The application of (synthetic) gene drives is a powerful tool to control populations of insects that are agricultural pests, vectors of diseases, or a threat to biodiversity potentially leading to the local or global eradication of a species. The potential use of gene drive organisms has triggered a heated discussion regarding their environmental impacts and regulatory oversight. However, experience

We elevate the undervalued role of wetland protective services for mitigating disastrous consequences of unprecedented weather-related events for human communities. Scientific evidence increasingly reveals that wetlands play critical hydrologic roles in landscapes, helping to mitigate flood, drought, and, in some cases, fire risks. However, wetland protective services have not received sufficient policy

The science of climate change and its impacts on health makes it clear that human health and wellbeing will be increasingly negatively impacted as a result of climate change. The health and wellbeing sector must respond to these growing pressures in order to continue to provide safe, quality care. Adaptation and mitigation policies need to be developed at different scales, including at a regional government

Achieving effective management of transboundary basins requires the necessary professional capacity to develop and implement appropriate water resources management policies and legislation (Ashton and Turton, 2005; Tropp, 2007). In Southern Africa, this was currently limited and impeded efforts towards shared vision, benefit-sharing, and harmonized institutional frameworks for transboundary waters

Urban green spaces (UGS) offer a wide range of ecosystem services to city dwellers, contributing to their health and well-being. The resources of formally designated UGS, such as parks and forests, are frequently underprovided, however. This results in unequal access to UGS, which has become an environmental justice issue. We investigated the potential of informal green spaces (IGS) to complement existing

A central challenge facing the study the environmental governance is the lack of commonunderstanding of important concepts. Critical concepts such as social boundaries, property rights, and resource dependence are selected and measured inconsistently across research projects and field settings, producing results that are difficult to compare. This stymies the accumulation of scientific evidence regarding

The population of absentee landholders, in rural areas of Australia and worldwide, has risen over recent decades, underpinning the need to better understand how to effectively engage this stakeholder group, especially from natural resource management (NRM) agencies. Prior research argues that these often difficult-to-reach rural actors play an important role in environmental management, biodiversity

Learning and Action Alliances (LAAs) are becoming an increasingly popular method for overcoming the challenges associated with participatory forms of governance, where decision making requires collaboration between stakeholders. In flood risk management, LAAs provide a mechanism through which institutional participants can come together, share knowledge, innovate, and devise solutions to ‘wicked’ problems

The relationships among social capital (SC) and collective actions (CA) for nature conservation and management were analyzed across five case studies characterised by specific land-use dynamics in the South American continent. Data on SC and CA were obtained through a semi-structured questionnaire to groups of selected social actors. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to identify SC components

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are known to be particularly vulnerable to climate change, which poses a challenge to their economic and social development. This vulnerability is expressed in several ways, from exposure to sea level rises, to salt intrusion, and extensive droughts in some areas. Despite this rather negative trend, there are examples of initiatives where the vulnerability of SIDS

Sustainable development is a long-term endeavour involving deep uncertainty and requiring transformative change at multiple scales. To navigate such a grand challenge, new approaches have been developed in various academic fields, such as Policy Analysis and Sustainability Transitions. Two prominent approaches to strategic planning within these two fields are Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty

Air quality in China is a major public health, social and economic concern. Air pollution governance and research in China have been increasingly active in the past decade, especially since 2013 when strict emission controls were implemented. Such emission control policies have been informed through dialogue between scientists and policy-makers on the sources and transport of air pollution in order

As key venues for interaction and cooperation, international river basin organizations (IRBOs) are significant contributors to hydrodiplomacy in transboundary river basins. As part of their efforts to support hydrodiplomacy, IRBOs engage in the production and use of science. The manner in which that science is produced, and how it contributes to hydrodiplomacy, is not well understood. This paper examines

Countries that have ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a United Nations-backed international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from releases of mercury and mercuric compounds, are required to produce a National Action Plan (NAP). Each must state, very clearly, how the mercury being used at artisanal and small-scale gold mines will be phased out. In most areas of

