Role of international sister-city partnerships in facilitating sustainable urbanisation: practices between Manchester and Wuhan

Non-technical summary: To explore how city-level international partnerships can succeed, this study focuses on the sister-city relationship between Wuhan (China) and Manchester (UK), which has demonstrated strong outcomes in sustainability collaboration. Through a detailed analysis of this case, the study identifies three key factors for enduring international collaboration – sustained mutual benefit, broad partnership areas, and deep grassroots engagement – and reveals how they adapt and consolidate over time. These results suggest that international partnerships need to be designed not only to ensure mutual benefit but also to promote inclusiveness and multi-level participation. Technical summary: The importance of global collaborations in achieving sustainable development is widely recognised. However, establishing and maintaining international partnerships remains a significant challenge. To understand how effective international partnerships can be developed to address sustainability challenges, this study conducts a case study of the Manchester–Wuhan sister-city relationship, a highly successful and representative example of international cooperation on sustainable development. Drawing on insights from 27 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in organising and participating in the initiative, the study shows that the longevity of international partnerships is determined by three core factors: the preservation of mutual benefit, the breadth of cooperation, and profound grassroots involvement. These factors generate both economic and emotional capital, which incentivises governmental and non-governmental actors to deepen their engagement in sustainable urbanisation. This engagement also serves as a buffer against bilateral tensions between the UK and China. These results offer implications for how local initiatives can serve as effective mechanisms for fostering international cooperation in advancing sustainable development. Social media summary: Building international partnerships for global sustainability requires mutual benefit, inclusiveness, and engagement at multiple levels

Identifying malaria elimination strategies in the presence of human movement in Bangladesh

Background: Malaria transmission in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) districts in Bangladesh is characterized by considerable heterogeneity in incidence and the frequent mixing and importation of parasites across districts. Thus, elimination efforts must account for human mobility between endemic and non-endemic locations, and the relative importance of local transmission and parasite importation domestically. Methods: We construct a metapopulation malaria model, parameterized by human mobility data and fit to epidemiological data, to guide elimination efforts in the region. Results: We find substantial heterogeneity in the transmission intensity across the CHT, with the estimated basic reproduction number varying greatly across places with similar levels of observed incidence. When vector control interventions are applied locally, the greatest impact in reducing overall incidence are in places with both high transmission intensity and high connectivity with more populated districts in the western part of the CHT. Conclusions: Local elimination in several areas with low or intermediate incidence has a moderate impact in reducing overall incidence, indicating that only focusing on high incidence areas is not sufficient for malaria elimination. More generally, our modeling framework can be used to prioritize resource allocation and identify the conditions necessary for malaria elimination in the region

Associations between diabetes and depressive symptoms across European countries

Background We examined the potential role of several macro- and micro-sociodemographic factors in moderating the longitudinal bi-directional association between depressive symptom severity and diabetes across European countries. This submission summarizes the results of two empirical studies and workshop-based group discussions with people living with diabetes. Methods We analyzed data from three prospective cohort studies - the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing, the Irish Longitudinal study on Ageing, and the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. We examined possible country-level and individual-level sociodemographic factors of diabetes, including healthcare quality and expenditure, wealth inequalities, and health behaviors, as moderators of the relationship between newly developed diabetes and depressive symptoms. Lived experience of diabetes reports were collected via two public workshops in Ireland. Results Depressive symptoms were a risk factor for diabetes (HR = 1.14, 95% CI [1.10;1.18]), and vice versa (HR = 1.48, 95% CI [1.37;1.61]), and the hazard ratios were stable across European geographical regions. All sociodemographic factors significantly (all p's >.01) predicted both the risk of diabetes and the incidence of elevated depressive symptoms but, except for BMI, did not moderate the strength of their association (all p's Conclusions The relationship between depressive symptoms and diabetes was consistent, regardless of most individual- or country-level factors. Because of this, international policies on managing depression-diabetes comorbidity might be applicable across European countries. In Ireland, healthcare practitioners should be better informed about the characteristics of daily living with diabetes. Key messages • The relationship between diabetes and depressive symptoms is stable across Europe, suggesting the same robust underlying mechanism of their mutual interaction • Healthcare practitioners and public health decision makers in Ireland should be more aware of the challenges to mental health which are associated with diabetes diagnosis

Achieving collaborative advantage in policing: strategic and frontline partnership in police-led drug diversion schemes in England

