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This study aims to present the development and validation of a scale to measure the attitudes of Latin American business students toward sustainable management practices in the economic, social and environmental dimensions.

Using a nonprobabilistic sample, the appreciation for sustainable practices in students (ASP-S) scale was administered to a total of 653 undergraduate and graduate business students in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. A range of psychometric validity (construct, convergent and discriminant) and reliability criteria were applied.

Construct, convergent and discriminant validity was obtained from the ASP-S scale across all samples. During the internal validation process, two factors were found: systemic consciousness (ten items) and sustainable business leadership (nine items), both of which obtained acceptable reliability indices. The resulting structure is equivalent in all four countries.

The instrument can be applied by educators and learning assurance areas to diagnose and measure the effectiveness of pedagogical strategies used in sustainability courses taught at Latin American business schools. As a result, it has applications for curriculum design. As a valid and reliable instrument set in the context of regional business praxis, it can promote an understanding of sustainable behaviors and practices in future Latin American leaders.

This research aims to understand the primary challenges encountered by entrepreneurs operating in emerging economies, where entrepreneurship plays a vital role. The study places a particular emphasis on entrepreneurs in Brazil.

The research methodology involved the analysis of data obtained from interviews, using both content analysis and Grey Relational Analysis techniques.

The analysis revealed several prominent difficulties that entrepreneurs face in these domains. These challenges encompassed issues such as grappling with intricate taxation systems and the associated tax burden, navigating government bureaucracy, securing access to essential financing and initial investments, contending with the absence of supportive government programs and addressing the dynamic nature of market conditions. The findings on the most critical barriers reveal potential pathways for entrepreneurs, policymakers and universities to act in developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in emerging economies.

The insights garnered from this research have the potential to inform the formulation of robust public policies aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and innovation in emerging countries. Furthermore, these findings can serve as a valuable resource for planning initiatives designed to train engineers to become successful entrepreneurs.

Faced with the growing need to find new viable water supply models for urban areas, this article studies and maps the strategies and identifies the key criteria of sustainable development present in pioneering water supply systems in the medieval period. The main aim is to determine which of its innovative principles could be applied in present-day cities.

From a methodological perspective, two types of cases were established, such as water supply models for human consumption and pre-industrial hydraulic systems, all of which are located in Italy. For the first group, the cases of Venice and Siena were analysed, while for the second, in the context of the cities along the Aemilian Way, the case of Bologna was selected.

Five key criteria resulted from the analysis of the cases: exploitation, self-sufficiency, maintenance, rationalisation and reuse. The said concepts were defined and contextualised within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Middle Ages were a historic moment in technological reinvention, before the development of modern systems of sanitation. With very limited resources, these traditional systems focused on rational use and deep cultural and geographical knowledge. This is why its recognition is of great importance today, in a time full of instabilities, with a view to the work that needs to be done for the development of more sustainable communities.