Search Results (359)

This study aims to explore women school administrators’ experiences of sustainable leadership by examining how they define sustainable leadership, the leadership practices they adopt, the challenges they encounter, the resilience strategies they employ, and their perspectives on the future of educational management. The study was conducted using a qualitative case study design. The participants consisted of 23 women school administrators working in the provinces of Manisa and Hakkâri, Türkiye. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using content analysis. The findings revealed that women school administrators primarily perceived sustainable leadership as a future-oriented leadership approach that emphasizes building a strong organizational culture, continuously improving the quality of education, and adopting a human-centered management philosophy. Sustainable leadership practices were found to revolve around collaboration, stakeholder participation, supporting teachers’ professional development, the effective use of school resources, empathy, and inclusive leadership. However, participants also reported significant challenges in implementing sustainable leadership, including traditional gender roles, work–life balance difficulties, limited access to leadership positions, and the perceived preference for male leadership. To overcome these challenges, participants emphasized continuous professional development, collaboration, strong communication networks, fair decision-making, emotional regulation, and maintaining work–life balance as key resilience strategies. Furthermore, they envisioned the future of educational management as being shaped by leadership approaches that are inclusive, collaborative, empathetic, innovative, and adaptable to change. Full article

This study investigates how the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) economy model and the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) can support the development of creative tourism for community-based conservation and well-being in Ban Pa Khlu Community, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Southern Thailand. A participatory mixed-methods case study approach informed by PAR principles was employed. Qualitative data were collected via stakeholder interviews, focus group discussions, participatory observation, and community workshops, while quantitative data were obtained from tourist satisfaction surveys during pilot tourism activities. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. The findings suggest that integrating SEP principles with BCG concepts provided a basis for community participation and the sustainable utilization of nipa palm resources. Creative tourism activities based on local knowledge and cultural heritage provided opportunities for environmental learning, cultural knowledge sharing, and value-added use of nipa palm resources, while offering potential supplementary livelihood opportunities for the community. The Ban Pa Khlu case illustrates how local natural and cultural resources can be developed into community-based tourism experiences while maintaining a focus on ecological conservation and local cultural values. This study provides an integrated approach for applying SEP and BCG principles in community-based creative tourism development. Full article

This study hypothesises and explores the co-evolutionary patterns and potentially the bidirectional influence between computational modelling exercises and real-world practices by employing the elements of the co-evolutionary framework (i.e., technologies, formal institutions, user practices, business strategies and ecosystems) and focusing on the literature on the application of agent-based modelling and simulation (ABMS) for studying community energy systems (CESs). The study shows that modelling exercises are becoming more complex, including more elements and conditions from the real world. The results confirmed the co-evolutionary patterns and demonstrated that the evolution of technologies (e.g., from solar PV alone to multiple energy sources) and business strategies (e.g., peer-to-peer, real-time pricing and day-ahead market) is more significant than the other three elements. On the other hand, formal institutions and ecosystem elements received limited attention. The evolution of models of collective energy security is analysed as an example, further highlighting the evolution of technologies element. Given the detailed analysis of models developed to study CESs and the evolution of modelling practices, this study sheds light on the aspects and complexities that future studies should consider. The study and its findings contribute to strengthening modelling practices in the energy transition and, more broadly, in sustainability. Full article

The field of Jewish thought seeks recognition as a distinct discipline: What is Jewish about “Jewish thought”—its language, canon, contents, or historical affiliations? A prevalent scholarly paradigm presents Jewish thought as arising from an ongoing “encounter” between Jewish elements—“internal” factors—and philosophies, sciences, and cultures—“external” factors. This article argues that the paradigm of “encounter”—however important—overlooks a constitutive dimension of Jewish thought: its character as an educational project. Its texts are oriented toward a community and audience, and toward “translation” between traditions and beliefs and changing social and cultural conditions. Argument, language, metaphor, genre, and the distinction between what may be said openly and what must remain concealed are therefore inseparable from questions of audience, identity, and communal continuity. The article proposes incorporating tools from the philosophy of education into the study of Jewish thought. It focuses on three concepts: “translation”; the tension between “authenticity” and “relevance”; and the development from “language” into “literature.” It first reexamines the paradigm of “encounter” and its reductive and creative possibilities. It then presents these educational concepts as tools for interpreting texts of Jewish thought. Finally, it reconsiders the customary distinction between objective and distanced “second-order” scholarly discourse and the more immediate “first-order” discourse of teaching and education. The argument advanced here is that the educational dimension is constitutive of Jewish thought and must therefore be taken into account in its scholarly research and teaching, with broader implications for the humanities and social sciences. Full article

