Science and technology play an extremely important part in today’s world. They are the key for countries to reach a certain level of economic and social development. Thus, in order to catch up with the common development of mankind, countries have issued their own policies and laws on science and technology activities. National science and technology policies aim to enhance social welfare, foster sustainable development, and advance global scientific and technological progress. Vietnam is considered as one of the countries attaching great importance to science and technology. Therefore, even in the law with the highest legal value—the Constitution has solemnly recognized the position and role of science and technology as the leading national policy, playing a major role in the cause of the country’s socio-economic development. However, in the face of the requirements of sustainable development and the desire for the country’s prosperity and strength, policies and laws on science and technology in particular and policies and laws in general of Vietnam must be perfected and renewed continuously, especially in the context of globalization and sustainable development requirements, modern nation as it is today. Therefore, the article focuses on clarifying the situation of adjusting policies and laws on science and technology in Vietnam during the past, thereby proposing new complete solutions in the coming time. This is the basis for policy makers to refer to in the process of developing policies and laws on science and technology in Vietnam.

The state delivery of affordable and sustainable housing continues to be a complicated challenge in Africa, and there is a need to encourage private sector participation. As a result, this study examines the risks associated with private sector participation in affordable housing and supporting infrastructure investment and the strategies towards mitigating the risks from an Afrocentric perspective. The evidence from a systematic literature review was coupled with the opinion of an international expert panel to address the paper’s aim and provide recommendations for developing improved housing and supporting infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa. The review outcomes and the qualitative data from the panel discussion were analysed using thematic analysis. The results revealed that market dynamics, land supply and acquisition constraints, cost of construction materials, unsupportive policies, and technical and financial factors constitute risks to affordable housing in the region. Mitigation strategies include leveraging joint efforts, strengths, and resource bases, increasing access to land and finance for private sector participation, developing a supportive government framework to promote an enabling environment for easy access to land acquisition and development finance, local production of building materials, research and technology adoption. In line with the United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030 targets and principles, reforms are required across the housing value chain, involving the private sector and community. Application of the study’s recommendations could minimise the risks of affordable housing delivery and enhance private sector participation.

Noise pollution in construction sites is a significant concern, impacting worker health, safety, communication, and productivity. The current study aims to assess the paramount consequences of ambient noise pollution on construction activities and workers’ productivity in Peshawar, Pakistan. Noise measurements have been recorded at four different construction sites in Peshawar at different times of the day. Statistical analysis and Relative Importance Index (RII) are employed to evaluate the data Risk variables, such as equipment maintenance, noise control, increased workload, material handling challenges, quality control issues, and client satisfaction. The results indicated that noise levels often exceeded permissible limits, particularly in the afternoon, posing significant worker risks. In addition, RII analysis identified communication difficulties, safety hazards, and decreased productivity as significant issues. The results show that noise pollution is directly linked with safety risks, decreased performance, and client dissatisfaction and needs immediate attention by authorities. This paper proposes a strategic policy framework, recommending uniform hand signals and visual communication methods without noise for workers, worker training about safety, and using wearable devices in noisy settings. Communication training for teams and crane operators, proactive quality control, and customer-oriented project schedules are also proposed. These recommendations aim to mitigate the adverse effects of noise pollution, enhance construction industry resilience, and improve overall operational efficiency, worker safety, and client satisfaction in the construction sector of Peshawar, aligning with policy and sustainable development objectives.

This paper aims to advance the knowledge in the domain of youth entrepreneurship and empowerment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The rationale is to address the gap in knowledge on entrepreneurship and youth empowerment in the UAE by analyzing strategies and initiatives that support empowering millennials to achieve sustainable development, with the aim of promoting youth entrepreneurship and supporting sustainable economic development. The primary research question guiding this study is: “What strategies and initiatives in the UAE foster the empowerment of the millennial generation for sustainable development?” This study relies on a mixed methodology that combines a descriptive approach, content analysis, and data meta-analysis, with the aim of exploring the relationship between youth entrepreneurship and sustainable development in the United Arab Emirates. with a focus on the future sustainability leaders (FSL) program. While the FSL program demonstrates its significance in promoting youth entrepreneurship and empowerment, it also reveals certain limitations in its design and implementation that may hinder sustainable economic development. To address these challenges and support youth entrepreneurship, the paper proposes three essential action-oriented approaches: promoting participatory diversity and engagement, managing entrepreneurship drivers, and ensuring access to essential support mechanisms. These recommendations are intended to guide multilateral agencies, voluntary sectors, and private entities in the UAE in designing, evaluating, and implementing effective youth entrepreneurship programs. This paper underscores the importance of continued discourse and critical input to refine existing theories and establish a normative framework for youth entrepreneurship and empowerment. Such efforts are crucial for poverty reduction, sustainable development, and the promotion of intergenerational equity.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) wants to become a key regional actor in the Arctic. PRC's underlying priority in the region is gaining access to commercial opportunities from trade and natural resources. To this end, PRC is building its domestic capacities for research and commercial development in the Arctic, increasing its involvement in multilateral forums on Arctic governance and deepening ties to Arctic nations, especially Russia.

Attitudes towards PRC among Arctic nations are diverging, but Beijing generally faces high levels of skepticism and opposition to its Arctic involvement, explicitly grounded in perceptions of PRC as a state undermining the rules-based international order and potential military build-up in the high north.

The analytical framework in this article builds on an outline authored by Exner-Pirot in 2012 (Exner-Pirot, 2012) to detail the current schools of thought within Arctic governance, and builds on it by including more recent developments in Arctic governance, incorporating the updated Arctic policies of most Arctic countries and connecting it to PRC.

This article contends that Beijing wants to change the status quo of Arctic governance and shift it towards a more accommodating approach to non-Arctic states. This article finds, based on the stated Arctic strategies of the eight Arctic states and PRC, that there are different views on Arctic governance where Arctic countries for the most part indicate an openness to a Chinese entry into the Arctic, albeit in diverging ways. This creates a complex governance scenario for PRC to navigate as it seeks to become a key Arctic player

The low economic growth of Gorontalo province and the smallest PDRB ADHK in Indonesia are the reasons why this research needs to be carried out to look at the influence of the number of poor people, human development index and unemployment on economic growth in the districts/cities of Gorontolo Province, as a result, there is a mismatch between empirical and theoretical, this research was conducted to fill the information gap on how the three variables influence economic growth, This research was conducted to determine the effect of the number of poor people, the human development index. and unemployment on economic growth, research population data on the number of poor people, HDI, Unemployment, Economic growth, the sampling technique of this research is non-probability sampling, where the full sampling method is applied, Gorontalo Province with six regencies/cities is sampled in this research, with data taken in 2012–2021, the data analysis technique uses panel data regression, with three-panel data model estimates namely CEM, FEM, REM and model selection techniques, Chow test, Hausmant Test and Lagrange multiplie equipped with classical assumption tests and T hypothesis tests and F, the research Finding show that the number of poor people in the Regency/City of Gorontalo Province does not have a significant effect on economic growth in Gorontalo Province. Rice, which is the staple food for the people of Gorontalo, apart from rice, the high level of cigarette consumption among the people of Gorontalo, apparently also has an impact. large impact on the increase in the number of poor people, the human development index in the Regency/City of Gorontalo Province has a significant influence on the economic growth of Gorontalo Province where every increase that occurs in the HDI results in an increase in economic growth in Gorontalo Province, thirdly, the open unemployment rate in the Regency/City of Gorontalo Province does not have a significant effect on the economic growth of Gorontalo Province, conclusion of this research is only HDI affects economic growth in Gorontalo.