Community Empowerment, Sustainable Cities, and Transformative Economies

The orthodox methods of addressing external risks, such as climate change, public health emergencies and unsustainable growth, are no longer adequate. In the new millennium, these frequent external shocks have resulted in substantial economic losses, recessions, and loss of well-being and even lives. Methods that have been used in addressing these issues in the forms of climate adaptation plans, national strategies, public health emergency contingency planning, and sustainable development plans and strategies have one thing in common; they largely ignore the ongoing structural changes associated with economic development. Furthermore, these methods have also failed to account for evolving industries’ composition and new comparative advantages and skills.

COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerabilities and structural weaknesses of economic and social systems. The two major challenges of our economic systems are ecological degradation and limits the to the capacity of Earth and the immense social disparities and inequalities. It is now time to re-think and imagine our economic and social systems for a better world. In order for progress to occur we need to critique our existing economic approaches based on growth and unsustained consumption and production models. This article provides an outline of the dominant growth paradigm and outlines the key critiques of these approaches. Alternative ways to think about inclusive and ecologically sustainable economic development are considered, particularly focusing on inclusive economies and ecological economies. COVID-19 efforts are linked with resilience and adaptation. This article argues that it is critical that we go beyond the absorption of shock approaches to transformative economic development and major reforms to our economic and political systems.

Covid-19 has shown that governments with monetary sovereignty can turn the tap off quickly, if they must, and just as easily turn the tap back on. This has been coupled with a new appreciation for the ability of a sovereign economy to operate effectively despite large levels of net government (and net foreign) debt as a proportion of GDP, reconfirming the experience of those governments during WWII, when debt was used as an instrument to curb consumption and to redirect productive resources and research activity into investment in new capacity and new technology to support the war effort (viz the Agenda 30 strategic policy goals).A similar imperative now confronts nations as they direct resources into a sustainable transformation of the economy. This paper will contribute to these policy objectives by examining the respective economic roles to be played in this transformation by the Job Guarantee, the Green New Deal, and what Mazzucato chooses to call “mission-oriented finance”! In this context, a range of metrics for guiding policy is also evaluated.

A resilient economy is the ultimate aspiration of Government authorities and legislators. Economic recovery, one of the cornerstones of economic resilience, measures the speed at which a system recovers from an exogenous and adverse shock. This paper focuses on the resilience of private sector investment within Australia to test its adaptability and absorbability against external shocks. This paper utilises a Kaleckian-Post Keynesian approach to investment, whereby capacity utilisation, profit share, interest rates, and productivity growth are contributing factors. Research, however, has provided evidence that the incorporation of financial development and fiscal policy within the investment model has been largely ignored within the literature. Accordingly, this paper incorporates such indicators to capture their role in modelling approaches. Using annual historical data from 1980 to 2015, this paper adopts a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), Impulse Response Functions (IRF) and Variance Decompositions (VD) to examine investment’s resilience against external disturbances. Results show that both long and short-run unidirectional causality between investment and the explanatory variables was evident, by identifying cointegrating vectors. The results confirm that government expenditure is the more powerful mechanism of the two, suggesting that a permanent incorporation into the model should be taken seriously. A simulated onetime shock upon the explanatory variables towards investment shows volatile and positive long-lasting reactions, with no sign of returning to pre-shock levels in the long-run. The results showed the changes in profit and the private sector’s productive capacity are the most important indicators capable of explaining variations in private sector investment decisions in Australia.

During the last two decades, the services sector has become increasingly important for the world’s economy. Technological advances have played a key role in lowering communication costs and have also enabled the development of new ways to deliver services. Some countries have been able to take advantage of this new wave, transforming their economies and becoming more resilient towards external shocks. For example, instead of depending mainly on tourism, some countries have diversified their services exports, offering services with greater added value, knowledge-intensive and focused more on information and communications technologies (ICT). These changes have also provided more opportunities for higher income, productivity, employment, investment, and trade. Services are also crucial for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. But last year, the world economy probably shrank by 4.3 percent, a setback matched only by the Depression and the two world wars, according to the World Bank. For most countries, the COVID-19 pandemic is one of their biggest challenges. However, some services exports have continued and, in some cases, grew compared to 2019. Preliminary results regarding foreign trade have shown that the services sector has responded effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper focuses on three countries: Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Panama, which are close competitors and heavily rely on their tourism sector. In the first three quarters of 2020: Costa Rica increased its’ exports of knowledge-intensive services, while Panama increased its’ exports of transport services and the Dominican Republic, on the other hand, according to preliminary data, is still heavily relying on exports of travel services.

The existing literature on the interplay between entrepreneurship, knowledge-based economy and urban economic prosperity has often portrayed a predictable relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth, yet the arguments are mainly broad-brush. It appears that most studies fail to pay adequate attention to the dynamic forces of positive externalities and mechanisms through which they affect the sources of economic growth in cities. This paper adopts a scoping review approach to determine the scope, coverage, knowledge gap and context of the existing literature on the topic. The paper further uses thematic analysis to identify, analyse and report the patterns in the reviewed literature. The paper finds that the literature relating to the entrepreneurship–growth nexus determinants is sporadic and less structured. The paper concludes that the multidimensionality of this complicated relationship requires a more systematic understanding of the dynamic interaction between factors such as innovation, urbanisation and technology. Additionally, this scoping review finds that while migration and industry clusters are growing phenomena in both developed and developing countries, their effects on entrepreneurial activities and growth have yet to receive sufficient attention. Finally, the paper finds a paucity of comparative studies on the multi-level interactions of entrepreneurial activities at the industry–city–country level.

