Wales: Wellbeing as Sustainable Development

Achieving significant breakthroughs in both the fundamental theories and technological applications of artificial intelligence is essential for fostering its long-term development. Under the guidance of Professor Qian Xuesen’s theory of technological science, exploring the internal mechanisms of knowledge evolution in artificial intelligence holds profound theoretical and practical significance for promoting sustainable technological advancement. This study draws on literature from the Web of Science (WOS) database and employs methods such as knowledge mapping, natural language processing, clustering analysis, and citation analysis to outline the knowledge structure of the field, clarify the trajectory of sustainable development, and trace the technological genealogy of VR/AR technologies.This study divides the knowledge structure within the field of technological science into “basic theoretical knowledge—applied basic knowledge—applied knowledge”, enriching Qian’s theory of technological science from within and providing strong intellectual support and technological pathways for sustainable technological development in practice. Artificial intelligence encompasses 10 distinct knowledge domains, among which machine learning and deep learning constitute the basic theoretical knowledge, data intelligence, computer vision, and swarm intelligence are the applied basic knowledge, and image processing and human-computer intelligence are the applied knowledge. The development of VR/AR technology has formed two main sustainable development paths: “machine learning—data intelligence—intelligent systems—human computer intelligence”, and “deep learning—computer vision—image processing”.

The Since 2002, Japan has contributed approximately 26 billion pesos for the sustainable peace and development efforts in Mindanao through Official Development Assistance (ODA), which aligns with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Following the peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro separatist group, Japan provided an additional USD 13 million for post-conflict reconstruction. This article examines the rationale behind Japan’s foreign aid in the post-conflict reconstruction of Bangsamoro. Employing a qualitative research methodology with a descriptive-analytical approach, this study draws on secondary data from reputable academic journals indexed in Scopus and Sinta, as well as official reports from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bangsamoro government, and credible news sources. Primary data was obtained through observation and interviews with stakeholders in Bangsamoro during the author’s internship at the Al Qalam Institute, Ateneo de Davao University, a non-governmental organization committed to interfaith harmony and community empowerment for peace and sustainable development. The analysis applies a realist perspective using Hans Morgenthau’s A Political Theory of Foreign Aid as the theoretical framework. The findings suggest that while Japan’s ODA significantly contributes to regional development and stability in Bangsamoro, it simultaneously advances Japan’s geopolitical and economic interests, particularly in countering China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea and its economic dominance in Southeast Asia. Keywords : Japan; Official Development Assistance (ODA); Sustainable Development and Peace; Bangsamoro; Post-Conflict Reconstruction;

Despite the changing information landscape, the global agenda continues to be integrated into the strategic development planning systems of states and regions. However, its impact on the planning and forecasting systems at the municipal level is unclear. The main potential for sustainable development in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic may lie in its resources, such as human capital, investment attractiveness, and land availability. This article summarizes the interim results of scientific research aimed at developing a mechanism for managing regional sustainable development (using the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic as an example) based on identifying and developing the resource potential of municipalities. The objective of the study is to analyze and assess the sustainable development potential of municipalities in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. In the course of the study, the author substantiated a set of tasks that will enable the development of best practices for sustainable regional development based on the implementation of a harmonious goal-setting system for strategic planning. The study utilized a systems approach and employed methods of synthesis, structural-logical analysis, generalization, logical approaches to information processing, graphical interpretation of data, and semantic reconstruction of sources. Municipalities in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic were monitored and ranked based on their performance in key indicators, namely: human capital; fixed capital investment (excluding small businesses and investments not directly observable by statistical methods); fixed capital investment (excluding budget funds) per capita; and land area. This allowed us to substantiate strategies for improving the Republic’s socioeconomic status. Using human capital, fixed capital investment, and land resources (available area) in municipalities as indicators offers significant potential for creating conditions for sustainable development and effective strategic planning for territorial development in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and related approaches are receiving increasing focus from education policy makers and educational psychologists. However, the extent to which ACEs research and theory can be used to inform practice continues to be a topic for debate. The present paper explores the development of ACE-informed practice within two UK local authority educational psychology services, through use of focus groups and interviews with educational psychologists. Rationale, facilitators and barriers to the development of current ACE-informed practice are reported. Implications for educational psychology practice, including consideration of risk and reliance factors, the importance of consistent implementation of approaches, and future research are also considered.

