The sustainable development of the global economy and society necessitates the integration of environmental and socially responsible management, known as ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance). Despite growing recognition of ESG’s importance, the strategic management of ESG factors in Kazakhstan’s telecommunications industry remains underexplored. This study bridges this gap by analyzing Kazakh telecom’s ESG strategies from 2019 to 2021 through a cross-sectional design and semi-structured interviews with 12 industry experts. Utilizing the National Rating Agency (NRA) methodology, the research evaluates environmental, social, and governance variables. Key findings reveal that Kazakh telecom excels in “Climate Change” and “Human Capital Management” but needs significant improvements in “Environmental Impact” and “Society.” The study offers specific recommendations such as enhancing corporate volunteering, responsible marketing, service quality, and integrating sustainable practices. The primary contributions of this research include actionable insights for improving ESG strategies in telecommunications companies and advocating for more systematic and standardized ESG assessment approaches. This study expands the understanding of how ESG principles can enhance competitiveness and sustainable development in the telecommunications industry, providing valuable guidance for industry practitioners and policymakers. It offers insights into effective ESG implementation practices and highlights critical areas requiring attention to drive sustainable development in telecommunications.
Reusable bags have been introduced as an alternative to single-use plastic bags (SUPB). While beneficial, this alternative is economically and environmentally viable only if utilized multiple times. This study aims to identify the determinants influencing the use of reusable bags (RB) over single-use plastic bags (SUPB) within the framework of ecological impact reduction, employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The focus is on understanding how attitudes (AT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) collectively guide consumers towards adopting reusable bags as a pro-environmental choice. The focus is on understanding how attitudes (AT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) collectively guide consumers towards the adoption of reusable bags as a pro-environmental choice. Data were collected through a survey administered to 814 consumers in Lahore, employing both regression analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to assess the impact of AT, SN, and PBC on reusable bag consumption (RBC). The TPB framework underpins the hypothesis that these three psychological factors significantly influence the decision to use RBs. Both regression and SEM analyses demonstrated that AT, SN, and PBC positively affect RBC, with significant estimates indicating the strength of each predictor. Specifically, PBC emerged as the strongest predictor of RBC (PBC2, β = 0.533, p < 0.001), highlighting the paramount importance of control perceptions in influencing bag use. This was followed by AT (β = 0.211, p < 0.001) and SN (β = 0.173, p < 0.001), confirming the hypothesized positive relationships. The congruence of findings from both analytical approaches underlines the robustness of these techniques in validating the TPB within the context of sustainable consumer behaviors. The investigation corroborates the TPB’s applicability in predicting RBC, with a clear hierarchy of influence among the model’s constructs. PBC’s prominence underscores the necessity of enhancing consumers’ control over using RBs to foster sustainable consumption patterns. Practical implications include the development of policies and marketing strategies that target the identified determinants, especially emphasizing the critical role of PBC, to promote broader adoption of RBs and contribute to significant reductions in plastic waste.
Alfalfa is considered the most used forage crop in the world, its main use is for cattle feeding, due to its high nutritional value, specifically in protein and digestible fiber. Currently, the trend in agriculture is to reduce the application of chemicals and among them are fertilizers that pollute soil and water, so the adoption of new technologies and other not so new is becoming a good habit among farmers. Nanotechnology in the plant system allows the development of new fertilizers to improve agricultural productivity and the release of mineral nutrients in nanoforms, which has a wide variety of benefits, including the timing and direct release of nutrients, as well as synchronizing or specifying the environmental response. Biofertilizers are important components of integrated nutrient management and play a key role in soil productivity and sustainability. While protecting the environment, they are a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and renewable source of plant nutrients to supplement chemical fertilizers in the sustainable agricultural system. Nanotechnology and biofertilization allow in a practical way the reduction in the application of chemicals, contributing to the sustainability of agriculture, so this work aims to review the relevant results on biofertilization, the use of nanotechnology and the evaluation of the nutritional composition of alfalfa when grown with the application of biofertilizers.
This paper aims to investigate local communities’ participation in eco-tourism projects by using the community of Situ Cisanti located in Tarumajaya Village, West Java as a case. Data were gathered through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation analysis. Observations and in-depth interviews were conducted simultaneously for two months, from September to October 2021. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 informants from the elements; village government officials of Tarumajaya, Perhutani, and local communities who participated in the Situ Cisanti eco-tourism project, which was completed through a documents analysis. According to the findings, local community participation in Situ Cisanti eco-tourism consists of conservation and economic participation. Conservation participation is demonstrated by their participation in restoration and greening activities such as reforestation, etc. in Situ Cisanti and its surroundings, whereas economic participation is demonstrated by the establishment of stalls, culinary, coffee, souvenir, and homestay businesses as a result of Situ Cisanti eco-tourism. Furthermore, the existence of this eco-tourism has empowered women because new business opportunities that arise are not only run by men but also by women. As a result, this study implies that the participation of local eco-tourism communities not only has an impact on empowering conservation knowledge and economics, but it can also imply women empowerment.
The article aims to evaluate the participation of below-poverty-line local community in tourism-related business activity in Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Further, this article addressed for those who work in the tourism sector. The study employs a mix of methods, including survey data from 500 respondents with a random sampling approach, using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical tools for analysis, other methods were interviews and observations at six tourism sites in Garhwal and four sites in Kumaun. Our findings showed that there has declined in community participation in tourism development, due to the lack of economic benefits obtained in the tourism sector, many believe that the tourism sector does not provide much income growth for them and does not make a significant contribution to the development of their region. Moreover, lack of understanding is considered the basis for community’s inability to play an active role, and lack of stakeholders’ involvement in encouraging them to improve their economy and culture through the tourism sector. Ultimately, this research also underlines the existence of some efforts by tourism travel to encourage public trust, which can help reduce poverty and increase community trust in tourism development in their region.
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