Transdisciplinary partnerships for sustainability: an evaluation guide - Ryan Plummer; Jessica Blythe; Georgina G. Gurney; Samantha Witkowski; Derek Armitage (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Transdisciplinary research, in which academics and actors from outside the academy co-produce knowledge, is an important approach to address urgent sustainability challenges. Indeed, to meet these real-world challenges, governments, universities, development agencies, and civil society organizations have made substantial investments in transdisciplinary partnerships. Yet to date, our understanding of the performance, as well as impacts, of these partnerships for sustainability is limited. Here, we provide a guide to assess the performance and impacts of transdisciplinary partnerships for sustainability. We offer key steps to navigate and examine the partnership process for continuous improvement, and to understand how transdisciplinary partnership is contributing to sustainable futures.

The missing intangibles: nature’s contributions to human wellbeing through place attachment and social capital - Yuki Yoshida; Hirotaka Matsuda; Kensuke Fukushi; Kazuhiko Takeuchi; Ryugo Watanabe (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Communities in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes are aging and depopulating. While longstanding interdependence of humans and nature in such areas holds crucial hints for sustainable development, they continue to be undervalued by existing economic frameworks. We suspect omission of non-material nature’s contributions to people (NCPs) as a possible reason for this undervaluation and focus on the intangible aspects of human–nature relationships: people’s direct and emotional attachment to their land and interrelationships between close-knit human communities and a thriving natural environment. Field observations on Sado Island, Japan, and literature reviews informed our hypothesis that perceived nature, conceptual human–nature relationships, place attachment, and social relationships contribute to subjective wellbeing. Structural equation modeling of island-wide questionnaire responses confirmed our hypothesis. Nature contributes to wellbeing by enhancing place attachment and social relationships; ecocentrism contributes to greater values of perceived nature. Free-response comments elucidated how local foods and close interpersonal relationships enhance residents’ happiness and good quality of life, as well as how aging and depopulation impact their sense of loneliness. These results lend empirical support to the understanding of human–nature interdependency in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes. In assessing their value to local residents and society at large, greater consideration should be given to intangible aspects of human–nature relationships and quality of life.

Correction to: Enhancing the sustainability science agenda through Indigenous methodology - Diane Ruwhiu; Hitaua Arahanga‑Doyle; Roma Donaldson‑Gush; Corey Bragg; Janine Kapa (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Memory over matter?—a conceptual framework to integrate social–ecological l legacies in agricultural NCP co-production - Julia Grosinger; Matthew D. Potts; Nicolas Buclet; Sandra Lavorel (Sustainability Science, 2022)
To better account for how social–ecological legacies of social and ecological systems jointly shape the current composition, the quality and quantity of nature’s contribution to people (NCPs), we integrate the concept of NCP co-production into social–ecological system thinking. Our expanded framework highlights how NCP co-production is frequently entangled within its social–ecological context, such as legacies, current resources and social activities. Additionally, we underline the relevance of non-material and material dimensions of resources in NCP co-production. To illustrate the potential of this expanded framework, we explore its application to an agricultural system of the French Northern Alps. We conclude that this framework (1) facilitates the understanding of society–ecosystem interactions in a specific regional social–ecological context; (2) helps to better conceptualise the interdependencies between resources and social activities; (3) demonstrates how current rule sets to organise social–ecological legacies affect the entire NCP co-production chain. The framework’s further implementation requires more research to better understand the complex interlinkages between the social and the ecological subsystems that underpin socioeconomic activities.

Correction to: Kia Manawaroa Kia Puawai: enduring Māori livelihoods - Nichola Harcourt; Shaun Awatere; Jade Hyslop; Yvonne Taura; Mahuru Wilcox; Lara Taylor; Jonno Rau; Puke Timoti (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Correction to: Learning from knowledge co-production research and practice in the twenty-first century: global lessons and what they mean for collaborative research in Nunatsiavut - Melanie Zurba; Michael A. Petriello; Carly Madge; Paul McCarney; Breanna Bishop; Samantha McBeth; Mary Denniston; Hekia Bodwitch; Megan Bailey (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Non-material nature’s contributions to people from a marine protected area support multiple dimensions of human well-being - João Garcia Rodrigues; Sebastián Villasante; Isabel Sousa Pinto (Sustainability Science, 2022)
The non-material aspects of nature are frequently the most socially valued and demanded nature’s contributions to people (NCP). This is because non-material NCP often lay the foundations of key human well-being dimensions such as identities, experiences, and capabilities. Yet, while research on material NCP such as food and water abound, studies of non-material NCP are relatively scarce. This research gap results in a limited understanding of the relationships between non-material NCP and human well-being, especially in the marine and coastal environment. To understand the relationships between non-material NCP and subjective human well-being, we surveyed 453 users of Litoral Norte—a multiple-use marine protected area in Portugal. Our survey included 16 statement indicators reflecting theoretical constructs of subjective well-being. Using factor analysis, we found that subjective well-being derived from relating to, interacting with, and experiencing marine and coastal sites can be grouped into four interpretable cultural dimensions of well-being. These dimensions are ‘engagement with nature & health’, ‘sense of place’, ‘solitude in nature’, and ‘spirituality’. We also found statistically significant differences in reported levels of the four dimensions of well-being. Reported levels of well-being varied with interviewees’ socio-economic characteristics and environmental behaviour. Our findings offer interesting insights for marine conservation practice and policy that aims to foster both biodiversity and human well-being.

Valuation of nature’s contribution in Ladakh, India: an inclusive wealth method - Moinul Islam; Shunsuke Managi (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Enablers and challenges when engaging local communities for urban biodiversity conservation in Australian cities - Lucy Taylor; Cecily J. Maller; Kylie Soanes; Cristina E. Ramalho; Abhilasha Aiyer; Kirsten M. Parris; Caragh G. Threlfall (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Across all landscape types, environmental managers work with communities to conserve biodiversity. The effectiveness of conservation practice, however, relies on acknowledging differences in preferences and values of nature. Implementing urban conservation is challenging because cities have diverse social, cultural and ecological attributes, meaning there are no simple solutions for the management or co-management of biodiversity. There is little guidance for urban environmental managers on how to 1) engage local urban communities and 2), implement conservation actions specific to cities and their communities. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 environmental managers from government and not-for-profit organizations across five Australian capital cities to 1) explore how environmental managers engaged local communities, and 2) understand the factors that enabled or constrained that engagement in conservation. Our aim was to understand the enablers and constraints of engagement with a view to share insights and patterns in the context of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework’s recognition of the diversity of values associated with nature’s contributions to people (NCP). We found that urban environmental managers facilitated NCP by working to improve people’s relationship with nature. Interviewees reported a range of enablers for community-based biodiversity conservation, including supportive organizational policies and strategies, community support, engaging Indigenous advisory groups, and deploying multi-use, integrative human-nature designs. Constraints and challenges included a lack of top-down commitment, reliance on individuals, and overly simplistic engagement strategies. Based on these findings, we identified opportunities for improved community engagement relevant to organizations responsible for urban environmental management.

Correction to: Creative, embodied practices, and the potentialities for sustainability transformations - Julia Bentz; Letícia do Carmo; Nicole Schafenacker; Jörn Schirok; Sara Dal Corso (Sustainability Science, 2022)

How bountiful is the ocean? Participatory valuation of human–nature relationships in Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa, Japan - Aoi Sugimoto; Hiroaki Sugino; Juri Hori (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Valuations of nature are vital for effective conservation planning, and discussions are underway globally on improving the valuation process. Plural valuations of human–nature relationships are the key for better, more inclusive decision-making, which is demonstrated in this research using a case study on human–ocean relationships on Ishigaki Island, a part of the Yaeyama archipelago, Japan. We applied a network analysis to text data obtained from answers on questionnaires with open-ended questions to quantify the importance of values with respect to the pluralities among local people. Therefore, five core elements encompassing the values of the human–ocean relationships on Ishigaki Island were proposed as follows: “Livelihood,” “Attachment and inspiration,” “Local marine culture,” “Respect and fear for nature,” and “Anthropocene environmental problems.” The “Anthropocene environmental problems” element included social and environmental problems caused by various human activities including excessive tourism development, and the data collected through tourism market value analysis implied that past ecosystem service assessments may have over-valued or even triggered this issue. The “Respect and fear for nature” element was found to be important as a potentially unique value in these regions, but this is currently understudied within the literature related to ecosystem services and nature’s contributions to people. This study is among the first works to extract and visualize place-based human–ocean relations in an Asian country. We hope that our methods and findings will be applied to other areas, especially to the local communities of understudied countries and regions, to drive the transformative change of coral reef governance in the Anthropocene.

Linking multiple values of nature with future impacts: value-based participatory scenario development for sustainable landscape governance - Zuzana V. Harmáčková; Linda Blättler; Ana Paula D. Aguiar; Jan Daněk; Petr Krpec; Davina Vačkářová (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Reaching sustainable and just futures for people and nature requires tackling complex social-ecological challenges across multiple scales, from local to global. Pathways towards such futures are largely driven by people’s decisions and actions, underpinned by multiple types of motivations and values. Thus, understanding the link between potential futures and the values underpinning them represents a key question of current sustainability research, recently embraced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Particularly the understanding of causal chains leading from values to futures across different contexts and scales is vital to identify which sustainability pathways to collectively pursue. In this study, we build on a transdisciplinary knowledge co-creation process in an array of local case studies in protected areas in the Czechia (Central Europe). We apply the Life Framework of Values and the Three Horizons framework in an innovative value-based participatory scenario building process to explore the relationships between (1) multiple types of values, (2) actions taken by different types of stakeholders, and (3) their potential impacts on nature, nature’s contributions to people (including ecosystem services) and good quality of life. The resulting local-scale value-based pathways show the complex relationship between multiple types of values for nature and potential future trajectories. Finally, we reflect on the utility of value-based participatory scenario planning as a means to strengthen sustainable governance. We highlight that if participatory deliberation of values is to support decision-making processes, its design needs to carefully reflect local context and institutional set-up.

Human–nature connectedness and other relational values are negatively affected by landscape simplification: insights from Lower Saxony, Germany - Maraja Riechers; Berta Martín-López; Joern Fischer (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Landscape simplification is a worldwide phenomenon that impacts biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Humans benefit greatly from nature’s contributions to people in both material and immaterial ways, yet landscape simplification can undermine these contributions. Landscape simplification can have negative consequences, for example, for human–nature connectedness and other relational values. Major and rapid land-use change, together with a declining appreciation of nature by individuals and societies, in turn, could cause a downward spiral of disconnections. Our empirical research combined a comprehensive assessment of five dimensions of human–nature connectedness with the lens of relational values to assess how these are influenced by landscape simplification. Focusing on two rural landscapes with differing agricultural development in Lower Saxony (Germany), we conducted 34 problem-centred interviews. We found that landscape simplification, especially if rapid, negatively influenced human–nature connectedness and particular relational values such as social relations, social cohesion or cultural identity. We postulate that human–nature connectedness might have a balancing influence on preserving relational values, buffering negative impacts of landscape simplification. Losing connections to nature could potentially foster conflicts among actors with different values. We conclude that combining the notions of human–nature connectedness and relational values can generate valuable insights and may help to uncover new ways to foster sustainability.

Enhancing synergies in nature’s contributions to people in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes: lessons learnt from ten site-based projects in biodiversity hotspots - Yasuo Takahashi; Kylie J. Park; Yoji Natori; Devon Dublin; Rajarshi Dasgupta; Koji Miwa (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Trade-offs in nature’s contributions to people (NCP), particularly in material NCP versus regulating and non-material NCP, continue to rise. Socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) represent harmonious human–nature interactions resulting in positive outcomes for both biodiversity and human well-being, thus implying synergies among multiple NCP are possible. In case studies of ten projects selected from biodiversity hotspots under the GEF-Satoyama Project, we investigated whether and how synergies in NCP exist within SEPLS and explored management interventions that enhanced these synergies. Using the responses to an online survey completed by project managers from each project and drawing on project reports, we identified a wide array of NCP deriving from various ecosystems within the project SEPLS. Habitat and food provisions, both attributed to multiple ecosystem types, were key components of the NCP bundles present in the project SEPLS. Among the management options that enhanced NCP in SEPLS were food-centred approaches entailing organic agriculture, eco-labelling, branding and improved agricultural practices. Habitat-centred approaches included participatory biodiversity monitoring, ecosystem restoration, co-management and conservation agreements with landowners. Synergies in NCP were generated by integrating these interventions with enabling governance structures and through community empowerment. If combined with mapping and modelling techniques, identifying NCP bundles in SEPLS from local people’s perspectives as we outlined in this study, would help to better contextualise the analysis of NCP bundles. Such contextualised NCP bundle analyses will help field practitioners understand how to enhance synergies between multiple NCP and the broader conservation community could access untapped NCP knowledge.

The inclusive wealth index and sustainable development goals - Partha Dasgupta; Shunsuke Managi; Pushpam Kumar (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Spatial characterization of non-material values across multiple coastal production landscapes in the Indian Sundarban delta - Rajarshi Dasgupta; Shizuka Hashimoto; Mrittika Basu; Toshiya Okuro; Brian Alan Johnson; Pankaj Kumar; Shalini Dhyani (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Decision-making for nature’s contributions to people in the Cape Floristic Region: the role of values, rules and knowledge - Emmeline N. Topp; Jacqueline Loos; Berta Martín-López (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Nature conservation on privately owned land depends on land managers’ decision-making. Interactions between values, rules and knowledge ( vrk ) underpin decision-making, thus, it is important to understand these interactions to support conservation intentions. We investigated how different sets of vrk determine the decision-making context regarding the management and conservation of renosterveld, a critically endangered ecosystem in the Cape Floristic Region, and how this relates to land managers’ perceptions of nature’s contributions to people (NCP). From interviews with thirty land managers, we identified nine value types, four rule types, three knowledge types and 13 different NCP. We found that different vrk combinations can be grouped into three decision-making contexts: Bottom-up conservation, Top-down conservation and Utility. Each context is associated with the perception of different beneficial and detrimental NCP. Regulating NCP are perceived across all contexts, whereas more non-material NCP are associated with a Bottom-up conservation context and relational values, such as family ties. The prevalence of relational values in Bottom-up and Top-down conservation contexts illustrates the complexity and non-substitutability of the dynamic relationships between renosterveld and people. This indicates the importance of plural valuation in nature conservation to foster diverse NCP provided by renosterveld.

Natural capital for nature’s contributions to people: the case of Japan - Junya Kumagai; Mihoko Wakamatsu; Shizuka Hashimoto; Osamu Saito; Takehito Yoshida; Takehisa Yamakita; Keiko Hori; Takanori Matsui; Michio Oguro; Masahiro Aiba; Rei Shibata; Tohru Nakashizuka; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Recently, natural capital has gained the attention of researchers and policymakers to promote sustainability. Previous studies have investigated the value of ecosystem services with respect to specific areas or species. Other studies have investigated the value of various types of ecosystem services and natural capital by integrating a number of findings using meta-analyses at the global level. Although these studies have provided information on either the global value of natural capital or the local value of specific subjects, there is little evidence on the country-specific values of natural capital in Japan, which will provide useful information for national environmental policies. We investigated the perceived values of terrestrial and marine natural capital in Japan using internet surveys and payment card methods. Data on various natural forms of capital were collected in a unified format and comparable manner. We found that some explanatory variables, such as perceived importance and visit frequency, as well as sociodemographic characteristics, are significant drivers of the willingness to pay (WTP), which maintains each aspect of natural capital. In addition, we conducted future predictions of terrestrial and marine natural capital using a scenario developed in a previous study. Our results indicate that Japan should follow a population-dispersed scenario for the sustainable management of natural capital up to 2050.

Measuring relational values: do people in Greater Tokyo appreciate place-based nature and general nature differently? - Tomomi Saito; Shizuka Hashimoto; Mrittika Basu (Sustainability Science, 2022)

South American Camelids: their values and contributions to people - Bibiana Vilá; Yanina Arzamendia (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Beyond “blah blah blah”: exploring the “how” of transformation - Julia Bentz; Karen O’Brien; Morgan Scoville-Simonds (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Transforming environmental governance: critical action intellectuals and their praxis in the field - Hemant Ojha; Andrea J. Nightingale; Noémi Gonda; Benard Oula Muok; Siri Eriksen; Dil Khatri; Dinesh Paudel (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Over the past decade, widespread concern has emerged over how environmental governance can be transformed to avoid impending catastrophes such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and livelihood insecurity. A variety of approaches have emerged, focusing on either politics, technological breakthrough, social movements, or macro-economic processes as the main drivers of change. In contrast, this paper presents theoretical insights about how systemic change in environmental governance can be triggered by critical and intellectually grounded social actors in specific contexts of environment and development. Conceptualising such actors as critical action intellectuals (CAI), we analyze how CAI emerge in specific socio-environmental contexts and contribute to systemic change in governance. CAI trigger transformative change by shifting policy discourse, generating alternative evidence, and challenging dominant policy assumptions, whilst aiming to empower marginalized groups. While CAI do not work in a vacuum, nor are the sole force in transformation, we nevertheless show that the praxis of CAI within fields of environmental governance has the potential to trigger transformation. We illustrate this through three cases of natural resource governance in Nepal, Nicaragua and Guatemala, and Kenya, where the authors themselves have engaged as CAI. We contribute to theorising the ‘how’ of transformation by showing the ways CAI praxis reshape fields of governance and catalyze transformation, distinct from, and at times complementary to, other dominant drivers such as social movements, macroeconomic processes or technological breakthroughs.

Developing methods of knowledge co-production across varying contexts to shape Sustainability Science theory and practice - Kirsten Maclean; Alison Greenaway; Clemens Grünbühel (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Methodological sensitivities for co-producing knowledge through enduring trustful partnerships - Alison Greenaway; Holden Hohaia; Erena Le Heron; Richard Le Heron; Andrea Grant; Gradon Diprose; Nicholas Kirk; Will Allen (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Indigenous ways of caring for the environment have long been marginalised through research methodologies that are blind to a range of ways of knowing the world. Co-production of knowledge across Indigenous knowledge systems and Western scientific approaches is receiving attention both internationally and within the science system in Aotearoa New Zealand. Addressing power asymmetries as part of the co-production process is also slowly gaining recognition. Those involved in knowledge co-production initiatives must support learning about different world views, ways of knowing and accounting for the environment, while also enabling learning of the many biases and assumptions built into methodologies. This deliberation is needed, so non-Indigenous researchers can form enduring trustworthy partnerships and contribute to co-production initiatives. Presented here are insights shared by a cohort of environment research practitioners who have been deliberating on co-production occurring across knowledge systems in Aotearoa New Zealand. Originating from analysis of interviews undertaken about relationships recreational groups have with Te Urewera (forested hill country in the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand), this paper depicts a layered reflection on how non-Māori (primarily but not exclusively) across Aotearoa New Zealand are learning to be manuhiri (those being welcomed on arrival to a place by the Indigenous people of that place). As a contribution to this collective learning, a set of methodological sensitivities are proposed as support for research amidst changing relationships with places. Doing so we aim to contribute to reflexive and decolonising encounters with Indigenous approaches to environmental care.

