The urban solid waste (USW) emanating from the increasing urbanisation calls for concern. Integrating cart pushers into the private sector participation (PSP) may bridge the lacuna in sub-urban planning and PSP truck inefficiencies, especially in developing countries. There is a paucity of studies concerning cart pushers’ role in sub-urban and issues hindering them from achieving Sustainable Development Goals (1 and 11) in developing countries. Thus, the study seeks to appraise cart pushers’ role in Nigeria’s sub- and urban areas, investigate their challenges, and propose measures to improve the achievement of the Goals by integrating them into PSP waste management systems. The researchers utilised a qualitative approach using face-to-face interviews and observation. The study covered seven of Nigeria’s major cities, including Lagos, Kano, and Abuja. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted. The participants include selected waste managers, NGOs in waste-related matters, cart pushers, legislators, households, environment and housing experts, and solid waste government agencies/regulators. The researchers adopted a thematic approach to analyse the collected data and presented it in a theme pattern. Findings reveal that despite the significance of cart pushers to the three pillars of sustainable development, including stimulating support for potential employment creation and sustainable cities and communities in Nigeria, they face challenges in their daily operation. The study proposed a revised USWM policy, where the informal waste sector should be embraced and recognised with specific rules and regulations. This is germane to improve achieving SDGs 1 and 11. This study holds significant implications for USWM policymakers and other stakeholders in embracing and integrating cart pushers into the formal waste collection process supported by statutory regulations to enhance practice. Also, this concept will increase employment opportunities and improve achieving Goals 1 and 11 in Nigeria.

The paper reports on the results of research on the institution of public-private partnerships in the field of implementation of state youth policy, particularly through socially important social youth projects, including social-entrepreneurial. The study explores social projects that enjoy the full range of support from all subjects in public-private partnerships: the state represented by public authorities, business structures, non-profit organizations, and youth. The authors highlight that the infrastructure of youth policy in the implementation of social-entrepreneurial youth projects needs to be changed conceptually. There is a need to establish comprehensive creative and professional spaces that shape young people’s personalities and practice a future-oriented model of organizing collaborative social projects.

Financial literacy and financial intermediation are vital tools for all businesses, particularly women micro-entrepreneurs. Even with modest means, they have been shown to considerably contribute to economic independence at the family, national, and international levels. Since Indonesian women microentrepreneurs still have trouble getting bank loans (being unbanked), the majority of them join cooperatives. Cooperatives are without doubt the financial intermediation institutions of choice for micro-communities; nonetheless, research on the subject is still scarce, particularly in developing nations. In order to bridge this gap, this study looks at the role of cooperatives as financial intermediation organizations. Examining the impact of financial literacy through cooperative financial intermediation on the financial performance of Indonesian women microentrepreneurs is the main goal of the study. The cross-sectional data were identified using purposive approaches and processed with the use of Smart PLS as part of an explanatory research approach. The direct influence test results demonstrate that enhancing financial performance and financial intermediation are directly impacted by financial literacy. Additionally, financial intermediation (cooperatives) was successful in influencing the impact of financial literacy on the financial performance of micro-entrepreneurs in Indonesia, according to the findings of the mediation effect test.

This article examines the overseas corporate social responsibility (CSR) patterns of Chinese international contractors (CICs). Adopting an institutional and political economy approach, a unique dataset is constructed with country-specific contents drawn from CSR-related reports and website information of 50 top CICs. This dataset provides a foundation for systematic content analysis of CICs’ overseas CSR practices, revealing that both political legitimacy-seeking and strategic competitiveness-seeking motivations drive CICs’ CSR activities abroad, characterized by the prioritization of customer and community engagement. The findings highlight the coexistence of the exogenous pressures for the national image-building purpose and the endogenous awareness of CSR strategic importance for corporate internationalization. The hybridization of political and economic rationales is presented as the defining feature of CICs’ current overseas CSR patterns, with the balance between them being determined by stakeholder type and internal business needs influenced by corporate internationalization experience.

Access to affordable and quality medicines plays a vital role for achieving Universal Health Coverage and in reducing out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE) for households especially in developing nations such as India. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), a Government of India initiative, aims to make low-cost and quality generic drugs and surgical equipment accessible to all segments of the population through its dedicated store outlets known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendra (PMBJK). In this study, a pilot survey comprising 20 stores/PMBJKs and 150 citizens was undertaken in the Bengaluru Urban District, India to understand various aspects of the PMBJKs including availability of drugs, stock-outs, accessibility to stores, perception and awareness levels along with challenges faced by store owners and citizens/beneficiaries. Based on the survey results, we capture the availability of drugs for 35 medicines and consumables belonging to 12 therapeutic categories across 20 store outlets. We also provide valuable insights and interdisciplinary recommendations on several facets including adopting technology-based measures for day-to-day functioning of stores, need for in-depth supply chain analysis for ensuring availability of drugs, encouraging prescription of generic medicines, increasing awareness levels in addition to promoting grassroot-level research, surveys and feedback mechanisms. These suggestions are expected to find their utility in policy-making, strengthen the implementation of the PMBJP scheme across Bengaluru and India as well as contribute towards achieving related Sustainable Development Goals.

Sustainable development has attracted widespread attention worldwide, and the circular economy has become one of the essential policies of many countries. Small and medium-sized enterprises are important drivers of world economic growth and can significantly impact the environment. Therefore, SMEs are critical players in implementing a circular economy as the basis for creating a sustainable society. Although a wealth of research on SME environmental management issues can be found in the literature, more must be known about the infusion of green practices in SMEs. The primary purpose of this study is to explore the green practice infusion of Taiwanese SMEs, a context that is particularly relevant due to Taiwan’s strong focus on environmental sustainability and its circular economy industrial development policy. Through a questionnaire survey, this study examined the factors that influence green practice infusion behavior in Taiwanese SMEs and the impact of green practice infusion on circular economy performance. The findings show that the relative advantages and compatibility of the circular economy, organizational support, human resource quality, regulatory pressure, and government support significantly impact the green practice infusion of Taiwanese SMEs. The effects of complexity, customer pressure, and environmental uncertainty on SMEs’ infusion of green practices are not statistically significant. Circular economy performance is positively correlated with green practice infusion. This study can broaden the research scope of SMEs’ environmental management and contribute to a deeper understanding of SMEs’ green practice infusion and circular economy.