ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: BEHAVIORAL TRANSFORMATION TO KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM INTEGRATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY ACTION

PurposeThe preservation and disappearance of indigenous people’s traditional knowledge system, under mainstream social culture immersion and fusion, have presented a dynamic and changing acculturation interactive relationship impacting Truku women’s health concepts. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the traditional Gaya knowledge system and mainstream culture confinement care model affect the beliefs and behaviours of postpartum self-care amongst contemporary Truku women.Design/methodology/approachAn ethnographic semi-structured method, based on cultural care factors and the Leininger Sunrise Model, was conducted to interview 17 Truku women with childbearning experience in eastern Taiwan. As data were collected, UDIST Vivo 11.0 software was applied for analysis.FindingsAmongst the three knowledge system categories, namely, traditional, mainstream and reconstruction, the traditional knowledge system, including Gaya norms, provides the overall cultural value of a Truku family. While taboo is inherited through the experience of the elders, the mainstream knowledge system favours the Han. However, the reconstruction knowledge system highlights the “functional” response strategies based on Truku women’s comfort and conveniences.Originality/valueLimited relevant studies have focused on the health and postpartum self-care knowledge of ethnic Truku women in Taiwan. The results are expected to provide clinical medical personnel with a reference and strengthen cultural sensitivity and the ability to implement the cultural congruency care of postpartum indigenous women in Taiwan.

The relevance of indigenous knowledge system (IKS) to sustainable development of any country is no longer in doubt. Therefore, any nations that do not adapt its traditional indigenous knowledge system into its western system of education are likely to have a retarded development. This is because there is always a conflict between traditional knowledge systems with the western knowledge system. This paper had to argued that there is need to decolonized science curricula into indigenous knowledge system especially Secondary School Biology for sustainable development in order to compliment scientific concepts, making learning more comprehensive and relatable. The paper discusses the nature and place of Secondary School Biology curriculum in Nigeria Science Education, challenging the myth of objectivity in Biological Science, The need for indigenous knowledge in Secondary School Biology curriculum, pedagogical benefits and practical approaches to indigenous knowledge, challenges and ethical considerations of decolonizing Biology curricula into indigenous knowledge, implication of decolonizing Biology curriculum into indigenous knowledge in Nigeria science education and conclusion.

In Cameroon, entrepreneurial activities are developed from two main cities namely; Douala and Yaoundé. Therefore researches on entrepreneurship development in Cameroon are based on entrepreneurs from these main cities, while other regions entrepreneurial activities are not considered as a target for entrepreneurship analysis. This paper analyses entrepreneurial activities in Eastern Cameroon that has a lowest level of enterprise creation that is in contrast to the abundant natural resources in the region. The study highlights the characteristic of local entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activities as well as the local institutional environment context. The study was based on a survey of 138 local entrepreneurs and the study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The descriptive results revealed that local entrepreneurs are largely youthful and the entrepreneurial activities are mainly developed from the small business sector. The study found out that lack of infrastructure; government subsidies and financial resources negatively affected the development of entrepreneurship. The Study suggests that the development of activities from strategic sectors such as agro-industries, forestry industries and mining and a setting of suitable policies and developmental programs at a level of local government could contribute to the socio-economic development of the region and of the country at large.

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) systems illustrate various ways and means of natural resource utilization and management, which has come into being through keen observations as well as the age-old trial and error methods. However, such knowledge systems are gradually eroding due to various reasons. Proper documentation, characterization, scientific validation, and popularization of such knowledge systems would help in preserving them for posterity. The present study characterizes the ecological attributes of a traditional rice farming system called Asra in Karimganj district of Barak Valley, Assam. The objective was to investigate the water properties and community composition of plankton and rice stem epiphyton of the water logged Asra rice field agro-ecosystem. The substantial contribution of Asra rice field ecosystems in maintaining the overall biodiversity of the system has been highlighted in the present study. The study revealed the presence of 77 genera of phytoplankton and 55 genera of rice stem phyto-epiphyton, which belonged to six major classes viz., Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Euglenophyceae, Xanthophyceae and Zygnemophyceae. Besides, 29 genera of zooplankton and 14 genera of rice stem zoo-epiphyton belonging to five major groups viz., Protozoa, Cladocera, Copepoda, Ostracoda and Rotifera were also recorded. The study shows that the Asra rice fields are rich repository of plankton and rice stem epiphyton, the natural live food resources for fish. The study emphasizes on conservation of traditional farming system like Asra, and stresses on the need for sustainable utilization of the existing bioresources in such system by introducing the concurrent practice of rice-fish culture in the study area.

