Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European manufacturing sector, especially those producing investment goods, are pressured to adapt circular economy principles, while facing complex challenges identifying suitable business models and technologies. Thus, this paper has two objectives: first investigating the barriers and opportunities for SMEs to adopt circular business models (CBMs) and leverage digital technologies in pursuit of sustainable value creation in a narrative review. The review highlights the critical role of digital solutions in enabling transparency and efficiency, while also emphasising the need for tailored models and collaborative approaches. Secondly, based on the findings and gaps, we discuss the pros and cons of strategic planning tools to overcome the identified barriers. Backcasting is presented as a suitable approach, with outcomes that can provide actionable insights for policy, research, and industry, offering a roadmap to support SMEs in transitioning towards circular, data-driven business models that underpin a resilient and sustainable regional economy.

Under extensive disruptions faced in recent years, small and medium enterprises (SME) were hit hard. Due to their limited access to financial and human resources, SMEs tended to move into reactive mode motivated by survival orientations. Some SMEs ceased to exist due to the financial consequences of the disruptions while others have survived the wave through a combination of applying ad hoc adaptation solutions, support from partners or government bodies. Now that the pandemic is over but different forms of supply chain disruption are occurring and eminent, SMEs aspire for a more proactive preparedness for inevitable disruptive events. Learning from survival through recent unanticipated disruptions gave many SMEs the motivation to think about how to strategically foster their disruption management capabilities for the unpredictable future. Through conceptual argumentation and compilation of evidence from empirical research in the field, this paper discusses, and outlines patterns of shifting SME demands and ambitions for a more proactive resilience capabilities for dynamic competitiveness in the future. Associated circumstances enabling and inhibiting this aspired shift are presented too.

Games are increasingly used in engineering education to support decision-making skills, yet a systematic overview of such applications is missing. This study addresses this gap through a systematic literature review of games used for decision-making in formal engineering education. Searches in five databases (ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science) identified 33 relevant articles. The review analysed game characteristics, evaluation approaches, and practical prerequisites for game use. Results reveal a heterogeneous field dominated by custom-made game prototypes, many of which are not publicly accessible. Most studies applied qualitative or quasi-experimental designs, while methodologically robust evaluations such as randomised controlled trials remain rare. Although the reported learning effects are predominantly positive, the findings indicate that serious games for decision-making in engineering education are still in an exploratory stage of conceptual and methodological development, despite their considerable educational potential.

Reusing existing serious game concepts and components can reduce cost and shorten time to market. However, the process is complex, and best practices such as participatory design (PD) may be impacted. This paper presents a case study exploring this impact. We outline the development of the “Coop game”, which aims to raise awareness for benefits and pitfalls in interorganisational cooperations. We describe the process that integrates stakeholder participation and reuse of game components and take a look at the frictions between these two practices. Data from preliminary evaluations suggests that participants’ felt they could contribute well despite the limitations of reusing game components. Finally, we discuss how stakeholder input may be coupled with expertise and interests.

Using experiential learning principles has a long tradition within engineering education, but often these principles have been one-of-a-kind games specifically designed either for a specific problem (like the different games on understanding and managing the bullwhip effect) or for a specific course. There is hardly any doubt that many of these games are good for nurturing the learning processes and contribute to the development of critical thinking skills among the students, but games age, are expensive in their development and often more a full-working prototype that is depending on one specific developer and designer, who might leave the university. Commercial-Off-The-Shelf games seem therefore to be an option to investigate. As commercial games they are often more robust and regularly maintained. Furthermore, often the GUIs are more attractive since more attention can be paid to this field. However, they are not targeted towards a specific course’s intended learning outcomes. This paper reports on the reflection we have on how to overcome challenges and improve the learning process of students at bachelor and master levels at three different universities during the last 2.5 years.