Enhancing the sustainability science agenda through Indigenous methodology - Diane Ruwhiu; Hitaua Arahanga-Doyle; Roma Donaldson-Gush; Corey Bragg; Janine Kapa (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Including marginalised voices in agricultural development processes using an ethical community engagement framework in West Bengal, India - L. Carter; M. Cosijn; L. J. Williams; A. Chakraborty; S. Kar (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Kia Manawaroa Kia Puawai: enduring Māori livelihoods - Nichola Harcourt; Shaun Awatere; Jade Hyslop; Yvonne Taura; Mahuru Wilcox; Lara Taylor; Jonno Rau; Puke Timoti (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Neoliberalism has failed us. Our waterways are contaminated, their mauri (life-force) has diminished; our economic growth is fast approaching environmental limits, almost 4000 of our indigenous plant and animal species are currently threatened with or at risk of extinction, and our biodiversity has declined significantly. Increasingly stringent regulations are being rolled out by policy makers to protect natural systems, but these are framed by Eurocentric measures and concepts. If we are to achieve our vision to improve the health of te taiao (the environment) and our people, we need to change the way that people interact with their environment from a position of extractive resource use to one of reciprocal exchange. Te Ao Māori (the Māori world view) thinking offers us a pathway forward to achieving sustainable livelihoods that enable both the natural world and humans to prosper. In this paper, we showcase the operationalisation of He Waka Taurua, a framework for collaborative partnership based on the dual elevation of both Te Ao Māori and western science knowledge systems, through a Māori agribusiness case study.

On the discovery and enactment of positive socio-ecological tipping points: insights from energy systems interventions in Bangladesh and Indonesia - J. David Tàbara; Jenny Lieu; Rafia Zaman; Cynthia Ismail; Takeshi Takama (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Notions, such as leverage points, sensitive interventions, social tipping points, transformational tipping points, and positive tipping points, are increasingly attracting attention within sustainability science. However, they are also creating confusion and unresolved questions about how to apply these concepts when dealing with urgent global challenges such as rapid decarbonisation. We propose a relational methodology aimed at helping how to identify and support the emergence of positive ‘Social-Ecological Tipping Points’ (SETPs) that could bring about sustainability transformations. Our approach emphasises the need to pay attention to processes of social construction and to time dynamics. In particular, in a given social-ecological system, three key moments need to be considered: (1) The building of transformative conditions and capacities for systemic change, (2) A tipping event or intervention shifting the system towards a different trajectory or systems’ configuration, and (3) the structural effects derived from such transformation. Furthermore, we argue that the discovery and enactment of positive SETPs require considering multiple ontological, epistemological, and normative questions that affect how researchers and change agents define, approach, and assess their systems of reference. Our insights are derived from examining the implementation of household renewable energy systems at regional level in two rural areas of Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Transforming to a regenerative U.S. agriculture: the role of policy, process, and education - Cathy Day; Sarah Cramer (Sustainability Science, 2022)
U.S. agriculture is both a major source of global food and a key contributor to multiple interconnected crises. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and severe impacts on soil and water quality are among the challenges caused by U.S. industrial agriculture. Regenerative methods of farming are necessary to confront all these challenges simultaneously, in addition to addressing the increasing challenges to farm labor conditions. Transforming U.S. agriculture to a regenerative system will require a focus on creating traction for the values, beliefs, worldviews, and paradigms that effectively support such transformation while decreasing the friction that works against them. With a focus on creating traction for transformation, we review the factors and processes that tend to promote and maintain ecological improvements on farms. Starting from a case study that points to some of the sources of friction and traction in the current U.S. agricultural system, we use the framework of three spheres of transformation to focus discussion on how processes that form beliefs and values shape and can reshape farming. We develop a series of points of entry for engaging the systemic changes that will offer farmers traction for transformation. We review literature on agricultural networks, polycentric governance, social learning, agricultural education, and farmer characteristics that lend themselves to ecologically mindful change, thereby identifying interventions that tend to provide traction for change. These approaches, and the supports that allow rural communities and the people that work in them to survive and thrive, are necessary to create the traction needed for farms to undergo a shift to regenerative agricultural practices. We link these changes to the promise of the twentieth century New Deal agricultural programs and the potential of the Green New Deal.

Storying COVID-19: fear, digitalisation, and the transformational potential of storytelling - Maja Essebo (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Stories are being increasingly recognised for their potential as creators, not only depicters, of change. As such, they are receiving greater interest within sustainability science, not least in the approaches specifically focused on transformative processes of co-creation. But while highly powerful, stories are confined by both inherent and external frameworks that, if not acknowledged, limit their transformative potential. This paper addresses two such critical issues—fear and digitalisation—and discusses the ways in which they influence how and with what effects stories can be told. It uses the COVID-19 pandemic as illustration of storytelling processes and outlines some of the ways in which we can, and cannot, draw parallels between pandemic and climate change storytelling.

Can the sustainable development goals harness the means and the manner of transformation? - Siri Veland; Irmelin Gram-Hanssen; David Maggs; Amanda H. Lynch (Sustainability Science, 2022)
The 17 sustainable development goals and their 169 targets comprise a comprehensive list of prerequisites for human and planetary well-being, but they also implicitly invoke many of the very trade-offs, synergies, and parallelisms that drive global crises. Decision-makers are familiar with these internal conflicts, and there is no shortage of frameworks, blueprints, and roadmaps to accelerate sustainability. However, thus far, inevitable trade-offs among competing priorities for sustainability are not catalyzing the types of transformations called for, indeed, demanded, by the SDGs. Habitual technocratic approaches, which the SDG lend themselves to, will report on indicators and targets, but will not adequately represent the ambitions of the goals themselves. Addressing these habitual tendencies, this paper therefore considers the inner dimensions of transformation, including emotions and meaning-making. Music offers a rich source of metaphor to reimagine interconnections and communicates affectively the feelings and embodied dimensions of intellectual thought and creativity. We draw on Western musical composition and history to offer insights on an intellectual path-dependency leading up to the current disembodied indicator-based management and regulation of global environmental and societal crises, and on potential alternatives. As metaphors, we consider what the SDGs might ‘sound like’ as either 12-tone, contrapuntal, or improvisational expression. We suggest that for the SDGs to release their transformative potential, ‘sustainability improvisers’ with a handle on both the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of transformation are needed: harnessed with deep understanding of SDG indicators and targets, but with an ability to listen deeply and invite others to co-create transformative pathways.

Getting to the heart of transformation - Coleen Vogel; Karen O’Brien (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Climate change, biodiversity loss, the COVID-19 pandemic, and growing inequity and poverty are some of the key global challenges facing us today. These multiple and interacting crises have elicited growing appeals to the need for transformation. Yet while the scholarly literature on transformations is expanding rapidly, the concept risks becoming an empty buzzword or an alibi for superficial interventions and business-as-usual responses within research, policy and practice communities. In this perspective, we look more closely at what is needed to generate the deep and enduring changes that are called for to address multiple, interacting challenges. We do this by focusing on the prefix ‘trans-’, which signifies moving “across, over, or beyond” the current state of affairs, and we consider how the potential for equitable and sustainable transformations lies in our capacity to transcend entrenched boundaries and limits. Focusing on transdisciplinary, transgressive, and transcendent approaches, we reflect on how individuals, groups, and organizations can plant seeds and help to nurture the potential for radical transformative change at all scales.

Marae-opoly: supporting localised Māori climate adaptation decisions with serious games in Aotearoa New Zealand - Paula Blackett; Stephen FitzHerbert; Jordan Luttrell; Tania Hopmans; Hayley Lawrence; Jackie Colliar (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Far from being passive and/or static victims of climate change, indigenous peoples are hybridizing knowledge systems, and challenging and negotiating new environmental and social realities to develop their own adaptation options within their own registers of what is place and culture appropriate. Our paper seeks to demonstrate how we, as guests on Māori land, were able to develop a partnership with a Māori community facing difficult adaptation decisions regarding climate change hazards through the pragmatic navigation of multi-disciplinary research and practice. In particular, we co-developed and tested the potential of a serious game (Marae-opoly) approach as a platform which assembles cross-cultural climate change knowledge to learn, safely experiment and inform adaptation decisions. Marae-opoly was developed bespoke to its intended context—to support the creation of mutually agreeable dynamic adaptive policy pathways (DAPP) for localized flood adaptation. Game material was generated by drawing together detailed local knowledge (i.e. hydrology, climate data, mātauranga hapū) and situated adaptation options and accurate contextual data to create a credible gaming experience for the hapū of Tangoio Marae. We argue that the in-situ co-development process used to co-create Marae-opoly was fundamental in its success in achieving outcomes for the hapū. It also provided important lessons for the research team regarding how to enter as respectful guests and work together effectively to provide a resource to support our partners' adaptation decisions. The paper discusses the steps taken to establish research partnerships and develop the serious game and its subsequent playing, albeit we do not evaluate our indigenous research partners' adaptation decisions. Our contribution with this paper is in sharing an approach which cultivated the ground to enter as respectful guests and work together effectively to provide a resource for our partners' adaptation decisions.

Using knowledge to care for country: Indigenous-led evaluations of research to adaptively co-manage Kakadu National Park, Australia - Cathy J. Robinson; Jennifer Mairi Macdonald; Michael Douglas; Justin Perry; Samantha Setterfield; Dennis Cooper; Maria Lee; Jonathan Nadji; Sean Nadji; Alfred Nayinggul; Anita Nayinggul; Kenneth Mangiru; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Learning Together for and with the Martuwarra Fitzroy River - Rosemary Hill; Pia Harkness; Nat Raisbeck-Brown; Ilisapeci Lyons; Jorge G. Álvarez-Romero; Milena Kiatkoski Kim; Dennis Chungalla; Heather Wungundin; Mary Aiken; Jean Malay; Bernadette Williams; Rachel Buissereth; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Co-production across scientific and Indigenous knowledge systems has become a cornerstone of research to enhance knowledge, practice, ethics, and foster sustainability transformations. However, the profound differences in world views and the complex and contested histories of nation-state colonisation on Indigenous territories, highlight both opportunities and risks for Indigenous people when engaging with knowledge co-production. This paper investigates the conditions under which knowledge co-production can lead to improved Indigenous adaptive environmental planning and management among remote land-attached Indigenous peoples through a case study with ten Traditional Owner groups in the Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) Catchment in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. The research team built a 3D map of the river and used it, together with an interactive table-top projector, to bring together both scientific and Indigenous spatial knowledge. Participatory influence mapping, aligned with Traditional Owner priorities to achieve cultural governance and management planning goals set out in the Fitzroy River Declaration, investigated power relations. An analytical framework, examining underlying mechanisms of social learning, knowledge promotion and enhancing influence, based on different theories of change, was applied to unpack the immediate outcomes from these activities. The analysis identified that knowledge co-production activities improved the accessibility of the knowledge, the experiences of the knowledge users, strengthened collective identity and partnerships, and strengthened Indigenous-led institutions. The focus on cultural governance and management planning goals in the Fitzroy River Declaration enabled the activities to directly affect key drivers of Indigenous adaptive environmental planning and management—the Indigenous-led institutions. The nation-state arrangements also gave some support to local learning and decision-making through a key Indigenous institution, Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council. Knowledge co-production with remote land-attached Indigenous peoples can improve adaptive environmental planning and management where it fosters learning together, is grounded in the Indigenous-led institutions and addresses their priorities.

Creative, embodied practices, and the potentialities for sustainability transformations - Julia Bentz; Letícia do Carmo; Nicole Schafenacker; Jörn Schirok; Sara Dal Corso (Sustainability Science, 2022)
This paper argues for an integrative approach to sustainability transformations, one that reconnects body and mind, that fuses art and science and that integrates diverse forms of knowledge in an open, collaborative and creative way. It responds to scholarship emphasizing the importance of connecting disparate ways of knowing, including scientific, artistic, embodied and local knowledges to better understand environmental change and to foster community resilience and engagement. This paper draws on the experience of an arts-based project in Lisbon, Portugal, and explores embodied and performative practices and their potential for climate change transformations. It puts forward and enlivens an example, where such forms of engaging communities can provide new insight into how equitable, just and sustainable transformations can come about. The process involved a series of interactive workshops with diverse arts-based methods and embodied practices to create performative material. From this process, a space emerged for the creation of meaning about climate change. Three key elements stood out in this process as being potentially important for the emergence of meaning-making and for understanding the impact of the project: the use of metaphors, embedding the project locally, and the use of creative, embodied practices. This furthers research, suggesting that the arts can play a critical role in engaging people with new perspectives on climate change and sustainability issues by offering opportunities for critical reflection and providing spaces for creative imagination and experimentation. Such processes may be important for contributing to the changes needed to realize transformations to sustainability.

Learning from knowledge co-production research and practice in the twenty-first century: global lessons and what they mean for collaborative research in Nunatsiavut - Melanie Zurba; Michael A. Petriello; Carly Madge; Paul McCarney; Breanna Bishop; Samantha McBeth; Mary Denniston; Hekia Bodwitch; Megan Bailey (Sustainability Science, 2022)
An increasing need for novel approaches to knowledge co-production that effectively and equitably address sustainability challenges has arisen in the twenty-first century. Calls for more representative and contextual co-production strategies have come from Indigenous communities, scientific research forums, and global environmental governance networks. Despite calls to action, there are no systematic reviews that derive lessons from knowledge co-production scholarship to interpret their significance through the lens of a specific sociopolitical and cultural context. We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed and grey literature on knowledge co-production published from 2000 to 2020. Using a hybrid inductive and deductive thematic analysis, we identified two conceptual themes—guiding principles and approaches—to structure the synthesis and interpretation of 102 studies. We found that knowledge co-production studies often converged on four interrelated principles: recognition of contextual diversity bounding knowledge co-production, preemptive and intentional engagement with Indigenous knowledge holders, formation of shared understanding of the purpose of knowledge co-production, and empowerment of knowledge holders throughout the co-production cycle. These principles manifested in multiple approaches for interpreting, bridging, applying, and distributing power amongst diverse knowledge systems rooted in different epistemologies. We filter these findings through the social–ecological context that frames an ongoing knowledge co-production project with Inuit communities in Nunatsiavut, Canada: the Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures Project . Our review suggests that emerging forms of knowledge co-production principles and approaches yield immense potential in diverse contexts. Yet in many regions, including Nunatsiavut, principles alone may not be enough to account for systemic and contextualized issues (e.g., colonisation and data sovereignty) that can present roadblocks to equitable sustainability science in the twenty-first century if left unaddressed.

Regenerating soil, regenerating soul: an integral approach to understanding agricultural transformation - Hannah Gosnell (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Sustainability as transmutation: an alchemical interpretation of a transformation to sustainability - John Robinson (Sustainability Science, 2022)

What matters? The role of values in transformations toward sustainability: a case study of coffee production in Burundi - Milda Nordbø Rosenberg (Sustainability Science, 2022)
This paper examines the role of values in transformations toward sustainability. Values, generally defined as what people deem to matter, are increasingly gaining interest in and outside of academia. For example, sustainability aligns with specific values such as dignity, equality, safety, and harmony for people and nature. However, current approaches to values are mind-matter dualistic, and therefore failing to honor the inherently dynamic relations of socio-ecological systems. Drawing on new materialism, I explore values as part of the relations that make this world and propose to consider values as material-discursive practices. Ethnographic fieldwork was done in 2017 with coffee producers in Burundi who aimed to transform production by caring for the coffee and people that grow it. Based on interviews and participatory observation, I present how values were integral to transforming the relational aspects of coffee production. In this study, values of togetherness, care, dignity, and faith were dominant and were found to reconfigure the socio-ecological system of coffee production. I argue that values are inseparable from, and hence co-productive of, the material world that we experience and play a vital role in sustainability transformations.

Discursive entrepreneurship: ethical meaning-making as a transformative practice for sustainable futures - Chris Riedy (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Finding shared meaning in the Anthropocene: engaging diverse perspectives on climate change - Gail Hochachka (Sustainability Science, 2022)
The scientific evidence of climate change has never been clearer and more convergent, and calls for transformations to sustainability have never been greater. Yet, perspectives and social opinions about it remain fractured, and collaborative action is faltering. Climate policy seeks to forge a singular sense of climate change, dominated by an ‘information deficit model’ that focuses on transferring climate science to the lay public. Critics argue that this leaves out certain perspectives, including the plurality of meanings uncovered through participatory approaches. However, questions remain about how these approaches can better account for nuances in the psychological complexity of climate change, without getting stuck in the cul-de-sacs of epistemological relativism and post-truth politics. In this paper, I explore an approach through which we might find shared meaning at the interface of individual and collective views about climate change. I first present a conceptual framework that describes five psychological reasons why climate change challenges individual and collective meaning-making, and also provides a way to understand how meaning is organized within that. I then use this framework to inform the use of photo voice as a transformative (action-research) method, examining its ability to overcome some of the meaning-making challenges specific to climate change. I discuss how participants from a coffee cooperative in Guatemala reflected first on their own climate meanings and then engaged in a meaning-making process with other actors in the coffee value chain. Findings suggest a psychosocial approach to climate engagement—one that engages both subjectively and intersubjectively on the complexities unique to climate change—is helpful in acknowledging an ontological pluralism of ‘climate changes ’ amongst individuals, while also supporting a nexus-agreement collectively. This may in turn contribute to a more effective and ethical process of transformation.

Decolonising knowledge co-production: examining the role of positionality and partnerships to support Indigenous-led bush product enterprises in northern Australia - Kirsten Maclean; Emma Woodward; Diane Jarvis; Gerry Turpin; Dwayne Rowland; Phil Rist (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Teaching the “how” of transformation - Robin Leichenko; Irmelin Gram-Hanssen; Karen O’Brien (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Scenario planning tools for mitigating industrial impacts on First Nations subsistence economies in British Columbia, Canada - David Natcher; Naomi Owens-Beek; Ana-Maria Bogdan; Xiaojing Lu; Meng Li; Shawn Ingram; Ryan McKay; Abigael Rice (Sustainability Science, 2022)
The Montney Play Trend (MPT) is a 1090 km 2 region in northeast British Columbia that produces approximately one-third of western Canada’s natural gas output. In response to a proposed expansion of the MPT in 2016, the Government of British Columbia launched a Regional Strategic Environmental Assessment (RSEA) to identify the necessary conditions to achieve sustainable environmental outcomes. In this paper, we describe the methods and scenario planning tools that were developed to estimate how the development of the MPT might affect the subsistence economies of First Nations in the region. To demonstrate the utility of our approach, two impact assessments—Prince Rupert gas transmission pipeline and the Coastal GasLink pipeline—are presented. While no scenario can provide a definitive portrayal of exactly what will happen in the future, the tools that were co-developed are serving as an effective starting point for exploring possibilities that are at least consistent with current knowledge and can serve as a platform for collaborative learning and conflict management.

Decolonizing transformations through ‘right relations’ - Irmelin Gram-Hanssen; Nicole Schafenacker; Julia Bentz (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Climate change has been conceptualized as a form and a product of colonization. In this perspective, it becomes important to base climate change adaptation and transformation efforts on decolonizing practices and imaginaries. A central aspect of decolonization is contained in the Indigenous conceptualization of relationality. Exploring how decolonization and relationality might form the foundation for transformations research, we engage with the concept of ‘right relations’. In the context of this inquiry, we take ‘right relations’ to mean an obligation to live up to the responsibilities involved when taking part in a relationship—be it to other humans, other species, the land or the climate. We begin the paper by bringing together the literature on climate change adaptation, transformation and decolonization to show their interconnections and emphasize the need to engage with all three when talking about sustainability. Second, we invoke the idea of ‘right relations’ to address how non-Indigenous transformation researchers can further the process of decolonization as part of their research. Third, we offer insights from our own research experience with narrative practices to help exemplify how transformation researchers in all disciplines might embody ‘right relations’ centered around four characteristics: listening deeply, self-reflexivity, creating space and being in action. Embodying ‘right relations’ is a continuous process of becoming with no end point, and we do not wish to suggest that we hold the answers. Instead, we reflect on our role in this process and hope for these words to open a dialogue about how we might move towards a ‘decolonized humanity’. We suggest that willingness to be affected and altered by the process of reciprocal collaborations is key to imagining decolonial ways of being and that this in turn can be a powerful manner of generating equitable and sustainable transformations.

