The following paper assesses the relationship between electricity consumption, economic growth, environmental pollution, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development in Kazakhstan. Using the structural equation method, the study analyzes panel data gathered across various regions of Kazakhstan between 2014 and 2022. The data were sourced from official records of the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan and include all regions of Kazakhstan. The chosen timeframe includes the period from 2014, which marked a significant drop in oil prices that impacted the overall economic situation in the country, to 2022. The main hypotheses of the study relate to the impact of electricity consumption on economic growth, ICT, and environmental sustainability, as well as ICT’s role in economic development and environmental impact. The results show electricity consumption’s positive effect on economic growth and ICT development while also revealing an increase in pollutant emissions (emissions of liquid and gaseous pollutants) with economic growth and electricity consumption. The development of ICT in Kazakhstan has been revealed to not have a direct effect on reducing pollutant emissions into the environment, raising important questions about how technology can be leveraged to mitigate environmental impact, whether current technological advancements are sufficient to address environmental challenges, and what specific measures are needed to enhance the environmental benefits of ICT. There is a clear necessity to integrate sustainable practices and technologies to achieve balanced development. These results offer important insights into the relationships among electricity consumption, technology, economic development, and environmental issues. They underscore the complexity and multidimensionality of these interactions and suggest directions for future research, especially in the context of finding sustainable solutions for balanced development.

Purpose: Kindergartens are an important educational environment for the development of children at an early age, and they also play a crucial role in developing the values of sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to investigate kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of observable and sustainable development practices. Design, methodology, approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 302 Saudi kindergarten teachers. Additionally, observation cards were utilized to collect data on actual practices of sustainable development in kindergartens. Data were analyzed using Nvivo12, a qualitative data analysis software, and descriptive analysis methods. The main themes were produced first, and then the perspectives were organized around them. Finding: The impact of social and cultural factors on the development of values, the lack of resources available to implement educational activities, and teacher awareness and training gaps were found to be the main barriers to the development of sustainable development values in kindergartens. Originality, value: To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study in Saudi Arabia that has looked into the environmental and social perceptions of early childhood teachers about sustainable development practices, so the study’s findings can highlight the importance of reorienting teacher education programs toward sustainability in order to bridge knowledge and practice gaps.

The challenge of developing cadastral infrastructure in Africa is inextricably linked to the global issues of sustainable development. Indeed, in light of the constraints inherent to conventional cadastral systems, alternative systems developed through land regulation programmes (LRPs) are compelled to align with the tenets of sustainable development. A discursive study, conducted through a semisystematic literature review, enabled the selection of 53 documents on cadastral systems deployed in multiple countries across the African continent. A number of systems were identified and grouped into four categories: urban, rural, participatory and hybrid cadastral systems. These systems are developed on the basis of standards and sociotechnical approaches, including the LADM, STDM, and FFP, as well as innovative technologies such as blockchain. However, their sustainability is limited by the fact that they are not multipurpose cadastral systems. Consequently, there is an urgent need for studies to develop a global framework that will produce truly significant and sustainable results for all sections of society.

Interest in the impact of environmental innovations on firms’ financial performance has surged over the past two decades, but studies show inconsistent results. This paper addresses these divergences by analyzing 74 studies from 1996 to 2022, encompassing 4,390,754 firm-year observations. We developed a probability-based meta-analysis approach to synthesize existing knowledge and found a generally positive impact of environmental innovations on financial performance, with a probability range of 0.85 to 0.97. Manufacturing firms benefit more from environmental innovations than firms in other industries, and survey-based studies report a more favorable relationship than those using secondary data. This study contributes to existing knowledge by providing a comprehensive aggregation of data, supporting the resource-based view (RBV) and the Porter hypothesis. The findings suggest significant policy implications, highlighting the need for tailored incentives and information-sharing mechanisms, and underscore the importance of diverse data sources in research to ensure robust results.

The urban fringe – the zone lying between urban areas and the countryside, - offers valuable opportunities for commercial and residential development as well as for recreational activities, but it is often characterised by a number of land use problems and environmental conflicts. Within the UK, the urban fringe can be seen as a contested and dynamic space, yet for almost 70 years statutory town planning policies for the urban fringe have been largely concerned with containment designed to stop urban encroachment into the countryside. However, in 1970s a number of experimental urban fringe management projects were established around town and cities within the UK, culminating in the creation of the Groundwork projects, and here the focus was on a wider and more flexible approach, and more specifically on providing a range of opportunities for recreation, and to attempt to reconcile environmental conflicts. This paper explores the evolution of Groundwork, and more specifically focuses on two Research Questions namely, what was the initial rationale and aims of Groundwork? and secondly what is its current focus and future direction?

Despite the efforts of public institutions and government spending, progress on the SDGs is mixed at the midpoint of the 2030 timeframe-some targets are off track and some have even regressed. ICT-related indicators, on the other hand, stand out for their strong progress. The author notes this progress, but questions its relationship to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. He argues that the growth in internet and mobile network penetration is due to the economic characteristics of communications development. The objectives of the article are to review the impact of the ICT sector on economic growth, to consider the role of government spending in the development of this sector in the context of fostering the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and to identify the prerequisites for significant progress towards SDG targets in communications. Achievement of these objectives will make it possible to determine whether this progress is a consequence of targeted efforts to achieve the SDGs, or whether, in accordance with the author’s hypothesis, it is based on the specifics of the ICT sector’s development, allowing for the accelerated spread of mobile communications and the Internet, which is reflected in the SDG indicators.