This study examines the effect of urbanisation on economic growth and carbon emissions in Australia for the period 1960–2019 using Cobb-Douglas production function with a Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares estimators. The findings indicate that while urbanisation has a significant negative effect on economic growth, it has a significant positive effect on Australia’s carbon emissions. Other factors such as physical capital and labour were found to have a significant positive impact on economic growth, while trade openness has a significant negative effect on economic growth. Our findings suggest that energy consumption and foreign direct investment do not affect Australia’s economic growth. Further, our results validate the Environmental Kuznets Curve in Australia, while other factors such as energy consumption and population growths were found to worsen carbon emissions. It was also revealed that trade openness and foreign direct investment (FDI) are not insignificant contributors to carbon emissions in Australia. The policy implications are discussed.

The rapid advancement in technology and increase in business information has challenged traditional auditing methods. This paper aims to review big data analysis and its integration in the audit process. The research uses secondary research to systematically review the literature on big data analysis in the accounting profession.The findings show that auditors rely on big data analysis tools to increase the depth and quality of their assurance services. Hence using big data analysis helps to promote legitimacy and social trust to auditing firms. Despite the relative growth of technology in the auditing profession and extensive research in the big data analysis field, there are not enough academic studies on big data analysis. This research is among the first to examine and clarify big data analysis in auditing and the challenges and opportunities that arise from it.

Ageing population and urbanisation are two global trends that together comprise major forces shaping the twenty-first Century. Cities are growing, and so are their share of ageing population. In 2019, the world’s population aged 60 years or over numbered 703 million and is projected to double to 1.5 billion by 2050 (UN, 2019). By then, 1 in 6 people will be over 65 years of age (UN, 2019).Urban areas have already started experiencing the challenges of providing services and infrastructure to support ageing residents’ well-being and necessities. In practical terms, an age-friendly city adapts its structures and services to be accessible to and inclusive of senior citizens with varying needs and capacities. However, the global ageing population is a major concern for economists and policymakers since it has numerous economic and financial implications affecting economic growth, public healthcare, and social support systems.After an initial search that included 466 items from a variety of sources of available evidence, this research adopted a scoping review following the work of (Arskey, O’Malley Int J Social Res Methodol 8:19–32, 2005) in order to map the key concepts underpinning population ageing, well-being, and urbanisation. In particular, the review seeks to examine various ageing well-being assessment tools (qualitative and quantitative) so as to define the recurrent indicators, criteria, areas covered and what is missing. This review was complemented by a summary of the research findings and research gaps in existing literature pertaining to the well-being of the ageing population. The review has highlighted four critical characteristics of a pragmatic well-being assessment model for the ageing population, including the need for individualisation to a specific context, the subjective and objective relevance, flexibility in choosing the appropriate frameworks, and the importance to narrate the progressive status in the well-being of an individual over time. In a fast ageing world, this review helps in capacity-building and design thinking by bridging academic knowledge and real-world planning and design endeavours.

Portable computers and wireless internet have transformed white-collar work and made the digital nomad lifestyle possible, which is to work online from almost anywhere on the planet. This research examines the requirements nomadic online freelancers and location-independent small business owners (digital nomads) have in terms of amenities and community in a coworking space, but also how they are willing to pay for these services. Coworking spaces (shared offices) provide a workspace outside the home as well as networking opportunities with other digital nomads. This study builds on Lucia Parrino’s (2015) study on proximity and collaboration in coworking spaces in Milan. The case study is based on interviews with 19 digital nomads and three coworking space employees who lived and worked in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2019. The focus lies on the digital nomad experience; the coworking space employees were interviewed to gain an additional perspective on the digital nomad lifestyle. The results demonstrate that there are three distinct groups of digital nomads in terms of workspace usage who nevertheless share a number of expectations as to must-have features of a coworking space. These include ergonomic furniture and a quiet atmosphere, community and networking activities, and the desire for a balance between work and play. Participants also discussed the need to constantly seek out new workspaces as well as alternative payment options in terms of workspace usage, for example via food purchases or room rates. While the fieldwork was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings are also relevant for the post-COVID-19 era that has drawn many remote workers out of the capital cities and into regional towns. As such, this research could help businesses attract a wider range of clients to their coworking spaces.

Carbon-negative, Living Infrastructure has the potential to generate revenue, draw down atmospheric carbon and benefit both human health and biodiversity whilst cooling cities and strengthening urban climate resilience. Living Root Bridges (LRBs) are the most well-known examples of living infrastructure. LRBs are functional pedestrian bridges formed from the living aerial roots of Strangler fig trees (Ficus subgen. Urostigma). Unfortunately, the 50–100 year gestation period required to ‘grow’ a LRB installation renders their integration into urban spaces untenable. However, it may be possible to significantly reduce LRB construction times if conditions favourable to inter-specific anastomosis are provided. A significant challenge is to first identify a growth media capable of providing moisture and nutrients whilst Strangler figs are suspended supra-situ.Whole coconuts are readily available across the tropics. Coir fibres extracted from the mesocarp of coconut husks have proven to be a suitable growth media for containerised plant production. However, no previous studies have investigated the potential of using whole, unhusked coconuts as plant growth containers.This study investigates the potential for whole coconuts to be used as growth containment units for a common Strangler fig, Ficus benjamina. Strangler fig cuttings were grown in five whole-coconut treatments; high-quality potting mix, coarse sand, retted coconuts, perforated and unperforated coconuts. No significant between-treatment difference was observed in the three parameters studied, diametric growth, leaf count and mass accumulation. Whole, untreated coconuts are a suitable medium for the production of Strangler figs. The widespread availability of whole coconuts makes them an ideal growth containment option for accelerated construction of ultra-low-cost, carbon-negative, living infrastructure.The integration of carbon-negative, self-repairing Living Infrastructure into urban spaces represents a low-cost opportunity to provide climate-resilient infrastructure whilst simultaneously cooling cities and enabling greater access to green spaces. Living Infrastructure instillations in tropical urban spaces such as Cairns or Singapore may also have the potential to become popular tourism attractions.