Impact of clean cooking fuel adoption on women’s welfare in India: the mediating role of women’s autonomy - Sonia Akter; Chitra Pratap (Sustainability Science, 2022)
While the health and environmental benefits of adopting clean cooking fuel are widely documented in the literature, the immediate and direct benefit—women’s time-saving for fuel collection/preparation and cooking—has received little or no attention. Using panel data from 6 energy-poor Indian states involving about 9000 households, we test whether liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) adoption enhances women’s welfare by reducing fuel collection/preparation and cooking time and improving the overall cooking experience through a convenient and efficient cooking arrangement. We also explore the association between women’s participation in decision-making and the likelihood of LPG adoption and refill. The findings reveal that LPG adopters save time by collecting firewood less frequently and preparing fewer pieces of dung cake than non-adopters. Additionally, LPG adopters save 15 min of cooking time per day than non-adopters. Finally, LPG adoption makes the cooking experience more convenient and simpler than traditional cooking fuel. Women’s sole or joint decision-making power is positively correlated with LPG adoption and refilling LPG cylinders. These findings imply that the true social benefit of clean cooking fuel adoption is much greater than the welfare gain accrued through greenhouse gas mitigation and health benefits from cleaner air. However, these positive externalities are less likely to be internalized in fuel choice decisions in households where women do not participate in important household decision-making.

An integrative framework for transformative social change: a case in global wildlife trade - Rumi Naito; Jiaying Zhao; Kai M. A. Chan (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Call for papers: “Special Purpose Money for Sustainability” - Alf Hornborg; Alexander Paulsson; Gabriella Spinelli; Paul M. Weaver (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Key capabilities for frugal innovation in developed economies: insights into the current transition towards sustainability - José Ángel López-Sánchez; María Leticia Santos-Vijande (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Correction to: A feminist ethos for caring knowledge production in transdisciplinary sustainability science - Rachel K. Staffa; Maraja Riechers; Berta Martín-López (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Sustainability impacts of ecosystem approaches to small-scale aquaculture in Bangladesh - Rodolfo Dam Lam; Benoy Kumar Barman; Denise P. Lozano Lazo; Zohura Khatun; Lutfa Parvin; Afrina Choudhury; Cristiano M. Rossignoli; Alice Karanja; Alexandros Gasparatos (Sustainability Science, 2022)
This study explores the sustainability impacts of adopting an ecosystem approach in underutilized homestead ponds (ecoponds) operated by women in Bangladesh. Households with ecoponds have significantly higher fish productivity, fish diversity, and income generation potential compared to households with similar underutilized ponds. Furthermore, certain dimensions of women’s empowerment are improved at the individual and household level (e.g., control of income and productive assets), without, however, addressing wider structural inequalities. Food security impacts are rather inconclusive, as despite the higher consumption of more diverse fish species among ecopond households, there is no significant effect on overall dietary diversity.

Cross-scale trade-off analysis for sustainable development: linking future demand for animal source foods and ecosystem services provision to the SDGs - Marta Kozicka; Sarah K. Jones; Elisabetta Gotor; Dolapo Enahoro (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Dietary transition towards higher consumption of animal source foods (ASF) associated with higher incomes across low and middle-income countries could have negative impacts on environmental systems and their potential in the long run to provide services necessary for achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this article, we integrate economic, land use allocation, and biophysical models to investigate trade-offs between the five ecosystem services and their contributions to various SDGs associated with agricultural expansion to meet future demand for ASF, using Tanzania as a case study. Our results show that under the scenario of sustainable socio-economic development, between 2010 and 2030 in Tanzania, per capita income grows by 169% and the share of population at risk of hunger declines from 34.8% to 23%. These changes can be associated on a macro-level with positive contributions to achievement of SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger). To satisfy feed demand for increased livestock production domestically, an increase by 21.4% of biomass production as compared to 2010 is needed. Analysis of alternative scenarios for meeting this new demand shows potential threats on a landscape level to achieving numerous SDGs and more generally to attaining sustainable food systems. Ecosystem-based contributions primarily decline to SDGs: SDG 3 (Health), SDG 6 (Clean Water), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities), SDG 13 (Climate) and SDG 15 (Terrestrial Life). We find that higher crop productivity and redesign of agro-ecosystems to increase on-farm tree cover could significantly limit these losses. Alternatively, the growing demand for ASF could be satisfied with imports, which would allow for reducing the trade-offs locally. However, this would result in at least partially only displacing ecosystem service losses to the exporting countries.

The social dynamics in establishing complex community climate change initiatives: the case of a community fridge in Scotland - E. Carmen; I. Fazey; G. Caniglia; J. Anthony; L. Penny (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Multiple factors are involved in community change processes, yet understanding how factors interact to shape these complex social processed is limited. This has important implications for both research and sustainability practice. This study examines key social dynamics in establishing complex community change initiatives using an in-depth action-oriented transdisciplinary approach with a case study of the development of a community fridge. Four critical social dynamics were identified: reinforcing interpretations, reinforcing interconnections, re-alignment of identities, and quality social relations involving multiple normative facets converging and diverging in different ways as the process unfolded. Initially, this led to a degenerative dynamic that heightened tensions between actors; however, re-alignment with wider social identities and expressions of the underlying normative dimensions involved in the initiative, a regenerative dynamic was created. This strengthened the conditions to support shared understanding, learning and enhanced relationships to enable different actors to work together to shape aspects of the initiative. Overall, the study highlights that future community-based change initiatives need to be guided by explicit approaches that work with social relationships, but where these relationships are conceptualised as dynamic normative spaces of interaction and exploration. This can inform understanding on how to develop beneficial reinforcing regenerative dynamics, where advances in one aspect of social relationships within initiatives can begin to reinforce others and ways that increase collective capacity as a whole. Developing this regenerative potential through social relationships within initiatives is thus critical for engaging with complex challenges across communities.

Translating the ‘water scarcity – water reuse’ situation into an information system for decision-making - Andrea B. Müller; Tamara Avellán; Jochen Schanze (Sustainability Science, 2022)
One key challenge of water resources management is the identification and processing of the information necessary for decision-making. This article aims to provide avenues for translating a ‘water scarcity–water reuse’ (WS–WR) situation into an information system. It is dedicated to supporting an integrated assessment in decision-making with the final goal of optimising water scarcity risk reduction and water reuse sustainability. The approach combines the following two strands: (1) specific interpretation of systems thinking and (2) systemic characterisation and interlinkage of indicators. The result is an analytical concept that translates the WS–WR situation into an information system consisting of two structured components, a multi-layer (ML) and a lane-based (LB) approach. While the multi-layer approach supports the description of the elements of the biophysical and information systems such as endpoints and descriptors, respectively, the lane-based approach aids in understanding the importance of indicators within the entire system and their distribution across risk and sustainability realms. The findings from a generic exemplification of the analytical concept depict the feasibility of identifying system-based endpoints representing the WS–WR situation and their translation via descriptors to an interlinked indicator set to jointly assess water scarcity risk and sustainability of the water reuse measures. Therefore, this analytical concept supports addressing the water resources management information challenge via a structured representation of the system’s complexity and the quantification and visualisation of interlinkages between the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of water scarcity risk and water reuse sustainability.

Attitudes of administrative decision-makers towards nature-based solutions for flood risk management in Germany - Leopold Tafel; Edward Ott; Mario Brillinger; Christoph Schulze; Barbara Schröter (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Over the last two decades, alternative and holistic concepts, such as Nature-based Solutions (NbS) were introduced and adopted by policy-makers, including to the field of flood protection, thereby causing a paradigm shift towards flood risk management. The inclusion of natural water retention measures (NWRM) such as dike relocation and floodplain restoration into the German guidelines for flood protection institutionalized the new concepts in Germany. Whereas small scale NbS and the affected population have already been subject to thorough scientific research, large-scale NbS and the decision-makers assigned with the measure’s implementation have yet to be studied. How do administrative decision-makers perceive the new approach and measures? Are there particular attitudes among the decision-makers regarding NbS? Which aspects of implementing large-scale NbS influence possible attitudes? Which hurdles do decision-makers concern for the implementation of the new concepts? This paper investigates these questions on the example of dike relocation and floodplain restoration using Q-methodology with administrative decision-makers of flood protection authorities in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The consecutive statistical analysis unveiled three significant viewpoints among the decision-makers. The viewpoints/attitudes were classified as 1. The Convinced , 2. The Concerned and, 3. The Evaluators , defined by varying and individual concerns on the implementation of dike relocation and floodplain restoration. Hereby, this study delivers insights on large-scale NbS as well as on the issues of their implementation.

A multi-scale integrated assessment model to support urban sustainability - Ben Purvis; Yong Mao; Darren Robinson (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Tools purposed towards supporting the transition to more sustainable urban futures typically focus on specific phenomena at the local level. Whilst such approaches remain valuable, there is a need to complement this micro approach with broader integrated methods which deal with the interaction between different urban components as well as their relation to processes and policies enacted at higher scales. Through the adaptation of the World3 global model of Meadows et al. (The limits to growth, Universe Books, New York, 1972; Limits to growth: the 30-year update. Earthscan, London 2005), integrating both an urban system layer, and a national data layer inputting new data, we develop a proof-of-concept multi-scale integrated assessment model. This model is used to explore the relationship between the sustainability of the urban system relative to higher-scale contexts. By emphasising feedback, cascading effects, and unintended consequences, such a modelling framework allows for deeper consideration of coupling mechanisms between subsystems both within the urban system and across broader scales. Following the description of our model, we take Meadows et al. (2005)’s ‘Scenario 3’ as a starting point to generate several scenarios exploring potential intervention taken at the level of the individual urban system to tackle food security and localised pollution. Our results demonstrate that the evolution of the urban system is sensitively dependent on wider global events, and that while concerted intervention may mitigate some effects, the future of an individual system is largely at the mercy of the evolution of the global system. We argue that the results of this exercise suggest an important role for multi-scale models for informing the wider context of policy measures taken across different hierarchical scales. In an extended discussion section, we outline barriers and potential routes for building our work beyond a proof-of-concept relating to data, boundaries, politicisation, and building confidence in model outputs.

A feminist ethos for caring knowledge production in transdisciplinary sustainability science - Rachel K. Staffa; Maraja Riechers; Berta Martín-López (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science has emerged as a viable answer to current sustainability crises with the aim to strengthen collaborative knowledge production. To expand its transformative potential, we argue that Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science needs to thoroughly engage with questions of unequal power relations and hierarchical scientific constructs. Drawing on the work of the feminist philosopher María Puig de la Bellacasa, we examine a feminist ethos of care which might provide useful guidance for sustainability researchers who are interested in generating critical-emancipatory knowledge. A feminist ethos of care is constituted by three interrelated modes of knowledge production: (1) thinking-with, (2) dissenting-within and (3) thinking-for. These modes of thinking and knowing enrich knowledge co-production in Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science by (i) embracing relational ontologies, (ii) relating to the ‘other than human’, (iii) cultivating caring academic cultures, (iv) taking care of non-academic research partners, (v) engaging with conflict and difference, (vi) interrogating positionalities and power relations through reflexivity, (vii) building upon marginalised knowledges via feminist standpoints and (viii) countering epistemic violence within and beyond academia. With our paper, we aim to make a specific feminist contribution to the field of Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science and emphasise its potentials to advance this field.

Bridge over troubled water: managing compatibility and conflict among thought collectives in sustainability science - Niko Soininen; Christopher M. Raymond; Hanna Tuomisto; Laura Ruotsalainen; Henrik Thorén; Andra-Ioana Horcea-Milcu; Milutin Stojanovic; Sanna Lehtinen; Rachel Mazac; Carlos Lamuela; Noora Korpelainen; Annukka Vainio; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Sustainability transformations call forth new forms and systems of knowledge across society. However, few tools and processes exist for promoting dialogue among different interests and normative stances in knowledge co-creation. In this article, we build on the notion of thought collectives to argue that understanding and moderating normative tensions are necessary if sustainability science is to provide successful solutions. Drawing on an analysis of the normative tensions between rival high-tech and low-tech thought collectives in the mobility and food production sectors, we discuss three strategic approaches: applying common evaluative frameworks, building contextual convergence and embracing complexity. We argue that these strategies indicate a need to distinguish different kinds of reflexivity in managing tensions among thought collectives. As a practical conclusion, we establish sets of reflexive questions to help sustainability scientists deploy the knowledge management strategies discussed.

How the COVID-19 pandemic impacts social scientific research on sustainability: questions of methodology, ethics and justice: comment on Santana et al. 2021 - Danny Otto; Annegret Haase (Sustainability Science, 2022)
In a highly relevant contribution, Santana et al. (2021) outlined the challenges for qualitative enquiries during the pandemic. We agree that overcoming these challenges is very important since qualitative research is vital for understanding both the impacts of COVID-19 on human communities around the globe and its significance for sustainable futures. However, we argue that a more fundamental approach is needed to address problems within scientific organisations, thinking and practices that directly affect qualitative research capabilities. In this comment, we focus on justice, research organisation, the ways social scientists position themselves and changed understandings of social worlds.

Participatory multi-stakeholder assessment of alternative development scenarios in contested landscapes - Milena Kiatkoski Kim; Jorge G. Álvarez-Romero; Ken Wallace; David Pannell; Rosemary Hill; Vanessa M. Adams; Michael Douglas; Robert L. Pressey (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Correction to: Beyond Japanese NDC: energy and macroeconomic transitions towards 2050 in emission pathways with multiple ambition levels - Diego Silva Herran; Shinichiro Fujimori (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Addressing our planetary crisis - Jim Falk; Faten Attig-Bahar; Rita R. Colwell; Swadhin K. Behera; Adel S. El-Beltagy; Joachim von Braun; Partha Dasgupta; Peter H. Gleick; Ryuichi Kaneko; Charles F. Kennel; Phoebe Koundouri; Yuan Tseh Lee; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Livelihood resilience in the face of multiple stressors: biocultural resource-based adaptive strategies among the vulnerable communities - Ranjay K. Singh; Rakesh Bhardwaj; Amish K. Sureja; Arvind Kumar; Anshuman Singh; B. N. Hazarika; S. M. Hussain; Anamika Singh; Y. J. Lego; Orik Rallen (Sustainability Science, 2022)

Teaching and learning for change: analysis of a post-graduate One Health program - Djibo Idrissa Sidikou; Thomas-Julian Irabor; Bassirou Bonfoh; Aurelie Binot; Daniel Faulx; Olivier Vandenberg; Stéphane Leyens; Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux (Sustainability Science, 2022)

A novel ecosystem (dis)service cascade model to navigate sustainability problems and its application in a changing agricultural landscape in Brazil - Julien Blanco; Beatriz Bellón; Liane Barthelemy; Baptiste Camus; Louise Jaffre; Anne-Sophie Masson; Alix Masure; Fabio de Oliviera Roque; Franco L. Souza; Pierre-Cyril Renaud (Sustainability Science, 2022)

A framework linking farming resilience with productivity: empirical validation from Poland in times of crises - Katarzyna Zawalińska; Adam Wąs; Paweł Kobus; Katarzyna Bańkowska (Sustainability Science, 2022)
Farming sectors’ resilience has been built over decades with the aid of policies and institutions. However, its actual standing can be assessed in times of crises when farms have to overcome particular challenges. We use a large-scale farming sectors dataset FADN spanning 2006–2015 in which two major economic crises occurred—the global economic crisis of 2008 and the Russian embargo of 2014—to exemplify our approach to resilience’s assessment based on the Polish farming sectors. We introduce a distinction between “potential resilience” versus “revealed resilience” where the former is assessed based on resilience capacities (robustness, adaptability and transformability), while the latter is assessed based on the observed decomposition of total factor productivity (TFP) changes in response to the adverse economic shocks. Hence, the proposed framework directly links productivity with the two types of resilience. We applied the Färe-Primont method of TFP decomposition, into technological change and various types of efficiency changes and a detailed farm survey to distinguish between the drivers of technological changes in each farming sector such as specific innovations and ecosystem services. Our findings show that farms differ in their revealed resilience both among the sectors and between two different shock events. Only field crop farms and granivores farms (pig and poultry) maintained their resilience to both crises, staying robust and/or adaptable. The former had the most productive technology and were leaders in applying innovations while the latter were second best in innovations and fairly good in their application of ecosystem-based services into their technology. Other farm types failed to be resilient to the first crisis but proved robust during the second. The outcomes of the study have implications for sustainability oriented policies.

A framework for assessing coupling and de-coupling trajectories in river social-ecological systems - Cristina Quintas-Soriano; Jodi Brandt; Colden V. Baxter; Elena M. Bennett; Juan Miguel Requena-Mullor; Antonio J. Castro (Sustainability Science, 2022)
The degree of coupling between the social and ecological components of social-ecological systems is seen as fundamental to understanding their functioning, interactions and trajectories. Yet, there is limited work about how to empirically understand the degree of coupling between social and ecological systems, nor the processes by which the degree of coupling could change over time. Here, we introduce a conceptual framework for characterizing trajectories over time of coupling and de-coupling in social-ecological river systems. We analyze two conceptual scenarios describing coupling and de-coupling trajectories in a social-ecological system and define a series of key concepts for understanding social-ecological system trajectories. We tested these coupling and de-coupling trajectories theory by linking these concepts to empirical case examples of two river social-ecological systems in the western United States. Finally, we propose a quantitative approach with the potential for evaluating the level of social-ecological coupling and de-coupling trajectories in other SES contexts. This paper represents an advancing on the identification of specific actions that explain current SES trajectories and immediate actions to reinforce or shift the trajectory.

Correction to: Natural capitals for nature’s contributions to people: the case of Japan - Junya Kumagai; Mihoko Wakamatsu; Shizuka Hashimoto; Osamu Saito; Takehito Yoshida; Takehisa Yamakita; Keiko Hori; Takanori Matsui; Michio Oguro; Masahiro Aiba; Rei Shibata; Tohru Nakashizuka; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2022)
A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00939-6

Analyzing the contributions of transdisciplinary research to the global sustainability agenda in African cities - Sokhna Thiam; Fati Aziz; Sandra Boatemaa Kushitor; Akosua Baah Kwarteng Amaka-Otchere; Blessing Nonye Onyima; Oghenekaro Nelson Odume (Sustainability Science, 2021)
It is almost 6 years since the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted, and countries have less than 10 years to achieve the set targets. Unlike most of the world, sub-Saharan African countries have reported only minimal progress, one that the COVID-19 pandemic has unfortunately disrupted. Transdisciplinary research (TDR) has been conceptualized as important for achieving sustainability goals such as the SDGs. In this paper we (i) analyze the contributions of the five TDR projects toward the achievements of the SDGs at the city level in Africa, and (ii) explore the interactions between the assessed SDGs across the five projects. The projects’ contributions towards the achievements of the SDGs were examined in three thematic areas: (i) contexts, (ii) processes and (iii) products. The five projects were funded under the Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA) programme. The projects were being implemented in nine cities across five African countries Accra (Ghana), Kumasi (Ghana), Korhogo (Ivory Coast), Abuja Metro (Nigeria), Mbour (Senegal), Cape Town (South Africa), Nelson Mandela Bay Metro (South Africa), Grahamstown (South Africa) and Kampala (Uganda) and data were collected on each of the five projects in these cities. The contextual contributions include co-analysis and reflection on policy and institutional silos and social innovations amenable to contextual complexity. A shift in how actors perceived and conceptualized sustainability challenges and the role of the projects as transformative social agents constituted the two main process contributions. Tool development, virtual models and maps, and handbook are the product contributions by the projects. Our analysis of the SDG interactions indicated the need for cross-sectoral collaborations to ensures resource use efficiency, knowledge and experience sharing, and seamless flow of information and data to accelerate the SDG implementation.