Rural entrepreneurship is increasingly recognised as a critical driver of economic resilience and regional development, particularly in developing regions such as the Eastern Cape, South Africa. This exploratory study examines how entrepreneurial activities stimulate local economic growth, job creation, innovation, and community empowerment in Mnquma Local Municipality, where persistent unemployment and poverty remain significant challenges. Adopting an exploratory research design underpinned by a positivist philosophy, this study synthesises existing literature on the relationships among employment generation, economic contribution, innovation promotion, economic diversification, community engagement, and local supply chain development. Data were collected from 349 respondents drawn from a population of 3750 formally registered rural entrepreneurs. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, reliability and validity tests, correlation analysis, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SPSS and SmartPLS, to examine the relationships among employment generation, economic contribution, innovation promotion, economic diversification, community engagement, supply chain development, and economic resilience. The findings suggest that strong rural entrepreneurship enhances local adaptability and supports sustainable economic performance in the face of external shocks. The study emphasises the importance of inclusive, evidence-based policies that promote rural enterprise development through improved financial mechanisms, infrastructure investment, and strengthened stakeholder networks; thereby providing localised insights to inform policy and sustainable development in South Africa. Full article

This essay argues that the key to understanding Franz Rosenzweig’s complex oscillation between enclosed and dialogical models of identity lies in his sustained intellectual dialogue with Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy. Through a close reading of their 1916 correspondence and the works each produced in its wake, the essay shows that Rosenzweig’s philosophy of identity in The Star of Redemption was decisively shaped by Rosenstock’s emerging dialogical and linguistic insights, just as Rosenstock’s postwar writings were deeply informed by Rosenzweig’s conception of inherited, generational identity. Their exchange reveals a mutually formative conversation in which each thinker both appropriated and resisted elements of the other’s position. Rosenzweig retained a tension between enclosed and communicative identity, while Rosenstock sought to universalize and open the inherited Jewish model he found in Rosenzweig, purging it of its non-dialogical edges. By tracing this reciprocal influence across anthropology, theology, and theories of truth, the essay demonstrates that Rosenzweig’s and Rosenstock’s interwar debate constitutes not a one-sided influence but a shared intellectual project. Their struggle to balance historical rootedness with openness to others offers a valuable conceptual resource for contemporary discussions of nationalism, multiculturalism, and the status of truth in polarized societies. Full article

Background/Objectives: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often supported by structured safety screening and preparation, yet first-time patients may still experience anxiety, claustrophobic distress, loss of control and non-completion. This study aimed to describe the experiences of adults undergoing MRI for the first time and to identify implications for nursing preparation, communication and diagnostic imaging service design. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological study informed by Husserlian philosophy was conducted in the radiology department of a university hospital in Thailand. Eleven adults who underwent first-time MRI were purposively recruited, including eight who completed and three who did not complete the examination; five participants were hospital personnel. Data were generated through in-depth semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation, audio recording and field notes, and were analysed using Colaizzi’s method. Results: Across the four themes, negotiation of control was identified as a descriptive cross-theme pattern grounded in participants’ accounts rather than as a separate interpretive construct. Participants entered MRI seeking diagnostic clarity, encountered a sensory and spatial environment that weakened control, attempted to regain control through coping and communication, and reflected on the support they would need for any future examination. Four interrelated themes were generated: becoming aware of bodily abnormality and accepting MRI; encountering the MRI environment; managing oneself inside the scanner; and reflecting after passing through the experience. Conclusions: The findings suggest that first-time MRI can be experienced as a nursing-relevant care encounter rather than a neutral technical event. Nursing preparation may need to move beyond routine instructions by addressing sensory realities, anxiety and claustrophobia, coping rehearsal, communication options and post-examination reflection. The effects of these strategies on completion and service outcomes require prospective evaluation. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between cultural compliance and late dry-season vegetation dynamics in Southwest Sumba, Indonesia, by analysing a decade of August Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data (2016–2025) and Cultural Compliance Scores (CCS) across three sites. Underpinned by lende ura, a local customary philosophy conceptualising the forest as a ‘rain bridge’ that sustains water availability, this cultural framework fosters community commitment to forest conservation. Empirically, this contrast is evident where Delo, actively practising this philosophy, maintained a high mean NDVI (0.90) with a markedly low Coefficient of Variation (CV: 1.96%), whereas Mangga Nippi and Lua Koba exhibited lower mean NDVI (0.58 and 0.66) and higher variability (CV: 26.54% and 11.06%), indicating biocultural divergence. Consequently, this erosion of traditional practices is associated with changes in vegetation and observed declines in hydrological functions, making water increasingly difficult to access and heightening economic vulnerability within an environmental poverty trap. These findings indicate that late dry-season vegetation stability in this dryland setting is closely associated with the strength of customary governance, suggesting that traditional institutions may complement the formal conservation of natural habitats. By pairing a CCS with a decade of NDVI variability, this study provides a replicable framework and testable hypotheses for examining biocultural dynamics in comparable seasonally dry tropical landscapes. Full article

