The main objective of the study is to discuss the application of a participatory approach that involves the community of a small rural area in Italy to develop and maintain a sustainable local food system based on a very ancient and high-quality typical local bean. The efficacy of the approach in terms of the active involvement of local actors (farming communities, local administration, social associations, and civil society) and knowledge transfer for preserving the local food culture has been demonstrated. Possible improvements to the approach through digital technologies for stimulating the effective engagement of teenagers have also been discussed.

This study investigates the impacts of converting agricultural land into agrotourism areas on environmental, socio-cultural, and economic perspectives within Batukliang District, Central Lombok Regency, Indonesia. With a case study approach, this qualitative descriptive research employed interviews with three target groups: local farmers, residents, and tourism actors. The findings revealed seven key points identified as influences affecting the socio-cultural aspects of land change, including community impact, cultural preservation, cultural identity loss, community dynamics change, local cultural commercialization, cultural heritage loss, and traditional livelihoods. The results also unveiled nine financial impacts, 8 of which were associated with economic implications such as economic challenges, risk management, brand building, costs and investments, market access, increased revenue, and income diversity, which contribute positively to local economic development. The study concluded that integrating community involvement empowerment strategies, income diversification, sustainable farming promotion, and land-use regulation is crucial for developing a successful sustainable agrotourism destination.

Research on community resilience has been ongoing for decades. Several studies have been carried out on resilience in different groups and contexts. However, few address the relationship between community resilience and depopulated rural areas. This study aims to dig deeper into this, considering the concrete impact of population decline in Spain. We carried out a systematic review of the most relevant contributions. A search protocol was developed and used to consult ten databases. Different combinations of terms such as ‘community resilience’, ‘rural’, and ‘depopulation’, or related terms, were used. 22 scientific texts were analysed. We obtained a set of publications that demonstrate the heterogeneity of research methods, approaches and analytical processes applied to the study of this relationship. A mostly qualitative approach was observed, either as the main technique or complementary to documentary reviews. The results underscore the complex nature of rural depopulation and related constructs. It emphasizes the specific importance of community resilience in these territories in terms of social capital, endogenous resources, sustainability, economic dynamism, local responsibility and effective governance. The findings identify a scarce mention to social intervention professions, which should have a more important role due to their core values. In the studies reviewed, it appears as an emerging and scientifically relevant area to explore, both for investigation and intervention purposes. The strength of a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the phenomena appears in the discussion as a main potential line of research.

The purpose of this study was to assess rural students’ computational thinking abilities. The following proofs were observed: (1) Students’ abstraction affected algorithmic thinking skills; (2) Students’ decomposition influenced algorithmic thinking skills; (3) Students’ abstraction impacted evaluation skills; (4) Students’ algorithmic thinking affected evaluation skills; (5) Students’ abstraction impacted generalization skills; (6) Students’ decomposition impacted generalization skills; (7) Students’ evaluation affected generalization skills. Gender differences were observed in the relationship among the computational thinking factors of junior high school students. This included the abstraction-generalization skills; evaluation-generalization skills; and decomposition-generalization skills relationships, which were moderated by the gender of the students. 258 valid surveys were collected, and they were utilized in the study. Conducting the descriptive, reliability, and validity analyses used SPSS software, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) was also conducted through Smart PLS software to assess the hypothetical relationships. There were gender disparities in the correlation among computational thinking components of the junior high school students’ studying in rural areas. Research has shown that male and female students may have different abstractions, evaluations, and generalizations related to computational thinking, with females being more strongly associated than males in non-programming learning contexts. These results are expected to provide relevant information in subsequent analyses and implement a computational thinking curriculum to overcome the still-existing gender gaps and promote computational thinking skills.

Presently, any development initiatives without considering sustainability can barely be imagined. There has been a paradigm shift in the focus of the development partners from the mere development to sustainable development. However, the role of development partners in bringing sustainability in livelihood assets of the rural community has long been questioned. Hence, this study aims to explore the sustainability in the form of changes in livelihood assets of a local community in Bangladesh. This study considers the changes in livelihood assets of the community over the three-time frames - before, during, and after a project implemented by a national NGO called ‘UST’ and subsequently identifies the community’s capacity to sustain the project outcomes after the completion of the project. ‘Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF)’ developed by Department for International Development (DFID) was utilized in this study to analyse the vulnerability and livelihood issues of the community members. Data has been collected through focus group discussions, household survey and key informants’ interviews from three distinct villages of ‘Khutamara’ union in the ‘Nilphamari’ district of Bangladesh. The finding of the study states that all the livelihood assets such as the social capital, human capital, natural capital, financial capital, physical capital have positively changed due to the interference of the development partners. This study further finds that even after the completion of project tenure, such positive trends continue to exist among the community members indicating sustainable development. Moreover, political capital- a new type of livelihood has also emerged because of the project implementation which was not quite evident before the inception of the project. In addition, this study explored the unique phenomenon of the Shabolombee Gram, where the transformation altering farmers’, livelihoods does not come from the government or the private sector but originates from a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Therefore, the government and its development partners may adopt and incorporate the Modified Sustainable Livelihood Framework (MSLF) to ensure the sustainable development.

The study’s goal is to evaluate how microfinance initiatives affect women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. For this study, we analyzed data on a variety of women’s empowerment-related issues, including both beneficial and detrimental elements that stand in the way of women’s empowerment. Therefore, in order to accomplish the specified goal, we choose a suitable and intentional methodology. We employ diverse data gathering approaches to examine the gathered data and achieve the primary goal of the research project. It presents the positive effects of microfinance on women, such as (1) the enhancement of women’s authority in financial affairs; and (2) the augmentation of their ability to make decisions in household; and (3) community matters following their participation in the microfinance program. This also provides an analysis of the data pertaining to the adverse effects of microfinance on women. It examines how women encounter various challenges and engage in unethical behaviors after obtaining a loan, leading to heightened levels of stress following their participation in the microfinance program. This study looks into the advantages and disadvantages of Grameen Bank’s microcredit program for women. A questionnaire gathered primary data for this study from women participating in the microfinance program in Gopalgonj. To collect information and comprehend respondent behavior, I used case study, analytical and descriptive study design. Regression analysis, correlation, and percentage are used to examine the data. The findings indicate that women’s decision-making skills have improved due to their financial stability, but they have also experienced increased life challenges and high levels of stress.