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The main goal of the study is to participate in academic debates and explore women's leadership and related challenges and opportunities in governance, and the extent to which women’s leadership has been enhanced by administrative reforms. The goal is to broaden the scope of action by promoting women's engagement and leadership in local government.

This is a qualitative study that uses inductive content analysis to examine the relationship between administrative reforms and women’s leadership development in the context of local government in Southeast and South Asia.

There is a positive impact of administrative reforms on women's leadership development. There is evidence that women are preparing for leadership roles in administration, which is a sign of progress in political change and modernization of society. They have been empowered by political and administrative education in a transformative way.

This article contributes to the literature that expands knowledge about governance, female leadership and administrative reform. They are interrelated because they are precursors to the development of women's leadership in countries.

The findings of this study can help governments in South and Southeast Asia become more aware of strategies to promote gender balance in governance. The unsatisfactory situation was found to exist because of problems related to socio-political, economic, cultural, and personal development.

This study is the first to highlight the relationship between administrative reform and the development of women in leadership positions in a rarely studied developing country.

Ecotourism has emerged as a new hope of the tourism sector and is expected to overcome past pitfalls of mass tourism. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to assess the potentials and challenges of ecotourism development in the historic and sacred sites of North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia.

Data were collected through interview, household questionnaire, field observation and focused group discussion. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 23) and Excel.

Based on household’s perception, churches and monasteries were mentioned as the main (17.58%) ecotourism attractions that have crucial role in ecotourism development in the area followed by biodiversity resources (17.23%) and Holy Water (16.01%). These existing ecotourism potentials and opportunities were discussed on the basis of five dimensions, i.e. historical and sacred attractions, biological attractions, cultural attractions, infrastructures and institutional potentials. The mean score values of a five-point Likert scale level of agreement or disagreement of respondents were between 2 and 4.5, implying overall responses of respondents spread between agree and strongly agree.

The findings reveal that although the historic and sacred sites of the area have potential ecotourism opportunities, different anthropogenic activities are affecting its development. The researchers recommended awareness creation programs, promotion of sites, development of infrastructures, employments of well-trained professionals and allocation of sufficient budgets as a mechanism to use the ecotourism potential and solving the existing challenges.

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) devised by the United Nations (UN) call on countries – whether rich or poor – to solve global issues, improve lives and save the planet for future generations. However, the UN predicts that between $5 and $7tn will need to be spent annually between now and 2030 to accomplish these goals, posing a major financial hurdle. Islamic social finance, if used ethically, seeks to realise SDGs through fairness, justice and equity. Thus, this study aims to determine how Islamic social finance instruments such as Zakat, Waqf, Sadaqat and Qard-hasan contribute to realising SDGs.

This study used a preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses-based systematic literature review. Scopus and Google Scholar were chosen for the qualitative and meta-analysis of studies. The topic was reviewed in 178 academic papers from 2000 to 2022. The required articles were analysed after careful review.

Islamic social financing mechanisms have the capacity to solve many social issues and create better welfare conditions by ensuring economic, social and environmental sustainability in line with the SDGs. Indonesia and Malaysia lead Islamic social finance research, the survey found. The review revealed that Islamic social funding can achieve 11 out of 17 SDGs. Islamic commercial finance can be used for the remaining goals. The paper highlights Islamic social funding research limitations and opportunities.

The review study shows that Islamic social finance can fill the SDG funding gap, especially considering the post-pandemic financial crisis that has increased global income inequality and social disparities.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this article is the first of its kind to review the potential of Islamic social financing instruments to help achieve the SDGs.

The objective of this study is to analyze the influence of institutional quality on the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using a data set comprising 45 African nations during the timeframe 2000 to 2020.

The data are divided into two periods, with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) data covering the years 2000–2015 and the SDGs data spanning from 2015 to 2020. Controlling for other factors, the researcher employs an index of institutional quality and applies the generalized method of moments (GMM) method to analyze the data.

The findings demonstrate a noteworthy inverse relationship between institutional quality and the achievement of both the MDGs and SDGs. The findings reveal a significant and positive link between economic growth and the achievement of the MDGs, while the impact on the SDGs is shown to be insignificant. Population growth significantly drives the SDGs. The results further reveal that trade openness and industrialization contribute positively to the achievement of both the MDGs and SDGs.

The findings emphasize the importance of improving institutional quality, promoting economic growth and supporting trade openness and industrialization for sustainable development in African countries.

The contribution of the study is twofold. Firstly and to the best of the author’s understanding, this research marks an initial endeavor to empirically investigate the nexus between institutional quality and the SDGs in the context of Africa. Secondly, it adds novelty to the literature by examining how institutional quality influences both the SDGs and their precursor the MDGs, providing insights into the actual contribution of institutions to development within the framework of these two major global compacts.

While sustainability experts point to interrelated social, economic and environmental goals, students may think about sustainability primarily as natural resources. To prepare students to tackle global challenges to well-being, this paper aims to show that educators need to assess and address students’ shortcomings in considering socioeconomic dimensions.

This study coded essays on the meaning and components of sustainability written by 93 undergraduate and graduate students in environmental policy, business and engineering courses at US and Austrian universities. Then, the study reviewed a teaching strategy using diverse experts, case studies and assignments. Finally, the analysis evaluated students’ final projects proposing sustainability legislation with social, economic and environmental dimensions.

Students usually connect sustainability with limited natural resources affecting current and future generations, but seldom think that sustainability means acting on prominent socioeconomic challenges like poverty, food insecurity, pandemics and violence. Teaching in diverse courses through multidimensional case studies and legislation broadened and deepened students’ understanding and preparedness to act.

