Search Results (1,822)

Traditional craft practices face growing marginalization under industrialization yet remain central to cultural heritage and community identity. The Horizon Europe project CRAEFT addresses this through a Valorization Pilot, applying digital technologies across four dimensions: cultural experiences, games, retail support, and maker-oriented activities. The pilot adopted the Europeana Impact Framework, built on the Balanced Value Impact Model, to structure and assess impact using strategic perspectives and value lenses. Using surveys, interviews, observations, and utilization-based evaluations by independent teams, we examine how the framework can be operationalized in a complex, multi-site craft context, what short- and medium-term impacts can be evidenced, and what methodological trade-offs arise in real-world deployment. The findings indicate that digital augmentations, when usable and context-aware, strengthen cultural connection, support learning, and improve practitioner visibility, with utilization-based replications providing initial evidence of transferability. The study documents measurable social and selected economic value aligned with sustainability goals concerning education, decent work, sustainable communities, and responsible consumption, while environmental and long-term legacy impacts remain only partially evidenced. We conclude that learning and socio-cultural outcomes are the most readily evidenced within funded pilot timeframes, and offer recommendations for heritage organizations adopting impact-oriented evaluation. Full article

Cobalt (Co) is an important strategic metal that has a wide variety of applications. In minerals, Co often occurs with pyrite (FeS₂) in the form of isomorphism and is typically enriched by flotation. In this study, iron tailings containing cobaltiferous pyrite (Co-py) from the Handan–Xingtai region in China were used to enrich Co by flotation. Single-factor flotation tests were conducted to investigate the appropriate ranges of four operational factors: sodium butyl xanthate (SBX) concentration, turpentine oil (TO) dosage, pulp concentration, and pulp pH. The response surface methodology based on the Box–Behnken design was performed to determine the effects and interactions of various operational factors on the enrichment ratio and Co recovery. Two mathematical models were developed and accurately predicted the responses. The optimum solution of the models showed that an enrichment ratio of 2.30 and a Co recovery of 97.35% could be achieved with an SBX concentration of 350 g/t, TO dosage of 0.43 g, pulp concentration of 8%, and pulp pH of 3.51. Validation experiments under these conditions further validated the reliability of the model predictions. This work provides a solid experimental foundation for operational parameter design and process optimization in Co enrichment from iron tailings. Full article

Museums increasingly employ multisensory approaches, and olfactory heritage scholarship has established smell as an interpretive and cultural medium; however, its relationship with perceived value and service experience remains underdeveloped. This study examines how olfactory stimuli are conceptualised, negotiated, and evaluated by museum professionals and prospective visitors, and identifies when they may contribute to museum experiences. Using a qualitative design, the study combined semi-structured interviews with nine museum professionals from diverse Slovenian museum contexts and a focus group with eight prospective visitors. The findings indicate that participants view scent’s value-creating potential not through sensory stimulation alone, but by supporting interpretation, evoking emotions and autobiographical memories, strengthening visitors’ sense of authenticity and immersion, and encouraging active engagement. Both groups prioritised narrative congruence, contextual appropriateness, visitor autonomy, and sensory moderation over pleasantness. Olfactory experiences were primarily associated with interpretive enrichment, perceived quality, and value during the visit, whereas anticipated effects on attendance and willingness to pay were limited. Several constraints to the value-creating potential were also discussed. The study conceptualises olfactory stimuli as strategically curated elements of interpretive service and proposes curator–visitor sensory alignment as a useful conceptual lens for examining how intended and perceived meanings may contribute to value creation. Full article

