Search Results (1,802)

International accreditation frameworks increasingly influence teacher education and quality assurance worldwide, yet limited research has examined their implementation in non-Western higher education contexts. This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to explore faculty perceptions of how well the teacher education programs at Kuwait University’s College of Education align with the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) standards. The study also explained the institutional factors that shaped these perceptions. In the quantitative phase, a questionnaire was distributed to all eligible College of Education faculty members, and 38 faculty members completed the survey. In the qualitative phase, seven faculty members were purposively selected because of their direct experience with accreditation, quality assurance, and program evaluation. In addition, historical accreditation reports were analyzed to provide a broader institutional context. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data from the interview transcripts and historical accreditation reports were analyzed using thematic analysis. The quantitative findings indicated moderate perceived alignment with CAEP Standards 1 (Content and Pedagogical Knowledge), 2 (Clinical Partnerships and Practice), and 6 (Fiscal and Administrative Capacity), while lower alignment was reported for Standards 3 (Candidate Quality, Recruitment, and Selectivity), 4 (Program Impact), and 5 (Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement). The qualitative findings explained these patterns by revealing that weaker alignment was associated with challenges in candidate recruitment, curriculum alignment, school–university partnerships, evidence-based quality assurance, institutional leadership, organizational culture, communication, and resource capacity. The integrated findings demonstrate that successful implementation of international accreditation standards extends beyond technical compliance and depends on organizational readiness, institutional commitment, and sustained quality assurance processes within the local context. The study recommends strengthening institution-wide quality assurance systems, improving leadership coordination, and promoting evidence-based decision-making to support sustainable accreditation and the continuous improvement of teacher education programs. Full article

Environmental sustainability is increasingly recognised as part of quality education, public health, and national development. However, sustainability education may unintentionally exclude students with disabilities when teaching materials, school activities, and environmental practices are not adapted to diverse learning and support needs. This study examined awareness, perceptions, preparedness, current practices, and barriers related to environmental sustainability among educators in the special education sector in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 432 educators and education-related professionals working in special education schools and general education schools with special education programmes in Riyadh. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Awareness, perceptions, preparedness, institutional support, current practices, and barriers were assessed using Likert-scale items and practice checklists. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Cramér’s V, and multiple linear regression were used for analysis. Respondents showed moderate to high awareness of environmental sustainability, with a mean awareness score of 21.2 out of 30 (SD 4.9); 204 respondents (47.2%) had high awareness. Perceptions were generally favourable, with a mean perception score of 23.8 (SD 3.9), and 311 respondents (72.0%) classified as having high perception. Preparedness was positive but less consistent, with a mean score of 22.0 (SD 4.9); 239 respondents (55.3%) had high preparedness, while 176 (40.7%) had moderate preparedness. In regression analysis, preparedness was independently associated with perception score, special or inclusive education training, sustainability or climate education training, direct disability-related experience, and working in settings with structured sustainability activities. Educators in Riyadh’s special education sector generally recognise the relevance of environmental sustainability and support the inclusion of students with disabilities in sustainability-related learning and activities. Strengthening disability-inclusive sustainability education in special education settings will require integrated professional development, accessible teaching resources, curriculum guidance, leadership support, and whole-school sustainability planning. Full article

Organizations increasingly face the challenge of integrating sustainability into strategic planning and governance systems while ensuring stakeholder participation, accountability, and long-term value creation. This study develops a stakeholder-based governance model by examining how strategic planning processes contribute to the integration of sustainability within organizational management. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining documentary analysis of institutional planning instruments, surveys administered to students, professors, and administrative staff, and semi-structured interviews with seven senior institutional leaders responsible for strategic decision-making. The empirical evidence was obtained from an Ecuadorian higher education institution operating in the context of an emerging economy. The results revealed high levels of stakeholder support for sustainability integration, with positive perceptions reported by professors (89.8%), students (83.6%), and administrative staff (74.0%). The findings also highlighted the importance of leadership commitment, stakeholder engagement, governance mechanisms, performance indicators, monitoring, and continuous improvement in supporting long-term institutional sustainability. Based on these results, a stakeholder-based governance model is proposed that integrates Strategic Planning, Stakeholder Theory, Sustainable Governance, and Organizational Sustainability into a unified management framework. The study concludes that sustainability can be strengthened when governance structures and strategic planning processes operate as interconnected mechanisms that guide organizational decision-making, performance evaluation, and long-term institutional development. This study proposes an evidence-informed governance model derived from a mixed-methods case study conducted at a private technological university in Ecuador. Full article

