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Higher education institutions (HEIs) have a great responsibility to put education for sustainable development at the centre of their work. Curricula should therefore start to incorporate the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and key competencies in sustainability, and research should be carried out to determine effective learning methods for this. This study aims to explore the usefulness of problem-based learning (PBL) approaches to train biomedical students in sustainability and to provide some recommendations for the design and implementation of new PBL-SDG scenarios.

Two PBL-SDG scenarios were designed, implemented and evaluated for 110 students of human biology degree. Learning outcomes and student perceptions of this approach were analysed through questionnaires, student productions, non-participant observation and focus groups.

The results show that the PBL-SDG scenarios effectively addressed several SDGs and sustainability competencies in a transversal, collaborative and innovative manner. According to student perceptions, the elements that contributed most to the development of these competencies were emotional involvement with the scenario, reflection on their own actions, freedom to approach the problem and tutors who empowered them with their proposals.

The PBL-SDG approach presented in this study is an example of a pedagogical strategy that can help HEIs educate their learners as key change agents. The findings of this study provide evidence for this important aspect and give guidelines and strategies to successfully designing and implementing such methodologies in biomedical education.

This paper aims to study the value of informal care (IC) time from the perspective of caregivers using two alternative contingent valuation tools – willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept (WTA) – and to identify the variables that affect the stated values.

The authors used data from a multi-centre study of 610 adult caregivers conducted in two Spanish regions in 2013. The existence of “protest zeros” and “economic zeros” because of the severe budgetary constraints of the households was also considered. Two-part multivariate models were used to analyse the main factors that explained the declared values of WTA and WTP.

The average WTP and WTA were €3.12 and €5.98 per hour of care, respectively (€3.2 and €6.3 when estimated values for “protest zeros” and “economic zeros” were considered). Some explanatory variables of WTA and WTP are coincident (place of residence and intensity of care time), whereas other variables only help to explain WTP values (household and negative coping with caregiving) or WTA values (age and burden of care). Some nuances are also identified when comparing the results obtained without protest and economic zeros with the estimated values of these special zeros.

Studies analysing the determinants of WTP and WTA in IC settings are very scarce. This paper seeks to provide information to fill this gap. The results indicate that the variables that explain the value of IC from one perspective may differ from the variables that explain it from an alternative perspective. Given the relevance of contextual factors, studies on the topic should be expanded, and care should be taken with the extrapolation of results across countries and settings.

This paper aims to show that tourism is one of the most perfect creations of the capitalist mode of production insofar as not only does it consume places and territories and perpetuate dependency relations, but in the expressive dimension, it also produces feelings and meanings and generates a new relationship of the past with the present and future (chronotope).

The study was carried out using a socio-anthropological approach with participant observation over several decades.

The modes of time are described and how the tourism chronotope shapes the historic centre of a consolidated tourist destination. The case study, analysed with the model of the “conversion of place through the mediation of tourism space”, illustrates the prevalence of instrumental and commercial values over one’s own aesthetic-expressive values in tourism contexts. This fact encourages the emergence of local political projects and the incorporation of uniformities outside the local place. These processes end up uprooting the anchors from collective memory. The definition of territories according to visitors’ imaginaries and expectations encourages the abusive occupation of public space and the adoption of new aesthetic attributes of urban space.

Because of the chosen research approach and methodologies, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test both the model and the propositions further.

This study approaches the relationship of the idea Tourism with the idea Development based on the anchors of memory.

The growth of mental disorders and their costs represents a public health challenge. This study aims to explore how a social club can help mitigate its impact through arts and sports workshops.

Using the social return on investment (SROI) methodology, the impact of the social club is evaluated by identifying stakeholders and quantifying their contributions. In addition, the relationship between patients’ attendance and the reduction of relapses and medication consumption is explored.

The SROI showed a positive return on investment, €12.12 per euro invested. This ratio indicates that the social club generates social value well above its initial costs. On the other hand, two stakeholders were identified as higher impact generators, and it was confirmed that sports activities generate more social and economic impact than art activities – however, the positive effects of art activities last longer over time. The study revealed a positive relationship between social club attendance and relapse reduction. Almost 90% of the participating users reported no relapses or emergency hospitalizations during the past year of attendance. In addition, a substantial decrease in medication dosage was observed. These results suggest that social clubs help stabilize mental health and reduce the burden on health-care systems.

The case study highlights the vital role of social clubs in supporting people facing mental health issues. Policymakers and health-care providers can use this knowledge to invest in more effective and sustainable mental health support activities.

Sustainability is a pressing challenge of governance and public financial management. One key element of sustainable governance is the role of citizens. Participatory budgeting (PB) is a participatory tool with which citizens can influence public administration. PB is a democratic process that grants people real power over real money and it has spread around the world. This special issue explores the role of PB in the context of sustainable governance. In this editorial, the authors aim to approach PB as a form of sustainable governance.

In this editorial, the authors collaborate in the analysis of how PB is implicated in the public management of complex social, economic and ecological issues. The authors identify key dimensions of internal and external sustainability based on prior research. The authors approach these dimensions as an internal–external nexus of sustainable governance in which organizational and financial sustainability are the internal dimensions and socio-political and environmental sustainability are the external dimensions.

Even though PB can be seen as one tool for citizen participation, it has the potential to foster sustainability in multiple ways. PB, as a form of sustainable governance, requires a financially and administratively sustainable organizational process that results in the institutionalization of PB. It also includes thorough consideration of socio-political and environmental sustainability impacts of PB.

Academics are actively studying PB from various perspectives. However, most of this work has approached PB from the viewpoints of design and results of PB, and less is known about its institutional settings. PB has not yet been adequately studied in the context of sustainability, and there is a need to scrutinize PB as a form of sustainable governance.

The study investigates the influence of financial transparency on citizens' trust and revenue paying behaviour of citizens of local governments in sub-Saharan Africa. It relies on the theories of stewardship and public choice in explaining the relationship between financial transparency, trust and willingness to pay.

The study applied a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) to survey data of 404 respondents selected from four Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies of Ghana to test the hypotheses of the study.

It establishes the fact that financial transparency positively influences trust of citizens in local government and their willingness to pay taxes and levies. The study also found that both financial transparency and trust are low in the local governments of Ghana.

The study emphasises the importance of financial transparency in improving trust and willingness to pay. Thus, local governments are encouraged to seek innovative ways to enhance the quality and access to financial information by the citizens.

While prior studies focus on the measurement and determinant of financial transparency, this study links financial transparency to revenue mobilisation in the local government of sub-Saharan Africa.