There has been a rise in environmental collaboratives as a form of watershed governance. These collaboratives depend on a diversity of organizations acting collectively by pooling their resources, yet little information exists as to why organizations decide to become involved in these initiatives. This study attempts to identify why organizations involved in watershed partnerships decide to participate

Nexus thinking represents a novel approach to managing sustainability challenges, but little is known about how and to what extent it is being employed by companies. By examining documents from 14 companies identified as “comprehensive-disclosers,” this paper reveals important insights into corporate responses to multiple, interconnected sustainability issues or “nexus challenges”. Using qualitative

Low innovation adoption rates in agriculture have spurred intense research on farmers’ attitudes and motivations. Little attention has been paid to attitudes of other important actors in the knowledge transfer chain. Evidence indeed suggests that adoption rarely happens at the farm level, but requires the right inputs from science and extension services. Divergent attitudes among actors in the knowledge

Phosphorus is a critical agricultural nutrient and a major pollutant in waterbodies due to inefficient use. In the form of rock phosphate it is a finite global commodity vulnerable to price shocks and sourcing challenges. Transforming toward sustainable phosphorus management involves local to global stakeholders. Conventional readings of stakeholders may not reflect system complexity leaving it difficult

Climate change presents significant risks and opportunities for agriculture. Agricultural producers are likely to be adversely affected by changes in higher mean temperatures, more frequent extreme climatic events, and an increase in inter-annual weather variability, with implications for established management practices. While probabilities of future change in key climatic variables become more refined

Integrating local knowledge with scientific knowledge can offer significant benefits to improving environmental decision-making. However, this is especially challenging in environmental conflict situations where advice is lacking, and no single approach can foster conflict transformation. To understand stakeholder knowledge and its integration in a conflict transformation process in Scotland, we brought

Urban parks provide multiple ecosystem services to mitigate challenges from climate change and urbanisation. They promote health and well-being by providing space for physical activity and social interaction, which is particularly relevant for vulnerable groups such as children and older people. As a key element, park vegetation creates favourable environments, as it moderates heat, buffers noise and

Climate change policy for the land sector is challenged by complex biophysical and socioeconomic contexts. A target approach utilising land-use change indicators is often used to quantify and communicate progress, based upon assumed greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions. This paper investigated areal targets for woodland expansion and peatland restoration, both of which can deliver substantial carbon

Urban decision-makers are increasingly focused on enhancing community resilience in anticipation of more frequent and intense impacts from climate variability and change. These impacts will manifest in complex and nuanced ways, particularly when coupled with additional social, economic, and environmental shifts that vary across contexts. Given these challenges, urban decision-makers are seeking new

Despite numerous efforts to promote and implement more integrated approaches, coordination problems persist and impede sustainable water governance and management. This paper introduces a framework for guiding a transdisciplinary diagnostic approach (i.e. a context-sensitive assessment of multi-level water governance, which is combined with a change management process) to address such coordination

Alluvial aquifers in seasonal rivers are a yet underutilised resource in many (semi-)arid regions of Africa. These so-called sand river aquifers provide nature-based water storage within easy reach because they are shallow. They form a significant potential renewable source of water for irrigation development. Innovative approaches and solutions are needed to sustainably increase productive use of

Achieving the objectives of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest(s) Degradation, Conservation and Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks and Sustainable Management of Forests in developing countries (REDD+) will remain an aspiration unless and until the historical contributions of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and Local Communities (LCs) to the state and management of forests are recognised and

There is an increasing recognition globally of the role to be played by community science –scientific research and monitoring driven and controlled by local communities, and characterized by place-based knowledge, social learning, collective action and empowerment. In particular, community science can support social-ecological system transformation, and help in achieving better ‘fit’ between ecological

How to tackle uncertainties and ensure quality in integrated assessment for sustainability? To what extent does the choice of the methodology condition the narrative produced by the analysis? The present work argues that the two questions are tightly coupled. The technique is never neutral. If we are the tools of our tools, as suggested by Thoreau, then it can also be said that language is not only

Future climate scenarios predict significant changes in the availability of water resources at global and regional scales. Knowledge of the possible economic consequences of this are limited by a shortage of data linking economic activity with physical water use. Matching a unique premise-level dataset to economic indicators at industrial/sector level, this paper undertakes a decomposition of changes