This article advances understanding of the conditions and processes of effective partnership working in the criminal justice system (CJS) through a realist evaluation of the contents, contexts, moderators, and mechanisms of effective collaboration in three police-led drug diversion (PDD) schemes operating in England. The analysis differentiates between commissioned or strategic, statutory, or formal and informal or personal partnerships, ‘mapping’ these across the evaluated schemes. The discussion then considers those partnership mechanisms most pertinent to achieving collaborative advantage, that is, the desired advantage to be gained from partnership. It is argued that partnership work is both an ‘essential component’ and a ‘facilitation strategy’ of PDD implementation fidelity. Partnership, in other words, is both a necessary condition and a contingent cause of effective practice in this form of policing. These findings add new insights to the emergent PDD academic evidence base and operational policy and practice

Sensemaking, Inequity and Agency in a Precarious Transnational Workspace: The Case of International Seafarers

International seafarers are highly trained and certificated workers but are subject to precaritising working conditions. This affects how they understand and respond to perceived inequities in relation to terms and conditions of employment. Drawing on qualitative interview data, this article examines how this group of workers make sense, rationalise and cope with precarious working conditions. In so doing, it: (i) highlights a range of inequities in seafarer terms and conditions of employment; (ii) examines how seafarers make sense of, and respond to, these inequities within a precaritising work context; and (iii) argues that seafarers adopt a pragmatic context‐sensitive approach that allows them to flex between different modes of understanding (i.e., framings) in a manner that is individualised, rational and preserves their sense of agency

Understanding Representation in Young Adult Literature Through the Voices of Young People

Fictional characters and worlds depicted in Young Adult (YA) literature help young people understand the world and their place within it. This paper explores secondary students’ perspectives on popular YA literature framed by Bishop’s mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors metaphor. Focus groups with 16 secondary students suggested that mirrors were familiar contexts and daily practices; windows were books featuring others’ experiences and personal challenges; and sliding glass doors were books allowing students to consider the hypothetical. The metaphor could help librarians to develop students’ critical thinking skills and foster an ability to imagine different ways of being and living

Ubuntu and Environmental Security in Africa

This chapter examines the profound interconnection between the Ubuntu worldview and pressing environmental security issues in Africa and beyond. The Ubuntu worldview emphasises the interconnectedness of humanity and the environment. In the face of escalating environmental challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion, this chapter examines how embracing Ubuntu can offer sustainable solutions for environmental security in Africa. Through an autoethnographic account, the chapter explores how traditional wisdom, passed down through oral history, promoted harmony with nature and constantly reminded people of their role as custodians of the environment. The chapter illustrates how Ubuntu can guide policies and practices toward environmental sustainability by highlighting the importance of community involvement, environmental education, and holistic conservation strategies. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the role of Ubuntu in shaping ethical environmental policies, promoting social equity, and fostering international collaborations for environmental conservation in Africa. It emphasises the need for a paradigm shift in addressing environmental challenges, moving from conventional top-down approaches to inclusive, community-driven efforts that align with Ubuntu principles. By recognising the intrinsic value of all life forms and embracing the spirit of interconnectedness, Africa can pave the way for a more secure and sustainable environmental future for the continent and the world. This chapter contributes to the ongoing discourse on environmental security by presenting Ubuntu as a valuable ethical framework that offers profound insights and practical solutions, encouraging people to rethink their relationship with nature and advocate for a more sustainable and harmonious coexistence between humanity and the environment in Africa and worldwide

Postcolonial economies and subaltern international students

Postcolonial economic relations have received considerable attention from geographers in recent decades. However, the large and growing body of work on international students has paid little attention to this work. This paper explores how postcolonial economic relations shape the experiences of international students in the global South who study at a distance. Using the case of payments of tuition fees across borders as a case study, the paper highlights how money flows for some, but for others it is marked by frictions and volatilities arising at the intersection between postcolonial economies and international higher education. By attending to student practices of paying tuition fees, the paper goes on to highlight two aspects of the resultant subalternity of these students: their agency and the difficulties of representation. It thus highlights the intersections between colonial histories and contemporary economic relations in order to visibilise less explored forms of subalternity

A discipline-based analysis of language needs and challenges encountered in the Turkish EMI context

This chapter focuses on the students’ experiences and language needs in the English-medium instruction (EMI) context in Türkiye. Specifically, it compared two academic subjects, namely electronics engineering and international relations, the former representing the engineering division while the latter social sciences. We investigated the participants’ language needs and their challenges in all four skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Our study adopted a qualitative research design by utilising semi-structured interviews with volunteer students (n = 20). We conducted the coding of each interview abductively, where both deductive and inductive codings were carried out. Specific linguistic needs and difficulties were highlighted by the participants in the interviews. Among the language needs, technical vocabulary was the most frequently mentioned item by our participants in both disciplines. Regarding challenges, understanding lecturers’ spoken language use in English was frequently mentioned, especially in the international relations degree. In this chapter, we will discuss the language needs of the EMI students as well as the challenges they experienced in their academic divisions by considering the disciplines they study