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) involves payments for emissions reduction in terms of tonnes of Carbon known as Results-Based Payments (RBP). RBPs were envisaged as covering the opportunity and transaction/implementation costs of not converting the forest to other land uses such as oil palm or beef production by providing alternative development pathways. Most REDD+ funding has come from official development assistance (ODA) where funders have benchmarked payments for results at US$ 5/tCO2-e or sometimes US$ 10/tCO2-e. These prices are far below most estimates of the net costs of ending deforestation. Despite REDD+ being designed to fit into an international emissions trading context, the international environment makes it uncertain that international emissions trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement will generate a price for REDD+ RBPs necessary to meet the costs of reducing emissions in developing countries. The study examines the peer-reviewed literature and materials produced by various stakeholders on low and fixed benchmark prices for REDD+ RBPs and will conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis to determine likely outcomes. It concludes that low prices for REDD+ RBPs will substantially continue deforestation because of loss of country ownership, loss of stakeholder support for an alternative development pathway, and shifting of the burden of emissions reduction to developing countries. Low fixed prices result in serious equity and justice concerns for people in tropical forest countries. In the absence of a viable compliance market for REDD+, greater expenditure on REDD+ RBPs is justified, in particular, because it enables a higher price for RBPs.

Due to rapid urbanisation, mixed traffic in Vietnam’s megacities is getting worse. Dialectics remain unsolved as communities persist with their two-wheel figurehead while the government frames taxonomy and substitution. Driven by the need for reconciliations, the proposed empirical research aims to fill the knowledge gap and to contribute to the Sustainable Path to 2030 Agenda.The study explored values and threats in relation to motorcycle, proposed solutions to the dialectic, probed for community readiness, and weighted predictors against adaptation. Sequential Exploratory Mixed Methodology was followed to develop a new theory. System data input was collected from three sources: documentary review, qualitative expert interviews, and quantitative survey using questionnaires of 100 variables. More than 700 responses from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City facilitated the analytics threading four techniques of: Ordinal Logistic Regression with Factors Input, Generalised Linear Models with Ordinal Logistic Response, Spearman’s correlations, and Exploratory Factor Analysis.Benchmarking between four analytical methods resulted in more than 80 coinciding associations between community acceptance and its determinants that enable a better understanding of the issues related to motorcycles. Emerging determinants include propaganda/education, public bus operation, infrastructure/travel patterns, and regulations change.

India generates 62 million tons of waste every year, of which 60% gets collected and only 15% processed. With the huge spike in urban population and shrinking spaces, it is imperative for an efficient waste management system. Unscientific waste disposal augments the emission of Greenhouse Gases like methane (6% in India). Waste to Energy plant is not viable in India due to the high concentration of organic content and inadequate segregation. Under such a situation, a Centralised treatment facility will not only culminate in irrevocable environmental and health hazards but further aggravate prevailing socio-political injustice in the country. The best possible alternative to this systemic hurdle is Decentralised Waste Management. This paper looks at two urban cities, Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru, where the former follows a decentralised waste management system and the latter centralised. The Waste Management system in Thiruvananthapuram city champions concepts of circular economy adopted by developed countries, which contest the unsustainable linear model. The city’s strategies adopted under Decentralised Waste Management are a catalyst towards achieving ‘no burn city’, an initiative against incineration and greenhouse gas emissions. The case studies of Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram city highlight the impact of systemic changes through progressive interventions towards the eradication of structural disparities. It analyses different aspects, the labour, the public, the governance and the environment in the context of waste management. The paper delves further into the question of welfare and beneficiary from state’s point of view. Through the system of Decentralised Waste Management, the paper advocates the importance of devolution of power and dissolution of responsibilities for a sustainable environment and an empowered and equitable society.

The development of technology suited to the tropics has been one of four major underlying factors behind the rapid growth of Cairns as a major regional city in Australia. Much of the technological developments of importance have related to industry sectors like agriculture, mining, fisheries and tourism. However, arguably, those relating to development of technology related to everyday living in the tropics have been of equal importance. This Paper seeks to identify these major developments in technology related to everyday living that have been of importance to Cairns’ progress, including some in which the city has played a key role of global significance. The Paper records the views of the 1930s, set out in the American Geographical Society Study “White Settlers in the Tropics”, about the challenges and progress in tropical Queensland. The Paper looks at data on life expectancies compared to other parts of Australia. The Paper discusses the role of cooling devices from water cooled safes, iceboxes, ceiling fans, refrigeration and air-conditioning. It will discuss the impact of satellite technology on cyclone warnings and work on cyclone proofing structures with consequent avoidance of loss of life. The Paper will also record how these developments, combined with “success breeds success” factors, the development of improved medical, education, sporting, cultural, arts and entertainment facilities, have seen Cairns and the tropical north progress over the years from being a “hardship posting” to being a “desired place to live”.