Climate change in rural Pakistan: evidence and experiences from a people-centered perspective - Amber Ajani; Kees van der Geest (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Pakistan is home to a wide range of geographical landscapes, each of which faces different climate change impacts and challenges. This article presents findings from a National Geographic Society funded project, which employed a people-centered, narratives-based approach to study climate impacts and adaptation strategies of people in 19 rural study sites in four provinces of Pakistan ( N = 108). The study looked at six climate-related stressors—changes in weather patterns, floods, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods, drought, heat waves, and sea-level rise—in the coastal areas of Sindh, the desert of Thar, the plains of Punjab, and the mountains of Hunza, Gilgit, and Chitral. Speaking to people at these frontlines of climate change revealed much about climate suffering and trauma. Not only is the suffering induced by losses and damages to property and livelihood, but climate impacts also take a heavy toll on people’s psycho-social wellbeing, particularly when they are displaced from their homes. The findings further demonstrate that people try to adapt in various ways, for instance by altering their agricultural practices, but they face severe barriers to effective adaptation action. Understanding people’s perceptions of climate change and incorporating their recommendations in adaptation planning can help policy-makers develop a more participatory, inclusive, and holistic climate resilience framework for the future.

Crisis, transformation, and agency: Why are people going back-to-the-land in Greece? - Karina Benessaiah; Hallie Eakin (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Discourses for deep transformation: perceptions of economic growth in two rural communities in Lower Saxony, Germany - Hannah Marlen Lübker; David J. Abson; Maraja Riechers (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Ecological degradation stemming from the paradigmatic pursuit of economic growth is well known. Transforming the current dominant economic discourse will be a great challenge of our time and one that can foster a transformation to a more sustainable state. Little research exists concerning perceptions of growth by individuals in rural areas. In this empirical study, we analysed 33 interviews from two rural communities in Northwest Germany through qualitative content analysis. Our results highlight four archetypical perceptions of economic growth: (1) growth as inherently positive, (2) growth as being self-evident and without alternatives, (3) growth as a systemic constraint, and (4) growth as critical and with negative consequences. Differing perceptions about five key themes within broader societal discourses shape the four archetypical perceptions. All four archetypes are characterized by a common perception of systemic constraints, a lack of concrete alternatives to the current economic system and a lack of individual and societal agency, showing a system that is locked into its current trajectory. The understanding of the consequences of growth, stemming from the knowledge of rural inhabitants, can lay the groundwork for future research on discourses of growth. We envision a strengthening of tangible alternatives to the dominant economic growth paradigm within and with the local communities as necessary for a sustainability transformation.

Common ground: integrated landscape approaches and small and medium forest enterprises for vibrant forest landscapes - Rebecca Anne Riggs; James Douglas Langston; Lauren Nerfa; Agni Klintuni Boedhihartono; Chris Gaston; Adinda Rizky Herdianti; Emilio Valeri; Jeffrey Sayer (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Narratives underlying research in African river basin management - Fritz Kleinschroth; Caroline Lumosi; Amare Bantider; Yilikal Anteneh; Caroline van Bers (Sustainability Science, 2021)
River modifications through hydropower dams and other infrastructure have far-reaching economic, ecological and social effects that are viewed in highly contrasting ways depending on underlying narratives. As part of a Euro-African research consortium funded by the European Commission we studied pathways for sustainable river basin management in the Omo-Turkana basins in Ethiopia and Kenya. Based on a literature review, stakeholder workshops, targeted interviews and considering our own positionality, we identified underlying narratives related to (a) economic transformation and modernization, (b) indigenous rights and (c) nature conservation, which were all connected through water, energy, food and ecosystems within a (d) landscape nexus. Yet, we also identified a (e) living museum narrative suggesting that international advocacy for indigenous rights and nature conservation is a means through which Western societies want to preserve African societies in an “undeveloped” state. National governments use this narrative to silence external critique, while the tourism industry promotes it to advertise visits to pastoralist tribes. This narrative reveals powerful, yet largely ignored hindrances for collaborative projects resulting from cultural and historical biases in Euro-African collaborations. Based on our analysis, we argue that international research projects in sustainability sciences need to increase the transparency of open and hidden narratives that influence research directions and power relationships between scientific partners, also those using mostly technically-driven approaches. We emphasize that African landscapes are not to be viewed as living museums, and collaborative research should be based on fairness, respect, care, and honesty to allow for multiple narratives that underlie research.

Business models for the Anthropocene: accelerating sustainability transformations in the private sector - Sarah Burch; Jose Di Bella (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The rapid pace and escalating severity of climate change impacts have made clear that current incremental approaches to pressing global socio-ecological challenges are insufficient to address the root causes of unsustainable development. This has spurred increasing interest in the dynamics of transformation: the actors, capacities and resources needed to fundamentally shift development paths. The private sector is at the core of essential transformative processes necessary to build a future premised on environmental integrity, social inclusivity, and resilience. The activities of the private sector are structured and driven by their underlying business model, which is at its core a set of assumptions about how a business creates, extracts and delivers value. Dominant conceptualizations of the business model remain a narrow imagining of how business interacts with societal processes and shape development patterns. In this article we call for the conceptualization and design of business models anchored in societal purpose and operating within planetary boundaries, apt for the Anthropocene. We identify five building blocks for business models where transdisciplinary sustainability research can accelerate entrepreneurial activity that fosters desirable sustainable pathways by enabling the creation of new capabilities in support of broader transformational processes. This article seeks to inform (and potentially re-orient the efforts of) transdisciplinary scholars engaging the private sector in the co-production of community-based sustainability and resilience-building initiatives. Likewise, the building blocks provide a guide for businesses who aim to deepen their capacity to build new partnerships, identify, and incorporate new information on climate risk into their operations and develop practices, sequences and procedures oriented toward the sustainable development goals and disaster resilience.

How do we effectively communicate air pollution to change public attitudes and behaviours? A review - Rosie Riley; Laure de Preux; Peter Capella; Cristian Mejia; Yuya Kajikawa; Audrey de Nazelle (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Solutions that engage the public are needed to tackle air pollution. Technological approaches are insufficient to bring urban air quality to recommended target levels, and miss out on opportunities to promote health more holistically through behavioural solutions, such as active travel. Behaviour change is not straightforward, however, and is more likely to be achieved when communication campaigns are based on established theory and evidence-based practices. We systematically reviewed the academic literature on air pollution communication campaigns aimed at influencing air pollution-related behaviour. Based on these findings, we developed an evidence-based framework for stimulating behaviour change through engagement. Across the 37 studies selected for analyses, we identified 28 different behaviours assessed using a variety of designs including natural and research-manipulated experiments, cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys and focus groups. While avoidance behaviour (e.g. reducing outdoor activity) followed by contributing behaviours (e.g. reducing idling) were by far the most commonly studied, supporting behaviour (e.g. civil engagement) shows promising results, with the added benefit that supporting local and national policies may eventually lead to the removal of social and physical barriers that prevent wider behavioural changes. Providing a range of actionable information will reduce disengagement due to feelings of powerlessness. Targeted localized information will appear more immediate and engaging, and positive framing will prevent cognitive dissonance whereby people rationalize their behaviour to avoid living with feelings of unease. Communicating the co-benefits of action may persuade individuals with different drivers but as an effective solution, it remains to be explored. Generally, finding ways to connect with people’s emotions, including activating social norms and identities and creating a sense of collective responsibility, provide promising yet under-explored directions. Smartphones provide unique opportunities that enable flexible and targeted engagement, but care must be taken to avoid transferring responsibility for action from national and local authorities onto individuals. Multidisciplinary teams involving artists, members of the public, community and pressure groups, policy makers, researchers, and businesses, are needed to co-create the stories and tools that can lead to effective action to tackle air pollution through behavioural solutions.

Do biosphere reserves bolster community resilience in coupled human and natural systems? Evidence from 5 case studies in Spain - Jose V. de Lucio; Francisco Seijo (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Unraveling the politics of ‘doing inclusion’ in transdisciplinarity for sustainable transformation - Kristiaan P. W. Kok; Mads D. Gjefsen; Barbara J. Regeer; Jacqueline E. W. Broerse (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Transdisciplinary research and innovation (R&I) efforts have emerged as a means to address challenges to sustainable transformation. One of the main elements of transdisciplinary efforts is the ‘inclusion’ of different stakeholders, values and perspectives in participatory R&I processes. In practice, however, ‘doing inclusion’ raises a number of challenges. In this article, we aim to contribute to re-politicizing inclusion in transdisciplinarity for transformation, by (1) empirically unraveling four key challenges that emerge in the political practice of ‘doing inclusion’, (2) illustrating how facilitators of inclusion processes perform balancing acts when confronted with these challenges, and (3) reflecting on what the unfolding dynamics suggests about the politics of stakeholder inclusion for societal transformation. In doing so, we analyze the transdisciplinary FIT4FOOD2030 project (2017–2020)—an EU-funded project that aimed to contribute to fostering EU R&I systems’ ability to catalyze food system transformation through stakeholder engagement in 25 Living Labs. Based on 3 years of action-research (including interviews, workshops and field observations), we identified four inherent political challenges to ‘doing inclusion’ in FIT4FOOD2030: (1) the challenge to meaningfully bring together powerful and marginalized stakeholders; (2) combining representation and deliberation of different stakeholder groups; (3) balancing diversities of inclusion with directionalities implied by transformative efforts; and (4) navigating the complexities of establishing boundaries of inclusion processes. We argue that by understanding ‘doing inclusion’ as a political practice, necessitating specificity about the (normative) ambitions in different inclusion settings, facilitators may better grasp and address challenges in transdisciplinarity for transformation.

Considering equity in wildfire protection - Matthew R. Auer (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Endangering the integrity of science by misusing unvalidated models and untested assumptions as facts: General considerations and the mineral and phosphorus scarcity fallacy - Roland W. Scholz; Friedrich W. Wellmer (Sustainability Science, 2021)
There is increasing demand for science to contribute to solving societal problems (solutionism). Thereby, scientists may become normative activists for solving certain problems (advocacy). When doing this, they may insufficiently differentiate between scientific and political modes of reasoning and validation (de-differentiationism), which is sometimes linked to questionable forms of utilizing the force of facts (German: Faktengewalt ). Scientific findings are simplified and communicated in such a way that they acquire a status as unfalsifiable and absolutely true (truth to power). This becomes critical if the consistency and validation of the findings are questionable and scientific models underlying science activists’ actions are doubtful, oversimplified, or incorrect. Herein, we exemplarily elaborate how the integrity of science is endangered by normative solutionist and sociopolitically driven transition management and present mineral scarcity claims that ignore that reserves or resources are dynamic geotechnological-socioeconomic entities. We present the main mineral scarcity models and their fallacious assumptions. We then discuss the phosphorus scarcity fallacy, which is of particular interest as phosphorus is non-substitutable and half of all current food production depends on fertilizers (and thus phosphorus). We show that phosphorus scarcity claims are based on integrating basic geoeconomic knowledge and discuss cognitive and epistemological barriers and motivational and sociopolitical drivers promoting the scarcity fallacy, which affects high-level public media. This may induce unsustainable environmental action. Scientists as honest knowledge brokers should communicate the strengths but also the constraints and limits of scientific modeling and of applying it in reality.

Stakeholder perceptions about the drivers, impacts and barriers of certification in the Ghanaian cocoa and oil palm sectors - Eric Brako Dompreh; Richard Asare; Alexandros Gasparatos (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Translating the sustainable development goals in national development planning: the case of Mozambique’s energy for all programme - Eléusio Viegas Filipe; Kei Otsuki; Jochen Monstadt (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The international community has emphasised the importance of governments adapting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to national policy priorities. Whilst sustainability assessment frameworks and indicators are meant to facilitate adaptation, their assumption of high institutional capacity based on Global North contexts is a shorthand for Global South contexts. In particular, limited institutional capacity means that electricity utilities in the Global South struggle with meeting national and international demands to universalise access to basic services for the entire population as well as in ensuring financial sustainability. Based on a case study of the Mozambique government’s National Energy for All Programme, this paper analyses the ways the public electricity company Electricity of Mozambique (known as EDM) has been translating SDG 7.1 on ‘ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services’ into its national political context given the conditionalities of international donors and investors. One outcome of this translation, a compartmentalisation of EDM’s organisational structure, is counterproductive to the integrative and autonomous approach of the SDGs for sustainable development at the national level. To reduce organisational fragmentation and dependency of national project implementers such as EDM on donor interventions, the international community needs to tailor and better align SDG-oriented interventions with the conditions of Southern institutional frameworks and their political contexts.

Values, science, and competing paradigms in sustainability research: furthering the conversation - Chad S. Boda (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Sustainability science is fundamentally a problem-driven and solutions-oriented science which necessitates engagement with questions of interdisciplinarity and normativity. Nagatsu et al. (2020) recently investigated the significance of these peculiar characteristics and produce a useful and timely overview of the problems facing sustainability science, as a science. Perhaps the most crucial and crosscutting challenge they identify regards the need for researchers to justify the particular values guiding sustainability research. In the spirit of advancing Nagatsu et al.’s agenda for further developing the role of values in sustainability science, I argue two things. First, that there are in practice several active and competing approaches to dealing with the problem of normativity in sustainablity science that provide options to researchers. Second, that this unresolved tension at the core of sustainability science points to a more overarching problem, namely the need to more explicitly identify coherent, competing research paradigms within the field.

Preparing for a diminished cryosphere - Julio C. Postigo; Kenneth R. Young (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Grounding global environmental assessments through bottom-up futures based on local practices and perspectives - Laura Pereira; Ghassem R. Asrar; Rohan Bhargava; Laur Hesse Fisher; Angel Hsu; Jason Jabbour; Jeanne Nel; Odirilwe Selomane; Nadia Sitas; Christopher Trisos; James Ward; Mandy van den Ende; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Future scenarios and pathways of potential development trajectories are powerful tools to assist with decision-making to address many sustainability challenges. Such scenarios play a major role in global environmental assessments (GEAs). Currently, however, scenarios in GEAs are mostly developed at the global level by experts and researchers, and locally imagined, bottom-up scenarios do not play a role in such assessments. In this paper, we argue that addressing future sustainability challenges for achieving more equitable development in GEAs requires a more explicit role for bottom-up inspired futures. To this end, this paper employs an innovative global assessment framework for exploring alternative futures that are grounded in local realities and existing practical actions, and that can be appropriately scaled to the required decision-making level. This framework was applied in the context of the UN’s Global Environment Outlook 6, a major example of a GEA. We developed novel methods for synthesizing insights from a wide range of local practices and perspectives into global futures. We collected information from crowdsourcing platforms, outcomes of participatory workshops in different regions of the world, and an assessment of reported regional outlooks. We analysed these according to a framework also used by an integrated assessment model in the same GEA. We conclude that bottom-up approaches to identify and assess transformative solutions that envision future pathways towards greater sustainability significantly strengthen current GEA scenario-development approaches. They provide decision makers with required actionable information based on tangible synergistic solutions that have been tested on the ground. This work has revealed that there are significant opportunities for the integration of bottom-up knowledge and insights into GEAs, to make such assessments more salient and valuable to decision makers.

Lifestyle carbon footprints and changes in lifestyles to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, and ways forward for related research - Ryu Koide; Michael Lettenmeier; Lewis Akenji; Viivi Toivio; Aryanie Amellina; Aditi Khodke; Atsushi Watabe; Satoshi Kojima (Sustainability Science, 2021)
This paper presents an approach for assessing lifestyle carbon footprints and lifestyle change options aimed at achieving the 1.5 °C climate goal and facilitating the transition to decarbonized lifestyles through stakeholder participatory research. Using data on Finland and Japan it shows potential impacts of reducing carbon footprints through changes in lifestyles for around 30 options covering food, housing, and mobility domains, in comparison with the 2030 and 2050 per-capita targets (2.5–3.2 tCO 2 e by 2030; 0.7–1.4 tCO 2 e by 2050). It discusses research opportunities for expanding the footprint-based quantitative analysis to incorporate subnational analysis, living lab, and scenario development aiming at advancing sustainability science on the transition to decarbonized lifestyles.

Has sustainability science turned left? - Örjan Bodin (Sustainability Science, 2021)
As the urgent need for societies to steer towards sustainability is becoming increasingly apparent, sustainability science as a research community is facing difficult challenges successfully navigating the intensifying and often harsh political debates. An important line of conflict is (still) between the political left and right, although other conflicts are gaining increasing attention. As private corporations are stepping up their conservation agendas and non-governmental organizations are increasingly embracing market mechanisms to achieve healthier ecosystems, the scholarly community of sustainability science appears to be turning more to the political left. To navigate these entangled scientific and political landscapes, accomplishing constructive debates emphasizing the value of nurturing a broad spectra of viewpoints should be given higher priority in all forums where issues of sustainability are discussed.

Operationalizing the Nature Futures Framework to catalyze the development of nature-future scenarios - Carolyn Lundquist; Shizuka Hashimoto; Mekuria Argaw Denboba; Garry Peterson; Laura Pereira; Dolors Armenteras (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Realising potentials for arts-based sustainability science - María Heras; Diego Galafassi; Elisa Oteros-Rozas; Federica Ravera; Luis Berraquero-Díaz; Isabel Ruiz-Mallén (Sustainability Science, 2021)
In recent years, a profusion of methods, practices, and experiences has emerged in the interface between arts and sustainability science. Drawing from two strong currents within sustainability science, namely, the emphasis on transdisciplinary approaches and the need to move towards societal transformations, such hybrid approaches seemingly contribute with unique methods to sustainability research. Despite repeated claims from sustainability scientists about art’s role in sustainability transformations, joint analyses with artists and practitioners are still rare. We conveyed a collaborative and exploratory workshop with scientists, artists, and practitioners from the fields of education, public engagement, and activism to identify the potentials for arts-based sustainability research. Participants were invited to facilitate and trial various artistic practices from disciplines of performative, literary, narrative, audio-visual and plastic arts. In this paper, we present five key areas identified in the workshop, where arts-based methods can significantly contribute to sustainability research: embracing more-than-cognitive aspects of knowledge, improving communication, grappling with power dynamics, shifting relationships to nature, and facilitating futures visioning. Workshop participants also identified challenges related to power dynamics, tensions across paradigms, and implementation conditions, providing insights into how to leverage arts’ potential to respond to global environmental challenges while boosting societal transformations. We then discuss research questions identified that address challenges and limitations for arts-based research in sustainability. Overall, these results suggest there are yet untapped resources and experiences within the field of arts-based sustainability science. (Audio-visual abstract available on S1)

On which common ground to build? Transferable knowledge across cases in transdisciplinary sustainability research - Gabriela Wuelser; Carolina Adler; Thomas Breu; Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn; Urs Wiesmann; Christian Pohl (Sustainability Science, 2021)
To support societal problem solving, transdisciplinary research (TDR) uses knowledge co-production focusing on relevance and validity in a studied case and its particular social–ecological context. In the first instance, the resulting situated knowledge seems to be restricted to these single cases. However, if some of the knowledge generated in TDR could be used in other research projects, this would imply that there is a body of knowledge representing this special type of research. This study used a qualitative approach based on the methodology of grounded theory to empirically examine what knowledge is considered transferable to other cases, if any. 30 leaders of 12 Swiss-based TDR projects in the field of sustainable development were interviewed, representing both academia and practice. The transferable knowledge we found consists of the following: (1) Transdisciplinary principles, (2) transdisciplinary approaches, (3) systematic procedures, (4) product formats, (5) experiential know-how, (6) framings and (7) insights, data and information. The discussion of TDR has predominantly been focusing on transdisciplinary principles and approaches. In order to take knowledge co-production in TDR beyond an unmanageable field of case studies, more efforts in developing and critically discussing transferable knowledge of the other classes are needed, foremost systematic procedures, product formats and framings.