Amid the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and growing environmental pressures, this study empirically examines the impact of AI adoption intensity on green innovation ambidexterity (GIA), drawing on organizational ambidexterity theory and dynamic capabilities theory. We also examine the complementary and moderating roles of CEO characteristics in the context of AI technology. Using data from Chinese A-share listed firms during 2011–2025, we test these hypotheses. The results show that AI adoption intensity exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with GIA. Mechanism analysis shows that dynamic capabilities mediate the relationship between AI adoption intensity and GIA. Both CEO IT background and CEO green experience attenuate the effect of AI adoption intensity on GIA. CEO power attenuates the moderating effect of CEO IT background on this relationship. Heterogeneity tests indicate that the effect of AI adoption intensity on GIA is more pronounced in non-heavy-polluting industries and state-owned enterprises. This study provides new evidence on the link between AI adoption and GIA. It also clarifies and validates the complementary and moderating effects of CEO characteristics on AI-driven outcomes, offering practical micro-level insights for firms to strategically deploy digital technologies and achieve sustainable and balanced green innovation. Full article

Generative artificial intelligence has become embedded in everyday university life, often faster than institutional guidance has developed. This qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study examined how postgraduate students experienced the boundary between generative-AI assistance and digital dependency, and how these experiences related to academic identity. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven postgraduate students (five males and six females) at a public university in Saudi Arabia, selected through maximum-variation purposive sampling. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and returned to participants for verification. Analysis followed Van Manen’s holistic, selective, and detailed approaches to phenomenological reflection. Two themes captured the experience: negotiating the boundary of digital dependency, and academic identity between agency and dependence. Rather than locating dependency in frequency of use, participants located it in the recurring transfer of substantive ideation, judgment, and authorship to the tool. Verification and the ability to explain and defend the final work helped preserve epistemic agency, whereas time pressure sometimes shifted practice toward substitution. Within this sample, strategic use as a coach, critic, or organizer supported confidence and skill development; extensive delegation was associated in participants’ accounts with diminished ownership, guilt, and concealment-oriented assessment practices. The findings offer a provisional, sample-grounded account of digital dependency and suggest that perceived ambiguity in institutional expectations may make concealment more salient, without establishing a causal relationship. Full article

The tourism industry plays a vital role in advancing the triple bottom line—economic, social, and environmental sustainability—through strategic marketing that enhances destination positioning and supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study examines how marketing efforts in protected areas contribute to broader sustainability outcomes, with specific reference to the Sustainable Development Goals. Focusing on the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, the research adopts a convergent parallel mixed-method approach to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing strategies implemented by the managing authority. Quantitative data were collected through 390 tourist questionnaires and analysed using SPSS and descriptive statistics, while qualitative insights were obtained from 10 in-depth interviews with key informants and analysed thematically. The findings reveal that the reserve’s marketing strategies are generally effective, accessible, and aligned with visitor expectations, with word of mouth and digital platforms emerging as key promotional tools. Marketing efforts were found to enhance conservation awareness and encourage responsible tourist behaviour, contributing particularly to SDGs 1, 8, 11, 13, and 15. However, infrastructure limitations and limited on-site activities constrain visitor stay and expenditure potential. The study concludes that while marketing plays a significant role in advancing sustainable tourism outcomes, strengthening infrastructure and diversifying visitor experiences could enhance the reserve’s contribution to sustainable development. Full article

Biodiversity conservation has become an essential component of global sustainability governance, raising important questions regarding how ecological policies influence corporate sustainable transformation. This study examines whether and how biodiversity governance promotes corporate green innovation by exploiting China’s Green Shield Action as a quasi-natural experiment. Using a panel dataset of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2013 to 2022 and a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) framework, this study investigates the innovation effects, underlying mechanisms, spatial heterogeneity, and strategic responses associated with biodiversity governance. The results show that biodiversity governance significantly promotes corporate green innovation, with stronger effects observed for technology-oriented green innovation, measured by invention patents and utility model patents. Spatial analysis reveals that firms located closer to nature reserves experience stronger innovation incentives, suggesting that geographic proximity increases firms’ exposure to biodiversity-related regulatory pressure and ecological governance expectations. Mechanism analyses indicate that biodiversity governance stimulates corporate innovation by enhancing local government environmental attention, public environmental attention, and managerial environmental risk perception. Furthermore, additional analyses reveal that spatial adjustment responses, including registered address relocation and subsidiary expansion, weaken the innovation incentives generated by biodiversity governance. Heterogeneity analyses show that the innovation effects are stronger among firms with higher biodiversity exposure, enterprises located in non-resource-dependent regions, non-heavy-polluting industries, and areas with larger protected areas. This study contributes to the sustainable transition literature by demonstrating that biodiversity governance can function not only as an ecological protection mechanism but also as an institutional driver of corporate green transformation. The findings provide implications for designing coordinated biodiversity policies that integrate ecological conservation, regional governance, and corporate innovation incentives. Full article

