it often fails to address emotional comfort, cultural representation, and participatory engagement. In contrast, ID emphasizes co-creation, contextual adaptability, and symbolic inclusion, offering a more holistic and equity-driven approach. Using a five-dimensional comparative framework—philosophy, function, spatial logic, user engagement, and evaluation—this research analyzes three major public parks: Benjakitti Forest Park, Chatuchak (Railway) Park, and Chulalongkorn Centenary Park. Each site was evaluated through narrative critique, dimension scoring, and radar diagram visualizations. The findings reveal that while all three parks exhibit strong UD characteristics, they lack alignment with ID principles, particularly in the areas of community engagement and emotional resonance. These typologies highlight a broader trend in Thai public space planning, wherein accessibility is interpreted narrowly as compliance rather than inclusion. The study concludes by proposing policy and design recommendations for embedding ID into future park development, positioning ID not only as a design approach but as a paradigm for spatial justice, belonging, and cultural sustainability. Full article

This research investigates how community participation can be enhanced to support the sustainable reconstruction of residential heritage in the Old City of Aleppo. In the aftermath of the Syrian war, reconstruction interventions on traditional courtyard houses have been affected by several issues, such as a lack of knowledge among junior architects and craftsmen (regarding houses’ conditions, relevant regulations, and residents’ needs), and limited residents’ participation in decision-making processes. Drawing on international experiences in similar post-war contexts that highlight the role of education and a participatory approach as critical components for sustainable reconstruction efforts. This research conducts a comparative analysis of several international capacity-building and co-creation initiatives to identify effective methods of stakeholder engagement. Building on these findings, the study proposes an education programme tailored to the socio-cultural and regulatory context of the Old City of Aleppo. The proposed programme integrates academic knowledge with community perspectives using validated teaching and participatory methods, such as photovoice, walkthrough, and lectures etc., within a co-creation framework. It aims to raise awareness, build capacity, and enable residents through participation in all phases of the programme: co-diagnostic, co-design, co-implementation and co-monitoring. This way, residents are empowered to play an active role in interventions on residential heritage and to align these interventions with their needs and current regulations. Thus, the research presents a scalable model for cultural and socially sustainable residential heritage reconstruction. Full article

Sustainability research in Living Labs promises innovation through real-world experimentation. These settings require the integration of key design principles—such as participation, co-creation, and real-life application—into everyday research. Yet collaboration among diverse actors is often accompanied by persistent tensions and conflicts. This study examines a Living Lab project embedded in the net-zero transformation of a corporate city. It focuses on identifying and explaining key challenges in the daily collaboration between academic and non-academic actors, as well as the strategies used to cope with them. Following a qualitative approach, data were generated through twenty in-depth interviews and participant observations. We identify uncertainties, frustrations, overload, tensions, conflicts, and disengagement as recurring reactions in transdisciplinary collaboration. These are traced back to the following five underlying proto-challenges: (1) divergent interpretations of Living Lab concepts, (2) conflicting views on sustainability interventions, (3) difficulties in role positioning, (4) processes of instrumentalisation and over-identification, and (5) the embedded complexities of Living Lab governance. By linking these findings to Institutional Theory and Paradox Theory, we argue that the proto-challenges are not merely contingent barriers but constitutive tensions—implicitly inscribed into the normative design of Living Lab research and essential to engage with for advancing collaborative sustainability efforts. Full article

Urban Living Labs (ULLs) are pivotal for promoting socio-technical innovation in smart cities, yet their role in achieving sustainable urban development remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by proposing a systematic literature review (SLR) to develop effective implementation strategies. Unlike previous studies focusing on individual aspects of these labs, our holistic approach emphasizes the orchestration of actors and innovative experiment design to co-create value with citizens. By addressing specific issues in current smart city practices—such as the misalignment between technology and community needs and among stakeholders, limited citizen engagement, and the lack of iterative testing environments—the study explores practical strategies for improvement. The proposed strategies illustrate how Urban Living Labs can serve as essential platforms for achieving sustainable and inclusive urban growth through effective socio-technical innovation integration. Full article