Cannabis sativa L. is an annual herbaceous plant with a long history of multipurpose use, including food, textile, and medicinal applications. The progressive legalization in several countries has significantly increased its large-scale cultivation, consequently generating a substantial amount of biomass waste. This scenario calls for innovative and sustainable strategies to valorize Cannabis residues, aiming at promoting the circular economy and technological innovation. An integrative review was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Systematic searches were performed in SCOPUS, PubMed, and SciELO, complemented by specialized platforms such as CANNUSE and CONSENSUS. Peer-reviewed empirical studies were included if they addressed the utilization, reutilization, or recycling of C. sativa by-products or residues for the development of industrial products, processes, or inputs. The analysis considered thematic and commercial domains, geographic origin, and biomass type. A total of 262 studies were included, with 144 retrieved from indexed databases and 118 from alternative methods. The most commonly explored residues were stems (48.2%), seeds (21.0%), and postextraction residuum (9.7%). The majority of applications were related to technology and innovation (37.5%) and industrial sectors (36.9%). A total of 328 technologies were identified, highlighting applications such as textile fibers, bioplastics, biofuels, functional foods, adsorbents, and natural cosmetics. Italy, China, and the United States led in scientific production. Leaves (7.0%) and roots (0.9%) were significantly underexplored despite their bioactive potential. The findings demonstrate a growing global interest in the valorization of C. sativa residues, with promising applications in bioeconomy, regenerative agriculture, phytoremediation, and energy transition. The integration of traditional knowledge and green technologies is a key strategy to enhance sustainability and socioterritorial inclusion. Nonetheless, regulatory gaps and a lack of robust clinical and toxicological studies limit the use of by-products in food and feed chains. The residual biomass of C. sativa holds high technological, environmental, and economic value. Strategic valorization demands regulatory advancement, the development of green technologies, and the strengthening of multidisciplinary research. Industrial Cannabis emerges as a driver of ecological, social, and economic transformation toward sustainable circular production systems.

I am grateful for the financial contributions provided by the Canadian Indigenous of Health Research (CIHR), Institute of Indigenous Peoples Health and Gender and Health, with First Nations Health Authority, the Canadian Nurses Foundation, and the University of Victoria.

This article examines the effect of formal and informal institutional settings and of the governance of inter-organizational relationships on innovation at the cluster level. The research primarily relies on quantitative methods, utilizing data obtained from a survey involving 115 firms and 12 in-depth interviews. Supplementary qualitative information from the interviews has also been incorporated into the analysis. The results support the hypothesis that innovative firms should consider not only the impact of different governance modes but also how these modes align with the existing local contexts. Failure to do so may result in firms becoming entrenched in the prevailing practices and products of a specific location.

In Jamaica, like elsewhere in the Caribbean, traditional and local knowledge systems represent a blend of knowledge, worldviews, beliefs, skills, and practices derived from Amerindian, European, African, and other cultural groups. Through a process called creolization, new and unique knowledge systems were developed 90around Old and New World plant species, and this creative process still plays an important role in the island’s culture today. The historical movement of people and plants offers a solid basis to better understand Jamaica’s present-day applications of traditional knowledge in areas as diverse as agriculture and diet, folk or traditional medicine, development of the national nutraceutical industry and regulation of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), consumption of bush teas and fermented beverages called root tonics, and plant conservation. Jamaica’s rich multicultural knowledge systems consist of intertwined elements of biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity that merit deeper understanding, protection, and sustainable development for the benefit of local communities across the island. In order to better appreciate the multiple dimensions of these biocultural knowledge systems, counteract their loss, and recognize their value, equitable and dynamic collaborations are needed across multiple sectors, including social and natural scientists, policy and decision makers, the private sector, educators, and local communities. Continued documentation and valuation of these systems are urgently needed, especially in the face of challenges such as climate change and loss of biological diversity that disproportionally affect island nations.

The last 60 years have witnessed advanced technological innovation for disaster risk reduction (DRR) with the invention of high-resolution satellite imagery, digital cartography and modern engineering building techniques to high-yielding agricultural production. However, none have been highly satisfying in lessening the impact of disasters. The significant factor for the limited success of modern scientific society is that it views the world from a temporal perspective where humans are believed to be an active agent in modifying every natural possibility into opportunity. The very composite environmental system is simplified whilst extracting resources, resulting in resource depletion and environmental degradation, consequently opening the door for disaster. Technocratic science must recognise the need for a relational or holistic approach rather than believing in reductionist approaches alone whilst dealing with natural calamities. In this context, the knowledge of traditional societies is important to fill up the existing gaps created by the modern society. Traditional knowledge has different sets of ingredients to foster the development of the relational or holistic approach as it involves, interacts and interconnects humans, non-humans (animals and plants) and nature together, setting a perfect balance for sustainable development and DRR. It has vast undocumented observational data of changing natural phenomena, and in today’s scenario of climate change and uncertainty, it can create a path for reliable adaptation measures from climate-induced disasters. Thus, a holistic approach is needed for comprehensive DRR measures where both scientific and traditional knowledge systems can work together. The main purpose of this article was to explore the effective ingredients of traditional knowledge in DRR and how this age-old wisdom can be offered a hand to its integration into and collaboration with scientific research and management for DRR. To fulfil the objectives, a theoretical desk study approach was followed by identifying relevant studies, highlighting traditional knowledge in DRR from empirical and grey literatures, archive materials, biblical stories and so on. This research highlights some of the good practices of traditional knowledge in DRR and the possible path of collaboration of two knowledge systems in DRR.