It is incumbent for city planners seeking to achieve sustainable cities that they utilise their modern built heritage resources. The built environment contributes significantly to the carbon footprint of a city. Buildings account for 50% of raw materials used and produce waste from demolition and new construction. It is often more sustainable to re-use and repurpose existing buildings than to build anew. Protected heritage buildings are often re-used and repurposed; however, the future of heritage buildings that are not valued is dubious, precarious and, it can be said, even perilous. Modern built heritage (MBH) is defined by UNESCO as a built heritage from the ‘modern’ era 1920–1970. MBH is currently in focus in the heritage preservation literature as it is considered at risk of demolition due to rapid urbanisation, weak legal protection, and low awareness of its value among the public. MBH is available in many cities as the heritage of tomorrow. However, to assume this standing requires identification and an understanding of its value. This paper explores the value of Art Deco as a form of modern built heritage through in-depth interviews with stakeholders in Brisbane. An argument is made for the further conservation of MBH by linking value with sustainable city goals.

Since the tourism industry plays a critical role in economic development, tourism resilience from both the supplier and demand sides needs to be considered. The tourism industry’s resilience is partly dependent on the adaptability and absorbability of visitors, without which the perpetuity of the industry would be threatened. This paper examines socio-economic resilience by exploring visitors’ reviews of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Borobudur Temple in Central Java, Indonesia. The paper adopts a netnography approach to identify factors that could be used to build a visitors’ resilience index. Netnography is a naturalistic and predominantly unobtrusive technique developed for exploring online contributions. Using NVivo 12 Plus software, thematic analysis is conducted on a sample of 255 visitor reviews shared on TripAdvisor.com between March 2018 and March 2020. An interpretive coding approach was conducted by examining the reviews, selecting theoretically significant features from the reviews, coding the selected features systematically across the entire set of 255 reviews, and collating the reviews relevant to each code. The paper concludes that a visitors’ resilience index can be constructed using a range of multidimensional variables, including spiritual and cultural awareness, emotional aspect, educational aspect, care for the natural environment, physical challenges, recreational and tourist aspect, and economic and social aspect. Findings show that visitors’ resilience is reflected in online reviews by conveying their perceptions, experiences, personal feelings, and challenges during the visit. The results are significant as they demonstrate the critical role visitors’ resilience plays in building a resilient tourism industry. This paper complements the existing literature on developing resilience in the tourism industry as it improves our understanding of visitor’s characteristic and adaptive resilience.

This paper reviews the media representations of responsible coffee tourism practices during the pandemic of COVID-19 in Indonesia. The key aim is to identify the leading actor and the themes of responsible coffee tourism practices by critically analysing the stakeholders’ roles in coping with the disruption. The archival information from internet media in 2020 was collected via the Google search engine. The data were classified in three different time frames: the initial (January–April), the second midpoint (May–August), and the third midpoint (September–December). Subsequently, Leximancer was employed to assist the analysis of the collected 128 articles. The results indicated that the government institutions were the leading actors in encouraging responsible coffee tourism practices during the pandemic. Different themes of responsible coffee tourism practices emerged from the three-time periods investigated: operating business as usual, raising awareness of potential risks, and edification. The contribution of media representation to the business’ learning curve is discussed. The pandemic is not over yet. Nevertheless, the first-year discourses analysis could provide some guidelines for stakeholders’ future directions of managing crisis in tourism responsibly.

COVID-19 affected every part of Australia - disrupting businesses and livelihoods, creating uncertainty for communities. This paper examined how COVID-19 impacted Cairns and Townsville with the specific aim to explore the proposition that, for similar levels of base-line resilience within a community, the number and type of community-based initiatives generated for the two tropical cities were directly related to the impact of this disruptive pandemic. This research employed a thematic analysis to examine community-based initiatives mentioned in articles published in: The Cairns Post and The Townsville Bulletin, for the year 2020. It also implemented a deductive approach in aligning these initiatives to community resilience capacities (viz. absorption, adaptive, and restorative capacities), leading to an interpretive and comparative understanding of the responses of the Cairns and Townville communities to COVID-19.Results indicated Cairns and Townsville were impacted differently by COVID-19 and responses varied accordingly. Firstly, more initiatives were generated in Cairns, likely due to its strong reliance on tourism and related sectors, which were severely affected by COVID-19, upsetting Cairns’ economy more than Townsville. Secondly, different types of initiatives were observed in the two cities, which focused on different capacities of community resilience. Initiatives in Cairns reinforced the community’s restorative capacity while Townsville, had no restorative initiatives and focused on strengthening absorption and adaptive capacities due to less severe impact of COVID-19. This supports the initial proposition that the number and type of community-based initiatives varies with the severity of the disruption and can therefore be used as an indicator of the severity of the disruption. Cairns and Townsville both developed various social and community initiatives to cushion the effects of COVID-19 which demonstrate their ingenuity and resilience. The initiatives provide a silver lining to the pandemic and should help in long-term sustainable recovery of Cairns and Townsville as regional cities servicing Tropical North Queensland.

