Responsibility and Sustainability

NODESS UNIVERSITIES: ARTICULATION OF UNIVERSITY SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (USR) AND STEAM FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION, SUSTAINABILITY, AND ANCESTRAL JUSTICE

2025-10-11T21:47:04+00:00

The contemporary university faces the challenge of redefining its role in response to social inequalities, the environmental crisis, and the need to transition toward sustainable and inclusive development models. Within this context, University Social Responsibility (USR) has emerged as an ethical paradigm that integrates teaching, research, management, and community engagement. Complementarily, STEAM approaches (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) enhance critical, creative, and collaborative competencies through culturally relevant interdisciplinary projects. The convergence of both frameworks within Sustainable Development Nodes (NODESS) provides a strategic pathway to promote social inclusion, sustainability, and ancestral justice in Latin America.

The objective of this study was to design a functional model for USR–STEAM articulation in NODESS universities, with a focus on safeguarding ancestral knowledge and fostering early vocations. The methodology involved a documentary analysis of 128 sources published between 1990 and 2025 in international databases, applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, triangulation of findings, and principles of ancestral justice. The results identified five interdependent dimensions: universities as NODESS, transversal USR, STEAM pedagogies, early vocations, and community–academia dialogue. In conclusion, the articulation of USR–STEAM in NODESS universities constitutes an innovative and replicable framework for socially engaged higher education.

Sustainability in Mexico: A Socioecological Systems Modeling Approach Using Indicators

2025-09-12T00:00:41+00:00

National sustainability assessments are key to addressing environmental and social issues through evidence-based policies. Given their complexity, a socio-environmental systems (SES) framework is necessary, viewing sustainability as emerging from interconnected components: Economy, Institutions, Society, Anthropogenic Assets, Human Drivers, Ecosystem Services and Nature. We assessed Mexico’s state-level sustainability from 2000–2019 using 28 indicators. Missing data were imputed, and principal component analysis reduced dimensionality within SES components. These components formed a Bayesian network to model interrelationships, revealing trade-offs between economic growth and institutional capacity, and strong links between human drivers and environmental impacts. Geospatial analysis showed wide state-level variation, underscoring the need for localized policies. This approach provides a useful model for national sustainability assessments.

An assessment of Police perceptions of Microaggression in Gauteng Province, South Africa

2026-03-24T22:49:55+00:00

Microaggressions are brief and commonplace verbal, behavioural, or environmental indignities that communicates hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults towards people of minority groups and may be committed intentionally or unintentionally by perpetrators. The study was motivated by the prevalence of gendered violence in South Africa. Purposive sampling was used to identify twenty police officials for interviews at six police stations in the Gauteng province. The objective of the study was to explore police perspectives of microaggression. Results showed that most police perceived microaggression as intimidation and gender-based discrimination. Punitive measures were recommended against behaviour. The findings are ungeneralizable.

SUSTAINABILITY AS A STRATEGIC NECESSITY: THE MODERATING ROLE OF GREEN PERCEIVED VALUE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GREEN PRODUCT, GREEN BRAND IMAGE, AND PURCHASING DECISIONS

2025-10-18T11:32:19+00:00

Indonesia, as an agrarian nation, continues to face challenges in agricultural distribution inefficiency, particularly in the Yogyakarta region, leading to significant farmer losses and reduced product quality. This study aims to analyze the influence of Green Product (GP) and Green Brand Image (GBI) on Purchasing Decisions (PD) for organic products, with Green Perceived Value (GPV) serving as a moderating variable. Grounded in the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) Theory, the research explains that pro-environmental behavior emerges from individuals’ personal values, environmental beliefs, and moral norms. Using a quantitative approach, the study employed a saturated sampling technique involving 293 respondents and analyzed the data with Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS). The findings reveal that both GP and GBI have positive and significant effects on PD, while GPV strengthens these relationships. Theoretically, the study extends the VBN framework by confirming that sustainability-oriented values foster consumers’ environmental beliefs and moral norms, which subsequently translate into voluntary green purchasing behavior. This finding suggests that Indonesian consumers increasingly demonstrate a sense of moral responsibility toward the environment, minimizing the value–action gap in green consumption. Practically, producers are encouraged to improve transparency through credible eco-certifications and clear communication about environmental impacts. Green products should be designed to integrate into consumers’ daily routines, supported by consistent experiences that align with green claims to enhance trust and loyalty. Furthermore, companies should build both emotional and rational connections between consumers’ sustainability values and product attributes to strengthen long-term commitment to green consumption.

FOSTERING LEARNER AUTONOMY THROUGH ICT IN A MEXICAN UNIVERSITY CONTEXT

2025-10-17T06:47:27+00:00

ABSTRACT

Learner autonomy is recognized as a key competence in higher education, particularly in language learning, where the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) offers both opportunities and challenges. This study aimed to analyze the autonomous learning strategies employed by Mexican university students of English as a foreign language. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, correlational design was applied with a sample of 33 students from the Universidad de Sonora, Campus Navojoa. Data were collected through an adapted version of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL; Oxford, 1990), including six dimensions and 43 items. Results indicated a medium level of strategy use (M = 3.04), with affective strategies being the most frequently employed (M = 3.41) and memory strategies the least (M = 2.74). Correlation analysis showed strong associations among cognitive, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies, while memory strategies appeared more independent. The findings suggest that students rely mainly on emotional and social resources to sustain autonomy, highlighting the need for pedagogical interventions that foster affective regulation, peer collaboration, and the strengthening of metacognitive skills.

KEYWORDS

Autonomy, English, Learning strategies, University students, ICT