Search Results (137)

This article focuses on one critical factor among the many influencing identity formation in the second generation of Albanian origin in Greece: the acquisition of citizenship. Citizenship is more than a legal status; it serves as a fundamental marker of belonging, shaping access to rights, social mobility, and political participation. Despite the 2015 Greek citizenship law aiming to facilitate naturalization, many second-generation Albanians still face bureaucratic obstacles, and prolonged legal uncertainty. These barriers create a sense of social exclusion by limiting opportunities in education and employment and depriving them the right of political participation. Navigating these challenges forces individuals to negotiate their identity in complex ways. Some emphasize Greek identity, others adopt a hybrid identity, yet others reinforce Albanian self-identification. Broader societal attitudes, including stereotypes and discrimination, further shape these identity strategies. These strategies are furthermore influenced by the individuals’ life trajectories, which can either reinforce a sense of otherness or counteract it. Through in-depth interviews, this qualitative study argues that citizenship constitutes a crucial determinant of cultural and/or national belonging for some people, as it produces practical and symbolic conditions of inclusion or exclusion. Ultimately, Greek citizenship functions not just as an institutional gatekeeper but as a broader social force that shapes an individuals’ identity and sense of belonging within Greek society. Full article

Economic development and its sustainability are influenced not only by material, human, financial, and intellectual factors, but also by psychological factors. In particular, the levels of business expectations, trust, and confidence significantly affect the resilience of the economy, especially in crucial sectors such as industry and, more specifically, industrial production. Based on political, economic, social, and legal stability, businesses are likely to assess their opportunities more optimistically and realistically. This, in turn, enables them to look confidently toward the future and provides a foundation for investing in further development. Conversely, a decline in business expectations and confidence can slow socio-economic development, potentially leading to recession or depression. The purpose of the article is to identify the association between business confidence (Impact of the Business Confidence Indicator, IBCI) and the level of industrial production (Industrial Production Index, IPI), as a crucial aspect of ensuring sustainable economic development. A correlation–regression analysis conducted using Ukraine as a case study—a country candidate for EU accession—and statistical data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine (SSSU) for the period from 1 February 2022 to 1 September 2024 demonstrated that there is a stable, positive, and strong relationship between IBCI and IPI levels (r = 0.7; D = 0.49). The constructed linear correlation model indicates that, with other factors held constant, a one-percentage-point increase in positive business expectations may lead to a 2.23-point rise in the industrial production activity of enterprises in Ukraine’s manufacturing sector. Furthermore, approximately 49.0% of the variation in industrial production levels is likely explained by changes in business expectations. Verification of the constructed regression equation and assessment of its parameters indicate that it is statistically reliable and consistent with real economic processes. Specifically, the Fisher coefficient (F = 5.30) exceeds the critical (tabular) value (Ft = 2.04), with Se = 0.45 and C_95% = 1.96; the causality test based on the Granger methodology revealed the presence of a causal relationship, indicating that the IBCI influences the IPI. The obtained statistical results for the applied models and tests are as follows: MDF (p < 0.05), KPSS (p > 0.10), Durbin–Watson ≈ 2.0, Breusch–Godfrey (p = 0.32), White (p = 0.41), ARCH (p = 0.27), and SER (p = 0.36). The constructed correlation–regression equation also allowed forecasting based on trend line modeling—how IPI levels will change depending on business confidence. According to the forecast, the IPI in Ukraine at the beginning of 2030 is expected to increase by 63.48 percentage points compared to the beginning of 2024, reaching 153.6%. Full article

South Asia’s worsening air pollution crisis represents one of the most urgent public health and environmental challenges of the 21st century. Nearly two billion people—over one-quarter of the global population—reside in this region, where air quality levels routinely exceed World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines by factors of 10 to 15. This has translated into an unprecedented health burden, with approximately two million premature deaths annually, widespread chronic respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and rising economic losses. According to recent World Bank estimates, welfare losses amount to over 5% of regional GDP, a figure far exceeding the projected costs of coordinated mitigation. Despite this, South Asia continues to lack a binding regional framework capable of addressing its shared airshed. Existing cooperative efforts—such as the Malé Declaration on Control and Prevention of Air Pollution (1998)—have provided a useful platform for dialog and pilot monitoring, but they remain voluntary, under-resourced, and insufficient to manage the transboundary nature of the crisis. National-level programs, including India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), Bangladesh’s National Air Quality Management Plan (NAQMP), and Nepal’s National Air Quality Management Action Plan (AQMAP), demonstrate domestic commitment but are constrained by fragmentation, limited financing, and lack of regional integration. This gap represents the central knowledge and governance challenge that prompted the present commentary. To address it, we propose a dual-track architecture designed to institutionalize binding regional cooperation. Track A would establish a United Nations-anchored South Asian Transboundary Air Pollution Protocol, under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). This protocol would codify legally enforceable emission standards, compliance committees, financial mechanisms, and harmonized monitoring. Track B would establish a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Prime Ministers’ Council on Air Quality (SPMCAQ) to provide political leadership, align domestic implementation, and authorize rapid responses to cross-border haze events. Lessons from the Indian Ocean Experiment, the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, and Europe’s Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution demonstrate that legally binding agreements combined with high-level political ownership can achieve durable reductions in pollution despite geopolitical tensions. By situating South Asia within these global precedents, the proposed framework provides a pragmatic, enforceable, and politically resilient pathway to protect health, reduce economic losses, and deliver cleaner air for nearly one-quarter of humanity. Full article

