Search Results (264)

Marine ecotourism and Small–Medium Enterprise (SME) digitalization are increasingly seen as key drivers for coastal community welfare, yet their combined impact, particularly through local economic empowerment, remains underexplored. This study aims to examine whether marine ecotourism (ME) and SME digitalization (SD) influence local community welfare (LCW), mediated by SME empowerment (SE), and moderated by government support (GS). A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted with 312 marine tourism entrepreneurs in North Minahasa, Indonesia, and data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The results show that ME and SD have a significant positive effect on SE and LCW. However, ME and SD were found to be insignificant on LCW. Crucially, SE fully mediates the relationship between both ME and SD on LCW, indicating that empowerment is the primary mechanism for welfare improvement. Furthermore, GS was found to significantly strengthen the positive relationship between SE and LCW. This study concludes that empowering local SMEs is the critical bridge for transforming ecotourism and digitalization into tangible community welfare, and this process is significantly amplified by a supportive institutional environment provided by the government. Full article

This study explores the empowerment of local communities through homestay management as an innovative strategy for sustainable rural tourism in Yogyakarta. Using a qualitative research design, data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation with homestay owners, community leaders, and local tourism stakeholders. The findings reveal that homestay management not only enhances economic opportunities for rural households but also strengthens cultural preservation and community participation in tourism governance. Moreover, the integration of traditional hospitality practices with innovative management approaches fosters visitor satisfaction while ensuring sustainability. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting how homestay management can serve as a model of community-based tourism development, offering practical implications for policymakers, local governments, and tourism practitioners in promoting inclusive and resilient rural tourism. Full article

Against the backdrop of China’s comprehensive rural revitalization strategy and ongoing national park development, how universities can leverage scientific research innovation and talent resources to engage in sustainable development practices within local communities has become a focal point for both academia and policymakers. This study examines the “Harmonious and Beautiful Mountains and Seas” (HBMS) rural revitalization platform established by the Landscape Architecture discipline at Hainan University, summarizing its practical experience and analyzing its operational mechanisms. From the perspective of innovative governance, the study identifies three core values—“Nurturing Culture,” “Rural Brilliance,” and “Constructing Meaning”—and, on this basis, explores mechanisms for enhancing community resilience and pathways for brand-oriented operation in national park communities. The study aims to elucidate a novel model of university–rural collaborative revitalization. Research indicates that the “Mountain–Sea Synergy” model is not a singular community development solution, but rather a practical governance framework centered on multi-stakeholder collaborative governance mediated by universities. Its core value manifests across three dimensions: cultural revitalization, youth empowerment, and community-building significance. This model provides replicable endogenous development insights for national park communities operating under ecological conservation constraints, while also enriching university–rural collaborative research with practical case studies within the Chinese context. Full article

The paper aims to investigate challenges faced by fishing communities in developing fishing tourism. Using a case study approach and qualitative research methods, it explores fishing tourism in Thermaikos and Strymonikos Gulf (Thessaloniki, Northern Greece). This is an alternative form of tourism which was initiated by the local LEADER/CLLD Fisheries and Marine Operational Program 2014–2020. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed to conduct in-depth interviews, and a snowball sampling technique was used to select participants. Thematic content analysis elaborates on challenges faced by those fishing communities (mainly economic and cenvironmental) that hinder the sustainability of fishing communities and their livelihood. Findings are presented through an Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram, illustrating the cause-and-effect relationships underlying the challenges identified. To promote the well-being of local fishing communities and ensure the sustainability of fishing tourism, the paper recommends legislative reforms and empowerment of fishermen/women through targeted educational initiatives. These recommendations also serve as potential directions for future research. Full article

China’s rapid urbanization has created the world’s largest internal migration, increasingly shaped by women’s participation. Co-migrant mothers—rural women who bring their children to cities—occupy complex roles as workers, wives, and caregivers. Existing studies focus on left-behind mothers or individual coping, but little is known about how co-migrant mothers collectively reshape motherhood through urban spatial and social change. Based on fieldwork in a Guangzhou migrant community, this study develops the “disembedding–re-embedding–reconstruction” framework to show how mobility reconfigures motherhood. Moving from villages to cities disembeds mothers from the moral surveillance that enforces self-sacrificing norms. Community-based organizations (CBOs) then serve as re-embedding sites where women form new maternal subjectivities through mutual support and reflection, producing a locally rooted idea of self-caring motherhood. This idea reframes care as reciprocal rather than self-depleting and affirms mothers’ emotional and bodily well-being as part of family life. Finally, these values are reconstructed in households through subtle temporal and spatial negotiations that adjust gendered divisions of labor without open conflict. Highlighting collective empowerment and spatial transformation, this study moves motherhood research beyond individualized lenses and reveals grounded, pragmatic forms of gendered agency in China’s rural–urban migration. Full article

