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This study explores the role of international schools in creating safe and inclusive environments for lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth, particularly in light of the challenging political climate of the current prevailing authoritarian education policy in Poland. Drawing upon Merton’s concept of “educational functions” influenced by socio‐political and economic factors, we investigate how international schools navigate and subvert authoritarian policies to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. Through a multi‐faceted approach analyzing curricula, media discourse, and school law documents, we examine the potential of international schools as agents of change in fostering educational inclusivity for marginalized groups. By examining the interplay between planned educational functions and implementation, the study sheds light on the potential of international schools to serve as inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals in politically charged environments. Our findings highlight the positive impact of international education programs in supporting LGBTQ+ students and contributing valuable insights to ongoing discussions on promoting diversity and acceptance in educational settings. Ultimately, the findings contribute to ongoing discussions about the challenges and possibilities of fostering educational inclusivity for marginalized groups in such politically charged environments as authoritarian systems of education.

This study aims to examine the impact of stakeholder engagement on accountability, within nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Given the pivotal role NPOs play in disaster management and community welfare, it is crucial to gain an understanding of the obligations of NPOs, in terms of their disaster responses and accountability.

Using a case-study approach, the investigation features a content analysis of social media comments regarding the Australian Red Cross’ (ARC) funds’ allocation during the 2019/2020 bushfires, followed by a similar analysis of ARC's reports. Inspired by Carnegie et al.'s (2021) definition of accounting as a social science, this study uses dialogic theory and a transformative participatory framework, to evaluate how interactive stakeholder engagement influenced accountability strategies used by the NPO, to ensure its sustainable development.

The findings reveal that there was a significant increase in stakeholder engagement on social media, following negative media coverage, with participants voicing concerns over ARC’s method of funds’ allocation, delays in funds distribution and seemingly excessive administrative costs. ARC addressed these concerns by issuing Bushfire Reports, and conducting online Q&A sessions, in a bid to establish transparency. This study emphasizes how dialogic accounting can challenge accounting's limited scope – one that often overlooks ecological concerns and social justice.

This study uses the perspective of dialogic accounting theory to explore the relationship between stakeholder engagement on social media, and NPO accountability. It demonstrates how robust stakeholder engagement can challenge NPOs to establish accountability, thereby bridging the information gap between themselves and the public. The use of dialogic accounting theory allows the study to shift from the traditional focus of accounting research, which is the financial objectives of powerful entities, to the voices of the marginalized, the stakeholders, who are impacted by NPO decisions, and, in doing so, it highlights the potential for NPOs to foster accountability, and so advance sustainable development initiatives.

This chapter describes the possibilities for fusing ethnography and evaluation to transform educational inquiry and educational entities (programs, systems, and policies). The central question explored is, how do we best pursue work connecting evaluation and ethnography to fulfill our commitments to diversity, justice, and cultural responsiveness in educational spaces, to make tangible transformative change? With 40 years of literature on ethnography-evaluation connections as a foundation, this chapter describes three coalescing themes: transformative, intersectional, and comparative. These themes are proposed as valuable for guiding contemporary educational inquiry that serves social justice. The transformative theme denotes educational inquiry in which the researcher or evaluator ethically collects data, makes defensible interpretations, and facilitates social change in collaboration with others. Doing transformative work that meaningfully fuses ethnography and evaluation rests on essential factors like time, values engagement, collaboration, and self-work. The intersectional theme describes intersectionality as an evolving analytical framework that promotes social problem-solving and learning via investigating the significance of intersecting social identities in (a) how people's lives are shaped, (b) their access to power across circumstances, and (c) their everyday experiences of subordination and discrimination. Finally, the comparative theme refers to sensibilities and practices gleaned from the interdisciplinary and transnational field of comparative education, including developing comparative cultural understanding and analyzing complex systems in one's inquiry projects. Across themes, this chapter emphasizes positionality, responsibility, and theory-bridging to make sense of the uses of ethnographic concepts and practices in transformative evaluation work in educational spaces.

This opening chapter outlines the background and focus of this book and conceptualises our key terms, such as ‘international development’ and ‘crises’. This chapter explains that by examining the relationship between education and international sustainable development in the context of crises, this book aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role that education can play in international development and how international developments can shape education. The structure of this book is outlined as well at the end of the chapter.

Martial arts and combat sports (MACS) are supported on ritualistic practices which often encompass hazing creating environments where catastrophic masculinities prevail. These forms of masculinities are strengthened inside MACS’ world resonating with masculinities spread out in wider society. We consider this to be the situation found in Brazilian society. With this study, our aim is to analyse how hazing practices in MACS contribute to the production of a socially legitimised catastrophic masculinity in Brazil. Catastrophic masculinity appears as a new concept proposed by Andrade (2022) to define a hegemonic, toxic and tragic form of masculinity spread in Brazil attached to a political power project. We carried out two qualitative empirical pieces of research that focused on three martial arts. These were ethnographic (participant-) observations of various events, training sessions, belt examination and competition and interviews with men participants. Supported by the presented data, we argue that hazing practices end up acting as a means of reproducing the catastrophic masculinity fighters perform in the dojo. They learn and resonate with a pedagogy that requires them to conform to and follow hierarchies through the repetition of the word ‘oss’ as a symbol of submission to arbitrariness. Hazing constitutes, instantiates and reproduces catastrophic masculinity and originates in the same (social) catastrophic masculinity.

