The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be viewed as the aftermath of the Millennial Development Goals (MDGs). This is due to the fact that the seventeen (17) SDGs are designed to continue the work expected to have been done by the MDGs. In other words, the failure of the MDGs to eradicate poverty birthed the SDGs. However, the SDGs seem not to be achieving the desired result. This has led to the projection for the need for a decade of action. In the African context, the questions of why the MDGs failed and the SDGs tend to be failing are yet to be asked. By projection, if the questions are not asked and answers are not provided, the projection of the decade of action may also fail. Hence, the reason for this conceptual paper which was targeted at exploring the possibility of considering the Africanization of the SDGs as remedy to ensuring sustainable development in the African continent. Different relevant sources were identified, reviewed and analysed. The findings from the reviewed and analysed sources showed among others that for Africanization of the SDGs to be a reality and practicable, glocalization must be embraced. Meanwhile, there will be need to question the use of Eurocentric curricula in African institutions of learning.

This study seeks to explore the information value of free cash flow (FCF) on corporate sustainability and investigate the moderating effects of board gender diversity and firm size on the association between FCF and corporate sustainability of Thai listed companies. The dataset consists of companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in 2022. Multivariate regression analysis is executed in this study. Subsequently, PROCESS macro served to evaluate the proposed hypotheses. This study found that FCF has a significant positive relationship with corporate sustainability. As well, board gender diversity and firm size both moderate the relationship between FCF and corporate sustainability, such that the positive effect of FCF on corporate sustainability is stronger when the proportion of female boards diminishes, while firm size is smaller. However, when firms have a larger proportion of females on the boards of directors for all levels of firm size, free cash flow indicates that there is no statistically significant effect on corporate sustainability. This study contributes to FCF and sustainability literature by understanding the extent of corporate sustainability.

Given the eclectic and localized nature of environmental risks, planning for sustainability requires solutions that integrate local knowledge and systems while acknowledging the need for continuous re-evaluation. Social-ecological complexity, increasing climate volatility and uncertainty, and rapid technological innovation underscore the need for flexible and adaptive planning. Thus, rules should not be universally applied but should instead be place-based and adaptive. To demonstrate these key concepts, we present a case study of water planning in Texas, whose rapid growth and extreme weather make it a bellwether example. We review historic use and compare the 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2022 Texas State Water Plans to examine how planning outcomes evolve across time and space. Though imperfect, water planning in Texas is a concrete example of place-based and adaptive sustainability. Urban regions throughout the state exhibit a diversity of strategies that, through the repeated 5-year cycles, are ever responding to evolving trends and emerging technologies. Regional planning institutions play a crucial role, constituting an important soft infrastructure that links state capacity and processes with local agents. As opposed to “top-down” or “bottom-up”, we frame this governance as “middle-out” and discuss how such a structure might extend beyond the water sector.