Background: Sustainable leadership has emerged as a critical approach for promoting long-term organizational effectiveness and workforce well-being in healthcare settings. However, empirical evidence linking sustainable leadership to workplace integration and resilience among nurses remains limited. Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between sustainable leadership and both workplace integration and resilience among staff nurses. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional correlational design was used. Data were collected from 200 staff nurses working in intensive and intermediate care units at a tertiary healthcare institution. Standardized instruments were used to measure sustainable leadership, workplace integration, and resilience. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and linear regression analysis. Results: Sustainable leadership was positively associated with workplace integration (r = 0.43, p < 0.001) and resilience (r = 0.24, p < 0.001). Regression analysis indicated that sustainable leadership was associated with workplace integration (β = 0.43, R² = 0.18, p < 0.001) and resilience (β = 0.24, R² = 0.10, p < 0.001), explaining a modest proportion of variance in both outcomes. Conclusions: Sustainable leadership is significantly associated with improved workplace integration and resilience among nurses. Healthcare organizations should adopt sustainable leadership practices such as providing consistent mentorship and professional development chances to improve workplace integration, and implementing supportive supervision and wellness initiatives to improve nurse resilience. However, the relatively low explained variance suggests that additional individual and organizational factors contribute to these outcomes. Therefore, sustainable leadership should be integrated with complementary strategies, including peer support programs and workload management interventions, to comprehensively strengthen workforce integration and resilience. Full article

Inefficiencies and low productivity persist in the construction industry due to limited digital integration and weak data use in decision-making. This study examines how internal data analytics, such as the systematic use of organisational data-like cost reports, safety logs, and project schedules, can enhance decision-making and organisational capability in New Zealand’s small- and medium-sized construction enterprises (SMEs). A comprehensive systematic literature review following PRISMA guidelines analysed 76 peer-reviewed empirical and theoretical studies (2015–2025). A thematic synthesis was conducted using NVivo 12 Plus and VOSviewer to identify patterns grounded in Evidence-Based Management, the Knowledge-Based View, and Bounded Rationality theories. The research highlights that analytics tools, including Building Information Modelling, Decision Support Systems, and Internet of Things platforms, enable real-time visibility, predictive forecasting, and coordination, thereby transforming operational data into strategic intelligence. However, adoption barriers persist, with technical interoperability issues, organisational resistance, low data literacy, and weak governance structures, significantly impacting resource-constrained SMEs. The study proposes a strategic framework that addresses four critical domains: robust data governance, leadership commitment and training, alignment with maturity models, and integration of emerging technologies. These domains demonstrate potential for standardisation and capacity building within SMEs, which also have implications for SMEs in New Zealand. Overall, the research provides a socio-technical framework which positions analytics as a transformative enabler of organisational learning, governance transparency, and sustainable performance and could support the development of an evidence-based construction sector. Full article

