Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) are critical for biodiversity conservation and ecological balance. These areas are not only refuges for wildlife but also pivotal in promoting sustainable tourism. Geoparks, a unique subset of NPAs, emphasize geological heritage, offering distinctive educational and recreational opportunities. This article explores the significance of Geoparks in Portugal for geotourism and assesses the accessible digital communication strategies of Portuguese Geoparks, emphasizing the analysis of pedagogical concerns. The study highlights the importance of online engagement in enhancing visitor experiences and promoting sustainable tourism practices.

This study investigates the integration of Yao ethnic cultural history into sustainable jewelry design and its implications for human resource planning, organizational management, and employee engagement techniques within creative sectors. The research emphasizes new approaches to improving employee well-being, work happiness, and organizational commitment by integrating cultural authenticity with circular economy concepts. The study specifically aims to (1) use Yao cultural elements to strengthen the organization’s identity and boost employee pride, (2) evaluate how consumers respond to circular economy ideas and how these ideas impact employee motivation and performance, and (3) explore how sustainability efforts based on culture affect consumer behavior and the morale of the workforce. We used a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative interviews with fifteen experts in design, sustainability, and cultural heritage with a quantitative survey of 240 participants. Research indicates that using Yao motifs—such as traditional needlework and nature-inspired designs—enhances market attractiveness and promotes more employee alignment with business ideals, hence improving satisfaction and performance. The increasing customer acceptance of recycled and upcycled items enhances employees’ sense of purpose and engagement. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating sustainable HR practices, including culturally oriented training and open ethical principles, to enhance labor relations and foster equity. Utilizing cultural heritage in design innovation serves as a strategic instrument to enhance human capital and promote long-term organizational sustainability.

 This study explores the primary drivers influencing sustainable project management (SPM) practices in the construction industry. This research study seeks to determine whether firms are primarily motivated by external pressures or internal values when embracing SPM practices. In doing so, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on SPM drivers by considering coercive pressures (CP), ethical responsibility (ER), and green transformational leadership (GTL) as critical enablers facilitating a firm’s adoption of SPM practices. Based on data from 196 project management practitioners in Pakistan, structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. Results highlight that CP influences the management of sustainability practices in construction projects, signifying firms’ concern for securing legitimacy from various institutional actors. As an ‘intrinsic value’, ER emerges as a significant motivator for ecological stewardship, driven by a genuine commitment to promoting sustainable development. This study also unveils the significant moderating effect of GTL on the association among CP, ER, and SPM. Lastly, the results of IMPA reveal that ER slightly performs better than CP as it helps firms internalize the essence of sustainability. This research study expands our understanding of SPM drivers in construction projects by exploring the differential impact of external pressures and the firm’s intrinsic values. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners, aiding them in promoting SPM to attain sustainable development goals.

Transitioning to a green economy is a global concern, considered a pathway to sustainable development. This paper aims to investigate the effect of the transition into a green economy on Vietnam’s sustainable development and its two economic and environmental dimensions, with consideration of several essential issues including renewable energy, technological innovation, natural resource rents (oils, forest, and minerals), foreign direct investment, and trade. This paper utilizes data from 1996 to 2020 and then applies the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method for analysis. The results conclude that renewable energy is a driving key to reducing environmental degradation, but it hampers economic growth, while the contrast occurs with technology. Our results emphasize the dependence on non-renewable energy, whereas the innovation of technology does not show a green orientation in Vietnam. Furthermore, there is a lack of sustainability in the effect of natural resource rents, foreign direct investment, and trade. Overall, the transition into a green economy in Vietnam does not illustrate the sustainable orientation. The findings of this research provide empirical evidence to clarify the relationship between this transition and its driving factor, with sustainable development and the two economic environment dimensions. In addition, this study will bring worthwhile implications for the policymakers and scholars on whether the transition to a green economy fulfills the orientation towards sustainability, then enhancing the economy's efficiency to achieve green growth, following the pathway to sustainable development.

Due to the short cost-effective heat transportation distance, the existing geothermal heating technologies cannot be used to develop deep hydrothermal-type geothermal fields situated far away from urban areas. To solve the problem, a new multi-energy source coupling a low-temperature sustainable central heating system with a multifunctional relay energy station is put forward. As for the proposed central heating system, a compression heat pump integrated with a heat exchanger in the heating substation and a gas-fired water/lithium bromide single-effect absorption heat pump in the multifunctional relay energy station are used to lower the return temperature of the primary network step by step. The proposed central heating system is analyzed using thermodynamics and economics, and matching relationships between the design temperature of the return water and the main line length of the primary network are discussed. The studied results indicate that, as for the proposed central heating system, the cost-effective main line length of the primary network can approach 33.8 km, and the optimal design return temperature of the primary network is 23 ℃. Besides, the annual coefficient of performance and annual energy efficiency of the proposed central heating system are about 3.01 and 42.7%, respectively.

In order to address severe siltation and enhance urban green spaces in Xianyang Lake, the research offers a sustainable solution by proposing an innovative integration of ecological dredging and landscape transformation. The key findings are as follows: Firstly, an ecological dredging mechanism was established by directly transporting sediment from Xianyang Lake to its central greenbelt, reducing dredging costs and environmental impact while creating a sustainable funding cycle through revenue from eco-tourism activities. Secondly, the landscape artistic conception of the central greenbelt was significantly improved by leveraging the natural distance between the lakeshore and the greenbelt, offering diverse viewing experiences and enhancing the cognitive abilities and urban life satisfaction of tourists. Thirdly, the project demonstrated substantial economic and social benefits, including revenue generation from paid activities like boat tours, increased public awareness of biodiversity through ecological education, and improved community well-being. The central greenbelt also enhanced the urban environment by improving air quality, mitigating the "heat island effect", and providing habitats for wildlife. This integrated approach serves as a model for sustainable urban development, offering valuable insights for cities facing similar ecological challenges. Future research should focus on long-term monitoring to further evaluate the ecological and socio-economic impacts of such projects.