Past studies on low-carbon public transport implementation challenges primarily focused on a specific transport mode to find its viability within broader sustainable urban mobility frameworks. A notable gap still exists in analyzing implementation challenges of low-emission urban public transport policies in the Global South. In particular, research about cities in developing countries, including Mongolia, remains limited. Thus, this study attempts to fill this gap by identifying implementation challenges for low-emission public transport policies in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital. We collected and systematically examined the most relevant legal and policy documents from 2008 to 2023, including those from transport agencies and research institutions. The low-emission public transport policies were identified using the principles of the Avoid-Shift-Improve approach. The implementation challenges of identified policies were analyzed using the policy implementation analysis framework developed by Sabatier and Mazmanian. We found that low-emission public transport initiatives that were approved by international organizations and the national government were canceled or significantly delayed due to political instability, financial limitations, and poor inter-agency coordination. This paper also shows that, contrary to some past studies that mainly emphasized financial and administrative capacity limitations, Ulaanbaatar’s low-emission public transport policy implementation met more varied challenges due partly to its unique political, social, and institutional factors as well as unpredictable incidents like the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article

This study examines refugee integration in South Korea’s emerging asylum context by analyzing how education policies and practices shape inclusion, drawing on interviews with 23 key informants from government and civil society. Despite legal frameworks guaranteeing access, findings reveal how institutional, sociocultural, and political factors create significant policy–practice gaps, hindering both structural integration (enrollment, curriculum, language of instruction, certification) and relational integration (sense of belonging) in schools. Barriers include bureaucratic obstacles, language barriers, discrimination, and limited post-secondary pathways. While civil society actors create opportunities, broader systemic changes are needed to promote the meaningful inclusion of students with refugee backgrounds in South Korean society. Full article

RTK 2 is an unordinary example that helps unravel the complex process of establishing, operations, and the role of minority-language media within public service broadcasters in transitional societies that have a legacy of war. As a Serbian-language television channel within the Radio Television of Kosovo, RTK 2 also provides an opportunity to analyze media outlets that were established as part of conditions imposed by foreign political decision-makers in countries where the largest minority is subject to the dual influence of both the official majority’s politics and that of the kin-state. Through an analysis of legal documents and an analysis of the news discourse, this study addresses two key aspects: the practical implementation of the concept of a public television channel for the largest ethnic minority within a multiethnic PSB at the managerial and news content level. The analysis confirms that RTK 2 attempts to maintain a balance between rival political factors influencing it, but this has a negative impact on the quality of its news content. This study contributes to the field by presenting a unique but under-researched case that can inform future comparative research on minority programs within the framework of public service broadcasting in multiethnic environments. The findings provide lessons learned from the operational practices of programs essential to the concept of multiethnic societies, yet shaped and constrained by political conditions. Full article