New Quality Productive Forces (NQPF) constitute a key driver of Industrial Structure Optimization and Upgrading (ISOU), while the advancement of ISOU provides an essential industrial foundation for the cultivation and development of NQPF. The coordinated development of these two systems is therefore critical to promoting high-quality regional economic development in China. This study develops a theoretical framework to clarify the formation of NQPF and the interactive relationship between NQPF and ISOU. It subsequently employs the coupling coordination degree model to examine the spatiotemporal evolution of their coordinated development across China from 2011 to 2023 and applies the Geodetector model to identify the principal driving factors. The results reveal three main findings. First, both NQPF and ISOU exhibited sustained upward trends during the study period, accompanied by pronounced spatial disparities. The eastern region consistently maintained the highest development levels in both systems, whereas the western region remained comparatively underdeveloped, with the east–west gap continuing to widen. Second, the national coupling coordination degree between NQPF and ISOU increased steadily, shifting from moderate imbalance to mild imbalance. Nevertheless, nearly 77% of provinces remained in an imbalanced state in 2023. High-value coupling coordination areas gradually formed a multicore spatial configuration centered on Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Jiangsu, resulting in an overall pattern characterized by eastern leadership, central transition, and western lagging. Third, the factors influencing coupling coordination exhibited marked regional heterogeneity. At the national level, economic development demonstrated the strongest explanatory power, followed by education and human capital accumulation. In the Yangtze River Economic Belt, economic development remained the dominant factor, while government intervention played an increasingly prominent role. In the Yellow River Basin, education surpassed economic development as the leading factor, whereas human capital was not statistically significant, indicating distinct regional driving mechanisms. Interaction detection further showed that most combinations of influencing factors generated nonlinear enhancement effects. These findings demonstrate that the coordinated development of NQPF and ISOU is shaped by both regional development disparities and the synergistic effects of multiple factors. Accordingly, regionally differentiated and multidimensional policy measures should be adopted rather than uniformly applying standardized policy instruments. Full article

Objective: To synthesise contemporary Australian evidence on how local governments act to support healthier, sustainable and equitable food environments, and to examine the governance arrangements, policy and planning levers, monitoring practices, and implementation conditions shaping local action. Methods: A rapid review of peer-reviewed and grey literature published between January 2015 and February 2026 was performed. Searches were conducted in Medline Complete, CINAHL Complete, Health Policy Reference Centre and Scopus, alongside structured grey literature searches. Included documents addressed Australian LG food environment roles, policies, planning, governance, or monitoring. Findings were narratively synthesised and mapped to national research priorities. Results: Thirty-eight documents were included (23 peer-reviewed studies and 15 grey literature reports). Evidence clustered most strongly around food systems and food security, governance and multisectoral partnerships, and food environment monitoring, particularly food access profiling, affordability monitoring and mapping activities. In contrast, the extent of coverage on statutory planning mechanisms, formal regulatory powers, and consumer behaviour outcomes was limited. Reports of evaluated interventions were concentrated in bounded organisational settings where councils held clearer jurisdiction, such as sport and recreation facilities. Across contexts, LGs were commonly positioned as convenors, brokers and enablers operating within constrained mandates and fragmented multi-level governance settings. Reported enablers included leadership, dedicated resourcing, partnerships and access to local data; common barriers included limited statutory authority, short-term funding and weak vertical policy integration. Conclusions: Australian local governments are active food system actors, but stronger statutory integration, clearer decision pathways, and more consistent monitoring and evaluation are needed to translate local activity into sustained improvements in healthy, sustainable and equitable food environments. Full article

Modern industries cannot escape entropy. In this study, we argue that organizational transilience constitutes a fundamental pillar of long-term sustainability—an argument grounded in the automotive sector, where pressure for ecological transition is arguably at its peak. Industrial organizations facing volatile, highly entropic conditions increasingly depend on the relational skills of their leaders to sustain and reinforce resilience. However, these skills remain poorly integrated into quantitative research frameworks. We address this gap by developing a nonlinear dynamical system, built on three coupled differential equations, that formalizes how a leader’s cognitive, conative, and relational competencies shape organizational evolution across five maturity states: fragility, robustness, transformation, antifragility, and transilience. The resulting framework suggests how these combined soft skills may expand an organization’s dynamic carrying capacity through strategic reconfiguration. Stability analysis further reveals that transilience is not simply a qualitative aspiration, but a mathematically traceable outcome of human agency. Taken together, our findings offer formal evidence that soft skills are structural imperatives—not optional assets—for organizational viability in high-entropy markets. Full article