Rapid technological advances and increased digitalization provide new opportunities, but they also forge new prerequisites for future employees, as well as organizations, especially companies, concerning their digital readiness and preparedness to mitigate digital threats. The increased numbers of cyber-attacks indicate that more attention should be paid to protecting production means and critical infrastructure against cyber-attacks, and building adequate skills to protect private data, not only personal, but also business data, has become a necessity. This paper presents an analysis of existing literature (SLR) and then assesses the needs of training and education in the field of cybersecurity and resilience based on the results of a survey applied within Romanian IT companies that develop and maintain software applications for production management. The survey aimed to identify general awareness, practice, and response to cybersecurity issues. The results will be used for further research on specific areas of cyber security training and intervention.

This paper introduces thewicked problems in educational game design related to designing games that are aesthetic and appealing to a wide and inhomogenous user group at one hand, and on the other hand take the needs of specific users, such as age, impairments, or social disadvantages, into account. We take a closer look at how elements like sounds and aesthetic design support the learning and the immersiveness of one type of users, while for others it reduces the game experience, and therefore often also the learning outcome. We outlinewhat aspects play into game design and argue for the need to consider these aspects earlier in the design process. In line with the goal to outline accessible and aesthetic practices in the field of educational games, we further look into the reuse of artefacts, as well as repurposing of serious games as means to create games that fits a larger group of students/pupils. Therefore, efforts have been underway for a long time to increase the accessibility of games [20-23]. So far, there are overlays or simplifications that can be implemented for some impairments, but often the games then lose their attractiveness or fail to support the underlying learning goals.

360° spaces are representations of real locations created using 360° images, enabling viewers to walk through by changing position. As basis for virtual field trips, they have proven to be valuable learning tools. In technological terms, 360° spaces are to be characterized as single-user applications. In contrast, Social VR applications are characterized by multi-user capability and user-specific avatars. From a learning perspective, the concepts of collaborative learning and embodiment have long been proposed as conducive to learning. Both concepts might be supported using Social VR. However, there is hardly any knowledge about the use of 360° spaces and Social VR. Accordingly, the research question arises how Social VR-based 360° spaces are perceived by learners. This article presents a mixed-method evaluation study (N = 16) – using a questionnaire and focus group discussions – of a 360° space based on the Social VR platform Mozilla Hubs used on PCs. The study highlighted the opportunities offered by Social VR-based 360° spaces but also revealed several challenges that need to be addressed to embrace the potential of Social VR-based 360° spaces to be utilized regularly in education. Accordingly, the study represents relevant preparatory work for the use of multi-user 360° spaces in playful learning environments, such as educational escape rooms.

Entertainment Computing (EC) is a sub-discipline of computer science that deals with the creation of digital artifacts for hedonistic purposes. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for overall sustainable development – ecologically, socially and economically – at the global, national and local level. Several positive examples of the use of EC artefacts, such as games, that have contributed to the achievement of SDGs, e.g. educational games in formal learning contexts, have prompted us to ask the overarching question of how EC might contribute to achieving the SDGs. To get an initial overview of the artifacts used and the targeted SDGs, we conducted a rapid literature review using the Scopus database. From a total of 860 records, we were able to identify 31 articles in which EC artifacts were used to support the achievement of various SDGs. The analysis shows that seven articles addressed all SDGs. Furthermore, in the remaining articles 13 out of 17 SDGs were specifically addressed. These findings induce a more detailed investigation of the contribution of EC to the SDGs promising as a means of deriving best practices for the use of EC artefacts to advance sustainable development worldwide.

Although many games for health (GFH) have been validated as effective means of improving patient outcomes, to date, there are few large-scale deployments of them in healthcare settings. Acceptance of GFH in healthcare settings requires rigorous outcomes collection and analysis that justify the cost and effort required to create and deploy them. Implementation science frameworks can be used as a means of enabling stakeholder acceptance of innovative digital interventions. This paper discusses the process of using implementation science frameworks to facilitate and assess deployments of games for health in healthcare settings. Based on past successful deployments, we suggest a framework for developing and deploying such games.