Metropolitan State University (Metro State) is a public university in the Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area. It is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
As nations race to meet increasingly urgent climate targets, understanding the institutional and behavioral conditions that enable cleaner production has become essential. This study conceptualizes entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) as national configurations of institutional supports and burdens, innovation and market infrastructures, and cognitive-cultural conditions, as captured by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Climate performance is operationalized through four distinct domains from the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI): renewable energy, energy efficiency, emissions, and climate policy, each analyzed separately to maintain analytical precision and identify domain-specific EE drivers. Using data from 54 countries spanning 2007 to 2023, we apply a dual-method approach that integrates Arellano-corrected fixed-effects panel regression with ensemble machine learning techniques (boosting, SHAP, PDPs) to uncover both causal relationships and predictive patterns, with the latter complementing rather than replacing the explanatory analysis. Our findings reveal that EEs are not peripheral but central to national climate outcomes. Post-school entrepreneurial education (PSEE), perceived entrepreneurial opportunities (PO), and supportive government programs (GSP) consistently predict stronger climate performance. Conversely, high tax and bureaucratic burdens (TB) and fear of failure (FFR) are associated with weaker emissions control and less ambitious climate policy. Importantly, the analysis highlights key nonlinearities: for example, the impact of entrepreneurial intentions (EI) and total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) depends heavily on institutional alignment and financial infrastructure. These insights support an integrative theoretical model that positions EEs as multi-layered infrastructures linking innovation capacity, institutional design, and behavioral readiness for climate transformation. Overall, this study provides robust empirical evidence that well-configured entrepreneurship ecosystems can act as powerful enablers of cleaner production and environmental resilience. The findings carry significant implications for policymakers, educators, and development institutions aiming to align entrepreneurship policy with sustainability goals. Entrepreneurial ecosystems do not just create startups; they can shape how well countries fight climate change. Using data from 54 countries (2007–2023), we examine how education, institutions, and entrepreneurial mindsets influence renewable energy, efficiency, emissions, and climate policy. We find that post-school entrepreneurial education, perceived opportunities, and supportive ecosystem conditions are key drivers of stronger climate performance, while high bureaucracy and fear of failure hinder progress. Importantly, these effects are not linear; ecosystem components only work when aligned with each other and broader economic conditions. Thus, the principal implication of this study is that policymakers and educators should integrate sustainability into entrepreneurship systems, by strengthening advanced education, reducing regulatory barriers, and fostering opportunity-driven mindsets, to enable entrepreneurship to actively support climate transitions and environmental resilience.
This study investigates how national artificial intelligence (AI) readiness influences sustainable development performance across four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), and Climate Action (SDG 13). Using cross-country data from the Oxford Insights AI Readiness Index and the Sustainable Development Report, we apply ensemble machine learning methods and select boosting based on predictive performance. SHAP values and Partial Dependence Plots reveal nonlinear and interaction effects across institutional, digital, and economic dimensions. The findings indicate that AI readiness functions as a strategic systems-level capability with domain-specific impacts. Data availability and ecosystem maturity shape health outcomes; digital infrastructure and economic scale influence education; technology sector strength supports innovation; and climate performance depends on economic-digital complementarities. The study positions AI capability as a structural enabler of national competitiveness and coordinated development strategy.
Within international policy discourses, the notion of “quality” early childhood education (ECE) remains a contested concept. More specifically, we employ Moss’s (2016) critique of global notions of quality, which underscores the inadequacy of universalist, static definitions of quality. Instead, we advocate for the recognition of the contextual, cultural, and locally shaped aspects of what people consider quality for their communities. To obtain locally shaped and grounded perspectives of quality, this study examined what is considered quality ECE among parents and teachers in Kenya (n = 10) and Nepal (n = 25). The following research questions guided the study: (1) What are parents’ and teachers’ perspectives on “quality” ECE for young children in Nepal and Kenya? (2) How do the understandings of parents and teachers regarding “quality” relate to and influence the United Nations (2015) Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4: “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all “) based on contextual educational practices? Data was gathered from focus groups and individual interviews using phenomenological and cross-cultural methods. Three members of the research team were from Kenya, one researcher was from Nepal, and one researcher was from the United States. Qualitative data showed evidence of conflicting parent and teacher expectations, a lack of consensus about what academic quality entails, and a preference for curricula aimed at a globalized society. Furthermore, data indicated that macro-level national and global ideologies tended to influence parents’ understandings of what quality in education entails, signifying a clear relation to SDG 4.
We present a short review of the analytical aspects of recent progress in the study of black hole spectral instability and its potential observational consequences. This topic, inspired by earlier foundational works, has attracted considerable attention in the recent literature. It has been demonstrated that both the low-lying modes and high overtones of black hole quasinormal spectra can be substantially influenced by ultraviolet metric perturbations. The temporal evolution of gravitational wave signals is primarily governed by the first few low-lying quasinormal modes. In contrast, the asymptotic behavior of high overtones is closely associated with the phenomenon of black hole echoes. We review relevant studies on spectral instability in both regimes, highlighting their potential to produce substantial observational signatures in gravitational wave data. Additionally, recent proposals of Regge poles and reflectionless modes as alternative stable observables for probing black hole spacetimes are summarized.
Research explores the ways that Whiteness as an ideology is fundamental to racial inequality. Less research describes factors leading White people to question Whiteness. Bourdieu's theory of habitus, and Bonilla-Silva's extension of this concept to White habitus, explains why Whiteness is often invisible to White people, and what factors may lead White people to begin to question Whiteness. We examine essays from sixteen White students who were asked to reflect on the first time they realized they had a race. These essays demonstrate a range of understandings of race, including uncritical adoption of White habitus, and factors that led to some students' awareness of or challenging White habitus. Bourdieu's theory provides a basis for understanding the reasons that for White individuals, challenging the racial status quo is a complex process requiring both the development of individual racial consciousness and a dismantling of our current racialized economic, political, and ideological society.