Refugees experience disproportionately high rates of sleep disturbances due to trauma, displacement, and resettlement stressors. Sleep health is critically linked to both physical and mental well-being, yet remains an underexplored area of intervention for refugee populations. This systematic review aimed to (1) identify interventions implemented to improve sleep health among refugees, (2) assess their effectiveness, and (3) evaluate the extent of cultural adaptation in their design and implementation. A comprehensive search of peer-reviewed literature from 2004 to 2024 identified nine studies focused on adult refugees in high-income countries. Interventions included psychoeducation, music-assisted relaxation, guided imagery, and nightmare-focused therapies. Several demonstrated improvements in sleep quality, insomnia severity, and nightmare frequency. Music-based interventions and sleep health education stood out as accessible, non-stigmatizing strategies that may be particularly well suited to refugee contexts. However, cultural adaptation emerged as the most significant gap. Using the 4-Domain Cultural Adaptation Model (CAM4)—which assesses adaptation across context, content, delivery, and engagement—most studies showed only surface-level modifications. Few incorporated community voices, and none validated sleep assessment tools for cultural relevance. Future research should prioritize co-creation with refugee communities to ensure interventions are not only evidence-based, but also culturally grounded, trusted, and sustainable across diverse refugee populations. Full article

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

This study focuses on Shanghai, a pioneer city in China’s community renewal practices. In recent years, community renewal driven by civic participation has become a prominent research topic, leading to the emergence of numerous exemplary cases in Shanghai. However, field investigations revealed that many projects have experienced varying degrees of physical deterioration and a decline in spatial vitality due to insufficient maintenance, reflecting unsustainable outcomes. In response, this study examines a bottom-up community renewal project led by the research team, aiming to explore how broad civic participation can promote sustainable community renewal. A multidisciplinary approach incorporating perspectives from ecology, the humanities, economics, and sociology was used to guide citizen participation, while participatory observation methods recorded emotional shifts and maintenance behavior throughout the process. The results showed that civic participatory actions under the guidance of sustainability principles effectively enhanced citizens’ sense of community identity and responsibility, thereby facilitating the sustainable upkeep and operation of community spaces. However, the study also found that bottom-up efforts alone are insufficient. Sustainable community renewal also requires top-down policy support and institutional safeguards. At the end, the paper concludes by summarizing the practical outcomes and proposing strategies and mechanisms for broader application, aiming to provide a reference for related practices and research. Full article

Increased food production demands, labor shortages, and environmental concerns are driving the need for innovative agricultural technologies. However, effective adoption depends critically on aligning robot innovations with the needs of farmers. This paper examines the alignment between the needs of farmers and the robotic systems used in row crop farming. We review current commercial agricultural robots and research, and map these to the needs of farmers, as expressed in the literature, to identify the key issues holding back large-scale adoption. From initial pool of 184 research articles, 19 survey articles, and 82 commercial robotic solutions, we selected 38 peer-reviewed academic studies, 12 survey articles, and 18 commercially available robots for in-depth review and analysis for this study. We identify the key challenges faced by farmers and map them directly to the current and emerging capabilities of agricultural robots. We supplement the data gathered from the literature review of surveys and case studies with in-depth interviews with nine farmers to obtain deeper insights into the needs and day-to-day operations. Farmers reported mixed reactions to current technologies, acknowledging efficiency improvements but highlighting barriers such as capital costs, technical complexity, and inadequate support systems. There is a notable demand for technologies for improved plant health monitoring, soil condition assessment, and enhanced climate resilience. We then review state-of-the-art robotic solutions for row crop farming and map these technological capabilities to the farmers’ needs. Only technologies with field validation or operational deployment are included, to ensure practical relevance. These mappings generate insights that underscore the need for lightweight and modular robot technologies that can be adapted to diverse farming practices, as well as the need for farmers’ education and simpler interfaces to robotic operations and data analysis that are actionable for farmers. We conclude with recommendations for future research, emphasizing the importance of co-creation with the farming community to ensure the adoption and sustained use of agricultural robotic solutions. Full article