'Sustainable Development' as Legal Term in European Community Law: Making It Operable Within the Habitats Directive and the Water Framework Directive

This chapter aims to build new theory about the links between sustainable community development, entrepreneurship, community wellbeing and interlinkages between the sustainable development goal 12 (hereafter SDG 12), sustainable consumption and production, and the sustainable development goal 3 (hereafter SDG 3) – good health and wellbeing. New theory is needed because multidimensional wellbeing has not been used as an outcome variable with which to assess relative merits or understand the intricacies of how development approaches achieve synergies or fragmentation between the varying components of wellbeing. The research presented here is based on a case study qualitative methodology strategy. Evidence shows that resource-rich regions of Latin America are sites for sustainable community development and responsible production by international companies. Through a comparative case study of two resource towns in Colombia – Antioquia and Risaralda – we find contrasting approaches with different outcomes. A top-down corporate-based approach to sustainable community development occurred in Antioquia but bound the future of the community to resource extraction (mining) with limited attention to other aspects of community wellbeing. This reduced the overall resilience and wellbeing opportunities for the community. In Risaralda, by contrast, a more responsible, wellbeing-conscious approach was adopted based on local entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship here was not only focused on economic development and the future self-sufficiency of the community apart from mining but was also conscious of producing responsibly and building a greater range of wellbeing components other than just economic. We use these results to articulate a wellbeing-centric approach to development called Entrepreneurship for Community Wellbeing.

The article highlights the concept of the impersonality of power at all levels of management of the socio-economic system. The reasons for the impersonality of power are given: weak institutions (structure, policy, remuneration; control; culture); opaque decision-making processes; polarization of the power system; limitation of the ability to influence decisions; use of powers for personal enrichment. Overcoming the impersonality of power at all levels of socio-economic systems will allow optimizing the use of resources; accelerating sustainable economic development; ensuring conditions for citizens' trust in the authorities, which actualizes the value-based approach to management and the external way of thinking of managers. The paper substantiates the mechanism for overcoming the impersonality of power based on the voluntary actions of citizens at all levels of the socio-economic system (there is a possibility of objectively assessing the expediency of appointing an official, understanding the stage of development of his thinking by both the owners of organizations and society as a whole). Strategic directions for the gradual transition of officials to creative (external) thinking are proposed: expert selection; gradual assessment of performance; management of leadership culture through persuasion; spread of self-managed teams based on changing the organization of sustainable development. Scientific novelty: a comprehensive mechanism for combining various forms of voluntary activity of citizens has been developed to overcome the subjectivity of government; tools for involving citizens in governance have been identified. Components of the mechanism for overcoming the subjectivity of government at all levels of the socio-economic system by involving the voluntary activity of citizens applying for positions in governance: independent assessment of candidates for positions; public control over the activities of elected officials; conditions for voluntary participation of citizens in governance (involvement in discussing sustainable development programs; advisory bodies under government; volunteer initiatives). Directions for further research are given: the impact of different management models on the level of subjectivity of government; tools for assessing the level of subjectivity of government.

Festo has set trends in automation technology for more than 60 years. One of the company‘s fundamental objectives, in keeping with sustainable development, is to lower the cost of production using fewer resources. Long-term thinking and responsible action are important principles in the holistic, entrepreneurial thinking of this family-run business, so it was possible to re-plan the site in which electronics, valves and valve terminals are produced from scratch.

The Population Program of the National Audubon Society has published an overview of the water supply problems we face and the effect of population growth on these problems especially as they apply to developing countries. Water potential depends on the amount of water available locally or regionally and on the way in which people manage that supply. Improper water management can limit this otherwise renewable resource. For example human activities such as rapid population growth and industrial processes increasingly pollute water supplies. Humans need to value water adequately and to improve water conservation efforts and management. Otherwise the future of life on the planet may be in jeopardy. Business and governments must begin long-term thinking and avoid focusing on short-term profits. Lack of adequate water supplies has already contributed to drought starvation and political chaos in semiarid developing countries. These events will expand unless water crises are addressed. On a global scale inattentiveness to water supplies has already brought about the destruction of wildlife and its habitat contamination of drinking water supplies loss of critical farmland and a declining quality of life. Eventually nature will control the abuses of its natural resources. sustainable development can be achieved however if humans commit themselves to international cooperation population stabilization water conservation and wise management of water and other natural resources. Major subjects included are population and water resources water usage population growth and increasing demand water quality wetlands and estuaries increasing energy demands and recommendations.

Community economic empowerment through entrepreneurship is essential for achieving inclusive and sustainable development. Despite this, many communities continue to struggle with leveraging local resources effectively and remain reliant on external support. This community service initiative adopts the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach to enhance entrepreneurial capacities by harnessing local assets. The program involves several key stages: local asset identification, participatory planning, capacity-building workshops, business mentoring, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Data were collected through observations, structured interviews, and surveys to assess changes in knowledge, skills, and economic outcomes. Findings indicate substantial improvements in participants' entrepreneurial competencies, strengthened social networks, and increased business resilience, leading to reduced dependence on external aid. The ABCD approach demonstrates strong potential for mobilizing endogenous resources as a foundation for self-reliant and sustainable community economic development. This initiative offers a replicable model for supporting agribusiness development and holistic community empowerment.

