Vol. 6 No. 2 (2025): (October 2025)

This issue has been available online since 9th October 2025 as part of the October 2025 edition. It features five articles by fourteen scholars from the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Thailand, and Romania—addressing governance gaps in public policy, health governance, adaptive local development, gender-responsive disaster recovery, and collaborative land policy—and offers grounded perspectives with implications for governance challenges across the Global South and the SDGs.

The opening article is a critical review of public-policy models that moves “from theory to action,” arguing that real-world governance requires adaptive, participatory approaches aligned to SDG 16—especially Targets 16.5 (reduce corruption and bribery), 16.6 (effective, accountable and transparent institutions), 16.7 (inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making), and 16.10 (access to information and fundamental freedoms). By reframing the policy cycle through transparency, stakeholder engagement, and institutional resilience, it charts a pathway to bridge governance gaps in practice.

The second article turns to frontline service delivery in a socio-economically vulnerable, tourism-reliant setting. Assessing Universal Health Coverage at Mataram City General Hospital, Indonesia, it finds clearer administration and better digital access but persistent queues, responsiveness gaps, and uneven equity—underscoring the need for area-based planning and inter-agency coordination. The work advances SDG 3, Target 3.8 (Universal Health Coverage) while intersecting with SDG 1, Target 1.4 (access to basic services) and SDG 10, Target 10.2 (social, economic, and political inclusion).

The third contribution examines institutional capacity for adaptive regional development in Gorontalo, Indonesia. It shows how robust organisations, inclusive participation, and the strategic use of information technology can make policy more responsive to community needs, while flagging skills gaps and underused digital tools as key bottlenecks—thereby supporting SDG 11, Target 11.3 (inclusive and sustainable urbanisation and participatory planning) and SDG 16, Targets 16.6 and 16.7 (effective institutions; inclusive, participatory, and representative decision-making).

The fourth article offers the first empirical analysis (in this context) of a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) twin-track approach in post-eruption recovery in Lumajang, Indonesia. It finds fragmented, tokenistic integration that relies heavily on civil society, and proposes institutional pathways to embed GESI across planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation—contributing to SDG 5, Targets 5.5 and 5.c (women’s leadership; policies for gender equality), SDG 10, Target 10.2 (inclusion), and SDG 11, Target 11.b (disaster risk-reduction strategies).

The final article examines collaborative policy innovation to accelerate land acquisition in the economic hub of eastern Indonesia. Multi-stakeholder forums, transparency measures, and fairer compensation models demonstrably expedite processes and reduce conflict, aligning with SDG 9, Target 9.1 (quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure), SDG 11, Target 11.3 (inclusive and sustainable urbanisation and participatory planning), and SDG 16, Targets 16.6, 16.7 and 16.10 (effective institutions; inclusive decision-making; access to information).

Taken together, these articles illuminate how evidence-informed design, inclusive participation, and institutional collaboration can advance the 2030 Agenda—linking policy theory to practice, strengthening essential services, institutionalising equity in crisis governance, and enabling infrastructure delivery without sacrificing legitimacy or social justice.