In the context of the rapid development of e-commerce, the selection of optimal land plots for the construction of warehouse complexes that meet environmental, technical, and political requirements has become increasingly relevant. This task requires a comprehensive approach that accounts for a wide range of factors, including transportation accessibility, environmental conditions, geographic features, legal constraints, and more. Such an approach enhances the efficiency and sustainability of decision-making processes. This article presents a solution to the aforementioned problem that employs the use of land suitability maps generated by aggregating multiple evaluation criteria. These criteria represent the degree to which each land plot satisfies the requirements of various stakeholders and are expressed as suitability functions based on attribute values. Attributes describe different characteristics of the land plots and are represented as layers on a digital terrain map. The criteria and their corresponding attributes are classified as either quantitative or binary. Binary criteria are aggregated using the minimum operator, which filters out plots that violate any constraints by assigning them a suitability score of zero. Quantitative criteria are aggregated using the second-order Choquet integral, a method that accounts for interdependencies among criteria while maintaining computational simplicity. The criteria were developed based on statistical and environmental data obtained from an analysis of the Samara region in Russia. The resulting suitability maps are visualized as gradient maps, where land plots are categorized according to their degree of suitability—from completely unsuitable to highly suitable. This visual representation facilitates intuitive interpretation and comparison of different location options. These maps serve as an effective tool for planners and stakeholders, providing comprehensive and objective insights into the potential of land plots while incorporating all relevant factors. The proposed approach supports spatial analysis and land use planning by integrating mathematical modeling with modern information technologies to address pressing challenges in sustainable development. Full article

Water reservoirs are an important source of drinking water in Slovakia and are managed under the control of regional water utility enterprises. These enterprises face increasing challenges due to ecological pressures, land use conflicts, and technological constraints. This paper investigates the external factors that influence the management of drinking water reservoirs and their implications for water quality. Using the PESTLE framework (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental), we analyse case studies from four Slovak reservoirs: Málinec, Turček, Nová Bystrica, and Hriňová. The data was collected in 2025 using structured interviews with representatives of four water management enterprises and forest managers (three respondents from Málinec, Turček and Hriňová, two respondents from Nová Bystrica), whose forests surround the chosen water reservoirs. The analysis reveals that forest management, stakeholder relations, extreme climate events, and outdated infrastructure significantly affect water treatment efficiency and operational costs. While national water policy provides a uniform regulatory framework, the case studies demonstrate that local conditions and governance dynamics strongly impacts the water management utilities and its performance in drinking water treatment. Full article

The objective of this paper is to analyze the European Union’s response to school bullying and cyberbullying through its educational policies. For this purpose, a search of European policies was carried out in EUR-Lex, including all dates, to get a complete picture of this phenomenon. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 16 policies were selected. These were analyzed, according to Content and Documentary Analysis, using MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2024 through a codebook composed of two dimensions: one legal and one specific to bullying and cyberbullying. The results showed that most of these policies are soft policies, especially recommendations, issued by the Council of the European Union. At the same time, there is an interest on the part of the European Union to prevent bullying by addressing the contextual and cultural risk factors and improving teacher training and emotional education. In conclusion, European policies have a largely technological, preventive, and contextual and cultural approach. Finally, this paper also offers some policy recommendations to prevent school bullying and cyberbullying in political terms. Full article

Climate change and environmental degradation require inclusive and multidimensional strategies, in which women from Generation Z are emerging as key actors. This study explores how female university students from this generation perceive and prioritize social, political, economic, and technological dimensions of sustainable development, with a focus on respondents from Europe. A structured survey instrument, based on a SPET model (Social, Political, Economic, Technological), was administered to 834 female students at a highly internationalized university in Poland. The questionnaire was available in Polish and English to account for linguistic and cultural variation within the Western civilizational context. Quantitative analysis revealed that the political dimension—particularly international cooperation and legal regulations—was viewed as the most critical for environmental protection, followed by technological innovation in energy and resource management. Social and economic factors received relatively less emphasis, with skepticism toward consumer-level behavior change and shared economy models. This study offers a meaningful contribution to understanding gender- and generation-specific perspectives on environmental responsibility. It also provides a foundation for the development of socially grounded, culturally sensitive strategies in sustainability education and policymaking, with relevance for both academic researchers and public stakeholders. Full article

This study analyses aspects related to the electromobility transition. Emerging technologies have enabled the production and commercialisation of electric vehicles to reduce polluting emissions. However, significant obstacles are present in this global transition. The analysis identifies that public policies play a crucial role in the development of electromobility, and emphasises how new business models in electromobility are emerging to satisfy changing customer demands. Concerns related to raw materials extraction, battery disposal, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) integration are also important to consider. The relationship between technologically advanced countries and raw material-producing nations must balance socioeconomic, historical, labour, and ecological factors. In order to have a standard reference, this study considers for the analysis the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors (PESTLE). An analysis of future scenarios considering pessimistic and optimistic trends revealed that, compared with the actual trends, important actions must be taken to develop electromobility not only from the technological aspect. These results provide a comprehensive analysis of electromobility sustainability and its importance for multidisciplinary stakeholders related to the actual challenges towards electromobility, the electric network capabilities, and the importance of creating new jobs and products based on a circular and sustainable economy. Full article

