Higher education institutions may adopt various approaches to the pedagogic principles and methods used in teaching sustainable development in business and marketing courses. These methods can include the utilisation of digital technologies and online communication to facilitate distance learning and fast access to relevant information. Changes towards the digitalisation of the learning environment especially gained popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the post-pandemic period, digitalisation continues to facilitate the learning and teaching processes. However, the implementation of digital technologies, besides technological expertise, requires appropriate theoretical frameworks for understanding how learning is developed. This study explores connectivism theory applied to the pedagogic practices of knowledge dissemination concerning sustainable development in the fields of business and marketing. Connectivism embraces knowledge as a network where the learner, with the help of digital technologies, develops mental connections between pieces of information during interaction with various information sources. This qualitative research empirically explores the principles of connectivism embedded in the learning and teaching of a university course conducted online. The research findings indicate that connectivism may be a suitable conceptual framework that motivates learners to develop knowledge through digital enablers, discussions and social networking and to make connections to sustainability concepts. The principles of connectivism may help instructors to develop a learning environment where learners add understandings to their previous knowledge on sustainability through online interactions and by accessing digital knowledge sources. This study makes several interdisciplinary contributions by deepening the insights into digital pedagogic methods and approaches for the facilitation of learning, which may be of interest to academic and other pedagogic practitioners.

Purpose: Virtual and augmented reality solutions in medicine are generally applied in communication, training, simulation and therapy. However, like most new digital developments, these technologies face a large number of institutional barriers that are inherent to the medical sector.Design/methodology/approach: Following Richard Scott's view on institutions and organizations, a multiple case study is used to analyze regulatory, normative and cultural-cognitive institutional pillars in the medical industry.Findings: The results of the study demonstrate that (1) the regulatory pillar inhibits the advancement of new technologies in the approach to treatment, regulation of patient data, educational processes for medical staff, and information and financial flows; (2) the number of barriers increases based on the solution's level of disruption and the number of variable conventional procedures; (3) trust between participants in the medical industry plays an important role in introducing new technologies; (4) new participants need to address certain pillars depending on the area of application.Originality/value: The authors discuss top-down and bottom-up approaches for overcoming institutional barriers when implementing augmented and virtual reality solutions for companies focusing on the medical market.

Global environmental conventions are created to address and resolve global environmental problems. Assessments of the achievement of specific environmental goals, however, indicate that there is room for progress and that improved collective action is required. Given the few existing studies that measure the implementation of international environmental law, it is important to expand existing analytical frameworks about international environmental agreements and their translation into national policies. This article explains the rationale and design of the Environmental Conventions Index, an implementation measurement tool we have developed at the Center for Governance and Sustainability at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The Index assesses the implementation of global environmental conventions in two clusters—conservation and pollution—showcasing the main trends for both countries and conventions. Using a mixed-method approach, we explain the development of this measurement tool as an instrument to inform policy changes at the national and global levels and present aggregate results of the analysis. As global environmental challenges in the conservation of natural resources and the persistence of pollutants become critical, assessment of countries’ performance on international environmental goals is essential. We offer an innovative method that provides academic analysis and policy input to improve implementation, and thus the effectiveness of these governance instruments in addressing global environmental challenges.