Although the literature concerning vulnerabilities to climate change (CC) has been growing, research continues to be silent on approaches that can enhance the adaptive capacities of resource-poor communities that are vulnerable to the adverse effects of CC by translating indigenous knowledge (IK) into actionable adaptation strategies. This assertion is premised on the absence of concerted efforts to incorporate IK into science-based adaptation strategies. We attempt to address this gap by using a multidisciplinary investigative approach that taps into the perceptions of local people in the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality in the Free state province of South Africa and what is available in the literature. This approach is helpful because it ensures that local people’s perceptions, alongside other objectively informed insights, are systematically integrated into the co-designing of actionable climate-change adaption strategies. Given these and other considerations, we invite the scientific community and those interested in sustainability to complement our efforts by providing suggestions on the way forward.

This article argues that the application of transcendent disciplinarism as a lens for critical inquiry and curriculum enablement is urgent in a posthuman era. The paper asserts that a curriculum must be responsive to societal needs by providing students with a "toolbox" for developing functional and productive societies. The community development degree is pedagogically premised on utilising multiple disciplinary synergies primed for analytically and practically improving the human condition. The article uses critical terms in posthumanism, such as relationality, resilience, and sustainable communities, to evoke a return to the local by analysing the creation and implementation of a responsive community development curriculum. Through pedagogical approaches that infuse collaborative and cooperative learning with active learning strategies, we argue that the community development curriculum should be structured to enhance the capabilities of students to assist communities in adapting and transcending to transformation. This paper followed a systematic literature review of journal articles extracted from SCOPUS, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and EBSCOhost electronic databases. A final sample of twenty-four articles was reviewed, analysed, and presented using ATLAS.ti flow chart diagrams. The study's findings revealed that posthumanism-inspired transformation normatively conceives the earth as a connected entity and places as entangled and interconnected. The article further interrogates how the posthuman approach can be used to create and implement pathways for curriculum enablement.

Traditionally, doctoral studies take at least three to six years of full-time study, depending on the country and institution. However, the number of doctoral students who complete their studies in the prescribed time does not meet the expectations of the scientific community. Many students who enrol in a doctoral programme either drop out or do not complete it within the expected time frame. The literature is replete with evidence of the challenges faced by early career researchers, but there is still little reported on how to bridge the existing and perceived barriers that continue to undermine doctoral study retention. These and other obstacles must be addressed and combated by questioning the root causes of students dropping out of their studies. Thus, this study sought to suggest pathways to overcome these and other obstacles by providing a coherent overview of what we need to do and how. The methodology used included a thorough review of international accredited peer reviewed articles extracted from the SCOPUS multidisciplinary database. A total of 24 articles relevant to the topic were thus selected. The key finding of this initiative is that doctoral students face wide-ranging financial, academic, and social challenges that need to be addressed innovatively to improve the timely realisation of the successful completion of their studies. Keywords: Completion, challenges, doctoral studies, dropout, retention, success

This paper presents a thematic literature review on gender equality, household livelihoods, and rural women’s participation in the informal sector in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2025. In a context of persistent economic instability, the informal economy has become central to rural household survival, yet women’s potential remains curtailed by systemic inequalities in access to credit, land, markets, and education. Guided by Feminist Economics (FE), the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), and Gender and Development (GAD) theory, the review pursues three objectives: (i) to synthesise evidence on rural women’s informal economic contributions to household welfare and community development; (ii) to critically examine the structural constraints shaping their participation; and (iii) to propose a conceptual Gender-Responsive Livelihoods Model that integrates sustainability and gender justice. Findings underscore the dual burden rural women shoulder as both income earners and unpaid caregivers, often under precarious conditions with limited social protection. The review proposes a model that bridges empirical insights with policy relevance, aligning with Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), the National Gender Policy (NGP), and global commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 1, 5, and 8). The study concludes that gender-responsive, sustainability-oriented strategies are vital for advancing inclusive rural transformation and enriching scholarly debates on gendered livelihoods.

Knowledge can and does enable, specifically through engagement between higher education institutions, the third sector (mostly non-profit organisations), public service role players and the communities.

There is limited knowledge on how to promote the assimilation of positive entrepreneurial behaviour, which undermines start-up venture creation and job opportunities by and for graduates from rural-based universities. Although there is considerable research on the adoption of entrepreneurial behaviour, little has been done so far to enhance an understanding of how various factors influence the abilities of rural-based universities to nurture it. To bridge this gap, this paper uses a bibliometric assessment of the major factors that undermine the assimilation of entrepreneurial behaviour by students in most rural-based universities. Specifically, this study aimed to distill in the literature the constraints that hinder the abilities of rural-based universities to promote entrepreneurship in Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. Purposive and snowball sampling was used to select articles drawn from these geographical areas. Data were analysed using ATLAS.ti software. It was found that various factors largely influence and determine the assimilation of entrepreneurial behaviour. Among these is a) nature of training that institutional curricula provide; b) accessibility of funds and infrastructure; and c) loosely premised cultural orientations. Because of this, there is a need to explore ways to assimilate entrepreneurial behaviour in undergraduate students. We believe the criteria we present for use in assessing the ability of a rural-based university in entrepreneurial education are applicable and valuable in promoting positive entrepreneurial behaviour among students. We hope that this study will be a catalyst for further exploration of interventions that can help in creating an entrepreneurial society.