A scenario- and spatial-downscaling-based land-use modeling framework to improve the projections of plausible futures: a case study of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, China - Xiangyun Shi; Takanori Matsui; Chihiro Haga; Takashi Machimura; Shizuka Hashimoto; Osamu Saito (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Using citizen science data to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals: a bottom-up analysis - Laura Ballerini; Sylvia I. Bergh (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Official data are not sufficient for monitoring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): they do not reach remote locations or marginalized populations and can be manipulated by governments. Citizen science data (CSD), defined as data that citizens voluntarily gather by employing a wide range of technologies and methodologies, could help to tackle these problems and ultimately improve SDG monitoring. However, the link between CSD and the SDGs is still understudied. This article aims to develop an empirical understanding of the CSD-SDG link by focusing on the perspective of projects which employ CSD. Specifically, the article presents primary and secondary qualitative data collected on 30 of these projects and an explorative comparative case study analysis. It finds that projects which use CSD recognize that the SDGs can provide a valuable framework and legitimacy, as well as attract funding, visibility, and partnerships. But, at the same time, the article reveals that these projects also encounter several barriers with respect to the SDGs: a widespread lack of knowledge of the goals, combined with frustration and political resistance towards the UN, may deter these projects from contributing their data to the SDG monitoring apparatus.

A comparison of smart city research and practice in Sweden and Japan: trends and opportunities identified from a literature review and co-occurrence network analysis - Natsumi Sakuma; Gregory Trencher; Masaru Yarime; Motoharu Onuki (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Making the COVID-19 crisis a real opportunity for environmental sustainability - Paul Lehmann; Mariana Madruga de Brito; Erik Gawel; Matthias Groß; Annegret Haase; Robert Lepenies; Danny Otto; Johannes Schiller; Sebastian Strunz; Daniela Thrän (Sustainability Science, 2021)
An optimistic narrative has gained momentum during the first year of the pandemic: the COVID-19 crisis may have opened a window of opportunity to “rebuild better”, to spur societal transitions towards environmental sustainability. In this comment, we review first evidence of individual and political changes made so far. Findings suggest that economies worldwide are not yet building back better. Against this background, we argue that a naïve opportunity narrative may even impair the progress of transitions towards environmental sustainability because it may render green recovery measures ineffective, costly, or infeasible. Based on these observations, we derive conditions for green recovery policies to succeed. They should consist of a policy mix combining well-targeted green subsidies with initiatives to price emissions and scrap environmentally harmful subsidies. Moreover, green recovery policies must be embedded into a narrative that avoids trading off environmental sustainability with other domains of sustainability—and rather highlights respective synergies that can be realized when recovering from the COVID-19 crisis.

Beyond practitioner and researcher: 15 roles adopted by actors in transdisciplinary and transformative research processes - Annaliesa Hilger; Michael Rose; Andreas Keil (Sustainability Science, 2021)
To tackle complex sustainability problems, science and practice must join forces and interact in the processes of knowledge co-production. This central claim of sustainability science requires all actors to do more than simply participate in a workshop or carry out traditional research. It is essential to provide clarity to actors about the roles to adopt in these processes, especially in terms of planning collaborations—with whom, when, and how. Therefore, in this paper we identify, describe, and discuss 15 roles for actors involved in such processes. We undertook a systematic literature review to identify papers with precise descriptions of transdisciplinary (td) and transformative (tf) research processes. We focused on the common occurrence of activities undertaken by actors by applying 72 activity codes a total of 549 times. Subclusters of activities were identified by means of a hierarchical cluster analysis and these were condensed into 15 roles. The roles can be categorised in four activity realms: field, academia, boundary management, and knowledge co-production. The roles of the Data Supplier , the Field Expert, and the Application Expert are adopted by actors who originate from the field, whereas the roles of the Scientific Analyst and the Knowledge Collector are primarily adopted by researchers. Furthermore, we identified 10 roles within the activity realms of the knowledge co-production process and boundary management. The high number and diversity of roles, especially in the realm of boundary management, reveals the importance of a comprehensive approach to coordination, communication, and process design.

Orientations toward ‘people’ and ‘things’ are associated with nature connectedness in a representative sample of the French adult population - Anne-Claire Maurice; Anne-Caroline Prévot; Carmen Bessa-Gomes; Emmanuelle Baudry (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Publisher Correction to: SDGs mainstreaming at the local level: case studies from Japan - Hiromi Masuda; Mahesti Okitasari; Kanako Morita; Tarek Katramiz; Hitomi Shimizu; Shun Kawakubo; Yatsuka Kataoka (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Risk management for pandemics: a novel approach - Ian G. McKinley; Julia M. West; Susie M. L. Hardie (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Cognition and behavior in context: a framework and theories to explain natural resource use decisions in social-ecological systems - S. M. Constantino; M. Schlüter; E. U. Weber; N. Wijermans (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The complex, context-dependent, and dynamic nature of human behavior is increasingly recognized as both an important cause of sustainability problems and potential leverage for their solution. Human beings are diverse, as are the social, ecological, and institutional settings in which they are embedded. Despite this recognition and extensive knowledge about human decision-making in the behavioral sciences, empirical analysis, formal models, and decision support for sustainability policy in natural resource management often either neglect human behavior or are based on narrow and overly simplistic assumptions. Integrating insights from behavioral sciences into sustainability research and policy remains a challenge. This is in part due to the abundance and fragmentation of theories across the social sciences and in part the challenges of translating research across disciplines. We provide a set of tools to support the integration of knowledge about human behavior into empirical and model-based sustainability research. In particular, we (i) develop a process-oriented framework of embedded human cognition (Human Behavior-Cognition in Context or HuB-CC), (ii) select an initial set of 31 theories with the potential to illuminate behavior in natural resource contexts and map them onto the framework, and (iii) suggest pathways for using the framework and mapping to encourage trans-disciplinary investigations, identify and compare theories, and facilitate their integration into empirical research, formal models, and ultimately policy and governance for sustainability. Our theory selection, framework, and mapping offer a foundation—a “living” platform—upon which future collaborative efforts can build to create a resource for scholars and practitioners working at the intersection of social sciences and natural resource management.

Correction to: Land systems’ asymmetries across transnational ecoregions in South America - M. Piquer-Rodríguez; N. I. Gasparri; L. Zarbá; E. Aráoz; H. R. Grau (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Correction to: Game of Cruxes: co-designing a game for scientists and stakeholders for identifying joint problems - Nicolas Salliou; Enora Bruley; Clémence Moreau; Tobias Luthe; Victor Blanco; Sandra Lavorel; Adrienne Grêt-Regamey (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Correction to: EMF 35 JMIP study for Japan’s long-term climate and energy policy: scenario designs and key findings - Masahiro Sugiyama; Shinichiro Fujimori; Kenichi Wada; Ken Oshiro; Etsushi Kato; Ryoichi Komiyama; Diego Silva Herran; Yuhji Matsuo; Hiroto Shiraki; Yiyi Ju (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Correction to: Leverage points for sustainability transformations: nine guiding questions for sustainability science and practice - Julia Leventon; Dave J. Abson; Daniel J. Lang (Sustainability Science, 2021)

SDGs mainstreaming at the local level: case studies from Japan - Hiromi Masuda; Mahesti Okitasari; Kanako Morita; Tarek Katramiz; Hitomi Shimizu; Shun Kawakubo; Yatsuka Kataoka (Sustainability Science, 2021)
There has been increasing interest in local-level implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite the emergence of various initiatives undertaken by local governments, studies on the process of mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda within local contexts remain limited. This study is aimed at identifying possible approaches for supporting local governments in successfully mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. We developed an analytical framework covering key components for local-level mainstreaming of the SDGs based on our review of recent policy guidelines for implementing the SDGs and the policy integration and coherence literature. Subsequently, we applied this framework within case studies of two designated municipalities under the Japanese government’s “SDGs Future Cities” initiative aimed at localizing the SDGs. The analysis demonstrated how local governments could develop and apply key components of the SDGs mainstreaming process. Our findings suggest that the following approaches can facilitate local governments’ efforts to mainstream the SDGs: first, municipalities can foster local ownership to address the challenges they face. Second, existing policy resources can be linked with formal procedures. Third, multi-stakeholder partnerships can be developed. Fourth, vertical communication channels can be established with international and national-level organizations. Overall, the article contributes to a growing literature on SDGs implementation at the local level by identifying key components required for their mainstreaming, introducing perspectives derived from Japanese case studies.

Designing real-world laboratories for sustainable urban transformation: addressing ambiguous roles and expectations in transdisciplinary teams - Sandra Huning; C. Räuchle; M. Fuchs (Sustainability Science, 2021)
This paper reflects upon the potential of real-world laboratories (RWLs) to promote sustainable urban development. RWLs strive for knowledge production through collective action in experimental settings. Their implementation in urban studies faces two major challenges: (1) the ambiguity of roles university researchers need to fill, and (2) the variety of expectations among team members from different institutional backgrounds. Based on research in one trans-European and three German RWLs, we propose a stronger focus on team development to help researchers in RWLs address these challenges more systematically. In particular, this means support in terms of resources and infrastructure (time, space, and training). We argue that the improvement of RWL team performance has great impact on the potentials of RWLs in transformative urban studies. Thus, the article contributes to the ongoing debate on the city as a laboratory and site of experimentation in times of multiple crises.

The patterns of curriculum change processes that embed sustainability in higher education institutions - Marie Weiss; Matthias Barth; Henrik von Wehrden (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Implementing education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education institutions (HEIs) is critical to facilitating a transition toward sustainable development. However, little is known about the specific implementation processes that lead to the institutionalization of sustainability curricula in HEIs. This meta-study and cluster analysis uses 131 international case studies to shed light on six distinct implementation patterns: (1) collaborative paradigm change, (2) bottom-up, evolving institutional change, (3) top-down, mandated institutional change, (4) externally driven initiatives, (5) isolated initiatives, and (6) limited institutional change. A cluster comparison reveals two distinct implementation phases: ESD can be implemented from the bottom-up, from the top-down, or both, and the impetus can stem from manifold external or internal stakeholders. To achieve more comprehensive ESD implementation, open communication among all stakeholders should be facilitated and feedback as well as reflection encouraged. Maintaining a unified vision statement and active participation of all stakeholders fosters a sense of ownership in ESD implementation and ensures that it will be long-lasting. Collaboration between isolated ESD initiatives and various stakeholders leads to shared knowledge and resources. Strong informal collaboration and communication can compensate for a lack of formalized leadership support from the top. Moreover, thorough planning that involves creating a strategy with detailed steps, and balancing shared responsibilities among internal stakeholders further enables fuller implementation of ESD. This analysis represents a first synthesis of small-N case studies and facilitates a better understanding of sustainability curriculum implementation patterns, which are shared in different contexts. Most HEIs and practitioners can benefit from these findings by reflecting on the specific implementation pattern with which the most overlap is found and focusing on this pattern’s most pertinent drivers.

Game of Cruxes: co-designing a game for scientists and stakeholders for identifying joint problems - Nicolas Salliou; Enora Bruley; Clémence Moreau; Tobias Luthe; Victor Blanco; Sandra Lavorel; Adrienne Grêt-Regamey (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Scientists increasingly cross their disciplinary boundaries and connect with local stakeholders to jointly solve complex problems. Working with stakeholders means higher legitimacy and supports practical impact of research. Games provide a tool to achieve such transdisciplinary collaboration. In this paper, we explore the use of a game in a participatory project where scientists and local stakeholders are seeking and defining a joint problem. The literature is clear that this step is essential but remains short on concrete methods. Here, we explore this potential in practice. We conducted parallel participatory processes in two alpine regions considered as socio-ecological system (SES) in Switzerland and France, both vulnerable to global change. Based on these two case studies, we co-constructed a game, integrating scientific concerns about key land use, climate change and socio-economic elements of a mountain SES (tourism, agriculture, housing and demography). With the game, we assessed the existence of joint problems connecting scientific and local interests. The game successfully engaged participants at both sites over 11 game sessions, showing potential of use in other transdisciplinary settings. By covering a wide array of issues, the game created a discussion space for listing problems and identifying where scientist and stakeholder interests overlap. In Switzerland, the game revealed no pressing joint problem to be addressed. In France, game sessions revealed, among other problems, an enduring and complex issue regarding the co-existence of inhabitants and powerful institutions. Having demonstrated the capacity of this game for joint-problem assessment, we believe other participatory research in similar SES could benefit from an early use of such an approach to frame the potential for collaboration.

Conceptualising sustainability through environmental stewardship and virtuous cycles—a new empirically-grounded model - John W. Turnbull; Graeme F. Clark; Emma L. Johnston (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Humans depend on earth’s ecosystems and in the Anthropocene, ecosystems are increasingly impacted by human activities. Sustainability—the long-term integrity of social–ecological systems—depends on effective environmental stewardship, yet current conceptual frameworks often lack empirical validation and are limited in their ability to show progress towards sustainability goals. In this study we examine institutional and local stewardship actions and their ecological and social outcomes along 7000 km of Australia’s coastline. We use empirical mixed methods and grounded theory to show that the combination of local and institutional stewardship leads to improved ecological outcomes, which in turn enhance social values and motivate further stewardship to form a virtuous cycle. Virtuous cycles may proceed over multiple iterations, which we represent in a new spiral model enabling visualisation of progress towards sustainability goals over time. Our study has important implications for collaborative earth stewardship and the role of policy in enabling virtuous cycles to ultimately realise sustainable futures.

Land systems’ asymmetries across transnational ecoregions in South America - M. Piquer-Rodríguez; N. I. Gasparri; L. Zarbá; E. Aráoz; H. R. Grau (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The landscape configuration of socio-ecological land systems results from the interaction between the environmental conditions (relatively homogeneous within ecoregions) and country-level management and land-use decisions. However, social, land-use and sustainability research disciplines often study each independently. We used Euclidean distance analyses of five indicators of land systems functioning to explore the geographical patterns of across-border human-induced asymmetries in transnational ecoregions of South America. The most asymmetric transnational ecoregions occurred in the tropical rainforest biome which also showed the widest range of asymmetry values compared to other biomes. In contrast, transnational ecoregions in montane grasslands showed comparatively little asymmetries, and tropical dry forests showed intermediate asymmetry values. This pattern indicates that major asymmetries occur in land systems located in productive biomes with a comparatively recent history of development, whereas mature socio-ecosystems with a long history of human land use are more homogeneous across borders. In some cases, asymmetries may stabilize as a consequence of reinforcing feedbacks that promote contrasting land-use decisions across borders, including, for example, the establishment of protected areas, or the promotion of agro-industrial activities. Transnational socio-ecological land systems can be used to evaluate alternatives for sustainable development because they highlight the influence of institutions under different governance regimes in defining the spatial configuration and ecological properties of regions. We invite land-use and sustainability scientists to consider political border interactions as valuable “natural experiments” to better understand the interrelations between biophysical and political systems in defining planetary geographical-ecology in the Anthropocene.

Social dynamics of community resilience building in the face of climate change: the case of three Scottish communities - I. Fazey; E. Carmen; H. Ross; J. Rao-Williams; A. Hodgson; B. A. Searle; H. AlWaer; J. O. Kenter; K. Knox; J. R. A. Butler; K. Murray; F. M. Smith; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2021)

A review of scientific advancements in datasets derived from big data for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals - Cameron Allen; Maggie Smith; Maryam Rabiee; Hayden Dahmm (Sustainability Science, 2021)

A transdisciplinary typology of change identifies new categories of adaptations and forms of co-adaptation in coupled human and natural systems - Garry Sotnik; A. Paige Fischer; Inés Ibáñez; Stella J. M. Cousins (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Leveraging inner sustainability through cross-cultural learning: evidence from a Quichua field school in Ecuador - Konrad Gray; David Manuel-Navarrete (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Inner worlds and subjectivity are increasingly recognized as key dimensions of sustainability transformations. This paper explores the potential of cross-cultural learning and Indigenous knowledge as deep leverage points—hard to pull but truly transformative—for inner world sustainability transformations. In this exploratory study we propose a theoretical model of the inner transformation–sustainability nexus based on three distinctive inside-out pathways of transformation. Each pathway is activated at the inner world of individuals and cascades through the outer levels (individual and collective) of the iceberg model , ultimately resulting in transformations of the individual’s relationship with others, non-humans, or oneself. Our main purpose is to empirically investigate the activation of inner leverage points among graduate students who are alumni of an Indigenous language field school in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Semi-structured interviews designed around three core aspects—(1) human–nature relationships; (2) subjective change; and (3) acknowledgment for Indigenous culture—yielded expressions of becoming aware of new forms of relationships and empirically illustrate the roles of deep leverage points in triggering the three inside-out pathways of our model. A strategic focus on activating inner levers could increase the effectiveness of cross-cultural learning in fostering transformations in relationships with non-humans, oneself and others that may yield sustainability outcomes.

Correction to: Growth in the docks: ports, metabolic flows and socio-environmental impacts - Borja Nogué-Algueró (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Testing the quality of transformative science methods: the example of the Human Scale Development approach - Salina Spiering; María del Valle Barrera (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Scholars and funding bodies alike are increasingly calling for transformative research that delivers socially robust and impact-oriented outcomes. This paper argues that the Human Scale Development approach (HSDA) introduced by Max-Neef and colleagues in Latin America during the 1980s can serve as a method for transformative science (TSc). HSDA is both a theory and a participatory methodology and thus contributes toward fulfilling the objectives of TSc, which are scientific, practical and educational. In this paper, we begin by explicating how the fundamental human needs (FHN) approach of the HSDA can support scholars and practitioners alike in addressing complex sustainability challenges. We then refer to the methodological adaptations to the original proposal that we have previously developed to illustrate how Max-Neef's methodological approach might be further extended and to demonstrate how these changes can strengthen HSDA and make it even more useful for generating knowledge needed in sustainability transformations. To inform and support research that builds on the co-production of knowledge, we test HSDA with regard to TSc quality criteria and show how it adds value to the existing canon of TSc methods. To this end, we develop an analytical framework that can be deployed to assess the quality of TSc methods.

Migration and justice in the era of sustainable development goals: a conceptual framework - Judith Janker; Susan Thieme (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Migration and mobility are major characteristics of societies worldwide. The reasons for and pathways of migrations vary, as do perceptions of migration. Political debates are often organised normatively: the debate on the sustainable development goals presents migration foremost as a development issue resulting from global inequalities. The problems faced by particular migrants, and what a more sustainable approach to migration would look like are, therefore, often lost in political debates. We aim to address those gaps: the article conceptualizes, based on established academic debates, how sustainability in migration can be addressed systematically, which aspects are important for a more sustainable migration process and which trade-offs and injustices exist from several perspectives. We create a conceptual framework of sustainability in migration processes, building on the concepts of inter- and intragenerational justice, commonly accepted as the core of the sustainability concept. We apply this conceptual framework to empirical findings on labour migration and multilocality in Kyrgyzstan. The case enables consideration of the nested system effects of scale and translocality. This research is novel because it bridges the divided literature on migration, justice and sustainability, integrates theoretical and empirical insights and provokes a debate on which kind of migration we want to achieve.

Impact assessment of citizen science: state of the art and guiding principles for a consolidated approach - Uta Wehn; Mohammad Gharesifard; Luigi Ceccaroni; Hannah Joyce; Raquel Ajates; Sasha Woods; Ane Bilbao; Stephen Parkinson; Margaret Gold; Jonathan Wheatland (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Over the past decade, citizen science has experienced growth and popularity as a scientific practice and as a new form of stakeholder engagement and public participation in science or in the generation of new knowledge. One of the key requirements for realising the potential of citizen science is evidence and demonstration of its impact and value. Yet the actual changes resulting from citizen science interventions are often assumed, ignored or speculated about. Based on a systematic review of 77 publications, combined with empirical insights from 10 past and ongoing projects in the field of citizen science, this paper presents guidelines for a consolidated Citizen Science Impact Assessment framework to help overcome the dispersion of approaches in assessing citizen science impacts; this comprehensive framework enhances the ease and consistency with which impacts can be captured, as well as the comparability of evolving results across projects. Our review is framed according to five distinct, yet interlinked, impact domains (society, economy, environment, science and technology, and governance). Existing citizen science impact assessment approaches provide assessment guidelines unevenly across the five impact domains, and with only a small number providing concrete indicator-level conceptualisations. The analysis of the results generates a number of salient insights which we combine in a set of guiding principles for a consolidated impact assessment framework for citizen science initiatives. These guiding principles pertain to the purpose of citizen science impact assessments, the conceptualisation of data collection methods and information sources, the distinction between relative versus absolute impact, the comparison of impact assessment results across citizen science projects, and the incremental refinement of the organising framework over time.