Bangladesh’s commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) and its aspiration to attain high-income status by 2041 depends heavily on securing a reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy supply. Despite sustained economic growth, the country’s power sector continues to face challenges associated with fuel import dependency, supply insecurity, policy inconsistencies, and limited technological innovation. Although renewable energy is increasingly recognised as a key component of the global energy transition, non-hydroelectric renewable sources contribute only a small share of Bangladesh’s electricity production, with wind energy remaining largely untapped despite its considerable potential. This study examines the prospects and challenges of wind energy development in Bangladesh, with particular emphasis on the policy, regulatory, economic, and institutional conditions influencing its deployment. A desk-based research methodology was employed, drawing upon government policies, regulatory frameworks, industry reports, international agency publications, and peer-reviewed literature. Through a systematic review and comparative analysis of international experiences, the study evaluates barriers to wind energy, mainly offshore wind expansion. The findings reveal that progress has been constrained by inadequate resource assessment, fragmented governance, limited investment incentives, fossil fuel subsidies, insufficient technical capacity, and underdeveloped financing mechanisms. Furthermore, institutional inexperience with competitive procurement schemes and the absence of a comprehensive offshore wind regulatory framework continue to hinder large-scale deployment. The study highlights the importance of integrated policy reforms, enhanced investment support, capacity-building initiatives, and long-term strategic planning. Strengthening these enabling conditions can accelerate renewable energy adoption, improve energy security, and position wind power as a critical pillar of Bangladesh’s sustainable energy transition. Full article

Second-tier cities in Northern Thailand possess rich cultural, natural, and historical assets, yet remain underexplored relative to primary tourist destinations, despite their strategic importance for decentralising tourist flows and promoting sustainable tourism development. This study investigates the effects of tourism components on destination image, tourist experience, and destination loyalty in second-tier cities in Northern Thailand. It also evaluates the relative contribution of these tourism components in predicting destination loyalty. The study integrates Pull Theory and the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework to explain the relationships among tourism components, destination image, tourist experience, and loyalty. Quantitative research was employed using purposive sampling. Data were collected from 360 Thai travellers who had visited second-tier cities in Northern Thailand. The findings indicate that eleven hypotheses were supported, while four were not. Art city emerged as the strongest predictor of both destination image and tourist experience, highlighting the importance of creative and sustainable tourism. Tourist experience demonstrated the strongest influence on destination loyalty. However, amenities and amiability showed no significant effects on destination image or tourist experience. These findings offer a foundation for destination management organisations to prioritise resource allocation toward high-impact experiential components rather than generic service improvements, particularly in resource-constrained second-tier city contexts. The study also underscores the value of integrating creative and cultural tourism strategies with sustainability goals, balancing visitor attraction with heritage preservation and community well-being. The findings provide practical implications for destination management and tourism policy, particularly in promoting creative and sustainable tourism development in second-tier cities. Full article

This study investigates the influence of ESG message strategies on purchase intention in new energy vehicle (NEV) advertising. Grounded in advertising message strategy, speech act and consumer behavior theories, the research examines strategy presence, directness, and boundary conditions. Two experiments (N = 604) were conducted: Study 1 (n = 204) used a control design to test ESG message strategy presence, while Study 2 (n = 400) employed a 2 (Direct vs. Indirect) × 2 (Luxury vs. Affordable) between-subjects design. Results indicate that ESG messaging significantly enhances purchase intention, with direct strategies outperforming indirect ones. Psychological responses (brand trust, image, and attitude) partially mediate this relationship. Furthermore, brand type moderates the effect: while direct messaging increases purchase intention for both categories, the impact is significantly stronger for affordable brands. These findings extend speech act theory to sustainability marketing and provide strategic guidance for NEV advertisers. Full article

