Quality Education as a Sustainable Development Goal in the Context of 2030 Agenda: Bibliometric Approach

Fresh Moringa Stenopetala leaves consumption and its determinants among pregnant women in southern Ethiopia

Background

A woman's health and nutritional status has significant impact on her pregnancy situation. However, many pregnant women are undernourished. Moringa stenopetala is a plant consumed worldwide in various forms, and its consumption showed a reduction in the incidence of malnutrition. Although Moringa stenopetala is rich in essential macro- and micronutrients, there is little evidence on the proportion and determinants of fresh Moringa stenopetala leaf intake among pregnant women. The objective of this study was to fill this gap in the littérature and provide a baseline evidence for further research or intervention by investigation the proportion and determinants of fresh Moringa stenopetala leaf intake among pregnant women in the Gamo zone, south Ethiopian region.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 623 randomly selected pregnant women using a pre-tested and structured questionnaire via a face-to-face interview. The consumption pattern was assessed based on a self-reported dietary history over the last 30 days before data collection. Multivariable logistic regression model was fitted using STATA version 14. An adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was reported to show an association between the dependent and independent variables with level of statistical significance at a p-value of <0.05.

Results

The proportion of fresh Moringa stenopetala leaves intake among pregnant women was 49.60% (95% CI: 45.67, 53.52%). The déterminants of fresh moringa leaf intake were being below 24 years old (AOR: 2.92; 95% CI: 1.51, 5.63), rural résidence (AOR: 1.97; 95% CI: 1.10, 3.50), antenatal care attendance (AOR: 2.08; 95% CI: 1.03, 4.21), history of contraceptive use (AOR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.03, 3.55), and having a good knowledge about the importance of moringa Stenopetala (AOR: 9.76; 95% CI: 5.30, 17.95).

Conclusion

The study showed that almost half of the pregnant women consumed fresh Moringa stenopetala leaves. Women's age, place of residence, prenatal care, history of contraceptive use, and knowledge of the benefits of Moringa Stenopetala were positively associated with the consumption of fresh Moringa Stenopetala leaves. Therefore, health authorities and stakeholders involved in maternal and child health need to target older women, and urban residents and promote the benefits of consumption by strengthening uptake of maternal health services and raising awareness about Moringa Stenopetela. Future studies involving large scale and longitudinal designs evidence are required to further validate the findings so that this nutritious diet can be promoted widely among pregnant women in the study area and Ethiopia at large.

The Trends and Content of Research Related to the Sustainable Development Goals: A Systemic Review

This study employed a comprehensive systematic review of the literature (SRL) process with the Content Analysis Toolkits for Academic Research (CATAR) for conducting a bibliometric analysis of the 2814 general SDG-related papers and 92 review papers selected from the Web of Science database from 2013 to 2022. The overview analysis found that the US and UK took the lead in publication and citation. The WHO and several universities were identified as the most prominent institutes around the globe. The field distribution of the most cited papers revealed the existence of a “strong sustainability” paradigm and the importance of science and technology. A landscape of 1123 papers was included in eight clusters according to the bibliographic coupling algorithms in the Multi-stage Document Clustering (MSDC) process. These clusters were then categorized into three groups, “synergies and trade-offs”, “networking”, and “systems analysis”, demonstrated in the theme maps. As for the 92 SDG-related review papers, most were shaped based on literature analysis without specified countries. Moreover, SDG 3 was identified as that exclusively studied in most papers. The information presented is expected to help research scholars, public sectors, and practitioners monitor, gather, check, analyze, and use the growing volume of SDG-related academic articles.

Map and Track the Performance in Education for Sustainable Development across the European Union

The 17 sustainable development goals (SDG) established by 2030 Agenda cannot be achieved unless the learners are educated about sustainable development. Education for sustainable development (ESD) is a key component in preparing individuals to cope with sustainable challenges and paves the way towards a more sustainable aware society and life satisfaction. However, ESD is very complex as it depends on numerous factors and needs significant development all over the word. The paper aims to design an original and easy-to-apply framework which maps and tracks the actual performance in quality education across the European Union member states (EU27), focusing on SDG4—quality education from Agenda 30. The framework integrates three interventions—formal, non-formal, and essential education—and delivers a useful tool, a composite index, which maps and tracks the performance of the EU27 in the transition to ESD in a practical manner. The research categorizes four clusters of countries and tracks the Nordic countries of the EU27 among the high performers tier, allowing the identification of the best practices which can be spurred at European level. The findings of this paper may be used by educators, researchers, national and European authorities, and other stakeholders to monitor and accelerate progress in ESD, especially for low performers.

Community-University Partnership in Water Education and Linkage Process. Study Case: Manglaralto, Santa Elena, Ecuador

Universities have the mission to serve society by being pragmatic, diverse, and multidisciplinary. Similar to society in general, these centers have a common challenge: finding a way to articulate projects that favor the demands and needs of vulnerable rural sectors. In this case, the community-university partnership is based on the interaction of the Manglaralto population, represented by the Junta Administradora del Agua Potable Regional de Manglaralto and the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), both from Ecuador. Specifically, it is based on a collaborative relationship since 2005, through the Centro de Investigación y Proyectos Aplicados a Ciencias de la Tierra (CIPAT) of the ESPOL. This work aims to evaluate the community-university partnership through the results obtained in community work projects. In addition, it describes the resolution of problems reached on the sustainability of water resources in the parish of Manglaralto (Ecuador). The methodology was based on (i) the description of the existing community-university interaction framework, (ii) the analysis of the community projects that CIPAT developed in the period 2017–2020, and finally, (iii) the evaluation of the impact of the actions carried out on the sustainability of the coastal aquifer. The community-university partnership has generated relevant information (e.g., water reserves, extraction processes, aquifer recharge, and care of the resource) for the community and has allowed for the strengthening and transmitting of knowledge in different specialties (education, culture, and environment). In the 2017–2020 period, four community projects were carried out with students, researchers, and the inhabitants of the rural area of Manglaralto. These projects allowed wells for water extraction and engineering structures such as dikes and green filters that help the use and recharge the aquifer. In addition, the initiatives carried out made it possible to inform the population of the importance of the sustainable exploitation of water resources. In general, this work made it possible to identify a natural laboratory of human interaction in which the results obtained are based on the collaboration and contribution of all the participating actors.