The deterioration of water quality in Ireland over the past thirty years and the nutrient losses from agriculture are of particular concern to policy makers. Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are designed to improve the environment and water quality. One of the more common AES measures is the exclusion of cattle from watercourses. Cattle exclusion provides a number of benefits such as reduction in nitrogen

The Paris Agreement to keep global temperature increase to well-below 2 °C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 °C requires to formulate ambitious climate-change mitigation scenarios to reduce CO2 emissions and to enhance carbon sequestration. These scenarios likely require significant land-use change. Failing to mitigate climate change will result in an unprecedented warming with significant biodiversity

Water is key to keeping urban areas safe and healthy for humans and hence safe sanitation and waste water treatment is promoted by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We show that emissions from existing state-of-the-art water technologies are problematic from a Planetary Boundaries (PBs) perspective. The magnitude of the climate change impact in relation to the PB based normalization

In Bamako District, capital of Mali with 2.2 million inhabitants, 98.5 % of the population resorts to autonomous sanitation. This results in a considerable production of fecal sludge, accounting for more than 600,000 m³/year. This article shows how a smartphone application can support and facilitate the management of emptying services. It is based on the experience of Join For Water & PRACTICA who

Pesticides used in agriculture are widely considered to be the most cost-effective way to reduce undesirable plants and animal pests and increase crop yields. However, these economic benefits should be evaluated against any deleterious impacts on the natural environment and human health. While a great deal of attention is paid to the impact of agricultural runoff, more studies are needed on the impacts

Global fashion represents one of the most economically relevant contemporary industrial activity, but is fraught with sustainability problems. As a response, the fashion industry has turned its attention towards environmentally sustainable innovation. In many cases, such innovations require collaborative development, which by its turn highlight various difficulties associated with stakeholder collaboration

Water systems are experiencing dynamic societal demands and extreme environmental changes. The integration of modular water systems into existing centralized infrastructures, creating hybrid systems, could mitigate these challenges by enabling more resilient water management. However, the existence of technological alternatives has not changed the continuous reliance on centralized water infrastructure

This article examines the policy background and legislative frameworks underlying the regulation of transboundary movement of potentially invasive alien species (IAS). The starting point is the examination of the fundamental regulatory concepts for IAS that are found in (1) the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) (in accordance with the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on the Application

Economic instruments for conservation are invoked as a strategy to achieve the dual goals of maintaining healthy ecosystems and improving human well-being. The outcomes of such instruments are highly variable and there has been limited analysis of their social outcomes. Economic instruments for conservation can create opportunity and political leverage for minority groups or reinforce pre-existing

In view of a continuing global decrease of forest cover, many authors mention forest governance as a basic concept contributing to reduced deforestation, specifically in the tropics. There are numerous definitions for forest governance. The concept is commonly understood as a broad approach and assessment tools comprise dozens of indicators. However, there is no information about relations between

Recent studies argue that the scientific communication of climate change overly emphasizes climate extremes. This, in turn, leads to a universal “atmosfear” as an association of anthropogenic climate change with frightening future scenarios. We analyze the factors driving such kinds of atmosfear, concerning the particular cases of hot extremes (heatwaves) and wet extremes (floods). Can uncertainty

Social-ecological system (SES) promoting sustainable management of natural resources in common ownership are steered by a complex governance system that includes regulations through laws and policies, and management by administrative authorities operating across multi-level institutional structures that, in turn, are shaped by stakeholder interests. In addition, the long-term progress of natural resource

This article provides an overview of how systematic review (SR) methods have been used to evaluate public policy. It argues that these methods can be applied to the evaluation of environmental public policy, but that certain challenges need to be addressed in order to fulfil the SR methods potential. The article reflects upon two methodological challenges confronting systematic reviewers: how data

Contemporary socio-environmental problems such as the reduced availability of natural resources, the loss of biodiversity, soil degradation, pollution, an unprecedented population growth, the mass migration of people to cities, and urban sprawl may be associated with the consequences of an economic infinite growth paradigm on a finite planet. Despite international goals for improving the spatial and