One of the fundamental goals of contemporary mobility is to optimize transport processes in urban areas. The solution in this area seems to be the implementation of the idea of sustainable transport systems based on the Smart City concept. The article presents a case study—an assessment of the possibilities of changing mobility habits based on the idea of sustainable urban transport, taking into account the criterion of energy consumption of individual means of transport. The analyses are based on a comparison of selected means of transport occurring in the urban environment according to several key parameters for the optimization and efficiency of transport processes, i.e., cost, time, travel comfort, and impact on the natural environment, while simultaneously linking them to the criterion of energy consumption of individual means of transport. The analyzed parameters currently constitute the most important group of challenges in the area of shaping and planning optimal and sustainable urban transport. The presented research was used to indicate the connections between various areas of optimization of the transport process and the energy efficiency of individual modes of transport. Analyses have shown that the least time-consuming process of urban mobility is associated with the highest level of CO₂ emissions and, at the same time, the highest level of energy efficiency. However, combining public transport with other means of transport can meet most of the transport expectations of city residents, also in terms of energy optimization. The research results presented in the article can contribute to the creation of a strategy for the development of the transport network based on the postulates of increasing the optimization and efficiency of individual means of transport in urban areas. At the same time, recognizing the criterion of energy intensity of means of transport as leading in the development of sustainable urban mobility. Thus, confirming the important role of existing transport systems in the process of shaping and planning sustainable urban mobility in accordance with the idea of Smart City. Full article

As sustainable cultural heritage tourism increasingly demonstrates its unique value and appeal, effectively stimulating tourists’ emotional experiences and value co-creation behaviors has become a focal issue. This study investigates how multiple tourist motivations (self-enhancement, escapism, and social interaction) shape value co-creation through emotional mediators—namely aesthetic, nostalgic, and flow experiences. Data were collected from 470 valid responses from visitors to the UNESCO-listed Suzhou Classical Gardens in China and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that these emotional experiences significantly drive value co-creation behavior: self-enhancement motivation enhances all three experiences, escapism mainly promotes nostalgic and flow experiences, and social interaction primarily affects aesthetic experience. These findings clarify the psychological mechanisms through which tourists’ motivations and emotional experiences influence value co-creation behavior in cultural heritage tourism. This research advances our understanding of the motivation–experience–behavior framework and emphasizes that enhancing emotional engagement is key to fostering sustainable cultural heritage tourism practices. The study provides practical implications for designing experiences and strategies that balance visitor satisfaction with the long-term vitality of cultural heritage sites and local communities, thereby contributing to broader sustainable development goals. Full article

Based on recent work outlining the transformation of professional communicator roles and the desperate search for “curators” or “agents of change” in neighboring disciplines such as management, business and economics, sustainability studies and education, we present a systematic reflection of concepts in higher education for sustainability and their (missing) fit to professional communication education in a world in crisis. The blind spots and challenges identified, especially from a communication perspective, will be filled with concepts from environmental communication pedagogy, pointing to the need for more participatory strategies and radicality in professional communication education. Concrete modalities of instruction will be discussed and supported by eight reconstruction interviews with pedagogues, educators and students from diverse cultural contexts involved in sustainability communication education. The findings show the need for more radical pedagogy and unorthodoxy. The paper finishes with suggestions for practices that materialize sustainability in co-created sites of change. Full article

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are presently posing a rather considerable threat to both human health and environmental sustainability. Among these, n-butanol is commonly identified as bringing potential hazards to environmental integrity and individual health. This study presents the creation of a highly sensitive n-butanol gas sensor utilizing cobalt-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) derived from a metal–organic framework (MOF). A series of x-Co/MOF-ZnO (x = 1, 3, 5, 7 wt%) nanomaterials with varying Co ratios were generated using the homogeneous co-precipitation method and assessed for their gas-sensing performances under a low operating temperature (191 °C) and UV excitation (220 mW/cm²). These findings demonstrated that the 5-Co/MOF-ZnO sensor presented the highest oxygen vacancy (O_v) concentration and the largest specific surface area (SSA), representing the optimal reactivity, selectivity, and durability for n-butanol detection. Regarding the sensor’s response to 100 ppm n-butanol under UV excitation, it achieved a value of 1259.06, 9.80 times greater than that of pure MOF-ZnO (128.56) and 2.07 times higher than that in darkness (608.38). Additionally, under UV illumination, the sensor achieved a rapid response time (11 s) and recovery rate (23 s). As a strategy to transform the functionality of ZnO-based sensors for n-butanol gas detection, this study also investigated potential possible redox reactions occurring during the detection process. Full article

