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Abstract Globally, three-quarter of a billion people live without electricity. Besides, hundreds of million use a solar lantern for less than 4 h a day. Most of the access-deprived are in the Global South, predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The United Nations framed the seventh Sustainable Development Goal to improve access. Solar photovoltaic powered mini-grids are increasingly extending better service to deprived regions. However, poor load-factor and expensive storage adversely affect viability. Also, these mini-grids do not support infrequent large loads to avoid further loss of load-factor. Electric cooking is efficient and non-polluting; water treatment facilities can save millions from contaminant and pathogen by providing clean water. Besides, both electric cooking and water treatment are less expensive than alternatives. But mini-grids frequently do not support these. Indeed, the presence of sustained productive loads favourably influences the mini-grid economy. This study investigates the role of critical household loads to deliver similar bearing on the mini-grid economy. Results underscore realisation of desirable impact with household collaboration under a demand-response program. Collaborative consumption can lower initial investment by 62% and reduce the unit energy cost to $0.23. Also, cooperation improves the mini-grid load factor and promotes viability. Additionally, fast deployment needs during and after Covid-19 remains inherently supported while mitigating the pandemic induced financial stress of both consumer and mini-grid operator. This study of 88 nation-states underscores that demand response in a mini-grid can not only improve affordability for all consumers, but it can also bring 186 million people within affordable access.

Twenty-minute neighbourhoods highlight the importance of well-connected and mixed-used neighbourhoods and communities with proximate access to employment, essential services, public transport, and open spaces. Shorter distances together with re-prioritised public spaces encourage more active transport choices, resulting in public health benefits and reduced environmental pollution. Higher liveability brought about by mixed-use developments enables people to have equitable access to local facilities, amenities, and employment opportunities, promoting vibrancy, social cohesion, and intergenerational connections. The attributes of 20-minute neighbourhoods also combine to create places, that are acknowledged as friendly for all ages, address changing needs across the life course, and provide better support for the ageing population. Furthermore, there are indications that 20-minute neighbourhoods may be more resilient against many of the negative impacts of stringent public health protocols such as those implemented in periods of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, we evaluate and compare planning policies and practices aimed at establishing 20-minute neighbourhoods in Melbourne (Australia) and Scotland (the UK). Using case studies, we discuss similarities and differences involved in using place-based approaches of 20-minute neighbourhoods to address 21st-century challenges in key areas of health and wellbeing, equity, environmental sustainability, and community resilience.

Walkability has become a research topic of great concern for preserving public health, especially in the era of the COVID-19 outbreak. Today more than ever, urban and transport policies, constrained by social distancing measures and travel restrictions, must be conceptualized and implemented with a particular emphasis on sustainable walkability. Most of the walkability models apply observation and subjective methods to measure walkability, whereas few studies address walkability based on sense perception. To fill this gap, we aim at investigating the perceived neighbourhood walkability (PNW) based on sense perception in a neighbourhood of Brussels. We designed a survey that integrates 22 items grouped into 5 dimensions (cleanness, visual aesthetics, landscape and nature, feeling of pressure, feeling of safety), as well as the socio-demographic attributes of the participants. Using various statistical methods, we show that socio-demographics have almost no effects on perceived neighbourhood walkability. Nonetheless, we found significant differences between groups of different educational backgrounds. Furthermore, using a binomial regression model, we found strong associations between PNW and at least one item from each grouping dimension. Finally, we show that based on a deep neural network for classification, the items have good predictive capabilities (78% of classification accuracy). These findings can help integrate sense perception into objective measurement methods of walkable environments. Additionally, policy recommendations should be targeted based on differences of perception across socio-demographic groups.

One of the repeating themes around the provision of the knowledge and skills needed for delivering sustainable communities is the idea of a “common language” for all built environment professionals. This suggestion has been repeated regularly with each new political and professional review within and between different sectors responsible for the delivery of sustainable communities. There have been multiple efforts to address academic limitations, industry fragmentation and promote more interdisciplinary working and sector collaboration. This research explored the role of skills for sustainable communities, particularly within the higher education (HE) sector, and the responses to support the development of a “common language of sustainability” that can be shared between different sectors, professional disciplines and stakeholders. As an interdisciplinary group of academics and practitioners working with the HE sector in the North East of England, we evaluate the progression of sector collaboration to develop a quintuple helix model for HE. We use this as a suitable framework for systematically “mapping” out the mixed sector (academic, public, business, community and environmental organisations) inputs and influences into a representative sample of HE degree modules that are delivered from foundation and undergraduate to postgraduate levels, including examples of part-time and distance-learning modules. We developed a cascade of models which demonstrate increasing levels of collaboration and their potential positive impact on the effectiveness of education on sustainable communities. The methodological assessments of modules were followed by semi-structured group reflective analysis undertaken through a series of online workshops (recorded during the Covid19 lockdown) to set out a collective understanding of the generic skills needed for the delivery of sustainable communities. These generic skills for sustainable communities are presented as a pedagogical progression model of teaching activities and learning outcomes applied to the levels within HE. We propose sustainability education principles and progressions with the hope that they can have an impact on the design or review of current degree modules and programmes. The paper informs future sustainability research to be grounded in holism and systems thinking; better understanding of values, ethics, influencing and political impact; and procedural authenticity.