The electric vehicle (EV) business model integrates advanced battery technology, dynamic power train architectures, and intelligent energy management systems with ecosystem strategies and digital services. It incorporates environmental sustainability through lifecycle analysis and renewable energy integration. China, with 9.49 million EV sales in 2023 (33% market share), faces infrastructure gaps constraining further growth. China is strategically mitigating CO₂ emissions while fostering economic expansion, notwithstanding constraints such as suboptimal battery technology advancements, elevated production expenditure, and enduring ecological impacts. This Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental (PESTLE) assessment, operationalized through a survey of 800 stakeholders and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences IBM SPSS SPSS (Version 28) quantitative analysis (factor loading = 0.73 for Technology; eigenvalue = 4.12), identifies infrastructure gaps as the dominant barrier (72% of stakeholders). Political factors (β = 0.82) emerged as the strongest adoption predictor, outweighing economic subsidies in significance. The adoption of EVs in China presents a significant prospect for reducing CO₂ emissions and advancing technology. However, economic barriers, market dynamics, inadequate infrastructure, regulatory uncertainty, and social acceptance issues are addressed in the assessment. The study recommends prioritizing infrastructure investment (e.g., 500 K fast-charging stations by 2027) and policy stability to overcome adoption barriers. This study provides three key advances: (1) quantification of PESTLE factor weights via factor analysis, revealing technological (infrastructure) and political factors as dominant; (2) identification of infrastructure gaps, not subsidies, as the primary adoption barrier; and (3) demonstration of infrastructure’s persistence post-subsidy cuts. These insights redefine EV adoption priorities in China. Full article

Aviation is widely recognised as one of the most carbon-intensive modes of transport and among the most challenging sectors to decarbonise. The use of green hydrogen (H₂) in airside operations can help reduce emissions from air transport. While the pace and scalability of technology development, including H₂-powered and ground support equipment, will be key factors, other financial, regulatory, legal, organisational, behavioural, and societal issues must also be considered. This paper investigates the key opportunities and challenges of using H₂ in the aviation industry through eleven semi-structured interviews and a virtual expert workshop (N = 37) with key aviation industry stakeholders and academia. The results indicate that, currently, decarbonisation of the aviation sector faces several challenges, including socio-technical, techno-economic, and socio-political challenges, with socio-technical challenges being the most prominent barrier. This study shows that decarbonisation will not occur until the UK government is ready to have all the required infrastructure and capacity in place. Governments can play a significant role in directing the necessary ‘push’ and ‘pull’ to develop and promote zero-carbon emission aircraft in the marketplace and ensure safe implementation. Full article

The progress toward energy transition has made it essential to secure large quantities of critical metals to meet both short- and long-term demand, driving the exploration of new approaches, such as deep-sea mining (DSM). This study conducts a bibliometric analysis to examine the current scientific landscape of DSM, identifying trends, critical factors, and research gaps through a combined PESTEL and bibliographic analysis covering co-authorship, co-citation, co-occurrence, and bibliographic coupling. This comprehensive approach not only highlights emerging areas but also helps guide research efforts toward priority topics that support the advancement of DSM toward more sustainable exploitation. The results provide a general overview of recurrent themes and underexplored areas, serving as a basis for future research. While significant progress has been made in the environmental, technological, political, and legal dimensions, there remains a major gap in studies addressing the economic and social aspects of DSM, which account for less than 14% of the literature analyzed. This imbalance limits the integration of a truly sustainable framework, underscoring the need to promote interdisciplinary approaches and foster synergies among organizations and countries to build a more balanced and holistic understanding. Full article

Interactions between First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians have long been shaped by notions of Western authority and First Nations inferiority, both culturally and biologically. From invasion to the present day, forced removals and intergenerational trauma have deeply affected First Nations Australians, particularly through the operations of interacting colonial systems, including child removals and placements. Throughout the 20th century, systematic child removals led to the Stolen Generations, a tragic example of power imbalances, paternalism, and Western ideals, perpetuating trauma across generations. This article examines the context of First Nations removals by the state under the lies of benevolence, exposing the evolution of the colonial system and the systematic dislocation of culture and identity. It highlights the social, legal, and political factors that enabled removal practices and their enduring consequences, including the legacy of forced child separations and cultural erasure. This article argues that policies of absorption and assimilation served to further isolate children from their families, communities, and kinship networks. In doing so, it contends that the systematic disruption of First Nations communities is part of an ongoing process of subjugation, continuing the colonial agenda of cultural and familial disintegration. Full article