Against the backdrop of the deepening digital economy and accelerated green and low-carbon transformation, data factors have emerged as a core strategic resource driving the formation and allocation of new quality productive forces. Whether data can transition from closure to openness, thereby converting data dividends into inclusive green growth momentum that balances efficiency and equity, constitutes a strategic imperative in the process of Chinese-style modernization. Based on city-level data in China from 2010 to 2024, this paper measures the inclusive green growth (IGG) levels of 295 prefecture-level and above cities, and employs the double/debiased machine learning (DDML) model to examine the impact and underlying mechanisms of public data open platforms on urban IGG, treating the launch of these platforms as a quasi-natural experiment. The findings reveal that the launch of public data open platforms exerts a significant positive effect on urban IGG and is associated with improvements across multiple dimensions, including economic development, social equity, green production and consumption, and environmental protection. In terms of mechanisms, public data open platforms promote IGG through three pathways: advancing digital inclusive finance development, mitigating factor market distortions, and improving urban information circulation. The impact effects exhibit significant heterogeneity across cities with different endowments: cities with larger economic scales, more abundant human capital, and higher initial IGG levels benefit more from public data openness. Furthermore, the effect of public data open platforms on urban IGG displays a regional gradient pattern of “strongest in the east, moderate in the west, and weakest in the central region,” indicating that policy dividends are fully realized in information-intensive economies but remain insufficiently realized in regions with relatively lagging digital infrastructure. Full article

The increasing environmental burden of petroleum-based plastic and foam packaging has accelerated the search for sustainable bio-based alternatives. This study developed mycelium-based cushioning packaging (MBCP) using Lentinus sajor-caju cultivated on four abundant biomass residues (corn husk, rice straw, sawdust, and sugarcane leaves) and comprehensively evaluated their physical, mechanical, microstructural, biodegradation, phytotoxicity, and cushioning performances. Substrate selection significantly influenced composite properties. Sawdust-based MBCP exhibited the highest density (314.79 kg/m³), superior compressive strength (0.91 MPa), and the lowest water absorption and volumetric swelling, indicating excellent structural stability under humid conditions. In contrast, corn husk- and sugarcane leaf-based composites developed superiorly porous structures that enhanced impact energy dissipation, with corn husk demonstrating better cushioning performance in free-fall drop tests, outperforming conventional air bubble wrap and expanded polyethylene foam in preventing secondary damage to glass bottles. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed that variations in biomass composition affected mycelial formation, pore distribution, and network density, directly influencing mechanical behavior and impact resistance. Soil burial experiments revealed progressive biodegradation, with corn husk- and sugarcane leaf-based MBCP achieving over 60% degradation within 90 days, while phytotoxicity assays revealed no inhibitory effects on seed germination and even promoted early seedling growth in several vegetable species, supporting safe environmental disposal and potential secondary use as biodegradable planters. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that biomass residues can be strategically selected to improve the functional performance of MBCP by offering a compromise between biodegradability, mechanical durability, and cushioning efficiency. The developed MBCP represents a promising renewable alternative to conventional petroleum-derived plastic and foam packaging, supporting circular bioeconomy strategies through waste valorization and environmentally responsible packaging solutions. Full article