The debate on African Indigenous knowledge systems and their link with African cultural practices and belief systems has elicited serious debates. The colonial administrators and their Christian missionary associates viewed African traditional or Indigenous knowledge and educational systems as unscientific, illogical, anti-development, and ungodly. This jaundiced view of African knowledge systems must have informed the apparent neglect of research on African education and cultural belief systems. This is in spite of the fact that the 1997 Global Knowledge Conference in Toronto, Canada, urged people to urgently learn, preserve, and exchange Indigenous knowledge. In Africa, Indigenous education is culture based on the methods and means of instruction used by different societies to impart their values and mores with the aim of attaining their societal/culturally specific visions, goals, and aspirations. For the Igbo, the latter statement is very true as evident in some of the proverbs, witticisms, aphorisms, and adages about education and culture. These bodies of knowledge emphasize conscious and refined methods of acquisition, and dissemination of knowledge of societal values, philosophy, and hermeneutics. Given these merits, it would be germane for serious scholarly research to be conducted among the Igbo, who of all in current context appear to be more “Catholic than the Pope” among other ethnic groups of equal standing in Africa. Anchored on the qualitative method of research, and field investigations, the present study intends to interrogate the nexus between cultural practices, belief systems, and education in traditional African society using Igboland as a case study. Questions to be addressed include but are not limited to, how was knowledge transmitted in preliterate Igbo societies, are those strategies still relevant, if not what are the options available? If relevant, how do we incorporate them to suit present realities?

Approaches to FLR that integrate diverse knowledge systems can be highly effective in reducing or mitigating drivers of landscape degradation that affect both the socio-cultural and ecological communities. Using examples from North America, we explore how such integration, using appropriate partnership models, can help to balance local and indigenous community values associated with forest landscapes with those of external stakeholders and society's broader interests. Insights gained from the case studies presented and approaches discussed highlight efforts to accommodate traditional knowledge to a greater extent than previously considered. Success in collaborative management for FLR ultimately requires: (i) integrating management of the biophysical landscape with development needs of local residents; (ii) embracing the complexity and challenges associated with pluralistic decision-making and (iii) finding ways to transition from top-down decision-making to bottom-up collaborative approaches. Partnerships can utilize traditional and Western knowledge for problem conceptualization, planning, strategy development, implementation, management, research/monitoring and adaptation. Collectively, these can result in long-term collaborative restoration of landscapes and their ongoing stewardship, ensuring they contribute benefits to local and indigenous communities and the wider societies within which they live.

R&D tax credits and firm innovation: Evidence from China

Transgender people are one of the most stigmatized social groups. They are experiencing institutional stigma and stigma on individual psychological level through different medical and legal procedures specific to their group. Though gender confirmation surgeries have been performed in Serbia for more than three decades, research on experiences and ways in which transgender people give meaning to the process is lacking. This topic became even more prominent due to significant changes in the area of depychopathologization of gender diversity and individualization of the medical gender confirmation process. This paper presents the experiences of transgender people in Serbia throughout the medical gender confirmation process and analyses the ways in which transgender people experience the process and give meaning to it, aiming to draw attention to certain problematic practices still present in the local institutional context. We used semi-structured interviews to collect data. Our approach is qualitative, based on interpretative phenomenological analysis. The sample consists of 12 transgender people age 23 to 48 (8 trans men and 4 trans women). Results indicate the great psychological and practical significance of the medical transition, and diversity in their needs when it comes to surgical interventions, implicating the importance of the easier access to the treatment and the individualization of treatment.

Disclosure practices of foreign and domestic firms in Australia

The implications of clientelism for democratic accountability are mixed: Brokers not only help coordinate votes for collective gain but also exploit their position to advance personal interest. I argue that brokers use distinct strategies—persuasion, reciprocation, and punishment—to motivate voters as a function of their local institutional context. Competitively selected brokers whose preferences are aligned with those of followers can rely more on persuasion than instrumental inducements. Economically autonomous brokers are more likely to rely on sanctions than reciprocity. Evidence to support both the proposed typology of broker strategies and their determinants is collected in Senegal, a clientelistic democracy where group-level heterogeneity generates natural variation in broker types. A coordination game played with real brokers illustrates that participants are less likely to sacrifice personal gain when brokers are competitively selected, more likely when they most fear retribution. Qualitative data suggest that results from the laboratory game plausibly generalize to behavior in elections.