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The article Is devoted to the Identification and systematization of theoretical and methodological approaches to the formation of the concept 'smart region' In Russia and abroad. The objects of the research are the processes of the sustainable spatial development of a region as a geographically-localized ecosystem of the digital economy. The subject of the research Is the organizational, economic and managerial relations that arise In the process of formation and Institutionalization of the concept 'smart region' In the management of sustainable spatial development. The authors have found that the concept 'smart region' Is an evolutionary Idea. Its main content Is the creation and development of the region as competitive In the national and global aspects economic system and safe and comfortable for a person socio-territorial community, determined by a set of economic, social and environmental factors based on the Implementation of modern Information and communications and other technologies.

Although the heavily expanded technocratic doping test system has failed to detect the most spectacular cases of performance enhancement and to eradicate doping as social problem, it enjoys social fact quality. Research presented here argues that the taken-for-granted character of the technocratic test system represents a prime example of institutional work. The technocratic test system became institutionalized and maintained because the agendas of field actors converged around a field frame, enjoying cultural resonance and, at first, strong pragmatic viability. The specific methods of frame stabilization employed by actors interested in institutional maintenance served to stabilize unrealistic policy expectations. The article aims to support these ideas by analyzing the trajectory of antidoping in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) based on rich archival sources.

The technocratic and economically driven approach to urban and industrial planning can be observed in the evolution of modern logistics parks, which have become key infrastructural elements of regional development. This study explores how technocratic logic influences the spatial and environmental transformation of logistics parks in Poland within the context of sustainable certification systems such as BREEAM International (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method). The research employed an eight-stage methodological framework combining exploratory, analytical, and empirical methods. The process began with a comprehensive literature and data query on the development of logistics parks at global, European, and national levels, followed by a systematic review of sustainability assessment systems. A research framework was then defined to establish a consistent model of warehouse buildings, verified through the PLGBC database of certified facilities. The dataset was filtered and standardized, and a purposive sample of 25 BREEAM-certified warehouses was selected from 150 eligible cases. Each certification report was analyzed to identify credit distribution patterns, and the results were examined through a factor analysis to interpret the technocratic and systemic determinants influencing sustainability decisions. The findings reveal that the decision-making logic of developers is dominated by quantitative optimization and regulatory alignment, leading to the prioritization of low-cost, easily verifiable credits such as ENE03 (External Lighting) and WAT02 (Water Monitoring), while complex or innovative credits such as MAT06 (Material Efficiency) remain under implemented. The study contributes to the understanding of how technocratic rationality shapes sustainable certification outcomes and highlights the need for stronger policy and market incentives to promote circular and systemic approaches in the logistics real estate sector.

The program of universal salt iodization (USI) was intensified in the 1990s. Unfortunately, a recent World Health Organization review finds that there was a global increase of 31.7 percent in total goiter rate from 1993 to 2003. However, the WHO review places only 1 country as severely, 13 as moderately, and 40 as mildly deficient in populations' iodine nutrition, and places 43 countries at optimal, 24 at high, and 5 at excessive levels of iodine nutrition. Thus, it is imperative to weigh the benefits and risks of intensifying USI further. The WHO review places India in the category of \"adequate\" iodine nutrition, but in 2005 the Government of India promulgated a universal ban on sale of non-iodized salt, calling iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs) a major public health problem. This article attempts to understand these contradictions and weigh the benefits and costs of USI. Based on a review of studies since the 1920s, the authors reconstruct the evolution of IDD control in India. Conceptual and methodological limitations challenge the evidence base and rationale of stricter implementation of USI now. Finding evidence for its negative impact, the authors recommend a reexamination of the USI strategy and propose a safer, people-centered, ecosocial epidemiological approach rather than a universal legal ban.

The Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) brings together the world's finest development thinkers to present their perspectives and ideas. In recent years, a parallel, second conference has been held in Europe with the same goal of expanding the flow of ideas between thinkers, practitioners, and policymakers in the field of international development. ABCDE—Europe 2003 presents selected papers from the fourth annual ABCDE—Europe meetings, held June 24-26, 2002, in Oslo, Norway. Hosted by the World Bank and the Chr. Michelsen Institute, more than 350 eminent scholars and practitioners from 50 countries met to deliberate on the theme 'Towards Pro-Poor Policies'. The papers from sessions on aid, institutions, and globalization provide both a general overview of links between poverty, inequality, and growth, and address specific topics such as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative for debt reduction. All consider the role of policies and institutions in development and poverty reduction. IN THIS VOLUME: An overview by Bertil Tungodden, Ivar Kolstad, and Nicholas Stern; papers on aid by Nicholas Stern, David Roland-Holst and Finn Tarp, Stephan Klasen, Lisa Chauvet and Patrick Guillaumont, and Jean-Pierre Cling, Mireille Razafindrakoto, and François Roubaud; papers on institutions by Mariano Tommasi, Mushtaq Khan, David Dunham, Stanley Engerman and Kenneth Sokoloff, Karla Hoff and Joseph Stiglitz; and papers on globalization by Jomo Sundaram, John Dunning, Antonio Spilimbergo, Juan Luis Londoño, and Miguel Székely, Andrés Solimano, and Oded Stark.

This chapter explains the code of thought: effects of cognition and psyche in global sustainability. It also develops some properties common to sustainability and anticipation based on hard sciences. The chapter shows that the evolution of a complex system in nature is always based on interactions between ambivalences. The objective is to dynamically combine these ambivalences and contradictory properties so that people are able to adapt the system to varying conditions. In the case of self‐organization, the system will be self‐adaptive and will converge toward the best‐suited attractor. A proposal for monitoring of sustainability indicators can be defined. The chapter details a list of indicators that can be shown for educational purposes; in the next stage, they have to be clarified and adapted to the environment of a considered complex theory.

Digitization is a global trend that influences the identification of modern states, societies and individuals. The digital civilization sets new development conditions for contemporary states. The aim of this research is to present the paradigm of forming a digital society in Kazakhstan, which is in a state of catching-up modernization, requiring consideration of numerous factors. The methodology of comparability of states, vectors, principles and approaches, as well as the goals of the digital transformation concept (developed for the years 2023-2029), Information and Communication Technology and cybersecurity development, and a comparative analysis of digitalization statistical data have been applied. The article employs a triangulation method: it analyzes data from an international digital readiness index study, examines and visualizes national statistical data and digitalization program indicators and presents the results of a sociological study on societal digitalization conducted by the authors. A SWOT analysis of the conditions, contradictions, risks and opportunities for Kazakhstan has presented the concept of the digital society paradigm. Comparative discourse analysis of disciplinary approaches to the study of digitalization leads to the conclusion of the necessity of the digital society paradigm in the context of comparability of technocratic and humanitarian understanding and critical analysis of the achievements, opportunities and risks of societal digital transformation.

Since the 1960s, a significant effort has been underway to program computers to see the human face to develop automated systems for identifying faces and distinguishing them from one another--commonly known as Facial Recognition Technology. While computer scientists are developing FRT in order to design more intelligent and interactive machines, businesses and states agencies view the technology as uniquely suited for smart surveillance - systems that automate the labor of monitoring in order to increase their efficacy and spread their reach.Tracking this technological pursuit, Our Biometric Future identifies FRT as a prime example of the failed technocratic approach to governance, where new technologies are pursued as shortsighted solutions to complex social problems. Culling news stories, press releases, policy statements, PR kits and other materials, Kelly Gates provides evidence that, instead of providing more security for more people, the pursuit of FRT is being driven by the priorities of corporations, law enforcement and state security agencies, all convinced of the technology's necessity and unhindered by its complicated and potentially destructive social consequences. By focusing on the politics of developing and deploying these technologies, Our Biometric Future argues not for the inevitability of a particular technological future, but for its profound contingency and contestability.