The mitigation of natural hazards is a persistent challenge in Chile, where recurrent events such as summer forest fires and winter floods cause severe material and human losses. Municipalities, as key actors in disaster management, often face difficulties due to fragmented territorial information and the lack of standardized tools to support decision-making. This study applies the Land Administration Domain Model (ISO 19152) International Standard to design a multipurpose cadastre adapted to the Chilean context. The methodological approach integrates cadastral data with hazard and risk information, structuring it into standardized sub-packages that facilitate spatial analysis, interoperability, and municipal planning. The proposed model demonstrates its capacity to identify risk-prone areas, link property units with hazard data, and generate reliable inputs for disaster risk reduction plans. A prototype decision-support panel illustrates how the integration of cadastral and risk data can improve access to territorial information and support local governance. The contribution of this research is twofold: first, it establishes a standardized framework for territorial information management based on ISO 19152; second, it provides municipalities with a practical tool to strengthen disaster preparedness and response, promoting more resilient and sustainable communities. Full article

The present study explores the role of food as a symbolic, material, and relational device in identity construction and community processes. This study draws on a qualitative case study of a community-based social restaurant located in a mid-sized city in central-northern Italy. The initiative’s objective is to promote the social and labor inclusion of migrant women through training and experiential programs. The research, conducted over a period of nine months from October 2024 to June 2025, was based on a participatory qualitative design, which integrated semi-structured interviews, ecological maps, photointervention, world café, and affective cartography, involving 35 participants including operators, trainees, local community members, and politicians. The results demonstrate the multifaceted role of food practices at the restaurant, which serve to strengthen internal relationships, regulate community life, construct intercultural narratives, and establish spaces of recognition and agency for the women involved. Moreover, the restaurant has been shown to have the capacity to influence the broader social representations of migration in the urban context, thereby promoting processes of cohesion and belonging. It is evident that food-related activities manifest as quotidian micro-political practices, which have the capacity to subvert stereotypes, recognize frequently unseen abilities, and generate new forms of inclusive citizenship. The present study underscores the transformative capacity of initiatives that employ food practices as innovative instruments for fostering empowerment; well-being; and social participation; through the third element of food. The limitations and future prospects of the present situation are discussed; with particular reference to the need to ensure continuity and institutional sustainability for similar experiences. Full article

This article examines how K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025) portrays women’s agency and sorority while curating Korean cultural specificity within the context of global streaming. Adopting a Gender Media Studies approach, the study conducts a scene-indexed close reading of nine key sequences, applying a coding scheme (co-presence, agency, solidarity, body framing, choreography–camera, colour) and a cultural-codes matrix that classifies elements as retained, hybridised, or globalised. Findings show a consistent pattern: when two or more women protagonists appear together, agency and sorority co-occur; this is visible in the narrative arcs and through full-body staging, ensemble composition, and a persistent we/together rhetoric. Korean local specificity is divided by purpose: English-led song hooks extend transnational reach; retained social anchors (space, ritual, foodways, and folklore) preserve locality; and hybridised cues (stylised folklore; idol/traditional blends) manage cultural density without erasure. Authorship and industry context align with this encoding, combining a women centred creative core and Korean cast with on-screen emphasis on women’s friendship, repair, and shared agency. Two tensions remain: traditional attire in spectacle numbers, and the narrow body diversity in the idol-slim body ideal, inviting comparative and interpretative scrutiny. Overall, the case demonstrates how an animated musical can emphasise women’s empowerment and cultural specificity without reducing either to mere marketing tools. Full article