The adoption of e-government services in Small Island Developing Nations (SIDNs) aims to enhance public service efficiency, inclusiveness, and quality. However, e-government service development in SIDNs faces some significant constraints, including limited resources, geographical isolation, low digital literacy levels, and inadequate technological infrastructure. This study investigates value co-creation approaches in e-government service, aiming to identify specific value co-creation processes and methods to support sustainable e-government initiatives in SIDN settings. The study applies a qualitative approach; based on the thematic analysis of interviews with government stakeholders, it identifies contextual factors and conditions that influence e-government value co-creation processes in SIDNs and strategies for sustainable e-government service value co-creation. This study contributes a value co-creation framework that applies participatory design, agile development, collaborative governance, socio-technical thinking, and technology adaptation as methods for the design and implementation of flexible and inclusive e-government services that are responsive to local needs, resilient to challenges, and sustainable over time. The framework can be used by policymakers and practitioners to facilitate sustainable digital transformation in SIDNs through collaborative governance, active participation, and civic engagement with innovative technologies. Full article

The generation of fine coal particles during mining and processing presents significant environmental and logistical challenges, particularly in coal-dependent, developing countries like South Africa (SA). This review critically evaluates the technical viability of fine coal briquetting as a sustainable waste-to-energy solution within a SA context, while drawing from global best practices and comparative benchmarks. It examines abundant feedstocks that can be used for valorization strategies, including fine coal and agricultural biomass residues. Furthermore, binder types, manufacturing parameters, and quality optimization strategies that influence briquette performance are assessed. The co-densification of fine coal with biomass offers a means to enhance combustion efficiency, reduce dust emissions, and convert low-value waste into a high-calorific, manageable fuel. Attention is also given to briquette testing standards (i.e., South African Bureau of Standards, ASTM International, and International Organization of Standardization) and end-use applications across domestic, industrial, and off-grid settings. Moreover, the review explores socio-economic implications, including rural job creation, energy poverty alleviation, and the potential role of briquetting in SA’s ‘Just Energy Transition’ (JET). This paper uniquely integrates technical analysis with policy relevance, rural energy needs, and practical challenges specific to South Africa, while offering a structured framework for bio-coal briquetting adoption in developing countries. While technical and economic barriers remain, such as binder costs and feedstock variability, the integration of briquetting into circular economy frameworks represents a promising path toward cleaner, decentralized energy and coal waste valorization. Full article

The adolescent years are pivotal in reproductive and sexual development and maturation, yet the experience of migration can severely disrupt this period, inhibiting young immigrants’ knowledge, access, and engagement with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Further, young immigrants and minority populations often face persistent intersectional barriers, including language difficulties, cultural stigma, and systemic exclusion, that result in adverse SRH outcomes. Recent advances in SRH care, particularly in digital health and community-based interventions, show promise in improving access to culturally appropriate SRH services and information. Co-designing SRH programs with families and young immigrants to adequately acknowledge the unique cultural norms and barriers in SRH is essential in ensuring a high outreach of interventions. Shifts in traditional health policies are needed to ensure that immigrant and minority adolescents are not overlooked and that SRH programs incorporate culturally relevant content that is easily and widely accessible. Despite positive shifts, several barriers remain: limited disaggregated data on diverse populations, inadequate policy attention, and the insufficient scalability and funding of promising interventions. Future research and promotional efforts must prioritise the co-creation of SRH interventions with stakeholders and affected communities, ensuring that services are sustainable, culturally appropriate, and accessible to all adolescents. Full article