This study investigates how athletes describe relational experiences at and beyond the Arctic Winter Games (AWG). Utilizing a qualitative approach, we analyzed interviews and open-ended survey responses from young athletes at the 2023 AWG, as well as interviews with former athletes returning to the 2023 Games in a supportive or leadership role. Our analysis shows that the AWG offers a range of social and cultural opportunities that make the event especially conducive to cultivating relational experiences. We highlight athletes’ accounts of friendship and network formation, feelings of enchantment, and resonance encounters, alongside collective encounters characterized by a sense of communitas. We also highlight post-liminoid legacies in former athletes’ accounts, including enduring memories, sustained social ties, and an ongoing sense of belonging and community. Taken together, the findings suggest that the AWG’s liminoid, festive, and community-oriented character helps suspend ordinary routines and soften everyday distinctions in ways that make meaningful relational encounters more likely. Full article

Digital transformation has become a central management agenda for higher education institutions seeking to improve teaching quality, organizational resilience, and long-term educational sustainability. However, the managerial pathways through which digital leadership contributes to sustainable teaching innovation remain insufficiently explained. Drawing on digital leadership, organizational learning, and sustainable higher education literature, this study develops and tests a conceptual path model linking digital leadership, organizational learning, faculty professional development, institutional support, and sustainable teaching innovation. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 300 university faculty members and teaching-related personnel who had experience with digital teaching tools. Composite-score-based path analysis showed that digital leadership positively predicted organizational learning, faculty professional development, and sustainable teaching innovation. Organizational learning and faculty professional development also significantly predicted sustainable teaching innovation and served as indirect transmission mechanisms. Institutional support had a positive direct effect but did not significantly moderate the organizational learning–innovation relationship. The findings indicate that sustainable teaching innovation depends not only on digital infrastructure but also on leadership-enabled learning processes, faculty development, and institutional support. This study contributes an educational management strategy model that reframes sustainable teaching innovation as an organizational capability shaped by leadership, learning, professional development, and support mechanisms. Full article

Public sector organizations face mounting pressure to improve employee performance while pursuing sustainable management practices, yet evidence on how sustainability-oriented leadership relates to tangible performance outcomes remains scarce, particularly in regional government settings. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, this study examines the association of Human Capital Sustainability Leadership (HCSL) with Employee Job Performance (EJP) and the mediating role of Innovative Work Behavior (IWB) among Indonesian civil servants managing regional government assets (Barang Milik Daerah). Survey data were collected from 541 civil servants across the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government using validated multi-item scales and analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). HCSL was positively associated with IWB (β = 0.834, p < 0.001) and EJP (β = 0.438, p < 0.001), and IWB was positively associated with EJP (β = 0.383, p < 0.001). Bootstrap analysis indicated a complementary partial mediation of the HCSL–EJP relationship through IWB (β = 0.319, 95% CI [0.194, 0.440]). The model accounted for 61.9% of the variance in EJP and 69.5% in IWB, though the cross-sectional, single-source design and very high construct reliabilities mean these estimates should be read as upper bounds. The findings suggest that sustainable leadership development may be one credible lever for supporting innovation and performance in public asset stewardship, with implications for sustainable governance and human capital development. Full article

The dominant discourse on tourism resilience has traditionally emphasized physical infrastructure, environmental management, and technological solutions as key mechanisms for adapting destinations to climate change and socio-economic disruptions. While these dimensions remain essential, growing evidence suggests that the long-term sustainability of tourism destinations, particularly in remote and vulnerable regions, depends equally on less visible but equally essential community capacities. This paper introduces the concept of human infrastructure as a complementary perspective for understanding resilience in tourism development. Human infrastructure encompasses social relationships, local leadership, collective efficacy, cultural identity, community participation, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and educational capacity, which enable communities to adapt, recover, and innovate under conditions of uncertainty. Drawing upon an integrative conceptual review of the literature on tourism studies, community psychology, rural development, resilience theory, and sustainable development, this conceptual paper proposes a human-centered framework explaining how communities themselves function as adaptive infrastructures. The article argues that resilient tourism destinations emerge not only from investments in roads, visitor centers, and digital technologies, but also from investments in social cohesion, local knowledge systems, community empowerment, and cultural continuity. The paper concludes by discussing policy implications for sustainable tourism planning and proposing future research directions for operationalizing and measuring human infrastructure in tourism contexts. Full article

