From shops to bins: a case study of consumer attitudes and behaviours towards plastics in a UK coastal city
This study also identified consumer perceptions and behaviours that could contribute to future holistic plastic policy recommendations. (Source: Sustainability Science)
Source: Sustainability Science - January 30, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Bioeconomy as a promise of development? The cases of Argentina and Malaysia
AbstractAll bioeconomy strategies contain certain claims and promises, though these differ from one world region to another. Proceeding from an analysis of bioeconomy debates and the appropriation of the concept by key actors in Argentina and Malaysia, we argue that both countries regard the bioeconomy as a development strategy primarily geared towards the industrial upgrading of agricultural value chains. Its aim is to increase value added in the soy (Argentina) and palm oil (Malaysia) commodity chains by adding further domestic processing steps and developing new branches of industry. This is to lead to social and enviro...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 30, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Pathways to climate justice: transformation pathway narratives in the Belgian climate movement
AbstractHow can societies deal with climate change in more just and sustainable ways? In societal debates, multiple strategic pathways for dealing with climate change compete among each other. A narrative approach has been used both as an analytical tool for studying strategic pathways and the tensions between them, as well as a tool to render such tensions more productive through the suggested development of overarching metanarratives. Despite the recent global wave of climate protests, climate movements and their various narratives have remained understudied among sustainability transition scholars. To address this gap, ...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 27, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Achieving soil health in Aotearoa New Zealand through a pluralistic values-based framework: mauri ora ki te whenua, mauri ora ki te tangata
AbstractGlobally, soil policy and management have been based on a limited understanding of values and perspectives, and mainly dominated by a Western-centric soil science perspective. Further, this understanding has tended to be highly focused on instrumental values —particularly the soil’s productive potential and use. In this paper, we use the Nature Futures Framework (NFF) to analyse how Aotearoa New Zealand’s agricultural productive sectors express their relationship with soil and soil health. Our analysis highlights the multidimensional nature of soi l values across society. Importantly, the results are consiste...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 25, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Sustainability of urban expansion in Africa: a systematic literature review using the Drivers –Pressures–State–Impact–Responses (DPSIR) framework
AbstractRapid urban population growth in Africa has resulted in the rapid expansion of many African cities. This has important ramifications for sustainable development across the continent. However, studies systematically synthesising the emerging literature to critically comprehend the different dimensions of urban expansion in Africa, and its intersections with sustainability are lacking. We conduct a systematic review of 247 peer-reviewed papers, critically discussing the dimensions of urban expansion in Africa, using the Drivers –Pressures–State–Impacts–Responses (DPSIR) model. Despite the significant variabil...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 24, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
From hegemony-reinforcing to hegemony-transcending transformations: horizons of possibility and strategies of escape
AbstractIn the face of ever escalating global socioecological crises, the necessity of radical systemic transformations has gained increasing political and academic traction over the last decade, among others in the context of ‘green’ and bio-based economies. We draw on the works of political philosophers Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe and Judith Butler to develop a typology of transformational dynamics. In this typology, the word transformation implies political agendas, processes and outcomes that involve the total structural reordering of a social field, which we juxtapose with ‘inclusion’, which implies cases i...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 24, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Utilization of urban agriculture to enhance urban sustainability: investigating people ’s heterogeneous preferences for proximity to urban agriculture through a choice experiment
AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate people ’s preferences for the geographical distance between residential locales and two types of urban agricultural land, namely, traditional agricultural land and a more complex and intensive agricultural landscape called “satoyama” and to evaluate the heterogeneity in people’s preferences. The enhancement of urban sustainability is a crucial issue in sustainable development that can be potentially improved by urban agriculture. However, urban residents' perceptions and preferences regarding the distance between urban agr icultural land and their locales remain u...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 20, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Implementing post-normal science with or for EU policy actors: using quantitative story-telling
AbstractThere is increasing recognition of the wicked nature of the intertwined climate, biodiversity and economic crises, and the need for adaptive, multi-scale approaches to understanding the complexity of both the problems and potential responses. Most science underpinning policy responses to sustainability issues, however, remains overtly apolitical and focussed on technical innovation; at odds with a critical body of literatures insisting on the recognition of systemic problem framing when supporting policy processes. This paper documents the experience of implementing a mixed method approach called quantitative story...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 20, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Can agricultural heritage systems keep clean production in the context of modernization? A case study of Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System of China based on carbon footprint