Airport slot rescheduling is a complex sequential decision-making problem in which operational disruptions, limited airport capacity, and stringent feasibility constraints require timely rescheduling decisions. While conventional optimization techniques have achieved strong performance in strategic slot allocation, their reliance on repeated re-optimization limits their adaptability to continuously changing operational conditions. Although reinforcement learning (RL) has emerged as a promising paradigm for dynamic scheduling, its application to airport slot rescheduling remains hindered by the large number of infeasible actions that dominate the decision space and impede efficient policy learning. This paper proposes RL-AirSched, a feasibility-aware reinforcement learning framework for dynamic airport slot rescheduling. RL-AirSched integrates constrained candidate-action generation, binary action masking, and a multi-objective reward formulation to guide policy learning within a feasibility-aware scheduling environment. By restricting exploration to a feasibility-filtered set of flight-slot assignments, the framework enables the learning agent to balance conflict mitigation, displacement minimization, fairness preservation, and successful flight reassignment within a unified sequential decision-making process. The proposed framework is evaluated using three airport scheduling datasets representing progressively increasing operational complexity and is compared with Random Agent and Greedy Heuristic benchmark strategies. Comprehensive experiments include comparative performance evaluation, scalability analysis, multi-seed robustness assessment, and one-way ANOVA statistical validation. The results demonstrate that RL-AirSched consistently produces effective scheduling policies within the evaluated feasibility-aware environments, achieves all 30 successful flight reassignments in the medium-scale scheduling environment with zero variance across ten independent training runs, maintains competitive performance in the larger tested scheduling environments, and demonstrates scalability across the three evaluated synthetic problem sizes. The findings demonstrate that feasibility-aware action-space engineering provides an effective mechanism for improving reinforcement learning in constrained scheduling problems. Beyond airport slot rescheduling, the findings provide experimental evidence supporting feasibility-aware reinforcement learning for constrained sequential decision-making, while validation on unseen operational configurations and real airport data remains necessary to establish broader generalizability and practical applicability. Full article

This paper demonstrates that the application of innovation methodologies and business models, such as Design Thinking (DT) and the Business Model Canvas (BMC), enables virtual reality (VR)-based training to address a training need that is difficult to cover through conventional hands-on approaches alone. The transition towards vehicle electrification is increasing both the complexity of repair operations and the importance of safety procedures, making effective training solutions an increasingly strategic requirement for the automotive aftersales sector. Despite the growing demand, the application of VR in non-formal training environments, as well as its evolution, remains comparatively underexplored. The study describes how these tools support the progressive design of a VR-based training environment focused on electric vehicle (EV) safety procedures. Furthermore, the evolution of the project and the insights gained from its initial development in 2016 to the present are presented, during which it has been maintained as a practical component integrated into a broader in-person training course. Based on the experience accumulated throughout the project, a transferable methodology for VR-based training solutions is formalized. Following the implementation of successive redesigns driven by technological obsolescence and the continuous evolution of EV technologies, the results obtained are analyzed in terms of learning outcomes and user experience (UX) across different learner profiles. To this end, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) question is incorporated to assess participants’ recommendation intention. The analysis not only shows high levels of acceptance and effective learning associated with this practice-based approach but also reveals a rapid adaptation to VR technology among younger professionals without prior experience. This finding is particularly relevant, as it suggests the potential for large-scale implementation of VR in the autonomous training of EV repair technicians. Full article

Virtual influencers generated by artificial intelligence have emerged as a strategic tool in digital advertising, although evidence regarding their actual effectiveness in market campaigns remains limited to laboratory experiments based on self-report measures. This study examines the effect of advertising spokesperson type (human versus AI-generated avatar) and authorship disclosure (stating or not stating the origin of the advertisement) on the performance metrics of an actual campaign on the Meta platform. Through a field experiment with a 2 × 2 factorial design (spokesperson type × authorship disclosure), stratified by gender and age group, 384 advertisements were placed with a fixed budget on Facebook, and performance metrics (reach, video plays, clicks, and messages) were modeled using generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) with a negative binomial distribution. The results reveal a trade-off: the AI avatar is associated with 25% more video plays, but with 13% less reach and 38% fewer clicks, and with no significant difference in messages. Because impressions were allocated by the platform’s delivery algorithm, these estimates are read as performance differences under standard algorithmic delivery rather than as effects of full random assignment of users to conditions. Authorship disclosure did not show a statistically significant effect on any of the evaluated metrics, nor did its interaction with spokesperson type, suggesting that stating the origin of the advertisement can be implemented without a detectable cost to performance, although for messages the evidence remains inconclusive. The originality of this study lies in providing empirical evidence based on real behavioral data from an advertising campaign, overcoming the limitations of experiments relying on self-report measures that predominate in the literature. Full article