Heritage tourism is one of the fastest-growing global segments of the Tourism and Hospitality industry, with associated products and experiences generating substantial benefits for tourism operators, promoting economic growth and making social contributions to the local communities. Heritage tourism should rely on recognition and valuation of attributes including aesthetics, uniqueness, cultural elements, and historical significance by tourism operators, visitors, and communities to be successful and sustainable. As an emerging field of study, knowledge and promotional use of specific heritage attributes to target visitors’ needs are still being developed. This study seeks to fill that important gap by focusing on ‘heritage boutique hotels’ (HBHs), where heritage buildings are being repurposed or refurbished to accommodate visitors. The purpose of this study is to identify if, and how, customers are recognising and communicating satisfaction on attributes unique to HBHs. This study forms the first phase of a larger research project examining (HBHs) practices in Singapore and Malaysia with a view to later expanding the study to more widely cover the Asia-Pacific region following JCU’s focus on the tropics. Using a qualitative and inductive approach, thematic analysis was utilised for online customer reviews that were collected from a promotional website for six HBHs located across Singapore and Malaysia. Leximancer analysis assisted the contextual and relational analysis affording an opportunity to identify the important attributes and explore relationships between respective attributes. The analysis showed that experiences were multisensory, drawing on visitors’ affective, cognitive, and social complexities to gain satisfaction from their experiences of visiting HBHs. These findings provide preliminary insights into the key drivers for the economic, social and cultural sustainability of HBHs and inform operators and communities on strategic planning for future use.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the ways in which the sustainable packaging industry, in conjunction with consumers, can help to reduce environmental damage to fragile ecosystems. We discuss several theoretical models that have been widely used to explain behavourial change. The literature review suggests that lifestyle segmentation, and concepts from the extended theory of planned behaviour and adoption of innovation literature provide rich explanations for why individuals are likely to purchase and adopt novel forms of sustainable packaging. We propose a model identifying several factors that influence purchase intentions and further research is recommended with a focus on market segments defined by sustainable lifestyles.

Values are inherently personal constructs that influence individuals’ choices and help navigate many personal and professional dilemmas. Using the Basic Human Values by Schwartz as the theoretical framework, the aim of this paper is to examine the substitutability of self-enhancement values by self-transcendence values in promoting responsible consumption behaviours in society. The paper further examines whether Self Transcendence values are instrumental in driving responsible consumption among individuals.The paper relies on Focus Group studies to explore the topic. To ensure the accuracy of our analysis, representative samples of 88 Generation Z (48 – Under Graduates; 40 – Post Graduates) college students, 25 Generation Y employees, and 25 Generation X home-makers were selected for focus group discussions. The interaction in each group was for 60 minutes. All interviews were recorded with permission and transcribed. Data thus obtained was manually coded and analysed using the thematic analysis technique. The findings of the paper provide meaningful insights about the changing human values and their influence on consumption behaviour.In addition to the contribution to the existing literature in intercultural and consumer behaviour research, this study also contributes to the current understanding of how changing values are encouraging individuals for responsible consumption. The findings of the study will be useful to both researchers and practitioners in the field of consumer behaviour.

Increased globalisation, urbanisation, and a growing middle class in developing countries significantly impact food sustainability, especially within the livestock industry. The way meat is produced, processed, transported and consumed has an immense effect on environmental sustainability. From an environmental perspective, it is vital to understand better how consumers can be motivated to restrict meat consumption, particularly in non-Western countries where this area is less explored. The current study proposes a model for an emerging economy, Pakistan, where meat consumption has increased rapidly. The empirical study employed the Theory of Planned Behaviour, integrating pro-environmental attitude, perceived behaviour control and collectivist culture, to investigate sustainable meat consumption intentions (SMCI) grounded in a specific context. Data were collected from 300 meat consumers and analysed through a two-step structural equation modelling (SEM) approach, i.e. measurement and structural models. Results reported that perceived behaviour control and collectivistic culture positively influence SMCI, and the model is partially mediated through pro-environmental attitude. The study findings can help managers and policymakers to understand consumer intentions and develop actionable strategies.

One of the phenomena impacting economies around the world is the process called financialisation. Changes in regulations and behaviour of both financial and nonfinancial firms shifted the balance of power away from the real economy and towards the financial sector. Some economists argue that financialisation has had negative effects on society, e.g., it has increased inequalities and made economies more prone to crises. This paper aims to identify and analyse three categories of risk arising from financialisation that may pose a threat to the environmental goals of the 2030 Agenda. According to some predictions, the first category pertains to class division; the negative effects of climate change will not be shared equally. Since financial markets are deemed to be partially responsible for the increasing class inequalities, there is indeed a risk that working- and middle-class people will bear the burden of climate change. This leads to the second category of risk: the risk of insufficient regulation concerning unsustainable financial activity. While some steps have been taken in recent years to regulate financial markets, there may not be enough incentive to switch towards environmentally sustainable financial activities. The third category of risk concerns the change in rhetoric imposed by financialisation. Financial markets are seen more and more as the economy and not as an extension of it. There is a risk that adhering to the 2030 Agenda’s goals may be seen primarily as a hindrance for financial markets instead of perceiving these goals as necessary steps required to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change.

Individual life satisfaction (LS), used as a proxy measure of human wellbeing, has been a growing topic of research in the discipline of economics over the last 30 years. The underpinning rationale is the need to determine the extent to which various contextual factors contribute to LS, thereby informing policymaking decisions designed to enhance LS in the population. Empirical studies have predominantly focused on economic factors like income and employment and socio-demographic variables, e.g., age, gender, education and health. This paper presents a review of the LS research literature, focusing on the less widely researched influences of geography, environmental factors, and climate. The review identifies knowledge gaps in these specific areas and develops a research agenda to address these gaps. The review finds evidence of significant variations in individual LS, and in influencing factors, between different locations within the same country. While these variations’ nature and significance appear largely dependent on the scale of geographic aggregation used in the data, clear patterns for these spatial variations are yet to be identified and understood. Building on recent studies undertaken in Australia, further research using techniques such as geographically weighted regression at different scales of observation could provide insights into both where and why spatial clusters occur.The paper also examines the evidence regarding the contribution of environmental and climatic factors to individual LS. Variables associated with environmental amenities (such as urban greenspace or the presence of a world heritage area) generally have statistically significant positive coefficients in LS regression models; conversely, variables representing environmental dis-amenities like air or noise pollution have been found to be negative contributors. The evidence on the impact of climatic variables is more patchy, and their association with individual LS appears to be more ambiguous. This may be linked to context-specific conditions creating a high level of correlation between the different climate factors and other environmental factors: e.g., a positive correlation between precipitation levels and LS may be driven by the fact that high rainfall is generally associated with lush landscapes and scenic beauty. The paper argues that the investigation of the contribution of the climate and environment on individual LS requires the building of complex regression models integrating multiple variables. The research agenda proposed in the final section of this paper articulates two research objectives based on the above research gaps. It formulates research questions and lays out a research strategy to answer these questions.