Sustainability leadership is increasingly recognised as essential for addressing complex socio-ecological challenges, yet empirically grounded competency frameworks remain scarce, particularly those derived from interdisciplinary and intergenerational samples. Building on an extensive literature synthesis, this study developed an a priori framework comprising four dimensions: (1) Knowledge & Understanding, (2) Values, Motivation & Purpose, (3) Leadership Practices & Impact, and (4) Inner Development & Learning, operationalised into 20 core competency elements. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was conducted at Kiel University, combining quantitative importance ratings from 301 participants with qualitative content analysis of open-ended responses from 312 participants across all faculties and status groups. Quantitative findings supported all 20 elements, with systemic, value-oriented, and collaborative competencies rated particularly highly. Qualitative findings supported all deductive competency domains, with K2 and K5 merged into one integrated category, and added 12 inductive categories, foregrounding relational, visionary, critical-systemic, and inner-directed capacities. Trust and empathy emerged as implicit foundations across several dimensions. The resulting framework is organised across four competency dimensions and three relational levels: I (the leader within), Us (in relation to others), and World (in relation to society and systems). It offers a theoretically and empirically grounded foundation for sustainability leadership development in higher education, organisations, and professional training. Full article

Healthcare services account for approximately 4–5% of global greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, and nearly 10% of emissions in the United States are primarily from general hospital operations, surgical and anesthetic care, and pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains. Healthcare services and operations also generate substantial plastic and chemical waste that pollute the environment and disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. Although global and national organizations have introduced decarbonization frameworks, adoption remains hindered by limited leadership engagement, competing institutional priorities, and insufficient regulatory accountability. This article synthesizes the published literature on the current landscape of healthcare sustainability, summarizes key policy frameworks, and identifies major barriers to implementation; these findings are then illustrated through sustainability initiatives at Stanford Medicine, a quaternary hospital system. These efforts are presented as implementation examples that other institutions may adapt to their own resources and contexts, to reduce emissions and ensure more sustainable healthcare delivery. Full article

In the burgeoning live stream landscape, manufacturers face critical dilemmas regarding strategic channel governance and how intermediaries’ bargaining ability dictates sustainable cooperation under Stackelberg leadership change. Addressing these issues is vital, as misaligned governance risks severe profit losses, yet standard heuristics fail to capture how leadership shifts disrupt channel coordination and model selection. To fill this gap, we model a manufacturer’s self-operated (Model SO) live stream channel and an intermediary-operated (Model IO) live stream channel to evaluate trade-offs among bargaining ability, operational costs, and spillover effects. Key findings show that in Model SO, spillover and price adjustments transform the live stream channel into a traffic-channeling gateway in which rising operational costs paradoxically boost total profits. In Model IO, bargaining ability serves as a key determinant, as high pit fees weaponize this ability for predatory commission-squeezing, while low pit fees redirect it toward volume expansion, transforming the intermediary into a synergistic partner. Furthermore, bargaining ability shifts pricing from intermediary-introduction to profit-recapture strategies while exerting cost-magnification and revenue-magnification effects under varying pit fees. Crucially, we uncover two Pareto-optimal cooperation zones alongside a non-cooperation zone caused by incentive incompatibility under mid-tier bargaining ability. Extensions show that intensified price competition turns dominant intermediaries into welfare killers and high service sensitivity induces an over-service trap, though popularity cost-sharing contracts restore coordination. Overall, this study fills a crucial analytical gap by establishing precise theoretical boundaries for channel governance, bargaining ability dynamics, and cost-driven functional transformations in live stream supply chains. Full article