Ship traffic has nearly tripled in the Canadian Arctic over the past decade and additional growth is expected as climate change continues to increase navigability in the region. In response, the Canadian Government is developing Low Impact Shipping Corridors as an adaptation strategy that supports safety and sustainability under rapidly changing environmental conditions. The corridors are specified

Transdisciplinary sustainability research (TDR) is characterised by methodologies that support a rich and direct interaction between academics and other societal stakeholders. However, it is not to be taken for granted that societal stakeholders are interested in collaboration, or that researchers have the skills to put participative methods into action. While there are several frameworks available

This study identifies and analyses the underlying assumptions of experts involved in the first author meeting (FAM) of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)’s Values Assessment, and how they shape understandings of the multiple values of nature. We draw from survey data collected from 94 experts attending the FAM. Respondents self-report the tendencies

In the past decade, research on interconnected resource challenges has primarily focused on quantifying physical resource interconnections, and there is a growing focus on the social, economic, and policy dimensions of these interconnections. While the nature of the complexity of interconnected resource challenges resulted in emphasizing the need for inter- and trans-disciplinary research and in increased

The open landscapes produced over centuries by small-scale farming in Norwegian coastal and fjord areas are threatened by agricultural abandonment, raising public concern for maintenance of the species-rich and valuable coastal grasslands. Semi-natural grasslands, traditionally grazed in the spring and fall and mown in summer, are most affected. Two linear programming models, one for small-scale sheep

Despite increasing scientific understanding of the global environmental crisis, we struggle to adopt the policies science suggests would be effective. One of the reasons for that is the lack of inclusive engagement and dialogue among a wide range of different actors. Furthermore, there is a lack of consideration of differences between languages, worldviews and cultures. In this paper, we propose that

Boundary spanning – the practice of facilitating knowledge exchange to address complex sustainability challenges – has the potential to align research and policymaking and increase the uptake of research in decision making. But the goals, methods, and outcomes of boundary-spanning activities in the environment sector can be difficult to describe, missing an opportunity to share lessons learned and

The impact of collaborative research approaches on science and society has been subject to much debate and speculation. However, empirically grounded analyses of the process-impact link remain the exception. That includes comparing participation planning, intended processes, expectations and implementation. This paper delivers a theoretically informed comparison between different approaches to participation

The post-conflict scenario in Colombia poses several environmental urgencies, making it necessary to identify and prioritize new challenges for biodiversity conservation and ecosystems management. It is critical to understand how government agencies, NGOs, and academics perceive these challenges, as they all contribute to fundamental decision-making on environmental issues. To achieve this objective

In 2012 Sweden implemented a collaborative governance regime for managing moose (Alces alces). This was guided by the awareness that decentralization and stakeholder participation can help to reduce conflicts, foster systematic learning, and handle complexity. However, previous research has highlighted that there are no blueprint approaches to the governance and management of natural resources. In

Climate change has reduced the snow cover in the Swiss Alps, negatively impacting the winter tourist sector. The adaptation of artificial or technical snow, as a solution to combat a decline in tourism, is pervasive, yet controversial. This paper uses Q methodology to analyse the perspectives of stakeholders in relation to artificial snow production with regard to the three pillars of sustainable development

Mainstreaming biodiversity in development cooperation activities is called for by scientists and policy-makers alike, as the current biodiversity crisis can only be mitigated if the linkages between biodiversity and human wellbeing are acknowledged. Reconciling biodiversity conservation and human development is a particularly topical challenge in highly biodiverse developing countries such as the Democratic

Salmon production, and aquaculture in general, entails certain environmental risks that must be managed and controlled. In Norway, as in other aquaculture-producing countries, governments seek means of improving the industry and encouraging sustainable conduct. In Norwegian aquaculture regulation, the salmon louse has become an important indicator and regulatory instrument – a governmental technology

Citizen Science (CS) has been emerging in the last decade as a new field of environmental monitoring involving a direct collaboration between everyday citizens and scientists. In Tunisia, several recent governmental efforts aimed at reinforcing and renovating the existing official water monitoring systems. However, the lack of reliable hydrological data is still an issue, which could be better addressed