With more than 86% of people residing in large metropolitans, Australia is one of the world’s most urbanised countries. Sydney, the state capital of New South Wales (NSW), is Australia’s economic heart, and its vibrance is essential to drive both the NSW and Australian economies. Due to rapid economic and population growth, Greater Sydney has been expanding, and its demographics have been transforming. However, Greater Sydney is divided into advantaged and disadvantaged areas considering various indicators. A slanted imaginary line running from north-west to the south-east divides the advantaged north and east from the disadvantaged (Greater Western Sydney) south-west and west. This study reveals that Greater Western Sydney lacks sustainable and resilient communities due to the uneven distribution of opportunities and lack of community capacity. This study also argues that the disadvantaged communities experience higher vulnerability to risks in emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in an even more disadvantaged condition. Creating resilient communities is imperative to progress individuals or communities’ ability to adapt and overcome any crisis and transform their collective ability to face challenges. The disadvantaged Western Sydney communities require sustainable urban growth with evidence-based, long-term, and inclusive strategic responses to build community resilience to reduce vulnerability. This paper points toward the need for shaping resilient communities and emphasises the need for community empowerment, provision of urban amenities, and provision of socio-economically and infrastructurally balanced sustainable growth for the underprivileged communities in Sydney.

The mining industry is today the largest contributor to Australia’s commodity-based export economy. With an international market orientation from colonial times to the present, and by virtue of its corporate structure, the metalliferous mining industry may be considered a suitably representative proxy to reflect on the broader sphere of Australian economic and industrial activity. Equally, as the nature of work changes with advances in technology, the future sustainability of work communities has become of increasing concern.A feature of mining communities in Australia, in both historical and contemporary times has been the recurring conflict between capital and labour. This has at times severely impacted mine profitability, which in some cases has led to premature closure of mining operations. It has also caused widespread immiseration of working class families during the extended strikes and lockouts which have ensued.In The Great Transformation, Karl Polanyi (1944) outlined his thesis of a double-movement which occurs as a protective counter-movement whenever human society has been threatened by market liberalism. The trade-union movement has been arguably the most effective of such double-movements, from its inception during the Industrial Revolution, until a resounding defeat at the hands of market liberalism in the mining industry at Broken Hill in 1986. The union movement has yet to show any convincing signs of recovery from this defeat.This paper employs a meta-ethnographical synthesis of the literature relating to the historic mining community of Broken Hill in New South Wales to explore the capital-labour conflict in industry. The meta-ethnography was conducted following the approach outlined by Noblit and Hare (1985). Key themes from a selection of five books and fourteen journal articles on the industrial history of Broken Hill were encoded in NVivo to facilitate the synthesis. Tracing the cyclical fortunes of the capital-labour conflict through the lens of the mining industry in this district, the study, aided by a proposed culture interpretive theory (CIT), outlines implications for industry development, employment, and community sustainability in a future Australia, finding evidence that capitalism may be finally ridding itself of the need for the working-class.

The management of risk and its integration with business strategy (corporate plan) and performance is important to building resilient and sustainable local communities. Local Governments fulfil a series of vital roles worldwide. There has been increasing recognition of the need to implement holistic and integrated Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) approaches, given that risk is an unavoidable occurrence. At the same time, there has been a drive towards evidence-based practice, which has led to scoping reviews, a relatively new approach to the literature review. Of interest was Arksey & O’Malley’s (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8(1):19–32, 2005) framework that provided a distinctive process to follow given that ERM is a broad and multidisciplinary topic, where different organisations are applying many different risk standards.The authors used One Search and Google Scholar electronic databases and Google search engine to search for relevant studies using search terms, which resulted in 1690 studies. Some inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to narrow the search results. 210 studies were found to be eligible to be included in the scoping review. The authors complemented the scoping review with thematic analysis of those selected studies using NVivo 12 Plus, and results were synthesised using Excel.The paper finds that only 2% of studies were published concerning risk management at Local Government levels. The paper also finds that while there has been an increase in the number of publications in ERM between 2010 and 2020, research appears to be more interested in the integration of ERM than the traditional silo approaches to managing risk.It appears risk management is a “tick in a box exercise” where risk management processes are not significantly integrated into the delivery of strategic goals that, in turn, benefits communities. Research gaps indicate the need to establish a methodology to integrate ERM with strategy and performance as three concepts in a Local Government setting.

