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Wellington, New Zealand, is highly vulnerable to disaster-induced food security crises due to its geography and geological characteristics, which can disrupt transportation and isolate the city following disasters. Urban agriculture (UA) has been proposed as a potential alternative food source for post-disaster scenarios. This study examined the potential of urban agriculture for enhancing post-disaster food security by calculating vegetable self-sufficiency rates. Specifically, it evaluated the capacity of current Wellington’s community gardens to meet post-disaster vegetable demand in terms of both weight and nutrient content. Data collection employed mixed methods with questionnaires, on-site observations and mapping, and collecting high-resolution aerial imagery. Garden yields were estimated using self-reported data supported by literature benchmarks, while cultivated areas were quantified through on-site mapping and aerial imagery analysis. Six post-disaster food demand scenarios were used based on different target populations to develop an understanding of the range of potential produce yields. Weight-based results show that community gardens currently supply only 0.42% of the vegetable demand for residents living within a five-minute walk. This rate increased to 2.07% when specifically targeting only vulnerable populations, and up to 10.41% when focusing on gardeners’ own households. However, at the city-wide level, the current capacity of community gardens to provide enough produce to feed people remained limited. Nutrient-based self-sufficiency was lower than weight-based results; however, nutrient intake is particularly critical for vulnerable populations after disasters, underscoring the greater challenge of ensuring adequate nutrition through current urban food production. Beyond self-sufficiency, this study also addressed the role of UA in promoting food diversity and acceptability, as well as its social and psychological benefits based on the questionnaires and on-site observations. The findings indicate that community gardens contribute meaningfully to post-disaster food security for gardeners and nearby residents, particularly for vulnerable groups with elevated nutritional needs. Despite the current limited capacity of community gardens to provide enough produce to feed residents, findings suggest that Wellington could enhance post-disaster food self-reliance by diversifying UA types and optimizing land-use to increase food production during and after a disaster. Realizing this potential will require strategic interventions, including supportive policies, a conducive social environment, and diversification—such as the including private yards—all aimed at improving food access, availability, and nutritional quality during crises. The primary limitation of this study is the lack of comprehensive data on urban agriculture in Wellington and the wider New Zealand context. Addressing this data gap should be a key focus for future research to enable more robust assessments and evidence-based planning. Full article

Understanding what people think about hydrogen energy and how this influences their acceptance of the associated technology is a critical area of research. The public’s willingness to adopt practical applications of hydrogen energy, such as hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (HFCVs), is a key factor in their deployment. To analyse the direct and indirect effects of key attitudinal variables that could influence the intention to use HFCVs in Spain, an online questionnaire was administered to a representative sample of the Spanish population (N = 1000). A path analysis Structural Equation Model (SEM) was applied to determine the effect of different attitudinal variables. A high intention to adopt HFCVs in Spain was found (3.8 out of 5), assuming their wider availability in the future. The path analysis results indicated that general acceptance of hydrogen technology and perception of its benefits had the greatest effect on the public’s intention to adopt HFCVs. Regarding indirect effects, the role of trust in hydrogen technology was notable, having significant mediating effects not only through general acceptance of hydrogen energy and local acceptance of hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS), but also through positive and negative emotions and benefits perception. The findings will assist in focusing the future hydrogen communication strategies of both the government and the private (business) sector. Full article

The right to development, an inherent human right for all, emphasizes that all individuals and communities have the right to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from development that ensures the full realization of human rights. In Kenya, where a significant portion of the population faces poverty and vulnerability to climate change, access to rights-based needs such as clean water, healthcare, and education still remains a critical challenge. This study explored the implementation of a Human Rights-Based approach to community development through a Public–Private Development Partnership model (PPDP), with a focus on alleviating poverty and improving access to rights-based services at the community level in Narok and Nakuru counties. The research aimed to identify critical success factors for scaling the PPDP model and explore its effects on socio-economic empowerment. The study employed a mixed-methods approach for data collection, using questionnaires to obtain quantitative data, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews with community members, local leaders, and stakeholders to gather qualitative data. We cleaned and analyzed all our data in R (version 4.4.3) and used the chi-square to establish the significance of differences between areas where the PPDP model was implemented and control areas where it was not. Results reveal that communities with the PPDP model experienced statistically significant improvements in employment, income levels, and access to rights-based services compared to control areas. The outcomes underscore the potential of the PPDP model to address inclusive and sustainable development. This study therefore proposes a scalable pathway beginning with access to rights-based needs, followed by improved service delivery, and culminating in economic empowerment. These findings offer valuable insights for governments, development practitioners, investment agencies, and researchers seeking community-driven developments in similar socio-economic contexts across Africa. For the first time, it can be adopted in the design and implementation of development projects in rural and local communities across Africa bringing into focus the need to integrate rights-based needs at the core of the project. Full article

