This article aims to analyze the role of the Medan City Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) in shaping harmony in digital literacy-based virtual communities. FKUB has a central role as an institution that ensures that the aspirations and interests of religious communities can be accommodated effectively. In addition to making real improvements, FKUB also initiated its moderating role through the digital realm. This research adopts a qualitative method using a phenomenological approach. Primary data was obtained through interactions with key informants, while secondary data sources involved articles, books, reportage related to the context of the research theme. Data collection was conducted through interview, observation, and documentation techniques. Data analysis used the Miles and Huberman analysis model with the steps of data coding, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results showed that FKUB initiated digital literacy-based religious moderation through two development communication models. The first model is a linear model where FKUB acts as a community educator. The second model is a participatory model that is usually uploaded on Instagram, FaceBook and Youtube social media. This model allows the community to comment and have two-way communication with the FKUB. Both models are oriented towards creating collective intelligence as an indicator of building virtual harmony. Through digital literacy-based development communication, FKUB can be a mediator in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), namely: Peace, justice and strong institutions, as well as promoting equality and reducing inequality.
In Ghana, youth unemployment remains significant challenges, with technical and vocational education and training (TVET) emerging as a potential solution to equip young people with practical skills for the job market. However, the uptake of TVET programmes among Ghanaian youth remains low, particularly among females. This study therefore explores the determinants that influence TVET choices among Ghanaian youth, with the goal of informing policy development to enhance participation in vocational education. Applying an enhanced multinomial logistic regression (MLR) model, this research examines the influence of socio-economic, demographic, and attitudinal factors on career decisions. The enhanced model accounts for class imbalances in the dataset and improves classification accuracy, making it a robust tool for understanding the drivers behind TVET choices. A sample of 1600 Ghanaian youth engaged in vocational careers was used, ensuring diverse representation of the population. Key findings reveal that males are approximately three times more likely to choose TVET programs than females, despite females making up 50.13% of Ghana’s population. Specific determinants influencing TVET choices include financial constraints, parental influence, peer influence, teacher influence, self-motivation, and vocational limitations. In regions with limited vocational options, youth often pursue careers based on availability rather than preference, which highlights a gap in vocational opportunities. Parental and teacher influences were found to play a dominant role in steering youth towards specific careers. The study concludes with recommendations for policymakers, instructors, and stakeholders to increase the accessibility, relevance, and quality of TVET programmes to meet the socio-economic needs of Ghanaian youth.
The mining industry significantly impacts the three pillars of sustainable development: the economy, the environment, and society. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate sustainability principles into operational practices. Organizations can accomplish this through knowledge management activities and diverse knowledge resources. A study of 300 employees from two of the largest mining corporations in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, found that four out of five elements of knowledge management—green knowledge acquisition, green knowledge storage, green knowledge application, and green knowledge creation—have a direct impact on the sustainability of businesses. The calculation was determined using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). However, the study also found that the influence of collectivist cultural norms inhibits the direct effect of green knowledge sharing on corporate sustainable development. The finding suggests that companies operating in collectivist cultures may need to take additional measures to encourage knowledge sharing, such as rewarding employees for sharing their expertise on green initiatives, supportive organizational culture, clear expectations, and opportunities for social interaction.
This study analyzes the role of innovation in the development of smart cities in Latin America. It focuses on how emerging technologies and sustainable strategies are being integrated into urban planning and urban development. In this sense, this study seeks to contribute to the smart city literature by answering the following research questions: (i) To what extent smart city innovative initiatives have been addressed in Latin America? and (ii) To what extent scholars have addressed sustainable innovation strategies in the smart city literature? To this end, this is the first comprehensive bibliometric analysis of smart city research in Latin America, with a structured and systematized review of the available literature. This methodological approach allows cluster visualization and detailed analysis of inter-node relationships using the VOSViewer software. The research comprises 4 stages: (a) search criteria; (b) selection of documents; (c) software and data extraction; and (d) analysis of results and trends. Results indicate that studies on the Latin America region began to develop in 2012, with Brazil as a leader in this field and the tourism sector as the most relevant. Nevertheless, strong international collaboration was identified in co-authoring studies, underscoring a cooperative approach to solving common urban problems. The most active research area is technological innovation and sustainability, with focus on solutions for urban mobility, quality of life and smart governance. Finally, this work underlines the need to continue exploring the integration of technology in urban development, suggesting an agenda to guide future research to evaluate the sustainability and long-term impacts of smart city initiatives in Latin America. From the policy perspective, smart city initiatives need to be human-centered to boost smart solutions adoption and to guarantee long term local impacts.
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
Flood risk analysis is the instrument by which floodplain and stormwater utility managers create strategic adaptation plans to reduce the likelihood of flood damages in their communities, but there is a need to develop a screening tool to analyze watersheds and identify areas that should be targeted and prioritized for mitigation measures. The authors developed a screening tool that combines readily available data on topography, groundwater, surface water, tidal information for coastal communities, soils, land use, and precipitation data. Using the outputs of the screening tool for various design storms, a means to identify and prioritize improvements to be funded with scarce capital funds was developed, which combines the likelihood of flooding from the screening tool with a consequence of flooding assessment based on land use and parcel size. This framework appears to be viable across cities that may be inundated with water due to sea-level rise, rainfall, runoff upstream, and other natural events. The framework was applied to two communities using the 1-day 100-year storm event: one in southeast Broward County with an existing capital plan and one inland community with no capital plan.
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