Abstract: COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has been expanding. SARS-CoV caused an outbreak in early 2000, while MERS-CoV had a similar expansion of illness in early 2010. Nanotechnology has been employed for nasal delivery of drugs to conquer a variety of challenges that emerge during mucosal administration. The role of nanotechnology is highly relevant to counter this “virus” nano enemy. This technique directs the safe and effective distribution of accessible therapeutic choices using tailored nanocarriers, as well as the interruption of virion assembly, by preventing the early contact of viral spike glycoprotein with host cell surface receptors. This study summarises what we know about earlier SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV illnesses, with the goal of better understanding the recently discovered SARS-CoV-2 virus. It also explains the progress made so far in creating COVID-19 vaccines/ treatments using existing methods. Furthermore, we studied nanotechnology- based vaccinations and therapeutic medications that are now undergoing clinical trials and other alternatives.

This article examines outstanding “sustainable” skyscrapers that received international recognition, including LEED certification. It identifies vital green features in each building and summarizes the prominent elements for informing future projects. Overall, this research is significant because, given the mega-scale of skyscrapers, any improvement in their design, engineering, and construction will have mega impacts and major savings (e.g., structural materials, potable water, energy, etc.). Therefore, the extracted design elements, principles, and recommendations from the reviewed case studies are substantial. Further, the article debates controversial design elements such as wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, glass skin, green roofs, aerodynamic forms, and mixed-use schemes. Finally, it discusses greenwashing and the impact of COVID-19 on sustainable design.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, online learning has become the norm. Primary school students require parental assistance and supervision due to their lack of digital media capabilities and safety concerns. This study uses the mixed research method to process and analyze the interview data of 10 primary school parents and 564 questionnaire data using topic coding and partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to explore the factors influencing primary school parents’ choice of online learning and the mechanism of these factors on choice intention. The results show that online learning continuity and learning attitude development risk are two new variables affecting parents’ cognition of online learning. They have a significant positive impact on performance evaluation and risk perception. Perceived ease of use, performance evaluation, and perceived cost affect parents’ assessment of their children’s satisfaction with online learning during the pandemic. Parents’ satisfaction with online learning positively affects their intention to choose online learning. The results of this study can provide a reference for education departments and schools on how to carry out online teaching with higher quality in case of emergencies.

Introduction: During the COVID-19 lockdown significant improvements in urban air quality were detected due to the absence of motorized vehicles. It is crucial to perpetuate such improvements to maintain and improve public health simultaneously. Therefore, this exploratory study approached bicycle infrastructure in the case of Munich (Germany) to find out which specific bicycle lanes meet the demands of its users, how such infrastructure looks like, and which characteristics are potentially important. Methods: To identify patterns of bicycle infrastructure in Munich exploratory data is collected over the timespan of three consecutive weeks in August by a bicycle rider at different times of the day. We measure position, time, velocity, pulse, level of sound, temperature and humidity. In the next step, we qualitatively identified different segments and applied a cluster analysis to quantitatively describe those segments regarding the measured factors. The data allows us to identify which bicycle lanes have a particular set of measurements, indicating a favorable construction for bike riders. Results: In the exploratory dataset, five relevant segment clusters are identified: viscous, slow, inconsistent, accelerating, and best-performance. The segments that are identified as best-performance enable bicycle riders to travel efficiently and safely at amenable distances in urban areas. They are characterized by their width, little to no interaction with motorized traffic as well as pedestrians, and effective traffic light control. Discussion: We propose two levels of discussion: (1) revolves around what kind of bicycles lanes from the case study can help to increase bicycle usage in urban areas, while simultaneously improving public health and mitigating climate change challenges and (2) discussing the possibilities, limitations and necessary improvements of this kind of exploratory methodology.