Machine learning techniques have revolutionized physical layer security (PLS) and provided opportunities for optimizing the performance and security of modern communication systems. In this study, we propose the first machine learning-assisted random communication system (ML-RCS). It comprises a pretrained decision tree (DT)-based receiver that extracts binary information from the transmitted random noise carrier signals. The ML-RCS employs skewed alpha-stable ($\alpha$-stable) noise as a random carrier to encode the incoming binary bits securely. The DT model is pretrained on an extensively developed dataset encompassing all the selected parameter combinations to generate and detect the $\alpha$-stable noise signals. The legitimate receiver leverages the pretrained DT and a predetermined key, specifically the pulse length of a single binary information bit, to securely decode the hidden binary bits. The performance evaluations included the single-bit transmission, confusion matrices, and a bit error rate (BER) analysis via Monte Carlo simulations. The fact that the BER reached 10⁻³ confirms the ability of the proposed system to establish successful secure communication between a transmitter and legitimate receiver. Additionally, the ML-RCS provides an increased data rate compared to previous random communication systems. From the perspective of security, the confusion matrices and computed false negative rate of 50.2% demonstrate the failure of an eavesdropper to decode the binary bits without access to the predetermined key and the private dataset. These findings highlight the potential ability of unconventional ML-RCSs to promote the development of secure next-generation communication devices with built-in PLSs. Full article

This study aimed to analyze the influence of local politics, village facilitators, recruitment of administrators, training and education, and organizational culture on work motivation and management performance. The study was conducted in Wajo Regency, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, utilizing primary data collected from 250 participants, including administrators of village-owned enterprises (BUMDES), community leaders, and representatives from the private sector. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with the LISREL program. The results indicated that the latent variables of local politics, village facilitator, recruitment of administrators, training and education, and organizational culture had a positive and significant impact on work motivation and management performance. These findings are valuable key indicators and provide essential insights for promoting and driving the BUMDES as a pillar of rural development strategies. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the local government revitalize the local political system, reorient the organizational culture of the BUMDES toward a modern business-oriented culture suited to rural conditions, and enhance the training and education of village facilitators to improve their motivation and performance. This recommendation will empower the BUMDES to promote rural economic improvement and sustainable rural development by enhancing work motivation and management performance. Full article

Private 5G networks offer exclusive, secure wireless communication with full control deployments for many clients, such as enterprises and campuses. In these networks, edge computing plays a critical role by hosting both application services and the User Plane Functions (UPFs) as containerized workloads close to end devices, reducing latency and ensuring stringent Quality of Service (QoS). However, edge environments often face resource constraints and unpredictable failures such as network disruptions or hardware malfunctions, which can severely affect the reliability of the network. In addition, existing redundancy-based UPF resilience strategies, which maintain standby instances, incur substantial overheads and degrade resource efficiency and scalability for the applications. To address this issue, this study introduces a novel design that enables quick detection of UPF failures and two failover mechanisms to restore failed UPF instances either within the cluster hosting the failed UPF or across multiple clusters, depending on that cluster’s resource availability and health. We implemented and evaluated our proposed approach on a Kubernetes-based testbed, and the results demonstrate that our approach reduces UPF redeployment time by up to 37% compared to baseline methods and lowers system cost by up to 50% under high-reliability requirements compared to traditional redundancy-based failover methods. These findings demonstrate that our design can serve as a complementary solution alongside traditional resilience strategies, offering a particularly cost-effective and resource-efficient alternative for edge computing and other constrained environments. Full article