Background/Objectives: Occupational therapy theories, models, and frameworks appear to be developed in Western countries. The philosophical framework for occupational therapy in South Africa appears to have relied upon various models, predominantly stemming from Western and European origins, with vague and fleeting references to African knowledge systems and philosophies. The objectives of the study were to explore how service users understand occupational therapy following their engagement in occupational therapy services; service users’ perceptions of the activities used during occupational therapy; and service users’ participation in decisions regarding the selection of activities during occupational therapy. Methods: This study used an interpretive qualitative design. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. A total of 21 participants were interviewed before reaching data saturation; 30 min semi structured interviews were conducted. Data were collected by the research assistant. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis at the latent level. Findings: Four themes were derived from the data, which are misconceptions and vagueness, impact yet optimism, limited meaningful activities, and mostly therapist-directed activity choice. Conclusions: The findings highlight systemic barriers such as language of communication in occupational therapy practice and education. They also suggest ambiguity in the understanding of therapeutic goals by service users. In the findings of this study, it is also indicated that there seems to be a lack of meaningful activities selected for therapy. This is shown by the activities, such as the exercises, in which the participants expressed their participation during occupational therapy. The power dynamics, knowledge, and use of technology in occupational therapy practice were also highlighted in the findings. Full article

Sustainability education has produced four major traditions, Environmental Education, Climate Education, Education for Sustainable Development, and Climate Justice Education, that have developed largely in parallel. This fragmentation prevents cross-tradition comparison and leaves the most transformative dimensions of the field systematically underdeveloped. This article proposes a four-dimensional Taxonomy of Sustainability Education Design, organized around Educational Approach (D1), Cognitive Depth (D2), Disciplinary Integration (D3), and Real-World Connection (D4), for diagnosing dimensional gaps across educational programs and traditions. The taxonomy was constructed inductively from a critical literature review and interpreted through Edgar Morin’s philosophy of complex thought, whose seven principles explain why dimensional underdevelopment is paradigmatic rather than merely programmatic. The framework is illustrated through two contrasting cases: the UNESCO Associated Schools Network and the Brazilian National Environmental Education program. The mapping suggests a structural asymmetry: the dimensions most consistently underdeveloped, D1 Criticality and Advocacy, D3.5 Community and Indigenous Knowledge, and D4 Systemic and Political, are those most closely associated with transformative and epistemically plural education. The normative and policy implications of these gaps are examined in relation to the geopolitics of epistemological authority, climate-displaced communities, the historical production of colonial vulnerability, and the risk of epistemicide at algorithmic scale in AI-mediated education. Full article

This article proposes that Levinas’s philosophy of language constitutes a response to the collapse of linguistic structures in the wake of the Holocaust. Instead of attempting to repair or restore a pre-rupture metaphysics, Levinas establishes a new ethical grammar of openness rather than totality. Through a novel interpretive reading of Levinas grounded in Wittgensteinian philosophy, particularly the critique of private language (a connection Levinas does not explicitly articulate), this article argues that the rejection of private language functions as the structural foundation for the recovery of the language of proximity. The article examines three focal points where this ethical grammar is revealed: suffering, memory, and the proper name. Regarding suffering, the cry establishes an appeal constitutive of ethical responsibility; regarding memory, the transition from representational to immemorial grounds meaning in heteronomous command rather than community; regarding names, both God’s and the human names become traces of irreplaceable singularity. The discussion culminates in fecundity as a grammatical solution to linguistic collapse, a structure in which asymmetry becomes the fundamental relation between human being and Other, realized through interpretation and the Oral Torah. Levinas thus demonstrates that responsibility to the Other remains not an external addition to language, but its logical and grammatical foundation. Full article

The construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) is guided by the core philosophy of “ecological priority and green development.” To meet the practical requirements of building a “Green and Beautiful FTP,” this study constructed a kernel Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (kNDVI) dataset using Landsat series satellite imagery. By integrating methods including the Mann–Kendall (MK) trend test, Hurst exponent, and coefficient of variation (CV), an in-depth analysis was conducted on the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and trends of growing-season vegetation in Hainan Island from 1994 to 2023. Additionally, the Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model and the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) interpretation method were employed to quantitatively unravel the driving mechanisms of climatic factors and human activities on kNDVI variations. The results indicate that: (1) Over the past three decades, the overall kNDVI of Hainan Island has exhibited a significant upward trend, characterized spatially by an evolution pattern of “stable recovery in the central region and localized degradation along the coast.” (2) The vegetation evolution demonstrates strong persistence and is highly consistent with community stability. The high stability in the central mountainous areas stems from a superior natural background and strict ecological protection; the transition zone is jointly influenced by vegetation types and anthropogenic management; meanwhile the coastal areas exhibit significant degradation characteristics driven by high-intensity human disturbances. (3) The analysis of driving mechanisms reveals a complex control logic of “topographical foundation—human reshaping—extreme climate triggering.” Static topographical factors, such as elevation and slope, occupy an absolute dominant position; human activities, represented by rubber plantation expansion and urbanization, exert a bidirectional reshaping effect characterized by “inland greening and coastal suppression”; furthermore, extreme drought and high temperatures in the later stages of the study demonstrated a significant pulse-like impact, exacerbating the risks of short-term climatic stress. This study clarifies the core patterns of vegetation evolution in Hainan Island, validates the effectiveness of ecological policies, and provides a quantitative scientific basis for ecological conservation and sustainable development in tropical island regions. Full article

This paper builds on insights in disability studies, queer theory, feminist philosophy, and critical phenomenology to reframe the meaning and value of ordinary, physical objects that are part of the worlds that people with dementia share with their close family and friends. I offer a queer crip critical phenomenological reframing of dementia’s objects to better understand and critique normalized structures of ableism that shape dementia experience, especially when first-person experience of dementia cannot be transparently communicated. I argue that such a reframing of dementia’s objects furthers understanding of how dementia is a disability justice issue and opens possibilities for more just care for people with dementia and members of their care communities. Full article

This article examines how theology can engage meaningfully with secular academic and cultural contexts, focusing on the possibility of public theology within the modern university. Emerging from societies where religion was long marginalized or privatized under communist regimes, the discussion highlights the renewed struggle to reintegrate theological discourse into public intellectual life. It argues that public theology must learn to “speak faith publicly”—that is, to express religious convictions in ways that contribute to shared intellectual and moral discourse without resorting to confessional exclusivity. By comparing public theology to public philosophy, the authors highlight both the similarities and tensions between the two. While both seek to address common human questions concerning truth, value, and meaning, public theology must navigate the added complexity of grounding its insights in faith traditions while remaining open to secular dialogue. The article argues that the Beatitudes and the concept of middle axioms provide complementary theological and methodological resources for communicating Christian faith within secular higher education, as illustrated by a qualitative case study conducted at a public university in Slovakia. Full article

This article argues that Edith Stein, a Jewish-born philosopher who was murdered in Auschwitz despite her conversion to Christianity, has much to contribute to Bible interpretation. Rarely discussed in Jewish Studies, Stein’s Philosophy of Empathy (Einfühlung) deserves a central place in contemporary discussions of Jewish ethics and Biblical interpretation. This article makes two related claims. First, it proposes that Stein anticipated Levinas in her account of the move from philosophy to ethics. Working within the framework of phenomenology, Stein refused the idea of a ‘self’ separate from society and community. Empathy, in her analysis, is an ethical mode of access to others, which can (and should) acknowledge the other as subject. In this way, Stein proposes a thought-based foundation for responsibility that does not require an ‘exit’ from phenomenology itself. Levinas later radicalized the ethical implications of this move by describing the importance of ethical obligation, yet Stein had already shown that human responsibility ethics should become part of what religious thought should be. The article shows how Stein’s idea of empathy can guide biblical interpretation, placing her alongside Levinas and Heschel, and arguing that Empathy can be integrated into Jewish thought after Auschwitz, the site of non-Empathy, in contemporary Jewish discourse. Full article