Scholars have argued that the spread of the Covid-19 virus is undermining globalisation and may ultimately prove a catalyst for de-globalisation. We debate this issue. Covid-19 is speeding the changing of the process of globalisation, which continues. In this sense, it can be viewed as a black swan event which, by arresting the free movement of people globally and constricting supply chains, is inhibiting trade. At the same time, Covid-19 has accelerated the uptake of digital communication via platforms such as zoom and skype. In support of our thesis that Covid-19 is accelerating a change in the nature of globalisation, we argue that globalisation had not ceased since the time when European powers first began venturing across the globe in pursuit of trade between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. The study is intended to briefly survey the modern history of globalisation to create a platform for analysing the effect of Covid-19. The social and economic effect of pandemics in history is also discussed, in particular the Plague of Justinian, the Black Death and the Spanish flu. While the Economic Cycles theory does not provide an explanation for the effect of the pandemic on societies and economies, the theory of Hegemonic Cycles is more explanatory, enabling us to view the pandemic as an event that will probably affect global power relations. The purpose of this paper is to identify how the Covid-19 virus has brought into stark relief the apparent hegemonic rivalry of the United States and China. One country is, to date, the worst affected by the virus, the other is its place of origin. Our study shows that both countries are proponents of globalisation but expound different narratives concerning how the world can trade and prosper in the future.

Since the introduction of regional autonomy legislation in 1999, Indonesia has been pursuing a major process of democratic decentralisation. The resulting administrative and political processes of restructuring have had considerable impacts on the urban planning system in Indonesian cities (Firman, 2014). There seem to be considerable differences in how Indonesia’s rapidly growing cities are dealing with urban challenges (Dethier, 2017). Urban policymaking processes in Indonesian cities are characterised by complexity and can be hampered by unclear responsibilities of central and local government as a result of the decentralisation process. The political leadership of cities appears to play a major role in shaping urban policies that are inclusive, equitable, and consider environmental sustainability.This paper discusses the role of urban political leadership in defining urban policies aimed at providing a strong framework for coordinating plans and projects that meet the requirements of current and future generations. The study focuses on analysing the role of political leadership in the urban policy initiatives in Semarang, the capital city of Central Java Province. The analysis leads to the identification of key features and elements affecting urban policy on urban infrastructure provisions. The empirical analysis in this paper results from in-depth interviews with key policymakers and stakeholders in the City of Semarang. The findings presented in this paper allow critical reflection on the role of urban political leadership in shaping integrated urban policies aimed at urban development.

The paper engages the challenge of expanding social protection after Covid-19 by examining new ideas about funding universal social protection from data. It argues that thinking about the right to benefit from scientific progress (RBSP) in the digital age can have important implications for articulating and understanding the economic fairness issue in the wealth accumulation of Big Tech through Big Data. The paper introduces the need for rebuilding social protection by discussing how the socio-economic crisis brought by COVID-19 put a spotlight on social protection. It then surveys and examines policy-relevant literature that proposes feasible measures for radically expanding social protection post-pandemic, highlighting specifically novel measures that call for taxation of data to fund expanded social protection. The paper then discusses how a human rights approach based on RBSP extends the human rights argument for social protection floors and tax reform. It concludes that RBSP can help articulate novel measures for funding social protection from data.

Inclusive growth and climate change resilience have been enthusiastically debated issues at the global and local levels even before the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been argued that they have increasingly threatened to destabilise the economy while interfering with the fiscal goals of stability, full employment, sustainable growth and development for shared prosperity and welfare.Governments, institutions and the private sector now acknowledge the importance and urgency for coordinated action toward inclusive and sustainable outcomes and government actions. However, tweaking existing policies by adding discretionary programs within the “one size fits it all” paradigm could not address these issues effectively. It has been argued that pro-equity policies can reduce inequality and pro-green policies can strengthen climate change resilience and thus achieve sustainable outcomes under an integrated fiscal policy.This study reviews the existing literature in this field by employing a structured qualitative methodology to scope, contextualise and map the literature in this field. The paper focuses on inclusive and sustainable fiscal policy, which, through coordination and integration, achieves economic stability, inclusive growth, and sustainable development outcomes concurrently, i.e. the challenge of internalising economic activity’s social costs to render a net social surplus and neutralise environmental impact.This study evaluates the extent of the existing programs and policies by adopting a mixed-method qualitative analysis methodology that incorporates a scoping review and document analysis. It performs a structured analysis to uncover the effective policy variables, drivers and impediments. The document analysis method complements the scoping review to extract the thematic meaning, article design and metadata of the analysed documents in the context of the declared sustainability goals. Data repositories include pertinent literature and topical reports from private and public economic, policy and industry research and advisory institutions and firms.

Iceland and Ireland conduct radically different anti-crisis policies to reduce unemployment. Their strategies differ in the approach to the concept of community empowerment. After the Crisis of 2008, Iceland introduced measures to expand social partnership and vocational training, whereas the Irish government broke dialogue with trade unions and deprived them of their influence. This paper compares not only the two contrasting strategies but also their economic outcomes in the labour market. Thus, it aims to verify whether community empowerment enables a faster and more effective way out of the unemployment crisis. For this purpose, a statistical analysis of selected labour market indicators was performed. Results show that both countries have managed to reduce the unemployment and youth unemployment rate. However, this reduction should be interpreted, bearing in mind the fact that the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in Ireland is only 62%. The efficiency of the Irish approach has been undermined by detailed unemployment indicators. Until 2016, the long-term unemployed in Ireland accounted for over 50% of the unemployed. Long-term unemployment and underemployment have never returned to their pre-crisis levels. On the contrary, in Iceland, long-term unemployment is almost non-existent. Over 80% of the working-age population has been professionally active. Visible underemployment has remained below 10%. The differences between Irish performance and Icelandic performance in this research seem to be located in the governmental responses to the previous crisis. By following the rules of community empowerment, Iceland appears to have different unemployment conditions. Investment in human capital and efficient communication with citizens have resulted in higher economic resilience. Community empowerment may help reduce unemployment and develop a stable and inclusive labour market.