Alternative futures for global biological invasions - Núria Roura-Pascual; Brian Leung; Wolfgang Rabitsch; Lucas Rutting; Joost Vervoort; Sven Bacher; Stefan Dullinger; Karl-Heinz Erb; Jonathan M. Jeschke; Stelios Katsanevakis; Ingolf Kühn; Bernd Lenzner; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Scenario analysis has emerged as a key tool to analyze complex and uncertain future socio-ecological developments. However, currently existing global scenarios (narratives of how the world may develop) have neglected biological invasions, a major threat to biodiversity and the economy. Here, we use a novel participatory process to develop a diverse set of global biological invasion scenarios spanning a wide range of plausible global futures through to 2050. We adapted the widely used “two axes” scenario analysis approach to develop four families of four scenarios each, resulting in 16 scenarios that were later clustered into four contrasting sets of futures. Our analysis highlights that socioeconomic developments and technological innovation have the potential to shape biological invasions, in addition to well-known drivers, such as climate and human land use change and global trade. Our scenarios partially align with the shared socioeconomic pathways created by the climate change research community. Several factors that drive differences in biological invasions were underrepresented in the shared socioeconomic pathways; in particular, the implementation of biosecurity policies. We argue that including factors related to public environmental awareness and technological and trade development in global scenarios and models is essential to adequately consider biological invasions in global environmental assessments and thereby obtain a more integrative picture of future social–ecological developments.

Correction to: Sustainable transitions towards a resilient and decentralised future: Japan’s Circulating and Ecological Sphere (CES) - Fernando Ortiz-Moya; Yatsuka Kataoka; Osamu Saito; Bijon Kumer Mitra; Kazuhiko Takeuchi (Sustainability Science, 2021)
A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00962-7

Human population, social justice, and climate policy - Christopher Wolf; William J. Ripple; Eileen Crist (Sustainability Science, 2021)

A longitudinal study of sustainability attitudes, intentions, and behaviors - Galen T. Trail; Brian P. McCullough (Sustainability Science, 2021)

The transformation of provisioning systems from an integrated perspective of social metabolism and political economy: a conceptual framework - Anke Schaffartzik; Melanie Pichler; Eric Pineault; Dominik Wiedenhofer; Robert Gross; Helmut Haberl (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Energy, food, or mobility can be conceptualized as provisioning systems which are decisive to sustainability transformations in how they shape resource use and because of emissions resulting from them. To curb environmental pressures and improve societal well-being, fundamental changes to existing provisioning systems are necessary. In this article, we propose that provisioning systems be conceptualized as featuring integrated socio-metabolic and political-economic dimensions. In socio-metabolic terms, material stocks—buildings, infrastructures, and machines, for example—are key components of provisioning systems and transform flows of energy and materials into goods and services. In political-economic terms, provisioning systems are formed by actors, institutions, and capital. We loosely identify and closely analyze, from socio-metabolic and political-economic perspectives, five phases along which provisioning systems are shaped and in which specific opportunities for interventions exist. Relying mainly on examples from the fossil-fueled electricity system, we argue that an integrated conceptualization of provisioning systems can advance understanding of these systems in two essential ways: by (1) facilitating a more encompassing perspective on current forms of provisioning as relying on capitalist regulation and on material stocks and flows and by (2) embedding provisioning systems within their historical context, making it possible to conceive of more sustainable and just forms of provisioning under (radically) altered conditions.

Still ignored and still invisible: the situation of displaced people and people affected by disasters in the COVID-19 pandemic - Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga; Ana María González Villoria (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Connotations of institutions: implications for governing natural resources - Hazuki Matsuda (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Correction to: Large-scale integration of offshore wind into the Japanese power grid - Ryoichi Komiyama; Yasumasa Fujii (Sustainability Science, 2021)
A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00948-5

Sustainable transitions towards a resilient and decentralised future: Japan’s Circulating and Ecological Sphere (CES) - Fernando Ortiz-Moya; Yatsuka Kataoka; Osamu Saito; Bijon Kumer Mitra; Kazuhiko Takeuchi (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Global environmental change, the depletion of natural resources, and unacceptable levels of pollution, among other anthropogenic impacts on the planet and its ecosystems, demand a radical shift in the way humankind develops. Global agreements like the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” or the “Paris Agreement on Climate Change” seek to promote sustainable development and its integration in policymaking. Against this backdrop, the Government of Japan in its Fifth Basic Environment Plan of 2018 proposed the concept of the Circulating and Ecological Sphere (CES) to guide sustainable transitions in light of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The CES provides a framework for a new paradigm in sustainable development bringing together existing approaches, namely, rural–urban linkages, ecosystem-based solutions, decarbonisation, and resource circulation. Still in an embryonic stage, some regional and local authorities in Japan have started to experiment with ways to apply this concept on the ground. Drawing on a systematic literature review on the different components covered by the CES, along with analysis of a case study in Suzu, Japan, this paper explores how this new concept can contribute to achieve a sustainable future.

The sustainability–peace nexus: why is it important? - Ayyoob Sharifi; Dahlia Simangan; Shinji Kaneko; Hassan Virji (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Hiroshima and Nagasaki as models of city diplomacy - Hirokazu Miyazaki (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Cooperating with the future through natural resources restoration - Chia-chen Chang; Nadiah P. Kristensen; Thi Phuong Le Nghiem; Claudia L. Y. Tan; L. Roman Carrasco (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Science as a common language for contribution to sustainability and peace - Fumiko Kasuga (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Managing climate risks for a sustainable future: adaptation strategies and resilience building - Qiang Ji; Shunsuke Managi; Dayong Zhang (Sustainability Science, 2021)

A co-designed heuristic guide for investigating the peace-sustainability nexus in the context of global change - Dahlia Simangan; Hassan Virji; Cullen Hendrix; Moinul Islam; Shinji Kaneko; Young-sam Ma; Reinhard Mechler; Prem Pangotra; Katie Peters; Ayyoob Sharifi; Shamsul Hadi Shams (Sustainability Science, 2021)

The sustainability–peace nexus in crisis contexts: how the Rohingya escaped the ethnic violence in Myanmar, but are trapped into environmental challenges in Bangladesh - Saleh Ahmed; William Paul Simmons; Rashed Chowdhury; Saleemul Huq (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Terra incognita: the contribution of disaster risk reduction in unpacking the sustainability–peace nexus - Katie Peters; Laura E. R. Peters (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Building up an ecologically sustainable and socially desirable post-COVID-19 future - Rémi Duflot; Stefan Baumeister; Daniel Burgas; Kyle Eyvindson; María Triviño; Clemens Blattert; Anna Kuparinen; Mária Potterf (Sustainability Science, 2021)
COVID-19 crisis has emphasized how poorly prepared humanity is to cope with global disasters. However, this crisis also offers a unique opportunity to move towards a more sustainable and equitable future. Here, we identify the underlying environmental, social, and economic chronic causes of the COVID-19 crisis. We argue in favour of a holistic view to initiate a socio-economic transition to improve the prospects for global sustainability and human well-being. Alternative approaches to “Business-As-Usual” for guiding the transition are already available for implementation. Yet, to ensure a successful and just transition, we need to change our priorities towards environmental integrity and well-being. This necessarily means environmental justice, a different worldview and a closer relationship with nature.

Expansion of soybean farming into deforested areas in the amazon biome: the role and impact of the soy moratorium - Daniel Furlan Amaral; Joaquim Bento de Souza Ferreira Filho; André Luis Squarize Chagas; Marcos Adami (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands - Violeta Cabello; David Romero; Ana Musicki; Ângela Guimarães Pereira; Baltasar Peñate (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The literature on the water–energy–food nexus has repeatedly signaled the need for transdisciplinary approaches capable of weaving the plurality of knowledge bodies involved in the governance of different resources. To fill this gap, Quantitative Story-Telling (QST) has been proposed as a science for adaptive governance approach that aims at fostering pluralistic and reflexive research processes to overcome narrow framings of water, energy, and food policies as independent domains. Yet, there are few practical applications of QST and most run on a pan-European scale. In this paper, we apply the theory of QST through a practical case study regarding non-conventional water sources as an innovation for water and agricultural governance in the Canary Islands. We present the methods mixed to mobilize different types of knowledge and analyze interconnections between water, energy, and food supply. First, we map and interview relevant knowledge holders to elicit narratives about the current and future roles of alternative water resources in the arid Canarian context. Second, we run a quantitative diagnosis of nexus interconnections related to the use of these resources for irrigation. This analysis provides feedback to the narratives in terms of constraints and uncertainties that might hamper the expectations posed on this innovation. Thirdly, the mixed analysis is used as fuel for discussion in participatory narrative assessment workshops. Our experimental QST process succeeded in co-creating new knowledge regarding the water–energy–food nexus while addressing some relational and epistemological uncertainties in the development of alternative water resources. Yet, the extent to which mainstream socio-technical imaginaries surrounding this innovation were transformed was rather limited. We conclude that the potential of QST within sustainability place-based research resides on its capacity to: (a) bridge different sources of knowledge, including local knowledge; (b) combine both qualitative and quantitative information regarding the sustainable use of local resources, and (c) co-create narratives on desirable and viable socio-technical pathways. Open questions remain as to how to effectively mobilize radically diverse knowledge systems in complex analytical exercises where everyone feels safe to participate.

Conflicting roles of researchers in sustainability transitions: balancing action and reflection - Ellen Bulten; Laurens K. Hessels; Michaela Hordijk; Andrew J. Segrave (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Process-oriented transdisciplinary research is generally seen as a promising approach to facilitate sustainability transitions. This type of research requires new participatory roles for researchers. These new roles may conflict with traditional, more academic roles that researchers often maintain next to their new roles. Using the Dutch transdisciplinary Knowledge-Action Programme on Water (KAP Water) as a case study, we highlight tensions that researchers adopting these new roles experience. We have observed both practical and more fundamental tensions between roles of researchers in process-oriented sustainability research. In particular, it proved difficult to combine more engaged roles, where researchers are involved in dialogues for change, with knowledge-oriented roles, where researchers focus on knowledge provision and are further removed from ‘real-world action’. Tensions arise from three sources: (1) researchers’ self-perception and expectations; (2) expectations from transdisciplinary partners, funders and researchers’ home institutions; and (3) societal convictions about what scientific knowledge is and how it should be developed. This paper contributes to the literature by enhancing the understanding of the interactions and tensions between the roles of researchers in transdisciplinary research.

Fish out of water: consumers’ unfamiliarity with the appearance of commercial fish species - Marine Cusa; Luara Falcão; Joseph De Jesus; Cristina Biolatti; Lancelot Blondeel; Fiona S. A. Bracken; Lisa Devriese; Sandra Garcés-Pastor; Styliani Minoudi; Chrysoula Gubili; Pier Luigi Acutis; Stefano Mariani (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Seafood labels play an increasingly key role in assisting consumers in purchasing processed and featureless fish products, and in encouraging sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices. While informed purchasing choices are typically influenced by traceability and labelling awareness, they also depend on the consumers’ ability to identify and discriminate the fish species available on the market, which to date remains notably unexplored. We asked 720 people across six European countries to identify pictures of six fish species commonly sold in Europe. We reveal that European consumers have a poor understanding of the appearance of the fish they consume (overall ∼ 30% correct identification), with British consumers performing the poorest and Spanish ones doing best. We noted cultural association with some species, whereby the most regionally consumed fish are more easily recognized. We argue that despite recent improvements in technological solutions, stakeholder dialogue, and policy implementation, seafood market transparency will remain open to malpractice until consumers restore connection with their food.

Co-creating local socioeconomic pathways for achieving the sustainable development goals - Katrina Szetey; Enayat A. Moallemi; Emma Ashton; Martin Butcher; Beth Sprunt; Brett A. Bryan (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Four propositions on integrated sustainability: toward a theoretical framework to understand the environment, peace, and sustainability nexus - Joshua Fisher; Poonam Arora; Siqi Chen; Sophia Rhee; Tempest Blaine; Dahlia Simangan (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The sustainability agenda has evolved around a set of interconnected dilemmas regarding economic, social, and environmental goals. Progress has been made in establishing thresholds and targets that must be achieved to enable life to continue to thrive on the planet. However, much work remains to be done in articulating coherent theoretical frameworks that adequately describe the mechanisms through which sustainability outcomes are achieved. This paper reviews core concepts in the sustainability agenda to develop four propositions on integrated sustainability that collectively describe the underlying mechanisms of sustainable development. We then advance a framework for integrated sustainability and assess its viability through linear regression and principal components analysis of key selected indicators. The results provide preliminary evidence that countries with institutions that enable cooperation and regulate competition perform better in attaining integrated sustainability indicators. Our findings suggest that institutional design is important to sustainability outcomes and that further research into process-oriented mechanisms and institutional characteristics can yield substantial dividends in enabling effective sustainability policy.

Urban–rural linkages: effective solutions for achieving sustainable development in Ghana from an SDG interlinkage perspective - Gideon Baffoe; Xin Zhou; Mustafa Moinuddin; Albert Novas Somanje; Akihisa Kuriyama; Geetha Mohan; Osamu Saito; Kazuhiko Takeuchi (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Urbanization and concomitant challenges pose a great threat to sustainable development. Urban and rural development interacts through the flows of people, materials, energy, goods, capital, and information. Without building sound urban–rural linkages, achieving development in one area could compromise it in another area. Achieving sustainable development needs customized policy prioritization and implementation in both urban and rural areas. Much literature exists in the research field of urban–rural linkages, but little has been done via a comprehensive analysis from an interlinkage perspective in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sustainable Development Goal 11 on sustainable cities and several targets embedded under other Goals provides a good framework for analyzing the urban–rural linkages. This paper contributes to this novel research perspective using Ghana as a case. The study applied an integrated approach by combining the results from a solution-scanning exercise with an SDG interlinkage analysis to identify the challenges and priority solutions and assess the synergies and trade-offs of the identified solutions. It extends the conventional solution-scanning approach by further assessing the synergies and trade-offs of the solutions from an SDG interlinkage perspective. It also enables a more practical SDG interlinkage analysis through the contributions from the multi-stakeholder consultations conducted in Ghana. The analyses show that prioritizing gender inclusion (Goal 5) will positively affect many social and well-being outcomes, including poverty elimination (Goal 1), hunger reduction (Goal 2), health improvement (Goal 3) and access to quality education (Goal 4) and basic services, such as water (Goal 6). However, gender inclusion could have potential trade-offs in the agricultural sector (Goal 2) in the case that women who dominate agricultural value chains could move to work in other sectors. Lack of proper infrastructure (Goal 9), such as transport, will hinder wide gender inclusion. An integrated approach that considers both the synergies and trade-offs of relevant solutions is critical for effective policymaking, specifically in developing countries.

Transitioning to co-management in Caribbean reef fisheries: Tela Bay case study - A. Rivera; J. San Martin-Chicas; J. Myton (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Does building development in Dhaka comply with land use zoning? An analysis using nighttime light and digital building heights - Md. Mustafizur Rahman; Ram Avtar; Sohail Ahmad; Luis Inostroza; Prakhar Misra; Pankaj Kumar; Wataru Takeuchi; Akhilesh Surjan; Osamu Saito (Sustainability Science, 2021)

The evolution of the blue-green revolution of rice-fish cultivation for sustainable food production - Nesar Ahmed; Giovanni M. Turchini (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Ownership and inequalities: exploring UNEP’s Environmental Cooperation for Peacebuilding Program - Florian Krampe (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The question of ownership—that is, who is included and excluded from policy processes—has become one of the most pressing issues in the global discourse on peace and conflict. While research shows that the inclusion of domestic actors is critical to success, broader international processes often neglect these actors. Focused on environmental peacebuilding—the sustainable management of natural resources in post-conflict settings—as an emerging area, this article employs qualitative content analysis (QCA) to study four core reports of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Environmental Cooperation for Peacebuilding Programme (2008–2015). The results reveal that the framing of environmental peacebuilding in these documents contributes to power inequalities being reinforced. The reports’ language suggests that, overall, UNEP favors international ownership of environmental peacebuilding. By contrast, local actors—both state and non-state—appear to be considered a risk in the context of natural resource management. This article discusses the implications of this lack of inclusion for peacebuilding practice.

Towards climate resilient peace: an intersectional and degrowth approach - Christie Nicoson (Sustainability Science, 2021)
How can peace be climate resilient? How can peace and environmental sustainability be advanced simultaneously? To address these questions, I develop a new conceptual and theoretical framework for climate resilient peace through degrowth. This paper calls for stronger consideration of positive conceptualizations of peace and of intersectionality and degrowth in pursuit of peace and resilience. Not only does climate change make planetary limitations more salient, but it also highlights rising inequalities. In light of this, peace necessitates transforming societal power structures that are both driving climate change and influencing people’s experiences of climate impacts. Addressing imbalanced power structures then is key to understanding and fostering climate resilient peace. This paper conceptualizes climate resilient peace based on an intersectional understanding of positive peace, highlighting that peace depends on the negation of structural violence experienced at the intersection of political and social identities. In relation to this, I argue that a process of climate resilient peace must address underlying power structures influencing people’s experience of climate harms, and driving climate change so as to mitigate further damage. This paper demonstrates such a process through degrowth, wherein growth is no longer the central economic goal, exemplifying social and ecological means for disrupting structural violence within climate limitations. I discuss and give examples of three key degrowth processes—redistribution, reprioritized care economies, and global equity—as opportunities to foster peace in a changing climate. This framework, thus, contributes a new approach to climate resilient peace that addresses challenges of both social and environmental sustainability.

A systems approach to the sustainability–peace nexus - Bernard Amadei (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Humanitarian engineering at the sustainability-development nexus: mapping vulnerability and capability factors for communities at risk of water-based disasters - Spyros Schismenos; Garry J. Stevens; Dimitrios Emmanouloudis; Nichole Georgeou; Surendra Shrestha; Michail Chalaris (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Ambitious subsidy reform by the WTO presents opportunities for ocean health restoration - Christopher Costello; Katherine Millage; Sabrina Eisenbarth; Elsa Galarza; Gakushi Ishimura; Laura Lea Rubino; Vienna Saccomanno; U. Rashid Sumaila; Kent Strauss (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is in a unique position to deliver on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.6 by reforming global fisheries subsidies in 2020. Yet, a number of unanswered questions threaten to inhibit WTO delegates from crafting a smart agreement that improves global fisheries health. We combine global data on industrial fishing activity, subsidies, and stock assessments to show that: (1) subsidies prop up fishing effort all across the world’s ocean and (2) larger subsidies tend to occur in fisheries that are poorly managed. When combined, this evidence suggests that subsidy reform could have geographically-extensive consequences for many of the world’s largest fisheries. While much work remains to establish causality and make quantitative predictions, this evidence informs the rapidly-evolving policy debate and we conclude with actionable policy suggestions.