Federated Learning (FL) is a privacy-focused technique for training models; however, most existing unlearning techniques in FL fall significantly short of the efficiency and situational awareness required by the GDPR. The paper introduces two new unlearning methods: EG-FedUnlearn, a gradient-based technique that eliminates the effect of specific target clients without retraining, and OFU-Ontology, an ontology-based approach that ranks data importance to facilitate forgetting contextually. EG-FedUnlearn directly eliminates the contributions of specific target data by reversing the gradient, whereas OFU-Ontology utilizes semantic relevance to prioritize forgetting data of the least importance, thereby minimizing the unlearning-induced degradation of models. The results of experiments on seven benchmark datasets demonstrate the good performance of both algorithms. OFU-Ontology yields 98% accuracy of unlearning while maintaining high model utility with very limited accuracy loss under class-based deletion on MNIST (e.g., 95%), surpassing FedEraser and VeriFi on the multiple metrics of residual influence, communication overhead, and computational cost. These results indicate that the cooperation of efficient unlearning algorithms with semantic reasoning, minimized unlearning costs, and operational performance in a distributed environment. This paper becomes the first to incorporate ontological knowledge into federated unlearning, thereby opening new avenues for scalable and intelligent private machine learning systems. Full article

People with severe mental disorders (SMD) face long-term functional impairments requiring integrated, community-based, recovery-oriented care. Italy provides two main housing models for people with SMD: private accommodation (PA) and supported accommodation (SA). This exploratory study investigated differences in recovery outcomes across these settings using the Mental Health Recovery Star (MHRS). A six-month longitudinal study was conducted within the South Verona Community Mental Health Service. Nineteen trained mental health professionals assessed 25 people with SMD (14 in PA, 11 in SA) at baseline (BL) and follow-up (FU) using standardized tools for recovery (MHRS), functioning, psychopathology, functional autonomy, and needs. Group comparisons and within-group changes were analyzed using paired and independent t-tests. At BL, people with SMD in PA showed better functioning (p = 0.040) and fewer needs than those in SA (p = 0.008). Recovery goals differed, with people with SMD in PA focusing on health and networks, while people with SMD in SA emphasized functioning. At FU, people with SMD in PA improved across all MHRS domains (p < 0.001), with significant reductions in symptom severity and unmet needs. People with SMD in SA showed targeted improvements in functioning, autonomy, and MHRS social networks (p < 0.001), with increases in met needs but non-significant changes in unmet needs. When comparing PA and SA at FU, the differences were relatively modest. Recovery is achievable in both housing settings, although outcomes differ. People with SMD in PA experienced broader improvements, while people with SMD in SA progressed in their prioritized areas, likely reflecting more complex initial needs. These findings underscore the value of aligning recovery-oriented care with the specific needs and contexts of different residential settings. Further research is needed to confirm and expand these results. Full article

This research aims to determine the utilization levels of local products and the challenges and opportunities of creating a recognizable food-centered cultural identity based on collaborative networks developed between agriculture and tourism. This has the potential to strengthen collaborative entrepreneurship. It uniquely contributes to the existing literature by exploring the connections between agri-food and tourism, while proposing strategies to maximize business opportunities centered on food culture. Descriptive and inferential statistics are conducted based on primary data collected by distributing a questionnaire to 59 public and private organizations in the Peloponnese region in Greece, which has significant agricultural production but limited tourist flows. The results indicate a lack of collective action and business recognition of the value of regional food culture among participants. The human resources employed in tourism lack the skills to highlight traditional food heritage. The presence of structural and operational barriers undermines efforts to facilitate communication, manage suppliers, and enhance the visibility of products designated with Geographical Indications. This paper offers preliminary results; however, extensive future studies are needed to validate the findings fully. The study highlights key implications: Improved communication between stakeholders could enhance the management of the local food network. Agri-food and tourism businesses can develop educational programs and food-focused tourism packages that promote social cohesion and preserve cultural heritage. Full article

Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) are voluntary coalitions of citizens, small and medium-sized enterprises and local authorities, which cooperate to share locally produced renewable energy, providing environmental, economic, and social benefits rather than profits. Despite a favorable European and Italian regulatory framework, their development is still limited in the Member States. To this end, this paper proposes a methodology to identify optimal spatial configurations of RECs, based on proximity criteria and maximization of energy self-sufficiency. This result is achieved through the mapping of the demand, expressive of the energy consumption of residential buildings; the suitable areas for installing photovoltaic panels on the roofs of existing buildings; the supply; the supply–demand balance, from which it is possible to identify Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) and Negative Energy Districts (NEDs). Through an iterative process, the optimal configuration is then sought, aggregating only PEDs and NEDs that meet the chosen criteria. This method is applied to the case study of the Avellino Province in the Campania Region (Italy). The maps obtained allow local authorities to inform citizens about the areas where it is convenient to aggregate with their neighbors in a REC to have benefits in terms of energy self-sufficiency, savings on bills or incentives at the local level, including those deriving from urban plans. The latter can encourage private initiative in order to speed up the RECs’ deployment. The presented model is being implemented in the framework of an ongoing research and development project, titled Renewable Energy Communities Monitoring, Optimization, and Planning (RECMOP). Full article

As climate change intensified water scarcity in Southern Europe, tourism-dependent regions such as Portugal’s Algarve faced growing pressure to adapt their water management systems. This study investigated how hotel groups in the Algarve have adopted and communicated water reuse technologies—specifically desalination and greywater recycling—under environmental, institutional, and reputational constraints. A comparative qualitative case study was conducted involving three hotel groups—Vila Vita Parc, Pestana Group, and Vila Galé—selected through purposive sampling based on organizational capacity and technology adoption stage. The analysis was supported by a supplementary mini-case from Mallorca, Spain. Publicly accessible documents, including sustainability reports, media coverage, and policy frameworks, were thematically coded using organizational environmental behavior theory and the OECD Principles on Water Governance. The results demonstrated that (1) higher organizational capacity was associated with greater maturity in water reuse implementation; (2) communication transparency increased alongside technological advancement; and (3) early-stage adopters encountered stronger financial, regulatory, and operational barriers. These findings culminated in the development of the Maturity–Communication–Governance (MCG) Framework, which elucidates how internal resources, stakeholder signaling, and institutional alignment influence sustainable infrastructure uptake. This research offered policy recommendations to scale water reuse in tourism through financial incentives, regulatory simplification, and public–private partnerships. The study contributed to the literature on sustainable tourism and decentralized climate adaptation, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals 6.4, 12.6, and 13. Full article

This study examines the role of public–private partnerships in promoting the sustainable development of travel destinations through a comparative analysis of two emblematic heritage-based hospitality projects: Dar Tantora in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, and Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita in Matera, Italy. These case studies were analysed through both architectural–urban and economic–legal perspectives to highlight how public–private partnership models can support heritage conservation, community engagement, and responsible tourism development. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative indicators—such as projected profitability, tourist volume, and employment—with qualitative insights from interviews with key stakeholders. The analysis reveals that while both models prioritise cultural authenticity and adaptive reuse, they differ significantly in funding structures, legal frameworks, and governance dynamics. Dar Tantora exemplifies a top-down, publicly funded model integrated into Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy, whereas Sextantio reflects a bottom-up, private initiative rooted in social enterprise. The findings offer insights into how different public–private partnership configurations can foster sustainable tourism development, depending on local context, institutional frameworks, and strategic goals. The study contributes to the broader discourse on regenerative tourism, architectural conservation, and policy-driven heritage reuse. Full article