As the impact of Covid-19 arises, world economic development is severely being distressed, the agricultural sector in Indonesia, as previously proven in facing economic disturbances, is expected to be resilient. The objective of this study was to analyse comprehensively the impact of covid-19 to the agricultural sector in Indonesia. This review analysed and interpreted literature, government reports, and other secondary data to understand how the negative impact of covid-19 affected the agricultural sector and what solution should be taken into account. The result showed that covid-19 caused increased risk and uncertainty, disturbed the food supply chain, and decreased farmer households’ income. Meanwhile, the political will of the government to support agricultural development is essentially important, such as setting production priority across regions, distribution of agricultural products, and relief package for farmers exposed to covid-19. This finding is expected to push agriculture to be more resistant in dealing with any emergencies this country might face in the future. Furthermore, this study identifies that factors affecting farmers signifies their importance and must be considered by the government in the pre and post cases. It is; therefore, suggested that resolving and mitigating mechanism might be adopted to keep agricultural growth moving forward.

The development of organic coffee in Indonesia has been progressing insignificantly, although the country is one of the leading coffee producers. One of the reasons slowing down the development of Organic coffee is because the farmers encounter several obstacles at the farm. This study aims to create strategies for the development of organic coffee in Wonokerso Village because there have been previous researches and the location for some superior coffee clones since 2004 from the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research and organic coffee demonstration plot in farmer’s land. This study was conducted in Wonokerso Village in 2019. Through in-depth interviews and analysis by Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) and strategy formulated by Treats Opportunities Weaknesses Strengths (TOWS) matrix, data collection was conducted. The respondents consisted of coffee farmers, extension workers, and village officials in Wonokerso. The results show that developing organic coffee is in quadrant III (turn around), which means weaknesses are higher than strengths. Potential opportunities are much more than threats. Strategies include increasing the standardization of organic coffee quality, price guarantee, and improving productivity. The action plan that should be implemented, firstly, facilitating the organic coffee certification. Secondly, establishing Village-Owned Enterprises that accommodate, process and market organic coffee directly to consumers, and lastly, improving technology adoption by training and technology incentive.

Based on data from the Indonesian Ministry of Finance, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to cause a decline in Indonesia’s economic growth to depreciate to a level of 2.5% and to 0%, so it is feared that the poverty rate will increase by more than 5%. Currently, the number of poor people in Central Java Province in 2020 has reached 3.98 million people or 11.41%, where the majority were in rural areas (2.18 million people). Rural areas (villages) are considered less attractive due to limited employment opportunities, despite having considerable potential as an alternative to post-COVID-19 recovery. This study aims to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socio-economic sector and the problems faced by rural communities in Central Java. This research is a qualitative descriptive study using mixed methods. The research was conducted in 29 regencies in Central Java. The results showed that the sectors most affected were the tourism, trade, and small industry sectors i.e. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The problems faced were an increase in the poverty rate, the number of unemployed and the crime rate, and a decrease in people’s purchasing power. The recommendations are: (1) in the short term, increase purchasing power by reducing miscellaneous expenses and increasing income, food availability, and disaster mitigation budget, and (2) in the medium term create growth centres in the periphery and remote areas.

The coronavirus, originally an endemic in Wuhan Province, China, quickly spread throughout the world and turned into a pandemic. In Indonesia, COVID-19 was officially announced on March 2, 2020. Several policies were taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, particularly in social distancing, self-isolation, and travel restrictions. This policy has reduced employment in all sectors of the economy and the loss of many jobs. The study was conducted to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the volatility of the leading food commodities that strongly trigger inflation (rice, fresh chicken meat, beef, eggs, onions, garlic, curly red chillies, red chillies, cooking oil, and sugar). The analysis was carried out by dividing the daily food price data into two periods: before (July 31, 2017 – March 1, 2020) and during (March 2, 2020 – October 14, 2020) COVID-19. Price volatility was analysed using the ARCH/GARCH Model. Analysis was also carried out by correlating food price movements with the progress of COVID-19 cases. The results show that most food prices tend to be stable after COVID-19 cases except for chicken, meat and eggs. A significant correlation was also found between the price movements with the COVID-19 cases. The results indicated that the impact of COVID-19 on food price volatility related to the intrinsic character or the nature of foods, the benefits of the foods to health, and government protection policies for these food staples. In general, the government must guarantee those food staples’ movement, and thus, their distribution would not be disrupted. Social security policies are still essential to maintain purchasing power, access the poor to food, and prevent a decline in the performance of the agricultural sector.

One of the impacts of the lockdown policy due to COVID-19 has caused decreased growth of the agricultural sector in Indonesia. The availability of garlic, 95% imported from China, India, United States of America, Malaysia, Switzerland, Germany, dan Australia, while 5% is produced in Indonesia, declines persistently. The objective of this study was to analyze factors affecting the availability of garlic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mix-method was used to illustrate the phenomena through analyzing secondary data and semi-structured interviews with key informants in the regencies of Karanganyar, Tegal, and Temanggung, Central Java Province. The snowball sampling method was used to identify informants chosen based on cultivation experiences and post-harvest handling. The results showed that local varieties of garlic had been preferred by other countries for medication ingredient due to its strong aroma and spicy taste, although its price is relatively competitive. On the other hand, most households in Indonesia preferred imported garlic for cooking because of its large size. Consequently, improved quality for local garlic should be continually improved to increase both quantity and quality. To keep efforts sustainable, farmers should always be assisted in empowering their potential.