The global push toward digital transformation in education presents both opportunities and challenges for achieving sustainability goals. While digital technologies promise enhanced learning experiences and reduced environmental impacts, their implementation often overlooks complex trade-offs between pedagogical effectiveness, resource efficiency, and social equity. This study examines these critical intersections through a comprehensive investigation of geography education in Chinese secondary schools, comparing traditional, fully digital, and hybrid models across diverse urban, suburban, and rural contexts. Through a mixed-methods comparative design involving 262 participants (pilot) and 810 students (main study) and analysis of 17 geography textbooks, we assessed the environmental impacts, learning outcomes, economic viability, and social equity dimensions of each approach. Our findings reveal that thoughtfully designed hybrid models—which strategically combine digital tools for high-impact activities with traditional methods for local engagement—achieve optimal sustainability performance. These hybrid approaches reduced carbon emissions by 72.7% compared to traditional methods while improving learning outcomes and maintaining cost parity over five-year periods. Importantly, hybrid models demonstrated superior adaptability across different socioeconomic contexts, addressing equity concerns that purely digital approaches often exacerbate in resource-limited settings. This research challenges the prevailing technology-first narratives in educational reform, demonstrating that sustainable education transformation requires nuanced, context-sensitive integration strategies rather than wholesale digital transformation. The empirical evidence from this research provides robust support for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through educational innovation. The hybrid model’s 73% carbon reduction and simultaneous improvement of learning outcomes by 35% directly support SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). The 78% reduction in paper consumption advances SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), while successful implementation across urban, suburban, and rural contexts addresses SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). These findings demonstrate that sustainable educational transformation can effectively balance technological innovation with environmental stewardship and social equity.

Land use conflicts represent an increasing challenge to sustainable development, particularly in regions undergoing rapid urbanization. This study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use conflicts and their ecological implications in Tianshui City from 1980 to 2020. The main objectives were to identify patterns of spatial heterogeneity, explore the driving factors behind these conflicts, and analyze their relationship with the ecological risks. The results indicate the following findings. In terms of spatiotemporal heterogeneity, early land use changes were primarily driven by structural factors, such as topography and climate, with a Nugget/Still ratio of 0.36. Regarding conflict intensity, high-conflict areas expanded by approximately 1110 square kilometers between 1980 and 2020, predominantly concentrated in fertile agricultural regions such as the Weihe River Basin and urban core areas. Conversely, non-conflict zones decreased by 38.7%. In terms of ecological risk correlation, bivariate LISA cluster analysis revealed a significant spatial autocorrelation between severe land use conflicts and ecological risks (Moran’s I = 0.62, p < 0.01). High-risk clusters in areas transitioning from arable land to built-up land increased by 23% after 2000. Predictions based on the future land-use simulation (FLUS) model suggest that by 2030, high-intensity conflict areas will expand by an additional 16%, leading to intensified competition for land resources. Therefore, incorporating ecological safety thresholds into land spatial planning policies is essential for reconciling the conflicts between development and conservation, thereby promoting sustainable land use transitions.