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The study compares how work-integrated learning (WIL) placement positioning, duration, assessment strategies and environment at three Southern African universities influence engineering students' academic and employability outcomes.

The study used a qualitative case study approach that drew on the principles of collaborative autoethnography (CAE). The researchers reflected on WIL placement practices, structure, assessment, environment and outcomes at their universities and then analysed the reflections using comparative descriptive techniques.

The study reports no uniformity among the universities in positioning WIL placement in the curriculum. It is done during end-of-year vacations, between the penultimate and final year or in the last year. The study found WIL placement positioning does not influence academic outcomes; however, the influence on employability outcomes needs further investigation. Components of WIL placement assessment are similar, presentations, logbooks and reports. However, there are differences in the weightings of the various assessment components and the contribution of the industry supervisor. There is a growing trend towards placing students within universities to mitigate the challenges of limited opportunities of placements available in the industry. The impact of this also needs to be further investigated. Lastly, there are policy-related challenges in placing international students. Work restrictions on student visas limit international students’ access to WIL placement. Southern African universities need to lobby the waivers to student visa restrictions that limit their participation in WIL programs if there are to succeed in their internationalisation efforts.

The study highlights the gaps in understanding Southern African universities' WIL placement practices, particularly relating to the positioning of WIL placement in the curriculum, the assessment methods used and the theory to work integration and employability outcomes.

The first-aid courses organized by the Youth Red Cross Carinthia (Austria) had a quality problem, necessitating a professionalization in teaching and time structure. This research aimed to enhance the quality and effectiveness of these courses by implementing modified lesson studies with non-professional trainers. The paper presents the realization process, empirical research and results obtained by applying the first-aid curriculum.

Around 22 lesson study first-aid courses (14 classes with 2 cycles, 8 with 3 cycles) were conducted and evaluated in different Austrian school types. An observation sheet was created to evaluate attention and competencies. Interviews were conducted with both teachers and students to validate the results.

The research findings demonstrate that lesson studies can significantly enhance the quality and effectiveness of first-aid courses. Inexperienced and experienced first-aid teachers significantly improved their teaching skills. Newly educated first-aid teachers showed substantial improvement, leading to the introduction of an induction period and coaching opportunity within the Youth Red Cross Carinthia.

This is the first lesson study conducted in a non-academic context. It highlights the adaptation process of Carinthian first-aid courses. It illustrates how lesson studies impact lesson clarity, instructional variety, student engagement in the learning process, student outcome, student feedback and teaching effectiveness in a non-academic context. It contributes to the literature on the application of lesson study in first-aid education and provides insight into the benefits of this approach in enhancing the quality of first-aid training.

This research delves into the realm of Business Model Innovation (BMI), integrating it with the human-centric, sustainable, and resilient principles of Industry 5.0, proposing a new theoretical framework.

An abductive approach has been chosen to expand existing knowledge developing new ideas based on emerging phenomena. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with directors, managers and curators of public institutions in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Spain encompassing Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM). These data were subsequently subjected to thematic analysis.

The findings indicate that the main enablers for Business Model Innovation (BMI) in combination with Industry 5.0 encompassed stakeholder, customer and organizational engagement, collaborative environment, knowledge and innovation management, and sustainability. These drivers were effectively leveraged through three pivotal facilitators-inhibitors: technology, resources, and leadership.

The principal constraints are rooted in the narrow contextual focus and the limited participants number. However, upcoming research efforts may broaden the horizons of this multifaceted and extensive investigation.

This study is groundbreaking as it fills a significant gap in the existing literature by integrating Business Model Innovation (BMI) with the Industry 5.0 paradigm, a novel approach that has not been explored previously. Additionally, the inclusion of GLAM institutions in this research adds a unique dimension, as they have been largely overlooked in both research domains.

Improving productivity and efficiency has always been crucial for industrial companies to remain competitive. In recent years, the topic of environmental impact has become increasingly important. Published research indicates that environmental and economic goals can enforce or rival each other. However, few papers have been published that address the interaction and integration of these two goals.

In this paper, we identify both, synergies and trade-offs based on a systematic review incorporating 66 publications issued between 1992 and 2021. We analyze, quantify and cluster examples of conjunctions of ecological and economic measures and thereby develop a framework for the combined improvement of performance and environmental compatibility.

Our findings indicate an increased significance of a combined consideration of these two dimensions of sustainability. We found that cases where enforcing synergies between economic and ecological effects were identified are by far more frequent than reports on trade-offs. For the individual categories, cost savings are uniformly considered as the most important economic aspect while, energy savings appear to be marginally more relevant than waste reduction in terms of environmental aspects.

No previous literature review provides a comparable graphical treatment of synergies and trade-offs between cost savings and ecological effects. For the first time, identified measures were classified in a 3 × 3 table considering type and principle.