Three decades of research on climate change and peace: a bibliometrics analysis - Ayyoob Sharifi; Dahlia Simangan; Shinji Kaneko (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Leverage points for sustainability transformations: nine guiding questions for sustainability science and practice - Julia Leventon; Dave J. Abson; Daniel J. Lang (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Drivers of sustainability transformations: leverage points, contexts and conjunctures - Björn-Ola Linnér; Victoria Wibeck (Sustainability Science, 2021)
While increasing hopes are being attached to deliberate societal transformative change to achieve the targets of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, questions remain about whether and whereby such profound systemic change can be governed. This paper analyses how transformative changes are intended to be encouraged and achieved, where and when . The paper explores critical drivers and how they relate to leverage points at different places in the societal systems. The paper builds on a comprehensive sense-making analysis of scholarly literature, policy documents, including countries’ contributions to the Paris Agreement and national reviews of progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, international news media and lay focus group discussions on five continents. There are great variations in how drivers were made sense of in the data. The many ongoing interacting transformations across societies involve different social, cultural, and political contexts, while the implementation of the 2030 Agenda also contains goal conflicts and unavoidable trade-offs. The paper highlights four categories of drivers as particularly important to consider in view of international transformation efforts: technological innovations, political economy redistribution, new narratives, and transformative learning. Four features are important for bringing clarity on how deliberate transformations can be encouraged: (1) the function of drivers in enabling and restricting transformations of societal systems characterised by detailed or dynamic complexity, (2) cultural and geographical contexts of transformations, (3) where in the systems the drivers are intended to intervene, and (4) the role of critical junctions in time, where transformative trajectories can branch out.

How do we know where there is potential to intervene and leverage impact in a changing system? The practitioners perspective - Anna Birney (Sustainability Science, 2021)
More and more people and organisations who are addressing complex sustainability challenges are turning to systems change practices. They are looking to get to grips with complexity and to better understand how to use their resources, position and influence to address the challenges. These people are working across civil society, philanthropy, business, international development, government and beyond. Many hope that adopting this emerging practice will give them the answers to the long held questions of – How do I know where to intervene? How do I know that what I am doing is the ‘right’ thing? Am I using my resources for their greatest effect? Once we have set ambitious goals around issues like inequality and climate change, how do I know I am creating impact?. In 1999 Donella Meadows wrote a paper entitled Leverage points: places to intervene in a system to help translate the work of systems dynamics into understanding where a small amount of energy might have a greater effect. Ever since, practitioners have been chasing these elusive leverage points trying to understand how this might be made useful and practical. There is, however, no silver bullet to changing a system. At Forum for the Future and through the School of System Change, we work on a number of different projects such as the Protein Challenge and Boundless Roots Community as well as collaborate on, coach and co-inquire with others such as the Marine CoLAB, Oneless, Lankelly Chase Foundation. In this paper we seek to build on systems change ideas and theories, using Forum for the Future experience of working with these ideas in practice, and offer actionable knowledge (Coghlan 2007) to other change makers who are grappling with these questions. This paper provides four qualities that help us understand the dynamics of a changing system, and how potential in these dynamics might be identified and be translated into strategy and interventions. I explore and illustrate these through cases and examples and raise the question about how change makers might value what we measure when understanding impact in the context of a changing system.

Recognizing our authors - Kazuhiko Takeuchi (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Sustainability in agri-food systems: transformative trajectories toward the post-Anthropocene - Markus Keck (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Breaking monologues in collaborative research: bridging knowledge systems through a listening-based dialogue of wisdom approach - Adriana Moreno-Cely; Darío Cuajera-Nahui; Cesar Gabriel Escobar-Vasquez; Tom Vanwing; Nelson Tapia-Ponce (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The urgent need to address the sustainability issues of the Anthropocene requires a dialogue capable of bridging different knowledge systems, values, and interests. This dialogue is considered one of the most crucial challenges in collaborative research approaches. With this research, we seek to break with monologues in collaborative research by offering a decolonising methodological approach that combines the notion of dialogue of wisdom, communication theories and ethical principles of Andean philosophy. The methodological framework, the circle of dialogue of wisdom , is the result of an iterative action–reflection process developed in a North–South collaborative research project for territorial planning in Bolivia. Our praxis confirms the potentials offered by a listening-based dialogue for (i) dealing with knowledge–power relations in collaborative research projects, (ii) promoting mutual learning and knowledge co-creation between different knowledge systems, (iii) re-valuating local and Indigenous knowledge, and (iv) decolonising the society–science–policy dialogue.

The costs and benefits of environmental sustainability - Paul Ekins; Dimitri Zenghelis (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The natural science in GEO-6 makes clear that a range and variety of unwelcome outcomes for humanity, with potentially very significant impacts for human health, become increasingly likely if societies maintain their current development paths. This paper assesses what is known about the likely economic implications of either current trends or the transformation to a low-carbon and resource-efficient economy in the years to 2050 for which GEO-6 calls. A key conclusion is that no conventional cost–benefit analysis for either scenario is possible. This is because the final cost of meeting various decarbonisation and resource-management pathways depends on decisions made today in changing behaviour and generating innovation. The inadequacies of conventional modelling approaches generally lead to understating the risks from unmitigated climate change and overstating the costs of a low-carbon transition, by missing out the cumulative gains from path-dependent innovation. This leads to a flawed conclusion as to how to respond to the climate emergency, namely that significant reductions in emissions are prohibitively expensive and, therefore, to be avoided until new, cost-effective technologies are developed. We argue that this is inconsistent with the evidence and counterproductive in serving to delay decarbonisation efforts, thereby increasing its costs. Understanding the processes which drive innovation, change social norms and avoid locking in to carbon- and resource-intensive technologies, infrastructure and behaviours, will help decision makers as they ponder how to respond to the increasingly stark warnings of natural scientists about the deteriorating condition of the natural environment.

A leverage points perspective on institutions for food security in a smallholder-dominated landscape in southwestern Ethiopia - Tolera Senbeto Jiren; Maraja Riechers; Arvid Bergsten; Joern Fischer (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Despite concerted efforts, achieving the goal of universal food security remains challenging. Food security interventions occur at different levels of systemic depth. Some interventions target visible supply-side gaps, while others focus on deeper systemic problems in the food system. Here, we used a leverage points perspective to ask how multiple types of more superficial (shallow) and more fundamental (deep) interventions in the food system interact. Focusing on a case study in southwestern Ethiopia, we examined (1) recent changes in formal and informal institutions related to food security; (2) the effects of formal and informal institutions on the food system at different levels of systemic depth (i.e., on parameters, feedbacks, design, and intent); and (3) issues of institutional interplay between formal and informal institutions. We surveyed 150 rural households and analyzed key policy documents. Both formal and informal institutions were perceived to improve food security. However, at the intent level, formal institutions primarily aimed to enhance food supply, while informal institutions additionally sought to build trust among farmers. At the design level, formal interventions targeted information flow through a newly created agricultural extension system, while informal institutions facilitated labor sharing and communication. In terms of institutional interplay, new formal institutions had partly undermined pre-existing informal institutions. We conclude that both visible supply-side gaps and deeper drivers of food insecurity should be targeted through food security interventions. Interventions need to be cognizant of potentially unexpected ways of institutional interplay, especially between formal and informal institutions.

Urban gardening as a means for fostering embodied urban human–food connection? A case study on urban vegetable gardens in Germany - Martina Artmann; Katharina Sartison; Christopher D. Ives (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Urbanization is increasingly compromising residents’ connection to natural habitats and landscapes. With established relationships between human–nature connection (HNC) and pro-environmental behaviour and human well being, there are calls for effective interventions to strengthen HNC in urban settings. However, much of this research has operationalised HNC in narrow psychological terms. Based on an embodied framework of urban human–food connection (HFC) as a specific dimension of HNC, this article explores the role of active urban gardening in promoting different types of internal and external HFC and their link with pro-environmental food behaviour (PEFB). Based on a quantitative survey in Germany addressing vegetable gardeners in Munich ( N = 254), a principal component analysis extracted four components of HFC comprising external body-related HFC (i.e. immediate urban garden-body activities: food harvesting and experiential food interaction) and internal mind-related HFC (i.e. immediate urban garden-mind activities including food discovery as well as food consciousness). These were found to be statistically related to one another. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that food consciousness through concerns on food consumption and environmental impacts as well as food as part of life attitude as an internal HFC is the sole predictor of PEFB. The study suggests an embodied HFC model emphasizing the need for local body- and mind-based nature connections for fostering earth stewardship. Future research should explore the relationship between inner dimensions of nature connectedness and external behavioural change to enable transformations towards sustainability.

Science in Indigenous homelands: addressing power and justice in sustainability science from/with/in the Penobscot River - Bridie McGreavy; Darren Ranco; John Daigle; Suzanne Greenlaw; Nolan Altvater; Tyler Quiring; Natalie Michelle; Jan Paul; Maliyan Binette; Brawley Benson; Anthony Sutton; David Hart (Sustainability Science, 2021)

The role of local people for collaborative management of Korean village groves - Eunju Lee; Marianne E. Krasny (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Effects of experiencing the role of imaginary future generations in decision-making: a case study of participatory deliberation in a Japanese town - Keishiro Hara; Yoko Kitakaji; Hiroaki Sugino; Ritsuji Yoshioka; Hiroyuki Takeda; Yoichi Hizen; Tatsuyoshi Saijo (Sustainability Science, 2021)
To ensure sustainability, overcoming intergenerational conflict is vital, and social systems supporting decision-making that takes into account the benefits to future generations is thus critically important. One promising approach in such social systems is introducing “imaginary future generations” who act as representatives for the benefits of future generation in actual, present-day decision-making situations. In this study, we explore the effects and implications of participants’ experiences as representatives of imaginary future generation. We conducted a citizens’ participatory debate on creating a vision and appropriate policies associated with public facilities and housing in a town in Japan, and examined how the thinking patterns and decisions of the participants shifted as a result of debating from the perspectives of both current and imaginary future generations. Based on analyses of a questionnaire and the keywords in answers to a worksheet provided to the participants, we demonstrate that through their experiences as representatives of imaginary future generations, a clear shift in perspective occurred, with increases in self-reflective viewpoint. We also found that the shared viewpoints of the current and future generations existed within the individuals. These findings hint at how we can develop institutions and social systems that facilitate sustainable decision-making.

Does scientific interest in the nature impacts of food align with consumer information-seeking behavior? - Ayesha I. T. Tulloch; Alice Miller; Angela J. Dean (Sustainability Science, 2021)

A visual narrative for taking future generations’ perspectives - Yoshinori Nakagawa; Tatsuyoshi Saijo (Sustainability Science, 2021)

A path forward for qualitative research on sustainability in the COVID-19 pandemic - Francisca N. Santana; Courtney Hammond Wagner; Nina Berlin Rubin; Laura S. P. Bloomfield; Erica R. Bower; Stephanie L. Fischer; Bianca S. Santos; Gemma E. Smith; Caroline T. Muraida; Gabrielle Wong-Parodi (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Transformation for sustainability: a deep leverage points approach - Danielle Davelaar (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Inner transformation to sustainability as a deep leverage point: fostering new avenues for change through dialogue and reflection - Christoph Woiwode; Niko Schäpke; Olivia Bina; Stella Veciana; Iris Kunze; Oliver Parodi; Petra Schweizer-Ries; Christine Wamsler (Sustainability Science, 2021)
This article provides a rationale for inner transformation as a key and hitherto underresearched dimension of sustainability transformations. Inner transformation relates to various aspects of human existence and interactions such as consciousness, mindsets, values, worldviews, beliefs, spirituality and human–nature connectedness. The article draws on Meadows’ leverage points approach, as places to intervene in a system, to reveal the relevance of inner transformation for system change towards sustainability. Based on insights from a series of dialogue and reflection workshops and a literature review, this article provides three important contributions to sustainability transformations research: first, it increases our conceptual understanding of inner transformation and its relevance for sustainability; second, it outlines concrete elements of the inner transformation-sustainability nexus in relation to leverage points; and third, it presents practical examples illustrating how to work with leverage points for supporting inner transformation. In sum, the paper develops a systematized and structured approach to understanding inner transformation, including the identification of deep, i.e., highly influential, leverage points. In addition, it critically discusses the often contentious and divergent perspectives on inner transformation and shows related practical challenges. Finally, current developments in inner transformation research as well as further research needs are identified.

Promoting sustainability education through hands-on approaches: a tree carbon sequestration exercise in a Singapore green space - Sorain J. Ramchunder; Alan D. Ziegler (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Talkin’ bout a revolution: an expert interview study exploring barriers and keys to engender change towards societal sufficiency orientation - Josephine Tröger; Gerhard Reese (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Correction to: Ambitious subsidy reform by the WTO presents opportunities for ocean health restoration - Christopher Costello; Katherine Millage; Sabrina Eisenbarth; Elsa Galarza; Gakushi Ishimura; Laura Lea Rubino; Vienna Saccomanno; U. Rashid Sumaila; Kent Strauss (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The original article can be found online.

A leverage points perspective on social networks to understand sustainability transformations: evidence from Southern Transylvania - David P. M. Lam; Berta Martín-López; Andra I. Horcea-Milcu; Daniel J. Lang (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Sustainability transformations research increasingly recognizes the importance of local actors and their networks to foster fundamental societal change. Local actors have different types of relations between each other (e.g., sharing material resources, giving advice) through which they jointly intervene in different system characteristics. We conducted social network analyses of 32 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who drive initiatives to foster sustainability in Southern Transylvania, Romania. In so doing, we applied a leverage points perspective by differentiating between relations according to the system characteristic they address, such as the parameters, feedbacks, design and intent of the system. Additionally, we tested for differences of centrality metrics (i.e., weighted degree, betweenness, eigenvector) from NGOs that conduct different actions (i.e., amplification processes) to increase the impact of their sustainability initiatives. Our results reveal several NGOs that have central positions in their networks for intervening in both shallower (i.e., parameters and feedbacks) and deeper (i.e., design and intent of a system) system characteristics. We also identified NGOs that are only central for intervening in specific system characteristics. In addition, we found that specific groups of amplification processes (i.e., amplifying within and out ) are associated with the NGOs’ positions in the parameters, feedbacks, and design networks. We conclude that the leverage points perspective in social network analysis has the potential to identify key actors and shed light on the attributes of local actors for intervening in shallower and deeper system characteristics to foster sustainability transformations.

Correction to: Towards an integral perspective on leveraging sustainability transformations using the theory of modal aspects - S. Wigboldus; H. Jochemsen (Sustainability Science, 2021)
In the original publication of the article, last three columns of Tables 6 and 7 were published incorrectly. The correct version of Tables 6 and 7 are provided below.

Participatory multi-modelling as the creation of a boundary object ecology: the case of future energy infrastructures in the Rotterdam Port Industrial Cluster - Eefje Cuppen; Igor Nikolic; Jan Kwakkel; Jaco Quist (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Finding leverage points for sustainability transformation of industrial and infrastructure systems is challenging, given that transformation is emergent from the complex interactions among socio-technical system elements over time within a specific social, technical and geographical context. Participatory multi-modelling, in which modellers and stakeholders collaborate to develop multiple interacting models to support a shared understanding of systems, is a promising approach to support sustainability transformations. The participatory process of modeling can serve as a leverage point by facilitating social learning amongst stakeholders, in which models can function as boundary objects that facilitate dialogue between stakeholders from different social worlds. We propose that participatory multi-modeling allows for the creation of a boundary object ecology , which involves a set of interacting and co-evolving boundary objects emerging throughout the modeling process. To explore this, we analyse the participatory multi-modelling process in the Windmaster project in the Rotterdam Port industrial cluster to understand which design choices were key to the creation of boundary objects. Our analysis shows that two types of design choices were key: design choices that enabled translations between participants, and those between participants and their organisation. We conclude that conceptualising participatory multi-modelling as a process of an evolving boundary object ecology, creating and adapting multiple interacting boundary objects provides a novel perspective that is useful for analysis and design of future participatory multi-modeling processes.

Towards an integral perspective on leveraging sustainability transformations using the theory of modal aspects - S. Wigboldus; H. Jochemsen (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Engaging appropriately with sustainability transformations requires adopting an integral perspective on related system dynamics. This view underpins the sustainable development goals. Informing policy and decision making from a consistently integral perspective, however, remains a key challenge. To some extent, the leverage points approach has proved useful in doing so in terms of providing an encompassing view on related options for intervening in systems. There are, however, a number of points in which it needs to be complemented by other approaches to better address the need for an integral perspective on sustainability transformations as well as to better address the need for being able to articulate normative perspectives on transformation processes and outcomes. We argue that the theory of modal aspects is a good candidate for doing so. To illustrate its potential, we explore its characteristics, we illustrate its application opportunities in the analysis of sustainability in food systems transitions, we systematically compare leverage points and modal aspects, and close with an exploration of ways in which the leverage points approach and theory of modal aspects can be considered complementary perspectives. The authors conclude that the theory of modal aspects offers opportunities for enriching both the leverage points approach and wider approaches in sustainability transformations by offering a consistently integral perspective across scale levels, and by offering a number of ways of engaging with normativity in related processes without resorting to fixed political views. This articulates its potential for playing a useful role in related multi-stakeholder processes and sustainability governance.

Systems entrepreneurship: a conceptual substantiation of a novel entrepreneurial “species” - Michael P. Schlaile; Sophie Urmetzer; Marcus B. Ehrenberger; Joe Brewer (Sustainability Science, 2021)
In this paper, we explore the notion of systems entrepreneurship in the context of innovation systems (IS) dedicated to transformations towards sustainability. To this end, our paper draws primarily but not exclusively on the leverage points concept, which was originally proposed by Donella H. Meadows and recently refined by sustainability scientists. More precisely, we flesh out four general propositions about the systems entrepreneurial process that serve as a starting point for illuminating how systems entrepreneurs can intervene at deep leverage points to introduce a dedication to sustainability in IS. The paper touches the important issues of directionality, formal institutions, as well as information flows and network structure that have received insufficient attention from researchers, policymakers, and practitioners aiming at transformations towards sustainability (e.g., funders and other support organizations). Taken as a whole, the paper serves as a conceptual basis for further theoretical and empirical work on systems entrepreneurs and dedicated IS. It should be read as a reminder that the fundamentally uncertain processes of systemic change call for collaborative efforts that transcend mental and organizational boundaries.

Revising Reykjavík: changing narratives of skeletons, structures, and imagined futures - Jan L. Stanley (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Learning as a key leverage point for sustainability transformations: a case study of a local government in Perth, Western Australia - Jayne Bryant; Giles Thomson (Sustainability Science, 2021)
This paper presents a case study about embedding sustainability into a local government in Perth, Western Australia, through the introduction of a sustainability policy and the accompanying education and culture change program. This longitudinal case study describes the approach and impact of the program initiated and delivered by internal officers between 2011 and 2016. The use of personal experience, document review and staff interviews present an ethnography of a bureaucracy that casts some light upon the seldom seen inner workings of a local government organisation as it introduced a sustainability program over a period of more than 5 years. The case study provides evidence of the potential power of learning as a key leverage point for transformational sustainability change.

Correction to: The role of renewables in the Japanese power sector: implications from the EMF35 JMIP - Hiroto Shiraki; Masahiro Sugiyama; Yuhji Matsuo; Ryoichi Komiyama; Shinichiro Fujimori; Etsushi Kato; Ken Oshiro; Diego Herran Silva (Sustainability Science, 2021)
In the original publication of the article, the incorrect file was published as supplementary material.

Creating leadership collectives for sustainability transformations - O. Care; M. J. Bernstein; M. Chapman; I. Diaz Reviriego; G. Dressler; M. R. Felipe-Lucia; C. Friis; S. Graham; H. Hänke; L. J. Haider; M. Hernández-Morcillo; H. Hoffmann; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Enduring sustainability challenges requires a new model of collective leadership that embraces critical reflection, inclusivity and care. Leadership collectives can support a move in academia from metrics to merits, from a focus on career to care, and enact a shift from disciplinary to inter- and trans-disciplinary research. Academic organisations need to reorient their training programs, work ethics and reward systems to encourage collective excellence and to allow space for future leaders to develop and enact a radically re-imagined vision of how to lead as a collective with care for people and the planet.