Our research aims to understand how coopetition can create barriers to tourism by focussing on the collective interests that seek to preserve the identity of a geographical indication (GI). We conducted a qualitative longitudinal study that analyses a Brazilian wine industry, specifically the Vale dos Vinhedos (a GI region in Southern Brazil), because it provides examples of leveraging coopetition to develop the area. The study was conducted over 10 years (2012–2022), collecting primary data from representatives of the Brazilian wine industry in 36 semi-structured interviews. Interviewees emphasised how the Vale dos Vinhedos vocation is founded on natural beauty and tranquillity, aiming to preserve aspects that value wine culture. The study found that wineries and formal institution agents established a coopetition strategy to stop uncontrolled expansion in real-estate development, blocking the entry of new ventures such as hotels and timeshares that could distort the region's character. Consequently, coopetition does not merely hinder the progression of tourism to real estate ventures; instead, it functions as an informal, and occasionally a formal, regulatory mechanism. While initially perceived as a drawback, upon examining the social, cultural, and economic advantages, this phenomenon emerges as a market control strategy that enhances the region.

These words of introduction locate me on my tribal ancestral lands, and centres me as belonging to the Martuwarra, Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. My family and community’s inter-generational lived experiences of colonisation are grounded in the characteristics and learnings of “conflict, manipulation, dived and rule” as invasive unjust strategies of oppression and anti-dialogic action. These characteristics of oppression reflect invasive and unjust developments, colonialism continues to impact on our daily lives and threaten our cultural heritage, lifeways and livelihoods (Freire, 2005).

I understand the Net Zero: Heritage for Climate Action is a first of its kind, a capacity development project that aims to use Indigenous knowledge to develop integrated strategies for disaster risk reduction, climate action and peacebuilding (Jarillo and Crivelli, 2024). Importantly, one of the aims of the Net Zero Project is to enhance risk reduction and coping capacities of vulnerable heritage communities. In this way, my video story speaking directly to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) highlights the interconnected issue of heritage safeguard, upholding cultural rights and sustainable development of our people who are vulnerable cultural bearers, importantly, how we are working to effect change locally, while strengthening efforts globally, as we see ourselves as planetary citizens with a duty of care to Mother Earth and humanity (Redvers et al., 2020).

The opportunity for freedom is being created through the growing coalitions of hope (Poelina, 2020). Organisations with a regenerative focus are connecting, networking, collectively thinking and transforming our world by being brave and challenging legal systems to recognise “rivers” as the lifeblood of our planet and our survival co-dependent on “a declaration of peace with Indigenous Australians with natures laws and first law” (RiverOfLife et al., 2024). Together we are decolonising our thinking; uniting and bringing together a pluriverse of ideas and actions to right size our planet and give humanity and Mother Earth a climate chance (RiverOfLife et al., 2024).

The final question, I ask my country and the world to sustain my culture, my home, my lifeways and my livelihood “can we achieve peace, harmony and balance”? Can we shift from business as usual, to the new economies, through intentional communities, through bicultural and bioregional planning and development? If the answer is yes, then there is hope for humanity, and the young ones yet to be born. Let us adopt the values, ethics and virtues found in First Law as a gift to healing our lands, our people and climate.

It is clear from the voices of Yi-Martuwarra people, “If [our] River Dies, We Die” (Moore et al., 2023). When we stand united, we hold the dreaming time, from past, present and future, and we sing together a new “Martuwarra River Time” song. Through this moral and ethical partnership of hope the Net Zero Project Heritage for Climate Action ignites the opportunity to transform climate change, climate chaos and provide the climate chance through just us!

Yi-Martuwarra people highlight the need for dialogue, unity, cooperation and multiple forms of evidence, to understand the cumulative impacts of development. It is clear from the voices of Yi-Martuwarra people, “If [our] River Dies, We Die” (Moore et al., 2023). When we stand united, we hold the dreaming time, from past, present, and future, and we sing together a new “Martuwarra River Time” song. Through this moral and ethical partnership of hope the Net Zero Project Heritage for Climate Action ignites the opportunity to transform climate change, climate chaos and provide the climate chance through just us!

As the impacts of climate change continue to intensify, it is imperative to centre Indigenous well-being in adaptation efforts by enabling bottom-up approaches via community-led solutions, promoting land rights, protecting traditional heritage and cultural practices and cultivating social connections. Given the increasing recognition of well-being as a fundamental marker of successful adaptation, it should be central to climate change research and policymaking, but for this to be of benefit to Indigenous Peoples and local communities context-specific understandings of health and well-being are necessary (Jarillo and Crivelli, 2024).

This chapter discusses how the authors, both faculty members who primarily instruct doctoral students, participated in a two-year faculty fellowship to build the internal capacity of university instructors to use anti-racist pedagogy within a unique undergraduate program at their university. The fellowship was organized as an action research study and evaluated using critical ethnographic methods. We explore and analyze the various ways that ethnographic methods allowed for inductive processing and contextualized sense-making by leveraging our insider perspectives. We were able to reveal hidden university dynamics through our critical reflections related to responses and processing of campus incidents of antisemitism, union protests, sexual assaults, and racism. We, the faculty fellows, facilitated professional development sessions anchored in an anti-racist pedagogical framework that would guide our pedagogical approach and introduced consultancy protocols and feedback surveys for instructors to receive additional support. These tools offered insights on how many instructors in the AUx program initiated pedagogical support and thought partnership from the fellows. In addition, the survey collected key information regarding the type of support that participants preferred to guide the facilitation of subsequent professional development sessions. Integrating ethnographic and action research strategies revealed a sobering understanding of the complex bureaucratic nature of university programs, particularly how they facilitate instructor recruitment, professional development, curriculum development, and affinity spaces.