“My place in the grand scheme of things”: perspective from nature and sustainability science
AbstractA burgeoning and diverse field of study investigates the many aspects of human –nature relationships—what they mean for ecosystems, for human well-being, and for transformations toward sustainability. We explore an emerging concept in human–nature relationship research: perspective from nature, defined as the idea that nature helps people gain perspective on where they f it in the world and what is important (what some people call a “reality check”); in most cases, this involves a shift of attention beyond themselves and their particulars. We analyze responses to open-ended questions in a survey (n = ...
Source: Sustainability Science - June 6, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Unlocking and accelerating transformations to the SDGs: a review of existing knowledge
AbstractAs we cross the 2030 deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a growing sense of urgency around the need to accelerate the necessary transformations. These encompass a broad range of systems and require fundamental changes in system goals and design. In this paper, we undertake a narrative review of the literature relating to the acceleration of transformations and offer a framework for unlocking and accelerating transformations to the SDGs. While there is no blueprint for acceleration, there is an expanding knowledge base on important dynamics, impediments and enabling conditions acro...
Source: Sustainability Science - June 2, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Interlinkages between leverage points for strengthening adaptive capacity to climate change
In this study, we explored how the interlinkages between leverage points enable or constrain adaptive capacity to climate change of food system actors. We found 24 interlinkages when drawing on results from semi-structured interviews and a participatory visual art method used in focus groups in a case study in the Northern Region of Ghana. Nine interlinkages were identified as barriers to the adaptive capacity of the communities and actors of the local food system. For example, when studying the interlinkages between the place-specific leverage point of agricultural extension services and the generic leverage point of gend...
Source: Sustainability Science - June 2, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Natural capital accounting for sustainable cities
(Source: Sustainability Science)
Source: Sustainability Science - May 31, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Analyzing SDG interlinkages: identifying trade-offs and synergies for a responsible innovation
AbstractThis paper responds to recent calls to address the indivisible nature of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework and the related knowledge gap on how SDG targets interlink with each other. It examines how SDG targets interact in the context of a specific technology, point of care (PoC) microfluidics, and how this relates to the concept of responsible innovation (RI). The novel SDG interlinkages methodology developed here involves several steps to filter the relevant interlinkages and a focus group of experts for discussing these interlinkages. The main findings indicate that several social synergies occur ...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 26, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Correction to: Exploring bioproduction systems in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes in Asia through solution scanning using the Nature Futures Framework
(Source: Sustainability Science)
Source: Sustainability Science - May 25, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Indigenous trans-systemics: changing the volume on systems
AbstractThis paper emerged as a result of Anishinabe and non-Indigenous scholars discussing the basic principles behind systems thinking. By asking the question “what is a system?”, we uncovered that our very understanding of what makes a system was vastly different. As scholars working in cross-cultural and inter-cultural environments, these differing worldviews can create systemic challenges in unpacking complex problems. Trans-systemics offers langua ge to unearth these assumptions by the recognition that the dominant, or “loudest”, systems are not always the most appropriate or equitable. It goes beyond critica...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 25, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Diverse approaches to nature recovery are needed to meet the varied needs of people and nature
AbstractConservation and restoration projects often fail to engage local communities during the planning and implementation stage. In addition, when considering urban boundary ecosystems, there exists a wide range of stakeholders that must be involved in the planning process to ensure social equity in land management outcomes. Traditional methods for assessing future landscape change scenarios have been critiqued for their inability to adequately incorporate the diverse range of stakeholder values. This paper presents a multicriteria mapping study, incorporating a novel application of the Nature Futures Framework, to asses...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 25, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
People ’s heterogeneous preferences for future development scenarios: a case study of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
This study evaluates people ’s environmental preferences for future development scenarios, investigates the heterogeneity of their preferences, and discusses the potential conflicts using four hypothetical future development scenarios, namely the natural capital-based and compact society (NC), the natural capital-based and d ispersed society (ND), the produced capital-based and compact society (PC), and the produced capital-based and dispersed society (PD). The choice of future development scenarios is an essential issue because it can alter development pathways and change the quality and quantity of natural capital in t...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 23, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Rurbanity: a concept for the interdisciplinary study of rural –urban transformation
AbstractAlong with climate change, population growth, and overexploitation of natural resources, urbanisation is among the major global challenges of our time. It is a nexus where many of the world ’s grand challenges intersect, and thus key to sustainable development. The widespread understanding of urbanisation as a successive and unidirectional transformation of landscapes and societies from a rural to an urban state is increasingly questioned. Examples from around the globe show that ‘ the rural’ and ‘the urban’ are not only highly interdependent, but actually coexist and often merge in the same space or live...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 20, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
The role of formal and informal institutions in land management in the Uluguru Mountains, Morogoro, Tanzania
AbstractLand degradation has remained a challenge in the Uluguru Mountains in spite of efforts by various actors to address the problem. Cognizant of the role institutions can play in land management, the paper analysed formal and informal institutions for land management with a focus on their role in governing land management in the Uluguru Mountains. Data were collected through participatory rural appraisal, focus group discussions and structured interviews. Content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the qualitative and quantitative data, respectively. The primary education system, village environme...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 17, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Understanding leverage points of rural activities on hillsides in Taiwan
This study argues that hillside rural activities connect humans with nature but alters the natural landscape. Therefore, to determine hillside rural activity hotspots is to identify leverage points for interventions to promote human –nature reconnection. To elucidate the status of hillside rural activities in rural areas as leverage points in sustainability transformations, this study used a public participation geographic information system (PPGIS) to inventory and verify the complex and diverse relationships between hillsid e rural activity and land use. Using the Zhuoshui River Basin as a case study, this study hosted...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 16, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Linking household access to food and social capital typologies in Phalombe District, Malawi
This study aims to further understand how typologies of social capital are associated with household food security in Southern Malawi, with a focus on access to food. We unpack social capital into three typologies, namely bonding, bridging, and linking social capital, and establish which one is most strongly associated with household access to food, and whether this varies by the gender of the hous ehold head. To achieve this, we analyze secondary data from 382 households collected through the Malawian Fourth Integrated Household Survey (IHS4), using principal axis factor analysis and logistic regression analysis. Our find...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 16, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Diet change and sustainability in Indigenous areas: characteristics, drivers, and impacts of diet change in Gunayala, Panama
AbstractMany Indigenous communities around the world have been experiencing rapid and profound diet changes. This case report uses a Sustainability Science lens to understand the characteristics of diet change in Indigenous Gunas communities of Panama, as well as its drivers and sustainability impacts. We use primary information collected through interviews with 30 experts and 232 household surveys in three Gunas islands characterised by different levels of development, western influence, and cultural erosion. We observe a rapid westernization of diets that has been mainly driven by closer interaction with tourists and ...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 11, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Dietary change and land use change: assessing preventable climate and biodiversity damage due to meat consumption in Germany
AbstractLand use change (LUC) is responsible for a large share of the emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) and is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Although much of the global LUC-related CO2 emissions and biodiversity loss occur in tropical countries, the actual drivers of this LUC can be located in the global North, particularly through the import of large quantities of agricultural commodities. The aim of this study is to quantify and monetize the LUC-related impacts of the consumption of animal-based food products in Germany and subsequently explore the potential benefits of transitioning to die...
Source: Sustainability Science - May 11, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