In this study, we first put forward a theoretical framework for the environmental impact assessment of agricultural heritage systems. Then, we apply it to Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System (QRFCS), the first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems in China. We focus on its environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and analyze the changes in its capacity for reducing GHG emissions under dual impacts of modernization and conservation measures with the carbon footprint model. Results show that the rice-fish culture has obvious advantages in GHG emission reduction over the rice monoculture in the...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 17, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Organic agriculture in a low-emission world: exploring combined measures to deliver sustainable food system in Sweden
In this study, we developed two scenarios to evaluate the role of organic farming in the broader context of Swedish food systems: (i) baseline trend scenario (Base), and (ii) sustainable food system scenario (Sust).Base describes a future where organic farming is implemented alongside the current consumption, production and waste patterns, whileSust describes a future where organic farming is implemented alongside a range of sustainable food system initiatives. These scenarios are coupled with several variants of organic area: (i) current 20% organic area, (ii) the national target of 30% organic area by 2030, and (iii) 50%...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 17, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Enabling spaces for bridging scales: scanning solutions for interdisciplinary human-environment research
AbstractTo tackle the twenty-first-century challenges for sustainability, a deeper understanding of their complexity is needed. Hence, interdisciplinary human –environment research integrating knowledge, perspectives, and solutions across scales is crucial. Yet, questions of ‘scale’ and ‘scaling’ continue to challenge human–environment research. Despite substantial scholarly attention to scales, no unified definitions and understanding exist, causing confusion among researchers. In this paper, we aim to provide clarity to the challenges and potential solutions to bridging scales in interdisciplinary human–env...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 16, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Networks of action situations in point-source pollution: the case of winery wastewater in Aragon, Spain
AbstractIn this article, we offer an analysis of point-source water pollution governance in the European agri-food sector. Specifically, we tackle the case study of the wine industry in Aragon (Spain) through the lenses of the networks of action situations approach. We unveil key strategic decisions of wine producers in relation to compliance with water discharge regulations and explore the feasibility and effectiveness of potential solutions. According to our quantitative and qualitative analyses, the problem of peak load discharges in the sector can be explained by the strategic behavior of wine producers in the context ...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 16, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Degrowth and agri-food systems: a research agenda for the critical social sciences
AbstractDegrowth has become a recognised paradigm for identifying and critiquing systemic unsustainability rooted in the capitalist, growth-compelled economy. Increasingly, degrowth is discussed in relation to specific economic sectors such as the agri-food system. This paper builds on the foundational work of Gerber (2020) and Nelson and Edwards (2021). While both publications take a rather specific analytical or disciplinary focus —the former specifically connects critical agrarian studies and degrowth, the latter explores the contributions of the recent volume ‘Food for degrowth’—this paper takes stock of the em...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 13, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Joint problem framing: a transdisciplinary methodology for a sustainable future in mountain areas
The objective was to facilitate the development of a common vision and initiate collective thinking for a sustainable future of theterritoire. Participants (researchers and inhabitants) became acquainted with each other through different interfaces facilitating exchanges, reflections and co-constructions (collective walk, individual interviews, participatory workshops, informal daily exchanges). The research allowed us to capture different perspectives on local issues that cause conflicts, and then to discuss and identify needs and solutions. We aim to present and assess the methodology for joint problem framing developed ...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 13, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
Networks of action situations in social –ecological systems: current approaches and potential futures
Abstract“Action situations”—instances of decision-making and agency—have become central to studying social–ecological systems. This special feature collects research using the network of action situations (NAS) approach to structure the way these action situations are embedded into broader interde pendent instances of decision-making in different policy or discursive realms, spatial and jurisdictional context, or at different institutional levels. In this editorial, we summarize the key themes that emerged throughout the collection of the 17 articles included in this special feature. The edit orial emphasizes the...
Source: Sustainability Science - January 10, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: research