This study investigates the cybersecurity landscape of Aotearoa-New Zealand through a culturally grounded lens, focusing on the integration of Indigenous Māori values into cybersecurity frameworks. In response to escalating cyber threats, the research adopts a mixed-methods and interdisciplinary approach—combining surveys, focus groups, and case studies—to explore how cultural principles such as whanaungatanga (collective responsibility) and manaakitanga (care and respect) influence digital safety practices. The findings demonstrate that culturally informed strategies enhance trust, resilience, and community engagement, particularly in rural and underserved Māori communities. Quantitative analysis revealed that 63% of urban participants correctly identified phishing attempts compared to 38% of rural participants, highlighting a significant urban–rural awareness gap. Additionally, over 72% of Māori respondents indicated that cybersecurity messaging was more effective when delivered through familiar cultural channels, such as marae networks or iwi-led training programmes. Focus groups reinforced this, with participants noting stronger retention and behavioural change when cyber risks were communicated using Māori metaphors, language, or values-based analogies. The study also confirms that culturally grounded interventions—such as incorporating Māori motifs (e.g., koru, poutama) into secure interface design and using iwi structures to disseminate best practices—can align with international standards like NIST CSF and ISO 27001. This compatibility enhances stakeholder buy-in and demonstrates universal applicability in multicultural contexts. Key challenges identified include a cybersecurity talent shortage in remote areas, difficulties integrating Indigenous perspectives into mainstream policy, and persistent barriers from the digital divide. The research advocates for cross-sector collaboration among government, private industry, and Indigenous communities to co-develop inclusive, resilient cybersecurity ecosystems. Based on the UTAUT and New Zealand’s cybersecurity vision “Secure Together—Tō Tātou Korowai Manaaki 2023–2028,” this study provides a model for small nations and multicultural societies to create robust, inclusive cybersecurity frameworks. Full article

The Internet of Vehicles (IoVs) uses vehicles as the main carrier to communicate with other entities, promoting efficient transmission and sharing of traffic data. Using real identities for communication may leak private data, so pseudonyms are commonly used as identity credentials. However, existing anonymous authentication schemes have limitations, including large vehicle storage demands, information redundancy, time-dependent pseudonym updates, and public–private key updates coupled with pseudonym changes. To address these issues, we propose a certificateless strong anonymous privacy protection authentication scheme that allows vehicles to autonomously generate and dynamically update pseudonyms. Additionally, the trusted authority transmits each entity’s partial private key via a session key, eliminating reliance on secure channels during transmission. Based on the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem, the scheme’s existential unforgeability is proven in the random oracle model. Performance analysis shows that it outperforms existing schemes in computational cost and communication overhead, with the total computational cost reduced by 70.29–91.18% and communication overhead reduced by 27.75–82.55%, making it more suitable for privacy-sensitive and delay-critical IoV environments. Full article

This paper examines a previously unknown anonymous Hebrew letter inserted into a postwar edition of Shem HaGedolim, found in the library of the Jewish University in Budapest. The letter, composed in Győr in 1947, consists almost entirely of passages copied from Tiferet Chayim, a hagiographic genealogy of the Sanz Hasidic dynasty. Although derivative in content, the letter’s form and placement suggest it was not meant for transmission but instead served as a private act of mourning and historiographical preservation. By situating the letter within the broader context of post-Holocaust Jewish and Hasidic memory practices, including yizkor books, rabbinic memoirs, and grassroots commemorative writing, this study proposes that the document constitutes a “micro-yizkor”: a bibliographic ritual that aimed to re-inscribe lost tzaddikim into sacred memory. Drawing on theories of trauma, religious coping, and bereavement psychology, particularly the Two-Track Model of Bereavement, the paper examines the letter as both a therapeutic and historiographical gesture. The author’s meticulous copying, selective omissions, and personalized touches (such as modified honorifics and emotive phrases) reflect an attempt to maintain spiritual continuity in the wake of communal devastation. Engaging scholarship by Michal Shaul, Lior Becker, Gershon Greenberg, and others, the analysis demonstrates how citation, far from being a passive act, functions here as an instrument of resistance, memory, and redemptive reconstruction. The existence of such a document can also be examined through the lens of Maurice Rickards’ insights, particularly his characterization of the “compulsive note” as a salient form of ephemera, materials often inserted between the pages of books, which pose unique challenges for interpreting the time capsule their authors sought to construct. Ultimately, the paper argues that this modest and anonymous document offers a rare window into postwar Ultra-orthodox religious subjectivity. It challenges prevailing assumptions about Hasidic silence after the Holocaust and demonstarates how even derivative texts can serve as potent sites of historical testimony, spiritual resilience, and bibliographic mourning. The letter thus sheds light on a neglected form of Hasidic historiography, one authored not by professional historians, but by the broken-hearted, writing in the margins of sacred books. Full article