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Hoisting is an essential construction work package, but there is still a high incidence of accidents due to insufficient attention to coping strategies. This study aims to provide decision support to practitioners on safety protocols by developing a multi-stakeholder risk response model and a novel evaluation method.

Firstly, the study summarizes the hoisting risk response strategies system through a literature review and stakeholder theory. Secondly, the study constructed a quantitative theoretical model based on GLS-SEM and questionnaires. Third, the EWM-VA evaluation method was developed to determine the value coefficients of strategies.

The strategic interaction between government and consultants, consultants and builders, and government and builders are in the top three pronounced. Three coping strategies, “Increase funding for lifting equipment and safety devices,” “Improve the quality of safety education and training on lifting construction,” and “Conduct regular emergency rescue drills for lifting accidents,” have the optimal ratio of benefits to costs.

The hoisting risk strategy model from the perspective of multi-interested subjects proposed by the study is based on the global thinking of the project, which reduces the troubles such as the difficulty of pursuing responsibility and the irrational allocation of strategies that were brought by the previously related studies that only considered a single interested subject. In addition, the EWM-VA evaluation method developed in the study also provides new options for evaluating risk strategies and has the potential to be extended to other fields.

Despite the world’s effort in grappling with the coronavirus disease that has affected many sectors globally, knowledge and research on the COVID-19 pandemic as well as on the halal food and beverage industry remain limited, particularly in Brunei Darussalam. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the halal food processing industry face amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the sultanate.

A qualitative approach based on four semi-structured interviews was employed using a purposive sampling of managers and business owners of the manufacturing SMEs. Several government agencies were also interviewed to further supplement the findings. This paper also uses the support from a review of relevant academic journal articles, and other secondary data including newspapers and websites, to uncover the hindering factors surrounding the phenomenon.

Four themes emerged, covering four overarching and inter-related challenges including limited production; closure of retail stores; delay in exporting; and less sales to cover overheads.

This study positively contributes to the understanding of the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into the country as well as adds and enriches the halal research sphere. Several implications for the SMEs, policymakers, as well as academic scholars, and limitations are also discussed.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to investigate the halal food processing industry in Brunei Darussalam especially, during the time of uncertainties such as the COVID-19 era. The paper’s value also lies in addressing the gap that there is a need to study on the impact of this outbreak on SMEs in the developing countries, inclusive of Brunei Darussalam.

The objectives of this study are to determine the level of awareness of crowdfunding and green projects among Bruneians, to investigate the preference of Bruneians regarding funding through crowdfunding as well as to evaluate the willingness of Bruneians to use crowdfunding as a funding alternative for green projects in Brunei. In addition to that, this study aims to identify the effects of environmental awareness and environmental concern on the willingness to crowdfund green projects.

A total of 177 responses from an online questionnaire distributed via convenience and snowball sampling was used for data analysis. Frequency, descriptive, correlation and regression analyses are used to achieve the aims of this study.

The study finds that the awareness of the concepts of crowdfunding and green project is high among Bruneians, but the level of their familiarity of crowdfunding platforms and climate change issues is very low. Regression analysis carried out to test the effects of awareness and concern on willingness indicates that while environmental concern has a significant positive effect on the willingness to support crowdfunded green projects, environmental awareness is insignificant.

The study highlights that government policy should be aimed at not just increasing awareness but at increasing the knowledge of the impacts of climate change issue that will raise concern and improve participation of residents in green projects. The study focuses on a rarely studied population, the people of Brunei.

University–Industry Collaboration (UIC) is crucial for enhancing sectoral performance and competitiveness. This study focuses on investigating the challenges and solutions to achieving effective UIC in Brunei Darussalam’s agricultural sector. This sector is pivotal in diversifying the economy away from historical dependence on oil and gas, thereby promoting sustainability.

Adopting an interpretivist stance, this study prioritised subjective views through semi-structured interviews with 20 diverse participants, including government officials, agri-business professionals, farmers, an agri-tech company and academicians.

The findings highlight key challenges to successful UIC, including varying stakeholder needs and goals, limited proactive engagement and inadequate funding. Overcoming these barriers necessitates the provision of financial support and supportive mechanisms to agricultural stakeholders, along with fostering active participation in collaborative efforts. Enhancements in both academic and practical aspects are also essential for addressing these challenges effectively.

This study provides practical insights for stakeholders in industry, academia and government to collaboratively improve sectoral performance. Given its qualitative nature, the findings may not be universally generalisable beyond the contexts examined. Future research should validate these findings across diverse settings to enhance the transferability and applicability of UIC strategies.

This study addresses a crucial gap in the literature by examining UIC in agricultural contexts, particularly in developing countries such as Brunei, where research in this area is scarce. Moreover, this study’s findings may have relevance beyond the immediate context, as they provide rich and detailed insights into UIC dynamics from diverse stakeholders' perspectives, which can be applicable to similar settings in other developing countries.

Retrofitting and rehabilitation are part of the conservation approach in Heritage Building Conservation Guideline 2016 in Malaysia. Heritage buildings can be retrofitted to preserve their culture and history while being given a new lease. Rehabilitation is a preservation requirement that is more flexible since it assumes that the structure has already deteriorated to the point where repairs are required to prevent further deterioration. Although the strategies of these two approaches are different, their combination resulted in sustainable heritage building maintenance. This long-term maintenance strategy is necessary, especially for Malaysia's numerous heritage schools, which have serious maintenance problems as a result of infrequent maintenance, repairs, and funding shortages.

This study involved secondary data from an intensive literature review along with a comparative study from articles review and context analysis. A comparative study was conducted to determine the typical issue with heritage school buildings and the best maintenance practice for these structures. Finally, it involved a SWOT analysis study of retrofitting and rehabilitating heritage school buildings will be discussed in this study as well.

The findings of this study will focus on developing a strategic planning framework and maintenance for heritage school buildings in Malaysia to achieve sustainable maintenance. It will also highlight sustainable maintenance best practices for heritage school buildings in Malaysia. Finally, SWOT analysis will go over the pros and cons of retrofitting and rehabilitation for these buildings.

This paper put forward the requirements of strategic planning in heritage school buildings and outlines the significance of sustainable maintenance for educational buildings. It is an alternative for cost savings that has not been extensively investigated in previous studies.