Community-based organisations (CBOs) play a crucial role supporting clients during emergencies yet often lack adequate preparation. This study examined how Australian CBOs perceived and enacted dual responsibilities: ensuring service continuity during emergencies and facilitating person-centred preparedness for high-risk populations. A national cross-sectional online survey of community-based health and social care organisations was conducted between December 2021 and April 2022, employing strategic outreach and snowball sampling. Among 244 respondents, disability services (69%) and housing and homelessness services (27%) were the most common providers. Many organisations showed strong emergency preparedness, including comprehensive insurance, staff empowerment, and adaptive service delivery. Barriers to business continuity plans (BCPs) included resource constraints and limited emergency information access. Organisations with established networks and collaborations with emergency services demonstrated greater capacity for sustained service delivery (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed local networking with emergency service agencies was positively associated with CBOs’ ability to support client preparedness (p < 0.001), while lack of tools (p = 0.007) and training (p = 0.037) limited capacity to facilitate person-centred emergency planning for high-risk populations. Embedding business continuity planning within operations and strengthening cross-sector collaboration can enable CBOs to fulfil their aforementioned dual responsibilities, while advancing sustainable organisational resilience and inclusive disaster risk reduction. Full article

This paper examines an approach to local-level community action for the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), amid the growing importance of context-specific implementations to accelerate progress. Land-use governance is critical for contributions to the SDGs, as it shapes a wide range of environmental, social, and economic outcomes. Wildlife conservancies provide an innovative community-driven land-stewardship model that has proliferated across rangelands in various African countries as a sustainable development strategy. This study explores the potential contribution and capacity of conservancies, as a form of land-use governance, in advancing the SDGs at local levels. Using case studies from Kenya’s Maasai Mara, the research draws on qualitative primary data collected through in-depth interviews, a focus group discussion, observation, and document review, supplemented by secondary data obtained from a literature review. The data was analyzed thematically. The results show that conservancies address key socio-ecological challenges corresponding with multiple SDGs, particularly those related to poverty reduction, food security, climate action, and life on land. However, significant segments of local communities remain marginalized in decision making and benefit sharing, a situation rooted in pre-existing social hierarchies and weak governance institutions, raising concerns about social justice. Other major limitations are related to the conservancies’ over-reliance on tourism, and local people’s high dependence on natural resources. To resolve these limitations, the study recommends improving local governance via institutional strengthening, capacity building, gender empowerment, and stakeholder partnerships; diversifying income sources to reduce financial vulnerability; and adopting strategies to alleviate high dependence on natural resources in the long term. Full article

Digitalization and greening are two fundamental forces shaping the current technological revolution and industrial transformation, serving as key pathways for nations to achieve sustainable development goals. Drawing on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2022, this study constructs indicators of digitalization and greening from the perspectives of data empowerment and technological efficiency improvement and examines how their synergistic development influences industrial structure optimization. The findings reveal the following: (1) although the overall synergy between digitalization and greening has steadily increased, regional disparities persist, displaying an “East strong–West weak” pattern, with inter-regional differences being the primary source of overall imbalance; (2) through the mediating role of environmental regulation, the coordinated advancement of digitalization and greening exerts a significant positive effect on industrial structure optimization; (3) heterogeneity analysis indicates a gradient empowerment effect, showing that the impact of digitalization–greening synergy on industrial structure optimization follows a “West > Central > East” pattern. These results provide both theoretical and empirical evidence for understanding how digitalization and greening jointly drive sustainable development. The study offers practical insights for guiding traditional industries to integrate into circular economy systems through “digitalization + greening” transformation and recommends that governments adopt differentiated strategies tailored to local conditions, enhance digital infrastructure, promote green initiatives, deepen reforms, and innovate regulatory frameworks to foster the synergistic advancement of digitalization and greening. Full article

Sandstone quarrying in Lekokoaneng contributes to both local and national economic development, yet it raises concerns about environmental degradation and community livelihoods. Using a mixed-methods design framed by the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) and the Sustainable Development Theory (SDT), 203 households were surveyed across five buffer zones (0–1000 m) around the formal quarry site in Lekokoaneng, Berea District, Lesotho. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, while qualitative responses underwent thematic analysis and were transformed into quantifiable categories. Quarrying generated employment and small-business opportunities concentrated within 0–600 m of the site, alongside elevated reports of dust, soil degradation and water contamination that undermined agriculture and health. Households nearest the quarry reported the highest income benefits (e.g., 35% via employment) but also the greatest environmental burdens. Households furthest away reported fewer risks but also limited economic gain. Thematic analysis yielded four domains: Socio-Economic Empowerment, Livelihood Vulnerability, Health and Safety Risks, and Environmental Degradation and Control. Integrating SLF and SDT shows quarrying as a double-edged livelihood system with short-term financial gains that coincide with erosion of natural, human and social capitals. Targeted environmental safeguards, labour formalisation and community-inclusive governance are essential to realign quarrying with resilience and sustainability goals. Full article