Despite experts’ attention to the interconnected Sustainable Development Goals, educators and policymakers need information on whether students associate sustainability with socioeconomic challenges. Open-response questions can reveal gaps in the respondents’ sustainability beliefs. In a wide range of courses, teaching can use diverse experts and multidimensional case studies and legislative assignments.

Despite the growing interest in the field, the literature overlooks how supply chains influence or interact with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To fill this gap, this study aims to assess the influences of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) on the implementation of the UN SDGs.

A systematic literature review of 97 publications was carried out by using the Web of Science database and the support of ATLAS.ti software. In addition, this research also explored how the top 20 Forbes companies are aligned with the SDGs by analysing their sustainability reports.

The findings suggest that the literature and the analysed companies primarily concentrate on certain SDGs while neglecting others, revealing potential areas of interest for future research. Based on the findings, the study provides valuable insights into the connections between SSCM and the UN SDGs, highlighting the potential benefits of SSCM in reducing environmental, social and economic pressures and contributing to sustainable development. It also identifies areas where further research and policy development are needed to maximise the potential benefits of SSCM.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, no other studies have conducted a comprehensive exploration of the literature linking SSCM and the SDGs framework. Moreover, the study differs from others since it combines research data with practical information from company reports, to identify specific issues related to supply chain management.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) offer courses and programmes focusing on sustainability in economics, as courses on sustainable development (SD), which examine the economic, social and environmental dimensions of SD. This paper aims to examine sustainability integration in economics degree programmes.

Through an extensive literature review in Web of Science (WoS) and information search in Google, conducting to 28 relevant case studies, this paper elucidates the emphasis given to sustainability as part of economics degree programmes in HEIs.

The results suggest that, whereas the inclusion of sustainability components in this field is a growing trend, much still needs to be done to ensure that matters related to SD are part of the routine of university students studying economics.

It is worth noting that the literature review conducted in WoS was primarily aimed at assisting in the selection of university case studies. The 28 university case studies scrutinised in this study may lack sufficient representation from numerous developing countries.

This study highlights challenges in integrating the SD into economics degree programmes, suggesting the need for curriculum adjustments as underscoring operational issues, acting as barriers. The inclusion of sustainability in economics programmes must navigate operational issues stemming from packed timetables and busy schedules, requiring innovative solutions.

As far as the authors are aware, this study holds substantial importance in its emphasis on implementing sustainability within HEIs’ economics programmes, assisting in pursuing SD.

The novelty of this study lies in addressing sustainability with the specific economics focus programmes within the HEIs context.

This study aims to explore commonalities and differences between Islamic social finance (ISF) and sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The study has adopted a qualitative library-based research method, and the secondary data is collected through the available literature on the topic.

This study concludes that the majority of SDGs are compatible with ISF. Moreover, it finds that the global ISF possesses adequate financial resources to assist Muslim majority nations in achieving some of the most critical and urgent SDGs on time.

The scope of this study is confined to examining the possible role of ISF in achieving many of the most pressing development goals aligned with the SDGs. To maintain coherence within the study’s focus, this paper makes no comparisons between the ISF and other types of endowments/charities.

This paper outlines an agenda for the ISF-led development strategy and makes some crucial recommendations on how the global ISF might potentially lead the charge of Islamic charities in achieving the SDGs in Muslim majority nations.

This paper adds original value to the available literature on the potential of ISF and SDGs in the arena of development. The paper analyses the role of ISF in achieving the SDGs.

This paper aims to examine the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on the regional progression toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the lens of the adoption of 2030 Agenda by firms from different Italian regions.

Mixed methods were adopted. First, a content analysis was performed on 330 nonfinancial declarations released in the 2019–2021 period by a sample of 110 Italian listed companies from different regional macroareas. Second, regression analyses were run to test the impact of regional localization of businesses on SDGs adoption over pre-/during/post-COVID era.

The regional localization of businesses does not affect the SDGs adoption in the pre-COVID-19 era because Italian firms mainly address social goals. Instead, SDGs adoption is affected by regional localization of businesses both during and post-COVID-19 age, when Northern firms prioritize economic and social goals, whereas Southern firms shift from social to environmental goals.

This study fills the need of considering the subnational specificities in literature on sustainable development by capturing connections between firms, belonging territory, SDGs and COVID-19 crisis.

Public higher education institutions (HEIs) infrastructure funding is challenging in many developing countries. Encouraging private investment in HEIs infrastructure via a developed expanded corporate social responsibility (ECSR) may improve physical facilities. ECSR is a form of infrastructure tax relief providing physical facilities for HEIs. Academic literature is scarce concerning how ECSR can improve Nigeria’s public HEIs infrastructure and achieve education infrastructure related to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4). Therefore, this study aims to proffer measures to improve public HEIs infrastructure and achieve sustainable development connected to Goal 4 focussing on infrastructure via a developed framework.

This is an expansion of an ongoing study, and data were collated via virtual interviews across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. The analysed data were presented in a thematic pattern.

A total of 18 measures (sub-variables) emerged and were re-grouped into six variables. This includes institutionalising ECSR, HEIs infrastructure via ECSR awareness, HEIs infrastructure incentives, national and state action plans on HEIs infrastructure, a legal framework for HEIs infrastructure and key stakeholders’ participation. Also, the study used the generated six main variables to develop the improved public HEIs infrastructure via ECSR in developing countries, using Nigeria as a case study. This can enhance achieving infrastructure associated with SDG 4 (quality education) and targets.

This study intends to develop the philosophy (ECSR) with an implementable framework to encourage the private sector further to expand their CSR in the infrastructure development to the educational sector, especially in developing countries higher institutions, using Nigeria as a case study.