Sensory heritage encompasses culturally valued practices, rituals, and everyday activities experienced through the senses. While sight often dominates, hearing and smelling are generally more immersive and pervasive. Soundscape research is a well-established field within urban studies; however, smellscape remains insufficiently recognised. This study is part of Multimodal Hong Kong, a project aimed at documenting sensory cultural heritage across the city by capturing the complex interplay between soundscape, smellscape, urban experiences, everyday activities, and memory. We investigated the multisensory environment at Wong Tai Sin Temple through acoustic measurements and perceptual ratings of soundscape and smellscape across 197 locations within and around the site. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with visitors (N = 54, 15,015 words of transcript), which were analysed using content analysis and natural language processing. The results indicate that elevated noise levels mainly arise from human voices and pipe music within the temple compound, as well as traffic noise in the surrounding area. The smell of incense dominates near the temple altars, whereas natural, grassy odours prevail in the adjacent park. Interview responses confirm that incense burning constitutes a traditional religious practice forming a distinctive olfactory marker for Chinese temples, but it is also perceived as having adverse health implications. This study contributes to the growing body of sensory heritage research, underscoring the importance of both soundscape and smellscape in fostering culturally inclusive, vibrant, and sustainable urban environments.

Collaboration has long been positioned as central to school improvement and education reform (Datnow & Park, 2019) and is widely regarded as integral to effective professional practice (Sullivan et...

Purpose: This study investigates how supranational organisations conceptualise and strategically promote research engagement and evidence use in education policymaking. It examines the systemic conditions they advocate to support uptake and analyses how these conceptualisations are discursively constructed in policy texts. The paper also considers implications for decision-making communities, including policy teams, school leaders and professional networks, who interpret and enact these framings in practice. Design/methodology/approach: The study employs interpretive policy analysis to examine how meanings, assumptions, and discursive devices are embedded in supranational policy texts. A curated set of six documents from the OECD, UNESCO and the World Bank (2020–2025) were analysed. Coding focused on rhetorical devices, metaphors, claims and systemic conditions, supported by inductive thematic analysis. This approach highlights how supranational discourses construct evidence cultures and configure systemic conditions for research engagement and evidence-informed policymaking. Findings: Supranational organisations frame evidence as a strategic and symbolic resource, privileging certain epistemologies while marginalising others. These framings shape infrastructures and norms through which evidence is mobilised, influencing how decision-making communities engage with research. The analysis identifies tensions between instrumental and symbolic uses of evidence, highlights the role of metaphors in constructing evidence cultures, and shows how systemic conditions, such as governance traditions, institutional capacity and dissemination mechanisms, enable or constrain inclusive and reflexive engagement. Originality/value: This paper advances interpretive policy analysis of supranational discourses, offering a conceptual framework that theorises how global framings configure systemic conditions for research engagement and evidence use. It contributes to debates on evidence cultures, epistemic inequality and symbolic versus instrumental use. The study provides insights into the discursive devices through which organisations coordinate evidence cultures and identifies implications for policy design, capacity-building and epistemic justice in education systems.

Sensory heritage is constituted by culturally valued practices, rituals, and everyday activities as experienced through all the senses. Hearing and smelling are our two most immersive and pervasive senses. While soundscape is a major field within urban studies, the contribution of smellscape to the design of sustainable cities is not fully appreciated. This study is part of Multimodal Hong Kong, a project that aims to document sensory cultural heritage across the city by capturing the complex interplay between soundscape, smellscape, and urban experiences. We investigated the multisensory environment at Wong Tai Sin in Hong Kong through measurements and perceptual ratings of the acoustic and olfactory environment at 197 locations within and around the temple compound, as well as conducting semi-structured ad hoc interviews with visitors on site (N = 54, 15015 words). Analysis reveals how sensory components influence environmental perception and people’s appreciation of the site’s cultural values. The study contributes to the growing body of research on sensory heritage, and underscores the importance of soundscape and smellscape to developing vibrant and inclusive cities. We discuss the implications for future policy recommendations aimed to preserve and promote the sensory heritage and inform sustainable urban design that prioritises cultural values, public health, and community well-being.

Purpose: Principal agency remains underexplored in non-Western, high-accountability contexts, with implications for leadership learning and practice. This study investigates how Hong Kong principals perceive and enact agency, examining the influence of professional histories, relational dynamics and systemic conditions. It reimagines the principalship as a dynamic, contextually embedded and agency-driven role within complex reform environments. Design/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative life history and narrative methodology, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with 15 principals from Hong Kong. Iterative thematic analysis, supported by memoing and member checking, was employed to explore how principals' experiences and contexts influence their leadership agency and responses to reform. Findings: The study identifies three interrelated dimensions of agency: temporal, experiential and relational dynamics, that shape principals' leadership practices. Principals enact agency through reflection on past experiences, strategic adaptation to present challenges and relational engagement with school communities, while maintaining a values-driven approach that often challenges compliance–oriented expectations. Originality/value: This study contributes a contextually grounded framework for understanding principal agency, challenging dominant Western leadership models and offering insights into leadership development in high-accountability, socio-politically complex systems. It highlights the need for leadership learning that supports agency, reflexivity and relational practice.