As an advanced form of community development, Future Communities (Weilai Shequ) is a policy-led urban initiative launched in Zhejiang, China, that prioritizes human-centered development. However, it is currently confronted with an inherent contradiction: the expansion of technological rationality is encroaching upon humanistic values. Centering on the core “technology–human” relationship, this study is dedicated to exploring development measures for Future Community that synergistically integrate technological empowerment and humanistic care. Using natural language processing techniques (LDA topic modeling), we conducted an exploration and analysis of the thematic characteristics and evolution of 40 policy documents related to future communities issued by the central and local governments of China from 2014 to 2024. The study identifies six core topics: Quality Enhancement, Technical Foundation, Intelligent Operations and Maintenance, Green and Low-Carbon, All-Age Friendliness, and Community Services. Analysis revealed that each theme embodies a dual connotation of both technological and humanistic dimensions. Furthermore, the study revealed that the evolution of policy semantics follows a three-stage developmental pattern: technology dominance and nascent human-centered values; human-centered rise and technology empowerment; and human-centered deepening and technological embeddedness. Based on the above findings, and grounded in a phenomenological perspective, this study integrates Alexander’s human-centered architectural philosophy with Ihde’s theory of technological mediation to propose a future community construction pathway jointly driven by “technological mediation” and “human presence.” Theoretically, this research transcends the binary narrative of technology versus humanism. In practice, it provides policymakers with tools to avoid technological pitfalls. It establishes fundamental principles for planners and designers to implement humanistic values, ultimately aiming to realize, at the community level, the vision of technology serving humanity’s aspiration for a better life. Full article

Destinations such as Bali face intensifying overtourism, which undermines ecological integrity, cultural authenticity, and local livelihoods. Traditional sustainable tourism approaches have proven insufficient, leading to calls for regenerative tourism that restores ecosystems and strengthens communities. This study examines how Penta-Helix collaboration can drive regenerative tourism, mitigate overtourism, and deliver sustainability outcomes. A mixed-methods design was employed. Survey data from 220 domestic and international visitors were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM–PLS) to test relationships among Penta-Helix collaboration, regenerative tourism, overtourism mitigation, and sustainability outcomes. To complement these findings, an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was conducted with 30–40 key stakeholders drawn from 100 informants (government, businesses, communities, academia, and media) to prioritize mitigation strategies. SEM–PLS results indicate that Penta-Helix collaboration significantly enhances regenerative tourism practices (β = 0.62), which strongly reduce overtourism impacts (β = 0.58). Mediation tests reveal that overtourism mitigation is a key mechanism linking regenerative tourism to triple bottom line outcomes (economic, socio-cultural, environmental). AHP results show that carrying capacity enforcement and participatory governance emerge as the top-priority strategies, underscoring the dual importance of institutional policy and community empowerment. The findings advance theoretical debates by positioning regenerative tourism as a systemic innovation enabled by networked governance and operationalized through overtourism mitigation strategies. Practically, the study highlights the need for policy enforcement, participatory governance, and adaptive destination management to embed regenerative principles in overtourism hotspots. Full article

In Nigeria’s northwestern states of Kano, Katsina, and Kaduna, mechanized rice production is an important contributor to household income and rural economic activity, especially amid a rapidly growing population projected to exceed 400 million by 2050. This study investigates the socio-economic insights of mechanized rice farmers and assesses the impact of mechanization on income, seasonal production, government support, and rural poverty alleviation. Data were collected from 125 respondents across 14 local government areas by using structured questionnaires and analyzed through descriptive statistics and hybrid machine learning models. The findings show that revenue generation significantly influences the adoption of mechanized rice farming, while government involvement is limited and largely ineffective. Advanced predictive modeling revealed that hybrid approaches, particularly those combining regression and Artificial Neural Networks with Bayesian Optimization, outperformed traditional models in forecasting rice yield. Key challenges identified include the high cost of equipment and restricted access to subsidized inputs. This study concludes that income from rice sales drives mechanization and that targeted policy interventions are necessary to overcome socio-economic barriers and improve productivity. These findings highlight the dual importance of economic empowerment and technological innovation in advancing sustainable rice production and improving livelihoods in Nigeria’s rice-growing regions. Full article