Demand-side decarbonization and electrification: EMF 35 JMIP study - Shogo Sakamoto; Yu Nagai; Masahiro Sugiyama; Shinichiro Fujimori; Etsushi Kato; Ryoichi Komiyama; Yuhji Matsuo; Ken Oshiro; Diego Silva Herran (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Japan’s long-term strategy submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change emphasizes the importance of improving the electrification rates to reducing GHG emissions. Using the five models participating in Energy Modeling Forum 35 Japan Model Intercomparison project (JMIP), we focused on the demand-side decarbonization and analyzed the final energy composition required to achieve 80% reductions in GHGs by 2050 in Japan. The model results show that the electricity share in final energy use (electrification rate) needs to reach 37–66% in 2050 (26% in 2010) to achieve the emissions reduction of 80%. The electrification rate increases mainly due to switching from fossil fuel end-use technologies (i.e. oil water heater, oil stove and combustion-engine vehicles) to electricity end-use technologies (i.e. heat pump water heater and electric vehicles). The electricity consumption in 2050 other than AIM/Hub ranged between 840 and 1260 TWh (AIM/Hub: 1950TWh), which is comparable to the level seen in the last 10 years (950–1035 TWh). The pace at which electrification rate must be increased is a challenge. The model results suggest to increase the electrification pace to 0.46–1.58%/yr from 2030 to 2050. Neither the past electrification pace (0.30%/year from 1990 to 2010) nor the outlook of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (0.15%/year from 2010 to 2030) is enough to reach the suggested electrification rates in 2050. Therefore, more concrete measures to accelerate dissemination of electricity end-use technologies across all sectors need to be established.

Beyond Japanese NDC: energy and macroeconomic transitions towards 2050 in emission pathways with multiple ambition levels - Diego Silva Herran; Shinichiro Fujimori (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Japan has set greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2050, as stated in the nationally determined contribution (NDC) and in the long-term strategy for decarbonization (LTS) submitted to the UNFCCC in 2020, respectively. While upgrading these targets is needed to realize the global climate goals (2 °C and 1.5 °C), the implications of the target for the period in-between remains unclear. This study assesses the energy and macroeconomic impacts of enhancing the ambition of 2040 and 2050 emission reduction targets in Japan by means of a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. In addition, we analyze the implications on the speed of energy efficiency improvement and low-carbon energy penetration along with macroeconomic impacts, and the shift from the current LTS goal (80% emissions reduction by 2050) to a full decarbonization one. The study shows that, compared to the current ambition (53% reduction by 2040 compared to 2005), enhancing ambition of the 2040 (63% reduction by 2040 compared to 2005) and 2050 targets (zero emissions by 2050) rises the share of low-carbon energy supply more drastically than the decreases in energy intensity, and increases macroeconomic costs by 19–72%. Moreover, meeting these targets demands accelerating considerably the reductions in carbon intensities through expansion of renewables and CCS beyond historical trends and beyond current efforts towards the 2030s NDC. Enabling larger low-carbon supplies and energy efficiency improvements makes full decarbonization by 2050 possible at costs equivalent to current ambition. Further analyses are needed to clarify at a finer detail the implications of changes in these enablers by sectors, technologies and policies. This kind of analysis offer key insights on the feasibility of Japan’s emission reduction targets for the formulation of new commitments for the next cycle of the Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement.

Introduction to the special feature on energy scenarios for long-term climate change mitigation in Japan - Masahiro Sugiyama; Shinichiro Fujimori; Kenichi Wada; John Weyant (Sustainability Science, 2021)

EMF 35 JMIP study for Japan’s long-term climate and energy policy: scenario designs and key findings - Masahiro Sugiyama; Shinichiro Fujimori; Kenichi Wada; Ken Oshiro; Etsushi Kato; Ryoichi Komiyama; Diego Silva Herran; Yuhji Matsuo; Hiroto Shiraki; Yiyi Ju (Sustainability Science, 2021)
In June, 2019, Japan submitted its mid-century strategy to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and pledged 80% emissions cuts by 2050. The strategy has not gone through a systematic analysis, however. The present study, Stanford Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) 35 Japan Model Intercomparison project (JMIP), employs five energy-economic and integrated assessment models to evaluate the nationally determined contribution and mid-century strategy of Japan. EMF 35 JMIP conducts a suite of sensitivity analyses on dimensions including emissions constraints, technology availability, and demand projections. The results confirm that Japan needs to deploy all of its mitigation strategies at a substantial scale, including energy efficiency, electricity decarbonization, and end-use electrification. Moreover, they suggest that with the absence of structural changes in the economy, heavy industries will be one of the hardest to decarbonize. Partitioning of the sum of squares based on a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) reconfirms that mitigation strategies, such as energy efficiency and electrification, are fairly robust across models and scenarios, but that the cost metrics are uncertain. There is a wide gap of policy strength and breadth between the current policy instruments and those suggested by the models. Japan should strengthen its climate action in all aspects of society and economy to achieve its long-term target.

Industrial decarbonization under Japan’s national mitigation scenarios: a multi-model analysis - Yiyi Ju; Masahiro Sugiyama; Etsushi Kato; Yuhji Matsuo; Ken Oshiro; Diego Silva Herran (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Energy-intensive industries are difficult to decarbonize. They present a major challenge to the emerging countries that are currently in the midst of rapid industrialization and urbanization. This is also applicable to Japan, a developed economy, which retains a large presence in heavy industries compared to other developed economies. In this paper, the results obtained from four energy-economic and integrated assessment models were utilized to explore climate mitigation scenarios of Japan’s industries by 2050. The results reveal that: (i) Japan’s share of emissions from industries may increase by 2050, highlighting the difficulties in achieving industrial decarbonization under the prevailing industrial policies; (ii) the emission reduction in steelmaking will play a key role, which can be achieved by the implementation of carbon capture and expansion of hydrogen technologies after 2040; (iii) even under mitigation scenarios, electrification and the use of biomass use in Japan’s industries will continue to be limited in 2050, suggesting a low possibility of large-scale fuel switching or end-use decarbonization. After stocktaking of the current industry-sector modeling in integrated assessment models, we found that such limited uptake of cleaner fuels in the results may be related to the limited interests of both participating models and industry stakeholders in Japan, specifically the interests on the technologies that are still at the early stage of development but with high reduction potential. It is crucial to upgrade research and development activities to enable future industry-sector mitigation as well as to improve modeling capabilities of energy end-use technologies in integrated assessment models.

The role of renewables in the Japanese power sector: implications from the EMF35 JMIP - Hiroto Shiraki; Masahiro Sugiyama; Yuhji Matsuo; Ryoichi Komiyama; Shinichiro Fujimori; Etsushi Kato; Ken Oshiro; Diego Herran Silva (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The Japanese power system has unique characteristics with regard to variable renewable energies (VREs), such as higher costs, lower potentials, and less flexibility with the grid connection compared to other major greenhouse-gas-emitting countries. We analyzed the role of renewable energies (REs) in the future Japanese power sector using the results from the model intercomparison project Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) 35 Japan Model Intercomparison Project (JMIP) using varying emission reduction targets and key technological conditions across scenarios. We considered the uncertainties for future capital costs of solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, and batteries in addition to the availability of nuclear and carbon dioxide capture and storage. The results show that REs supply more than 40% of electricity in most of the technology sensitivity scenarios (median 51.0%) when assuming an 80% emission reduction in 2050. The results (excluding scenarios that assume the continuous growth of nuclear power and/or the abundant availability of domestic biomass and carbon-free hydrogen) show that the median VRE shares reach 52.2% in 2050 in the 80% emission reduction scenario. On the contrary, the availability of newly constructed nuclear power, affordable biomass, and carbon-free hydrogen can reduce dependence on VREs to less than 20%. The policy costs were much more sensitive to the capital costs and resource potential of VREs than the battery cost uncertainties. Specifically, while the doubled capital costs of VRE resulted in a 13.0% (inter-model median) increase in the policy cost, the halved capital costs of VREs reduced 8.7% (inter-model median) of the total policy cost. These results imply that lowering the capital costs of VREs would be effective in achieving a long-term emission reduction target considering the current high Japanese VRE costs.

Effectiveness of a game-based class for interdisciplinary energy systems education in engineering courses - Kengo Suzuki; Takeshi Shibuya; Tetsuya Kanagawa (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Professionals in the energy sector are required to understand the interactions among technology, society, and the environment to tackle complex trade-offs among policy issues. The fostering of such professionals with interdisciplinary perspectives has been recognized as a significant target for engineering education in universities. Several studies have shown that game-based learning is suitable for teaching interdisciplinary aspects of sustainability-related issues; however, only a few studies have quantitatively evaluated the percentage of participants that learn something relevant to the predetermined learning targets. This study quantitatively evaluates the effectiveness of a game-based class designed to teach energy policy issues in an engineering course. This game-based class aims to develop a perspective for overcoming the complex trade-offs among policy issues and for developing the abilities and attitudes necessary to build society-wide consensus. Content analysis was adopted as a research method; the contents of free-form reflection reports submitted by 128 students were categorized into 6 topics through careful reading and in-depth discussions, and the proportion of students who mentioned topics relevant to the learning targets was calculated. The results show that 83% of the students learned something relevant to the learning targets, and 37% of them made proposals to overcome the trade-offs among policy issues and conflicts among stakeholders. Further, some students actively deepened their understanding through voluntary surveys, presentations of other students, and by comparing the game and reality. These results suggest that game-based learning is an effective method for interdisciplinary education regarding energy policy issues.

Evaluating transdisciplinary research practices: insights from social network analysis - T. Steelman; A. Bogdan; C. Mantyka-Pringle; L. Bradford; M. G. Reed; S. Baines; J. Fresque-Baxter; T. Jardine; S. Shantz; R. Abu; K. Staples; Evan Andrews; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Transdisciplinary researchers collaborate with diverse partners outside of academia to tackle sustainability problems. The patterns and practices of social interaction and the contextual nature of transdisciplinary research result in different performance expectations than traditional, curiosity-driven research. Documenting patterns of interaction can inform project success and affirm progress toward interim outcomes on the way to achieve sustainability impacts. Yet providing credible and robust indicators of research activity remains challenging. We provide quantitative and qualitative indicators for assessing transdisciplinary practices and patterns through social network analysis (SNA). Our assessment developed four criteria to reveal how SNA metrics provide insight into (1) diversity of participants; (2) whether and how integration and collaboration are occurring, (3) the relative degrees of network stability and fragility, and (4) how the network is structured to achieve its goals. These four key criteria can be used to help identify patterns of research activity and determine whether interim progress is occurring.

System LCOE of variable renewable energies: a case study of Japan’s decarbonized power sector in 2050 - Yuhji Matsuo; Ryoichi Komiyama (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Large-scale integration of offshore wind into the Japanese power grid - Ryoichi Komiyama; Yasumasa Fujii (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Offshore wind power attracts intensive attention for decarbonizing power supply in Japan, because Japan has 1600 GW of offshore wind potential in contrast with 300 GW of onshore wind. Offshore wind availability in Japan, however, is significantly constrained by seacoast geography where very deep ocean is close to its coastal line, and eventually, nearly 80% of offshore wind resource is found in an ocean depth deeper than 50 m. Therefore, power system planning should consider both the location of available offshore wind resource and the constraint of power grid integration. This paper analyzes the impact of power grid integration of renewable resources including offshore wind power by considering the detailed location of offshore wind resource and the detailed topology of power grid. The study is performed by an optimal power generation mix model, highlighted by detailed spatial resolution derived from 383 nodes and 472 bulk power transmission lines with hourly temporal resolution through a year. The model identifies the optimal integration of power generation from variable renewables, including offshore wind, given those predetermined capacities. The results imply that, together with extensive solar PV integration, total 33 GW of offshore wind, composed of 20 GW of fixed foundation offshore wind and 13 GW of floating offshore wind could contribute to achieve 50% of renewable penetration in the power supply of Japan, and that scale of offshore wind integration provides a technically feasible picture of large-scale renewable integration in the Japanese power sector.

Role of negative emissions technologies (NETs) and innovative technologies in transition of Japan’s energy systems toward net-zero CO2 emissions - Etsushi Kato; Atsushi Kurosawa (Sustainability Science, 2021)

A computable general equilibrium analysis of environmental tax reform in Japan with a forward-looking dynamic model - Shiro Takeda; Toshi H. Arimura (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The Japanese government plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. However, it is not yet clear which policy measures the government will adopt to achieve this goal. In this regard, environmental tax reform, which is the combination of carbon regulation and the reduction of existing distortionary taxes, has attracted much attention. This paper examines the effects of an environmental tax reform in Japan. Using a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, we analyze the quantitative impacts of an environmental tax reform and clarify which types of environmental tax reform are the most desirable. In the simulation, we introduce a carbon tax and consider the following four scenarios for the use of the carbon tax revenue: (1) a lump-sum rebate to the household, (2) a cut in income taxes, (3) a cut in corporate taxes and (4) a cut in consumption taxes. The first scenario is a pure carbon tax, and the other three scenarios are types of environmental tax reform. Our CGE simulation shows that (1) environmental tax reform tends to generate more desirable impacts than the pure carbon tax and that (2) the strong double dividend is obtained in some cases. In particular, we show that a cut in corporate taxes leads to the most desirable policy in terms of GDP and national income.

Environmental impacts of the nutrition transition and potential hunger eradication in emerging countries - Max Bamberger; Paul Behrens; Laura Scherer (Sustainability Science, 2021)

Sociological modeling of smart city with the implementation of UN sustainable development goals - Olga Kolesnichenko; Lev Mazelis; Alexander Sotnik; Dariya Yakovleva; Sergey Amelkin; Ivan Grigorevsky; Yuriy Kolesnichenko (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The COVID-19 pandemic before mass vaccination can be restrained only by the limitation of contacts between people, which makes the digital economy a key condition for survival. More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and many cities have already transformed into “smart” digital/virtual hubs. Digital services ensure city life safe without an economy lockout and unemployment. Urban society strives to be safe, sustainable, well-being, and healthy. We set the task to construct a hybrid sociological and technological concept of a smart city with matched solutions, complementary to each other. Our modeling with the elaborated digital architectures and with the bionic solution for ensuring sufficient data governance showed that a smart city in comparison with the traditional city is tightly interconnected inside like a social “organism”. Society has entered a decisive decade during which the world will change by moving closer towards SDGs targets 2030 as well as by the transformation of cities and their digital infrastructures. It is important to recognize the large vector of sociological transformation as smart cities are just a transition phase to human-centered personal space or smart home. The “atomization” of the world urban population raises the gap problem in achieving SDGs because of different approaches to constructing digital architectures for smart cities or smart homes in countries. The strategy of creating smart cities should bring each citizen closer to SDGs at the individual level, laying in the personal space the principles of sustainable development and wellness of personality.

Implementing the urban food–water–energy nexus through urban laboratories: a systematic literature review - Darin Wahl; Barry Ness; Christine Wamsler (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The sustainability of complex resource systems, such as the food, water, and energy (FWE) nexus, is increasingly threatened by climate change impacts, expanding populations, urbanization, and economic instability. However, while research on the topic has burgeoned, studies focused on solution development and implementation, especially at the urban level, have lagged behind. Against this background, we review the urban FWE nexus literature. We focus on the operationalization of solutions for implementation, and seek to identify opportunities for participatory approaches. Our results suggest that operationalization would benefit from: (1) more fully integrating urban social complexity; (2) extending our understanding of the nexus to include social responses to the impacts of interventions; and (3) ensuring that projects build knowledge that is not only actionable, but also credible, salient, and legitimate. We then discuss the potential of local, transdisciplinary approaches, in the form of urban laboratories, to shift the focus of FWE nexus research towards operationalization. We conclude with five recommendations: (1) knowledge development should extend to implementation; (2) stakeholders should be engaged, and be able to align solutions with the agency to implement; (3) research should move beyond material flows, and focus on the behaviors, habits, and social patterns that underpin urban complexity; (4) FWE nexus thinking should become part of participatory/laboratory approaches; and (5) policymakers should integrate nexus research into municipal strategies and plans.

Transdisciplinary sustainability research in real-world labs: success factors and methods for change - Matthias Bergmann; Niko Schäpke; Oskar Marg; Franziska Stelzer; Daniel J. Lang; Michael Bossert; Marius Gantert; Elke Häußler; Editha Marquardt; Felix M. Piontek; Thomas Potthast; Regina Rhodius; et al. (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The transdisciplinary research mode has gained prominence in the research on and for sustainability transformations. Yet, solution-oriented research addressing complex sustainability problems has become complex itself, with new transdisciplinary research formats being developed and tested for this purpose. Application of new formats offers learning potentials from experience. To this end, we accompanied fourteen research projects conceptualized as real-world labs (RwLs) from 2015 to 2018. RwLs were part of a funding program on ‘Science for Sustainability’ in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Here, we combine conceptual and empirical work to a structured collection of experiences and provide a comprehensive account of RwLs. First, we outline characteristics of RwLs as transformation oriented, transdisciplinary research approach, using experiments, enabling learning and having a long-term orientation. Second, we outline eleven success factors and concrete design notes we gained through a survey of the 14 RwLs: (1) find the right balance between scientific and societal aims, (2) address the practitioners needs and restrictions, (3) make use of the experimentation concept, (4) actively communicate, (5) develop a ‘collaboration culture’, (6) be attached to concrete sites, (7) create lasting impact and transferability, (8) plan for sufficient time and financial means, (9) adaptability, (10) research-based learning, and (11) recognize dependency on external actors. Characteristics and success factors are combined to illustrate practical challenges in RwLs. Third, we show which methods could be used to cope with challenges in RwLs. We conclude discussing the state of debate on RwLs and outline future avenues of research.

Grasping at digitalisation: turning imagination into fact in the sugarcane farming community - Simon J. Fielke; Bruce M. Taylor; Emma Jakku; Martijn Mooij; Cara Stitzlein; Aysha Fleming; Peter J. Thorburn; Anthony J. Webster; Aaron Davis; Maria P. Vilas (Sustainability Science, 2021)
Nutrient runoff from catchments that drain into the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a significant source of stress for this World Heritage Area. An alliance of collaborative on-ground water quality monitoring (Project 25) and technologically driven digital application development (Digiscape GBR) projects were formulated to provide data that highlighted the contribution of a network of Australian sugar cane farmers, amongst other sources, to nutrient runoff. This environmental data and subsequent information were extended to the farming community through scientist-led feedback sessions and the development of specialised digital technology (1622™WQ) that help build an understanding of the nutrient movements, in this case nitrogen, such that farmers might think about and eventually act to alter their fertilizer application practices. This paper reflects on a socio-environmental sustainability challenge that emerged during this case study, by utilising the nascent concept of digi-grasping. We highlight the importance of the entire agricultural knowledge and advice network being part of an innovation journey to increase the utility of digital agricultural technologies developed to increase overall sustainability. We develop the digi-MAST analytical framework, which explores modes of being and doing in the digital world, ranging from ‘the everyday mystery of the digital world (M)’, through digital ‘awareness (A)’, digitally ‘sparked’ being/s (S), and finally the ability of individuals and/or groups to ‘transform (T)’ utilising digital technologies and human imaginations. Our digi-MAST framework allows us to compare agricultural actors, in this case, to understand present modes of digi-grasping to help determine the resources and actions likely to be required to achieve impact from the development of various forms of digital technological research outputs.

Correction to: Framing natural assets for advancing sustainability research: translating different perspectives into actions - Maria Jose Martinez-Harms; Stefan Gelcich; Rainer M. Krug; Fleur J. F. Maseyk; Hannah Moersberger; Archi Rastogi; Geoffrey Wambugu; Cornelia B. Krug; Eva M. Spehn; Unai Pascual (Sustainability Science, 2021)
In the original publication of the article, under the acknowledgments section, the project number was published incorrectly.

Correction to: Futurizing politics and the sustainability of real-world experiments: what role for innovation and exnovation in the German energy transition? - Martin David; Matthias Gross (Sustainability Science, 2021)
The original article has been updated.