The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a recent threat to humanity that forced a global halt of social, academic and economic activities. This pandemic resulted in a tremendous revamp of traditional educational mode to digital platforms. To gain the acumen about favorable and unfavorable outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic, 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted from top-tier leaders (vice-chancellors, rectors, deans, chairman, directors, head of departments, etc.,) of public and private higher education institutions across Pakistan. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was adopted to analyze the qualitative data (includes perceptions, thoughts, feelings and experiences) about crisis-response migration to online education. Research verdicts demarcated the visionary initiatives of the higher education sector by transforming potential academic challenges into sustainable opportunities. It entails the provision of an online learning experience to novice and seasoned learners and faculty, overcoming the continuous academic distortion, and subsequently ensuring the renewal of educational procedures. The findings reported numerous challenges faced by academicians in crisis-response migration to online education. This research enriched the literature of online education/emergency remote learning in the era COVID-19 pandemic. This study also presented the way forward of educational digitalization for governing bodies and policymakers of the higher education sector.

This study examines whether digital-nomad-oriented management practices are associated with perceived organizational performance through employee psychological and motivational states. Drawing on socio-technical systems theory and motivational work-design research, we conceptualize DRISA as a multidimensional composite management capability system comprising Digital Integration, Remote Collaboration, Individual Autonomy, Spatial Freedom, and Agile Management. The study used an exploratory sequential mixed-method design: 42 semi-structured interviews informed the construct and item pool, a pilot survey refined the measure (N = 80), and the main cross-regional survey covered China (N = 127), the United States (N = 125), and Europe (N = 120). Cross-sectional serial indirect-association analyses showed that DRISA was positively associated with psychological empowerment (β = 0.408, p < 0.001) and work-life balance (β = 0.371, p < 0.001), which were in turn associated with employee engagement. Employee engagement was positively associated with perceived organizational performance (β = 0.284, p < 0.001). Bootstrapped indirect associations were consistent with the proposed model: the pathway through psychological empowerment and engagement was stronger (β = 0.22, 95 % BCa CI [0.15, 0.30]) than the pathway through work-life balance and engagement (β = 0.15, 95 % BCa CI [0.08, 0.24]). Because the quantitative data are cross-sectional and self-reported, the findings should be interpreted as theoretically guided indirect associations rather than causal evidence. The study contributes to digital-nomad and work-from-anywhere research by clarifying how management practices may be linked to performance-related perceptions through empowerment, balance, and engagement.

Cultural heritage is increasingly incorporated into commercial environments as a means of strengthening local identity and encouraging public engagement with cultural traditions. Restaurant spaces provide an important setting in which heritage can be interpreted through contemporary artistic practices while remaining closely connected to everyday urban life. This study comparatively examines how local cultural heritage is represented through contemporary art in selected restaurants in Kunming, China, and Bangkok, Thailand, and explores its contribution to spatial identity, cultural communication, and sustainable social development. A qualitative comparative case study involving ten restaurants was undertaken using field observations, visual documentation, semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis, supported by visitor perception questionnaires as contextual evidence. The findings reveal that heritage resources are reinterpreted through architectural references, symbolic artifacts, decorative installations, and immersive spatial experiences. Restaurants in Kunming mainly emphasize ethnic diversity and historical narratives, whereas those in Bangkok draw more extensively upon Buddhist symbolism, community traditions, and everyday cultural practices. Although the artistic approaches differ, both contexts demonstrate how commercial environments can facilitate cultural communication and reinforce community identity. Based on these findings, the study proposes a comparative framework explaining the relationships among heritage resources, artistic interpretation, spatial identity, cultural sustainability, and sustainable social development. The proposed framework offers a useful perspective for understanding heritage-based artistic applications in contemporary restaurant environments and provides implications for future cultural design and heritage interpretation.

Although there is a formal commitment to inclusive education, international migration and displacement still limit inclusive access to higher education for marginalised youth. Some challenges faced by migrant youth along the Thailand-Myanmar border include insecure legal status, lack of economic security, language barriers, interrupted education, and non-recognition of certificates acquired in migrant education. In this context, the General Educational Development (GED) diploma is a key pathway to college. The present study aims to explore opportunities and challenges of the GED pathway among migrant youth in Myanmar in the context of Mae Sot, Thailand. A qualitative case study and an intersectional lens approach are used to analyze the research results. The research participants are 18 current or former GED learners, university students and graduates, school educators, a GED school principal, and NGO practitioners. It is found that the GED provides flexible study options, less expensive than some overseas options, few employment opportunities, and some opportunities for university admissions. Meanwhile, the process of participation and transition to the next steps is linked to financial resources; documentation; English language skills; previous learning experience; examination arrangements; institutional support; and the recognition of qualifications. The GED thereby serves as a selective inclusion pathway, which not only opens up opportunities for formal education but also channels participation and results in the uneven distribution of legal, economic, linguistic, pedagogical, and institutional resources.

Social sustainability in high-risk labor sectors requires more than regulatory compliance. It depends on governance that can identify where severe and fatal occupational risks concentrate. This study examines Türkiye’s construction sector between 2014 and 2024 using national social security data, assessing how accident burden, permanent disability, and fatal outcomes are distributed across construction subsectors. Drawing on Social Security Institution (SGK) records, the analysis evaluates occupational accident frequency, permanent disability, and fatal accident indicators from a policy-oriented, Prevention through Design-informed perspective. The contrast is notable. Although construction accounts for an average of 11.98 % of total insured employment, it produces 31.94 % of fatal occupational accidents, a fatal risk burden roughly 2.7 times its employment share. This burden is concentrated in the Construction of buildings subsector, where the share of sectoral fatalities rose from 51.90 % in 2014 to 63.04 % in 2024. Such patterns are shaped by informal employment, organizational fragmentation, subcontracting, macroeconomic shocks, and the spatial organization of worksites. By showing how social security data can reveal labor risk inequalities, the study contributes to sustainable social development research. It also demonstrates that data-based labor risk governance, read together with a Prevention through Design lens, is necessary for building equitable, targeted, and preventive occupational health and safety policy.

Bibliographic management and information literacy are recognised as key components of sustainable research training in higher education. However, in the Library Science programme at the Technical University of Manabí, there was evidence of weaknesses in citation practices, limited use of reference management software, and low visibility of the role of librarians in academic processes. This study used a qualitative descriptive exploratory approach. Purposive sampling was used to select 18 of the 50 students that made up the population. To investigate experiences with information access, citation standards management, bibliographic management software use, plagiarism comprehension, and librarian perceptions, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The ATLAS.ti software was used to analyse the data. Academic research, library services, and information ethics were three central thematic dimensions emerging from the qualitative analysis. Students voiced concerns about plagiarism, citation standards limitations, and their limited knowledge of tools such as Mendeley and Zotero. Furthermore, they perceived librarians mainly as technical support staff in research training. The study concludes that bibliographic management strengthens sustainable research training by promoting ethical information use, academic integrity, and more systematic research practices in higher education.