Wenxing Wang, Jeroen van Wijngaarden, Martina Buljac‐Samardžić, Joris van de Klundert
Many Global Health initiatives aim to disseminate best practices to developing countries to improve access and quality of care. However, current concepts of successful innovation are primarily based on studies conducted in developed, Western countries. Little is known about the structural factors influencing the uptake of these innovations in non-Western developing countries. This gap motivated our study on the introduction of ‘best international practices in health service delivery’ in China. We conducted semi-structured online interviews with 20 participants, consisting of 10 Chinese, 9 Dutch, and 1 German, to advance scientific understanding of this topic. Four themes of structural factors that influence the adoption and adaption of health service delivery innovations originating from abroad in China emerged. These four themes include: Alignment with governmental policies and regulations, Leadership engagement on multiple levels, Alignment between internal stakeholders, and Matching incentives with both organizational and personal interests. While adoption is always top-down, adaption often follows a bottom-up approach in the Chinese context. Resource scarcity in primary care institutions adds extra difficulties to bottom-up innovations. Health professionals’ motivations to adopt and adapt foreign innovations are primarily controlled (externally) instead of autonomous (internally), which can diminish sustainability. Reducing workload and increasing salaries can facilitate resolving motivation challenges. Our findings indicate that differences exist in the adoption and adaptation of foreign innovations in developing countries with tight government control and a centralized health system such as China, compared to developed countries with decentralized health systems.
Increasing environmental harm, social inequalities and economic insecurity have rendered the youth involvement in impact investment essential to sustainable development. The chapter reviews the motivators of youth-led impact investment, a financial investment approach that incorporates financial returns with quantifiable social and environmental good. It sheds light on the impact of Environmental, Social and Governance values among Millennials and Generation Z whose investment priorities are based on ethics, accountability and long-term welfare of the society. Decentralized finance and digital micro-investment platforms have opened up capital markets to more people regardless of income or location. Gen Z is transforming the creation of wealth by creating transparent, inclusive and purposeful financial systems. Nevertheless, the challenge of insufficient financial literacy, access to capital and institutional backing continues to exist, especially in the Global South. The chapter supports the idea of inclusive financial systems to make the youth more empowered and promote intergenerational justice and sustainability.
This chapter explores how youth-led Fintech is reshaping pathways to planetary sustainability by combining digital innovation with regenerative economic principles. It examines the theoretical foundations linking Fintech, environmental goals, and youth agency, highlighting how mobile banking, blockchain-based transparency, and AI-driven analytics mobilise green finance and expand inclusion. Drawing on global case studies across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, the chapter demonstrates how young innovators use digital tools to advance clean energy access, carbon accountability, ethical consumption, and circular-economy financing. It also discusses challenges including digital divides, regulatory gaps, greenwashing, and data risks and offers policy directions to strengthen youth-inclusive, accountable, and scalable sustainable Fintech ecosystems.