Sustainable Development in Law Practice: A Lens for Addressing All Legal Problems

Recent reports from the higher education sectors of the UK and Australia suggest that graduates from higher education institutions should be sustainability literate. Conceptualisation of sustainability literacy is emerging, complex and contested, providing significant curriculum and pedagogical challenges for higher education institutions. Research in sustainability pedagogy emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary or other innovative approaches to sustainability education and sets a cultural, structural and curricular challenge for the higher education sector. This paper focuses on pedagogical possibilities from the standpoint of research findings that demonstrate the importance of holistic, ‘real world’ learning for understanding the complex and problematic nature of sustainability and sustainable development in theory and practice. Through the paper I explore potentials and problems for outdoor environmental education pedagogy, in higher education contexts, to contribute to sustainability literacy. While the focus of the paper is an exploration of processes and outcomes of a post-graduate expedition conducted for an outdoor environmental education programme in Scotland, it is also, in a sense an expression of my own, ongoing journey of engagement with the concepts and issues relating to sustainability education and, in particular, the notion of sustainability literacy.

This chapter reviews how the guiding concepts of EU environmental policy making and related governance practices have evolved through time. It starts with the EU’s commitment to sustainable development prior to 2010 and then analyses the subsequent mutation of that concept into the thematically focused concepts of climate policy integration, circular economy and bioeconomy. However, sustainable development never entirely disappeared from the lexicon of EU environmental policy, largely because of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN in 2015. These kept it alive in a rhetorical form, but largely failed to shape and guide EU policy making in the manner originally hoped. It then reveals how the gradual refocusing of EU environmental policy making onto climate change mitigation prepared the ground for the European Green Deal. Finally, it concludes that the EU’s sustainable development rhetoric has diluted its environmental policy focus for decades, and that the decline of sustainable development was accompanied by a refocusing of the EU environmental policy agenda onto climate action, currently one of the top priorities of contemporary EU policy makers. Although sustainable development and the SDGs do not formally coordinate internal EU policies, they continue to play a role in monitoring and communicating them.

PurposeThe paper aims to provide an introduction to the new journal, its scope and papers in the inaugural issue.Design/methodology/approachThe paper introduces the new journal by exploring the normative foundations of cultural heritage management and how this can be used to construct a bridge to processes of sustainable development. In doing so, the rationale is explained for a journal with this specialism, like JCHMSD, including potential areas for research. All this then is linked to the theme and respective papers especially selected for the inaugural issue.FindingsIncreasingly the role of cultural heritage in processes of regeneration and sustainable development of cities and regions is being explored, while at the same time the international debate is intensifying as regards a re‐orientation of the concept of sustainability and to re‐emphasize its meaning in clear and unambiguous terms. In the build‐up to the review of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, the international community by way of UNESCO is promoting the inclusion of culture in the development paradigm.Originality/valueIn providing an overview of the state of debate in the fields of cultural heritage management and sustainable development, the paper is useful to the readers of the journal who are interested but have limited knowledge in these fields. It clarifies the focus to those who wish to submit articles to the journal, as well as highlights some potential areas for research.

PurposeModelling of sustainable development is essential, as environmental protection is regarded as a top global priority in the twenty‐first century. The basic objective of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework, named the Four Forces model for diagnosing the process of sustainable development.Design/methodology/approachMichael Porter's Five Forces model serves as a starting‐point to derive the Four Forces model. The Four Forces model, which is developed based on Back Casting technique, shows the transformation process from current unsustainable development to future sustainable development through environmental degradation, greening force and greening process. These five major components are related based on cause and effect.FindingsThe paper reveals that a clear understanding of the transformation process and their integration is necessary for successful implementation of sustainable development projects, as the transformation is a continuous process. The Four Forces model is a generic and contribute towards a richer understanding of sustainable development process.Research limitations/implicationsThe suggested conceptual model provides a holistic view of sustainable development and does not attempt to provide a detailed, step‐by‐step approach for implementing sustainable development in industries. This paper helps to initiate future studies in this area.Originality/valueIn line with Michael Porter's three generic competitive strategies, this study analysis various greening strategies and greening tools and also recommends the Green Productivity as a better tool for implementing sustainable development in industries. The model can be used as a framework for further development of a practical sustainable development system in industries.